"Ruby, My Dear" is a jazz ballad composed by Thelonious Monk.
The tune was named after Rubie Richardson, Monk's first love and his older sister Marion's best friend.[1] It was first recorded at a 1947 session for Blue Note Records. Monk recorded "Ruby My Dear" several times, including solo piano performances in 1959 and 1965, as well as versions with saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane (at New York's Five Spot Jazz Cafe in the summer of 1957).
In 1997, guitarist Larry Coryell covered the song from his album "Spaces Revisited."[2]
This is one of Monk's more romantic ballads, recorded shortly before Columbia Records signed him to their label.