Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

Performer: Ray Charles
Artist: David "Fathead" Newman; Margie Hendrix
Producer: Chris Clough (Reissue)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Ray Charles (vocals, piano); David "Fathead" Newman (saxophone). Enginners include: Gene Thompson, Bill Putnam, Johnny Cue. Recorded in 1962-1963 at Capitol Studios, New York, New York; United Recording Studios, Hollywood, California; RPM International Studios, Los Angeles, California. Includes liner notes by Todd Everett. Personnel: Ray Charles (vocals, piano). Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl. Less modern for its country-R&B blend (Elvis Presley and company did it in 1955) and lushly produced C&W tone (the Nashville sound cropped up in the late '50s) than for its place as a high-profile crossover hit, Modern Sounds in Country and Western fit right in with Ray Charles' expansive musical ways while on the Atlantic label in the '50s. In need of even more room to explore, Charles signed with ABC Paramount and eventually took full advantage of his contract's "full artistic freedom clause" with this collection of revamped country classics. Covering a period from 1939 to the early '60s, the 12 tracks here touch on old-timey fare (Floyd Tillman's "It Makes No Difference to Me Now"), honky tonk (three Hank Williams songs), and early countrypolitan (Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You"). Along with a Top Ten go at Eddy Arnold's "You Don't Know Me," the Gibson cover helped the album remain at the top of the pop charts for nearly three months and brought Charles international fame. Above a mix of swinging big band charts by Gerald Wilson and strings and choir backdrops from Marty Paich, Charles' intones the sleepy-blue nuances of country crooners while still giving the songs a needed kick with his gospel outbursts. No pedal steel or fiddles here, just a fine store of inimitable interpretations. ~ Stephen Cook Ray Charles had dabbled with country music at Atlantic, notably 'I'm Movin' On', but the move to ABC-Paramount prompted him to record a full album. His version of Don Gibson's 'I Can't Stop Loving You' was a transatlantic number 1 and not far behind his bittersweet performance of Eddy Arnold's 'You Don't Know Me'. Ray's own favourite was 'I Love You So Much It Hurts'. The album was so successful that he recorded a second volume and had hits with 'Take These Chains From My Heart' and 'Cryin' Time'. Although the album showed that black soul and white country could be merged, Ray Charles lost his momentum, tending to cruise along on the same theme and never again writing a song to equal 'What'd I Say'.

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.120) - Ranked #104 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "[A] model of folk-pop healing music..."

There are few musicians in modern pop music who can truly be called "genius," but in the case of Ray Charles, the term applies. His innovative singing, drawing on both gospel and pop, has inspired legions of great singers. With a long, prolific recording career that began in 1949, Charles became perhaps the finest interpreter of pop music in the postwar years. A gifted pianist, songwriter, and vocalist, he was a master of every style he attempted, be it R&B, country, blues, or soul. The man who wrote such indelible R&B classics as "I Got a Woman" and "What'd I Say" passed away in 2004, a legend several times over. The same year, a remarkable performance by Jamie Foxx in the biopic RAY served as a fitting cinematic eulogy.

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