1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - #31. Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962)

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1962)
Label - ABC-Paramount
Producer – Sid Feller
Art Direction – Flynn / Viceroy
Nationality - USA
Running Time – 39:51

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

1. Bye Bye Love
2. You Don't Know Me
3. Half as Much
4. I Love You So Much It Hurts
5. Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)
6. Born to Lose
7. Worried Mind
8. It Makes No Difference Now
9. You Win Again
10. Careless Love
11. I Can't Stop Loving You
12. Hey, Good Lookin'
Ray Charles was unhappy with Atlantic records and so he signed with ABC Paramount and took full advantage of his contract's "full artistic freedom clause" with this collection of revamped country classics on Modern Sounds in Country and Western. This was quite a gamble for Ray Charles and took plenty of guts not just for him, but for his new record label to release this record. Yet, this album featured Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" and a Top Ten hit with a cover of Eddy Arnold's "You Don't Know Me," that helped this album remain at the top of the pop charts for nearly three months and more importantly brought Ray Charles international fame and made him a superstar. Charles’ covers of these songs actually have become the definitive versions of the tracks over the last 45 years.
It’s actually less country and more big band with a splash of gospel – with no steel guitars or fiddles – just lots of orchestral arrangements by Gerald Wilson. At times the tracks are overdone with orchestra and backing vocals which is a shame as they needn’t be. So while I prefer the ‘Genius of Ray Charles’ (reviewed earlier in this series) over this one as a definitive work of Ray Charles, this is still a good listen.
Highly recommended.