Album: Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music
Artist: Ray Charles
Born: Albany, Georgia
Released: April 1962
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Van Morrison, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Kanye West
From the blues, we move, seamlessly, to soul. Another seminal figure in the evolution of pop music hailing from the Deep South, Ray Charles started out playing the blues, as a pianist mimicking Louis Jordan and others, who scored one of his first hits with "I Got A Woman" in 1955 (a song famously sampled by Kanye West on his 2005 single, Gold Digger). One of his most influential recordings though was "What'd I Say" (1959), which inspired Stax Records founder Jim Stewart to dedicate his label purely to soul and R&B (and the rest, as they say, is history). Stax and Ray Charles' first label, Atlantic, were the two driving forces behind the soul explosion.
Apart from the music, what also marked Ray Charles out from many of his African-American contemporaries was his artistic control over his work, and this allowed him to break down the barriers of the new genre by recording a country song, Georgia On My Mind, in 1960. This was his first song on new label ABC-Paramount and briefly earned him a No.1 single and Grammy award. Building on this success, Charles took the brave move of releasing a whole album blending soul and country music, a controversial decision at the height of the civil rights movement (given that country was still very much the music of white America).
The results are breathtaking. With Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, he brings the soul of the gospel choir to country classics by the likes of Hank Williams (though You Win Again and Hey Good Lookin' are far from the best recordings on the album). For me, the standout track is You Don't Know Me, with Ray offsetting the syrupy opening with one of the best vocal performances of his career. Because of the times, because of the situation, You Don't Know Me also comes across as an attempt to break down cultural and ethnic boundaries. Other highlights are I Can't Stop Loving You (again, despite the annoying syrupy chorus) and Worried Mind. Artistically and commercially, Ray would never match these heights again.
Artist: Ray Charles
Born: Albany, Georgia
Released: April 1962
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Van Morrison, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Kanye West
From the blues, we move, seamlessly, to soul. Another seminal figure in the evolution of pop music hailing from the Deep South, Ray Charles started out playing the blues, as a pianist mimicking Louis Jordan and others, who scored one of his first hits with "I Got A Woman" in 1955 (a song famously sampled by Kanye West on his 2005 single, Gold Digger). One of his most influential recordings though was "What'd I Say" (1959), which inspired Stax Records founder Jim Stewart to dedicate his label purely to soul and R&B (and the rest, as they say, is history). Stax and Ray Charles' first label, Atlantic, were the two driving forces behind the soul explosion.
Apart from the music, what also marked Ray Charles out from many of his African-American contemporaries was his artistic control over his work, and this allowed him to break down the barriers of the new genre by recording a country song, Georgia On My Mind, in 1960. This was his first song on new label ABC-Paramount and briefly earned him a No.1 single and Grammy award. Building on this success, Charles took the brave move of releasing a whole album blending soul and country music, a controversial decision at the height of the civil rights movement (given that country was still very much the music of white America).
The results are breathtaking. With Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, he brings the soul of the gospel choir to country classics by the likes of Hank Williams (though You Win Again and Hey Good Lookin' are far from the best recordings on the album). For me, the standout track is You Don't Know Me, with Ray offsetting the syrupy opening with one of the best vocal performances of his career. Because of the times, because of the situation, You Don't Know Me also comes across as an attempt to break down cultural and ethnic boundaries. Other highlights are I Can't Stop Loving You (again, despite the annoying syrupy chorus) and Worried Mind. Artistically and commercially, Ray would never match these heights again.
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