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It’s amazing what can be found at a garage sale on a Saturday morning. Last week it was an antique china hutch for a third of what it was worth. This week, a single thin dime bought one of the greatest albums (yes, the black 12-inch vinyl kind) ever recorded.
Originally released in 1962, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a watershed of sorts for the music world. It opened the doors for black performers to cross over into traditionally white music arenas. The album also updated the flavor of a genre that hadn’t really changed for over a decade.
Traditional country fans were horrified by what Ray Charles was doing to their beloved music, but what they failed to appreciate was that he was bringing the songs and the music to the widest possible audience. Despite the incredible success of the album, Charles wasn’t able to recapture its success (in the country field) until the late 1980s. By then, his genius had been clearly established. Enlightened artists like Willie Nelson, Don Gibson, and Buck Owens recognized that Charles’ contribution to the genre was recognizing that great country songs were just that — great songs that lent themselves to new, imaginative arrangements.
The album covers the musical range from ballad to “toe-tapping” dance tunes. His jazz filled renditions of traditional country favorites like, “Hey Good Looking,” “Bye, Bye Love,” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” are perhaps as famous as the original versions. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which spawned his biggest hits, including “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” spent five weeks at the top of the pop charts in 1962. Those five weeks changed the music world forever.
This is an album that jazz and country fans alike have to own.
