In 1962, Charles decided to release an album of country music, "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music," which broke new ground by combining soul and country music and was seen as risky and controversial by many observers at the time. But Charles fooled them all; the album went to No. 1, as did one of its singles, Charles' rendition of Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You." He soon followed the album up with "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2."

Ray does not remember this happening, and Graham does not remember any fuss about it, but I assure you, both occurred.

The influence of these recordings spread throughout country music, and is still called the "modern" sound, even though there is nothing modern about it. It is also sometimes called the "new" sound, although there is nothing new about it either.

Part of the fuss over it was purely racial. The American South was not exactly enlightened about racial matters in 1962. And no one--to this day--has ever accused Nashville of being out on the edge of social reform. Another part of the fuss was musical...Ray's style was radically different for country music. In fact, "I Can't Sop Loving You" and other songs from the album are R&B standards. Ray did what he did best: he busted down walls. Whenever someone busts down a wall, someone else complains about it.



[This message has been edited by TrumanCoyote (edited 07-14-2004).]