18. Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.
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So, back to the task at hand. I have listened to this album seven or eight times now, and have determined one thing. I'm digging it. Let's start with the title. The last thing I think of when I hear the name Ray Charles is country music. We already listened to Ray on an earlier recording, and I thought that gave us the picture. Not so fast. Apparently Mr. Charles had grown up listening to country music. He then achieved some success in the recording business and cut a couple of good business deals and winds up with quite a bit of artistic control with regards to his career. Well, what to do next? Why not cut an album of old country tunes? With a big band lineup. Yeaaaaah! It's clear that was the logical next step.
Not really. You see, back in the fifties and sixties, things hadn't progressed to the point they have today. There were some race issues back then. It's very hard to believe, living in today's world, where everyone is treated equally regardless of their skin colour, that at one point trivial things such as race were considered something of huge importance. Country music was white music. R&B was black music. Ray Charles was black. So it was actually a pretty big deal that this album was recorded. It is not only a black man singing white songs, but it is a black man singing white songs with a black feel. It was probably quite a provocative idea back then. I'm thinking of a reverse Eminem or Beastie Boys, but that analogy is not quite perfect. If a Muslim artist started recording Metallica covers today that might be close. Which brings to mind Cat Stevens, or whatever his new name is. I wonder if he likes Metallica. It could happen. You heard it here first.
OK, OK, back to Ray. This album starts with a big band sound, and suddenly it is a cover of the Everly Brothers "Bye Bye Love"! It has piano blues and the band is as good as any backing Sinatra. The whole album continues in this vein. Ray took these songs and covered them the way he wanted to. This is not something that artists did, and certainly not black artists covering white country music. It paid off for him, because it helped him to break the colour barrier and got him some more white fans. But he did it in a way that he did not alienate his black audience. Genius. I think it worked out for both sides. Country artists and R&B artists alike agree that this is a fantastic album.
I concur. It is extremely listenable, and the arrangements are pretty interesting. Especially when you are familiar with the songs he is covering. I didn't know them all, but enjoyed the ones I did. He definitely had his own spin on the music, but he understood it as well, as he comes off as sincere. His voice is unmistakable, and he really makes the songs his own. For this groundbreaking effort, Rolling Stone included this album at number 104 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Check it out, if only to here a souped up version of "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams. Classic.
So, back to the task at hand. I have listened to this album seven or eight times now, and have determined one thing. I'm digging it. Let's start with the title. The last thing I think of when I hear the name Ray Charles is country music. We already listened to Ray on an earlier recording, and I thought that gave us the picture. Not so fast. Apparently Mr. Charles had grown up listening to country music. He then achieved some success in the recording business and cut a couple of good business deals and winds up with quite a bit of artistic control with regards to his career. Well, what to do next? Why not cut an album of old country tunes? With a big band lineup. Yeaaaaah! It's clear that was the logical next step.
Not really. You see, back in the fifties and sixties, things hadn't progressed to the point they have today. There were some race issues back then. It's very hard to believe, living in today's world, where everyone is treated equally regardless of their skin colour, that at one point trivial things such as race were considered something of huge importance. Country music was white music. R&B was black music. Ray Charles was black. So it was actually a pretty big deal that this album was recorded. It is not only a black man singing white songs, but it is a black man singing white songs with a black feel. It was probably quite a provocative idea back then. I'm thinking of a reverse Eminem or Beastie Boys, but that analogy is not quite perfect. If a Muslim artist started recording Metallica covers today that might be close. Which brings to mind Cat Stevens, or whatever his new name is. I wonder if he likes Metallica. It could happen. You heard it here first.
OK, OK, back to Ray. This album starts with a big band sound, and suddenly it is a cover of the Everly Brothers "Bye Bye Love"! It has piano blues and the band is as good as any backing Sinatra. The whole album continues in this vein. Ray took these songs and covered them the way he wanted to. This is not something that artists did, and certainly not black artists covering white country music. It paid off for him, because it helped him to break the colour barrier and got him some more white fans. But he did it in a way that he did not alienate his black audience. Genius. I think it worked out for both sides. Country artists and R&B artists alike agree that this is a fantastic album.
I concur. It is extremely listenable, and the arrangements are pretty interesting. Especially when you are familiar with the songs he is covering. I didn't know them all, but enjoyed the ones I did. He definitely had his own spin on the music, but he understood it as well, as he comes off as sincere. His voice is unmistakable, and he really makes the songs his own. For this groundbreaking effort, Rolling Stone included this album at number 104 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Check it out, if only to here a souped up version of "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams. Classic.
Buy it here.
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