Tracks
- Bye Bye Love
- You Don't Know Me
- Half as Much
- I Love You So Much It Hurts
- Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)
- Born to Lose
- Worried Mind
- It Makes No Difference Now
- You Win Again
- Careless Love
- I Can't Stop Loving You
- Hey, Good Lookin'
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a pleasant album. Ray Charles covers a dozen country and western songs—a bold and risky move for a soul musician! He could have alienated his fans and not won over any country and western listeners. But, Ray Charles is a charismatic guy and it always comes out in his music. So, of course his experiment worked!
He certainly gives a few of the songs a rhythm and blues twist, but with the others, he stays true to their origin as country and western songs. The more lively songs such as Bye Bye Love and Hey Good Lookin' are great. The slower songs are well done, but some of them are a drag on the album.
It's definitely an album worth listening to. The songs that really stand out are Bye Bye Love, You Don't Know Me, Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way), It Makes No Difference Now, You Win Again, I Can't Stop Loving You and Hey, Good Lookin'.
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Tracks
- Let the Good Times Roll
- It Had to Be You
- Alexander's Ragtime Band
- Two Years of Torture
- When Your Lover Has Gone
- 'Deed I Do
- Just for a Thrill
- You Won't Let Me Go
- Tell Me You'll Wait for Me
- Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'
- Am I Blue
- Come Rain or Come Shine
The Genius of Ray Charles is a superb album. Half the songs are vibrant and lively pieces, while the other half are soulful ballads. And while the music is great, they wouldn't be as outstanding without a singer like Ray Charles. He is so charismatic that he easily convinces you that the emotion and feeling in his singing is sincere.
While the first group of songs on the album are undoubtedly excellent and are more exciting, lively and easier to connect with at first blush, it's the ballads on the last half of the album that will leave a more lasting impact.
This is another album that I will never tire of hearing. All the songs are excellent, but the absolute stand outs are: Let the Good Times Roll, Alexander's Ragtime Band, When Your Lover Has Gone, You Won't Let Me Go, Tell Me You'll Wait for Me, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin', Am I Blue and Come Rain or Come Shine.
★★★★★★★★★★
