| Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1962 (1962-03) | |||
| Recorded | February 5, 7, and 15, 1962 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:33 | |||
| Label | ABC-Paramount | |||
| Producer | Sid Feller | |||
| Ray Charles chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music | ||||
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Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is astudio album by the American singer and pianistRay Charles. It was recorded in February 1962 atCapitol Studios in New York City andUnited Western Recorders in Hollywood, and released in March of that year byABC-Paramount Records.
The album departed further stylistically from therhythm and blues music Charles had recorded forAtlantic Records in the 1950s. It featuredcountry,folk, andWestern musicstandards reworked by Charles in popular song forms of the time, including R&B,pop, andjazz. Charles produced the album withSid Feller, who helped the singer select songs to record, and performed alongside saxophonistHank Crawford, a string section conducted byMarty Paich, and abig band arranged byGil Fuller andGerald Wilson.
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was an immediate critical and commercial success. The album and its four hit singles brought Charles greater mainstream notice and recognition in the pop market, as well as airplay on both R&B and country radio stations. The album and its lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You", were both certifiedgold by theRecording Industry Association of America in 1962, as each record had sold at least 500,000 copies in the United States.
The album's integration of soul and country challengedracial barriers in popular music at the height of theCivil Rights Movement. In the process of recording the album, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career. In retrospect, it has been considered by critics as his best studio record and a landmark recording inAmerican music. According toRobert Christgau, the album "transfigured pop, prefigured soul, and defined modern country & western music."[3] It has been called one of the greatest albums of all time by publications such asRolling Stone andTime.
After hisAtlantic Records contract ended, Ray Charles signed withABC-Paramount Records in November 1959, obtaining a much more generous contract than other artists had at the time.[4] Following his commercial andpopcrossover breakthrough with the hit single "What'd I Say" earlier that year, ABC offered Charles a $50,000 annual advance, higherroyalties than previously offered and eventual ownership of hismasters—a very valuable and lucrative deal at the time.[5] Composed by Charles himself, the single furthered Charles's mainstream appeal, while becoming a Top 10 pop hit and selling a million copies in the United States, despite the ban placed on the record by some radio stations, in response to the song's sexually-suggestive lyrics.[6] However, by the time of the release of the instrumental jazz LPGenius + Soul = Jazz (1960) for ABC's subsidiary labelImpulse!, Charles had virtually given up on writing original material and had begun to follow his eclectic impulses as an interpreter.[6]
Following hisbluesfusion withgospel andjazz influences on his earlier Atlantic material, which had brought him much fame and controversy, Charles sought to experiment withcountry music.[7] As Charles himself noted in the liner notes ofWhat'd I Say (1959), he was influenced by the genre in his youth, writing that he "used to play piano in ahillbilly band" and that he believed that he "could do a good job with the right hillbilly song today."[8] At Atlantic, he attempted to incorporate this style and influence with his cover of country singerHank Snow's "I'm Movin' On". Charles later said about the song, "When I heard Hank Snow sing 'Moving On', I loved it. And the lyrics. Keep in mind, I'm a singer, so I like lyrics. Those lyrics are great, so that's what made me want to do it."[4] The "I'm Movin' On" sessions were his last for Atlantic.[9]
Charles's recording of his acclaimed studio effortThe Genius of Ray Charles (1959) brought him closer to expressing his jazz and pop crossover ambitions. Described by one music critic as "the most important of his albums for Atlantic", the record was the first to introduce Charles's musical approach of blending his brassy R&B sound with the moremiddle of the road, pop-oriented style, while performing in the presence of a big band ensemble.[10] Recording of the album, as well his ABC-Paramount debut,The Genius Hits the Road (1960), a collection of place-name songs devoted to parts of the United States, expanded on Charles's thematic and conceptually organized approach to albums rather than commercially successful singles production.[10] Inspired by this approach and his recording of "I'm Movin' On", Charles originally made plans for a single-less concept album.[8][11]
When Charles had announced that he wanted to work on an album of country music in 1961, during a period ofracial segregation and tension in the United States, he received generally negative commentary and feedback from his peers, including fellow R&B musicians and ABC-Paramount executives.[4] The country album concept, however, meant more to Charles as a test of his record label's faith in him and respect for his artistic freedom than as a test of social tolerance among listeners amid racial distinctions of country and R&B.[9] Fueled by his esteem for creative control, Charles pitched the idea of a country album to ABC representatives.[9] Following the successful lobby of the concept and a contract renewal in early 1962, which was linked to the launching of his ownTangerine label, Charles prepared his band for the recording sessions that producedModern Sounds in Country and Western Music.[9]
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was the 18th overall LP Charles had recorded.[12] According to him, the title of the album was conceived by producer Sid Feller and ABC-Paramount's executives and management people.[13] The recording sessions for the album took place at three sessions in mid-February 1962. The first two sessions were set on February 5 and 7 at Capitol Studios inNew York, New York, at which one half of the album was recorded and produced. The other half was recorded on February 15 of that same year in United Studio B atUnited Western Recorders in Hollywood, California.[14][15]
Instead of drawing what he should record from memory and his knowledge of country music, Charles asked Feller, his newly appointedA&R (Artists and Repertoire) man, to research top countrystandards through major countrymusic publishers.[9] Feller canvassed premier country publishing companies, such asAcuff-Rose Publishing (which featured theHank Williams catalog) andHill & Range Songs (most of which were located inNashville, Tennessee). In doing so, he amassed around 250 songs on tape for Charles to consider recording forModern Sounds in Country and Western Music. From New York City, Feller sent the recordings to Charles, who was living in California at the time, for him to choose.[9] According to music essayist Daniel Cooper:
[Feller] listened to all of them to see which one he could make a Ray Charles record with. A Ray Charles version. Not copy a country & western singer's version. So in other words, by hearing the original, he knew what he didn't want to do. So consequently, he made up his own things, and some of the things he made up, you know, the melodies themselves are interpretations. Some of the ballads, that were so beautiful, he just made it sound like Ray Charles made it up, even though he was singing the exact melody of the original. And yet when Ray Charles sings it, it sounds like a brand new song.[9]
While his selections provided the album's country and western foundation, the musicalarrangements represented its contemporary influence. Eager to display his big band ensemble in studio, Charles enlisted premier jazz arrangersGerald Wilson andGil Fuller, whileMarty Paich, who was active in theWest Coast jazz scene, was hired to arrange the lushstrings andchorus numbers.[16] Despite enlisting a roster of professional arrangers and musicians, Charles intended to control the artistic direction of the recordings. To indicate specificlicks he wanted emphasized for certain songs, Charles would put together voice-and-pianodemos and pass them along to the arrangers, informing them of what he wanted to do with specific sounds. According to Feller, at one point during recording, Charles rewrote an entire botched arrangement and dictated the parts to each of the 18 backing musicians.[9]
The album's themes are about heartbreak and love, with most of the material chosen by Charles being ballads. The concept which had originally attracted the interest of Charles to this style of music was the strength he admired in writing a ballad's somber or melancholy lyrics and then performing the ballad with aesthetic and emotional stability; an element he had found to be common in even the most diverse musical genres.[13] Writer Daniel Cooper said of Charles's adaptation of country elements, "His country forays play like a series of intricate variations or like one long meditation on the expansive qualities of music commonly described as the white man's blues."[13]AllMusic's Stephen Cook writes that "Charles intones the sleepy-blue nuances of country crooners while still giving the songs a needed kick with his gospel outbursts."[1]
Despite the racial and social implications of R&B and country at the time, Charles did not agree with contemporary views ofrace records and other genres, including pop and country, as essentially different.[11] In an interview withBen Fong-Torres ofRolling Stone, Charles said of the similarities between the blues and country music, "[T]he words to country songs are very earthy like the blues, see, very down. They're not as dressed up, and the people are very honest and say, 'Look, I miss you, darlin', so I went out and I got drunk in this bar.' That's the way you say it. Where inTin Pan Alley will say, 'Oh, I missed you darling, so I went to this restaurant and I sat down and I had dinner for one.' That's cleaned up now, you see? But country songs and the blues is like it is."[11]
In an interview with music historianPeter Guralnick, Charles further elaborated on his understanding, stating "You take country music, you take black music, you got the same goddamn thing exactly."[13] WhileModern Sounds features mostly covers of country and western music standards, its sound and musical style are marked by the heavy rhythm and blues influence of Charles's playing. A considerable amount of the material's melancholy lyrics and words are backed by piano and orchestral arrangements that are rooted in jazz, as well asWest Coast and Charles's style ofpiano blues.[17] Charles has said that the country album was "completely different from rhythm and blues".[18]
"You Don't Know Me" has a string and vocal ensemble production and themes of desirousunrequited love.[19] The song's narrator longs for a woman that views him as "just a friend/That's all I've ever been/For you don't know me."[19]AllMusic editor Bill Janovitz writes of the song's affecting narrative, stating "The genius, the pathos, and the soul that is Charles oozes into this recording [...] No matter how many times one hears the song, it still induces chills down the spine after the narrator blows any chance he might have had and is left alone at the end."[19]
Both composed byHank Williams, "You Win Again" and "Hey, Good Lookin'" are derived from Williams's different emotional perspectives. The difference is further accentuated by Charles's interpretations of the songs.[16] "I Can't Stop Loving You", acountrypolitan ballad with lush, cushioned arrangements, was placed at the 11th spot in the track listing, assumed by Sid Feller to be the album's weakest song, after which becoming the album's top-selling single. Charles was disappointed with him, as Feller was in charge of sequencing for the album.[16]
Charles also covered the heartbreak ballads "It Makes No Difference Now" and "I Love You So Much It Hurts", both originally byhonky tonk musicianFloyd Tillman,. TheTed Daffan-penned "Worried Mind" and "Born to Lose" expand his take on country balladry and feature a blend ofpiano blues with string arrangements.[20]
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was released in March 1962[21] and quickly became one of the best-selling albums recorded by a black musician of the time, as well as one of the best-selling country albums,[7] shipping at least 500,000 copies in its first three months of release.[22] This achievement was due in part to the mainstream promotional effortsModern Sounds had received from ABC prior to and following release.[23] The album proved to be a crossover hit as well, as distributors claimed the record had been selling in pop, R&B and country musicmarkets; at the time, often referred to as white and black markets during the period.[23]
Writing of the album shortly after its release,Billboard magazine claimed that, "in addition to being powerful dealer material, this package will fracture knowledgeable jockeys who will find in it a wealth of material to talk about as well as play."[23] By mid-April, reports of the album's sales and radio airplay had started coming in from cities such as Dallas and Philadelphia. On June 23, 1962, the mono issue ofModern Sounds replaced theWest Side Story soundtrack album as the number one album in the United States, knocking it off the top of theBillboard Pop Albums chart.[23]
The album spawned four charting singles, "Born to Lose", "Careless Love", "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "You Don't Know Me", the latter two of which went number one on theAdult Contemporary chart.[24] The hit singles quickly gained a significant amount ofradio airplay on both country and R&B stations.[25] By mid-May, the album's lead single, "I Can't Stop Loving You", had sold 700,000 copies within its first four weeks of release.[23] Recorddealers began describing the album as "equal in sales action to some of the earlyPresley disks" and, after moving 400,000 copies of the single, influential Atlantarecord distributor Gwen Kestler toldBillboard magazine that "the record is so hot in her district that people who don't even own record players are buying it."[23] "I Can't Stop Loving You" hit number one on theBillboard Pop Singles chart on June 2, spending five consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. By the time it fell off the top, the single was reported to have reached nearly a million and a half in sales, moving over 100,000 copies per week. In July the record spent two weeks at number one inGreat Britain.[26]
AsModern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its singles were performing well in the United States, Charles toured Europe with his big band andthe Raelettes.[23] He performed both his signature R&B and jazz material at such venues asParis Olympia and theHot Club de France, where he was hailed as "a true jazz artist in the tradition ofLouis Armstrong andDuke Ellington."[23] Upon his return to the United States at the end of the summer, ABC-Paramount had officially recognized his achievements, presenting Charles with twogold records—one for "I Can't Stop Loving You", the other for hisModern Sounds album—during a live concert performance at the Convention Hall inAsbury Park, New Jersey.[23] Through his ventures into country music and the European jazz scene, Charles's white audience grew significantly at concerts.[23] The album was quickly followed by another recording of country, western and pop standards covered by Charles, and recorded in September 1962.Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2 was released six months after the first volume and proved to be equally successful, while also earning a gold certification by the following year.[22][27] Following his tenure with ABC-Paramount, Charles later went on to achieve more commercial success recording country music underColumbia Records throughout most of the 1980s.[28]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| New Record Mirror |   [29] |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [30] |
| Blender | [31] |
| Country Weekly | [32] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [33] |
| Music Story | [citation needed] |
| MusicHound R&B | [34] |
| Q | [20] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [10] |
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music received positive reviews from critics of both rhythm and blues and country music.[27]Billboard called it "one of the most intriguing albums in a long time" in a contemporary review, finding its musical concept "wonderful".[35] "I Can't Stop Loving You" earned Charles aGrammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the1963 Grammy Awards,[36] while the album was nominated in theAlbum of the Year category.[citation needed]
Since its initial reception, the album has been praised by critics for Charles's style and manner of interpreting country music into his R&B musical language.[28]Robert Hilburn of theLos Angeles Times wrote that the "masterful interpretation of several country standards ... opened a lot of pop ears to country music and showed Nashville much about the proper use of orchestration."[37]AllMusic editor Stephen Cook called the album a "fine store of inimitable interpretations", and stated, "Less modern for its country-R&B blend and lushly produced C&W tone than for its place as a high-profile crossover hit,Modern Sounds in Country and Western fit right in with Ray Charles's expansive musical ways while on the Atlantic label in the '50s".[1] Chris Neal ofCountry Weekly commented that Charles "recast 12 country favorites in big-band and orchestrated settings with a visionary's easy grace", adding that he "gets to the heart of each [song] in a way that remains thoroughly modern."[32] John Morthland of theOxford American called it a "landmark LP of transcendent vocals set against kitschy orchestrations that (along with early rock 'n' roll) illuminated black-white roots connections for a popular audience."[38]
In 1999, the album was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame, as was "I Can't Stop Loving You" in 2001.Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was cited byThe Recording Academy as a recording of "historical significance".[39] "I Can't Stop Loving You" was ranked number 49 onCountry Music Television's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music.[citation needed] In November 2003,Rolling Stone ranked the album number 104 on its list of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[40] and 105 in a 2012 revised list,[41] and 127 in a 2020 revised list.[42] The album was also included inRobert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[43]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blender | United States | The 100 Greatest American Albums of All time[citation needed] | 2002 | 16 | ||
| Blender | U.S. | 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die[citation needed] | 2003 | * | ||
| CMT | U.S. | 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music[citation needed] | 2006 | 2 | ||
| Elvis Costello (Vanity Fair, Issue No. 483) | U.S. | 500 Albums You Need[44] | 2005 | * | ||
| Fast 'n' Bulbous | U.S. | The Best Albums from 1949–64[citation needed] | 2005 | 85 | ||
| Greil Marcus | U.S. | STRANDED: "Treasure Island" Albums[45] | 1979 | * | ||
| Pause & Play | U.S. | Albums Inducted into a Time Capsule[46] | 2008 | * | ||
| The Recording Academy | U.S. | Grammy Hall of Fame Albums and Songs[47] | 1999 | * | ||
| The Review (University of Delaware) | U.S. | 100 Greatest Albums of All Time[citation needed] | 2001 | 88 | ||
| Robert Dimery | U.S. | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[48] | 2005 | * | ||
| Rolling Stone | U.S. | 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[49] | 2023 | 127 | ||
| Stereophile | U.S. | 40 Years of Stereophile: The 40 Essential Albums[50] | 2002 | Honorable mention | ||
| Time | U.S. | Top 100 Albums of All Time[51] | 2006 | * | ||
| VH1 | U.S. | The 100 Greatest Albums of R 'N' R[52] | 2001 | 97 | ||
| Various writers | U.S. | Albums: 50 Years of Great Recordings[53] | 2006 | * | ||
| John Tobler | United Kingdom | 100 Great Albums of the Sixties[54] | 1994 | * | ||
| Paul Morley | U.K. | 100 Greatest Albums[55] | 2003 | * | ||
| Exposure | Canada | 50 Greatest Albums not to make the Greatest Albums lists[citation needed] | 2005 | 10 | ||
| (*) designates lists that are unordered. | ||||||
In the wake ofModern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its success, country music experienced an immediate increase in popularity. According to music writer Daniel Cooper, "the album raised the genre's profile", specificallyNashville sound, which Charles had covered.[13] Benefiting from this were songwriters, music publishers, and country singers who covered the subgenre's material. As noted by Cooper, by the end of 1962, Nashville country publishers were being held as "the hottest source of music material in the record business these days."[13] Charles's success with the stylistic fusion of country and soul onModern Sounds led to similar efforts from artists such asCandi Staton andSolomon Burke, who were greatly influenced by the album.[56] Many country music artists such asWillie Nelson andBuck Owens have cited Charles's take on the genre with the album as a major influence.[7] In an interview forCountry Music Television (CMT), Nelson said that the album "did more for country music than any one artist has ever done."[56] Doug Freeman of theAustin Chronicle wrote of Charles's influence through the album, stating:
Country and soul have always had a tenuous connection, undoubtedly exacerbated by the racial identifications of their respective fanbases. Yet despite the perceived disconnect between the two genres, the populist formats of both have always been more fluid and contiguous than is traditionally recognized.Elvis' melding of country and R&B may even arguably be considered the genesis ofrock & roll, though that middle ground has largely only served to allow soul and country to remain segregated. With his 1962Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Ray Charles created the benchmark for crossing the line, highlighting the similarities in sentiment often overshadowed by sound.[57]
Summing up on the impactModern Sounds had on country music and listeners, writer Daniel Cooper states, "There is no telling how many people, who perhaps never paid much attention to country music or even had professed to dislike it, listened anew based on the impact of having heard what Ray Charles was capable of doing with that music."[58] Charles eventually earned a country music repertoire and reputation following the success of theModern Sounds records, later country hit singles for Warner Bros. Records, and various appearances at country music events, includingThe Johnny Cash Show in 1970 and theGrand Ole Opry's 58th anniversary in 1983, the program to which he listened as a youth.[59]
Following the album's release, Charles quickly earned an influx of white listeners and audiences at concert venues, without experiencing any fall-out from his predominantly black audience.[58] Writer Daniel Cooper later said of the album's effect, "It's an idea as corny as any country song you can think of, and one that Charles knew to be true; music unites people. It just really does."[58] Throughout the years following its initial reception,Modern Sounds gained further acknowledgment of its impact on the music industry and society. Through conceiving and recording the album, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to receive and practice artistic control bestowed upon by a mainstream record company.[7] In a 1998 interview, country musicianRaul Malo acknowledged the album's influence, calling it "one of the most important records of our time, not only because of its content, but also due to its social and political ramifications."[60] In a July 8, 2004 article forRolling Stone magazine, music journalistRobert Christgau praised the impact and influence that theModern Sounds recordings had on music, stating "In the world it created, not only could a black person sing theAmerican songbookElla Fitzgerald owned by then, but a country black person could take it over. Soon Charles's down-home diction, cotton-field grit, corn-pone humor and overstated shows of emotion were standard operating procedure inAmerican music, black and white."[61]
In addition to its social implications, the musical integration of soul and country into popular format by Charles changed and revolutionizedracial boundaries and restraints in music, and contributed to the historicalCivil Rights Movement.[62] Robert Fontenot ofAbout.com was one of several writers to praise the album's musical and social implications, stating "Arguably one of the most brilliant interpretive albums ever released, it did more to integrate modern American music than almost any other LP in history."[63] In paying tribute to the magazine's selection of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, which had selected Charles at #2, singer-songwriterBilly Joel noted the album's racial and social impact in an article forRolling Stone, stating "here is a black man giving you the whitest possible music in the blackest possible way, while all hell is breaking loose with the civil rights movement."[64] Another article forRolling Stone, written in honor of Charles and his achievements, later stated that through hisModern Sounds recordings, Ray Charles "made it acceptable for black people to sing country & western music, in the process doing almost as much to break down racial barriers as did the civil-rights movement."[65]
In addition to the album's legacy as one of the most influential recordings of all time,Modern Sounds also had an effect on Charles's later work.[7] According to writer Nate Guidry, the recording marked the zenith of Charles's popularity and success.[66] By the mid-1960s and continuing into the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of his musical output was focused onto more middle of the road and pop releases, featuring less of his recognizable, trademark soul and R&B, and more of the crossover and fusion tendencies ofModern Sounds in Country and Western Music. On the album's influence, columnist Spencer Leigh ofThe Independent stated that "Numerous artists followed Charles's lead, but it must be said that Charles himself repeated the trick much too often."[67] The period of releases followingModern Sounds has been recognized by writers as a "critical slide" and the weakest in his recording career.[7][10][11] Several of the LP albums from this period have yet to be reissued and have remained rare among record collectors, if notout of print.[10] Charles's final studio albumGenius Loves Company (2004) would later be released shortly after his death, and proved to be a comeback success, in terms of sales and critical response, as it quickly became Charles's first top-10 album in forty years and the best-selling record of his career.[68][69]
On October 27, 1998,Rhino Entertainment issued a four-discbox set entitledThe Complete Country & Western Recordings: 1959–1986, which chronicles Charles's country and western recordings. The collection features the two volumes ofModern Sounds, as well as his later country singles for Warner Bros.[70] Included in the set is a hardcover booklet of essays by producer Sid Feller, writer Daniel Cooper, and Ray Charles, along with liner photography by Howard Morehead and Les Leverett.[71] On June 2, 2009, both volumes ofModern Sounds in Country and Western Music were reissued as a single package byConcord Music.[72]
All tracks were produced by Ray Charles and Sid Feller.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bye Bye Love" | Boudleaux Bryant,Felice Bryant | 2:09 |
| 2. | "You Don't Know Me" | Eddy Arnold,Cindy Walker | 3:14 |
| 3. | "Half as Much" | Curley Williams | 3:24 |
| 4. | "I Love You So Much It Hurts" | Floyd Tillman | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)" | Eddy Arnold,Zeke Clements | 3:26 |
| 6. | "Born to Lose" | Frankie Brown, pseudonym ofTed Daffan | 3:15 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Worried Mind" | Ted Daffan,Jimmie Davis | 2:54 |
| 2. | "It Makes No Difference Now" | Floyd Tillman, Jimmie Davis | 3:30 |
| 3. | "You Win Again" | Hank Williams | 3:29 |
| 4. | "Careless Love" | Traditional, arranged byRay Charles | 3:56 |
| 5. | "I Can't Stop Loving You" | Don Gibson | 4:13 |
| 6. | "Hey, Good Lookin'" | Hank Williams | 2:10 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "You Are My Sunshine" (fromModern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two, 1962) | Jimmie Davis,Charles Mitchell | 3:01 |
| 14. | "Here We Go Again" (fromRay Charles Invites You to Listen, 1967) | Don Lanier,Red Steagall | 3:18 |
| 15. | "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven)" (fromIngredients in a Recipe for Soul, 1963) | Haven Gillespie, Beasley Smith | 4:21 |
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | U.S.Pop Albums chart | 1 (14 weeks)[73] |
| UK Albums Chart | 6[74] |
| Year | Single | Peak positions[26][75] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B Singles | Easy Listening | UK Singles | |||
| 1962 | "Born to Lose" | 41 | — | — | — | |
| "Careless Love" | 60 | — | — | — | ||
| "I Can't Stop Loving You" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| "You Don't Know Me" | 2 | 5 | 1 | 9 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||
Recent exceptional albums featuring male vocalists – ... on ABC-Paramount, Ray Charles offers 'Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music' ...
The following albums have been inducted into an ongoing Pause & Play time capsule for posterity's sake. They're in no order of importance.
Bibliography
| Studio albums | |
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| Posthumous studio creations | |
| Live albums | |
| Notable compilations | |
| Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles | |
| OtherBillboard Charts #1 singles | |
| Grammy Awarded Works (not included above) | |
| See also | |
