EXCLUSIVELY STREAMING ON NPR MUSIC
LANDMARK ALBUMS TO BE RELEASED BY CONCORD ON FEBRUARY 22
NPR Music is currently offering a “First Listen,” an exclusive stream of the landmark Ray Charles albums MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC Volumes 1 & 2. Concord will reissue Vol. 1 on Vinyl and both volumes on cd and across all digital platforms on February 22. Writer Lauren Onkey called MODERN SOUNDS “one of the most interesting and brash albums of its time.”
Pre-order MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC Volumes 1 & 2 HERE
Charles grew up listening to country music, and was a lifelong fan of the story telling in country songwriting. In MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC, Mr. Charles reworked some of his favorite songs including “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “You Don’t Know Me,” and “Born to Lose.” His record company was, at first, taken aback by Charles’s challenge to musical convention. The album’s integration of soul and country music at the height of the civil rights movement overcame racial barriers in popular music, and simultaneously gave country music far broader exposure than it had ever enjoyed. Speaking about Charles’ role in the popularization of the genre, Willie Nelson said “I think Ray Charles did as much as anybody when he did his country music album. Ray Charles broke down borders and showed the similarities between country music and R&B.”
The album was a blockbuster commercial success, spending 14 weeks atop the BIllboard Pop Albums Chart in 1962 and becoming the first country album in history to achieve Gold record status, which naturally led to a sequel, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two.
In addition, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will be celebrating the releases with a panel entitled Ray Charles: Still Modern. The panel takes place on February 23, and details can be found here.