Post by erik on Dec 4, 2021 13:39:11 GMT -5
Ray Charles' second big R&B/pop rendition of a country music classic, recorded for his 1962 album Modern Sounds In Country And Western, is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
YOU DON’T KNOW ME (Ray Charles; ABC; 1962)—With roots in soul, gospel, and jazz, Ray Charles was the pre-eminent R&B artist for close to half a century; and his hits covered the gamut from slightly suggestive R&B (“What’d I Say”) to the Great American Songbook (“Georgia On My Mind”) and instrumental rock (“One Mint Julep”). But in 1962, he did something that was, for all intents and purposes, totally unprecedented: He became the first African-American R&B artist to do an entire album of country and western standards. Though he had already gained the reputation of being The Genius, many felt that he was actually crazy to cover songs of a genre known for its racism and bigotry towards those of his skin color and ethnicity. Nevertheless, the album in question, Modern Sounds In Country And Western, was a massive seller, both with R&B and pop audiences, as Charles bought a combination of R&B and orchestral pop to these well-worn standards. His rendition of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was an across-the-board smash during the late spring of 1962; and over the summer, he released his own take of another long-standing country classic, “You Don’t Know Me”. Written by Cindy Walker and first recorded in the mid-1950’s by legendary Nashville MOR crooner Eddy Arnold, “You Don’t Know Me” got the respectful and individualistic Brother Ray treatment; and while it may not have gone to #1 like “I Can’t Stop Loving You” did, it did hit #2 on both the pop and R&B charts in September. Charles would continue to have hits throughout the rest of 1962 and on into 1963 that came from the country vault, including versions of Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Take These Chains From My Heart”; “You Are My Sunshine”; and a jazzy version of the Harlan Howard-penned hard-times lament “Busted”; and he would do more straight country in the 1980’s, teaming up with, among others, Willie Nelson.
YOU DON’T KNOW ME (Ray Charles; ABC; 1962)—With roots in soul, gospel, and jazz, Ray Charles was the pre-eminent R&B artist for close to half a century; and his hits covered the gamut from slightly suggestive R&B (“What’d I Say”) to the Great American Songbook (“Georgia On My Mind”) and instrumental rock (“One Mint Julep”). But in 1962, he did something that was, for all intents and purposes, totally unprecedented: He became the first African-American R&B artist to do an entire album of country and western standards. Though he had already gained the reputation of being The Genius, many felt that he was actually crazy to cover songs of a genre known for its racism and bigotry towards those of his skin color and ethnicity. Nevertheless, the album in question, Modern Sounds In Country And Western, was a massive seller, both with R&B and pop audiences, as Charles bought a combination of R&B and orchestral pop to these well-worn standards. His rendition of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was an across-the-board smash during the late spring of 1962; and over the summer, he released his own take of another long-standing country classic, “You Don’t Know Me”. Written by Cindy Walker and first recorded in the mid-1950’s by legendary Nashville MOR crooner Eddy Arnold, “You Don’t Know Me” got the respectful and individualistic Brother Ray treatment; and while it may not have gone to #1 like “I Can’t Stop Loving You” did, it did hit #2 on both the pop and R&B charts in September. Charles would continue to have hits throughout the rest of 1962 and on into 1963 that came from the country vault, including versions of Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Take These Chains From My Heart”; “You Are My Sunshine”; and a jazzy version of the Harlan Howard-penned hard-times lament “Busted”; and he would do more straight country in the 1980’s, teaming up with, among others, Willie Nelson.