50 countryplader enhver rockfan bør kende…

”Inventing soul music as a combination of blues sensuality and gospel fervor, as Ray Charles did, would be enough to put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's inaugural class. But Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is even more audacious, quite possibly the ultimate crossover move. Running country standards by the likes of Hank Williams and Eddy Arnold through his inimitable soul-man filter, Charles won over both audiences — and even beat Frank Sinatra at his own big-band game. That's a mighty big tent, but they didn't call Charles "the Genius" for nothing. Astoundingly, Modern Sounds and its Volume Two follow up (the rare sequel that's just as good as its predecessor) took a grand total of five days in the studio. Even more astoundingly, Charles' label tried to talk him out of doing it. As Charles remembered it in Rolling Stone a decade later, ABC-Paramount's brass told him, "You can't do no country-western things. . .You're gonna lose all your fans!" Instead, Modern Sounds became ABC-Paramount's first million-selling album”

Om Ray Charles’ 'Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music’, der kom i 1962.

Rolling Stone har udarbejdet en liste med 50 countryplader som enhver rockfan bør kende. Jeg kender ikke Ray Charles-pladen, selvom den ligger nummer tre på listen. Med andre ord, jeg har noget hjemmearbejde at gøre. Se alle 50 album herunder.