Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by the American singer and pianist Ray Charles.

It featured country, folk, and Western music standards reworked by Charles in popular song forms of the time, including R&B, pop, and jazz.

Charles produced the album with Sid Feller, who helped the singer select songs to record, and performed alongside saxophonist Hank Crawford, a string section conducted by Marty Paich, and a big band arranged by Gil Fuller and Gerald Wilson.

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's integration of soul and country challenged racial barriers in popular music at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

According to Robert Christgau, the album "transfigured pop, prefigured soul, and defined modern country & western music.

[6] Following his blues fusion with gospel and jazz influences on his earlier Atlantic material, which had brought him much fame and controversy, Charles sought to experiment with country music.

[8][11] When Charles had announced that he wanted to work on an album of country music in 1961, during a period of racial 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.

[9] Following the successful lobby of the concept and a contract renewal in early 1962, which was linked to the launching of his own Tangerine label, Charles prepared his band for the recording sessions that produced Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music.

"[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.

[16] Charles also covered the heartbreak ballads "It Makes No Difference Now" and "I Love You So Much It Hurts", both originally by honky tonk musician Floyd Tillman,.

The Ted Daffan-penned "Worried Mind" and "Born to Lose" expand his take on country balladry and feature a blend of piano blues with string arrangements.

[22] This achievement was due in part to the mainstream promotional efforts Modern Sounds had received from ABC prior to and following release.

[26] As Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its singles were performing well in the United States, Charles toured Europe with his big band and the Raelettes.

"[23] Upon his return to the United States at the end of the summer, ABC-Paramount had officially recognized his achievements, presenting Charles with two gold records—one for "I Can't Stop Loving You", the other for his Modern Sounds album—during a live concert performance at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

"[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".

"[32] John Morthland of the Oxford 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.

According to music writer Daniel Cooper, "the album raised the genre's profile", specifically Nashville sound, which Charles had covered.

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 on Modern Sounds led to similar efforts from artists such as Candi Staton and Solomon Burke, who were greatly influenced by the album.

[54] Many country music artists such as Willie Nelson and Buck Owens have cited Charles's take on the genre with the album as a major influence.

"[54] Doug Freeman of the Austin 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.

[56] 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.

"[56] Throughout the years following its initial reception, Modern Sounds gained further acknowledgment of its impact on the music industry and society.

[7] In a 1998 interview, country musician Raul 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.

"[58] In a July 8, 2004 article for Rolling Stone magazine, music journalist Robert Christgau praised the impact and influence that the Modern Sounds recordings had on music, stating "In the world it created, not only could a black person sing the American songbook Ella 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 in American music, black and white.

"[61] In paying tribute to the magazine's selection of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, which had selected Charles at #2, singer-songwriter Billy Joel noted the album's racial and social impact in an article for Rolling 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.

The collection features the two volumes of Modern Sounds, as well as his later country singles for Warner Bros.[68] 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.