Recording
The recording sessions for Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music took place at three sessions in mid-February 1962. The first two sessions were set on February 5 and 7 at Capitol Studios in New 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 at United Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Instead of drawing what he should record from memory and his knowledge of country music, Charles asked his newly appointed A&R (Artists and Repertoire) man and record producer Sid Feller to research top country standards through major country music publishers. By canvassing premier country publishing companies, such as Acuff-Rose Publishing (which featured the Hank Williams catalog) and Hill & Range Songs, most of which were located in Nashville, Tennessee, Feller amassed around 250 songs on tape for Charles to consider recording for Modern 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 and later recalled the experience:
e 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.While his selections provided the album's country and western foundation, the musical arrangements represented its contemporary influence. Eager to display his big band ensemble in studio, Charles enlisted premier jazz arrangers Gerald Wilson and Gil Fuller, while Marty Paich, who was active in the West Coast jazz scene, was hired to arrange the lush strings and chorus numbers. Despite enlisting a roster of professional arrangers and musicians, Charles intended to control the artistic direction of the recordings. To indicate specific licks he wanted emphasized for certain songs, Charles would put together voice-and-piano demos 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. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music was his 18th overall LP release. According to Charles, the title of the album was conceived by producer Sid Feller and ABC-Paramount's executives and management people.
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