Consumer Guide Album

Ray Charles: Love Country Style [ABC, 1970]
As satisfying as Charles's first c&w records were conceptually and vocally, I was always a little turned off by his countrypolitan taste for strings and choruses, and they're still with us--more muted, but also more prosaically arranged, except on the godawful "Good Morning Dear." Still, the first side is pure Charles country--eccentric and sexy, which real country rarely is, and funny as only Charles can be. I wonder what Johnny Cash will make of the almost inaudible lowdown whisper that closes "Ring of Fire." Love it, probably. B