Ray Charles' Out Of Print 'Love Country Style' Getting Reissued
(BHM) Ray Charles long out of print "Love Country Style" is set to be reissued by Tangerine Records on October 24th. Founded by Ray Charles in the 1960s, Tangerine Records is proud to celebrate the 17x GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and pianist's singular legacy with the Tangerine Master Series, a new slate of reissues highlighting Charles' best-known music alongside classic records long out of print, and ready for rediscovery.
Each album has been restored and remastered under the direct supervision of The Ray Charles Foundation, painting a vivid new portrait of an artist and icon whose impact continues to expand and inspire.
The Tangerine Master Series continues with today's release of Charles' long-overdue reissue of 1963's milestone Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul, available now at all DSPs, on CD, and vinyl for the first time in more than half a century. A top 10 stew of jazz, soul, and pop standards highlighted by the GRAMMY Award-winning, top 5 hit, "Busted," as well as the top 20 favorite, "That Old Lucky Sun," Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul made it abundantly clear that by the 1960s, Ray Charles didn't so much ignore genres, but had become a genre unto himself. Bootlegged across Europe for decades, this is the first and only legitimate reissue of this essential album on vinyl - as well as its first appearance on CD since the 1990s - now fully restored and remastered with the full cooperation of the Ray Charles Foundation
Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul follows the Tangerine Master Series' recent release of a newly remastered edition of 1974's Come Live With Me, a blend of pop and gospel-infused soul that sees Charles demonstrating his unmatched versatility available now at all DSPs and on vinyl for the first time in over 50 years; a CD edition arrives on Friday, September 26.
Next up in the Tangerine Master Series is 1970's out-of-print classic Love Country Style, available for the first time since its original release, on Friday, October 24.
A fan favorite that's one of the finest examples of Charles' crossover work, Love Country Style is the most soulful of his country records, as well as arguably the album that's the most connected to the current sound of today's country superstars. The album finds Charles once again embracing his love for the genre by delivering heartfelt renditions of songs by Mickey Newbury and Jimmy Webb with his signature blend of soul and sophistication. Backed by lush gospel-tinged arrangements, songs like his iconic version of "Ring of Fire" and "Don't Change On Me" (which hit the top 20 at R&B as well as the overall top 40) highlight Charles's unrivaled ability to transform country standards into something unmistakably his own. Out of print since its original release more than 50 years ago, Love Country Style now finally returns, fully restored and remastered in cooperation with the Ray Charles Foundation.
"Love Country Style, released in June 1970, drinks deeply from the country music well of genius, but is as rhythm-and-blues-rooted as it is in the countrypolitan idiom," writes author/DJ/cultural critic Ayana Contreras in an exclusive essay penned expressly for this new reissue. "[The album] draws from top-shelf country material from 'Ring Of Fire' (written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore and popularized by Johnny Cash) to 'I Keep It Hid' (penned by Jimmy Webb, known for his classics 'Wichita Lineman' and 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'). Both tracks are nothing short of revelations. In his hands, 'Ring Of Fire' is cast as a chorus of half-breathless seduction well-suited for an isolated mid-century modern motel somewhere in the high desert of the American Southwest.
"Charles went on to release four more well-received country albums during his career...And although Modern Sounds Vol. I was nominated for Album of the Year, and Charles went on to ultimately win 17 GRAMMYs in his lifetime (in rhythm & blues, gospel, and pop), a Country Music-specific GRAMMY win eluded him.... Love Country Style remains as a testament. The album embodies Charles's ability to cross genres with ease, weaving country traditions into his R&B and gospel sensibility. In doing so, he left a lasting imprint on the soundscape of American popular music."
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