During the late '40s and early '50s a single man can be held accountable for the success at Atlantic Records. Ahmet Ertegün sought to record a huge amount of jazz, blues, soul and RnB that up until that point had really been a cottage industry pointed at a very slim portion of the American populace

Being born to a Turkish diplomat brought Ertegün to this country. And as he grew up, he found the music of Professor Longhair, amongst others, to be sorta irresistible. To that end, he figured recording and distributing it would be not only a money maker, but a satisfying, life long, endeavor.

Along the way, Ertegün signed a cast of acts that count all too many Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. One of them was Ray Charles Robinson. Being left alone in the world after the death of both of his parents at a pretty young age, Ray Charles made his way to Seattle of all places to begin his career leading groups. Apparently, the odd move - instead of Chicago, New York or any number of other cities - worked out in the end allowing Charles easy access to the major cities on the west coast. He had his fair share of problems - in addition to heroin, being arrested and interpersonal relationships - Charles met with some discrimination due to his race. And being a vociferous proponent of Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr. probably didn't help too much either.

But during the latter part of the '50s and into the early portion of the following decade, Charles set down a string of inventive - musically and conceptually - albums that invariably altered the soul genre.

Rollicking piano licks, unexpurgated gasps of relationship related trifles and a slew of back ground singers are usually associated with the boisterous music of Charles. And while all of that is part of his recorded legacy, one of the most inventive albums he recorded borrowed more than liberally from the song book of popular country music. And as figured, during the early '60s as the civil rights movement was beginning to get its teeth, Charles' attempt to cross over - not just on the charts, but culturally - could be seen as an important step in unifying the country across socio-economic, racial and religious boundaries.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music wasn't the definitive statement of Charles' recorded life, but it did serve to expose him to a wider audience than before, while simultaneously allowing him to learn a thing or two from the music and its background. In this singular act, Charles was able to consume as much of another culture as he expected the record buying public to buy into, what was than considered by many to be, the cultural other.

The album was more than successful - it's cover of "Born to Lose" perhaps being the definitive recording of that tune. And even if Charles wasn't able to affect any sort of dramatic change on a national level, it was nonetheless a significant move on the part of the individual.