A bargain bin reissue of the 1986 album FRIENDSHIP, SUPERHITS features Brother Ray in a series of duets with country singers, an idea that shouldn't be too surprising to anyone aware of Charles' classic 1961 album MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY & WESTERN MUSIC.
Most of the singers (and in the case of Chet Atkins, one guitarist) here blend with Charles like a charm, in particular George Jones, who to all intents is to country music what Ray Charles is to R&B--the most soulful guy around (Merle Haggard, who's probably the second most soulful country guy around, is featured memorably on "Little Hotel Room"). The seemingly oddest cut, Cole Porter's "Friendship" with Ricky Skaggs, actually works, since Porter wrote it as a sort of faux country tune in the first place.
