The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 11

Ray Charles – I Can’t Stop Loving You

I Can’t Stop Loving You was written and originally recorded by Don Gibson (one of the originators of the Nashville Sound) in 1957. In 1958, Gibson’s version climbed to #7 in Billboard’s Country Singles charts. Gibson’s success, though, was eclipsed four years later, when Ray Charles released his version of the song. In 1962, Charles’ recording reached #1 in three separate U.S. charts (Hot 100, R&B Styles and Adult Contemporary), and in both the UK’s and Australia’s Singles charts.

Gibson sang I Can’t Stop Loving You as a straight country song with a hint of TexMex in the accompaniment. Charles, in a stroke of musical and marketing genius, transformed it into an amalgam of country, blues, jazz, soul and pop styles – with the heaviest emphasis on the blues, of which Charles was a master. The song suited his voice and his wry performing style perfectly.

Here’s Charles doing a live version of I Can’t Stop Loving You on the Dick Cavett Show:

Here’s Gibson’s original version: