Country Song of the Week: 'I Can't Stop Loving You' Arguments about what is and isn't country music have gone on ever since the term was invented. Those who argue that Taylor Swift "isn't country" have a point. But it's important to remember that at one time even Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were seen as gate crashers. All great artists push the envelope; not all those who push the envelope are great artists. Ray Charles was a great artist. In 1962, the singer released "I Can't Stop Loving You" as the first single off his genre-hopping Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music . A stew of gospel, pop, soul, and Nashville polish, the song went on to sell over a million copies. Despite the sensation the tune caused on the charts, it was rejected from country radio. Was country music better for policing its stylistic borders so rigidly? Certainly, it wasn't effective. Ray Charles's soulful channeling of the country songbook become one of the most influential albums in country history.