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List Price: $44.98 | | Label: Rhino/Atlantic
Salesrank: 116186
Released: March 22, 1994 |
| Our Price: $31.33 |
| Used Price: $5.74 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Combining Charles's earliest and most blues-oriented work for Atlantic with some of his best jazz-oriented work in a 2 CD package, this set shows us both that Ray Charles could function admirably in either of two worlds. Or maybe it says that, no matter what the style, Ray Charles was always his own category. Either way, he shows his greatness pays no mind to categories. The blues disc offers up true classics like "The Sun's Gonna Shine", and the jazz disc shows off both Charles and alto saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman as fantastic, bluesy soloists of the first water. --Skip Heller
Blues + Jazz Reviews:
Stunning 
2007-10-21 - Ray Charles deserves his own genre. There is something unmistakable about what Ray Charles brought to music, I'd venture to say it was his very own Soul! If you're searching for an example of this, it's all here in this collection. Your spine will tingle and your skin will crawl. This is beyond just good! Stunning and then some!
This is Ray Charles
2006-03-29 - The only way to find out about an artist is to dive into as much material as possible and find what you like.His country and western stuff was good but this is the disc that I go for every time.Ray is at his soulful best right here playing in small combos and a few cuts with him by himself on piano,every song is a gem and even people who consider themselves casual fans will gain a new appreciation for this incredible mans talent.
He basically wrote the book on modern soul and r&b and these cuts prove it.If the greatest hits are where you started then you have arrived at one of the most important stops on the trip.
Great music from a great talent and it does not get any better than this.
Hidden gems... 
2003-07-23 - 40 tracks that fully justify Ray Charles' credentials as an exceptionally gifted blues singer and jazz piano player. But there's more, for hidden in here are several real gems including the rolling work-out of "Early in the Morning", the deeply gospel "I Believe to My Soul" and the ecstatic "What Would I do Without You". Best of all is his rarely found "Worried Life Blues" (originally released as "Someday Baby"): one of the saddest, most soulful renditions of the Big Maceo Merriweather classic you'll ever hear, featuring wonderfully sparse singing and some incredibly understated and controlled piano-playing that quite simply sum-up "the blues". Brilliant, and almost worth the price of the album on its own!
You Got the Right One Ba-by!
2002-01-12 - For the younger generation who only knows Ray as the "old guy in the Pepsi commercials" and those familiar with only his popular and more commercially successful recordings, who want to get to the roots of the real soul of Ray Charles, this compilation is for you.
This 2 disc compilation includes many of Ray's earlier Atlantic Recordings from the 50's and 60's. The first disc consists of his blues recordings while the second reflects his explorations in the roots of jazz. Both jazz and blues purists will delight in Ray's vocal and instrumental piano blues stripped of the overproduction that characterizes so much of the blues and jazz genres today.
Beyond a couple of rough spots on a few of the earlier recordings, this is a collection of beautiful blues and jazz pieces with a fairly comprehensive 34 page liner notebook which includes information about each individual selection. If you are a blues, jazz or Ray Charles fan, this compilation won't disappoint.
a suprize around every corner
1999-09-17 - RAY YA DID IT AGAIN DISC #2 i listen passivley till ya grabed my ear and said listen hear. and i did over,over &OVER AGAIN,& again and then inspiration struck like a big ol'e mack truck you keep on a written those sweet melodies and i'll do my best to keep written great lyric's to your great songs the wordsmith13 is hot on your trail and ready to whale drop a dime wordsmith13@msn.com
