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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: Atlantic / Wea
Salesrank: 115189
Released: October 1, 1991 |
| Our Price: $69.99 |
| Used Price: $31.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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The Birth Of Soul : The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959 Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. Sun's Gonna Shine Again
2. Roll with My Baby
3. Midnight Hour
4. Jumpin' in the Mornin'
5. It Should've Been Me
6. Losing Hand
7. Heartbreaker
8. Sinner's Prayer
9. Mess Around
10. Funny (But I Still Love You)
11. Feelin' Sad
12. I Wonder Who
13. Don't You Know
14. Nobody Cares
15. Ray's Blues
16. Mr. Charles' Blues
17. Blackjack
Disc 2:
1. I Got a Woman
2. Greenbacks
3. Come Back Baby
4. Fool for You
5. This Little Girl of Mine
6. Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)
7. Bit of Soul
8. Mary Ann
9. Drown in My Own Tears
10. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
11. What Would I Do Without You?
12. Lonely Avenue
13. I Want to Know
14. Leave My Woman Alone
15. It's Alright
16. Ain't That Love
17. Get on the Right Track Baby
18. Rock House, Pts. 1-2
Editorial Review:
Though this is not the most recent Ray Charles box set collection, it may be the best. That's because it focuses on Ray's great growth in the 1950s, particularly his days with Atlantic Records. The set opens with Ray still in a Charles Brown, smooth-voice, mellow-piano mode, but in short order, he discovers his own identity. From the good time of "It Should Have Been Me" on disc one, though the orgiastic "What'd I Say, Parts 1 & 2" on disc three, the man they call "The Genius" rocks, rolls, raises the rafters, and sinks way down low with the blues. This box also features an excellent essay by the late music historian, Robert Palmer. --Robert Gordon
The Birth Of Soul : The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952-1959 Reviews:
EXCELLENT COMPILATION BOX SET 
2007-10-20 - HERE ARE ALL OF RAY CHARLES' SONGS THAT HE RECORDED ON ATLANTIC RECORDS, BASICALLY IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. A GREAT BOX SET WITH INFORMATIVE BOOKLET. THESE ARE THE SONGS THAT MADE ALEGEND OUT OF A MAN. NO-ONE CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION, BUT I DO FIND MYSELF LISTENING TO DISCS 2& 3 MORE THAN THE FIRST ONE. RAY'S EARLIEST RECORDINGS (Disc 1) ARE MORE LIKE IMITATIONS OF CHARLES BROWN OR FLOYD DIXON, AND THE LATER RECORDINGS ARE WHEN HE REALLY BECOMES "BROTHER RAY".
THIS Is How To Present A "Best Of" Collection 
2007-08-23 - This 3 CD box set from Atlantic should stand as a monument to the way an artist's "best of" compilation should be presented.
Ray's first charted hit came in 1949 for the Down Beat label as a member of The Maxin Trio when Confusion Blues reached # 2 on what passed then for the R&B charts. In 1951, on his own now with the Swing Time label, he then scored with Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand [# 5 R&B] and followed that in 1952 with Kiss-A Me Baby [# 8 R&B].
That led to a contract with Atlantic Records where, in May 1954, he had his first hit with It Should've Been Me [# 5 R&B] b/w Sinner's Prayer. That was followed in August by Don't You Know [# 10 R&B] b/w Losing Hand. All four sides are in this set.
Then came the seminal I've Got A Woman [sometimes listed as I Got A Woman] which soared to # 1 R&B early in 1955 b/w Come Back, itself a hit at # 4 R&B. In fact, from that point onward to 1956's Hellelujah I Love Her So, he would have only double-sided hits. And they are ALL here, as are both sides to all his following Atlantic hits up to, and including, the old Hank Snow Country smash [a hint of things to come with that genre] I'm Movin' On [# 11 R&B/# 40 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in 1959] b/w I Believe To My Soul.
It's interesting to note that it took the Pop market over eight years to "discover" Ray, and when they did it was to deliver a modest # 34 in November 1957 for Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River), which was the B-side to Ain't That Love, which only made the R&B charts at # 9 (Swanee River Rock also scored at # 14 R&B).
For some reason, the ONLY Atlantic hits not included are Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' [# 17 R&B/# 95 Hot 100 in 1960] and its B-side, Let The Good Times Roll [# 78 Hot 100], and Just For A Thrill [# 16 R&B] and its flipside Heartbreaker. Also, while his final Atlantic hit, Tell The Truth [# 13 R&B in September 1960] IS included, the B-side, Sweet Sixteen Bars, is not.
These, however, are minor quibbles. The large 32-page booklet contains not only a complete discography of the contents, along with numerous photographs and album/45rpm/poster reproductions, but also an extensive essay as well, written by Robert Palmer.
Deserves a prize place in any serious music collection.
A Beautiful Set
2007-05-29 - This boxed set is superbly packaged, CD 1 covers 1952 to 1954, CD 2 1954 to 1957 and CD 3 1957 to 1959. Theres a nice accompanying booklet which gives full credit to all the known musicians and there is a substantial written history of Ray Charles time at Atlantic records which must runs into thousand of words.
Jerry Wexler is quoted in these notes saying "In terms of purity and musical value, he cut his best sides for us. It was righteous roots music. It was intrinsically great music". So its no surprise that the music IS some of the best stuff Ray Charles ever did. A mixture of Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, Gospel and Blues that quite rightly is called the birth of soul.
Soul Starts Here!
2006-06-07 - Normally box sets are the audio equivalent of a Whitman's Sampler; there's a lot to choose from and you may not like everything in it, but that ain't this box set baby! Covering Brother Ray's tenure at Atlantic Records from 1952 to 1959 this box set encompasses most everything he recorded there and is pretty much the creation of soul music as we know it today. Here is Ray fusing R&B, gospel, swing, jazz, and pretty much anything else he put his fertile mind to. Listen to these recordings and it won't take long for you to figure out why Ray was called "the Genius." The tracks crackle with life and energy and thanks to the re-mastering they received they also don't crackle and pop like some of the older re-issues and re-releases. There's no guile and plenty of style here; there's also more recent re-releases of this material, but this packs in a whole lot more and is the superior collection if you ask me. If your foot isn't tapping and your fingers snapping then you don't have a pulse brother.
We Need a Sixth Star for Mr. Charles
2005-12-31 - Ray Charles was a musician free of genre or style. He could play Rock, R&B, Country, and Soul with equal talent and virtuosity. The fact that he was able to do this, coupled with his invention of Soul, is simply a miracle of modern popular music.
These recordings, marking the birth of Soul from the mind of the greatest musician in popular music, are to be cherished for the history the present. Every one of these recordings are evidence of the genius tht was Ray Charles. Some are quite simple in their arrangement, some vastly more intricate, yet every one expresses the powerful emotions that exude from the music and the man.
This collection is seminal in it's importance in recording the birth of a genre that founded the careers of some of our most important popular musicians. Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gay, The Pointer Sisters, Barry White, etc. The list could go on for pages, but I think the point is made.
