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Ray Charles - The Birth Of Soul Volume Two (1954-1957) (1957)

Track listing:
  1. I Got A Woman 2:50
  2. Greenbacks 2:51
  3. Come Back Baby 3:06
  4. A Fool For You 3:02
  5. This Little Girl Of Mine 2:32
  6. Hard Times 2:55
  7. A Bit Of Soul 2:20
  8. Mary Ann 2:47
  9. Drown In My Own Tears 3:21
  10. Hallelujah I Love Her So 2:35
  11. What Would I Do Without You 2:36
  12. Lonely Avenue 2:35
  13. I Want To Know 2:25
  14. Leave My Woman Alone 2:41
  15. It's Alright 2:17
  16. Ain't That Love 2:52
  17. Get On The Right Track 2:20
  18. Rockhouse Parts 1 & 2 3:51

Notes

The title isn't just hype — this absolutely essential three-disc box is where soul music first took shape and soared, courtesy of Ray Charles' church-soaked pipes and bedrock piano work. Brother Ray's formula for inventing the genre was disarmingly simple: he brought gospel intensity to the R&B world with his seminal "I Got a Woman," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Leave My Woman Alone," "You Be My Baby," and the primal 1959 call-and-response classic "What'd I Say." There's plenty of brilliant blues content within these 53 historic sides: Charles' mournful "Losing Hand," "Feelin' Sad," "Hard Times," and "Blackjack" ooze after-hours desperation. No blues collection should be without this boxed set, which comes with well-researched notes by Robert Palmer, a nicely illustrated accompanying booklet, and discographical info aplenty.