The History of Rhythm and Blues series of CDs brings you the accidental synthesis of jazz, gospel, blues, ragtime, country, pop and Latin into a definable form of black music, which would influence pretty well all popular music from the 1950s to the present. It is the first attempt to put together a cross-label compilation showcasing the most important and influential records in the rise of Rhythm & Blues.
This exhilarating compilation …is a distillation of a four-CD set; as such, it’s an exceptionally strong collection, each of the 25 tracks a discovery, a joy. The liner notes are worth the price in themselves: Well-written and entertaining, they detail not only the history of each artist, but the context of each song…The most recent song on the album was recorded more than 65 years ago, but this is no dusty exercise in musicology. This is creative, vibrant music. Even today, it quickens the pulse. M.D.Spenser Blog May 2009
Anyone looking for a great sampler to hear some of the classic early rhythm and blues could do worse than to check out this 25-track release…As an introduction to early blues and more this compilation takes some beating – and to anyone doing research or a historian – I would imagine pretty essential, well done to compiler, Nick Duckett and to all concerned. GRAHAME RHODES
RANDB002
