By 1960, the sound of black popular music had turned away from a driving, largely uptempo rhythm and blues towards a more emotionally poignant style described at the time as secularised gospel. The term ‘soul’ popped up here and there, but only became common parlance after Ray Charles’s I Believe To My Soul was released at the end of 1959. This compilation, part of the History of Soul series, brings together the finest tunes before soul went mainstream. We hope you will find the accompanying 28-page booklet interesting and informative.
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