Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Lowe Groovin' - Joe Morris, Joe Morris
2. That Old Black Magic - Tiny Grimes, Tiny Grimes
3. Annie Laurie - Tiny Grimes, Tiny Grimes
4. Midnight Special - Tiny Grimes, Tiny Grimes
5. Applejack - Joe Morris, Joe Morris
6. Cole Slaw - Frank Culley
7. Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Sticks McGhee, Sticks McGhee & His Buddies
8. So Long - Ruth Brown
9. I'll Get Along Somehow - Ruth Brown
10. Hey Little Girl - Professor Longhair, Professor Longhair & His New Orleans Boys
11. Mardi Gras in New Orleans - Professor Longhair, Professor Longhair & His New Orleans Boys
12. Tee-Nah-Nah - Harry Van Walls
13. Danny Boy - Al Hibbler
14. Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere - Joe Morris, Joe Morris
15. Teardrops From My Eyes - Ruth Brown
16. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Sticks McGhee
17. Don't You Know I Love You - The Clovers
18. Shouldn't I Know - The Cardinals
19. Chill Is On - Big Joe Turner
20. Chains of Love - Big Joe Turner
21. Fool, Fool, Fool - The Clovers
22. One Mint Julep - The Clovers
23. Wheel of Fortune - The Cardinals
24. Sweet Sixteen - Big Joe Turner
25. 5-10-15 Hours - Ruth Brown
26. Gator's Groove - Willis "Gator" Jackson

Disc 2:

1. Ting-A-Ling - The Clovers
2. Daddy Daddy - Ruth Brown
3. Midnight Hour - Ray Charles
4. Beggar for Your Kisses - The Diamonds, The Diamonds
5. (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean - Ruth Brown
6. Good Lovin' - The Clovers
7. Wild, Wild Young Men - Ruth Brown
8. Mess Around - Ray Charles
9. Honey Hush - Big Joe Turner
10. Soul on Fire - LaVern Baker
11. Money Honey - The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter
12. Lovey Dovey - The Clovers
13. Such a Night - The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter
14. Tipitina - Professor Longhair
15. White Christmas - The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter
16. Honey Love - The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter
17. What' Cha Gonna Do - The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter
18. Shake, Rattle & Roll - Big Joe Turner
19. Sh-Boom - The Chords
20. Oh What a Dream - Ruth Brown
21. Jam Up - Tommy Ridgley
22. After the Lights Go Down Low - Al Hibbler
23. Tomorrow Night - LaVern Baker
24. Tweedlee Dee - LaVern Baker
25. I Got a Woman - Ray Charles
26. Greenbacks - Ray Charles

Disc 3:

1. Door Is Still Open to My Heart - The Cardinals
2. Flip Flop and Fly - Big Joe Turner
3. Fool for You - Ray Charles
4. This Little Girl of Mine - Ray Charles
5. Play It Fair - LaVern Baker
6. Adorable - The Drifters
7. Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Robins
8. Ruby Baby - The Drifters
9. In Paradise - The Cookies
10. Chicken and the Hawk - Big Joe Turner
11. Devil or Angel - The Clovers
12. Drown in My Own Tears - Ray Charles
13. Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Ray Charles
14. Jim Dandy - LaVern Baker
15. Down in Mexico - The Coasters
16. Corrine, Corrina - Big Joe Turner
17. Treasure of Love - Clyde McPhatter
18. Love, Love, Love - The Clovers
19. It's Too Late - Chuck Willis
20. Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
21. Since I Met You Baby - Ivory Joe Hunter
22. Lucky Lips - Ruth Brown
23. Without Love (There Is Nothing) - Clyde McPhatter
24. Fools Fall in Love - The Drifters
25. Midnight Special Train - Big Joe Turner
26. Empty Arms - Ivory Joe Hunter
27. C.C. Rider - Chuck Willis
28. Searchin' - The Coasters

Disc 4:

1. Young Blood - The Coasters
2. Mr. Lee - The Bobbettes
3. Long Lonely Nights - Clyde McPhatter
4. Betty and Dupree - Chuck Willis
5. What Am I Living For? - Chuck Willis
6. Hang up My Rock & Roll Shoes - Chuck Willis
7. Yakety Yak - The Coasters
8. Lover's Question - Clyde McPhatter
9. I Cried a Tear - LaVern Baker
10. Night Time Is the Right Time - Ray Charles
11. Charlie Brown - The Coasters
12. What'd I Say, Pts. 1 & 2 - Ray Charles
13. There Goes My Baby - The Drifters
14. Along Came Jones - The Coasters
15. Let the Good Times Roll - Ray Charles
16. Poison Ivy - The Coasters
17. Dance With Me - The Drifters
18. Just for a Thrill - Ray Charles
19. This Magic Moment - The Drifters
20. Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters
21. Shoppin' for Clothes - The Coasters
22. Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
23. Young Boy Blues - Ben E. King
24. Stand by Me - Ben E. King
25. Gee Whiz! (Look at His Eyes) - Carla Thomas
26. Saved - LaVern Baker
27. Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms) - Solomon Burke

Disc 5:

1. Little Egypt - The Coasters
2. Amor - Ben E. King
3. Last Night - The Mar-Keys
4. I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song) - The Ikettes
5. You Don't Miss Your Water - William Bell
6. I Found a Love - The Falcons
7. Cry to Me - Solomon Burke
8. Don't Play That Song (You Lied) - Ben E. King
9. Green Onions - Booker T. & the MG's
10. Up on the Roof - The Drifters
11. See See Rider - LaVern Baker
12. I (Who Have Nothing) - Ben E. King
13. If You Need Me - Solomon Burke
14. These Arms of Mine - Otis Redding
15. Hello Stranger - Barbara Lewis
16. On Broadway - The Drifters
17. Just One Look - Doris Troy
18. Mashed Potatoes - Nat Kendrick, The Swans
19. Land of 1000 Dances - Chris Kenner
20. Walking the Dog - Rufus Thomas
21. Release Me - Esther Phillips
22. Mercy Mercy - Don Covay
23. Under the Boardwalk - The Drifters
24. And I Love Him - Esther Phillips
25. Hold What You've Got - Joe Tex
26. Mr. Pitiful - Otis Redding
27. Baby I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis

Disc 6:

1. Teasin' You - Willie Tee
2. Got to Get You off My Mind - Solomon Burke
3. I Want to (Do Everything for You) - Joe Tex
4. I've Been Loving You Too Long - Otis Redding
5. Sweet Woman Like You - Joe Tex
6. In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
7. See Saw - Don Covay,
8. Respect - Otis Redding
9. You Don't Know Like I Know - Sam & Dave
10. When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge
11. 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) - Wilson Pickett
12. Hold On! I'm Comin' - Sam & Dave
13. Cool Jerk - The Capitols
14. Neighbor, Neighbor - Jimmy Hughes
15. Land of 1000 Dances - Wilson Pickett
16. Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd
17. Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding
18. Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett
19. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - Sam & Dave
20. Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
21. I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) - Aretha Franklin
22. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin
23. Show Me - Joe Tex
24. Tramp - Otis Redding, Carla Thomas
25. Funky Broadway - Wilson Pickett
26. Hip Hug-Her - Booker T. & the MG's
27. Soul Man - Sam & Dave

Disc 7:

1. Respect - Aretha Franklin
2. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin
3. Soul Finger - The Bar-Kays
4. Baby I Love You - Aretha Franklin
5. Skinny Legs and All - Joe Tex
6. Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin
7. I'm in Love - Wilson Pickett
8. Memphis Soul Stew - King Curtis, Curtis King
9. Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) - Aretha Franklin
10. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
11. Tighten Up - Archie Bell & the Drells
12. Slip Away - Clarence Carter
13. Think - Aretha Franklin
14. Too Weak to Fight - Clarence Carter
15. Can I Change My Mind - Tyrone Davis
16. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
17. Take a Letter, Maria - R.B. Greaves
18. Rainy Night in Georgia - Brook Benton
19. Ghetto - Donny Hathaway
20. Turn Back the Hands of Time - Tyrone Davis
21. Compared to What - Eddie Harris, Les McCann
22. Call Me - Aretha Franklin

Disc 8:

1. Don't Play That Song - Aretha Franklin
2. Precious, Precious - Jackie Moore
3. Groove Me - King Floyd
4. Patches - Clarence Carter
5. Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1 - Wilson Pickett
6. Funky Nassau, Pt. 1 & 2 - The Beginning of the End
7. Thin Line Between Love and Hate - The Persuaders
8. Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
9. Day Dreaming - Aretha Franklin
10. You've Got a Friend - Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway
11. Clean up Woman - Betty Wright
12. Could It Be I'm Falling in Love - The Spinners
13. Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
14. Where Is the Love? - Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway
15. I'll Be Around - The Spinners
16. Feel Like Makin' Love - Roberta Flack
17. One of a Kind (Love Affair) - The Spinners
18. Sideshow - Blue Magic
19. Mighty Love - The Spinners
20. Love Won't Let Me Wait - Major Harris

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63919 in Music
• Released on: 1991-10-15
• Number of discs: 8
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Atlantic Records has ridden musical trends since the late '40s; these seven CDs chronicle the first 28 years of the label's work in black pop, during which artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding oversaw the creation and flowering of soul music. Also included are classic tracks by the Drifters, Wilson Pickett, Ruth Brown, the Coasters, Sam & Dave, and many others who walk through the dreams of R&B and rock & roll fans. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Say Hello To A Good Buy!
Atlantic Records has the richest, most-luminous recorded archives in the history of American music--with the possible exception of Chicago's Chess Records.

I don't actually have this box set--I have the seven volume set on vinyl which was re-released in the mid-eighties. But the track listing remains the same, and the music is beyond compare.

Like any box set worth the price of admission, it should illuminate. Not just regurgitate the hits, but serve-up worthy, but largely-unknown, nuggets. It should tell a story.

And this does. From Tommy Ridgley's "Jam Up" to the Persuaders' "Fine Line Between Love And Hate" to well-known hits by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, the Spinners and LaVern Baker, this is no-less than a music appreciation course on compact disc. A history of rhythm and blues' fascinating transformation into soul.

The words 'classic' and 'absolutely essential' are laughably over-used, but they genuinely apply to this box. Shame on amazon.com for not naming this an essential recording. Aside from food, water and oxygen, it doesn't get any more essential than this.

Or put another way, I'd marry--sight unseen--any woman with this in her collection. It (and she, no doubt) are that good.

A definitive collection from R & B's defining label
What does one say about an eight CD, 203 track collection from the most important rhythm and blues label? The first word is `definitive', the second is `superb.'

The Atlantic label under Ahmet Ertegun assembled one of the richest archives of tracks of any company and this collection serves up an amazing swathe through thirty years of popular music revealing along the way the development of the musical sound we now call R & B. Along with well known artists and tracks there are lesser known tracks by the greats ("Drown In My Own Tears" recorded by Ray Charles an excellent example), tracks you recognise but never knew the artist ("Lucky Lips" by Ruth Brown) and unknown gems (hard to specify since you might have known about Ivory Joe Turner while personally his "Empty Arms" was a surprise to me.)

Personally I found the first CD good for historical reasons; to hear the Chicago based Atlantic sound emerge from the more southern soul sound. The eighth and final CD is a testament to how far down a good label can go when it is immersed in a corporate environment. The words `disco' and `dreck' spring to mind. Why Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway felt they needed to cut such a woeful version of "You've Got A Friend", but even at the last there are jewels such as a few good tracks from the "Spinners"

The six in between are perfection. Think of an R & B artist and chances are there are at least two or three tracks of theirs in the collection. Ray Charles, The Drifters (fronted by both Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King), Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, The Coasters, Solomon Burke, Joe Tex, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave - and that's just hitting the highlights.

This collection goes beyond essential. Anyone who professes a love or understanding of popular music needs this set.

"Atlantic leads the field in rhythm & blues."
So it says on a 1950s-era paper sleeve for an Atlantic Records single. When you think about it from what you heard, what you saw, and what is in the stats, it's not just a simple promotional phrase. Rhythm and blues was increasingly making its mark on music at the close of the `40s and into the '50s. This kind of music was being marketed by small independent labels that
came out by the dozen starting in the few short years after World War II. When you take a couple of all around great guys who absolutely love music, a musical trend that was just waiting to grow from its tiny seed to something no one at the time knew it would grow into a monster, a $10,000 loan from a dentist, lo and behold you got a label that smells of success. From that, in
October 1947, Atlantic was born. This mammoth box set practically takes you on a dazzling musical journey of the label's roots in R&B and flows through the years showing how it progressed. Chronicling 27 golden years, the 203 selections presented indicate the immeasurable impact R&B from
Atlantic made on 20th century American music.

Disc One (1947-1952) features some of the first historic cuts that weren't exactly fully jazz or fully bop but something totally new with a great, fresh tinge with artists like Joe Morris, Stick McGhee, Ruth Brown, The Clovers and some early Joe Turner. Disc Two (1952-1954) continues on and features
this new sound becoming hot and ever growing into something too big to ignore among disc jockeys and R&B jukeboxes. Artists include Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, and Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters. Discs Three (1955-1957) and Four (1957-1960) shows how R&B made the crossover to white audiences and these records were selling fast. We see Ray Charles thrive as "the genius" along with Clyde McPhatter, LaVern Baker, a fun-loving group called the Coasters, the "new" Drifters, Chuck Willis and
more. Disc Five (1961-1965) sees R&B getting a bit pop tinged on Ben E. King's and the Drifters' recordings. However there's still plenty of raw, gritty R&B being pumped out as we hear the sound of southern R&B courtesy of the new partnership with Stax/Volt Records featuring the Mar-Keys, Booker T. & the M.G.s and Otis Redding. Disc Six (1965-1967) is arguably the best
disc in the whole set. Reason being is with the help of Stax/Volt, with many famous cuts from them, R&B turned into soul. Among the Stax/Volt greats are Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, and Booker T. and the M.G.s. Also there are the big smashes of Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Arthur Conley, Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex and more. It's probably the most excitable disc, no doubt. Discs Seven (1967-1969) and Eight (1970-1974)
display the continuation of gritty `60s soul, with the thriving of Aretha, the Bar-Kays, Clarence Carter, Archie Bell, Tyrone Davis and more, to the closing of an era glistened with some `70s funk and smooth soul from King Floyd, Betty Wright, Roberta Flack, the Persuaders, the Spinners and more.

There is so much to be said about this marvelous box set. Each CD has more than 20 songs, most have more than 25 and clock in with more than 70 minutes of music on each disc. It goes pretty fast once you start getting into the music and you absolutely can. It will make you dance like wild, bring a smile to your face, a tear to your eye, make you laugh, sing along, reminisce, think, and dream. This is music; this was it was lived, breathed, ate, drank and slept. The influence of rhythm and blues on American music can not be measured for without it, what would music be, and without Ahmet and his founding Atlantic, how could music have thrived in this country? The answer, in my opinion: it would never, ever, EVER have been the same. Every single song on here is a masterpiece in its own way. Together this whole box set DOES reflect every human emotion ever known from celebrating life, finding love then losing it, happy, sad, dancing, etc. You name it; it's got it. I have never seen a box set so comprehensive; it puts other box sets, with the exception of "Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 1", to absolute shame! Again, these songs reflect what we experience every day. Too numerous to mention, though. This box set is as all-American as the 4th of July, apple pie, hot dogs, a great old movie, cruising in a hot rod, ice cream cones, walks in the park, the joys of summer, young love, and just plain being alive. This is also practically a crash course on the history of 20th century American music, not just R&B. In fact, I highly recommend schools and colleges purchase this box set to offer as examples in music courses and in music research projects. If they were to construct a time capsule filled with items representing all the major events of the 20th century, this box set would definetly be in there. What's not to love about it? There's a 30-page booklet included with stories about all the artists and the songs, photographs plus the entire song list featuring who played on what song and where and when the songs were recorded. The inserts for the discs (individual cover art) shows very colorful picture collages. The cover art of the box itself is the most obvious, but the most ingenious. At first glance, it looks like it should be "The Atlantic Records Story" and, in a way, it's true. That giant Atlantic label is like a big invitation to a musical journey that will leave you speechless at the end. Even if you're not an R&B fan, this will change the way you feel about it for not only did these people play and sing from the heart but most essentially the soul. Take this music to a party and tell your friends about this musical treasure chest. If you had to purchase one CD box set in your lifetime, this is the quintessential pick, hands down! It's a rare worthwhile investement and something you'll want to keep forever! This did get a Grammy when initially released in 1985 for Best Historical Album. The sound quality is quite excellent for 1991 remastering. It can sound best on a system with much bass boost. Truly for the collector! It's a celebration of every aspect, genre and sub-genre of R&B, a celebration of music, musical history, life, Ahmet Ertegun (on my list of all-time musical geniuses), and arguably the greatest name in rhythm & blues and the record business: ATLANTIC.