Ray Charles - "Birth Of Soul" 3 CD Set

Ray Charles - Ray Charles - "Birth Of Soul" 3 CD Set

I need more Ray Charles in my collection, I have Steve's "Best Of Vol. 1" that he did with Ray some years ago. But, how is this set from Rhino? Does it have the usual *smiley face eq* that Bill Inglot is famous for? And, are the original mixes used? Thanks to all in advance!

 

Joe, as you may already know The Birth Of Soul covers the Atlantic years only and so there is no doubling up with the stuff Steve did, except I think for What I Say which is on Steve's Uh Oh comp.

I've had the BOS box for years and it's GREAT!! Ray was at his absolute prime during those years and importantly wrote most of the material. The songwriting almost dried up completely when he left Atlantic. A real mystery. Maybe Steve can shed some light on the reason Ray stopped writing.

Sound on the box is fine. Mostly mono except for the tracks from the last year or so.

 

Peter is the BOS the same box Steve is talking about? Reguardless, I'll pick up anyways, I saw it at BMG for 15.99 + postage, you can't beat that.
Steve, Peter, thanks.

 

Also, is the 45 mono single version of "I Can't Stop Loving You" ever released on CD?

 

Ok, I got it!

 

Steve I think you might in fact be talking about The Birth Of Soul. It's on Atlantic and contains (I think) Ray's complete Atlantic r'n'b recordings (no jazz).

The Rhino one is 5CDs and spans the whole career. It's called Genius & Soul: The 50th Anniversary Collection.

 

I wouldn't want to ever be without this set....only have other single disc comps, so I can't compare it to the Atlantic set.

 

Hi CM,

You really ought to get The Birth Of Soul for the 30 or so additional Atlantic-era tracks missing from the Rhino box.

 

Thanks Peter - as you know, your recommendations always mean a lot to me...consider it added to my 'must purchase' list. You will most likely find me enthusing about it on this board sometime between now and Christmas....

 

.....and it looks like Steve likes it too!!


Actually I've been tempted to buy the Rhino set many times, but with The Birth Of Soul and Steve's various DCC (silver) cds I figure I've got a good chunk of the tracks already in pretty good (er.....I mean perfect!) sound.

 

Is this the one Steve is talking about?

 

Yep, in fact that's the one we've all been talking about!

 

"Birth of Soul" was mastered by Ted Jensen in 1991 (he also did the Queen of Soul box set by Aretha Franklin, also part of the ATCO/Atlantic remaster series). I think the only real mistake done on the "Birth of Soul" set was using the incorrect masters for a few minor tracks. I think they were Lp masters that were EQ'ed or something, maybe some added echo. Regardless, it's a great set.

The Genius of Soul box set is a really cool looking package and you won't mistake it for Birth of Soul. Black, spot-varnished box, five discs (each in really cool, opaque jewel cases made up to look like pianos), a great booklet with some braille on the back...Rhino does the best packaging, hands down. I think most of the set was mastered by Doug Sax, with the Atlantic material credited to Dan Hersch, but there's also a credit for digital transfers given to some others. I believe Bob Fischer was one of them. It didn't sound bad to me, but I've never compared it to Steve's tube mastering of the same material.

 

Me too! Some of that old 50s r'n'b sounds so good.

I love the 2 old rhino New Orleans CDs for the same reason.

 

The funny thing about Atlantic's "Birth Of Soul" 3 CD set is that the entire contents (150 minutes) could have easily fit onto a double CD set.

Unfortunately the set was released at the height of the box set craze and Atlantic obviously wanted to cash in.

The material is definitely outstanding and deserves to be re-issued in a more accessible format...
-wolf

 

Which ones are you talking about, Peter?

 

Ah, the CD generation. When anything under 70 minutes is unacceptable.

I like 50 minute CDs and actually find them more accessible than longer discs (LP generation, I guess).

In this particular set I like having three discs because, for me, the third CD has a much different feel than the previous two. Plus there is a very cool book that might not have been included if they had issued it as a two CD set!

 

The Best Of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, volumes one and two, released 1998. RS 75765 & RS 75766.

Love 'em!

 

I wanted to thank everyone who reccomended this in this older thread. I finally picked the set up from BMG no less and am enjoying it now. Thanks again..