The Birth of Soul

The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings is a 3-CD box set compilation by American musician Ray Charles, released in 1991.

The Birth of Soul
Box set by Ray Charles
Released	October 1, 1991 (1991-10-01)
Recorded	1952–1959
Genre	Rhythm and blues[1][2] soul[2][3] blues[3]
Length	148:48
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Herb Abramson, Ahmet Ertegün, and Jerry Wexler
Ray Charles chronology
Rhythm & Blues: Ray Charles – 1954–1966 (1991) The Birth of Soul (1991) His Greatest Hits (1992)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Down Beat	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, Peter Watrous of The New York Times said that the box set "tracks the progress of a figure who profoundly changed what was possible in American music."^[6] He ranked it as the twelfth best album of 1991.^[7] The Birth of Soul was voted the third best reissue of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1991.^[8]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 54 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,^[9] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,^[10] then dropping to number 210 in a 2020 reboot of the list.^[11] In a retrospective article for the magazine, Robert Christgau wrote that, despite "caveats" such as material repeated on more "economic" releases, The Birth of Soul is "the rockingest Charles long-form you can buy" and remarked on the legacy of its recordings:

Although Charles' fabled blues-gospel synthesis is on display from 'I Got a Woman' to 'I Believe to My Soul,' 'birth of soul' gets the emphasis wrong. Seldom conventionally catchy, this Robert Palmer-annotated collection epitomizes a world-historic catchall of a genre that Charles could only describe as 'genuine down-to-earth Negro music' — namely, rhythm & blues. Crack bands, first Atlantic's and then his own, underpin his rich, gravelly vocals with hard-hitting grooves of deceptive rhythmic and harmonic complexity. Halfway in, a female backup group soon to be known as the Raelettes starts shoring up his male voice and egging it on, an innovation that became a cliche so fast people think it was always there.^[1]

Christgau recommended Rhino Entertainment's 1994 compilation album The Best of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years as a cheaper alternative to the box set.^[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ray Charles, unless otherwise noted.

Disc 1 (1952–1954)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Sun's Gonna Shine Again"		2:36
2.	"Roll With My Baby"		2:35
3.	"The Midnight Hour"	Sam Sweet	2:59
4.	"Jumpin' in the Mornin'"		2:44
5.	"It Should Have Been Me"	Memphis Curtis	2:42
6.	"Losing Hand"	Charles Calhoun	3:11
7.	"Heartbreaker"	Ahmet Ertegun	2:51
8.	"Sinner's Prayer"	Lowell Fulson; Lloyd Glenn	3:21
9.	"Mess Around"	Ahmet Nugetre	2:38
10.	"Funny But I Still Love You"		3:12
11.	"Feelin' Sad"	Eddie Jones	2:47
12.	"I Wonder Who"		2:47
13.	"Don't You Know"		2:55
14.	"Nobody Cares"		2:37
15.	"Ray's Blues"		2:52
16.	"Mr. Charles' Blues"		2:45
17.	"Blackjack"		2:18
Total length:			47:50

Disc 2 (1954–1957)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Got a Woman"	Ray Charles; Renald Richard	2:50
2.	"Greenbacks"	Ray Charles; Renald Richard	2:48
3.	"Come Back Baby"		3:04
4.	"A Fool for You"		3:00
5.	"This Little Girl of Mine"		2:30
6.	"Hard Times"		2:53
7.	"A Bit of Soul"		2:17
8.	"Mary Ann"		2:45
9.	"Drown in My Own Tears"	Henry Glover	3:19
10.	"Hallelujah, I Love Her So"		2:34
11.	"What Would I Do Without You?"		2:34
12.	"Lonely Avenue"	Doc Pomus	2:33
13.	"I Want to Know"		2:09
14.	"Leave My Woman Alone"		2:38
15.	"It's Alright"		2:15
16.	"Ain't That Love"		2:51
17.	"Get on the Right Track"	Titus Turner	2:17
18.	"RockHouse (Parts 1 & 2)"		3:51
Total length:			49:08

Disc 3 (1957–1959)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Swanee River Rock"		2:18
2.	"That's Enough"		2:43
3.	"Talkin' 'bout You"		2:49
4.	"What Kind of Man Are You"		2:47
5.	"I Want a Little Girl"	Murray Mencher; Billy Moll	2:53
6.	"Yes Indeed"	Sy Oliver	2:14
7.	"I Had a Dream"	Ray Charles; Ricky Harper	2:52
8.	"You Be My Baby"	Ray Charles; Doc Pomus; Mort Shuman	2:28
9.	"Tell All the World About You"		2:01
10.	"My Bonnie"		2:44
11.	"Early in the Morning"	Dallas Bartley; Leo Hickman; Louis Jordan	2:43
12.	"(Night Time Is) The Right Time"	Lew Herman	3:26
13.	"Carryin' that Load"	Doc Pomus; Mort Shuman	2:22
14.	"Tell Me How Do You Feel"	Ray Charles; Percy Mayfield	2:42
15.	"What'd I Say (Parts 1 & 2)"		6:26
16.	"Tell the Truth"	Lowman Pauling	3:03
17.	"I'm Movin' On"	Hank Snow	2:20
18.	"I Believe to My Soul"		2:59
Total length:			51:50