Long deleted box set finally repressed. The History of R&B series of CDs is the first attempt to put together a comprehensive cross-label compilation showcasing the most important and influential records in the rise of Rhythm & Blues. Volume Four takes the story up to the end of 1962. We have defined R&B as the accidental synthesis of jazz, gospel, blues, ragtime, country, pop and Latin into a definable form of black music, influencing all popular music from the 1950s to the present day. Other useful definitions include Robert Palmer's in Rock & Roll: An Unruly History, as ‘a catchall rubric used to refer to any music that was made by and for black Americans’, or Chip Deffaa's in Blue Rhythms as ‘popular music that arose in black communities after the swing era and before the arrival of the Beatles.’ Seriously well-presented… just about as wide a variance of sounds and styles as you could imagine…gives full concise background notes to each and every one of the 124 tracks…
