''The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings'' is a 3-CD box set
compilation by
Ray Charles, released in 1991.
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." He ranked it as the twelfth best album of 1991. ''The Birth of Soul'' was voted the third best
reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions.
Reasons for reissue
New aud ...
of the year in ''
The Village Voice''s annual
Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1991.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 54 on ''
Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, then dropping to number 210 in a 2020 reboot of the list.
In a retrospective article for the magazine,
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
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:
Christgau recommended
Rhino Entertainment's 1994 compilation album ''The Best of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years'' as a cheaper alternative to the box set.
Track listing
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birth Of Soul
Albums produced by Jerry Wexler
Albums produced by Ahmet Ertegun
Ray Charles compilation albums
1991 compilation albums
Atlantic Records compilation albums