1962 R&b Hits Collection / Various Artists

• Track Listing

This continues the strand of R&B and country collections associated with Acrobat's highly popular "America's Greatest Hits" series, this one focusing on the top R&B records in the US Billboard charts during 1962. This great value 103-track 4-CD anthology includes, with a few exceptions, just about every record which peaked in the Billboard R&B Top 10 during that year. By this time, the R&B scene had evolved considerably as the rock 'n roll scene had matured and Tin Pan Alley had marketed it's teen-oriented offshoots, and there was an exciting feel to the charts, with substantial crossover into the pop charts through artists like Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, The Crystals, The Four Seasons, Booker T & The MGs, and The Marvelettes. There was also a significant weight of other records from the increasingly powerful Motown, Tamla and other labels producing material which would have a significant influence on emerging talent across the pond in the UK, like The Beatles, who absorbed some of the songs in this anthology into their repertoire, sowing the seeds of the British invasion which was soon to transform the pop landscape once more. With the blurring of the boundaries between the genres, the more traditional blues and R&B artists whose music had helped lay the groundwork for rock found it harder to reach the top positions in the R&B chart, and the foundations of the soul boom of the late '60s and 70s was clearly in evidence in many of the hits included here. As with all these collections, it provides a window onto a dynamic and exciting musical environment, and includes a number of unfamiliar names and recordings of which even enthusiasts of the genre may not be too aware, and which will be welcome additions to their collections. It contains a 12,000+ word booklet featuring background notes on every record.

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