Hunter,Ivory Joe Since I Met You Baby: The '50S Collection CD

Pianist, singer and songwriter Ivory Joe Hunter was a blues balladeer extraordinaire, specialising in a unique brand of highly tuneful and soulful blues songs that bucked the trend for more raucous and extrovert blues in the 1940s and early '50s, although he could rock and boogie with the best of them as well. Born in Texas in 1914 - "Ivory Joe" were his given names and not a nickname - he made his first recordings as a talented youngster for the Library of Congress in 1933. He worked on radio in Texas in the early '40s before moving to Los Angeles, and joining Johnny Moore's Three Blazers for a while before making his first solo records in 1945. He had a string of hits in the late '40s which appear on Acrobat's existing product "Ivory Joe Hunter - Jukebox Hits 1945-50" (ACMCD4208), registering a landmark No. 1 with "I Almost Lost My Mind" in 1950. This great value 51-track 2-CD set picks up the story from that point and comprises selected A & B sides from his releases on the MGM, Atlantic & Dot labels during the 1950s - by the end of the decade his chart career was over. It features all his twelve R&B and pop chart entries from this era, including the R&B No. 1s "I Almost Lost My Mind", "I Need You So" and "Since I Met My Baby", plus the Top 5 hits "Guess Who", "Jealous Heart", "Waiting In Vain", "I Quit My Pretty Mama" and "Empty Arms". The selections in the set include some great grooving instrumentals and rock 'n' roll flavoured material alongside the trademark ballads, and it's a fine showcase for an artist with one of the most distinctive styles in blues

1. I Almost Lost My Mind 2. If I Give You My Love 3. Why Fool Yourself 4. S.P. Blues 5. I Need You So 6. Leave Her Alone 7. Let Me Dream 8. Gimme a Pound of Ground Round 9. Living a Lie 10. It's a Sin 11. You Thrill Me 12. I Ain't Got No Gal No More 13. I Can't Resist You 14. I Can't Get You Off My Mind 15. Wrong Woman Blues 16. Blue Moon 17. U Name It 18. Laugh (Though You Feel You Want to Cry) 19. Where Shall I Go 20. I'm Sorry for You My Friend 21. I Will Be True 22. Rockin' Chair Boogie 23. Music Before Dawn 24. I Had a Girl 25. Don't Make Me Cry 26. I Got to Learn to Do the Mambo 27. I Must Be Talking to Myself 28. I Feel So Good 29. It May Sound Silly 30. Heaven Came Down to Earth 31. I Need Somebody 32. I Need You By My Side 33. A Tear Fell 34. That's Why I Dream 35. You Mean Everything to Me 36. You Can't Stop This Rocking and Rolling 37. Since I Met You Baby 38. Empty Arms 39. Love Is a Hurting Game 40. Everytime I Hear That Song 41. She's Gone 42. All About the Blues 43. You're on My Mind 44. I'm So Glad I Found You 45. Yes I Want You 46. You Flip Me Baby 47. I Just Want to Love You 48. City Lights 49. Stolen Moments 50. A Cottage for Sale 51. Did You Mean It