Ivory Joe Hunter - 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

Track List:

Disc: 1

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

Disc: 2

1. Don't Make Me Cry
2. I Got to Learn to Do the Mambo
3. I Must Be Talking to Myself
4. I Feel So Good
5. It May Sound Silly
6. Heaven Came Down to Earth
7. I Need Somebody
8. I Need You By My Side
9. A Tear Fell
10. That's Why I Dream
11. You Mean Everything to Me
12. You Can't Stop This Rocking and Rolling
13. Since I Met You Baby
14. Empty Arms
15. Love Is a Hurting Game
16. Everytime I Hear That Song
17. She's Gone
18. All About the Blues
19. You're on My Mind
20. I'm So Glad I Found You
21. Yes I Want You
22. You Flip Me Baby
23. I Just Want to Love You
24. City Lights
25. Stolen Moments
26. A Cottage for Sale
27. Did You Mean It