. It contains a 12,000+ word booklet featuring background notes on every record as well as full discographical and chart information.

This fills in another of the gaps on our 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 1955. This great value 104-track 4-CD anthology includes, with the exception of certain records which are unavailable for inclusion due to copyright restrictions, just about every record which peaked during the year in the published Top 10 'Best Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues Records' and 'Most Played Juke Box Rhythm & Blues' charts. It was a fascinating time in R&B, with different strands of the genre creating the musical landscape from which rock 'n' roll was already emerging - Bill Haley's 'Rock Around The Clock', Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti'and Chuck Berry's 'Maybelline' were hits during this year along with hits by the likes of Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley and Ruth Brown that were rock 'n' roll in all but name. There are numerous doowop groups like The Platters, The Penguins, the and The Clovers, sophisticated vocalists like Dinah Washington and Roy Hamilton, the electric Chicago guitar blues of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, ,Jimmy Reed and Little Walter and even a pop interloper in Pat Boone, doing one of his covers of R&B hits. 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 as well as full discographical and chart information.

Track Listing

• The Charms - Hearts of Stone
• The Penguins - Earth Angel
• The Drifters feat. Clyde McPhatter and Bill Pinkney - White Christmas
• The Moonglows - Sincerely
• Dinah Washington - Teach Me Tonight
• B. B. 'Blues Boy' King and His Orchestra - You Upset Me Baby
• Lowell Fulson - Reconsider Baby
• The Five Keys - Ling, Ting, Tong
• Joe Turner & His Blues Kings - Shake, Rattle And Roll
• Roy Hamilton - Hurt
• Ruth Brown - Mambo Baby
• Little Walter and the Jukes - Last Night
• Willie Mabon - Poison Ivy
• Spiders - Twenty One (21)
• LaVern Baker & The Gliders with Orchestra - Tweedle Dee
• Faye Adams - Hurts Me To My Heart
• The Charms - Ling, Ting, Tong
• Johnny Ace - Pledging My Love
• Ray Charles and his Band - I've Got A Woman
• B. B. 'Blues Boy' King and His Orchestra - Every Day I Have The Blues
• Gene & Eunice - Ko Ko Mo
• Bill Haley & The Comets - Dim Dim The Lights
• B. B. 'Blues Boy' King and 'The Kingsmen' - Sneakin' Around
• Ray Charles and his Band - Come Back
• Etta James and the Peaches - The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry)

• Dinah Washington - That's All I Want From You
• Varetta Dillard - Johnny Has Gone
• Buddy Johnson - Gotta Go (Upside Your Head)
• Jimmy Reed - You Don't Have To Go
• Charms - Two Hearts
• Little Walter and the Jukes - My Babe
• The Five Keys - Close Your Eyes
• Fats Domino - Don't You Know
• Joe Turner & His Blues Kings - Flip, Flop And Fly
• Hearts - Lonely Nights
• Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters - What 'Cha Gonna Do
• The Clovers - Blue Velvet
• The Moonglows - Most of All
• Nappy Brown - Don't Be Angry
• Al Hibbler - Unchained Melody
• Danderliers - Chop Chop Boom
• Cardinals - Door Is Still Open
• Roy Hamilton - Unchained Melody
• LaVern Baker and the Gliders - Bop Ting-A-Ling
• LaVern Baker and the Gliders - That's All I Need
• Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
• Bo Diddley - I'm A Man
• Fats Domino - Ain't It A Shame
• Gene & Eunice - This Is My Story
• Dinah Washington - If It's The Last Thing I Do
• Dinah Washington - I Diddie

• The Nutmegs - Story Untold
• Marigolds - Rollin' Stone
• Ruth Brown and her Rhythmakers - I Can See Everybody's Baby
• Ruth Brown and her Rhythmakers - As Long As I'm Moving
• Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock
• Ray Charles - Fool For You
• Four Fellows - Soldier Boy
• Count Basie - Every Day
• Ray Charles - This Little Girl Of Mine
• Louis Brooks & The Hi-Toppers - It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)
• Bo Diddley - Diddley Daddy
• Nappy Brown - Piddley Patter Patter
• J.B. Lenore - Mama Talk To Your Daughter
• Muddy Waters - Manish Boy
• The Platters - Only You
• Roy Hamilton - Forgive This Fool
• Chuck Berry - Maybelline
• Johnny Ace - Anymore
• The Jacks - Why Don't You Write Me
• Shirley & Lee - Feel So Good
• Rollee McGill - There Goes That Train
• Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knockin'
• Joe Turner & His Blues Kings - Hide And Seek
• Chuck Berry - Wee Wee Hours
• Fats Domino - All By Myself
• Ruth Brown - It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)

• The Clovers - Nip Sip
• Earl King - Those Lonely, Lonely Nights
• The El Dorados - At My Front Door
• B. B. 'Blues Boy' King and His Orchestra - Ten Long Years
• Spaniels - Your Painted Pictures
• Sonny Boy Williamson - Don't Start Me Talkin'
• Al Hibbler - He
• Ray Charles - Blackjack
• Ray Charles - Greenbacks
• LaVern Baker & The Gliders with Orchestra - Play It Fair
• Colts - Adorable
• Dinah Washington - I Concentrate On You
• Chuck Berry - Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)
• Jay McShann - Hands Off
• Etta James - Good Rockin' Daddy
• Drifters - Adorable
• Bill Haley & His Comets - Burn That Candle
• Fats Domino - Poor Me
• Pat Boone - At My Front Door
• Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
• Dinah Washington - You Might Have Told Me
• Dinah Washington - I'm Lost Without You Tonight
• The Spiders - Witchcraft
• Robins - Smokey Joe's Café
• The Turbans - When You Dance
• The Platters - The Great Pretender
• Muddy Waters - Sugar Sweet

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: R & B

Run Time: 280 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 02/07/25

UPC: 824046718923