Apart from a two year break during the mid-60s, Billboard magazine has published a chart reflecting the record buying habits of black Americans for over 70 years. Throughout the last 50 of those years, its content has predominately featured soul, hip hop, blues and r&b. However during the first 20, Billboard's r&b chart also featured the pop, MOR and rock 'n' roll records that were crossing over to black audiences. Those early charts have always made for fascinating reading - and now, for the first time, they make for a fascination listening tool! 'R&B Chartmakers…With a Difference' offers more than two dozen classic non-r&b hits that appealed to white and black record buyers alike in the USA between 1955 and 1962. All of our inclusions should be immediately familiar to anyone who loves the music of the 50s and 60s, as should the artists who made them. It's interesting to speculate on why these particular records appealed to black buyers while others in a similar mould did not - but when all's said and done, it's all great music and a worthy addition to your collection, whatever your musical preference. Beautifully remastered from the best available sources, the tracks on this collection are sure to have the same crossover appeal in the 21st century that they did midway through the 20th.
