One of R&B and R&R's principal architects, Jesse Stone, aka Charles Calhoun, commenced his recording career in 1927, but wrote and arranged his biggest songs during the 1950s. Atlantic Records supremo Ahmet Ertegun once said of him: "Jesse Stone did more to develop the basic Rock'n'Roll sound than anybody else. He was a great, reliable, loose arranger, who could update a five-year old arrangement with a couple of chord changes..."
This compilation covers both elements of Stone's career, Disc One featuring him as a recording artist, starting with his first record, 'Starvation Blues' and anthologising his releases, between 1947 and 1958, billed variously as Jesse Stone, Charles Calhoun, Chuck Calhoun, and The Stone Crushers.
Disc Two features his songs recorded by artists like Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, Big Joe Turner, The Clovers, Ruth Brown, Lavern Baker, Ray Charles, Roy Hamilton, Elvis, etc.
Collectively, this is an awesome body of work.
