B.B. King - The RPM Hits 1951-1957 (1999)

The RPM Hits Collection from 1951-1957 is a first-class compilation of the best songs from the first few years of B.B. King's career, consisting of 26 songs taken from singles released in 1951-1957 on the RPM label. Although relatively few of them have survived to become famous standards or oldies, they were incredibly successful at the time; 18 of them became hits in the R&B genre, and a couple more hit the very bottom of the pop charts. "Three O'CLOCK Blues" and "Sweet Little Angel" are a couple of King's most famous tunes, but there are many other ballads that have left their mark in their time, such as "You Know I Love You", "Woke Up This Morning" (how do you like this song, the name of the hit in honor of one of the the most frequently used blues cliches?), "Please Hurry Home" and "You Upset Me Baby". These are pretty fully produced R&B arrangements for that era, with a roadside piano and powerful brass finishing the beat. King's shrill guitar and vocals, which are less prone to lingering phrasing than his soul-blues work of the 60s and 70s, are at the forefront. These tracks have appeared on other reissues several times, but they have been remastered, often by new artists, to provide a sound quality that you won't always find on blues and R&B reissues of the 50s.