VA - Back to Black, 1900 to 1999 (100 Years of Black Music) [2001] (10 x CDs)

BLACK MUSIC

VA - Back to Black, 1900 to 1999 (100 Years of Black Music) [2001] (10 x CDs)

Issued by Universal in 2001, Back To Black, 1900 to 1999  (100 Years Of Black Music) stands as one of the most ambitious century‑spanning surveys of Black music ever assembled. Across ten discs, the compilers trace a lineage that begins with early 20th‑century spirituals and field recordings, material originally documented on fragile 78s and cylinder transfers, and follow that thread through blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, soul, funk, disco, hip‑hop, and contemporary pop. What makes the set compelling from an archival standpoint is its insistence on primary‑source recordings: original label masters, period‑correct mixes, and historically accurate release versions rather than later remasters or anthology edits. For collectors, that alone gives the box a level of integrity many broad surveys lack.

The sequencing is chronological but never rigid. Early blues sides from labels like Okeh, Paramount, and Vocalion sit alongside foundational jazz cuts from Columbia and Decca, giving listeners a sense of how styles overlapped rather than replaced one another. By the mid‑century discs, the focus shifts to the rise of independent labels—Chess, Atlantic, Specialty, Stax, whose singles defined the sound of post‑war Black America. These tracks are presented in their original mono 45 mixes, preserving the punch and immediacy that collectors prize.

The later discs move into the 70s, 80s, and 90s with equal care, documenting the shift from analog soul and funk into electronically driven R&B, early rap 12‑inches, and the crossover era that followed. The compilers avoid the usual over‑licensed hits in favour of historically representative cuts, giving the set a depth that rewards close listening. As a century‑long narrative, it succeeds because it treats Black music not as a genre but as a continuum, innovative, adaptive, and foundational to every major development in modern popular sound.

This Universal compilation it’s an attempt to include most of the forms that Black Music has shaped in a hundred-year period. It sounds strange and it is!

It’s impossible to cover 100 years of evolution in just so many hours, so necessarily the compilation is picky, but at the same time a worthy starting point for those that have interest in Black Music. Enjoy! (John Angelatos) 

Please thank John Angelatos for sharing this great box set.

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Track lists

CD01

01 Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag 3:17

02 Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds - Crazy Blues 3:20

03 King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - Dippermouth Blues 2:15

04 Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night 3:20

05 Blind Willie McTell - Statesborough Blues 2:33

06 Leroy Carr - How Long, How Long Blues 3:01

07 Pine Top Smith - Pine Top's Boogie Woogie 3:22

08 Louis Armstrong - St Louis Blues 3:03

09 Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River 2:36

10 Bessie Smith With Buck & His Band - Gimme A Pigfoot 3:30

11 Cab Calloway - Minnie The Moocher 3:10

12 Ethel Waters - Stormy Weather 3:11

13 Fats Waller - Honeysuckle Rose 2:40

14 Robert Johnson - Hellhound on My Trail 2:37

15 Sonny Boy Williamson - Good Morning Schoolgirl 3:03

16 Count Basie - Jumpin' at The Woodside 3:07

17 The Inkspots - We Three (My Echo My Shadow & Me) 3:21

18 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit 2:54

19 Sidney Bechet - Summertime 4:10

20 T-Bone Walker ft Les Hite & His Orchestra - T-Bone Blues 3:16

21 Billie Holiday - God Bless The Child 2:45

22 Roy Eldridge ft The Gene Krupa Orchestra - After You've Gone 2:38

23 PVT. Cecil Gant & The G.I. Sing Station - I Wonder 2:44

24 Charlie Parker - Ko-Ko 2:56

25 Duke Ellington - Things Ain't What They Used to Be 3:09

26 Nat King Cole - Straighten Up and Fly Right 2:29

CD02

01 Arthur Big Boy Crudup - That's Alright 2:55

02 Louis Jordan - Let The Good Times Roll 2:48

03 Amos Milburn - Chocken Shack Boogie 2:50

04 Muddy Waters - I Can't Be Satisfied 2:43

05 Roy Brown With Bob Ogden's Orchestra - Good Rockin' Tonight 2:58

06 Sister Rosetta Tharp and Maria Knight - Up Above My Head I Hear Music in The Air 2:29

07 Wild Bill Moore Sextet - We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll 2:38

08 John Lee Hooker - Boogie Chillen 3:08

09 Wynonie Harris - All She Wants to Do is Rock 2:33

10 Fats Domino - The Fat Man 2:37

11 Lowell Fulson - Every Day I Have The Blues 2:31

12 Percy Mayfield - Please Send Me Someone to Love 2:55

13 Charles Brown - Black Night 3:06

14 Earl Bostic - Flamingo 2:41

15 Lloyd Price - Lawdy Miss Clawdy 2:32

16 The Clovers - One Mint Julep 2:29

17 Big Joe Turner - Honey Hush 2:43

18 Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog 2:51

19 Clyde McPhatter - Money Honey 2:58

20 Elmore James - Dust My Broom 3:00

21 Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning 3:05

22 Ella Fitzgerald - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye 3:35

23 The Orioles - Crying in The Chapel 3:04

24 Ruth Brown - Teardrops in My Eyes 2:59

25 Ella Fitzgerald - Manhattan 2:53

CD03

01 Little Eva - The Loco-Motion 2:28

02 Chuck Berry - Johnny B Good 2:40

03 The Coasters - Yakety Yak 1:50

04 Little Richard - Tutti Frutti 2:25

05 Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite 2:45

06 Gene Chandler - Duke of Earl 2:16

07 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall in Love 2:19

08 Ray Charles - Hit The Road Jack 1:56

09 Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill 2:22

10 Ben E. King - Stand By Me 3:00

11 Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares for Me 3:37

12 Little Anthony & The Imperials - Tears on My Pillow 2:16

13 The Platters - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 2:38

14 Tommy Edwards - It's All I The Game 2:38

15 Billy Eckstine & Sarah Vaughn - Passing Strangers 2:39

16 Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You 4:17

17 Mahalia Jackson - Didn't it Rain 2:40

18 Jimmy Jones - Handy Man 1:59

19 The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow 2:42

20 Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley 2:29

21 Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly 2:10

22 Chubby Checker - The Twist 2:37

23 Booker T & The M.G.'s - Green Onions 2:54

24 Chuck Berry - Sweet Little Sixteen 3:12

25 Miles Davis - It Never Entered My Mind 4:03

CD04

01 Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Dancing in The Street 2:39

02 The Impressions - People Get Ready 2:40

03 Fontella Bass - Rescue Me 2:53

04 Diana Ross & The Supremes - Baby Love 2:36

05 Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There 2:56

06 The Drifters - Under The Boardwalk 2:43

07 Dionne Warwick - Walk on By 2:55

08 Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman 2:56

09 Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of The Broken Hearted 2:59

10 Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy 2:48

11 The Temptations - My Girl 2:42

12 Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness 3:46

13 Aaron Neville - Tell it Like it Is 2:42

14 Mary Wells - My Guy 2:45

15 Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour 2:30

16 Bob and Earl - Harlem Shuffle 2:52

17 Junior Walker & The All Stars - Shotgun 2:58

18 James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag 2:08

19 Betty Everett - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) 2:11

20 Crystals - Then He Kissed Me 2:36

21 Eddie Floyd - Knock on Wood 3:04

22 Diana Ross & The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go 2:33

23 Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright) 2:56

24 John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Part One (Acknowledgement) 7:48

CD05

01 Aretha Franklin - Respect 2:25

02 James Brown - (Get Up I Feel LikeBeing A) Sex Machine 2:52

03 Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music 2:20

04 Sam and Dave - Soul Man 2:39

05 Freda Payne - Band of Gold 2:54

06 Jackie Wilson - Higher and Higher 2:53

07 Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough 3:33

08 Jackson 5 - I Want You Back 2:56

09 Marvin Gaye - I Heard it Trough The Grape Vine 3:11

10 Smokey Robinson & The Miricles - The Tracks of My Tears 2:50

11 Jerry Butler - Only The Strong Survive 2:35

12 Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind 2:36

13 Stevie Wonder - My Cherie Amour 2:51

14 Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock of Of The Bay 2:42

15 William Bell & Judy Clay - Private Number 2:41

16 Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer 3:32

17 Edwin Hawkins Singers - Oh Happy Day 5:08

18 Bob and Marcia - Young Gifted and Black 3:06

19 Abbyssinians - Declaration of Right 3:27

20 Desmond Dekker & The Aces - The Israelites 2:32

21 Hugh Masekela - Grazing in The Grass 2:38

22 B.B. King - The Thrill is Gone 5:23

23 Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze 2:48

CD06

01 Edwin Starr - War 3:22

02 The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone 6:51

03 Isaac Hayes - Theme From  Shaft 3:18

04 Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits 2:52

05 Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up 3:40

06 Marvin Gaye - What's Going on 3:43

07 The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There 4:22

08 Sly & The Family Stone - Family Affair 3:00

09 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (ft.Teddy Prendergrass) - If You Don't Know Me By Now 3:25

10 Billy Paul - Me & Mrs Jones 4:46

11 Eddie Holman - Hey There Lonely Girl 3:34

12 Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her 5:01

13 Al Green - Let's Stay Together 3:17

14 The Stylistics - You Make Me Feel Brand New 5:27

15 Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On 3:58

16 Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine 4:10

17 Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze 3:08

18 Ken Boothe - Everything I Own 3:17

19 Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again 2:36

20 The O'Jays - Love Train 2:57

CD07

01 Sister Sledge - We Are Family 3:26

02 Earth, Wind & Fire With The Emotions - Boogie Wonderland 4:48

03 The Trammps - Disco Inferno 3:17

04 Rose Royce - Car Wash 3:17

05 Van McCoy With The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle 3:35

06 Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free 4:08

07 Donna Summer - I Feel Love 3:46

08 Sylvester - You Make Me Feel(Mighty Real) 3:28

09 Chic - Good Times 3:38

10 Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive 3:16

11 Labelle - Lady Marmalade 3:58

12 Barry White - Your'e The First, My Last, My Everything 3:24

13 Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel 4:15

14 McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stopping Us Now 4:25

15 Third World - Now That We've Found Love 3:54

16 Bob Marley - One Drop 3:48

17 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia 4:03

18 Teddy Prendergrass - The Whole Town's Laughing at Me 4:26

19 Minnie Ripperton - Loving You 3:20

20 Coomodores - Three Times A Lady 3:39

CD08

01 Diana Ross - Upside Down 3:42

02 The Jacksons - Can You Feel It 3:51

03 Kool & The Gang - Celebration 3:38

04 Shalamar - I Can Make You Feel Good 4:18

05 Lionel Richie - All Night Long ( All Night) 4:17

06 Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots 4:43

07 Luther Vandross - Never Too Much 3:49

08 Quincy Jones - Razzamatazz 4:10

09 Rick James - Superfreak 3:20

10 The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight 3:30

11 Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force - Planet Rock 4:50

12 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message 3:13

13 Herbie Hancock - Rockit 3:20

14 Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain' Nobody 4:25

15 Maze - Joy & Pain 4:22

16 Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing 3:58

17 Randy Crawford - Rainy Night in Georgia 3:43

18 Michael Jackson - One Day in Your Life 4:08

19 Billy Preston & Syreeta - With You I'm Born Again 3:36

20 Patti Austin & James Ingram - Baby Come to Me 3:37

CD09

01 Soul II Soul - Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) 3:44

02 Womack & Womack - Teardrops 3:51

03 Aswad - Don't Turn Around 3:38

04 Billy Ocean - Carribean Queen (No More Love on The Run) 4:02

05 Loose Ends - Hanging on A String (Contemplating) 5:55

06 Ashford & Simpson - Solid 3:22

07 Cameo - Word Up 4:18

08 Ten City - That's The Way Love Is 4:14

09 Guy - Do Me Right 3:42

10 De La Soul - Eye Know 4:09

11 N.W.A. - Express Yourself 4:15

12 A Tribe Called Quest - Senario 4:13

13 The Family Stand - Ghetto Heaven 3:50

14 Sounds of Blackness - Optimistic 3:47

15 D J Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime 3:53

16 Maxi Priest - Close to You 4:01

17 New Edition - If it Isn't Love 5:12

18 Ray Parker Jr. - I Don't Think That Man Should Sleep Alone 4:16

CD10

01 Blackstreet (ft. Dr. Dre) - No Diggity 4:13

02 L L Cool J - Phenomenon 3:07

03 D'Angelo - Brown Sugar 3:58

04 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - Tha Crossroads 3:47

05 Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day 4:24

06 Wu-Tang-Clan - C.R.E.A.M. 4:14

07 DMX - Ruff Ryders' Anthem 3:36

08 Public Enemy - Do You Wanna Go My Way 3:55

09 Gang Starr - You Know My Steez 3:46

10 Jay-Z - Hard Knock Life 4:00

11 Arrested Development - Mr. Wendal 3:28

12 Mary J Blige - Real Love 3:58

13 Erykah Badu - On and On 3:49

14 Gabrielle - Walk on By 3:16

15 K-CI & Jo Jo - All My Life 3:43

16 R Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly 4:44

17 Eternal ft.Bebe Winans - I Wanna Be The Only One 3:37

18 Goldie - Inner City Life 3:47

19 D J Luck & M C Neat - A Little Bit of Luck 5:55

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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