Blues & Ballads
This compendium of tracks cut over nearly a quarter-century begins with "I've Been Wrong So Long," one of the most dramatic performances of the '60s. This is a hard act to follow, but Bland's output during most of the period covered here--his years withDuke,Dunhill, andMCARecords, ending in the early '80s--is one of the most consistent catalogs in R&B.; SoBlues and Balladscan focus as much on covers of other singers' hits as on Bland's signature pieces and succeed mightily. The man they call "theSinatraof the blues" is indeed one of the only artists who could approach the sensitivity ofRay Charles's reading of "Georgia on My Mind"--and he does.--Rickey Wright