Ray Charles was really closer to Nat King Cole than he was to being an innovative R&B and soul singer (and pianist) when he first began recording with his trio in 1949, although the spark of something unique and special was already visible and audible. This two-disc, 51-track set collects the early sides Charles recorded between 1949 and 1952, and rounds things out with ten tracks cut by Bill Samuels, an artist who was also working in the same Nat King Cole template at the time.