In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Bobby Robinson produced a good share of interesting rock, blues, and R&B for his Fire and Fury labels, often mixing the forms together for music approximating a blues-soul blend. This disc has 22 Fire and Fury recordings from 1957-1964, and is not the ideal introduction to the peak of Robinson's achievements, though it's musically respectable and contains a good number of rare performances. Several of the label's biggest and best singles are absent: there's no "Kansas City" (Wilbert Harrison), "Fannie Mae" (Buster Brown), "I Need Your Loving" (Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford), or "Shake Your Moneymaker" (Elmore James), although all of those artists are represented by other songs. There are a couple of the biggest Fire/Fury hits: Bobby Marchan's "There's Something on Your Mind" (the weird R&B-cum-spoken narrative, presented in both parts, not just part two, which was the hit) and Gladys Knight & the Pips' "Every Beat of My Heart." The rest is a fairly interesting yet erratic bag, including little-known outings by famous acts (King Curtis, Lee Dorsey, Jack Dupree); rockabilly-influenced blues (Tarheel Slim's "Number Nine Train"); a strutting talking jazz-blues by Dr. Horse, "Jack That Cat Was Clean"; an instrumental by brilliant blues guitarist Jimmy Spruill; doo wop by the Charts ("Desiree") and a few other groups; June Bateman's ballad "Believe Me Darling," with some extraordinary tremolo guitar by Spruill; and Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Stick Together," to be reworked in 1970 as his comeback hit "Let's Work Together." Fire/Fury worked the rawer end of the R&B/early soul sound in interesting ways, but this is too odds'n'endish to be a completely successful listen. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide