Cross-correlated nuclear spin relaxation between H-1 chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) and H-1-H-1 dipolar relaxation mechanisms in ribonucleosides in solution phase are observed and used to identify their anomeric configuration. Only alpha-ribonucleosides showed the presence of cross-correlated spin relaxation through differential spin-lattice relaxation (T-1) of the H-1' doublet. Dependence of the magnitude and the orientation of the H-1' CSA tensor values on the glycosidic torsion angle and the fast time-scale internal motions present in the ribose moiety play a significant role in the characterization of the anomeric configuration of the nucleosides via cross-correlated relaxation.