NEWSLETTER #127
Vintage Rock 'n' Roll & Rockabilly
The Beaumarks -> Various Artists
| THE BEAU-MARKS THE BLASTERS DEAN CARTER RUDY GRAYZELL LEE HAZLEWOOD BUDDY HOLLY |
JERRY JAYE DELBERT MCCLINTON JOHNNY PRESTON JACK SCOTT VARIOUS ARTISTS |
| THE BEAU-MARKS | Unidisc 2023 | The Best Of The Beau-Marks | ● CD $13.98 |
| The Beau-Marks were a popular 4 piece group out of Montreal,
Canada in the early 60's best known for their hit Clap Your Hands
which is featured here with rather muddy sound. This CD collects 18 of their
ballads and rockers. Singer and piano player Joey Frechette has a pleasant
pop voice but doesn't add too much excitement to the uptempo numbers. No
worry though, because lead guitarist Ray Hutchinson and crew carry the load
on rockers like Little Miss Twist/ Rock And Roll Has Got A Beat/ Rockin'
Blues/ 'Cause We're In Love and others. (AE/FS) |
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| THE BLASTERS | Hightone 8148 | Live 2002 | ● CD $15.98 |
| 17 tracks, 67 min, recommended The original Blasters back &
loud! Led by the feudin' Alvin brothers, Phil on vocals & rhythm & Dave on
lead (I heard rumors that Dave may be joining Dylan's band!) with original
rhythm section of Jon Bazz & Bill Bateman, with relative newcomer Gene
Taylor on piano - he didn't join the band until after their 2nd LP! Very
solid & rockin', with all the faves from the old days (American Music/
Marie Marie/ Long White Cadillac/ Hollywood Bed/ Trouble Bound. Recorded
live at the House of Blues in L.A. during two 2002 reunion shows. (GM) |
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| DEAN CARTER | Big Beat WIK 213 | Call of the Wild! | ● CD $18.98 |
| 28 tracks, 68 min, highly recommended. Imagine if The Sonics
were a rockabilly band, or if Hasil Adkins sang with The 13th Floor
Elevators? These mostly late 60s recordings of WILD rockabilly mostly defy
description, though there are a lot of fine rockabilly/rockin' country
sides. The opener, Jailhouse Rock, escaped in the 80s on a punk-rock
compilation (since put on CD) called Ear-Splitting Punk - rockabilly
done totally garage style, with screaming vocals & an even more screaming
guitar solo. The garage-abilly continues throughout on these sides done in
the late 60s with Dean, in his cat clothes, & band The Lucky Ones, with
guitarist Arlie Miller, who provides some of the liner notes, & an
assortment of bassists & drummers. Recorded in Carter's home studio, some of
these (like Jailhouse) were released on such labels as Milky Way &
Tell International, & many are demos released here for the 1st time. (GM)
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| RUDY GRAYZELL | TRG 505106 | Ducktail | ● CD $17.98 |
| 28 tracks, 72 min, very good. Available again. If you wanted
to know about Rudy Grayzell's recording career, you won't do any better than
this. It's not clear that this is everything he ever recorded but there are:
six songs recorded for Abbott Records in 1953, six more tunes done for
Capitol in 1955, ten cuts made for Starday in 1956, four tracks recorded for
Sun Records in 1957 and two final songs put out on the Award label in 1959.
There's a lot of wild rockin' goin' on, especially on the Starday cuts, but
Grayzell's vocal range and songwriting are limited even by 50's rockabilly
standards. Among the stand out tunes here are Grayzell's original recording
of Ducktail, Let's Get Wild and There's Gonna Be A Ball.
(RS) |
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| LEE HAZLEWOOD | Ace CDCHM2 860 | These Boots Are Made for Walking | ● CD $26.98 |
| Two CD set featuring all of Hazlewood's recording for MGM
between 1965 and 1967 including the rare "Something Special" LP. A mix of
rock 'n' roll, country and pop. Includes 16 page booklet. |
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| BUDDY HOLLY | BGO BGOCD 563 | Holly In The Hills/ Giant | ● CD $16.98 |
| 22 tracks, recommended. Reissue of two LPs originally issued
in the 60s and featuring newly discovered material. "Hills" is mostly
country songs recorded as demos in 1954 and '55 with his regular performing
partner Bob Montgomery on vocal and guitar and Sonny Curtis on fiddle that
were overdubbed by members of The Fireballs in 1963 for the LP release.
There are also a couple of fine rockers pointing to Buddy's future
direction. It also includes a 1958 demo of Wishing - a song Buddy was
hoping The Everly Brothers would records. "Giant" was he last "new" Holly
material until the 80s. Issued as Coral 57504 in 1969 with only 10 tunes,
most under 2 minutes long. Material is from the garage session, the NY
apartment tapes & more Buddy And Bob material, with Fireballs overdubs.
Released on the 10th anniversary of the plane crash with the song Love Is
Strange which became a hit plus You're The One/ Holly Hop/ Ain't Got
No Home/ Dearest, etc. Invaluable material for us Holly collectors but
probably too unpolished for the average listener. (FS) |
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| JERRY JAYE | Edsel 630 | My Girl Josephine | ● CD $16.98 |
| 18 tracks, recommended. Very appealing collection of rock 'n'
roll (and the occasional country) standards recorded in 1967 by Arkansas
singer Jerry Jaye who had a hit that year with a fine cover of the title
song originally recorded by Fats Domino. This CD reissues the LP that was
issued to cash in on that success along with six bonus tracks from singles
including his first mono recording of Josephine. Accompanied by a
small group with guitar, piano, bass and drums plus occasional sax and/or
organ he does several other Domino songs like When My Dreamboat Comes
Home/ I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday and Ain't That A Shame as well
as other songs like Don't Be Cruel/ White Silver Sands/ What Am I Living
For/ Brown Eyed Handsome Man/ Today I Started Loving Her Again and
others. Jerry's fine voice and the easy loping feel of the arrangements
makes for a very entertaining set. (FS) |
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| DELBERT MCCLINTON | New West 6042 | Room To Breathe | ● CD $17.98 |
| 12 tracks, very good. Following up his Grammy-winning
effort, "Nothing Personal", Delbert McClinton again blends a seasoned
approach and varied styles on his latest recording. While not the
straight-ahead barroom blues belter that some tag him as, he comes from a
wide variety of vantage points; honky-tonk, country, blue-eyed soul,
roadhouse rock n' roll, and blues. Marcia Ball, Ray Benson, Steve Earle,
Emmylou Harris and others make guest appearances adding additional spice and
flavor to this fine outing. From the rootsy blues/rock of Same Kind Of
Crazy, to the lowdown Jungle Room, or the straight-laced ballad,
I Don't Want To Love You, Delbert succeeds in serving up a musical
concoction of all things American. Bill Campbell and Todd Sharp stand out
from the supporting cast with sinewy guitar work that fits perfectly with
McClinton's roughshod vocals. (CR) |
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| JOHNNY PRESTON | Castle CMEDD 605 | Feel So Fine - The Anthology | ● CD $21.98 |
| Two CD set with 46 tracks - the most comprehensive reissue
of the Mercury recordings made between 1959 and 1962 by this Texas vocalist
best known for his number 1 hit Running Bear. This set includes that
monster, less succesful hits like Cradle Of Love/ Feel So Fine/ Charming
Billy and Leave My Kitten Alone, B-sides, album tracks, osbcure
singles and tracks not originally issued. |
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| JACK SCOTT | BGO BGOCD 572 | I Remember Hank Williams/ What In The World's Come Over | ● CD $16.98 |
| 24 tracks, recommended Two Top Rank LPs from 1960. Jack is a
terrific singer and has a perfect voice for doing Hank Williams songs -
unfortunately as good as his vocals are the performances are ruined for me
by horrible syrupy strings and heavenly female choirs. The "What In The
World" album is much much better featuring mostly Jack with a rock 'n' roll
band and his great vocal back up group The Chantones. It includes his big
hits What In the World's Come Over You, the powerful Oh, Little
One and the ballad Burning Bridges. Most of the other songs here
are excellent too including a rocking remake of the country standard I'm
Satisfied With You, the hot gospel tune My King and a great cover
of Good Deal Lucille. (FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Ace CDCHD 823 | Where The Girls Are, Vol. 5 | ● CD $16.98 |
| A 26 track collection of solo female and girl group sides
recorded for Columbia and affiliated labels between 1961 and 1971 - most
making their first appearance on CD. Includes The Pussycats, Patty Michaels,
Doris Day, The Surfer Girls, Tracey Dey, Bernadette Peters, The Sweet
Things, April Young, The Orchids, Marlina Mars, The Opals, The Little Foxes,
Peggy Lipton, Laura Nyro, LaBelle and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Ace CDCHD 878 | The Early Jin Singles - Southland Rock 'n' Roll | ● CD $16.98 |
| Fine collection of rock 'n' roll and swamp pop recorded for
Floyd Soileau's Jin label between 1958 and 1961. Includes Doug Ardoin & The
Boogie Kings, Rob & The Rhythm Aces, Red Smiley & The Vel-Tones, Steve
Rollins & The Continentals, Al Chase & The Midnites, Rockin' Sidney & His
All Stars, Phil Bo, The Del-Cords, Chuck Martin & The Honeydrippers, Rockin'
Dave Allen & The Thunderbirds, Johnnie Allan, Mary McCoy, Jivin' Gene & The
Jokers and others - 30 tracks in all. Booklet includes comments on the
artists and tracks by Floyd Soileau himself. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bear Family BCD 16339 | The Drugstore's Rockin', Vol. 1 | ● CD $21.98 |
| Teen rock 'n' roll given the Bear Family treatment with
spectacular sound from original master tapes, many rare tracks (some
previously unissued) and extensive documentation in 44 page booklet. 26
tracks from Janis Martin, The Legarde Twins, Joe Melson, John D. Loudermilk,
Darrell McCall, The Four Preps, Jack Scott, Dave Rich, Autry Inman, Melvin
Endsley, Chuck & Bill (The Kentuckians), Jackie Dee, Billy Harlan and
others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bear Family BCD 16340 | The Drugstore's Rockin', Vol. 2 | ● CD $21.98 |
| The second volume includes 26 more songs including tracks by
Curtis Lee, John D. Loudermilk, Melvin Endsley, Ric Cartey, Hoyt Johnson,
The Lane Brothers, Dorsey Burnette, Tommy Tucker, Sammy Salvo, Janis Martin,
The Sprouts, Bill Harlan and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bear Family BCD 16443 | Sentimental Journey, Vol. 3 - Last Train To San Fernando | ● CD $19.98 |
| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bop 002 | Saturday Night On Bop Street, Vol. 2 | ● CD $17.98 |
| Another excellent collection of rockabilly and rock 'n' roll
from the 50s. Most of the tracks have been reissued on CD before but this
collection is solid from beginning to end featuring artists like The Jive
Kings, Tommy Bell, Wynn Stewart (the great Come On - one of the few
rockabilly sides by this great country artists), Darrell Rhodes, Red (Hot)
Russell, Hal Goodsen & The Raiders, Danny Mela, Dick Dale, Joe South, Jerry
Dallman & The Knightcaps, Dwight Pullen, Charlie Feathers, Jericho Jones,
Johnny Knight, Steve Carl & The Jags and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bop 003 | Saturday Night On Bop Street, Vol. 3 | ● CD $17.98 |
| 30 more rockabilly rarities from the 50s. About half these
tracks are available elsewhere but like the others in this series just about
every track is a winner including sides by Jimmy Kirkland, Joe LOmbardie,
Billy Carroll, Don Head, Joey Michaels, Sleepy LaBeef, Rod Willis (his very
strange The Cat), Skip Cody, Mel Robbins, Jim Murphy, Donald Simpson,
Cecil McCullough, Jerry Arnold, Stand Johnson, Vern Pullens and more. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Castle Select SELCD 595 | The Shoop Shoop Song & Other Great Girl Group Hits | ● CD $10.98 |
| Inexpensive compilation of 24 girl group sides from the
early 60s including hits and obscurities with a number making their first
appearance on CD - Betty Everett, The Goodies, Yvonne Carroll, Tracey Dey,
Evie Sands, Roddie Joy, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Barbara Jackson, Linda
Martell & Th Anglos, Shelley Fabares, Marilyn Britton, Ellie Greenwich, The
Butterflys, etc. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Collector 4476 | Slow ... Boogie ... Rockin', Vol. 3 | ● CD $16.98 |
| 32 tracks, recommended. The third collection in this series
is another enjoyable collection of 32 tracks concentrating on "medium tempo
boppers" from the 50s and early 60s which means a lot of hillbilly flavored
material with a strong blues flavor. There are several hard driving
instrumentals including Rock Guitar Rock by Bernie Moore & The
Rockets, Panic by The Palais Royals, The Growl by Alan Pierce
& The Tonekings and others. Johnny Guidry does a nice swampy cover of Larry
Williams' High School Dance and The Fabulous Jokers cover Gene
Vincent's Wear My Ring. I also really like Luke Askew's blues
Bells. Other artists include Eldon Bryson, Tony Senn, George Garrish &
The J.B. Combo, Johnny & The Shadows, The Sharps, John Kreischer (a chaotic
version of the Lefty Frizzell favorite Smoking Cigarettes & Drinking
Coffee Blues), Billy Taylor, The D&S Wildcats, Billy Nettles & His Dixie
Blue Boys, Art Gunn & The Playboys, Kenny Dale, Noel Stookey & His Corsairs
(could this be Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary?), Tommy Collins (a
nice version of Heartbreak Hotel - I don't think this is the
Bakersfield singer), Vince Warner & The PIke County, and others. (FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Collector Rec 7755 | Early Rock & Roll from New Zealand, Vol. 5 & 6 | ● CD $16.98 |
| Two CD set 53 tracks recorded for the Wellington based His
Masters Voice label between 1955 and 1963 including a few previously
unissued. The tunes are about 50% covers of American and 50% originals.
Artists includes Johnny Cooper, Max Merritt, The Embassy Six, Teddy Bennett
& The Blockbusters, The Maori Hi Five and others. Includes 20 page booklet
with extensive notes and lots of photos. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Dee-Jay Jamboree 55113 | Teen Scene | ● CD $18.98 |
| A collection of 35 tracks featuring teen oriented rock 'n'
roll and doo-wop recorded in the late 50s and early 60s for Long Island's
Golden Crest and Shelley labels. Mostly pretty obscure artists including
Tommy Biener with Wendy & The School Girls, Paul Griffin, The Melodeers,
Ralph De Marco, Gino, Danny Winchell, Augie Rios, The Montells, Jan Tober,
The Chessmen, Ricky Shaw, Curt Jensen, Roni Powers, Gino & The Dells,
Charles Dell, Ricky & Robby and Robby and other cute girl and clean cut
young men. Has 20 page booklet with extensive notes, artist photos, label
shots and recording information. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Hop 777 | Hillbilly Hop, Vol. 2 | ● CD $17.98 |
| The second collection of rockin' country and country
flavored rock 'n' roll (with a lower issue number!) features 28 fine sides,
mostly from the 50s, from the likes of The Wilburn Brothers, Judy & Joyce,
Joe D. Johnson (his classic Rattlesnake Daddy), The Nettles Sisters,
Willie Swanson (the odd Arson Carson), Bob Wills, Ted Self (excellent
Buddy Holly flavored Come Rock Me Tow Sleep), Werly Fairburn, Moon
Mullican (the odly titled Cush Cush Ky-Yay), Hank Swatley (a great
rocking version of Jack Guthrie's Oakie Boogie), The Rhythm
Harmoneers, Bobby Bernell, Darnell Miller, Mike Page, Sheb Wooly and others.
Some duplication with other available reissues. Generally excellent sound.
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Inferno 1001 | Inferno Party | ● CD $17.98 |
| 25 tracks, 57 mins, recommended Wild and, at times, wacky
collection of rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and R&B from the 50s and early 60s.
Some relatively familiar titles like the Blond Bomber's great Strollie
Bun and Big Jay McNeely's Psycho Serenade along with lots of
obscurities by The Del-Mars, The Chancellors, Jack & The Knights, The Hot
Tamales (a crazed version of the country standard No Help Wanted),
Bunker Hill, Red "Hot" Russell, Eddie Quinteros (fine Ritchie Valens
flavored singer with the fine Come Dance With Me), Lou Roberts, Dick
Dale, Don Cole, Lue Renney (the truly awful Your Wiggle & Your Giggle),
The Angelos, The Elite (their One Potato is actually a mostly
instrumental version of Papa Oom-Mow-Mow), The Grand-Preees (an odd
version of Heartbreak Hotel) and more. Lots of fun. (FS) THE ANGELOS: Bad Motorcycle/ BOB ARLIN: East L.a./ THE BLOND BOMBER: Strollie Bun/ THE CHANCELLORS: Yo! Yo!/ DON COLE: Lie Detector Machine/ DICK DALE: Jessie Pearl/ BING DAY: I Can't Help It/ THE DEL-MARS: Snacky-poo Part 2/ TOM DORSAM: Baby Of Mine/ MEL DORSEY: Little Lil/ THE ELITE: One Potato/ JOHNNY FORTUNE: Dragster/ THE GRAND-PREES: Heartbreak Hotel/ BUNKER HILL: Red Ridin' Hood & The Wolf/ THE HOT TAMALES: No Help Wanted/ JACK & THE KNIGHTS: Rock The Blues Away/ THE LIVELY SET: The Pomona Drags/ BIG JAY MCNEELY: Psycho Serenade/ BUDDY MILLER: Teen Twist/ THE NOBLES: Black Widow/ EDDIE QUINTEROS: Come Dance With Me/ LUE RENNEY: Your Wiggle And Your Giggle/ LOU ROBERTS: Rattlesnake Shake/ RED "HOT" RUSSELL: Stop!/ RED WEST: Ain't Nobody Gonna Take My Place |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Lucky Gal 002 | Solid Stroll, Vol. 2 | ● CD $17.98 |
| Another collection of 25 mid-tempo (stroll tempo?) rockers.
This one has very few R&B tracks and some of the tracks are a bit pop
oriented. Includes The Four Teens, Bill Reeder, Jimmy Gray, Johnny & The
Jays, Jimmy Fortune, The Rockin' Saints, Tommy Ray Tucker, Patti Ford, The
Ad Libs, Teddy Randazzo, etc. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Memphis Records 7033 | They Thought They Were Elvis - Vocal Clones, Vol. 1 | ● CD $17.98 |
| 25 tracks, 62 mins, recommended. Available again. The
subtitle "25 Rare Elvis Imitators" is a little uncharitable as many of these
artists are simply covering Elvis hits or were inspired by Elvis rather than
imitating him. Some like Dick Banks, Orion, Rodney Scott and Douglas Ray are
a little more obviously influenced by Elvis than others! This set includes a
fine version of One Night by Roy Head, Billy Barrix's hot Cool Off
Baby (a thinly disguised reworking of Baby, Let's Play House with
great guitar), Jody Reynolds' fine Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Vince
Everett's bluesy I Ain't Gonna Be Your Lonesome Dog No More and
tracks by Sleepy Labeef, Boyd Bennett, Johnny Powers, Jimmy Lee, Conway
Twitty, Tommy Hand, etc. Most of the tracks are from the 50s and 60s which
is all to the good. The less said about David Kaye's posthumous tribute
which ends the set the better. (FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Mr. D.J. 101 | Cruisin' Classics, Vol. 1 - Lost Rock 'n' Roll Treasures | ● CD $17.98 |
| 30 tracks, 67 mins, highly recommended. Available again. A
very hot collection of black and white rock 'n roll from the 50s.
Intriguingly it includes a track from 1954 called Oh Maria which is
supposed to be by the Cubans featuring Chuck Berry before he signed to
Chess! Is it? Could be - it is a calypso flavored number not unlike some of
those Chuck recorded for Chess but no guitar - so.... Among the rockin' gems
here are Buck Rogers & His Jets doing Rose Marie, The Satans cover
Lazy Lester's rockin' blues Sugar Coated Love, Sleepy LaBeef outrasps
Hank Ballad on his version of Tore Up, T.V. Slim tells what happened
when Flatfoot Sam Met Jim Dandy, Clyde Stacy does one of those great
clanging guitar instrumentals, the previously unissued Tranquilizer
which is anything but tranquil and Terry Clement & His True Tones treat us
to a great Cajun instrumental with accordion French Blues.. Lots more
from Big Al Downing, Claude Robinson & Group, the wonderful Five Chavis
Brothers, Floyd Dakil Combo, Paul Peek, James Carter & The Sentimentals,
Dick Holler, Rod Bernard (about the only slow number here!), Lee Diamond &
The Upsetters and many others. Some duplication with other reissues. (FS) T.V. SLIM : Flat Foot Sam Meets Jim Dandy/ ROD BERNARD: These Were Our Songs/ CHUCK BERRY: Oh Maria/ THE BLONDE BOMBER: You Can Run But Can't Hide/ JAMES CARTER: Hey Baby Hey/ THE CHAVIS BROTHERS: Old Time Rock And Roll/ EDDIE CLEARWATER: Hey Bernadine/ TERRY CLEMENT: French's Blues (instr.)/ THE CYCLONES: Bullwhip Rock (instr.)/ FLOYD DAKIL: Dance Franny Dance/ LEE DIAMOND: Mama Loochie/ BIG AL DOWNING: Miss Lucy/ RONNIE HAIG: Rocking With The Rhythm And Blues/ STACY HENRY: Jimmy Plays A Horn/ THE HIGHLIGHTS: Studio Blues(instr.)/ DICK HOLLER: Double Shot/ DUSTY KEITH: Hold Me Baby/ SLEEPY LABEEF: Tore Up/ BILL LITTLE: Bye Bye Baby/ FRANKIE LOWERY: Kansas City Train/ MARLON "MADMAN" MITCHELL: Ice Cold Baby/ PAUL PEEK: Sweet Skinny Jenny/ BIG WALTER PRICE: Ain't No Use You Lyin'/ CLAUDE ROBINSON: Cotton Pickin' Mama/ BUCK ROGERS: Rose Marie/ THE SATANS: Sugar Coated Love/ CLYDE STACY: Tranquilizer (instr.)/ GENE TERRY: Cinderella Cinderella/ KID THOMAS: Rockin' This Joint Tonight/ DANNY ZELLA: Sapphire |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Norton CED 291 | Kicksville, Vol. 2 - Raw Rockabilly Acetates | ● CD $14.98 |
| Great collection of crude and wild rockabilly taken from
one-off acetates recorded in the 50s. Apart from Hasil Adkins recorded in
Detroit in 1957 the rest of the artists are complete obscurities - The Crew,
Eddie McCall & The Three Shades, Morty Shann & The Morticians, Joe, Ron &
George, Jimmy Sysum & The Rockin' Three, Ferris Coffey and others including
a couple of unknown artists. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Official 5005 | More Wild & Frantic | ● CD $18.98 |
| 26 tracks, highly recommended. Another exciting collection of
hot black rock 'n' roll and R&B showing the influence of the great Little
Richard. There are some familiar items here along with whole lot of obscure
items - there is also some duplication with Mr. Maestro 300. There is even a
cut by the man himself featuring his fabulous 1959 recording of Fats
Domino's I'm In Love Again which was issued under the name of his
backing group The Upsetters as Richard had supposedly given up rock 'n roll
for religion at the time! Among the gravel voiced rockers here are Vinni
Vincent, Joe McCoy & His Real McCoys, The Royal Jokers, Kid Thomas (his
classic though frequently reissued Rockin' This Joint Tonite), Otis
Redding (one of his first recordings from 1961), Billy La Mont, Baby Cortez,
Don Covay, Jimmy Breedlove, Pretty Boy, Bunker Hill (with a vocal that make
Richard seem tame!), Andy Wilson, Johnny "Rockhouse" Green, Mr.P.T. & The
Party Timers and more. Excellent sound and booklet has artist photos and
label shots. (FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Pink 'n Black 00000 | Cat'n Around | ● CD $15.98 |
| 17 tracks, 47 min, excellent. Early sampler from this British
rockabilly label best known for The Dance Hall Crashers, who aren't here.
What we do have is some fine 90s Britabilly by such find bands as Number
Nine, who open up with a blistering Lonesome Train, The Go Getters
who check in with a nice version of You Don't Love Me by the true
king of Rock'n'Roll, Bo Diddley, & The Blue Devils do a hot I Wish You
Would. Many of the tunes are originals by such bands as Cat'n Around,
The Nick Gilroy Combo, & my fave, the gorgeous Irish singer Imelda Clabby
(great name!) Also tracks by Carlos & The Bandidos, The Infernos. (GM) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Robomonk 1001 | A Tribute To The Four Seasons & Their Sounds, Vol. 1 | ● CD $18.98 |
| 27 track collection featuring groups influenced by the
immensely popular Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. ADRIAN BAKER: Candy Baby/ THE BLISTERS: 50 Miles In Twenty Hours/ THE CYCLONE III: You've Got A Bomb/ PAUL DA VINCI: Your Baby Ain't Your Baby Anymore/ THE DEMOTRONS: Sleep Sleep Sleep/ THE DEVONS: Come On/ THE ECCENTRICS: Share Me/ THE EXPRESSIONS: One Plus One/ THE FACES: I'll Walk Alone/ MICKEY FARRELL & THE DYNAMICS: Baby Mine/ THE FRATERNITY BROTHERS: Big Town/ LARRY & LEGENDS: Don't Pick On My Baby/ THE MADISONS: Cheryl Anne/ SCOTT OBERLE: Cupids Poison Dart/ PLAYGROUND: Playgirl/ Valerie/ THE PROPHETS: Rag Doll Boy/ RUDY: Last Time (i'll Cry Over You)/ TONY SARA: Love Sick Begger/ THE SHOESTRINGS: Candy Andy/ THE SKUNKS: Little Angel/ SOCIETY'S CHILDREN: A Tribute To The Four Seasons/ STEPHEN CRANE VILLAGE FEAT BOBBY VALLI: Hey Summer/ THE STOWAWAYS: Where Are You When I'm Lonely/ TAM & THE TURN-ONS: Cheryl Ann/ Wait A Minute/ TIM TAM & THE TURN-ONS: Kimberly |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rock 'n' Roll 500 | Let's Go Rock And Roll | ● CD $21.98 |
| 30 tracks, 70 mins, highly recommended. Entertaining
collection of rock 'n' roll from the late 50s and early 60s mixing familiar
tracks with obscurities. Although quite a bit of it is teen oriented, with a
few exceptions, it rocks pretty hard. Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones are
featured on seven songs including their big hit Black Slacks - most
of their other tracks are very worthwhile too with some excellent guitar
work. There is also fine guitar work on the five tracks by the Bell Notes,
including, of course their hit I've Had It. The Castle Kings do a
fine job on their three songs including a rocking version of Loch Lomond
that probably won't win them any friends in Scotland. The Dell Vikings are
featured on their two best songs Come Go With Me and Whispering
Bells There's one cut each by The Marcels, Del Chords, Sharptones, Caps,
Mark IV, Rebelaires, Spades, Nite Rockers, Temptations (not the Motown
group) and Al McGee. The only duds are the three cocktail lounge rockers
from The Fabulous Four. Good sound throughout. (FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Stomper Time 15 | Memphis Rockabillies, Hillbillies & Honky Tonk, Vol. 2 | ● CD $17.98 |
| Fine collection of rockabilly and rockin' country from
Memphis recorded for Marshall Ellis's Erwin and associated labels. 38 tracks
from artists like Hoyt Johnson, Jimmy Evans, Ray Scott, Jerry Dion, Retus
Blair, Jimmy Roby, Harmonica Frank Floyd, Monarchs IV, Lee Carzle, Eddie
Bond and others. Includes a couple of previously unissued demos by Hoyt
Johnson. Includes 12 page booklet with detailed notes, photos, label shots
and discographical info. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Teenie Weenie FR 1005 | Teen-Age Dreams, Vol. 4 | ● CD $18.98 |
| 30 tracks, 70 min., recommended Available again. Volume four
in this appropriately-titled series once again offers a generous collection
of early to mid-60's soft rock rarities, among them the first efforts of
some well known names. Highlights include Your Big Brown Eyes by
Bobby Comstock, You'll Never Forget by Bobby Vinton, When I Get
Through With You by Lee Sellars, My Girl by Eddy & the Centuries,
What Can I Do by Johnny Dawn & the Passions, Young Lovers After
Midnight by Dale Ward, I Met a Girl by Johnny David, Always
Always by Johnny Cymbal, Picture of Love by the Laurels, and
Taste of the Blues by Buddy Holly's boyhood friend Bob Montgomery. Sound
quality is surprisingly good given the rarity of the material; the notes are
thorough and informative, and the cover art is a caricature pin-up of
Barbie-like proportions. What more could a one-time teenager ask for? (DH)
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Varese 66382 | The Sun Songbook | ● CD $16.98 |
| 18 tracks, 38 min, recommended. When you have a label that
was indeed a powerhouse in the 50s into the early 60s, as great as it is,
there comes a time where everything's been put out. What you need is a
marketing gimmick. What we have here is a disc full of tunes written by Sun
artists but recorded by other Sun artists. There are a few that were
actually released at the time by Sun - there's a great version of Charlie
Rich's Break Up done by Ray Smith, & of course there's Billy Lee
Riley's classic take on Billy "The Kid" Emerson's Red Hot, along
with Jerry Lee Lewis' version of Roy Orbison's Rock House. But most
of these tunes were unreleased at the time & include a few lesser tracks as
Jeb Stuart's Just Walkin' In The Rain. But what may be most
interesting is some demos done by the songwriters, my fave being Johnny Cash
with Little Wooly Booger (You're My Baby), along with Harold Jenkins
(later known as Conway Twitty) doing Rock House, a song he wrote with
Roy Orbison, & a couple by Charlie Rich. (GM) |
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