Vintage Rock 'n' Roll - Newsletter 137 - Steve Alaimo -> Andy Williams

NEW BOOK

45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains Of A Pop Music Revolution by Jim Dawson & Steve Propes

● BOOK $19.95

Paper, 175 pages, counts as three CDS for shipping The history of the the 45 rpm record is traced back to the 1880s and the book explores the personality conflicts that led to the development of the 45 rpm record into one of postwar America's most popular consumer products. For collectors and trivia fans there are chapters on the most valuable 45s of all time as well as oddities, oddballs and freak hits. Includes over 80 illustrations - many in full color.

NEW DVDS

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted all DVDs offered are in NTSC format which means that they will not play on a European DVD players unless you have a multiple format player.

THE COLLINS KIDS	Bear Family DVD 20015	At Town Hall Party, Vol. 3	● DVD $28.98
28 more live performances by this teen duo from Town Hall Party shows in 1959 - includes Lonely Boy (twice)/ Sea Cruise/ Johnny B. Goode/ Great Balls Of Fire/ Shake, Rattle & Roll/ Kinda Like Love/ Ramrod (three times)/Sugar Plum/ Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey and more. THE COLLINS KIDS: (que Sera, Sera / Hound Dog)/ (que Sera, Sera / Hound Dog)/ Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen/ By The Light Of The Silv'ry Moon/ Charlie Brown/ Great Balls Of Fire/ Great Balls Of Fire/ I Got A Feeling/ Johnny B. Goode/ Kinda Like Love/ Lonely Boy/ Lonely Boy/ Ramrod (instrumental)/ Ramrod (instrumental)/ Ramrod (instrumental)/ Ramrod (instrumental)/ Sea Cruise/ Shake A Hand/ Shake A Hand/ Shake, Rattle And Roll/ Stagger Lee/ Stagger Lee/ Sugar Plum/ Sugar Plum/ The Blues Medley/ The Rockin' Gypsy/ Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey/ You Are My Sunshine

THE SHADOWS	Eagle Eye 30089	The Final Tour	● DVD $17.98
DVD concert - 156 min, interview - 45 min, essential I've been playing this one so much that my wife says "how come every time I look at the TV, there are guys with grey hair playing guitar?" If you thought the double CD was great, wait till you listen to this one in DTS surround sound! The main DVD has the complete 42 song set led by the 3 longest serving Shads, Hank "Specs" Marvin, one of the UK's most influential guitarists, along with Bruce Welch on rhythm guitar & Brian Bennett on drums. Every facet of their career is covered, which mean along with their hits (Apache/ Kon Tiki/ Nivram, & my fave The Rise & Fall Of Fleegle Bunt) they also do a set of Cliff Richard's faves (Summer Holiday/ Bachelor Boy, etc) as well as their 70s CSNY influenced period as Marvin, Welch & Farar. As a bonus, there's a 45 min interview of the Shads. (GM)

VARIOUS ARTISTS	Cleopatra 1419	Rock, Rock, Rock!	● DVD $13.98
DVD, 1956, 83 minutes, all region, recommended Milton Subotsky's screenplay will not have its own page in the encyclopedia of the American entertainment industry, but the musicians in this Alan Freed vehicle might. First the good news: viewers can skip the plot, such as it is, and the few musical numbers that might not please (Ivy Schulman's performance comes painfully to mind) with the press of a button, to get to the Moonglows singing I Knew From The Start and Over And Over Again, featuring Bo Diddley on guitar; or The Flamingoes singing Will I Be Crying; or Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers performing Baby Baby and the amusing I Am Not A Juvenille Delinquent (a moment in amber if ever there was one!), and plenty more. Chuck Berry's duck walk makes this DVD worthwhile all by itself, even if it weren't attached to You Can't Catch Me. Likewise, seeing the Johnny Burnette Trio perform Lonesome Train is somehow magical. Sure, everyone is obviously lip syncing, but what the hell. Other moments to remember include LaVern Baker singing Tra-La-La and a dangerously young Tuesday Weld, who has Connie Francis' voice coming out of her mouth every time she opens it to sing. And now the bad news: the only "extras" offered on this disc are two trailers (one for "Rock, Rock, Rock!" and one for "Johnny Melody"), which is all right, and the "Fabulous '50s Slide Show," which, amazingly, consists of nothing more than pictures of newspaper clippings of Alan Freed stories that are not only too small to read but generally don't even contain photos. Irredeemably inane. (JC)

NEW COMPACT DISCS

STEVE ALAIMO	Henry Stone Music 25003	50s-70s	● CD $11.98
Two CD set. - Love�s Gonna Live Here/ Everybody Knows But Her/ Mais Oui/ So Much In Love/ Ooh Pooh Pah Doo/ Watching The Trains Go By/ After The Smoke Is Gone, etc.

BOYD BENNETT & HIS ROCKETS	Ace CDCHD 1039	Rockin' Up A Storm - The Best Of the King Recordings	● CD $16.98
24 tracks recorded in the mid 50s for King by this fine rockin' group including the original recording of the much covered hit Seventeen. It includes for the first time on CD the groups final session with pianist Cecil McNabb Jr. in its entirety featuring some of their wildest recordings. Includes several previously unissued alternate takes and the recently discovered original take of My Boy Flat Top with Bennett himself singing rather than their regular vocalist Big Moe.

SONNY BURGESS	Charly SNAP 218	The Arkansas Wild Man	● CD $13.98
25 tracks, 60 min., recommended Repackaging of Charly 8113 in digipack with picture label on disc. Burgess wins the award for being the wildest guy in the Sun stables, not an insignificant accomplishment considering the competition. Burgess' music is not only raucous and frenzied (We Wanna Boogie/ Red Headed Woman/ I Got A Woman, his performances on stage are legendary for their unbridled energy, Burgess often throwing himself offstage into the unsuspecting audience for a little play time. And while that energy did not always end up coming through on record, Sonny's musical talent did. This is a fine one disc document of his Sun sides with little duplication by "alternate" takes. Don't you want to hear Sonny sing, "I got a woman, but she climbs trees"? Of course you do. (JC) SONNY BURGESS: Ain't Got A Thing/ Daddy Blues/ Fannie Brown/ Find My Baby For Me/ Gone/ Hand Me Down My Walking Cane (all My Sins Are Taken Away )/ Mama Loochie/ Mr Blues/ My Babe/ My Little Town Baby/ Oh Mama!/ One Broken Heart/ One Night/ Please Listen To Me/ Red Headed Woman/ Restless/ Sadie's Back In Town/ Skinny Ginny/ So Glad You're Mine/ Sweet Misery/ The Prisoner's Song/ Tomorrow Night/ Truckin' Down The Avenue/ We Wanna Boogie/ What' Cha Gonna Do

CHARLIE FEATHERS	Charly SNAP 230	Gone, Gone, Gone	● CD $13.98
24 tracks, highly recommended The first 16 tracks on this CD features at least one take of all of Charlie's Flip/ Sun recordings, recorded between 1955 and 1958, most of which were not originally issued. Most of these recordings are country and, to my mind, Charlie was one of the very finest country singers of the 50s and with the right combination of luck and promotion could have been a country superstar. His lonesome voice and mournful lyrics marks him as a spiritual heir to Hank Williams - his Defrost Your Heart is one of my all time favorite honky tonk songs and we get two takes here. There are also a few unissued rockabilly tracks including two demos of Bottle To The Baby that he was later to record for King. The remaining eight tracks are from an excellent 1973 session featuring him in fine voice with stripped down arrangements revisiting some of his earlier songs as well country and rockabilly hits by others - I Forgot To Remember To Forget/ Tongue-Tied Jill/ Send Me The Pillow You Dream On/ Folsom Prison Blues, etc. Great stuff with 8 page booklet with notes by Clive Anderson. For a more extensive look at Charlie you should check out the Revenant Two CD set (Revenant 209 - $29.98) which has all the Sun/ Flip material here (except the track with The Miller Sisters where his presence is ianudible) plus a whole lot more. (FS) CHARLIE FEATHERS: Bootle To The Baby (later Demo)/ Bottle To The Baby (early Demo)/ Corrine, Corrina/ Defrost Your Heart/ Defrost Your Heart (alternate)/ Folsom Prison Blues/ Frankie And Johnny/ Gone, Gone, Gone/ Honky Tonk Kind/ I Forgot To Remember To Forget/ I've Been Deceived/ I've Been Deceived (alternate)/ Mound Of Clay/ Peepin' Eyes/ Runnin' Around/ Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On/ So Ashamed/ Someday You Will Pay (with The Miller Sisters)/ The Man In Love/ Tongue-tied Jill/ Two To Choose/ Uh Huh, Honey/ We're Getting Closer To Being Apart/ Wedding Gown Of White

JERRY LEE LEWIS	Varese 66602	Jerry Lee Lewis	● CD $13.98
Reissue of Jerry Lee's first Sun album from 1958 with six bonus cuts. The original album included his big hit High School Confidential plus other great songs written for him (Put Me Down/ It'll Be Me, etc) as well as dynamite covers (Don't Be Cruel/ Jambalaya/ Matchbox, etc.). The bonus tracks include two of his biggest hits Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and Breathless plus Mean Woman Blues

THE LIVELY ONES	Collector's Choice 473	Surf City/ Surfin' South Of the Border	● CD $15.98
24 tracks, 57 min, excellent The prolific surf band's third & fifth LPs (the fourth was a best of - "The Great Surf Hits", not included here). "Surf City" (Del-Fi 1237 9/63) was mostly non-LP 45-sides including Telstar Surf, a version of the Joe Meek classic, as well as turning covers inside out to be their own tunes - 40 Miles Of Bad Surf is NOT the Duane Eddy 40 Miles of Bad Road (they'd already done that), but Freddie King's Butterscotch, & Livin' was The Hungry Eye by Johnny & The Hurricanes - no wonder there weren't any writer credits on the original LP! The fifth LP "South Of The Border" (Del-Fi 1240 11/63, after the surf music fad left) came from a failed attempt to have jazzers do Latin-tinged surf instrumentals. Only six songs were salvaged by a group with sessioners including Billy Strange, Conte Candoli & Tom Scott, which were thrown on LP with six Lively Ones tunes, mostly covers, with the jazz tunes appearing as by The Jazz Mariachis including a nice Watermelon Man. Full liner notes explain everything! (GM)

DELBERT MCCLINTON & GLEN CLARK	Raven 184	Delbert+Glen/ Subject To Change	● CD $17.98
23 tracks, 72 mins, essential Only in recent years has Delbert McClinton started to gain the widespread respect that his work has always deserved. Reissued here are two albums originally released on Clean Records in 1972-73 with McClinton sharing the spotlight--what little their was then--with Glen Clark, known subsequently for his remarkable song writing skills, among other things. McClinton drew material from these sessions for his solo albums and live shows for years after, including the classic "B" Movie Box Car Blues, covered with wild success by the Blues Brothers, I Received A Letter (later off Keeper Of The Flame), and Ain't What You Eat It's The Way That You Chew, later recut for Love Ruslter). McClinton has always been equally adept at soul, blues, country, R&B, and all stops in between, as these songs will confirm. The first LP also boasts an early production credit for J. Henry Burnett, better known later as the prolific and sought-after record producer T-Bone Burnett (who most famously produced the soundtrack of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?). Subject To Change's credits is a who's who of musical talent, featuring such bright lights as Travis Wammack, Tommy Spurlock, and David "Fathead" Newman. What's not to like? Here's hoping this stays in print for a while. (JC)

JACK NITZSCHE	Ace CDCHD 1030	The Jack Nitzsche Story - Hearing Believing	● CD $16.98
26 track career retrospective of this revered arranger, songwriter and producer ranging from his own recordings in the 60s like Lonely Surfer and his unique version of Rumble to his work as a songwriter (he wrote Needles & Pins which is featured here by the original recording by Jackie DeShannon), to his succesful attempts to update the sound of 50s pop stars like Doris Day and Frankie Laine to his work with 60s folk rockers like Judy Henske, Bob Lind and Tim Buckley to his work with The Rolling Stones (represented here by Marianne Faithfull's Sister Morphine) and much more.

CARL PERKINS	Charly SNAP 221	Boppin' Blue Suede Shoes	● CD $13.98
CARL PERKINS: Blue Suede Shoes/ Boppin' The Blues/ Caldonia/ Dixie Fried/ Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby/ Forever Yours/ Glad All Over./ Honey Don't/ I Care/ I'm Sorry, I'm Not Sorry/ Lend Me Your Comb/ Let The Jukebox Keep On Playing/ Look At That Moon/ Matchbox; Roll Over Beethoven/ Movie Magg/ Pink Pedal Pushers/ Put Your Cat Clothes On/ Right String, Wrong Yo-yo/ Sure To Fall/ Sweethearts Or Strangers/ That Don't Move Me/ That's Right/ Y.o.u/ Your True Love

BARBARA PITTMAN	Charly SNAP 223	Getting Better All The Time	● CD $13.98
27 tracks 69 mins, recommended Repackaging of Charly 8319 in digipack with picture label on disc. It's stretching it a bit to fill up a whole CD so there's some fairly pedestrian outings included, as well as several alternate takes. Nothing else here is as rocking as her famed I Need A Man but I'm Getting Better All The Time (four takes - one totally different, with just Jack Clement on acoustic guitar), Everlasting Love and Sentimental Fool (3 takes) rock like crazy with that good ol' Sun rhythm. It's funny how she sounds so amateurish at times and at other times, like on Two Young Fools In Love and Handsome Man, she sounds mature and forceful. (AE) BARBARA PITTMAN: Cold, Cold, Heart/ Cold, Cold, Heart (alt.1)/ Eleventh Commandment/ Everlasting Love/ Everlasting Love (alt.1)/ Handsome Man/ I Forgot To Remember To Forget/ I Need A Man/ I'm Getting Better All The Time/ I'm Getting Better All The Time (alt.1)/ I'm Getting Better All The Time (alt.2)/ I'm Getting Better All The Time (alt.3)/ I'm Getting Better All The Time (demo)/ Just One Day/ Love Is A Stranger (sunrays)/ No Matter Who's To Blame/ No Matter Who's To Blame (alt.1)/ No Matter Who's To Blame (alt.2)/ Sentimental Fool (alt.1)/ Sentimental Fool (alt.2)/ Sentimental Fool (alt.3)/ Take My Sympathy (alt.1)/ Take My Sympathy (demo)/ The Lonely Hours (sunrays)/ Two Young Fools In Love/ Two Young Fools In Love (demo)/ Voice Of A Fool

ELVIS PRESLEY	RCA 66058	Elvis Presley	● CD $11.98
18 tracks, 43 mins, essential Following on from RCA recent fabulous Sun reissue it continues its latest revamping of the Elvis catalog with newly remastered reissues of his first three LPs all remastered with DSD technology and featuring bonus tracks. This was Elvis's first LP issued as Heartbreak Hotel was skyrocketing the charts and heading for #1. It features the classic cover photo that screams out "Parental Advisory - Hard driving rock 'n' roll inside!" It included six songs from Elvis's first RCA sessions and five tracks from his Sun sessions that hadn't been out before. With Scotty and Bill plus occasional piano and drums he turns in dynamic performances of rock 'n' roll and R&B hits, country songs, a pop ballad and a couple of songs especially written for the RCA sessions. Highlight for me is the wonderful cover of the obscure R&B song Trying To Get To You with its intense vocal and great guitar by Scotty but it's all superb. The six bonus cuts include Heartbreak Hotel and its flip, a great version of bluesman Arthur Crudup's My baby Left Me and his second #1 hit - the wonderfully intense I Want You, I Need You, I Love YOU. Classic music in the ebst sound ever and booklet with new notes by Colin Escott. (FS)

ELVIS PRESLEY	RCA 66059	Elvis	● CD $11.98
18 tracks, highly recommended Elvis's second LP originally issued in October 1956 with six bonus cuts. The cover shot shows a tamer Elvis than the first album and quite a few of the tracks reflect that tamer image. He does fine versions of three Little Richard songs but the best tracks are his great version of Arthur Crudup's So Glad You're Mine, Otis Blackwell's great Paralysed (one of the few songs written specifically for the album) and the great Leiber & Stoller R&B ballad Love Me - one of Elvis's best ever ballads. I really can't stand the maudlin Old Shep and his treatment of Eddy Arnold's hit How's The World Treating You is pretty forgettable. The bonus tracks include both sides of two of his singles Too Much/ Playing For Keeps and, possibly his best double sider Hound Dog and Don't Be Cruel - two performances that will assuredly stand the test of time. Also included is Love Me Tender

ELVIS PRESLEY	RCA 66060	Loving You	● CD $11.98
Elvis's third LP issued in 1957 included seven songs featured in the film of the same name plus five others. The eight bonus cuts includes four alternate versions of songs from the film and four other great songs.

CHARLIE RICH	Charly SNAP 175	That's Rich	● CD $13.98
30 tracks, 64 min., highly recommended Repackaging of Charly 8146 in digipack with picture label on disc. It was easy to be underrated and overlooked at a label that counted Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash among its hired guns. Rich spent his Sun output searching for a consistent sound or at least one that would sell well. In general, he found neither. But along the way he cut (and wrote) some incredibly good singles: Lonely Weekends, Sittin' And Thinkin', and Break Up, to name 3. But more often than not, othersreaped the success that issued from Rich's pen, as Bobby Blue Bland did when he took Who Will The Next Fool Be to the studio and then to the R&B charts. Oh well. This set includes both sides of all his Phillips International singles plus some LP tracks including three covers of Chuck Willis sides and five solo demos of just Charlie & his piano. Includes eight page booklet with notes by Adam Komorowski. (JC/ FS) CHARLIE RICH: Big Man/ Blue Suede Shoes/ Break Up/ C.c. Rider/ Caught In The Middle/ Charlie's Boogie/ Easy Money/ Everything I Do Is Wrong/ Finally Found Out/ Gonna Be Waitin'/ I Need Your Love/ It Hurts Me So/ It's Too Late/ Juanita/ Juicehead Baby/ Just A Little Bit Sweet/ Lonely Weekends/ Midnight Blues/ My Baby's Done Left Me/ Now Everybody Knows/ On My Knees/ Philadelphia Baby/ Rebound/ School Days/ Sittin' And Thinkin'/ Stay/ There's Another Place I Can't Go/ Ways Of A Woman In Love/ Whirlwind/ Who Will The Next Fool Be

BILLY LEE RILEY	Charly SNAP 176	Red Hot	● CD $13.98
26 tracks, highly recommended Repackaging of Charly 8138 in digipack with picture label. Why Red Hot was not a huge national hit for Mr. Riley will forever be a mystery. A person could start riots or level buildings with the energy in that thing. Likewise, Rock With Me Baby/ Trouble Bound/ Flying Saucer Rock & Roll/ One More Time all deserved a better fate than they received. These 26 Sun sides show Riley at his most talented as well as at the hands of producers in search of a quick money record--how else can the somewhat embarrassing Down By The River Side/ Swanee River Rock be explained? Among the stuff here that Sun never bothered to issue is a worthy cover of the Coasters' Searchin' and a rocked up take of Chuck Willis' Betty & Dupree. A vocally strained work up of Let's Talk About Us (and a couple of others) is for fans only. The guy should have been a star. (JC/FS) BILLY LEE RILEY: Baby Please Don't Go/ Betty And Dupree/ Billy's Blues/ College Man/ Come Back Baby (one More Time)/ Dance With Me Honey/ Dark Muddy Bottom/ Down By The Riverside/ Flying Saucers Rock And Roll/ Folsom Prison Blues/ Got The Water Boiling/ I Want You Baby/ Let's Talk About Us/ No Name Girl/ Pearly Lee/ Red Hot/ Rock With Me Baby/ Saturday Night Fish Fry/ Searchin'/ Swanee River Rock/ Sweet William/ That's Right/ Trouble Bound/ When A Man Gets The Blues/ Wouldn't You Know/ Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash

THE SENTINALS	Collector's Choice 471	Big Surf!/ Surfer Girl	● CD $15.98
27 tracks, 56 min, recommended One of the best of the 2nd tier surf groups, with Tommy Nunes on guitar & Johnny Barbata, later of The Turtles, CSNY & Jefferson Airplane on drums. This has their two exciting Del-Fi LPs, "The Big Surf" (Del-Fi 1232 from 7/63, the height of the surf fad) has their classics Latinia & Tor-Chula, their only Del-Fi single (title track), & a fine cover of Freddie King's Hideaway. Their second LP "Surfer Girl" (Del-Fi 1241 '63) again is a mixture of mostly originals (Surf Stomper/ The Sentinal) & another fine Freddie King cover - Sensation is Freddie's Sen-Say-Shun. Full liner notes with lots of info, including the fact that at the last minute producer Bob Keene used The Lively Ones' Surfer Girl as the title track of the Sentinals LP! (GM)

THE SHADOWS	Eagle 20047	The Final Tour	● CD $14.98
2 discs, 42 tracks, highly recommended In 2003, the core members of the UKs 1st great rock group, The Shadows, performed a short "farewell" tour, their 1st since finally breaking up in '90, after being together on & off since '59. With the original long-serving lead/rhythm guitar team of Hank "Specs" Marvin & Bruce Welch, along with their longest-lived drummer (since '61), Brian Bennett, this long set covers their entire career, including their wonderful signature hits like Apache/ Riders In The Sky/ FBI, their hits behind "The Old Man' (they were Cliff Richard's long-time backup band) including Please Don't Tease & tunes from the movies "The Young Ones" & "Summer Holiday", some 3 part CSNY harmony from their early-70s group Marvin Welch & Farrar (Lady Of The Morning), their mid-70s-90 reformation (Theme From The Deer Hunter/ Don't Cry For Me Argentina) & lots of legendary tunes like Nivram/ The Rise & Fall Of Fleegle Blunt & Don't Make My Baby Blue, popularized when covered by The Move. VERY enjoyable! (GM)

DEL SHANNON	Bear Famly BCD 15925	Home And Away - The Complete Recordings, 1960-1970	● CD $199.98
8 CDs, 226 tracks, essential Of all my pre-Beatles rock memories, my brightest were of Del Shannon. In the early 70s, when record collecting started getting more practical with swap meets, Good Wills & Salvation Armies & mags like The Rock Market Place, I started collecting Del with a vengeance, on all sorts of labels. I was burglarized in '75 & everything was stolen, including all my singles. Never thought I'd get 'em again. This set FINALLY solves the problem as it collects all of Del's 60s output. Starting with a scrapped session in '60, Del's 2nd session hit pay dirt for Big Top with Runaway, as well as later hits like Hats Off To Larry/ Hey Little Girl/ Little Town Flirt, even a pre-Elvis His Favorite Flame. Del was a huge hit in the UK & when touring there he was on the same bill as a new band The Beatles. He liked one of their songs, From Me To You, so much that while still over there he went in the studio to cut it. When Big Top released it in '63 he became the first in the US to release a Lennon-McCartney tune. There was a short spell with his own label Berlee in '63 with Sue's Gotta Be Mine, then over to Amy in '64 & back with more greats starting with Handy Man/ Keep Searchin' & Stranger In Town. In '65 Del was at Liberty with the phased classic The Big Hurt & in '66 did a 45 of Under My Thumb. By the end of the 60s, Del's hits were drying up, but he was at ABC-Dunhill where, besides putting out the legendary single Sister Isabelle, he did production & had huge hits with Brian Hyland's cover of Gypsy Woman & Smith's cover of Baby It's You. ALL the LPs are here, including stereo versions - some of the Big Top LPs only had 1000 total pressed in stereo. There's experiments such as his "Sings Hank Williams" & his hipper late 60s LPS such as "Total Commitment" & even going back to his real name, "The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover". Also finally available is the entire 2/67 session done in London with The Stones' Andrew Loog Oldham producing & the band featuring Jimmy Page on guitar & John Paul Jones on bass, doing songs written by Del, Oldham & Oldham's prot�g�' Billy Nichols. There are unreleased sessions here, unoverdubbed takes, even Pepsi commercials. And finally there's a full disc of demos from the '60s done with his equally legendary keyboard player, Max "Maximillion" Crook, inventor of The Musitron. And just as important as the music, there's your "typical" LP sized hardcover booklet with complete biography & discography, probably every picture ever taken of Del, and even more amazing, pictures of every single & LP released including promo copies & overseas issues. Truly overwhelming! (GM)

RAY SMITH	Charly SNAP 181	Shake Around	● CD $13.98
23 tracks, 53 min., recommended Repackaging of Charly 8117 in digipack with picture label. A fine collection of this rocker mostly featuring his Sun sides but including his two Vee-Jay sides, covers of Rockin' Robin and Robbin' the Cradle. Featured tracks include Breakup, Willing and Ready, Right Behind You Baby, Rockin' Bandit, Sail Away, Forever Yours, Travelin' Salesman, Life Is a Flower, I Wanna Be Free, and This Girl Is Meant for Me. Sound quality is solid, there are informative notes by Adam Komorowski. (DH) RAY SMITH: Break Up/ Candy Doll/ Forever Yours/ Hey Boss Man/ I Wanna Be Free/ I Won't Miss You ('til You Go)/ Life Is A Flower/ Little Girl/ Right Behind You Baby/ Robbin' The Cradle/ Rockin' Bandit (dubbed)/ Rockin' Bandit (undubbed)/ Rockin' Robin/ Sail Away/ Shake Around/ So Young/ The Girl Was Meant For Me/ Travelin' Salesman/ Two Pennies And A String/ Why, Why, Why/ Why, Why, Why (alt)/ Willing And Ready/ You Made A Hit

B.J. THOMAS	Ace CDCHD 1014	The Scepter Hits & More, 1964-1973	● CD $16.98
The first CD to carry all the major early hits of this important 60s/ 70s chartmaker. Includes the original versions of Raindrops Keep A Fallin' On My Head, Mama (a U.K. hit for Dave Barry in 1966), I Just Can't help Believin' (covered by Elvis), Hooked On A Feelin' (a U.K. hit for Blue Swede) and others. Sessions were produced by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Chips Moman, Huey Meaux and Stevie Wonder.

VARIOUS ARTISTS	Ace CDCHD 1045	Early Girls, Vol. 4	● CD $16.98
The latest volume in this series of recordings featuring great rock 'n' roll, pop and R&B by female singers from the pre-Beatles era includes big hits by artists like Brenda Lee, The McGuire Sisters, The Essex, Patience & Prudence, Rosemary Cloony, Little Eva and others as well as lesser known sides from Nancy Wilson, The Teddy Bears, Annie Laurie, Priscilla Wright, Jeanne Black, Mary Ann Fisher and more.

VARIOUS ARTISTS	Charly SNAD 544	Everybody's Rockin' Tonight!	● CD $17.98
Two CDs, 60 tracks, highly recommended Great collection of rockabilly from Sun including certified classics like That's All Right by Elvis Perkins, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On by Jerry Lee Lewis, Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins, Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison along with lesser known and originally unissued sides by Jimmy Williams, Macy Skipper, Curtis Hobock, Kenneth Parchman, Tommy Blake, Dick Penner and more. Excellent notes and 12 page booklet has informative notes by Clive Anderson but no discographical info. (FS) ANDY ANDERSON: Tough, Tough, Tough/ ERNIE BARTON: Whirlpool/ SMOKEY JOE BAUGH: Listen To Me/ TOMMY BLAKE: Lordy Hoody/ SONNY BURGESS: Red Headed Woman/ JOHNNY CASH: Mean Eyed Cat/ JACK EARLS: Take Me To That Place/ CHARLIE FEATHERS: Corrine, Corrina/ RUDY GRAYZELL: Judy/ CLIFF GREAVES: Your Cheatin' Heart/ RAY HARRIS: Come On, Little Mama/ CURTIS HOBOCK: Apron Strings/ For All I'm Worth/ GLEN HONEYCUTT: Rock All Night (all Night Rock)/ JERRY LEE LEWIS: Crawdad Song/ Deep Elem Blues/ Great Balls Of Fire/ I'm Feeling Sorry/ Lovin' Up A Storm/ Milkshake Mademoiselle/ Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On/ You Win Again/ CARL MANN: Mona Lisa/ Rockin' Love/ LUKE MCDANIEL: Huh Babe/ My Baby Don't Rock/ CARL MCVOY: A Woman's Love (the Thrill Of Your Love)/ MISSISSIPPI SLIM: Try Doin' It Right/ ROY ORBISON: Mean Little Mama (undubbed)/ Ooby Dooby/ KENNETH PARCHMAN: Love Crazy Baby/ TRACY PENDARVIS: Hypnotized/ Please Be Mine (come To Me)/ Uh Huh, Oh Yeah/ DICK PENNER: Fine Little Baby/ CARL PERKINS: Blue Suede Shoes/ Dixie Fried/ Her Love Rubbed Off/ Lend Me Your Comb/ Matchbox/ That's Right/ DOUG POINTDEXTER: My Kind Of Carryin' On/ JOHNNY POWERS: With Your Love, With Your Kiss/ ELVIS PRESLEY: Blue Moon Of Kentucky/ Good Rockin' Tonight/ I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine/ That's All Right/ TEDDY REDELL: Me And My Blues/ CHARLIE RICH: Lonely Weekends/ BILLY LEE RILEY: Flyin' Saucers Rock �n' Roll/ Red Hot/ MACY SKIPPER: Bop Pills/ RAY SMITH: Right Behind You Baby/ WARREN SMITH: Got Love If You Want It/ HAYDEN THOMPSON: Love My Baby/ JIMMY WAGES: Garden Of Evil/ JIMMY WILLIAMS: Fire Engine Red/ Rock-a-bye Baby/ MALCOLM YELVINGTON: Drinkin' Wine Spoo Dee O Dee/ Rocking With My Baby

VARIOUS ARTISTS	Collector 4488	I'm Gonna Rock On You	● CD $16.98
30 tracks, 65 mins, recommended Another fine collection of rockabilly and rock 'n' roll courtesy of Collector - about 80% new to CD. There are several unissued sides including early demos by Benny Joy of Steady With Betty & Hey High School Baby. Most of the other artists here are real obscurities like John Henry & The Steel Drivers, Charles Ross & His Boys From Paris (the great Little Bit Lonesome), The Tilton Sisters & The Lawrence Brothers, The Night People (the hot guitar instrumental Istanbul), Milan Shepel, Bob Cain, The Jukes (another hot guitar instrumental), Ronnie Secaur & The Tre-Mendez, Larry Rand & The Electras (a wild and funky rendition of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues), Johnny Garmon, George Torens & The Maybees, The Titans, Frank Aureli & His R&R Ramblers (three poorly recorded demos). Usual 8 page booklet with some artist photos and label shots. (FS)

VARIOUS ARTISTS	Collector 4489	Rock & Roll With Piano, Vol. 9	● CD $16.98
30 tracks from the 50s plus "five boogie woogie bonus tracks" which are, presumably, fairly recent recordings of Dutch pianist. The 50s sides include Billy "Echo" Adkinson, Ronnie Dove & The Bell-Tones, Mike Patterson & The Rhythm Rockers, Hank Chess, Danny Edwards & Teddy Redell, Chuck Miller, Don Ray and others.

THE VENTURES	Ace CDCHD 1031	In The Vaults, Vol. 3	● CD $16.98
Complementing Ace 651 and 716 this is the third collection of rarities by one of the most popular instrumental groups of all time. It includes their very first single (Cookies & Coke/ The Real McCoy), other early 45s, obscure LP tracks and seven previously unissued tracks.

GENE VINCENT	Bear Famly BCD 16257	The Road Is Rocky - The Complete Studio Masters	● CD $199.98
8 discs, 223 tracks, essential Used to be that Gene was well-served on vinyl, if not in the US then overseas, especially France. I have a French box set on Capitol/Pathe that, if you combined with all the LPs (all also released in France) you would have every single Vincent recording released! The years of CD haven't been too kind until now, where Bear Family does have every single Capitol recording 1956-59 (how can you miss - his first 3 recordings were Race With The Devil/ Be Bop A Lula & Woman Love!). From there is his 60s days on UK EMI labels, then back to the states in '66 for Challenge, also released in the UK on London. Then there's his "comeback" years in '69 in the UK for the late John Peel's otherwise psychedelic Dandelion label, & finally for US Kama Sutra with Kim Fowley producing. Here's rockabilly at it's finest & most raw, with the original version of The Blue Caps with Galloping Cliff Gallop on guitar, the next version with Johnny Meeks on guitar & The Clapper Boys - Paul Peek & Tommy Facenda, on backing vocals, the late 50s sides with twin tenor saxes including Central Ave vet Jeackie Kelso, the more orchestrated UK recordings, then back to the US with the regulars at Challenge - Glen Campbell, Jerry Cole, Seals & Crofts, Larry Knechtel & Joe Osborn, & early 70s with such greats as Augie Meyers, Al Casey, Skip Battin, Mars Bonfire, even a return of Johnny Meeks. And of course, there's the gorgeous hard cover LP-sized book with complete info on everything - bio, discography, etc. While most Bear Family sets have pictures of all the artist's releases, this one is a rare exception that doesn't, mainly because Bear Family already has published a full book on the subject. So what's here in its place is complete American Federation of Music contracts! If you can remember the classic pic of the complete Blue Caps - the 4 Blue Cap musicians in the back with red jackets & white shirts, the 2 Clapper Boys in green jackets & Gene in front in red shirt, there's an entire series from this session in both color & black & white, ending with a pic that was fully autographed! And wait till you see the pic of Gene & John Lennon from the Hamburg days! (GM)

ANDY WILLIAMS	Varese 66119	Lonely Street	● CD $13.98
17 tracks, 48 min, recommended Reissue of Mr. Easy's 1st LP, Cadence 25030 from '60, with bonus tracks. Laid back music for late night, with Andy's hit cover of Carl Belew's title classic, along with another country cover, Hank Williams's I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, with the rest standards incl Willow Weep For Me / Unchained Melody / Autumn Leaves,etc. Of the 5 bonus tracks, 4 were single sides recorded during this time that only appeared on "Best Of" LPs (It's All In The Game / Don't Go To Strangers) & all the above are in true stereo! The only non-stereo cut is the final bonus, the mono 45 version of the title tune. (GM)

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