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VINTAGE
ROCK 'N' ROLL & ROCKABILLY
Don
Rader -> The Righteous Brothers
| DON RADER &
THE FIVE STARS |
Gee-Dee 270115 |
Detroit Rockabilly Man |
● CD $18.98 |
22 tracks from Detroit rockabilly and country singer Rader
featuring sides from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 90s. Rader is pretty
lightweight as a rockabilly singer and downright mediocre as a country
singer. There are few pretty hot sides (Rockin' The Blues/ My baby's
Still Rockin') but most of it is unexceptional.
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| MARVIN RAINWATER |
Bear Family BCD 15812 |
Whole Lotta Woman |
● CD $19.98 |
26 tracks, 58 min., recommended If the four CD Rainwater
boxed set that Bear Family has out is too much for your appetite or your
budget, this single disc collection may do the trick. But, be forewarned,
the operative subtitle here is "Rockin' Rollin' Rainwater"
because the program is packed with uptempo numbers, like the title track, I
Dig You Baby, Baby Don't Go, Hot and Cold, Dance Me
Daddy, Love Me Baby (Like There's No Tomorrow), Young Girls,
Tough Top Cat, and (There's A) Honky Tonk in Your Heart. I
think you get the idea. If you're looking for Gonna Find Me a Bluebird,
this is not the place to find it. But if you're a fan of country jump
tunes, you'll feel right at home here. And, as you might expect with Bear
Family, production values are high in all respects. (DH)
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| BILL RAMSEY |
Bear Family BCD 15672 |
Souvenirs |
● CD $11.98 |
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| BOOTS RANDOLPH |
Bear Family BCD 15459 |
Yakety Sax |
● CD $19.98 |
| 26 tracks recorded for RCA between 1958 and 1960 by
Nashville's most popular sax player. Mostly instrumental along with a
couple of dispensable vocals. Includes the title hit + percolator/ hey
Elvis/ I'm getting The Message Baby/ Big daddy/ Greenback Dollar/ Red
Light/ Temptation
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| RARE BREED |
Collectables 580 |
Super K Kollection |
● CD $11.98 |
|
| THE RASCALS |
Rhino 71031 |
Anthology: 1965-1972 |
● CD $29.98 |
|
| THE RASCALS |
Rhino 71277 |
The Very Best Of The Rascals |
● CD $11.98 |
16 tracks, 48 min., recommended The (Young) Rascals fusion
of rock and soul, led by Felix Cavaliere and his Hammond B-3, has aged
well, and for the most part still feels fresh and full of energy--of
course, it doesn't hurt to have recorded for a label that provided
supporting musicians such as King Curtis, The Sweet Inspirations, and
Hurbert Laws. But for those who still don't want to spring for the 2 CD
box set, Rhino offers this one volume package of their Atlantic material
from 1965-71 that contains everything that made the Top 40 and adds 2
others that nearly made it. Good Lovin'/ Groovin'/ People Got To Be
Free all reached #1. Aside from the nearly charming It's Wonderful,
their foray into psychedelia, "Once Upon A Dream", has been left
undisturbed. The cost effective way to go. (JC)
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| DAVID RAY |
Collectables 5770 |
Jitterbuggin' Baby |
● CD $11.98 |
12 cuts from Oklahoma rockabilly/ country performer - 8 from
the 50s (4 previously unissued) and 4 recorded in 1993.
|
| JOHNNIE RAY |
Bear Family BCD 15450 |
Cry |
● CD $19.98 |
Before Elvis Presley there was Johnnie Ray - a young white
singer strongly influenced by black blues and rhythm and blues who
performed his material in an emotional and uninhibited manner. Although
producer Mitch Miller sanitized Ray's music for an early 50s pop audience
with orchestras and choruses the basic power of Ray's singing still shines
through. This disc is a fine cross section of Ray's recordings for Okeh
and Columbia between 1951 and 1960 though unlike some Bear Family
productions is not quite the definitive collection it could be as it
leaves out his important first recording Whiskey & Gin and such
early hits as Please Mr Sun/ Walkin' My Baby Back Home and All
Of Me. We do however get both sides of his monster first hit Cry/
The Little White Cloud That Cried which also went to number 1 in the
rhythm & blues charts. Included are his provocative (for the time) Such
A Night, some fine versions of blues and R&B songs - Flip, Flop
& Fly/ Just Walkin' In The Rain (his biggest hit) /How Long,
How Long Blues/ Endlessly along with pop standards, country songs,
duets with Frankie Laine and Doris Day and even a version of Sister
Rosetta Tharpes' Up Above My Head. Sound quality is, of course,
superb and there is a 24 page booklet with biographical information, much
of it based on an interview with Johnnie, photos and discography of all
the tracks on the disc. This is not really rock 'n roll but with stripped
down production it most certainly would be. It's futile but interesting to
speculate what would have happened if Johnnie's recordings had been
produced by Sam Phillips rather than Mitch Miller! Johnnie died early a
few years ago - another loss of a pioneering performer whose importance deserves
re-evaluation. (FS)
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| JOHNNIE RAY |
Bear Family BCD 15666 |
Live At The London Palladium |
● CD $19.98 |
Immensely popular from the early to mid-50's, Johnny
"Cry Guy" Ray was among the first of the pop crooners to adopt
an enthusiastic stage persona, disposing of the reserved attitude
characterized by Perry Como and others. And while fans of rock and roll
will likely find him to be timid and tame, audiences like the one at The
London Palladium on April 5, 1954 thought he was a wild man. This CD
reissue of the original British Phillips LP includes the hit Walkin' My
Baby Back Home/ Glad Rag Doll/ I'm Gonna Walk And Talk With My Lord/ With
These Hands/ Cry/ A Hundred Years From Today and 5 others. The 20-page
booklet filled with vintage photos and NME articles is at least as much
fun as the music. 32 minutes. (JC)
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| JOHNNIE RAY |
Bear Family BCD 16285 |
Cry |
● CD $132.98 |
First of two box sets documenting the Columbia (and
affiliated labels) recordings of this fine and important artist who, in
the early 50s, did for pop music what Elvis later did for country music -
he had an extrovert and strongly sexual on stage presence and was inspired
by black blues and jazz singing. He was held back by his private life and
emotional problems and being given increasingly vacuous material to
record. This five CD set and hard bound book features everything he
recorded for Okah and Columbia between 1951 and '56 including duets with
Frankie Lane and Doris Day, live shows and several unissued cuts.
|
| JOHNNIE RAY |
Bear Family BCD 16319 |
Yes, Tonight Josephine |
● CD $132.98 |
|
| THE REAL KIDS |
Norton CED 231 |
Grown Up Wrong |
● CD $14.98 |
24 tracks,70 m.,good 24 live tracks, featuring Boston's hard
rockin' Real Kids, taken from a live '78 radio broadcast (good sound
quality), a '78 club date at Rochester's Penny Arcade (poor quality), a
pair of tunes from '77 at CBGB's (fair) and a '76 gig at the Rat in
Bosstown. Unlike most 70's punk bands, the Real Kids had one foot firmly
in the 60's, as attested by their choice of covers like the Beau Brummel's
Don't Talk To Strangers and the Stones' Grown Up Wrong (and
even the 50's rockabilly of Eddie Cochran's Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie
). They rock like demons on tunes like Bad To Worse , Do The
Boob , All Night Boppin' , Hit You Hard and their
masterpiece All Kindsa Girls , all powered by John Felice's growl
and staccato guitar work. The mid-paced Common At Noon is also
brilliant but must have been even better as a studio cut. Fans of the
Ramones, Flamin' Groovies and MC5 should check it out....
AE
|
| TEDDY REDELL |
Collector CLCD 4406 |
Rockin' Teddy Redell |
● CD $16.98 |
30 tunes, most recorded recently, by the fine Arkansas piano
player and singer Teddy Redell. He started out with Wayne Raney's band way
back in 1953 and has kept up his recording and touring ever since. His
piano playing is excellent, covering boogie woogie, rock'n'roll and
country styles, however his singing isn't anything special (you can't help
but compare him to Jerry Lee.) Knocking On The Backside/ Judy/ I'll
Sail My Ship Alone/ Saddle Rag/ Pipeliner/ Brain Cloudy Rock , etc. (AE)
TEDDY REDELL: Before It Began (Shame Shame)/ Boogie Woogie Bill/ Brain
Cloudy Rock/ Can't You See/ China River/ Corrinna Corrinna/ Country Man/
Cow Cow Blues/ Crawlin' Back To You/ Don't Grow Old Alone/ Gold Dust/ I
See The Moon/ I Want To Hold You/ I'll Sail My Ship Alone/ It'll Be Me/
Judy/ Knocking On The Backside/ Lie, Lie, Lie/ Ole Time Rock And Roll/ One
More Show/ One Night/ Orange Blossom Special (With Ken Murphy)/ Piano Man/
Pinetop's Boogie Woogie/ Pipeliner/ Pipeliner '79/ Roll In My Sweet Baby's
Arms/ Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms (With Malcolm Yelvington)/ Saddle Rag/
Teddy's Boogie
|
| REPARATA & THE
DELRONS |
Collectables 527 |
Whenever A Teenager Cries - A Golden
Classics Edition |
● CD $11.98 |
|
REPARATA & THE DELRONS: A Song For All/ Bye Bye Baby/ Dedicated To the
One I Love/ Do Wah Diddy/ Do You Remember When/ He's My Guy/ He's the
Greatest/ I Have A Boyfriend/ If I Fall/ In My Diary/ Love For You and Me/
Shoes (Johnny &Louise)/ Summer Thoughts/ That's How It All Began/ The
Loneliest Girl In Town/ Tommy/ Whenever A Teenager Cries/ Why Do You Love
|
| REPERATA & THE
DELRONS |
Evergreen 2691724 |
Rock & Roll Revolution |
● CD $18.98 |
| Collection of sides from the 60s and 70s by Brooklyn girl
group trio best known for their hit Whenever A Teenager Cries which
is included here along with 29 other tracks including Tommy/ I Met Him
On A Sunday/ Be My Baby/ Please Love Me Forever. Dedicated To the One I
Love/ Every Beat Of My Heart/ Shoes/ Lollipop/ Mr. Lee/ Till and
others.
|
| THE REVELLS |
Sundazed 6067 |
The Go Sound Of The Slots |
● CD $12.98 |
|
| JODY REYNOLDS |
Gee-Dee 270106 |
Endless Sleep |
● CD $23.98 |
25 tracks, 58 min., good
An interesting but not entirely
satisfying look at the recording career of one of the late 50's one hit
wonders. Jody Reynolds hit the charts in a big way with his first record, Endless
Sleep in 1958, and then pretty much dropped from sight in spite of six
other records for his original label, Demon, plus one for Indigo. The
surprise on this German disc is that only seven of the available 14 Demon
sides are included in the play list including the title tune, Beulah
Lee, Tight Capris, The Fire of Love, and Daisy Mae.
Most of the rest of the numbers sound like inferior quality home
recordings in which Reynolds tries his hand at other singers' hits, with
the other singer usually being Elvis Presley. Among those poor sounding
numbers are I'm Left You're Right She's Gone, How's the World
Treating You, Baby Let's Play House, Anyway You Want Me.
The Demon material is generally pretty good, but the covers, even if you
forgive the sound quality, are second and occasionally third rate. (DH)
|
| JODY REYNOLDS |
Tru-Gems 1101 |
Endless... The Legendary Jody Reynolds |
● CD $17.98 |
2 CDs, 53 tracks, 145 min, very good
This set is frustrating.
Jody got into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame last year, & his manager put
out this 2 CD set of tunes recorded between 1958 & 1980. Problem is,
the tunes aren't annotated, can't tell when anything was released or who
plays on 'em, & there's a lot of tunes with muffled sound quality
which may be demos. His classic Endless Sleep is here, as well as
the often covered Fire of Love, there's a couple tunes with Bobbie
Gentry from '64, 3 years before Ode To Billy Joe, a couple
instrumentals with Les Paul & Jimmy Bryant, but not when they were
recorded. Most of the tunes are rockin' country & country pop, without
a whole lotta rockabilly. Still, there's a lot of good stuff here, only
wish I knew more about it! (GM)
|
| CHARLIE RICH |
Bear Family BCD 16152 |
The Sun Years, 1958-1963 |
● CD $75.98 |
3 CD box set with book featuring a comprehensive look at the
Sun/ Phillips recordings from 1958 to 1962 of this brilliant and versatile
singer, songwriter and piano player whose repertoire includes rock 'n
roll, blues, country, pop and jazz. CD 1 features all his originally issued
Sun and Phillips International singles and LP tracks such as Lonely
Weekends/ Who Will The Next Fool Be/ Break Up / Rebound/ Sittin' &
Thinkin' and Midnite Blues and also includes undubbed versions
of Whirlwind/ It's Too Late and Come Back. CD 2 features 29
originally unissued Phillips International recordings including unissued
songs and alternative takes of songs like Lonely Weekends/ Rebound/
Everything I Do Is Wrong/Stay and Big Man. CD 3 features 33
demos, many never issued before, including recently discovered titles like
Deep Freeze and The Loneliest Days and the original versions
of There Won't Be Anymore/ Right Behind You Baby/ Sail Away and Don't
Put No Headstone On My Grave. Of the 93 cuts on this set more than 40
have never been issued before! Also included are snippets of studio
chatter and false stars. Come with 44 page book written by Hank Davis
including material drawn from recent interviews with Charlie's wife
Margaret Ann and various Sun musicians. Lots of rare and previously
unpublished photos and full discographical information. (FS)
CHARLIE RICH: Ain't It A Shame/ Apple Blossom Time/ Baby I Need You/ Baby
I Need You/ Big Man/ Big Man (alt.)/ Blue Suede Shoes/ Break Up/ C.C.
Rider/ Caught In The Middle/ Charlie's Boogie/ Cloud Nine/ Come Back
(undubbed)/ Deep Freeze/ Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave/ Donna Lee/
Easy Money/ Every Day/ Everyday/ Everything I Do Is Wrong/ Everything I Do
Is Wrong (alt)/ Finally Found Out/ Gentle As A Lamb/ Gonna Be Waitin'/
Goodbye Mary Ann/ Graveyardville (instr.)/ How Blue Can You Be/ I Love No
One But You/ I Need Your Love/ I Need Your Love (alt.)/ I Said Baby Give
In/ I'm Making Plans/ I've Lost My Heart To You/ It Hurt Me So/ It's Too
Late/ It's Too Late (undubbed)/ Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair/
Juanita/ Juicehead Baby/ Just A Little Bit Sweet/ Life Is A Flower/ Little
Woman Friend Of Mine/ Little Woman Friend Of Mine (intro)/ Lonely Hurt/
Lonely Weekends/ Lonely Weekends (alt.)/ Lonely Weekends (master)/ Midnite
Blues/ My Baby Done Left Me/ My Baby Done Left Me/ My Heart Cries For You/
Now Everybody Knows/ Oh Lonely Days/ On My Knees/ Philadelphia Bay/
Popcorn Polly/ Portrait Of My Love/ Rebound/ Rebound (1)/ Rebound (2)/
Rebound (intro)/ Red Man/ Right Behind You Baby/ Sad News (instrumental)/
Sail Away/ Sail Away/ School Days/ School Days (undubbed)/ Sittin' And
Thinkin'/ Sittin' And Thinkin'/ Stay/ Stay/ Stay/ Stop Fakin' Your Love
(alt.)/ Stop Thief/ Thanks A Lot/ That's How Much I Love You/ That's Rich/
The Loneliest Days/ The Ways Of A Woman In Love/ The Wedding Is Over/
There Won't Be Anymore/ There's Another Place I Can't Go/ Time And Again/
Time's A-Wasting/ Too Many Tears/ Unchained Melody/ Untitled Instrumental/
What's My Name/ Whirlwind/ Whirlwind (undubbed Version)/ Who Will The Next
Fool Be/ Within/ Yes Ma'am/ You Made A Hit
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| DON RICH |
Jin 9050 |
She's My Lady |
● CD $14.98 |
|
|
| CLIFF RICHARD |
Bear Family BCD 15903 |
On the Continent |
● CD $113.98 |
|
| THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS |
Verve 847 248-2 |
Unchained Melody - Very Best Of The
Righteous Brothers |
● CD $16.98 |
12 hits from the Bros. - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'/
Unchained Melody/ Soul And Inspiration/ Little Latin Lupe Lu/ On This Side
Of Goodbye and 7 more - half of these were produced by Phil Spector!
Minimal packaging and no notes, which seems a little chintzy for the
price, but that's life. (MB)
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