VINTAGE
ROCK 'N' ROLL & ROCKABILLY
Billy
Lee Riley -> Bobby Rydell
BILLY LEE RILEY |
Bear Family BCD 15444 |
Classic Recordings, 1956-60 |
● CD $41.98 |
Arkansas singer Billy Lee Riley was one of the finest
artists to emerge from Sam Phillips' Sun studios in the 50s and his lack
of success was not due to lack of talent as this excellent double CD
retrospective demonstrates. He was an outstanding singer with a natural
affinity for the blues, a fine guitarist and harmonica player and a good
songwriter. The first compact disc features all his issued recordings
released on Sun, Brunswick and Rita. It includes some of his most
memorable rockers such as Rock With Me Baby/ Flying Saucer Rock &
Roll/ Red Hot and Pearly Lee where he is accompanied by such
terrific Sun session men as Roland Janes, Martin Willis and J.M. Van
Eaton. It also includes the fine bluesy harmonica instrumentals Itchy
and Thunderbird which were originally issued under Sonny Burgess's
name, his relatively undistinguished Brunswick coupling and his two
singles issued on the Rita label formed by Billy and Roland Janes. One of
these featured two blues and were issued as by Lightnin' Leon and Billy's
performance was so convincing that many blues collectors assumed it was a
black artist! The second disc features 28 tracks not originally issued
including alternate takes of some of his best Sun songs plus quite quite a
few excellent covers of blues and R&B favorites like Your Cash
Ain't Nothin' But Trash/ Betty & Dupree/ Saturday Night Fish Fry
and others including the particularly fine When A Gets The Blues
There is also a brief parody of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues
and a 1960 remake of one of his most popular Sun songs Red Hot
which is given a very different treatment. Being Bear Family the sound is
superb and there is a 40 page booklet with fine notes by Rob Bowman and
Ross Johnson, much of it based on an interview with Billy plus great 50s
photos of Billy with his band The Little Green Men and full discographical
details. Highly recommended to anyone who loves rock 'n roll. (FS)
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BILLY LEE RILEY |
Collectables 6008 |
Red Hot - The Very Best Of Billy Lee Riley |
● CD $13.98 |
22 Sun classics with Collectables usual unexceptional sound
quality - Red Hot/ Flying Saucers Rock And Roll/ Searchin'/ Trouble
Bound/ College Man/ I Want You baby/ Rock With M/ No name Gilr/ Down By
The Riverside/ Lookin' For My Baby/ Workin' On the River, etc.
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CHUCK RIO |
Ace CDCHD 688 |
The Tequila Man |
● CD $18.98 |
A 30 track collection of instrumentals and songs covering
the period 1956 to '64 from Rio who is best known for having written,
played sax on and provided gravel voice interjections on The Champs' #1
hit Tequila. That tune is featured here along with several other
titles with The Champs plus early vocal cuts recorded under his real name
of Danny Flores and recordings with rock 'n' roll and surf bands like The
Originals, Contenders, Persuaders and others. 3 of the tracks are
previously unissued.
CHUCK 'TEQUILA' RIO & THE CRESHENDOES: Kreshendo Stomp Aka Kahuna
Stomp/ THE CHAMPS: El Rancho Rock/ Midnighter/ Tequila/ Tnt/ THE
CONTENDERS: Wildman/ THE CRESHENDOES WITH CHUCK RIO [THE PERSUADE: Hanging
Ten/ Surfer Strip/ DANNY BOY (VOCAL): Don't Go Baby/ DANNY FLORES (VOCAL):
Worried, Restless And Sad/ You Are My Sunshine/ DANNY FLORES & THE
FANS: Bruce/ DANNY FLORES (VOCAL): Crazy Street/ THE ORIGINALS: The Whip/
THE PERSUADERS FEATURING CHUCK 'TEQUILA' RIO: Caught In The Soup/ Gremmie
Bread/ THE PERSUADERS FEATURING CHUCK 'TEQUILA' RI: Persuasion Aka Let's
Go Surfin'/ Surfer's Lullaby/ Surfer's Nightmare/ Surfin' Blues/ THE
PERSUADERS FEATURING CHUCK 'TEQUILA': Taking Off On A Wall/ The Raid/ Toes
On The Nose/ CHUCK RIO: Antonillo/ Mama Inez/ CHUCK 'TEQUILA' RIO (VOCAL):
Denise/ CHUCK RIO & THE ORIGINALS: C'est La Vie/ Margarita/ CHUCK
'TEQUILA' RIO (VOCAL): Bad Boy/ Call Me Baby
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JOHNNY RIVERS |
Imperial 32819 |
Totally Live At The Whiskey A Go Go |
● CD $18.98 |
Two live Lps on one CD.
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THE RIVIERAS |
Norton 272 |
California Sun : Best Of The Rivieras |
● CD $13.98 |
First, in-depth compilation of sides by this shortlived
surf/ garage group from the midwest who, like many others, succumbed to
the British Invasion. Includes hits, rare album tracks, singles and
unissued sides. Includes the original 1963 version of their great California
Sun, the 1965 remake plus Danny Boy/ Little Donna/ Church key/
let's Have A Party/ H.B. Goosestep/ Oh Boy/ Played On and more. Comes
with booklet with extensive notes, interviews and rare photos.
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MARTY ROBBINS |
Bear Family BCD 15566 |
Marty Robbins Sings - Rockin' Rollin'
Robbins Vol. 1 |
● CD $21.98 |
This is basically a reissue of BFX 15212 (LP) with two more
songs (Call Me Up and the earliest track here, It's A Long, Long
Ride), still covering his rockabilly, rock and uptempo country
material recorded from 1953-1958. These 19 tracks, concentrate on the hard
rockers such as his hit cover of Elvis's That's All Right (Mama),
and his covers of Maybelline, Long Tall Sally, Bill Monroe's
Footprints In the Snow (from 1958). Pain And Misery, his
1954 duet with Nashville session guitarist Ray Edenton is here along with
other Marty originals like Mean Mama Blues, and the chaotic Tennessee
Toddy. To round it out are Marty's 1956 crossover hits Singing the
Blues and Knee Deep In The Blues, both Melvin Endsley compositions are
also included. Unlike the LP version, this one includes notes by Colin
Escott and complete discographical data. (RK)
MARTY ROBBINS: Baby, I Need You (Like You Need Me)/ Call Me Up (And I'll
Come Calling On You)/ Footprints In The Snow/ I Can't Quit (I've Gone Too
Far)/ It's A Long, Long Ride/ It's Driving Me Crazy/ Knee Deep In The
Blues Blues/ Long Gone Lonesome Blues/ Long Tall Sally/ Maybelline/ Mean
Mama Blues/ Mister teardrop/ Pain And Misery/ Pretty Mama/ Respectfully
Miss Brooks/ Singing The Blues/ Tennessee Toddy/ That's All Right/ You
Don't Owe Me A Thing
|
MARTY ROBBINS |
Bear Family BCD 15567 |
The Story Of My Life - Rockin' Rollin'
Robbins, Vol. 2 |
● CD $21.98 |
Marty Robbins was steamed when Columbia Records New York A
& R man Mitch Miller had pop singer Guy Mitchell cover two of his
hits, Singing The Blues and Knee Deep In the Blues, denying
Marty the vast pop success that could have been his. Known for his hot
temper as a teenager, this time he got mad with a purpose. The result? He
came to New York in January, 1957 to record with Miller, with arrangements
done by former big band trumpeter Ray Conniff, Guy Mitchell's arranger.
The first session produced the megahit A White Sport Coat (And A Pink
Carnation). Over the next year and a half he would do four more
sessions there, yielding a total of 16 songs, all of them compiled here as
they were on the LP version (BFX 15105). Among them were The Story of
My Life, one of the first hits for the legendary pop songwriting team
of Hal David and Burt Bacharach. Most of this material was softer-edged
teen fare yet most of these were both country and pop hits. So were Just
Married, Stairway of Love, She Was Only Seventeen and
Melvin Endsley's Ain't I The Lucky One. The Hanging Tree,
from the
movie of the same name, was recorded at their final session together in L.
A. Sound is as you'd expect from Bear, notes include new interviews with
both Mitch Miller and Conniff. Also includes complete discographical data.
Those who know jazz will see such names among the backup players as
guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Allan Reuss and Tony Rizzi and trumpeter
Billy Butterfield. (RK)
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MARTY ROBBINS |
Bear Family BCD 15569 |
Ruby Ann - Rockin' Rollin' Robbins, Vol. 3 |
● CD $21.98 |
A CD reissue of BFX 15184, which brings together rock and
pop tunes from Robbins's post-rockabilly and Ray Conniff periods. The
material here ranges from 1959 to 1966 and wasn't quite on the level of
the earlier sides, but rounds out the other two volumes. Several titles
such as Sweet Cora, Ain't Life A Cryin' Shame and Silence
And Tears were on Volume 5 of the Marty Robbins Files series. Two
versions of his 1962 hit Ruby Ann, the hit and an alternate slower
version with horns are included as are the previously included items like Teenager's
Dad.
More importantly, this CD also adds a number of songs not on the LP
including an entire unissued 1959 session with Mitch Miller not included
on BCD 15567 (with another unissued version of Cap And Gown, for those who
have to have it all). A Whole Lot Easier and two takes of Hello Baby
(Goodbye Baby) come from 1964, Baby's Gone from 1965 and You've Been So
Busy Baby from 1966. (RK)
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THE ROCK-A-TEENS |
Sparkletone 99015 |
Woo-Hoo & Other Classics |
● CD $21.98 |
Everything you could possibly want by this vocal and
instrumental quintet who hit it big in 1959 with the title tune. It includes
their only album in both stereo an mono versions along with some alternate
takes and false starts for a total of 34 tracks.
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THE ROCKIN' REBELS |
Ace CDCHD 426 |
Tom Shannon Presents .. The Rockin' Rebels |
● CD $18.98 |
27 tracks, 60 min., recommended At least half of the fun of
this disc is reading the liner notes and discovering that the Rockin'
Rebels were in fact three separate bands. And the title here, with its
reference to DJ Tom Shannon, is no accident. He owned the group name and
was the rather free-wheeling producer of its three different
configurations. Meanwhile, the music itself, mostly sax-led instrumentals
in the early 60's vein, ranges from the well known - like their hit, Wild
Weekend, and the hits of others like Rumble/ Honky Tonk and Tequila
- to the gimmicky - like Weekend Cha Cha/ Coconuts, and Happy
Popcorn. It's all pleasant enough and nicely packaged by Ace with a
fine cover photo of one of the performing ensembles, notes worthy of a
music detective, and excellent sound quality. (DH)
|
TOMMY ROE |
MCA D 10884 |
Greatest Hits |
● CD $9.98 |
18 tracks, 48 min., recommended
Another squeaky-clean pop
singer who never quite became a household world, Roe scored big in '62
with his Buddy Holly-inspired Sheila and has kept it going to this
very day ("100 shows in 1992" say the notes), though he hasn't
dented the pop charts since '71 with Stagger Lee. Using these two
songs as bookends, this collection fills in Roe's golden decade with a
generous helping of his biggest hits, and there's nary a bad apple in the
bunch. After several upbeat follow-ups to Sheila, Roe hit stride in
the mid-sixties with back-to-back singles Sweet Pea and Honey For
Hazel,2 great organ-fueled slices of near-bubblegum flavor. He proceeded
in much the same kiddiepop vein throughout the rest of decade,
producing such gems as Dottie I Like It (a thinly-disguised
re-packaging of Sheila), Dizzy, Jam Up And Jelly Tight, and the very
Partridge-ish Heather Honey, before succumbing to the "disco
doomsday" (his phrase, not mine) and going country(!). Informative
booklet, nice photos, too. (GDR)
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WELDON ROGERS |
Bear Family BCD 16165 |
Trying To get To You |
● CD $21.98 |
Rockabilly and country sides from 1955 to 1968 including
duets with his wife Wanda, unissued sides cut at Normal Petty's studios
and the rocking Everybody Wants You with a young Glenn Campbell on
lead guitar.
|
ROSIE & THE
ORIGINALS |
Ace CDCHD 738 |
The Best Of Rosie & The Originals |
● CD $18.98 |
23 track collection featuring all the recordings made by
Rosie for Highland and Brunswick between 1960 and 1962 including her all
time classic recordings of Angel Baby plus 10 fine tracks from a
previously unissued 1969 session where she does covers of favorites like There's
No Other Like My Baby/ Confidential/ Happy Happy Birthday Baby, etc.
|
ROSIE & THE
ORIGINALS |
Ace CDCHD 814 |
Angel Baby Revisited |
● CD $18.98 |
After several months of delays this release is finally
available featuring all of Rosie's remaining original 45s and Brunswick LP
tracks along with more recent recordings. The recent recordings include a
fine acapella version of the Shirelles classic Dedicated To The One I
Love, a nice Spanish/ English version of Angel Baby, a fine
verion of La Bamba with Ernie Valens and The Originals featuring
some accordion and a disappointing acapella version of Angel Baby.
There are reissues of very rare 45s from Globe and wax World which are not
particularly good. Set has extensive notes by Opal Louis Nations along
with some fine photos.
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THE ROYAL TEENS |
ABC 1053 |
Believe Me |
● CD $18.98 |
24 track collection - Short Shorts/ Little Trixie/ All
Right Baby/ Was It A Dream/ Open The Door/ Not Meant For Lovers/ Believe
Me/ Dottie Ann/ Wounded Heart/ My memories Of You/ My Kind Of Dream/
Little Cricket, etc.
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THE ROYAL TEENS |
Collectables 5094 |
Short Shorts - Golden Classics |
● CD $11.98 |
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THE ROYALTONES/ THE
RAMRODS |
Alvorado 6310121 |
Flamingo Express |
● CD $18.98 |
25 tracks by The Royaltones, a fine instrumental group from
Dearborn, Michigan including mono & stereo versions of their most
popular tunes - Flamingo Express
and Poor Boy. Also seven tracks by Conecticut instrumental group The Ramrods.
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BOBBY RYDELL |
Famous Groove 971005 |
That Old Black Magic |
● CD $18.98 |
Philadelphia pop-rocker does 30 songs - mostly pop standards
- That Old Black Magic/ See See Rider/ One Last Kiss/ April Showers/
Frenesi/ This Could Be The Start Of Something Big/ Wrap Your Troubles In
Dreams/ Ruby Ann/ Telstar/ Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder, etc.
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