Big Hits of 50's [Original recording remastered]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 10, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Special Products
• ASIN: B000002T8K
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,047 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dragnet - Ray Anthony

2. (Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely - The Four Knights

3. Too Young - Nat 'King' Cole

4. How High the Moon - Les Paul & Mary Ford

5. Unchained Melody - Les Baxter, His Chorus And Orchestra

6. Memories Are Made of This - Dean Martin

7. Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience & Prudence

8. Oh! - Pee Wee Hunt And His Orchestra

9. St. George and the Dragonet - Stan Freberg

10. Here in My Heart - Al Martino

11. The Happy Whistler - Don Robertson

12. Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford

13. Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You) - Les Paul & Mary Ford

14. Mona Lisa - Nat 'King' Cole

15. Young Love - Sonny James

16. The Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song) - Les Baxter, His Chorus & Orchestra

17. Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr

18. Lisbon Antigua - Nelson Riddle

19. 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) - The Four Preps

20. It's in the Book - It's In The Book

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An eclectic sampler of the fifties, July 2, 2004

By 

Bruce R. Gilson (Wheaton, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

The fifties were a period when there was probably more variation in what reached the top-hit charts than most decades. And this CD is probably one of the best samplers to illustrate this variation. Sweet instrumentals like "Lisbon Antigua" and "The Poor People of Paris" shared the charts with non-musical comedy like Stan Freberg's "St. George and the Dragonet" and rhythm-and-blues-flavored pop songs like "Oh Baby Mine (I Get So Lonely)" and country-flavored songs like "Sixteen Tons." And yet the biggest share of the hit charts went to crooners like Dean Martin (with songs like "Memories Are Made of This") and Nat King Cole (who did "Too Young"). These and such vocal groups as the Four Preps (a relatively minor group, but whose song "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" is certainly a good sample of a hit by a male quartet in the 50s!) are all represented on this CD, as well as every other one of the items just mentioned. So this is certainly a great example of the variety that was 50s mustc.

There are certainly some individual pieces in this collection which I don't really like, but that's my own personal taste. Every one of the tracks on here is an authentic '50s hit, which is more than can be said of a lot of other "Hits of the 50s" collections. And the range of types of performance covered is greater than any other one I've heard.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very Good Mixed Bag., April 26, 2002

By 

W. Grandy (windsor, nova scotia Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

This album will show how Capitol Records ruled the charts in the early fifties until Elvis came along. I bought this album because I didn't have the tune 'Happy Whistler' but this album is an overview of this particular period. Included are the great instrumentals besides 'Happy Whistler', 'Poor People Of Paris' and 'Lisbon Antigua' among others. Oh Baby Mine was a big hit from that era as were most of the others on this collection. For country fans, there's Sonny James 'Young Love' and Tennessee Ernie Fords 'Sixteen Tons'. For humour, there's 'It's In The Book' and 'St. George and the Dragon'. Of course these years wouldn't have been complete without Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Les Paul and Mary Ford. A great 57 minutes of nostalgia.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great price! So many original recordings!, April 15, 2005

By 

Daniel W. Kelly (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

You would think that with this many tracks for such an inexpensive price, you'd be gettinga bunch of rerecordings. Not so! These are the original recordings of many of the biggest hits of the 50s.