Customer Reviews

The British Invasion: The History of British Rock: Vol. 1

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I have the entire History of British Rock series on cassette tape, unfortunately. If only Rhino would get with it and re-release this very important series. Every song's a gem, whether a one hit wonder or one of several hits by a well known singer or band. If your childhood was in the mid-to-late 1960s, then surely you grew up hearing most of these British Invasion hits on your Top 40 radio station. The music is timeless and needs to be heard again.

When this first volume in an ambitious series first appeared in CD format in 1988 it put all but a few CDs at that time to shame because, instead of the usual 10- to 12-track offerings they were giving us 20 and, with each volume, we also got comprehensive liner notes [upwards of 11 pages] whereas most of the others contained nothing in that respect.

But from the advantage of hindsight, and considering that the target audience was mainly those North American fans who experienced the notorious British Invasion, it seems they included with each volume too many selections by British artists who never actually got into an invasion craft, never mind land on the beach.

Here, for example, tracks 16, 17, 19 and 20 made no impact whatsoever over here which means, in effect, it became a 16-track set. Indeed, the only thing by The Ivy League to rate in North America was Tossing And Turning [not to be confused with the Bobby Lewis hit] which reached a lowly # 83 in September 1965 for the Cameo label. No one hear even heard of the other three.

The AAD sound reproduction is generally good to excellent and the notes include several small b&w pictures of some of the artists. Most of the recognizable hits have since appeared on many more such compilations, although tracks 12 and 15 are not that easy to find in quality, CD format.

If you enjoyed or want to discover what the British Invasion was about, this series is the best possible way to do it. Each disc is filled with great music. The value is remarkable. There is an enormous number of songs of each disc. These discs are a great addition to anybody's music library and really chart the dramatic change in music brought about by the Beatles whose coattails brought to light numerous other bands as well.

This is the first CD in Rhino Records ambitious History of British Rock series. That title is not really acurate, though, because it doesn't include anything from the pre-Beatles era. Instead, it is focused on recordings from mid-1963 to mid-1965. There are several notable omissions, though, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits. But there is still a lot of good stuff here. You get great offerings from the likes of The Kinks, Peter & Gordon, The Zombies, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Yardbirds, The Honeycombs and The Searchers. And you also get some lousy offerings from the likes of The Hullaballoos and Tommy Quickly. But I guess by including both the good and the bad, you get a more balanced picture of what the British Invasion was like. Obviously, they couldn't all be winners. I would recommend this CD to anyone who has an interest in the music of the British Invasion.

The British Invasion/ The History of British Rock/ Volume 1 : Rhino did a superb job in the creation of this series of CDs. Sure, the Beatles and the Stones are who you think of when the British Invasion is mentioned, but this series concentrates on the OTHER great groups of the time. Here you get a Ton of hits (and a few forgotten artists) in an extremely entertaining collection. Volume One covers 20 songs from 1964 and 1965. In volume one you get Kinks, Zombies, Yardbirds, etc. but when is the last time you heard "I'm telling you now" by Freddie & the Dreamers? or "Don't let the sun catch you crying" by Gerry & the Pacemakers? Highly Recommended.

I'd like to comment on a mistake in the other reviews of this CD. First, the British Invasion started in 1964 when The Beatles arrived in America. To complain that this CD does not cover the "pre-Beatles" era misses the point of a CD devoted to British Invasion pop-rock music. Let me put it this way: there was NO British Invasion before The Beatles, period.

The lack of Beatles recordings on this CD is no surprise; The Beatles keep a tight rein on the use of their recorded material. The Beatles recording of "My Bonny" with Tony Sheridan is included on the 1970s vinyl double-LP, "The History of British Rock, Vol. 2," but only because it is not an EMI-Capitol recording. The lack of Dave Clark Five recordings can be traced directly to Dave Clark, who has operated the DC5 as a business unit (cough, cough) since he formed the band in 1963 to raise money for his football club. For many years Clark blocked the CD release of all DC5 material, further proof that his heart is in his wallet, not in the interests of the band's fans or recorded music history.

As a fan of British Invasion music, I think this is an excellent compilation and well worth the money. And if you like this slice of tasty British pop-rock, be sure to check out the twofer (stereo and mono) CDs of The Hollies's UK such as "In The Hollies Style," "Would You Believe," "For Certain Because," and "Evolution," all of which are available on this site. If you are only familiar with The Hollies singles (Bus Stop, I Can't Let Go, Carrie Anne), their albums -- which are musically comparable to Beatles albums released during the same period -- will surprise and delight you. A good place to start if you unfamiliar with The Hollies or already have a Hollies singles CD is the "Hollies At Abbey Road" CDs, which include most of the band's singles and some of their best UK album tracks, including many songs that were never released in the U.S. by The Hollies artistically bone-head American labels, Imperial and Epic Record, who both butchered the band's UK albums into 10-track vinyl records for maximum profit, the same cruel fate suffered by The Beatles at the hands of it's greedy U.S. label, Capitol.