Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Abkco
• ASIN: B00081U6IW
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,883 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Butterfly - Charlie Gracie

2. Fabulous - Charlie Gracie

3. Race For Time - Jerry Arnold & The Rhythm Captains

4. Sing Sing Sing - Benie Lowe Orchestra

5. You're The Greatest - Billy Scott

See all 31 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Slow Twistin' - Chubby Checker (with Dee Dee Sharp)

2. Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp

3. Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes) - Dee Dee Sharp

4. Don't Hang Up - The Orlons

5. Ride - Dee Dee Sharp

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. So Much In Love - The Tymes

2. Wonderful! Wonderful! - The Tymes

3. Just One Chance - The Sparklettones

4. I'll Be True - Johnny Maestro

5. Hey Good Lookin' - Billy Abbott and The Jewels

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Agel Of The Morning - Evie Sands

2. The Love Of A Boy - Evie Sands

3. This Can't Be True - Eddie Holman

4. World Of Fantasy - The Five Stairsteps

5. Come Back - The Five Stairsteps

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nervous and retiring, Bernie Lowe hardly seemed the stuff of an indie-label pioneer. But when the musician and former music-school teacher teamed up with former student/struggling comedy writer Kal Mann in a fledgling songwriting partnership that eventually saw Elvis score with their "Teddy Bear," the die was cast. The pair had launched Cameo the previous year in Lowe's Philadelphia basement, showing a quick knack for scoring chart success with MOR pop (Charlie Grace's "Butterfly"), novelty kitsch (Zacherle's "Cool Ghoul"), and teen-idol rock (Bobby Rydell and others)--the latter thanks largely to serving as talent farm/bullpen for Dick Clark's then Philly-based American Bandstand. But it was Chubby Checker's era-defining dance smash "The Twist" that saw the label's fortunes soar (still the only record to claw its way to the top of the charts in two different years). This generous, 115-track, four-disc anthology of the label's long out-of-print catalog details those highlights and more, wending its way through even unlikelier novelty fare (Clint Eastwood's rasping tribute to his Rawhide TV character, "Rowdy"; RFK impersonator "Senator Bobby" orating a dizzy cover of the Troggs' "Wild Thing") to such '60s garage-rock staples as ? and the Mysterians' classic "96 Tears," the first American release by the Kinks, and promising early sides by Bob Seger. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

The first comprehensive compilation of releases on Philadelphia's legendary Cameo Parkway label, whose hits dominated the independent music market for several years during a golden era of pop music. Includes classic artists such as Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, The Tymes, Chubby Checker and many more. Contains 115 tracks on 4 CD's, including 60 Top 40 hits! Universal. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Time -- And Was Well-Worth Waiting For!, May 19, 2005

By 

Marc Wielage (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 (Audio CD)

After at least 10 years of internet rumors, scuttlebutt, and teeth-gnashing, oldies collectors finally got what they wanted: well over 100 of the best of the Cameo & Parkway Records labels' hits of the late 1950s and early 1960s. None of these songs have been legitimately available until now, and they're a welcome addition to die hard collectors and 1960s fans alike, including over 50 major Top 40 hits of the era.

The set is smaller than I had imagined -- just a 5" cardboard box with four CDs and a color booklet -- but at least it exists, and it's real. Abkco pressed these discs very much like they did with the Rolling Stones SINGLES box set, on black "45RPM" CDs in retro-cardboard sleeves, which was a stylish touch. Also, most discs have a very generous 30+ songs, which is very unusual for a U.S. compilation.

Jeff Tamarkin's liner notes are very entertaining and well-written, and the sound quality of nearly every song is a revelation. Every song is mono, save for Patti LaBelle's "You'll Never Walk Alone," but some will prefer the "single authenticity" of the time. Most collectors have never heard songs like "96 Tears" or "You Can't Sit Down" without any distortion; some tracks sound so good, you'd swear you were right in the Philadelphia studio as they were being recorded.

The set omits nearly a dozen hits by major C-P artists like Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell, but one hopes we'll get individual greatest hits packages for these artists before the end of 2005. My kudos and profound thanks to Mr. Klein & company for finally getting this out. It's about time!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does anybody remember FUN?, October 9, 2005

By 

Ed Kaz "Ed Kaz" (Shell Pile, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 (Audio CD)

Wow.

Who said that rock 'n' roll was dormant dull and ordinary between the time Buddy Holly crashed and the Beatles landed? Strap your ears onto this collection and find out that rock 'n' roll was very much alive and thriving, courtesy of those crazy cats running the Philadelphia-based Cameo Parkway record label.

Oh sure, Cameo Parkway released albums, but for them, the single was the bull market. The kids were flush with cash and they knew how to separate them from it.

Gloriously unfocused, they tried to sell America every sort of dance trend possible. Let's all do the Wah-Watusi. The Popeye Waddle. The New Continental. The Bristol Stomp. Mashed Potatoes? How about some gravy on it? No problem, Dee Dee Sharp!

There's Bobby Rydell! Not only did he possess one heck of a head of hair, he rocked in his own sort of smooth teeny-bopper way. Ya gotta love him.

Chubby Checker! Finally The Twist is available for real on a CD! Digital respectability at last! I will overlook (for the moment) that you ripped off my man Hank Ballard.

Three tracks from ? and the Mysterians, the fellows who set the blueprint for the garage movement (and unfortunately, also Smashmouth).

The Dovells! You Can't Sit Down! You're right! I can't!

The beautiful pop, rock (even some jazz) sounds go on and on and on. So much familiar and so much obscure and all of it great fun. Witness the last gasp of rock 'n' roll innocence before those four Liverpudlians touched down and made everything suddenly respectable.

I don't care what your age is, you need to listen to this astonishing collection. Too bad we can't run this through an old transistor radio.

Then I'd surely be in Heaven.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally ! SENATOR BOBBY on CD, May 22, 2005

By 

R. Barnes "Music Collector/Science Fiction Re... (Greenwood, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 (Audio CD)

As the other reviewers have noted, finally these recordings appear on domestic release, rather than the expensive Record to CD copies you see in Europe.

Best cuts? (To me anyway)

Dinner With Drac Part One: EXCELLENT. I have been looking for this one for a while, (He has a TV show in the 50's, 60's, and had a top ten wih this one).

? And The Mysterians "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby": Smashmouth did a cover of this a few years ago, and the original is great! Also, "96 Tears" finally on CD in its original form.

Senator Bobby (Kennedy) singing "Wild Thing" is one of THE highlights. This originally issued in 1967 at the time he was assassinated. Needless to say, it was pulled from the airwaves almost immediately. The flip side, (I wish they issued!), was the late Senator Everitt Dirksen singing the same song. (They are both impersators not the real deal). At the time, they were priceless and are historical artifacts of their time.

"I (Who Have Nothing" By Grand Funk Railroad Manager Terry Knight is included. The original Bob Seger tune "Heavy Music" before he signed with Capitol is a real find. Early Kinks (Long Tall Sally) and Peter Best singing "Boys" (Former Original Beatle) are other great selections. The Tymes "Wonderful Wonderful" and "So Much In Love" are finally to be had.

As stated by others, its great to see Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell on CD. "Limbo Rock" and "Volare" respectively are favorites.

With the hits of Dee Dee Sharpe (Mashed Potato), The Orlons (Don't Hang Up) and Len Berry's Dovells (Brisol Stomp) and more songs now available, many collections will now be complete.

This is simply a MUST for any DJ or music affectionado. These include some of the biggest hits of all time that cannot be gotten elsewhere. (The Twist for example)

Sound quality, liner notes, and economical packaging is a plus. Here's hoping that they start issuing catalog albums too!