Decca Years 1956 - 1963 [Import]

Tommy Steele | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 18, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Decca Import
• ASIN: B00000JXI0
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,581 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rock With The Caveman

2. Rock Around The Town

3. Doomsday Rock

4. Elevator Rock

5. Singing The Blues

6. Rebel Rock

7. Knee Deep In The Blues

8. Teenage Party

9. Butterfingers

10. Cannibal Pot

11. Shiralee

12. Grandad's Rock

13. Butterfly

14. Water, Water

15. A Handful Of Songs

16. Hey You!

17. Plant A Kiss

18. Nairobi

19. Neon Sign

20. Happy Guitar

See all 68 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First British rock star, June 28, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decca Years 1956 - 1963 (Audio CD)

Tommy's place in British rock history has been largely ignored, possibly because he was always more interested in being an all-round family entertainer, something at which he became hugely successful in the sixties and beyond. As a singer-actor, he appeared in several successful West end plays and also appeared in several movies, including Finian's rainbow alongside Fred Astaire and Petula Clark.

Nevertheless, Tommy's earliest successes were as a singer - he was Britain's first indigenous rock'n'roll star. Although some of his hits were covers of American songs (the prevailing fashion in fifties Britain), he did not rely entirely on those. Indeed, he wrote some of his own songs.

His first British chart success was with Rock with the caveman, a typical slice of rock'n'roll. His biggest success (and only number one hit) was with a cover of Singing the blues. Curiously, Tommy's version and Guy Mitchell's version both reached number one in Britain - they swapped places at the top of the charts. Many people think that Guy's version was the original, but actually both were covers - Marty Robbins recorded the original version. Both Guy and Tommy also covered another Marty original, Knee deep in the blues.

As time went by, Tommy's desire to be an all-round entertainer was reflected in the diversity of material that he recorded. Among his other British hits were Butterfly (but it was Andy Williams who topped the charts with it), Handful of songs, Water water, Shiralee, Nairobi, Happy guitar and the children's song Little white bull.

This compilation shows the full range of Tommy's talents as a singer, including covers of folk songs (Where have all the flowers gone, Lonesome traveller), country songs (Kaw-liga) as well as more rock'n'roll songs, stage and screen songs and the Christmas song Must be Santa.

It is difficult to assess the true significance of Tommy's contribution to British rock history, but it is certainly far greater than he is given credit for.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whose Tommy Steele????, January 23, 2001

By 

Lizz Rodriguez (Ontario, CA - USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Decca Years 1956 - 1963 (Audio CD)

Hello! I first heard Tommy Steele back in 1973, I was about 13years old. I was sick and stood home from school, KTLA used to have movies at 9am, I think? And "Rock around the World" came on. It was Tommy's autobiography, it was pretty cooool!!! He was a sickly kid and Sister of a Church gave him a guitar and he learned to play it, you have to watch this to get the rest. I fell in love with him and he's been my Idol since, the favorite tracks are "Two Eyes" and "Elevator Rock"!

Years later, my high school english teacher, was surprised that someone my age ever heard of him. I still remember his facial expression. But, Tommy's been around, being cool is giving homage to the artists that started it all, and of course, to the Beatles!!! Great Movie, Great Tracks, and one of the Greatest Artist of all time. Buy the Tommy Steele's Decca Years and enjoy! For those of you who claim to be collectors of British Rock, put this one in your Library...Jesus Saves...Lizz

4.0 out of 5 stars He could have rocked the world...., March 14, 2011

By 

John D. Muir "oldies and pies lover" (Oglesby, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decca Years 1956 - 1963 (Audio CD)

Tommy Steele was the big name in British popular music when I was a young boy. He was the first British rock star, but more than that, he was the first one with whom British teenagers identified as a social class. Before him, teenagers were simply pre-adults, but he turned them into a group that identified themselves as separate from everyone else. Later on, Cliff Richard and then The Beatles turned teenagers into one of the most active and influential groups in society, but it was Tommy who started it all in Britain.

He moved from rock into the theatre (with 'Half A Sixpence', a musical based on H.G. Wells story 'Kipps') and then into movies, most notably with 'Tommy The Toreador' and later, the movie version of 'Half A Sixpence'. Roger Ebert compared him to Gene Kelly, perhaps a little flattering to Tommy, but nevertheless showing how talented he was. Although he continued to be a presence on the English entertainment scene, he never really broke through to become a superstar. I've always felt it was a great pity that he wasn't cast as Bert the chimney sweep in 'Mary Poppins'; he would have been ideal for the role and it might have propelled his career to the heights he deserved. Instead, the studio cast, or rather miscast, Dick Van Dyke in the role, and we've had to listen to his appalling attempt at a cockney accent ever since. Tommy, a natural cockney, would have been so much better.

This is a very comprehensive collection of the material he recorded in his most successful years as a singer. It does sound somewhat dated now, but his infectious enthusiasm is still there and it's possible to see what those British teenagers found so appealing, all those years ago.