Customer Reviews

East Side Story 1-12

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I grew up in Cypress Park (The Avenues) area of Los Angeles in the 50s and 60s. I'm a big fan of Doo Wop/Low Rider style music. I was excited about the "East Side Story Box" release. There is a lot of rare finds and standards in this box set. I was glad to finally get "Talk To Me" by Sunny & The Sunliners.

There are more great songs on these discs but some are obviously recorded from vinyl (surface noise, pops and clicks) or there are better recordings in other collections (the Doo Wop Box sets or the Vee-Jay Records Box set, etc.). The collection has a mix of early R&B and East L.A. favorites. I just wished they`d taken the time to get the best recordings possible.

Not to knock this set, but it is my understanding that vol.1 in this one has been drasticly altered from what I remember it used to be when I was younger. I dont remember any of the songs listed here to be on the og.(great songs none the less)what happened to "LEE GOOFED" "HE'LL BE BACK" "MAKING ENDS MEAT" etc.

This is not the original East Side Story Collection.More than 50% of the original songs were deleted.Some volumes barely contain one or two of the original tracks, while others are in fact the real deal and contain all the correct songs in the correct order. I do not wish to sound negative, I'm shure the people who made this compilation tried hard to get all the rights to the music, and for this I aplaude them. Althoe I wonder if maybe they should have waited to get the rights to Thee Midnighters songs, who's Cd was released around the same time.
If I was experiencing this for the first time I would have to say this is a great collection and would give it 4 or5 stars. The replacement songs are good enough to warrant there own volumes such as EAST SIDE STORY GOLD Vol,4,5,6, Etc;
In my defence I do own all 12 volumes on vinyl including East Side Story Gold Vol.1,2,and 3.

All the others are correct this is not the original East Side Story, I have the original that I bought some 20 years ago and it's very different. But it's still a pretty decent collection. Sadly the deleting of tracks from the 50s is becoming all too common. I'm from Los Angeles born and bred and used to work at KRLA, the Godfather of Oldies stations that sadly saw it's demise because of the fact we played a lot of songs from the 50s. Even the great Art Laboe has completely changed his "Oldies But Goodies" set, it is almost 100% different from the albums my Mom bought in the 60s and the tapes I bought in the 80s (which by the way are slightly different from the original).

The reason for this is simple, the conglomerates that own this music and the radio stations think that music from the 50s is only for the people who grew up then and only they will buy the stuff. They feel that older (age 60+) people do not have a lot buying power and therefore spending the money to put a record together does not make economical sense. This is why they delete tracks that are 45 years old or more. The conglomerates only want customers who are between 10 and 45 years old. Sadly it seems they think there are not enough of us out there who remember the beginnings of Rock N Roll and R&B and who love this wonderful music. Thank god for niche labels like Ace, Collectables, Acrobat, Goldmine, West Side (which I think went out of business) Classics, Proper and a few others.

When you're from certain parts of Los Angeles this music, those old stations like KRLA, KHJ, KGFJ, KPOP and others and DJs like Art Laboe and the late Huggy Boy, Wolfman Jack, Hunter Hancock and a few others, the cars, the cruising and all that. This stuff is our culture, we pass this music down to through our families like an heirloom. The best thing we can do is to keep it alive, keep buying the stuff and never ever ever let it go.

Why did they chang this so much I own all 12 RECORDS of this and it is not the same. They just should have added more volumes than Butcher the origanls.

i agree with another reviewer at of the vol's are totally wrong for example vol is totally wrong the vo. has songs i've never herad they left out all the best like somebody please . oppertunity n so on if any one has the orinal copys please email me the list i would really apperciate it

If you are a true lover of oldies to cruise by, then this set is it. The set is well thought out and features the more popular songs which people can remeber. No wondering if you know that song here. An interesting addition to this set from the albums/cassettes is that some of the more current, 1980's, songs have been added onto each CD. This should help some of those newcomers to the scene feel comfortable about identifying with their cruiser days.

I'm extremely pleased with my recent buy of the East Side Story CD's set 1-12. it arrived very promptly earlier than expected & in new well sealed and protected packaging! I have no complaints for this buy only praise for the vendor who i chose to buy from, excellent service! would buy from this vendor again and soon!!! thank you for the opportunity to share my review. R Lopez

greatest investment i have ever made was buying this. why are you reading this? just buy this! you will NOT regret it

The CDs were great! Unfortunately, the packaging wasn't so good. All cd cases arrived broken. During shipment, the box was either dropped or something heavy was placed on it. With the cases being plastic, I would recommend the box be placed inside bubble wrap to prevent any damage to CDs. We had to replace all cases which is unnecssary after purchasing the product at full price. Great music and glad that none of the actual CDs were broken.