The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll, Volume 3: Hot 100 Hits From 1954-1963 [Import]

The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B0000009IH
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,887 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. All American Boy, The - Bill Parsons

2. Kansas City - Wilbert Harrison

3. My True Love - Jack Scott

4. Jennie Lee - Jan & Arnie

5. Joker, The - Bill Myles

6. Beat, The - The Rockin' R's

7. To Know Him, Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears

8. When You Dance - The Turbans

9. Love Letters - Ketty Lester

10. So Touch - The Kuf-Linx

11. To The Aisle - The Five Satins

12. La Dee Dah - Billy & Lillie

13. Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds

14. Chicken, Baby, Chicken - Tony Harris

15. Lover's Island - The Blue Jays

16. No Chemise, Please - Gerry Granahan

17. It Was I - Skip & Flip

18. Tonight I Fell In Love - The Tokens

19. Happy Birthday Blues - Kathy Young w/ The Innocents

20. Rockin' Little Angel - Ray Smith

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Hot hits from 1954-1963 in superb sound quality from original master tapes. 30 tracks in all.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Terrific Volume in the Golden Age Series, July 21, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll, Volume 3: Hot 100 Hits From 1954-1963 (Audio CD)

These are all original recordings by the original artists from the UK's leading reissue label. If you've already bought volumes and and two, you won't be disappointed with this third volume in the series of pre-British Invasion rock and roll (1954-1963).

Like the earlier volumes there is lots of terrific music here (a whopping 30 tracks!) that rarely gets anthologized because ACE continues its practice of focusing its attention on the artists who recorded for small independent labels. Half of these artists only reached the Top 40 once, but they made that one time count. Consider the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him, Is To Love Him" (which sold more than a million copies), Jody Reynolds' "Endless Sleep," and the Blue Jays' "Lover's Island."

Many of these songs rarely--if ever--get anthologized, like Jan & Dean's first hit from 1958, "Jennie Lee" (billed as Jan & Arnie since Dean Torrence was in the Army Reserve when the song was released). Also, Bill Myles' "The Joker"--he also wrote the Mello-Kings doo-wop classic "Tonite, Tonite" included here. While volume one had Kathy Young's biggest hit, this set includes her only other chart entry, "Happy Birthday Blues." You get bobby Bare's first hit, "All American Boy" (erroneously listed under the name Bill Parsons when it was first released). Everyone knows the Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"; here you get the lesser known "Tonight I Fell in Love."

ACE continues its song selection policy of including both the big hits ("Kansas City," "Sugar Shack") along with the more obscure hits (""La Dee Dah", "Cha Hua Hua") to give the listener a well rounded look at the era. I cannot recommend this series enough. ACE has done everything right--excellent song selection, superb sound, informative booklet and more than 70 minutes of music. Outstanding! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent...with a warning about "Jennie Lee", April 8, 2005

By 

Jeff Pearlman (Lakeland, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll, Volume 3: Hot 100 Hits From 1954-1963 (Audio CD)

This ten-volume series by England's Ace label is simply amazing. Each contains a hefty 30 (!) tracks, mixing big hits with lower-charting classics and curiosities. As the series goes on, the balance shifts toward the latter. If you stumble over any one of these you will want to collect them all. All songs date from 1954-63 and made the Billboard Hot 100. (Another Ace series called Chartbusters deals with 1964-1969 and has generated three excellent volumes so far.)

One apparent flaw is a poor mix of Track 4, Jan and Arnie's "Jennie Lee." I have not tracked down the original 45 but suspect that the lead vocals are not supposed to be buried in the mix. The verses are virtually inaudible. I don't think it's just my copy, because I heard the same problem when I clicked on the little music note next to the title in the track listing. Please stop reading right now, scroll up to the titles, and check for yourself. But don't forget to come back and click that "helpful" key!!! Now where was I...oh yes. Wasn't that hook addictive, all drums and echo and Ba BA Ba-Ba Ba Ba Ba? By the way, this is the Jan (Berry) who subsequently paired with Dean (Torrence) for many more hits. Poor Arnie (Ginsburg).

With this lone exception the sound quality is excellent throughout the series; Ace goes all-out to find the best masters available. Each disc also has a booklet jampacked with liner notes. (Though they, alas, don't tell us what became of Arnie Ginsburg. I hope things worked out for him.)

30 tracks are a lot to absorb at once, so don't forget to keep an ear out for Jody Reynolds' creepy, haunting "Endless Sleep" (it has a happy ending, kinda) and the next-to-last track, "The Freeze." I can imagine dancers in 1958 were obliged to stop gyrating each time the music stopped. And that the resulting aggravation kept the record from pushing past Number 33 on the charts. To this spelunker of chart artifacts, even such a possibility qualifies Tony & Joe's effort as a lost classic.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is not done better than this, January 15, 2005

By 

Martijn13Maart1970 (Husavik Iceland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll, Volume 3: Hot 100 Hits From 1954-1963 (Audio CD)

I am a enthousiastic collector, and have almost all the Time Life rock n roll stuff, as well as Eric Records cds of this era. Although they are essential to any 50s 60s collection, nothing can top ACE series.
I could comment like this on all the 50s remasters of this fabulous record label, not only their other editions, but especially the Golden Age of American Rock n roll. I can not add anything to the positive reviews than simply summing up my personal view:
30 tracks per cd, and sometimes! (Time life is also excellent, but you get 15 per cd!)
excellent booklets with background info (not surpassed by any label).
not the same old songs over again, but many rare and still excellent tracks!
last but not least amazing sound quality.
So although you might have some songs there on other collections, it is for above mentioned points alone worth it to always have an ACE copy as well.