Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

In this, the third volume in the series, the people at Ace continue to amaze with a collection of a few well-known tunes for good measure anchoring a fascinating gathering of lesser-known and some obscure top-100 hits. Most of these songs represent big and small hits from independent labels of the era such as Swan, Era, Herald-Ember and the like. While recognizing such familiar tunes as "Sugar Shack" and "To Know Him Is To Love Him", musical memories get tickled by the likes of "Sacred", "Click Clack" and "No Chemise Please". And for the real aficionados you get to hear the bizarre "Chicken, Baby, Chicken", "Cha Hua Hua" and "The Freeze", songs that have hardly seen the light of replication since their charting days.

True to the standard set by the previous volumes, these tunes are presented in their best sound quality available with "Sacred" in true stereo, the remainder in mono. And in addition, the liner notes booklet has been expanded to sixteen pages for this volume.

Here we are presented with another outstanding entry in this essential series. The best just keeps getting better.

Once again I defer to the review by Steve Vrana when it comes to commenting on the contents of this, the 3rd installment in Ace of London's classic Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll series.

Except to note that the billing on All American Boy wasn't an error. As Rob Finnis, the London-based and well-known rock & roll historian, says in his delightful 14-page insert, "the song had its origins in 'Guitar Blues'. a song Parsons had written and recorded for the Starday label in 1956. Two years later, an Indian friend, Orval Lunsford, re-wrote the lyrics as a topical satire of Elvis to be delivered in the first person narrative in a slack-jawed mumbling drawl. Unable to rise to the task, Parsons induced Bare to 'ghost' the vocal track, although Parsons did sing on the B-side, "Rubber Dolly." Bare, who had recently returned to Ohio (his home state) from California to prepare for his army induction, accepted a fee of $50 for his light-hearted gesture. The ruse backfired on Bare when extensive airplay pushed "The All American Boy" by 'Bill Parsons' on the Fraternity label all the way to # 2 in February 1959."

And that is just a small sample of the kind of liner notes that fills this series, something that almost makes them worth the price of the CD themselves. Equally fascinating comments are here regarding all the other tracks, including The Kuf-Linx and their hit So Tough (misspelled above).

Another reviewer warns against the sound quality of Jennie Lee. I'm listening to it right now and it sounds no different than the old 45 rpm - and without the snap, crackle and pop. Again, quoting from Finnis' liner notes "One night Jan and several other Barons...." (the group he belonged to at the time) ...."took in a burlesque show in downtown LA and watched a stripper named Jennie Lee, who became the purported inspiration for Jan's subsequent song. Jennie Lee was recorded in the Berry's garage with Jan vamping on an old piano and Arnie beating time on a wooden crate while wallowing in a purgatory of wild reverb created by wiring up two tape recorders." Hardly what you would call professional studio mix.

Another bit of interesting trivia provided by Rob deals with the now-classic Western Movies by The Olympics, and which should help collectors discern that original from the later re-make, which all too often appears in compilations as the 1958 hit. Says Rob "The final take of Western Movies was top'n'tailed with gunshot effects dubbed from a scratched sound effects LP whose crackles are indelibly etched on the original Demon master."

I could go on and on, but that would be giving away the surprises contained in the notes. Just buy a copy and be prepared to be entertained both from a musical as well as an historical concept. At the same time enjoy the photos (some rare) of Billy & Lillie, Ketty Lester, The Turbans, The Rockin' R's, Jan & Arnie, Billy Myles, The Mello-Kings, Kathy Young and Teddy & The Twilights, along with numerous vintage poster/advertisement reproductions. A delight as always.

CD arrrived earlier than expected and in very good condition. Great to hear those tunes again!!! This is replacing my old cassette tapes that I can no longer play in my new car!!!

Anyone who likes the classic rock and roll period between 1953 and 1963 would love the series of the Golden Age of Rock and Roll. You get a lot of bang for your buck with 30 songs on each disc. I say kudos to the entire series of American Golden Age of Rock and Roll and I wish to say I am appraising the entire series, and one CD volume does not appear to be superior to another set from a diffent volume. I plan on collecting the entire set eventually and thank you Amazon for making this series available at a more economical price. Keep on rocking!
John Hiatt the Master kingpin of oldies trivia.

I THINK THIS IS A GREAT CD .I WILL INJOY IT FOR ALONG TIME.