Customer Reviews

The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll, Volume 8: Hot 100 Hits From 1954-1963

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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! (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.

This is the eighth (and probably last) in ACE's remarkable series of musical snapshots of America's pre-British Invasion rock and roll landscape. If you bought all eight volumes, that's just over 10 hours of music and 240 songs--yes, vol. 8 has 30 tracks like all the others, even though Amazon.com doesn't list them all.

And as always, ACE serves up a healthy dose of hits, obscure gems and lost treasures. Nine of these songs were Top Ten hits, like the Dell-Vikings' doo-wop classic "Whispering Bells," Freddy Cannon's update of a 1922 jazz hit "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans," the Danleer's gorgeous "One Summer Night," Dick and Dee Dee's moody "The Mountain's High" and Johnny Preston's million-selling "Running Bear."

Then there are the minor hits like Robert & Johnny's "We Belong Together," Little Joey & The Flips' "Bongo Stomp" and Nappy Brown's Don't Get Angry"--all which languished in the bottom half of the Top 40.

Although it did almost nothing on the pop charts (No. 53), the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away" was a huge R&B hit. [Lead singer James "Shep" Sheppard would later form Shep and the Limelites and five years later score a Top Ten hit with the answer song "Daddy's Home."]

Among the pleasant surprises--for me anyway--was the instrumental "Bullwhip Rock" by the Cyclones with its rockabilly guitar and boogie-woogie piano.

As always the 20-page booklet is informative and entertaining. Ernie Maresca, who hit the Top 40 only once with "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)," also wrote hits for other artists, including "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" for Dion. Not only did J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson discover Johnny Preston, he wrote his first hit, "Running Bear," and provided the "Indian" sounds on the recording with George Jones. The Pastels, whose lone doo-wop hit was "Been So Long," formed in Greenland where they were stationed while in the Air Force.

ACE is to be commended for its thoroughness in compiling this series. While no means complete (remember we're talking a ten-year period), it is a satisfying look at the early years of popular music. [If you're also looking for a great anthology series covering the second half of the Sixties, check out ACE's Chartbusters series.] So whether you're looking to relive your youth or simply exploring the history of rock and roll, this series is an excellent place to begin that journey. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

After seven volumes you might think there wouldn't be much left in the vaults but Ace continues to find more rarities from the American top-100 during the pre-British invasion rock and roll years. With just enough top-10 tunes to keep things familiar, there are lots of truely rare sides in this volume that tickle the musical memories of those who grew up during those years.

Even among the big charters, many of the tracks included here are those not often found on other collections. "The Mountain's High" by Dick and Dee Dee, Thomas Wayne's "Tragedy" and "The Fool" from Sanford Clark are seldom found, in good quality anyway, on other oldies comps. Hammocked between these familiar tunes are such extremely rare finds such as the Cyclones' pain(!)fully ignored instrumental "Bullwhip Rock", Little Joey's me-too Bristol Stomp, "Bongo Stomp" and the Graduates' over-the-top-anguish on "Ballad Of A Girl And A Boy". Part of the fun of hearing some of these rarities is wondering how they ever made it into the top 100 at all.

As has come to be expected from these Ace CDs, sound quality is generally very good although the compression on some tracks make it evident that these few have come from either vinyl or low-generation tapes. All tracks except "Shout Shout" are in mono. The 24-page liner notes booklet contains an amazing amount of backround info on the included tracks along with pics of the artists and promo materials. This installment adds another ace to Ace's pocket of incredibly well-produced oldies compilation CD's.

By the time this 8th volume hit the market back in the late 1990's, any serious collector of Golden Oldies hits was absolutely hooked. And not just by the diverse selections that appeared in each release, but just as much by the unsurpassed inserts, in this instance containing 22 pages of detailed background notes on the contents, written by British music historian Rob Finnis. At one time the mail order Time-Life series were considered THE source for oldies music, but this one comes with more selections per release, just as good - if not better - sound quality, much more extensive liner notes with photographs, and far cheaper in price without the "you-can't-get-this-in-any-store" hype that accompanied Time-Life products. Which is probably why you don't see much of the latter any longer, except as used copies.

Another reviewer floats the thought that it's a mystery how some of the selections in here ever made it into the Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 (Top 100 became Hot 100 sometime in mid- to late-July 1958), but the fact that they did is a clear indication of their popularity, especially those distributed by small, independent labels. Most of these were shoe-string operations which did not have the funds available to the giants like Columbia, Capitol, RCA Victor, Decca, MGM, United Artists and Mercury for purposes of publicity/advertising.

Take, for example, Lotta' Lovin' by Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps. Nothing much he did after Be-Bop-A-Lula was all that good but yet, with the resources of Capitol behind him, this tune did reach # 7 R&B and # 13 Top 100 in 1957. In between, not even their clout could get Race With The Devil higher than # 96 Top 100 in 1956. You have to wonder then, where it would have finished if handled by one of the tiny indies.

On the other hand, for every song that made it into the Billboard Top/Hot 100 Pop charts in any given year back then, there were upwards of four that did not. Indeed, Billboard even introduced, in the summer of 1959, an adjunct listing called the Hot 100 "Bubbling Under" charts which chronicled those that were calculated (using their unique formula involving record sales, air and jukebox play) to have ranked from # 101 to # 125.

It was, therefore, quite an accomplishment for the distributors concerned when these tunes cracked the Top/Hot 100: Ballad Of A Girl And Boy by The Graduates (# 74 in 1959 on Shann-Todd 0055; Bullwhip Rock by The Cyclones (an instrumental that hit # 83 in 1958 on Trophy 500; Mojo Workout (Dance) by Larry Bright (# 90 IN 1960 on Tide 006); Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart the old Judy Garland hit from 1943 that made it to # 92 in 1963 for The Furys on Mack IV 112; Air Travel by Ray & Bob (# 99 in 1962 on Ledo 1151); the comical My Wife Can't Cook by Lonnie Russ (# 57 in 1962 on 4J 501); A Thousand Miles Away by The Heartbeats (# 5 R&B and # 53 Hot 100 in 1956 on Hull 720 and now considered a classic, with lead vocal by James "Shep" Sheppard who would go on to form Shep & The Limelights); Hey Girl, Hey Boy by Oscar McLollie & Jeanette Baker (# 61 in 1958 on Class 288); and I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You) by Jimmy Norman (# 21 R&B/# 47 Hot 100 in 1962 on Little Star 113).

That will also give you an idea of the magnitude of the accomplishments by those that made the Top 10 in this volume, all chronicled for you on the reverse which shows the year and Pop chart performance for each song in the U.S., and their performances in the U.K. where applicable, along with their label details there.

With the insert you get photos of Ernie Maresca, Robert & Johnny, The Impalas,Freddy Cannon, The Fiestas,Danny Zella, Thomas Wayne, Wade Flemmons, The Danleers, Gene Vincent, The Graduates, Larry Bright, Sanford Clark, Lonnie Russ, Johnny Preston, Dick & Dee Dee, The Heartbeats, The Pastels and Jimmy Norman, along with numerous reproductions of posters/advertisements/45 rpm records.

It is really neat to be able and get some of the songs that you do not hear on a regular basis. I plan on addings all 12 volumes to my collection.

This is a great CD. Even though all the songs are mono recordings, they are the originals. The audio quality is top-notch.

This one is just a good as all the others in the Golden Age series from ACE.