The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll, Vol. 4 [Import]

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

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B0000009II
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,848 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Linda Lu

2. Little By Little

3. Rama Lama Ding Dong

4. Flamingo Express

5. New Orleans

6. Maybe

7. Drip Drop

8. Start Movin' (In My Direction)

9. Lonely Saturday Night

10. Don't Let Go

11. Pop Pop Pop Pie

12. Life's Too Short

13. High School USA

14. Glory Of Love

15. Peanuts

16. Need You

17. Party Doll

18. Could This Be Magic

19. Killer Joe

20. Barbara

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Golden Oldies From the UK's Reissue King, July 21, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll, Vol. 4 (Audio CD)

A bit of a drop off in song selection in ACE's volume 4 of this terrific pre-British Invasion (1954-1963) series of American pop/rock music. Each of the first three volumes included several songs that failed to reach the Top 40, but this time it's almost a third of the total--nine to be exact. And in a couple instances (Nappy Brown and the Royalteens), the artist's only Top 40 hit was overlooked in favor of the song included on this anthology. [Although in the case of Brown, his No. 25 hit "Don't Be Angry" does show up on volume 8.] So you're going to get a number of unfamiliar songs like Don French's "Lonely Saturday Night," the Lafayettes "Life's Too Short," and the Roommates' "The Glory of Love."

But as with the other volumes in this series, it's the joy of getting to hear infrequently anthologized gems like Little Caesar's "Those Oldies But Goodies," the Dubs' "This Could Be Magic" and Billie & Lillie's "Lucky Ladybug"; as well as the more familiar hits like Dion's "Drip Drop," Buddy Knox's "Party Doll," and Little Anthony & the Imperials' "Tears on My Pillow." When you add it all up into one generous 30-track CD, you get a more accurate picture of the American popular music landscape of the era than if all you got were the same big hits available on numerous collections.

Almost as much fun as listening to these golden oldies, is reading the 20-plus pages of information about each of the artists and songs. Did you know the Edsels released "Rama Lama Ding Dong" three years before it became a hit in 1961 as "Lama Rama Ding Dong"? [What a difference a title makes!] Atlantic Records released 28 separate versions of Tommy Facenda's 1959 hit "High School USA," each one mentioning actual high schools by name in a specific geographic location throughout the United States. Duane Eddy plays acoustic guitar on Donnie Owens' 1958 hit "Need You." The Rocky Fellers consist of a father and his four sons from the Philippines--their surname is Feller. The Regents first recorded "Barbara Ann" as a demo in 1958. When the song became a hit in 1961, the group had disbanded.

This is fascinating music, and there are intriguing stories behind each song and artist. If this set is a little weaker than its three predecessors, it still is an amazing collection and this series as a whole is unmatched. RECOMMENDED

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A trip into the past, June 21, 2000

By 

Charles R. Denman (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll, Vol. 4 (Audio CD)

The CD is an excellent example of the songs from this period. While many of the titles were unfamiliar to me, (and they should have been as this was the time of my youth) the ones I knew were well presented. All tracks were clean, clear music - no unwanted noise. I purchased this CD to get a new copy of a specific title and the cost was equivalent to finding this title on a used record. I got everything else as a bonus and am very pleased.

4 of 4 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 & Roll, Vol. 4 (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! (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.