Customer Reviews

Oldies But Goodies 4

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

 

 

Oldies But Goodies, Vol. 4 is a solid installment in this fifteen CD series of great hits from back in the day! These hits really made the airwaves sizzle and they remains great music today. The sound quality is really rather good; and the artwork is nicely done.

Creedence Clearwater Revival kicks off the CD with their fantastic tune entitled "Proud Mary." "Proud Mary" has a rock and roll beat that seems mixed with a touch a folk rock and maybe even a dash of country for good measure. Creedence Clearwater Revival sings and plays this tune so well that it makes an instantly recognizable tune and a highlight of this album. Buddy Holly sings "Peggy Sue;" this early rock and roll song showcases Buddy's fine voice and he aces this seemingly effortlessly. Of course, we know that it really isn't so easy--but Buddy's great talent allows him to make it appear easy. The Shirelles also do a magnificent job on "Soldier Boy;" "Soldier Boy" has a fine rhythm and the percussion marks the beat well. The Shirelles were one of the finest girl groups of the `60s and just one listen proves it.

The Turtles do a fine job on "It Ain't Me Babe;" this tune sounds a bit like something The Rolling Stones would have produced but make no mistake about it--The Turtles make it their own and it all holds its own very well. "Harper Valley P.T.A." by Jeannie C. Riley is a huge favorite of mine; Jeannie sings this with her heart and soul and I really like "Harper Valley P.T.A." Carl Perkins also sing and plays "Blue Suede Shoes" with a great early rock and roll beat that is impossible not to like--hooray for Carl Perkins!

The Big Bopper performs "Chantilly Lace" with lots of feelings; the music that goes with his lyrics really fits in well for this number. "Chantilly Lace" is a very pretty melody and the fast tempo makes it good for dancing, too. "Chantilly Lace" is definitely a highlight of this CD. In addition, The Rays do "Silhouettes" with a great deal of passion and sensitivity; The Rays sing this torch song with panache and I'm very impressed. B.J. Thomas also delivers "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" with lots of feeling and all his heart. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a sweet melody even though the song is not about a happy situation. I always enjoy hearing B.J. Thomas singing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."

The Jive Five do "My True Story" very well; and they mix a light rock beat with doo wop to make this number special; and listen for "Come On Let's Go" by Richie Valens. The album also ends well with Sandy Nelson performing "Teen Beat."

Oldies But Goodies, Vol. 4 has a lot to like if you're a fan of the oldies; and this makes a great CD for people who enjoy early rock and roll, too.

The Rays original version of "Silhouettes" (A bona-fide must-own doo-wop classic) can't be found anywhere else. (I tried!) Even the boys at Rhino can't seem to license the master. Too bad, because the sound on this CD is definitely original, meaning most of these tracks just beg to be remastered. As for the rest of the tracks, seven of them are songs you probably already own a better-sounding copy of. Harder-to-find stuff includes "Harper Valley PTA", "Teenage Prayer", "The Big Hurt", and "Teen Beat". I give it a green light for collectors, but if "Silhouettes" is ever released from legal captivity in a better form, this disc is obselete.

This CD contains a nice variety of oldies. Everybody knows CCR, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and the other big names. The true find on this disc is "Silhouettes" by the Rays. It runs circles around the version by Herman's Hermits. Mickey and Sylvia's "Love Is Strange" is also good. Along with the Turtles and the addictive "Teen Beat" by Sandy Nelson makes this a top notch collection.

I have been doing a series of commentaries elsewhere on another site on my coming of political age in the early 1960s, but here when I am writing about musical influences I am just speaking of my coming of age, period, which was not necessarily the same thing. No question that those of us who came of age in the 1950s are truly children of rock and roll. We were there, whether we appreciated it or not at the time, when the first, sputtering, musical moves away from ballady Broadway show tunes and rhymey Tin Pan Alley pieces hit the radio airwaves. (If you do not know what a radio is then ask your parents or, ouch, grandparents, please.) And, most importantly, we were there when the music moved away from any and all music that your parents might have approved of, or maybe, even liked, or, hopefully, at least left you alone to play in peace up in your room when rock and roll hit post- World War II America teenagers like, well, like an atomic bomb.

Not all of the material put forth was good, nor was all of it destined to be playable fifty or sixty years later on some "greatest hits" compilation but some of songs had enough chordal energy, lyrical sense, and sheer danceability to make any Jack or Jill jump then, or now. And, here is the good part, especially for painfully shy guys like me, or those who, like me as well, had two left feet on the dance floor. You didn't need to dance toe to toe, close to close, with that certain she (or he for shes). Just be alive...uh, hip to the music. Otherwise you might become the dreaded wallflower. But that fear, the fear of fears that haunted many a teenage dream then, is a story for another day. Let's just leave it at this for now. Ah, to be very, very young then was very heaven.

So what still sounds good on this CD compilation to a current AARPer and, and perhaps some of his fellows who comprise the demographic that such a 1950s compilation "speak" to (and here some early 60s songs as well). Of course, Bob Dylan's "It Aint Me Babe". Carl Perkins original "Blue Suede Shoes" (covered by and made famous by, and millions for, Elvis). Or the Hank William's outlaw country classic "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". Naturally, in a period of classic rock numbers, Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" (or, like Chuck Berry and Fat Domino from this period, virtually any other of about twenty of his songs).

But what about the now, seeming mandatory to ask, inevitable end of the night high school dance song (or maybe even middle school) that seems to be included in each CD compilation? The song that you, maybe, waited around all night for just to prove that you were not a wallflower, and more importantly, had the moxie to, mumbly-voice, parched-throated, sweaty-handed, asked a girl to dance (women can relate their own experiences, probably similar). Here the classic "Teenage Prayer" (although what we were praying for, and why, will be very different for each rememberer) fills the bill. Hey, I didn't even like the song, or the singing, but she said yes this was what you waited for so don't be so choosey. And, yes, I know, this is one of the slow ones that you had to dance close on. And just hope, hope to high heaven that you didn't destroy your partner's shoes and feet. Well, one learns a few social skills in this world if for no other reason that to "impress" that certain she (or he for shes) mentioned above. I did, didn't you?

tape ia great collection of music. Did not have song I was looking for but it is good listen anyway

I bought this to play a few songs from it for someone's 50th Bday party. Only a few songs on it are really good, but I had little choice in releases they were on so I bought this one.

Poor quality. Does not seem to have any background music. I'm not sure why.