Customer Reviews

Oldies But Goodies, Vol. 11

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Oldies But Goodies, Vol. 11 is a fine CD in this series of CDs chock full of "oldies but goodies." The quality of the sound is very good considering the age of these recordings and the artwork is nicely done as well. This is a pure delight for fans of the oldies!

The Diamonds starts things off with a strikingly beautiful rendition of "Little Darlin'." "Little Darlin'" always tugs at my heartstrings, yet it's good music for dancing as well! The early rock and roll flavor mixes with just a dash of doo wop to make "Little Darlin'" a huge classic hit that I personally will never forget! The Kingsmen also do a perfect job on their hit entitled "Louie Louie;" "Louie Louie" is good, solid early rock and roll and this makes this tune a special treat indeed! The Angels also do a smash-up job as they perform "My Boyfriend's Back" with lots of feeling and positive energy. "My Boyfriend's Back" has a great beat and the handclapping is a creative way to use percussion in a song. There's also Freddy Cannon doing more than just his best on the classic "Palisades Park." "Palisades Park" tells the story of a young couple on a date and as they become fond of each other we can easily identify with this couple as we think back on our own experiences with falling in love.

The Righteous Brothers do "Soul And Inspiration" to perfection--and beyond! The Righteous Brothers were always able to harmonize right alongside the best of them and tunes like this one prove it. In addition, The Dixie Cups do a wonderful job with "Chapel Of Love." I can't quite verbalize it but the sweet love and I guess the relative innocence from the era make this one of my very favorite tunes from the early days of rock with its girl groups. The Dixie Cups perform "Chapel Of Love" with grace and style and it's truly a major highlight of this CD. Bobby Hebb also makes good with his hit entitled "Sunny;" this ode to his woman named Sunny represents his joy over being in love with someone who appreciates him for the person he is. Jimmy Reed does his best on "Baby What You Want Me To Do;" although I actually have never heard this tune before it's really very good. "Baby What You Want Me To Do" has a fine early rock beat that I find very pleasing; and the harmonica enhances the melody quite a bit.

"I'm Leaving It All Up To You" gets the royal treatment by Dale And Grace as they perform this flawlessly; and "Traces" is a huge classic hit from The Classics IV. The Classics IV sing and play this so beautifully; it's a very sensitive and melancholy love song that always moves me when I hear it. The CD also ends strong with Harvey & The Moonglows doing "Ten Commandments Of Love." "Ten Commandments Of Love" used to get more airplay on the oldies stations and I hope they bring this number back for more airplay soon.

Overall, Oldies But Goodies, Vol. 11 is a CD with much to offer fans of early rock and roll. If you like this genre of music you'll be smiling all the way through--and it will leave you wanting more, too!

Note: The term "last waltz" used in the headline is used here as a simple expression of the truth. Just when I thought I had completed this "Oldies But Goodies" series at Volume Ten I now find that this is a fifteen, fifteen count `em, volume series. Therefore I am whipping off these last five in one day and be done with it. After all how much can we rekindle, endlessly rekindle, memories from a relatively short, if important, part of our lives, even for those who lived and died by the songs (or some of the songs) in these compilations. How many times can one read about wallflowers, sighs, certain shes (or hes), the moonlight of high school dances (if there was any) and hanging around to the bitter end for that last dance of the night to prove... what. Bastante! Enough!

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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 perhaps to some of his fellows who comprise the demographic that such a 1950s-oriented compilation "speaks" to. Of course, the Maurice Evans click-clack "Little Darlin'. The Kingmen's early rock anthem "Louie, Louie". The twisty "My Boyfriend's Back". Naturally, in a period of classic rock numbers, The Everly Brothers "When Will I Be Loved?" (and about half a dozen of their songs).

But what about the now, seeming mandatory to ask, inevitable end of the night high school dance (or maybe even middle school) song 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-voiced, parched-throated, sweaty-handed, asked a girl to dance (women can relate their own experiences, probably similar). Here the classic Dixie Cups tune, "Chapel Of Love" fills the bill. Hey, I did like this one, especially the harmonies, (by the way they stopped the show at the Newport Folk Festival about 15 years with that beauty). 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, or nowadays, just mix and match your preferences) mentioned above. I did, didn't you?