Rock the Joint 2

Jimmy Preston | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collectables
• ASIN: B0000008QM
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,093 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Collectables WILL Dig A Lot Deeper Than Most, August 12, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock the Joint 2 (Audio CD)

In many of my reviews I have been highly critical of Collectables' habit of omitting at least one significant track from each of their "best of" compilations, especially annoying when the artist covered only had a handful of hit singles to begin with. But I must also concede that, without their vast array of CDs we would simply NOT have access to ANY of the hits of many of the lesser-known R&B artists from the 1940s and 1950s.

Such as Jimmy Preston, a singer/alto saxophonist from Philadelphia, born on 13 August 1913. Influenced greatly by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, he formed his own band, The Prestonians [Danny Turner on tenor sax and Harry "Fats" Crafton on guitar] and in 1949, after securing a contract with the small Gotham label, scored that April with Hucklebuck Daddy, taking it to # 4 on what then passed for the R&B charts b/w Sugar Baby.

Several months later the first version of the Harry Crafton/Don Keene/Doc Bagby composition, Rock The Joint, now considered a rock classic in any history of the genre [Bill Haley & The Saddlemen would later record it for Essex in 1952], topped out at # 6 b/w Drinking Woman. All four of those sides are here.

Not included, however, are the two sides to his last Gotham single, Rock With It Baby and Roll, Roll, Roll, done in 1950, nor his duet with Burnetta Evans that same year for the Derby label, Oh Babe, b/w Stop That Baby. Theirs was one of three charted versions that year to reach # 5, the others being by Larry Darnell and Roy Milton, while Wynonie Harris and Lucky Millinder combined on a # 7.

In 1952 Preston decided to quit the music business and devote himself to the ministry. This Volume 2 [no Volume 1 is shown and if it's still available from Collectables it would be interesting to know what songs are included] offers each selection in impeccably-restored sound and the liner notes are informative. A must for any R&R/R&B collector/historian.