Customer Reviews

Rock N Roll & Rockabilly Inferno

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This disk pays tribute to the early days of Rock 'n Roll. It is a nice start, but some of the tracks are all to avalible elsewhere and it would be nice to see some more rare tracks by the artists included on the disk. Mead & Ginsberg talking about the Beat Generation is classic conversation. The CD is a much needed relief from an age where the top music stars are overproduced supermodels, and good looking pretty boys who cannot play an instrument much less write one of their songs.
Before the age of MTV, when pop stars had to look good, there was the golden age of Rock radio, and this disk is a reminder that there was a time when the focus was on the music, not the glitter.

This is a great collection of 50's Rock n' Roll songs that focuses more on a certain sound and energy than it does on hits - and that's its strong point. Songs like Mel McGonnigle's Rattleshakin' Mama illustrate the raunchy,sleazy menace of early rock n' roll way more than say, a big hit like Lavender Blue (dilly dilly - yuk!!) The main problem here is that three of the "HITS" are re-recordings. Little Richard's "Lucille" is not the original Specialty Records version. The same goes with Gene Vincent's "Say Mama" which sounds like it's from the early 70's. Bill Haley and the Comet's "Shake Rattle and Roll" is an exception, although a re-recording, it is actually a very cool version with a great,spooky sax riff. Other than that, the soundbite's and radio snippets are great and overall it's a good collection of primitive,wild r'n'r from a very exciting period in American music and culture.

but I imagine listening to the radio in the 50s was something like this. The authentic sound, not remastered, is what I like the most.

Having just discovered this compilation (thanks to my daughter) it was nice to see my late brothers recording of "Black Knee Socks" (1958) included on it. Tommy Palm was born in Brooklyn, NY and wrote and performed this song. It was originally on Bop Records, Palm's record label. He was multi talented and had a vocal group "The Rogues" who in 1957 recorded for Old Town Records.