Customer Reviews

Rockin Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a nice sampling of classics 50s rockabilly. Some issues, however:

1. Fans of early 50s rock who may already own the previous Rhino box- Loud, Fast, and Out of Control, will note that many of the songs duplicate.

2. With 25 songs per CD, another 8-9 songs could have easily fit on each, since the tunes are so short.

Maybe we'll see a further exploration into 50s/early 60s rock one day.

3. If one combines this box with two others: As Good as it Gets:Rockabilly, and a CD called Rockabilly Riot, one would own most of the classic rockabilly hits missing off this box.

This is the bible of Rockabilly. I listened to all four of the CD's in one day. At first I thought it'd dilute the power of the music, on the contrary right after I finished listening I listened to some songs over again. I then went in to my music collection and listened to some more Rockabilly. The rawness, the energy, the raunch,and Hillbilly primitivism just drips like red blood off a freshly slaughtered cow. If you are fan of Rockabilly by all means get this. There is a book with liner notes and a couple of reviews from people who respect or play Rockabilly ( Although I'm not a fan of most of these new guys ) There is some knowns on here Elvis of course, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Ricky Nelson etc. But there is also alot of unknowns theres songs on this box that I've been looking high and low for like the " I'm going to murder my boyfriend for hucklebucking some other chick and drive to his funereal in a Black Cadillac" song by Joyce Green called what else "Black Cadillac", then the other is the drunken ode "Bloodshot" by the String Kings, the nasty song where Dorsey tells a chick " I want to conjugate with you" Bertha Lou by Dorsey Burnette, or the horror billy song by Kip Tyler about his hot witch girlfriend " She's my Witch". The list goes on and on. The reason I gave it only four stars is because the listeners are going to get gyped when they listen to the version of the song "Love Me" by the Phantoms on this box. This version is more restrained and the piss is taken out of it. The original version he just goes insane on this song. Not that this one is bad it just doesn't have the same version as the first take the nasty lyrics are still there. Another reason is the version of "Lordy Hoody" by Tommy Blake on this box is more restrained then the original "All Night Long" which is so much faster and looser. But that doesn't delude the power of the box set which is enormous. There is lots of craziness and insanity on this box set ( check out the late great Hasil Adkins and his song "Chicken Walk") This is highly recommended for Rockabilly fans. I know one of the reviewers said you can get most of these songs by buying other comps and boxed sets but the fact is alot of these songs haven't seen the light of day until now. I know I looked. This isn't recommended to Rockabilly begginners but for fans. If your a begginner or a fan who whats to hear the version above of the song I've just mentioned I'd suggest "Rockabilly Essentials" to get you started there you'll hear "Love Me" by the Phantoms in all its horny, dirty, fast, loud and spontanoeus glory and if you want to hear "All Night Long" by Tommy Blake listen to the "That'll Flat Git It" series.

All in all pretty awesome. If your a fan its something you can't do without.

This is 1957-59 R&R that caused the do-gooders to jail Jerry Lee Lewis, put away Chuck Berry and get Elvis to sign up for a tour of duty. These are the songs that brought about Pat Boone and the like to cover/tone down R&B. These songs are about duck tail hair, switchblades, women with attitudes that had to be curtailed and moralized. This is rough, loud and out of control teenagers in the fifties.

What a great set by Rhino. I thought it was a little pricey but now I think it's an incredible addition to my 1000+ recordings of pre 1960 rock collection. Great book with incredible pictures and bio of the artists.

This set is awesome....buy it if you're looking for the real life soundtrack to "Asphalt Jungle" or James Dean movies!

I've been listening to rockabilly music since the 50's and have been collecting 45's, LPs, and now CDs for almost 50 years. I thought I had heard it all, but I was wrong. Sure, some of the songs in this set are familiar, but many of them were totally unknown to me. On top of that, the sound quality is amazing, so even old favorites are exciting to hear. As if that wasn't enough, there is an excellent and informative booklet with great pictures. If you like this kind of music, you will not be disappointed.

Paid a premium price for these discs, but it was worth it. Despite a few mainstream hits that could have been replaced with

more 'dangerous' songs, maybe by Gene Vincent for example, most of these songs are keepers - stuff I didn't know existed, and would be very hard to find on their own.

All in all, an excellent addition to anyone's 1950s music collection. For the most part, this is the stuff parents didn't want their kids listening to. Some of it was banned from the radio; a few songs the record companies would not put out. If you want a taste of the 'underground' music of the 50s, get this set.

Anyone interested in the early years of rock (and everyone should be!) has to own this box.

Also recommended is Rhino's other box Loud, Fast & Out Of Control

Although about a quarter of the songs are duplicated on each set, you really must have both, or you're a total square, man!

Here it is kids, the ROCKIN' BONES: 1950's PUNK & ROCKABILLY box set from Rhino, the perfect primer, audio handbook and introductory lesson into the dark and dangerous back alleys of primitive 1950's rock & roll. "Rockin' Bones" is that glorious monophonic soundtrack for an inner city gang war, a high school parking lot rumble or maybe even an occasional back road juke-joint knife fight. Contained in the clever JD (juvenile delinquent) paperback sleeve packaging are one hundred and one (101!) vintage fallout tracks from that primeval atomic fusion of raw rhythm n' blues and electrified country; the real mushroom cloud that birthed modern rock. Now, the term "punk" in the title might be more of a marketing gimmick, meant to garner some of today's modern youth's limited attention, but it does go far in relating the anger, intense personal energy and effort-overcoming-inexperience that was a hallmark of both the 70's punk rock movement and the 50's rockabilly music explosion. The earliest track, ELVIS PRESLEY's single "Baby, Let's Play House" (1955) is bracketed on the other end by RONNIE HAWKINS & THE HAWKS' Bo Diddley romp, "Who Do You Love" (1963), so we have a nice 8 year overview contained in this package.

This collection is very similar to Rhino's 1999 box set "Loud, Fast and Out Of Control," and in fact, 15 songs are repeated here. But where LF&OOC was primarily a rock & roll overview of the mid-to-late 1950's pop music scene, ROCKIN' BONES focuses a bit closer and more deeply on those unsung heroes and obscure innovators who never were able to crack the Billboard Top 40. Thankfully, many talented guitar totin' teens and sex-starved singers had access to early recording technology and were able to commit to quarter inch electronic tape their own local response to Elvis Presley's rise to nationwide infamy. Many of these songs were too crude, others a tad unpolished and most a bit too "rural" for regular radio airplay. Another hurdle facing these would-be stars was that most of them lacked the necessary `do-re-mi' to promote, push and publicize their songs on a nationwide level. But there was always enough luck out there for hundreds (thousands?) of American teens to want to give rock n' roll a shot.

Where to begin? Sure, there are a few obvious cuts here like LINK WRAY's "Rumble," CARL PERKINS "Blue Suede Shoes," EDDIE COCHRAN's "Summertime Blues" and BILLY LEE RILEY's "Flyin' Saucers Rock `N' Roll", but it's not like you're going to hear these on your local "oldies" station anymore, are you? ROCKIN' BONES also contains some mind bogglin' obscure-o-billy gems like FREDDIE & THE HITCH HIKERS "Sinners" (complete with eerie "Scooby-Doo" Theremin effects), RONNIE PEARSON's "Hot Shot" and CORKY (a.k.a "BUCK OWENS"!) JONES frantic alcoholic anthem "Rhythm And Booze". I counted a total of 4.5 female orgasms contained in JOHN & JACKIE's 2 minute & 12 second version of GENE MALTAIS' "Little Girl" (that John must be one hell of a lover!). Deserving artists like RONNIE DAWSON, GENE VINCENT and BOB LUMAN are represented, but it's extremely cool to see/hear rockin' gems from still performing rockabilly legends ART ADAMS ("Dancing Doll" & "Rock Crazy Baby"), PAT CUPP ("Long Gone Daddy"), WANDA JACKSON ("Fujiyama Mama") and GENE SUMMERS ("School Of Rock `N Roll"). A real cool audio bonus are the dozen or so "movie trailer" snippets from classic exploitation movies of the era, interspersed throughout the set -you might even want to peek out from the backseat and see what's playing on the drive-in screen! The pace of this box set never really drags and the cuts are all choice. You're guaranteed to find an old favorite and an undiscovered treasure on each disc.

One of the big reasons I'm so hot on this reissue package is that it's an American born project. So many of the better quality reissue series and more enjoyable 1950's rockabilly compilations of the past 20 years have come from across the Atlantic where classic 1950's style, culture and music never seemed to go out of style or become a greasy joke. Bear Family, Ace Records and a host of other fine labels have kept the rockabilly flame alive for many years, but it's rare that a U.S. company would take the time and effort to put together such a deluxe package of classic rockabilly essentials. You get four (4) long-playing CDs with 25 tracks per, (26 on CD #4!) and a slick paperback book with essays from producer James Austin and modern day rockabilly "guitar god" Deke Dickerson. You also get amazing track-by-track anecdotes from noted music historian and author Colin Escott. I'll be the first rockabilly cat to admit that "looks" always count for something and this box set does look great! The outer sleeve has built-in creases, dings and spine rolls -it looks like it was already crammed into your Levis back pocket a few times! The sound is fantastic. All of the tracks presented here are properly remastered onto CD for the first time -thanks to Dave Schultz & Bill Inglot at DIGIPREP. The wonderful thing about rockabilly music is that it always sounds great - whether it's coming through a cheap transistor radio in 1956 or a custom designed stereo system in 2006. ROCKIN' BONES is highly recommended, even if you already own the original 45 rpm records or hundreds of reissue comps. Give this to that friend or roommate who can't seem to understand what this whole "rockabilly" music & kustom kulture scene is all about -they'll finally get it.

-Del Villarreal

This boxed set is a must! And it's definitely worth the price. Every song is incredible. Much of the material is obscure to people who are not familiar with rockabilly music. This is why it would make a perfect gift for someone who likes this genre, but who doesn't have much of a collection. I will say that if one has a large rockabilly collection already, there might be some overlapping of songs between what's on this set and other CD's. I will also say that this is a wonderful introduction to this form of music. And also the booklet included inside gives very entertaining information.

This one really gets after it. Filled with great songs by the familiar and obscure (Commonwealth Jones?), there is no let up here. 4 CD's and enough variety to not get boring. This is the music parents feared and kids loved 50 years ago. While it's true there are almost no black artists in this set and this may not be the complete story of 1950's rockabilly/rock n'roll, enjoy it for what it is - 101 slabs of great music from a long ago era. The sound is excellent, the movie trailers are fun teasers of tough guys and rough gals and you would have to be a very deep collector of 50's rockabilly to have a high percentage of this music. Very well done by Rhino - get it and enjoy. Highly recommended!

Generally with these box sets, you could complain about what did and didn't make the cut. However, with "Rockin' Bones", Rhino has prevented any such worries. When it comes to pure, unadulterated rockabilly, there really isn't any of the major original artists missing. Also, in addition to the big name players (Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent), there's a lot of under appreciated hepcats (Charlie Feathers, Ronnie Dawson, The Collins Kids) and positively impossible to find cult favorites. And if the "1950s Punk" part of the subtitle could be considered a marketing scheme, it's completely defended given the historical context explained in the booklet inside. Rockabilly, when it originally came out, was the most dangerous form of popular music out there. It was raw, gritty, and if the artists didn't explicitly mention sex, the lust was always brimming right beneath the surface. It was often very violent and dealing with gang warfare. However, what has truly made the music timeless is just how fun it is. This is rock 'n' roll at its most pure and simple, stripped of any pretentious excess or commercialization. The songs are short, to the point, and full of life. Fifty years later, its easy to see how much foundation for just about any alternative music movement or counterculture rockabilly provided.

As for the compilation of the boxset itself, its peerless. The sequencing is absolutely perfect, and while showcasing both major artists and completely forgotten ones often leads to an inconsistent experience, nothing could be further from the truth here. Anyone with any interest in the purest form of rock 'n' roll ever created, this is the ideal introduction. Many will find themselves addicted to the music, and will want to continue their quest. It's impossible to stop just here. Sit back with some white lightening and blast this baby at full volume.