In the meantime I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to review a fantastic best of 50`s rock`n`roll album, with a few 60`s tunes thrown in, called Kings of Rock `N`Roll on an obscure label `Play 24-7`.
It`s the perfect opportunity I thought because Elvis`s masterpiece `Jailhouse Rock` was the first ever song to have a clip to go with it so most if not all of these songs were made before the advent of the music clip age.
Unlike so many 50`s compilations, `Kings of Rock`N`Roll` is not a cheap and nasty bootleg album, it`s not a collection of inferior versions of originals or static crackling demos which no one ever wanted anyway.
Despite the budget price of the CD, even the CD cover looks snazzy and not photocopied like you find with so many cheap CD`s.
The front cover features real life photos of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Phil Everly and a smaller one of Chuck Berry underneath the three of them.
The caption above the title `Kings Of Rock `N`Roll` reads `40 Hits Two compact disc set Original Artists`. The collection of songs is uncannily precise as far as nailing the hits without making it just another boring retread of other albums with the same `ol same `ol track listings.
In other words, it throws up a lot of surprise songs which were hits back in the 50`s but have become obscure over time.
Elvis gets a lop-sided amount of play on here compared to the more musically gifted Buddy Holly, but the two Elvis mainstream songs which I adore is on the album, `Too Much` and `Jailhouse Rock`.
There is so many gems on here, such as `Singing The Blues` by Guy Mitchell, `A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation`, one of the best 50`s songs outside Buddy`s and Elvis`s cannon, sung by Marty Robbins, the instrumental `Red River Rock`by Johnny and the Hurricanes, the totally adventurous and ghoulish `The Purple People Eater` by Sheb Wooley`, and the very Deltones sounding `Yakety Yak` by The Coasters.
I wonder where Wickety Wak got their name from, I think I know where now. Then there`s a few more even more obscure songs, like `The Stroll` by The Diamonds, `Kansas City` by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, `A Bongo Rock` by Preston Epps and `Sixteen Tons` by Tennessee Ford.
The collection is balanced off by two of Holly`s mega hits `That`ll Be The Day` and `Oh Boy`, as well as featuring other definitive songs from other rock`n`roll stars such as `Good Golly Miss Molly` by Little Richard, `Great Balls of Fire` by Jerry Lee Lewis, `Summertime Blues` by Eddie Cochrane and `Diana` by Paul Anka.
Like any 50`s collection, there are a few fillers that probably shouldn`t have made the final 40 but as far as 50`s rock`n`roll artists go I always say they have one defence for singing only about girls, girls and more girls.
Most of these guys were inventing popular music, and given most of their innocent backgrounds they didn`t need to find themselves on cannabis and sing about `Norwegian Wood` to discover their artistic depth and limitations - did they?
It can get a bit tedious hearing one rock `n`roll song after another that only talk about taking girls to the prom, getting dumped by girls and what every bloke wanted to do at a drive-in with a girl back in the 50`s, but it`s still always refreshing to hear a bit of innocence which pre-dates all the corrupted innovation of 60`s english rock.
I would highly recommend `Kings Of Rock `N`Roll` to anyone who wants a no nonsense, no frills collection of 50`s songs with a few obscurities chucked in to make it a bit interesting.
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