At the moment i am having trouble pasting links to my blog
from You Tube, not sure what the problem is but i am try-
ing to rectify the problem. In the meantime i thought now
would be the perfect oppurtunity 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 oppurtunity i thought because Elvis`s mas-
terpiece `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 nas-
ty bootleg album, it`s not a collection of inferior versions of
originals or static crackling demos which no one ever want-
ed 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 re-tread 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`, 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, `Kan-
sas 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 featur-
ing 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 Edd-
ie Cochrane and `Diana` by Paul Anka. Like any 50`s col-
lection, there are a few fillers that probaly 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 invent-
ing popular music, and given most of their innocent back-
grounds they didn`t need to find themselves on cannabis
and sing about `Norwegian Wood` to discover their artis-
tic 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 corrup-
ted innovation of 60`s english rock. I would highly rec-
omend `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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