Spin Into Christmas - various artists compilation

 

 

24 track compilation from Festival/SPIN Records, Australia, with an eclectic collection of pop, rock'n'roll and country tunes from the 60's and 70's, featuring popular artists and some rarities.

 Tracklist
1     –Ol' 55     (I Want A) Rockin' Christmas     4:22
2     –Johnny O'Keefe     Pretty Paper     2:34
3     –The Joy Boys     Christmas Guitar     1:55
4     –Col Joye     Jingle Bells     2:10
5     –Ray Melton      Sleigh Ride     2:19
6     –Noeleen Batley     Silent Night, Holy Night     2:28
7     –Col Joye     I'll Be Home For Christmas     2:33
8     –Jimmy Little     Christmas Roses     2:25
9     –Reg Lindsay     Ting A Ling A Jingle     2:11
10     –Rolf Harris     Happy Birthday Father Christmas     2:28
11     –Mike Preston     Christmas Alphabet     1:58
12     –The Aussie Singers     Merry Christmas Land     2:29
13     –Dale's Gang*     Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer     3:26
14     –The Love Machine  The Lonely Hearts Christmas Club Christmas Party     15     –Ol' 55     Little Saint Nick     3:10
16     –Jo Jo Zep And His Little Helpers     Run Rudolph Run     3:23
17     –Red Hot Rockin' Santas     Another Rock "N" Roll Christmas     3:47
18     –Shirley*     Christmas Time In The Neighbourhood     2:26
19     –Incredible Penguins     Happy Xmas (War Is Over)     3:51
20     –Riff Raff*     Reindeers On The Rooftop     3:02
21     –Shirley*     Christmas Children     3:41
22     –Dalvanius & The Fascinations     Mary's Boy Child     4:18
23     –Yu-En     Little Drummer Boy     4:37
24     –Mick Hamilton     Merry Christmas Mary     3:04

Spin Into CHRISTMAS

Boyd Bennett...Tennessee Rock'n'Roll

 

Boyd Byron Bennett (December 7, 1924 – June 2, 2002) was an American rockabilly/rock'n'roll songwriter and singer. His two biggest hit singles, both written with John F Young and performed by him (Boyd) were "Seventeen" with his band, the Rockets (U.S. No. 5), (U.S. Rn'B No.7), as well as No.16 on the UK Singles Chart, and "My Boy, Flat Top" (U.S. No.39). He later became a disc jockey in Kentucky. He also worked with Francis Craig and Moon Mullican.

In 1955, Boyd Bennett and His Rockets recorded "Seventeen". Bennett aimed the song directly at the teenage audience, but producer Syd Nathan dismissed the effort and claimed that teenagers had no money to buy records. Bennett shrewdly waited until Nathan left for a two-week vacation, and prevailed upon Nathan's assistant Henry Glover to release the record.

It reached the Billboard chart on July 9, 1955, and went to the number five by September. Boyd and the Rockets traveled across the nation. The Boyd Bennett disc of "Seventeen" "changed record-producing/buying and marketing forever," wrote musicologist Robert Reynolds: "As Boyd Bennett had predicted, teenagers bought 'Seventeen' in droves and other record companies soon began producing songs aimed specifically at the teen market. The record hung around the Top Ten for five weeks. When all was said and done, [Bennett's] 'Seventeen' had sold three million copies."

Boyd Bennett and his band followed "Seventeen" with "My Boy Flat Top" (almost identical, melodically) which reached the Top 40 for a number of months, although a lesser seller than their earlier effort. Boyd also worked as a disc jockey in 1955 in Louisville, Kentucky. In March 1956, Boyd's group released their cover version of "Blue Suede Shoes".

In 1959, Bennett left King Records and commenced a subsequent brief recording career with Mercury. Noting that he was drifting away from a teenage audience, he left the music industry and built up his business interests, which included owning nightclubs and an air-conditioning parts manufacturer. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bennett had health issues with both lymphoma and pulmonary fibrosis. He retired in Dallas, although he made infrequent concert appearances, often with Ray Price. He also recorded for Dallas-based Christian record label Rainbow, including the 1980s album "Step Into The Sunshine".

Bennett was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame for his contribution to the genre.

 Tennessee Rock'n'Roll

Chuck Berry...Five Classic Albums plus bonus singles and rare tracks

Excellent 4 disc compilation of Chuck Berry's early albums including After School Session (1957), One Dozen Berry's (1958), Chuck Berry On Top (1959), At the Hops (1960) and New Juke Box Hits (1961). Plus alternate versions, single releases and rare tracks. A must for any Chuck Berry and rock and roll fan. 

ONE TWO THREE FOUR 

 

Dale Hawkins...OH! Suzie-Q....30 track compilation

 

Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Ronnie Hawkins was his cousin.

He began recording in 1956. In 1957, Hawkins was playing at Shreveport, Louisiana clubs, and although his music was influenced by the new rock and roll style of Elvis Presley and the guitar sounds of Scotty Moore, Hawkins blended that with the uniquely heavy blues sound of black Louisiana artists for his recording of his swamp-rock classic, "Susie Q." Fellow Louisiana guitarist and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Burton provided the signature riff and solo.

The song was chosen as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. An accompanying album, Oh! Suzy Q, was released in 1958. Creedence Clearwater Revival's version of the song on their 1968 debut album helped launch their career and today it is probably the best-known version.

In 1958 Hawkins recorded a single of Willie Dixon's "My Babe" at the Chess Records studio in Chicago, featuring Telecaster guitarist Roy Buchanan. He went on to a long and successful career. He recorded more songs for Chess into the early 1960's. However, his career was not limited to recording or performing. He hosted a teen dance party, The Dale Hawkins Show, on WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. He then became a record producer, and found success with The Uniques' "Not Too Long Ago," the Five Americans' "Western Union," and Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby". In 1998, Ace Records issued a compilation album, Dale Hawkins, Rock 'n' Roll Tornado, which contained a collection of his early works and previously unreleased material. Other recordings included his 1969 country rock album, L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas; and a 1999 release, Wildcat Tamer, of all-new recordings that garnered Hawkins a 4-star review in Rolling Stone.

He was executive vice president of Abnak Records; Vice President, Southwest Division, Bell Records (here he produced Bruce Channel, Ronnie Self, James Bell, the Festivals, the Dolls, and the Gentrys); and A&R director, RCA West Coast Rock Division, working with Michael Nesmith and Harry Nilsson. In the 1990's, he produced "Goin Back to Mississippi" by R. L. Burnside's slide guitarist, Kenny Brown.

Hawkins' pioneering contributions have been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. 

Dale Hawkins 

 

Hellooobaby! The Best of The Big Bopper 1954-1959

 

Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and disc jockey. His best known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightning", the latter of which became George Jones' first number-one hit in 1959. Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa in 1959, along with fellow musicians Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, and the pilot Roger Peterson.

Richardson, who played guitar, began his musical career as a songwriter. George Jones later recorded Richardson's "White Lightning", which became Jones' first No. 1 country hit in 1959. Richardson also wrote "Running Bear" for Johnny Preston, his friend from Port Arthur, Texas. The inspiration for the song came from Richardson's childhood memory of the Sabine River, where he heard stories about Indian tribes. Richardson sang background on "Running Bear", but the recording was not released until August 1959, six months after his death. The song became a No. 1 hit for three weeks in January 1960.

The man who launched Richardson as a recording artist was Harold "Pappy" Daily from Houston. Daily was promotion director for Mercury and Starday Records and signed Richardson to Mercury. Richardson's first single, "Beggar to a King", had a country flavor, but failed to gain any chart action. He soon cut "Chantilly Lace" as "The Big Bopper" for Pappy Daily's D label. Mercury bought the recording and released it at the end of June, 1958. It slowly began picking up airplay through July and August, and reached No. 6 on the pop charts spending 22 weeks in the national Top 40. In "Chantilly Lace", Richardson pretends to have a flirting phone conversation with his girlfriend; the record was comical in nature, with The Big Bopper presenting an exaggerated, but good-natured caricature of a ladies' man.

In November 1958 he scored a second hit, a raucous novelty tune entitled "The Big Bopper's Wedding", in which Richardson pretends to be getting cold feet at the altar. Both "Chantilly Lace" and "Big Bopper's Wedding" were receiving top 40 radio airplay through January 1959. 

                                    The Best of the Big Bopper 

 

Carl Perkins...Restless: The Columbia Recordings (1958-1968)

 

Most of the tracks here were made after Carl Perkins jumped from Sun Records to Columbia in 1958 and stayed there five years with a major label that promoted his friend and former Sun colleague Johnny Cash to superstardom but had little idea what to do with Perkins. Nonetheless, there's a lot of great rock here -- even the shoe songs (obvious attempts like "Pink Pedal Pushers" and "Pointy Toed Shoes" to capitalize on Perkins' great hit at Sun) are exciting, driving rock. 

The album contains two tracks from his "Whole Lotta Shakin'" album of rock covers, including Jimmy Lloyd's "Where the Rio de Rosa Flows" -- transformed from a nice little mid-tempo country honky-tonker into driving, scorching rock that stands alongside "Blue Suede Shoes," "All Mama's Children," "Dixie Fried" and "Matchbox" atop Perkins' discography. 

The disc also has three tracks from Perkins' second period as a Columbia artist (1968-1973), including the surprise country hit "Restless" and a remake of "All Mama's Children" with the 1960's band NRBQ. But it's the tracks from Perkins' first Columbia stint -- including sly, infectious country-rock pieces like "Honey, 'Cause I Love You", "L-O-V-E-V-I-L-L-E" and "Sister Twister" -- that make this disc a must-have for fans of pre-Beatles white rock. 

                                   Restless:The Columbia Recordings
 

                                          Pink Pedal Pushers

 

Richard Berry - Yama Yama! The Modern Recordings 1954-1956

Richard Berry, Jr. (April 11, 1935 – January 23, 1997) was an American singer, songwriter and musician, who performed with many Los Angeles doo-wop and close harmony groups in the 1950s, including The Flairs and The Robins.

He is best known as the composer and original performer of the rock standard "Louie Louie". The song became a hit for The Kingsmen, and it is one of the most recorded songs of all time; however, Berry received little financial benefit for writing it until the 1980's, having signed away his rights to the song in 1959. In the same year, he wrote and released "Have Love, Will Travel", which has been recorded by many other artists. Richard Berry was a class act and truly an innovator of Rhythm and Blues music from the 1950's.

This compilation covers the early part of his career and is the companion to the other Ace Records release "Have Louie, Will Travel".

YAMA YAMA!

Little Richard 1932-2020...Rock and Roll legend.. tribute post

Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), better known as Little Richard, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades, he was nicknamed "The Innovator", "The Originator", and "The Architect of Rock and Roll". Penniman's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding backbeat and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. His innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and R'n'B. He influenced numerous singers and musicians across musical genres from rock to soul music, and his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations to come.

Penniman was honored by many institutions. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2015, Penniman received a Rhapsody & Rhythm Award from the National Museum of African American Music for his key role in the formation of popular music genres and helping to bring an end to the racial divide on the music charts and in concert in the mid-1950s, changing American culture significantly. "Tutti Frutti" was included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2010, which stated that his "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music".

Essential Little Richard

Little Richard Vol.2

Sandy Nelson Rock'n'Roll Drum Beat....30 track compilation

Sandy Nelson ‎– Rock 'N' Roll Drum Beat
Released: 1995
Genre: Rock
Style: Rock'n'Roll, Pop Rock, Rhythm'n'Blues

 Tracklist
1     Day Train     2:19
2     Slippin' And Slidin' **     2:06
3     Willie And The Hand Jive     2:06
4     All Night Long     2:20
5     My Girl Josephine **     2:25
6     All Shook Up     2:19
7     Sandy     1:56
8     Alexis     2:01
9     Let's Go     2:07
10     The City **     2:28
11     Linda Lu **     2:36
12     Bullfrog **     3:10
13     Bony Moronie     2:26
14     Tough Beat **     2:39
15     Yakety Yak     1:55
16     La Bamba Bossa Nova     2:15
17     Jivin' Around (Parts 1 & 2)     2:19
18     Don't Be Cruel (To A Heart That's True)     2:18
19     The Flip **     2:43
20     Be-Bop Baby     2:04
21     Live It Up     1:45
22     Dumplin's     1:55
23     Wiggle Wobble     2:07
24     Limbo Rock     2:04
25     School Day     2:17
26     In The Mood     2:49
27     Charlie Brown     2:34
28     My Wife Can't Cook     2:03
29     I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday     1:57
30     Let There Be Drums **     2:17

Rock'n'Roll Drum Beat

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https://youtu.be/zC9okWm8A6o

The Beach Boys...Little Deuce Coupe and Surfin' Safari

 The Beach Boys

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The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The band drew on the music of jazz-based vocal groups, 1950's rock and roll and black R'n'B to create their unique sound, and with Brian as composer, arranger, producer and de facto leader, they often incorporated classical elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. 

These are two of their very early albums which combine rock and roll, pop, surf  and instrumental music.

https://youtu.be/8g1HtpTonJI

 

Radio Gold Vol.3.."The Way It Really Was"..30 Big Hits of the Airwaves by various artists

Volume 3 in this now rare series from Ace Records features 30 radio hits from 1955 to 1962 with big names like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Brenda Lee, Fats Domino, Johnnie Ray and Smiley Lewis. 

It's an eclectic collection of pop, rock'n'roll, rhythm'n'blues and doo-wop featuring some big hits of the era and many memorable tunes that are sure to be remembered. 

Tracklist:

1     –Mickey and Sylvia     Love Is Strange   
2     –Johnny Otis     Williw And The Hand Jive   
3     –Brenda Lee     Sweet Nothin's   
4     –Fats Domino     I'm In Love Again   
5     –Billy Ward and The Dominoes*     Star Dust   
6     –Art and Dotty Todd*     Chanson D'Amour (Song Of Love)   
7     –Billy Williams     I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter   
8     –Robin Luke     Susie Darlin'   
9     –The Tokens     The Lion Sleeps Tonight   
10     –Jerry Butler     Make It Easy On Yourself   
11     –Betty Everett     It's In His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)   
12     –Tony Orlando     Halfway To Paradise   
13     –The Crickets      That'll Be The Day   
14     –Roy Orbison     Only The Lonely   
15     –Kalin Twins     When   
16     –Marty Robbins     A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)   
17     –Floyd Cramer     On The Rebound   
18     –Harry Belafonte     Day-O (Banana Boat Song)   
19     –Guy Mitchell     Singing The Blues   
20     –Johnny Mathis     The Twelfth Of Never   
21     –Chas McDevitt and Nancy Whiskey     Freight Train   
22     –The Four Preps     Big Man   
23     –Danny and The Juniors     At The Hop   
24     –Johnnie Ray     Just Walking In The Rain   
25     –Joe Valino     The Garden Of Eden   
26     –Jim Lowe      The Green Door   
27     –Smiley Lewis     I Hear You Knocking   
28     –Paul Evans and The Curls     Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat   
29     –David Seville     Witch Doctor   
30     –Neil Sedaka     I Go Ape  

    Radio Gold Vol.3

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Atlantic Unearthed...Soul Sisters and Soul Brothers...rare soul tracks from the Atlantic records vaults

Atlantic Records was one of the leading record companies in rhythm and blues and soul music.
 
The golden era of American soul music in the 60's and early 70's is synonymous with the classic soul sides produced by an array of legendary performers for Atlantic Records during that momentous musical time. And, beyond all the immortal soul and R'n'B hits and top charting singles the label released over the years, there are treasure-filled vaults of tapes storing countless more historic recordings by a host of remarkable talents. Compiled by soul music historian David Nathan, these collections gather rarities, many previously unissued, and  literally unearthed from the venerable Atlantic Records archives featuring soul women and men who are among the genre's all-time greatest. 


Soul Sisters compiles 16 rare tunes from artists like Aretha Franklin, Barbara Lewis, Margie Joseph, Doris Troy, The Sweet Inspirations, Jackie Moore, plus some rarely heard artists as well. Some of these songs have never made it past being only released on the original 45, and others have never been heard before, period. They are from about 1964-1973; one of the last of the golden ages at Atlantic. 

Soul Sisters

Subtitled "16 Lost Classics By The Greatest Soul Men Ever", this compilation is something of a lost gem in itself.
 
Just looking at the lineup of artists on here is enough to make a soul fan salivate: Wilson Pickett, Bobby Womack, James Carr, Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Donny Hathaway, Sam and Dave. But some of the best tracks are from relatively unknown acts, such as the excellent version of "That's How it Feels" by the Soul Clan. The what clan? The Soul Clan were a soul supergroup of sorts: Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Joe Tex, Ben E. King, and Don Covay. Another artist on here, Carl Hall, is a real no-name for most soul fans, but he really belts it out on "Change with the Seasons." One guy you can truly call a one-hit wonder is R.B.Greaves (remember "Take a Letter Maria" ?) who does a very cool version of "Whiter Shade of Pale", plus Walter Jackson delivers a stunning version of the old Chi-Lites songs "Coldest Days of my Life." Fans of 60's and 70's soul music should love this collection. 

 Soul Brothers