Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Vol. 8

by N/A

Overview

This is a decent if inconsistent blend of rock & roll oldies from the 1950s and early 1960s. There are a lot of big hits on the 30-song disc, many of them best heard in the context of a compilation, since they're by artists that didn't have much else in the way of classics: the Fiestas' "So Fine," the Impalas' "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)," Ernie Maresca's wildly energetic pour-on-the-cliches "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)," the Cadillacs' "Speedoo," the Dell-Vikings' "Whispering Bells," the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away," the Crows' "Gee," and Thomas Wayne's "Tragedy." There are also a bunch of mid-to-low-charting rarities that are so much less impressive and memorable (though sometimes zestily delivered) than the big hits that one wonders if payola was involved in getting them to the lowly rankings they attained. A few worthwhile obscurities do sneak through, like R&B star Nappy Brown's surprise 1955 pop hit "Don't Be Angry," with its stuttering vocal hook; Larry Bright's hard rocking adaptation of "I Got My Mojo Workin'" into "Mojo Workout"; the Furys' infectious cover of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart"; Johnny Bond's country-rockabilly hit "Hot Rod Lincoln"; and Jimmy Norman's hard rockin' New Orleans-styled "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)," an answer record to Barbara George's "I Know" that never quite sustains the momentum of its opening spoken phone call. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	11/23/1999
Label:	Ace
UPC:	0029667175029
Rank:	111423

Tracks

1. Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)  - Thomas Bogdany  - Ernie Maresca
2. Whispering Bells  -  Del Vikings  -  Lowery  - Clarence E. Quick
3. We Belong Together  - Robert Carr  - Johnny Mitchell  - Hy Weiss
4. Sorry  -  Impalas
5. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans  - Freddy Cannon  - Henry Creamer  - Turner Layton
6. So Fine  -  Fiestas  - Johnny Otis
7. Bongo Stomp  - Marc Levin  -  Little Joey  -  Little Joey & the Flips
8. Wicked Ruby  - Danny Zella  -  Zella
9. Tragedy  - Fred Burch  -  DeLons  - Gerald Nelson  - Thomas Wayne
10. Here I Stand  - Wade Flemons  -  Newcomers  -  Flemons
11. Gee  -  Crows  - William Davis  - Morris Levy
12. Don't Be Angry  - Nappy Brown  - Rose Marie McCoy  - Fred Mendelsohn
13. One Summer Night  -  Danleers  - Danny Webb
14. Lotta Lovin'  - Bernice Bedwell  - Tommy Bedwell  - Gene Vincent  -  Vincent
15. Ballad of a Girl and Boy  -  Graduates  - Bruce Hammond  - Jack Scorsone
16. Bullwhip Rock  -  Cyclones
17. Mojo Workout  - J. Bright  - Julianna Bright  - Larry Bright
18. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart  -  Furys  - James F. Hanley
19. Air Travel  -  Ray & Bob
20. Once upon a Time  - Jimmy Johnson  -  Rochell & the Candles  - Eddie Sauter  - Johnny Wyatt
21. The Fool  - Sanford Clark  - Lee Hazlewood
22. Speedoo  -  Cadillacs  - Esther Navarro
23. My Wife Can't Cook  - Lonnie Russ
24. Running Bear  - Johnny Preston  - J.P. Richardson
25. The Mountain's High  -  Dick & Dee Dee  - Dick Saint John
26. A Thousand Miles Away  -  Heartbeats  - William Miller  - James Sheppard
27. Hey Girl, Hey Boy  - Jeanette Baker  -  McLollie  -  Oscar McLollie & Jeanette Baker
28. Been So Long  - Difosco Ervin  - Jorma Kaukonen  -  Pastels  - Anthony Thomas  - Richard Travis  - J.B. Willingham
29. I Don't Love You No More  - H.B. Barnum  - Jimmy Norman
30. Hot Rod Lincoln  - Johnny Bond  - Charlie Ryan  - W.S. Stevenson

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Wade Flemons & the Newcomers   Primary Artist
Ray & Bob   Primary Artist
Oscar McLollie & Jeanette Baker   Primary Artist
Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps   Primary Artist
Danny Zella & His Zell Rocks   Primary Artist
Gene Vincent   Primary Artist
Robert Carr   Primary Artist
Sanford Clark   Primary Artist
The Del Vikings   Primary Artist
Jeanette Baker   Primary Artist
Little Joey & the Flips   Primary Artist
DeLons   Primary Artist
The Pastels   Primary Artist
Little Joey   Primary Artist
Danny Zella   Primary Artist
The Impalas   Primary Artist
The Furys   Primary Artist
The Graduates   Primary Artist
Jimmy Norman   Primary Artist
The Crows   Primary Artist
Larry Bright   Primary Artist
The Danleers   Primary Artist
Freddy Cannon   Primary Artist
Johnny Bond   Primary Artist
Ernie Maresca   Primary Artist
Johnny Mitchell   Primary Artist
Johnny Preston   Primary Artist
Wade Flemons   Primary Artist
Johnny Wyatt   Primary Artist
Dick & Dee Dee   Primary Artist
Lonnie Russ   Primary Artist
Rochell & the Candles   Primary Artist
Nappy Brown   Primary Artist
The Newcomers   Primary Artist
Cyclones   Primary Artist
The Heartbeats   Primary Artist
The Fiestas   Primary Artist
Oscar McLollie & His Honey Jumpers   Primary Artist
Thomas Wayne   Primary Artist
The Cadillacs   Primary Artist
Jon Broven   Sequencing
Rob Finnis   Sequencing

Technical Credits

Thomas Wayne   Performer
Morris Levy   Composer
The Fiestas   Performer
J. Bright   Composer
Cyclones   Performer
Gene Vincent   Performer
Esther Navarro   Composer
Johnny Otis   Composer
Robert Carr   Composer,Performer
Sanford Clark   Performer
Rose Marie McCoy   Composer
Ray Topping   Liner Notes
Tommy Bedwell   Composer
Charlie Ryan   Composer
The Del Vikings   Performer
Jeanette Baker   Performer
Marc Levin   Composer
J.B. Willingham   Composer
Danny Webb   Composer
Richard Travis   Composer
Chris Popham   Package Design
Ace   Cover Photo
Thomas Bogdany   Composer
Jimmy Johnson   Composer
Jon Broven   Archive Research,Compilation Research
Bruce Hammond   Composer
The Pastels   Performer
Jack Scorsone   Composer
William Davis   Composer
Little Joey   Performer
Danny Zella   Composer,Performer
Difosco Ervin   Composer
Julianna Bright   Composer
Anthony Thomas   Composer
Rob Finnis   Liner Notes,Archive Research,Compilation Research
Dick St. John   Composer
Gerald Nelson   Composer
Henry Creamer   Composer
Turner Layton   Composer
Trevor Churchill   Archive Research,Compilation Research
Bernice Bedwell   Composer
Jimmy Norman   Performer
Clarence E. Quick   Composer
The Crows   Performer
Jiles Perry Richardson   Composer
Larry Bright   Performer
The Danleers   Performer
Eddie Sauter   Composer
Fred Burch   Composer
Fred Mendelsohn   Composer
Freddy Cannon   Performer
W.S. Stevenson   Composer
Johnny Bond   Performer
Ernie Maresca   Composer,Performer
Johnny Mitchell   Composer,Performer
Johnny Preston   Performer
James Sheppard   Composer
Wade Flemons   Composer,Performer
Lee Hazlewood   Composer
Johnny Wyatt   Performer
Dick & Dee Dee   Performer
Jorma Kaukonen   Composer
Hy Weiss   Composer
Lonnie Russ   Performer
Lowery   Composer
Nappy Brown   Composer,Performer
Oscar McLollie & His Honey Jumpers   Composer,Performer
James F. Hanley   Composer
Duncan Cowell   Mastering
Hidle Brown Barnum   Composer
William Miller   Composer