The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll: The Follow-Up Hits

by N/A

Overview

Having run through a few hundred genuine classic hits from rock & roll's first decade in its previous volumes, the series The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll was starting to concentrate on thematic compilations by the time of this 2008 release. This one has 30 "follow-up hits," or singles released immediately or soon after a big smash 45 by the same artist. Most follow-up hits, of course, didn't do as well as what they were following up, usually because the songs sounded too much like their predecessors and/or weren't as strong. That's true of most of the cuts here, actually, but that doesn't mean this doesn't have some good (and usually low-charting) rock & roll chart hits from 1956-1963. A good number of these were almost as good, and almost as popular, as the more famous songs they were following up, including Danny & the Juniors' "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay," Bobby Freeman's "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes," Shirley & Lee's "I Feel Good," Chuck Willis' "Betty and Dupree," Chris Montez's "Some Kinda Fun," and Dion & the Belmonts' "No One Knows." There are also some solid entries from a few bona fide rock & roll greats, even if those don't qualify as among their best recordings, like Gene Vincent's "Dance to the Bop" and Ritchie Valens' "That's My Little Suzie." You also, alas, get some numbers that were basically inferior attempts to replicate the mood of the big hit, like Mickey & Sylvia's "There Oughta Be a Law" (following "Love Is Strange"), Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones' "Penny Loafers and Bobby Socks" (following "Black Slacks"), and Bobby Day's "The Bluebird, the Buzzard and the Oriole" (following "Rockin' Robin"). Some other selections are fairly unmemorable by any standard, and only occasionally do you get items that are genuinely fine overlooked obscurities (the Cascades' harmony pop/rock ballad "Shy Girl" and Joe Jones' original version of "California Sun," later covered for a hit by the Rivieras). And some cuts are pretty derivative of other artists, as the Velvets' "Laugh" is of the Drifters, though that song does have the curiosity value of being co-written by Roy Orbison. The strong thematic core, however, makes this CD a more interesting compilation than most other anthologies of lesser-known rock & roll hits from the era, with excellent liner notes summarizing the backgrounds of the songs and performers. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	02/26/2008
Label:	Ace
UPC:	0029667031721
Rank:	67691

Tracks

1. Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay  -  Danny & the Juniors
2. Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes  - Bobby Freeman
3. (I Wanna) Dance with the Teacher  - Cliff Goldsmith  -  Olympics
4. Magic Wand  -  Don & Juan
5. There Oughta Be a Law  - Bob Gibson  -  Mickey & Sylvia
6. Always  - Irving Berlin  - Sammy Turner
7. Penny Loafers and Bobby Socks  -  Bennett
8. Oh What a Fool  -  Impalas
9. Like the Big Guys Do  - Bob Elgin  - Horace Ott  -  Rocky Fellers
10. Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta  - Ernie K-Doe
11. I Feel Good  - Leonard Lee  -  Shirley & Lee
12. Tear Drop  - Ann Farina  - Johnny Farina  - Santo Farina  -  Santo & Johnny
13. Arrow of Love  -  Six Teens  - Trudy Williams
14. Betty and Dupree  -  Traditional  - Chuck Willis
15. Dance to the Bop  - Floyd Edge  - Gene Vincent
16. That's My Little Suzie  - Ritchie Valens
17. The Age for Love  - Jimmy Charles
18. Some Kinda Fun  - Jim Lee  - Chris Montez
19. Tell Me  -  Dick & Dee Dee
20. The Girl with the Story in Her Eyes  -  Safaris
21. The Bluebird, The Buzzard and the Oriole  - Bobby Day
22. Shy Girl  -  Cascades  - Bodie Chandler  - Barry De Vorzon
23. Laugh  - Joe Melson  - Roy Orbison  -  Velvets
24. This I Swear  - Jimmy Beaumont  - Joe Rock  -  Skyliners  - Janet Vogel
25. Do What You Did  - Thurston Harris
26. No One Knows  -  Dion & The Belmonts  - Ken Hecht  - Ernie Maresca
27. Fire of Love  - Jody Reynolds
28. I'll Take You Home  -  Corsairs  - Luigi Creatore  - Hugo Peretti
29. California Sun  - Henry Glover  - Joe Jones
30. Turvy II  - Cozy Cole

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Chris Montez   Primary Artist
Gene Vincent   Primary Artist
Six Teens   Primary Artist
Danny & the Juniors   Primary Artist
The Impalas   Primary Artist
Bobby Freeman   Primary Artist
Shirley & Lee   Primary Artist
The Cascades   Primary Artist
Trudy Williams   Primary Artist
Mickey & Sylvia   Primary Artist
Jimmy Charles   Primary Artist
Thurston Harris   Primary Artist
The Velvets   Primary Artist
The Rocky Fellers   Primary Artist
The Corsairs   Primary Artist
Bobby Day   Primary Artist
The Olympics   Primary Artist
The Skyliners   Primary Artist
Santo & Johnny   Primary Artist
The Safaris   Primary Artist
Ritchie Valens   Primary Artist
Dion & the Belmonts   Primary Artist
Dick & Dee Dee   Primary Artist
Sammy Turner   Primary Artist
Ernie K-Doe   Primary Artist
Don & Juan   Primary Artist
Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones   Primary Artist
Joe Jones   Primary Artist
Jody Reynolds   Primary Artist
Cozy Cole   Primary Artist
Chuck Willis   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Luigi Creatore   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Roy Orbison   Composer
Floyd Edge   Composer
Ritchie Valens   Composer
Horace Ott   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Thurston Harris   Composer
Bob Elgin   Composer
Santo Farina   Composer
Leonard Lee   Composer
Hugo Peretti   Composer
Johnny Farina   Composer
Joe Rock   Composer
Ernie Maresca   Composer
Joe Melson   Composer
Bodie Chandler   Composer
Ernie K-Doe   Composer
Ann Farina   Composer
Ken Hecht   Composer
Janet Vogel   Composer
Bob Gibson   Composer
Jody Reynolds   Composer
Cliff Goldsmith   Composer
Henry Glover   Composer
Jim Lee   Composer
Barry De Vorzon   Composer
Jimmy Beaumont   Composer
Bobby Freeman   Composer