Bay Area Rockers: San Francisco Rockabilly & Rock 'N' Roll 1957-1960 CD - Import

There was not much of a San Francisco area rock scene prior to the mid-'60s, although numerous rock records began to appear in the late '50s, most on tiny local labels. This has a couple dozen recordings from that era, most on small local labels like Christy and Bella, although a few were fortunate enough to land on bigger outfits like Specialty and Josie. When there is a compilation of material from a time and place not noted for stellar contributions to rock history, the results tend to be generic reflections of larger trends in the overall era, and primarily useful as evidence that some rock music existed there. That's what you get with this anthology, which might have been recorded in San Francisco, but could have been done in a lot of places throughout America for all its lack of qualitative distinction and regional style. It's energetic, middling rockabilly, doo wop, and uptempo R&B (Benn Joe Zeppa's "A Foolish Fool" is a transparent attempt to jump on Frankie Lymon's coattails). A few of the rockabilly cuts will appeal to specialists on the grounds of sheer over the top lunacy, particularly Tyrone Schmidling's "You're Gone, I'm Left" (made up on the spot in the studio and recorded in one take) and Jerry Coulston's "Cave Man Hop." The only performer that's either known or worth remembering, frankly, is Bobby Freeman, who had a big hit with "Do You Want to Dance" in 1958. That's not here, but its flipside, "Big Fat Woman," and follow-up, "Betty Lou Got a New Pair of Shoes," are, and slip into a cool groove that is the sound of R&B changing into rock & roll. ~ Richie Unterberger

24 tracks from Jerry Coulston, Bobby Freeman, Jackie Gotroe, Benn Joe Zeppa, Pat La Rocca, Jades, Al & Nettie, Treys, Martells, McMillan & others