Jody Reynolds Endless Sleep Soundtrack CD

Jody Reynolds recorded for nearly a dozen different labels, which makes assembling a properly licensed anthology a complicated and expensive proposition. As a result, one has yet to appear, but several collections exist that rely on vinyl records as sources. Endless Sleep stands out for having the largest number of Reynolds' early Demon recordings, which include his two hits, "Endless Sleep" and "Fire of Love," as well as the rockabilly favorites "Beulah Lee" and "Daisy Mae." Both sides of an instrumental rock & roll single Reynolds recorded with the Storms are here, as well as 14 demos and unreleased recordings in a variety of styles from doo wop to barroom country-rock, some of which sound like they were recorded long after the surrounding tracks. Reynolds is an inductee of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, but only a handful of his recordings really qualify as rockabilly; most are rough-hewn teen ballads and mild rockers. "Endless Sleep" is often categorized as a teen tragedy song even though no one actually dies in it, and this collection features another of Reynolds' songs in that vein, "Don't Jump," the title of which is self-explanatory. "The Whipping Post," too, tells the tale of an averted crisis, so Reynolds might have become a specialist in songs of near-tragedy had any of these cuts produced hits in the wake of "Endless Sleep." A CD with fewer than 30 tracks could compile all of Reynolds' commercial recordings from the '50s and '60s, which makes one wonder about the inclusion of mediocre late-career demos when more collectable early recordings were omitted. The sound quality is mixed, and not a significant improvement over previous reissues of Reynolds' music. ~ Greg Adams

Jody Reynolds had a million-seller in 1958 with "Endless Sleep" (featured here). The single became a forerunner of death rock classics such as "Tell Laura I Love Her" from Ray Peterson and "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning. Reynolds charted for the last time