Rock & Roll - The First 50 Years: The '50S 25 Top 10 Hits CD

Like numerous compilations on the Varese Sarabande label, this anthology of 1950s rock & roll hits seems geared toward the casual consumer who picks up oldies collections once in a while, not the more serious collector looking for the best overview of a genre or the best volumes for building a comprehensive library of a certain style. If you're not worried about such matters, however, this 26-track scoop of early rock & roll smashes is pretty good, though the three-CD The Golden Era of Rock 'n' Roll 1954-1963 is a much more definitive survey of the most essential early rock & roll hits, if you're inclined to dig deeper. But Rock & Roll - The First 50 Years: The '50s 25 Top 10 Hits certainly has a generous share of inarguable top-ranked classics, starting with Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes," Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love," Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," the Coasters' "Yakety Yak," and Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops." There are also some of the greatest songs by early rockers known for only one or two hits: Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," Huey "Piano" Smith's "Don't You Just Know It," and Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin." There's also some diversity that goes a little beyond the most celebrated early rock & roll standards, including instrumentals (the Champs' "Tequila," Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk, Pt. 2," Bill Justis' "Raunchy"), teen idols (Freddy Cannon, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton), quality songs that are more pop than rock (Miss Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt," Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues"), and even Boyd Bennett's Bill Haley-like "Seventeen," which was a Top Ten hit in 1955 though it eventually faded from popular memory. As a "bonus" track, there's also Sonny Dae & His Knights' original 1954 version of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," which is more boogie-oriented than (and considerably inferior to) the Haley cover that became the first massive rock & roll hit. ~ Richie Unterberger

C.Perkins/F.Domino/L.Richard/ R.Nelson/Coasters/F.Avalon/

Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl.

Photographer: Billy Vera.