Elly Roberts reviews
Kings Of Rock 'N' Roll:
Various Artists
Distributed by
BMG UK & Ireland
- Year: 2004
- Cat. No: 82876624312
Track listing:
1. Elvis Presley - That’s All Right
2. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
3. Elvis Presley - All Shook Up
4. Elvis Presley - Hound Dog
5. Buddy Holly - Oh Boy
6. Buddy Holly - Heartbeat
7. Buddy Holly - That’ll Be The Day
8. Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
9. Cliff Richard - Move It
10. Cliff Richard - Please Don’t Tease
11. Cliff Richard - Dynamite
12. Cliff Richard - Mean Streak
13. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
14. Eddie Cochran - C’Mon Everybody
15. Eddie Cochran - Three Steps To Heaven
16. Chuck Berry - Rock N Roll Music
17. Chuck Berry - No Particular Place To Go
18. Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode
19. Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly
20. Little Richard - Long Tall Sally
21. Little Richard - Lucille
22. Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire
23. Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
24. Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless
25. Bill Haley & His Comets - (We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock
Great party CD for weddings, and all other functions.
Twenty five steps to heaven with a helping hand from seven Americans and a
Brit. Celebrating 50 years of Rock’n’Roll’s arrival on the unsuspecting youth
both sides of the ‘ Pond ‘, these songs were blasting out of jukeboxes and
local Saturday night hops.
Poignantly, the collection starts with ‘ The King ‘ of kings – Elvis Presley,
from what was to become a soundtrack for a post – was generation. Presley is
considered the most important, influential and impersonated artist of the 20th
Century. No other solo artist of the rock era has matched his number of best
selling singles and albums in the UK and USA.
Surprisingly, his first five singles failed to enter the pop charts. Regarded
as the first recognisable song of the genre, Elvis’s cover of Arthur Crudup’s
That’s All Right, which never made the UK charts. More Elvis as it zips to
'58 with Jailhouse Rock (UK No.1 1958) then back to his first number one in
the UK in 1957, All Shook Up. Hound Dog is his last here from '56,
his fourth UK single reaching number 2.
Singer – songwriter Charles Hardin Holley aka Buddy Holly gets the treatment
with four absolute classics in a row. Incredibly, Oh Boy and That’ll
Be The Day, never made UK charts, but the rest did: Heartbeat (’59),
Peggy Sue his first UK release in ’57, peaking at number 6.
Harry Webb aka Cliff Richard, born 14 Oct 1940, Lucknow, India, is the only UK
artist here. Considered the British version of Elvis, he hit the big time in
’58 with Move It. By 1963 he was voted World’s Number 1 Artist by
Billboard, with Elvis at number two! Please Don’t Tease hit the top spot
in the summer of 1960. The next two are less impressive inclusions, Dynamite
and Mean Streak both from ’59.
Eddie Cochran, whose songs have been covered by T.Rex, The Who, Cliff Richard,
Beach Boys and The Sex Pistols, gets a threesome – Summertime Blues, his
UK chart debut from ’58, C’Mon Everybody from ’59 and his fifth UK entry
and first number one Three Steps To Heaven from the summer of 1960.
Real Rock’n’Roll rebels Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis get a
look-in. Berry’s Rock’n’Roll Music and Johnny B.Goode failed to
chart in the UK, but No Particular Place To Go did the trick in May ’64.
Richard Penniman aka Little Richard is famous for his wild vocals and piano-pounding,
along with some unrestrained stage performances and you can feel them on here
with, Good Golly Miss Molly (No.8 in ’58), Long Tall Sally (No.3 in ’57)
and his signature tune Lucille from the same year.
Last year, I had the privilege of seeing ‘ The Killer ‘ live on stage in
Manchester. Jerry Lewis’ colourful life is only surpassed by his legendary
performances. Three turn – up here, his signature tune Great Balls Of Fire,
his first UK number 1 from ’57, opens up. Whole Lotta Shakin’ is a tour
de force from his UK debut in ’57 (No.8), as is Breathless from ’58.
No compilation would be complete without the final’ Jive Master ‘ – Bill Haley
and the soundtrack that had them ripping up seats in cinemas across the UK and
USA – Rock Around The Clock. Incidentally, it’s the only record to
return to the Top 20 on five occasions.
You’ve heard it all before, but it’s still BRILLIANT.
Elly Robert's Elvis DVD and CD reviews:
DVD Elvis: '68 Comeback Special: Deluxe Edition
DVD Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii: Deluxe Edition
CD Elvis: Elvis At Sun
CD Kings of Rock 'N' Roll: Various Artists
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
