These are great fun and interesting too. I take the line that British Rock n Roll certainly didn't start with perishing Cliff Richards but the likes of Wee Willie Harris, Tommy Steele and by now here's Marty Wilde and so on. Even the British Big Band leaders like Ted Heath (no, not THAT one!) and John Barry were getting aware of what was happening. The roots for all these are explored here on these fine four disc sets from the brilliant Twilightzone.
Great British Rock n Roll Vol II Disc 1 - Twilightzone
Great British Rock n Roll Vol II - Disc 2 - Twilightzone
TWILIGHTZONE SAYS:
Many would argue that there was no such thing as Great British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, or at least not until 1958 when Cliff Richard's "Move It" offered a rather more convincing home-grown hit than all of its predecessors. However, apart from the Skiffle explosion, there was another quirky musical scene happening in Britain during the late '40s and 1950s. As far as we are aware, this compilation is the first authoritative musical documentation of that scene.
Perhaps it should better be classed as NOSTALGIA rather than Rock 'n' Roll but there is a lot of fascinating stuff here, such as the Deep River Boys (from Virginia, USA, recording in Britain during their many UK tours), Ray Ellington (a British-based black bandleader of American & Russian descent) and Winifred Atwell, a classically trained pianist from Trinidad who would go to 'her other piano' to belt out some rockin' boogies. Elsewhere there are numerous talented British jazzers seeing which way the wind was blowing and jumping that jive, and some up 'n' coming UK popsters swaying their hips to the transatlantic rhythm. And of course Tommy Steele, who was acclaimed as Britain's first Rock 'n' Roll star (long before he started serenading little white bulls).
This goes to show that swing rock 'n' roll was being recorded and performed on Britain in the early 50's far more than most realized.
trax CD 1:
1. Love Bug Crawl - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 2. Knee Deep In The Blues - Ricky James 3. C'min And Be Loved - Terry Dene 4. Be My Girl - Jima Dale 5. Hey You - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 6. Rock A Chicka - Frankie Vaughan 7. Spike's Rock - Ray Sendit & His Rockey Team 8. Let's Have A Party - Rikki Henderson 9. Slim Jim Tie - Terry Wayne 10. Raunchy - Ken Mackintosh 11. Rockin' At The 2 II's - Wee Willie Harris 12. Teenage Party - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 13. Fabulous - Alma Cogan 14. Honeycomb - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 15. Bluer Than Blue - Ricky James 16. Teddy Bear - Shorty Mitchell 17. Quiet Quiet Shhh - Bert Weedon 18. A White Sports Coat - Terry Dene 19. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone - Joey Castell 20. Wild Eyes And Tender Lips - Colin Hicks & His Cabin Boys 21. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - The Tunettes 22. Boogie Woogie Stomp - The Saints Jazz Band 23. The Green Door - Frankie Vaughan 24. I'm In Love Again - Alma Cogan 25. Crazy Dream - Jim Dale 26. Flannel Foot - Bert Weedon 27. A Handful Of Songs - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 28. Cool Shake - Larry Page 29. Late Extra - Russ Conway 30. She's Long, She's Tall - Johnny Southern & The Western Rhythm Kings 31. Boppin' The Blues - Terry Wayne 32. Applejack - Ken Macintosh 33. Butterfly - Tommy Steele
...originally served by Gyro1966..
trax CD 2:
1 Sticks And Stones - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 2 That Rock 'n' Rollin' Man - Ray Ellington 3 Nursery Rock - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 4 Don't Knock The Rock - Shorty Mitchell & The Ken Jones Rock 'n' Rollers 5 Rampart Street Rock - Winifred Atwell 6 Wild Cat - Marty Wilde & The Wild Cats 7 Rockabilly Boogie - The John Barry Seven 8 Rock Mr. Piper - Billy Sproud 9 Off Beat Rock - Victor Silvester & His Rock N' Roll Rhythm 10 St. Louis Blues - The Deep River Boys 11 Earth Angel - The Southlanders 12 Little Darling - The Tunettes 13 Red Planet Rock - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 14 Rocket 0869 - Ray Sendit & His Rockey Team 15 Rock 'n' Roll Coaster - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 16 Rock You Sinners - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 17 Rock Rock Rock - Shorty Mitchell & The Ken Jones Rock 'n' Rollers 18 Dance With Me Henry - Patty Forbes & The Oscar Robin Band 19 Fanfare Boogie - Eric Winstone Band 20 Rock 'n' Roll Those Big Brown Eyes - Tommy Sampson & His Strongmen 21 Birmingham Bounce - Ted Heath & His Orchestra, Jack Parnell 22 You Can't Say I Love You To A Rock 'n' Roll Tune - Joan Small 23 6.5 Special - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 24 Happy Days And Lonely Nights - Suzi Miller & Johnson Brothers 25 Slow Walk - Ken Macintosh 26 Mother Goose Jumps - The Kirchin Band 27 Rockin' - Tommy Sampson & His Strongmen 28 She Sells Sea Shells - Laurie London 29 Lula Rock-A-Hula - Joan Savage 30 Rhythm 'n' Blues - Eric Winstone Band 31 Matchbox - Terry Wayne 32 Zip Zip - The John Barry Seven 33 Rock Rock Rock - Lee Young, Woolf Phillips & His Skyrockets
...originally served by Gyro1966...
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