Spring Roll

60 years ago in the spring of 1957, Atlantic Records launched the Rock & Roll series, creating fantastic compilations of hit singles from some of the most exciting new artists in this brand new genre.

It was six decades ago this past spring that Atlantic Records kicked off a little something called the Rock & Roll series, wherein the label would compile collections of hit singles from the greatest new artists of the day. To celebrate the fact that these compilations have hit the big 6-0, Rhino is paying tribute by reissuing the six classic albums in a box set, one featuring reproductions of the original artwork as well as a new booklet featuring liner notes.

We love everything about love: falling into it, failing at it, redeeming it, finding it and losing it, then finding it again, dreaming about it, wishing for it, and in the case of pop music, singing about it. This five-disc, 100-track collection compiles a large sample of how much we sing about love, with sides drawn from the early years of rock and pop, including hits from Sam Cooke ("You Send Me"), Ricky Nelson ("Poor Little Fool"), and Gene Pitney ("A Town Without Pity") among many, many others, making this a perfect soundtrack to spring and the new hopes and dreams of love it brings.

At the time this album was recorded, Jefferson Airplane had expanded from a rock group into something of a San Francisco collective of musicians and launched its own record label, Grunt, necessitating a flow of product. As a result, there was a flurry of releases by the Airplane itself and several offshoots, with each of these records featuring several members of the loose aggregation informally dubbed PERRO (the Planet Earth Rock 'N' Roll Orchestra). Papa John Creach, violinist for the Airplane and its spin-off group, Hot Tuna, was the leader on this set, which featured members of the Airplane (Grace Slick, for example, duets with Creach on the lead-off track, "The Janitor Drives a Cadillac"), Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Grateful Dead. The result sounds like the Airplane records of the period, with a bit more of Creach's electric violin soaring over the proceedings.

At the time this album was recorded, Jefferson Airplane had expanded from a rock group into something of a San Francisco collective of musicians and launched its own record label, Grunt, necessitating a flow of product. As a result, there was a flurry of releases by the Airplane itself and several offshoots, with each of these records featuring several members of the loose aggregation informally dubbed PERRO (the Planet Earth Rock 'N' Roll Orchestra). Papa John Creach, violinist for the Airplane and its spin-off group, Hot Tuna, was the leader on this set, which featured members of the Airplane (Grace Slick, for example, duets with Creach on the lead-off track, "The Janitor Drives a Cadillac"), Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Grateful Dead. The result sounds like the Airplane records of the period, with a bit more of Creach's electric violin soaring over the proceedings.