Tex Classic Volume 27

Various Artists - The Ace Story, Volume 4 (2012) {Ace Records CDCHD1337 rec 1954-1962}
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© 1954-62, 2012 Ace Records | CDCHD 1337
Rhythm & Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B / Soul / Funk / New Orleans R&B / Blues

The five original volumes of “The Ace (MS) Story” were part of the backbone of our catalogue during our early days. They disappeared for a long while after our licensing agreement with Johnny Vincent expired, but we were delighted to restore three of the original five to catalogue in 2010 and 2011. Judging by their sales figures, we were not the only ones to be delighted.

Various Artists - The Golden Age Of American Popular Music - More Country Hits (2016) {Ace Records CDCHD 1469 rec 1955-63}
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© 1955-63, 2016 Ace Records | CDCHD 1469
Country / Classic Country / Country Folk

Ace’s flagship “Golden Age” series continues to be among our best selling and most highly respected releases. After a short hiatus, we’re pleased to announce this new volume featuring 28 country recordings that made the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1963. As “More Country Hits” is in the “Golden Age Of American Popular Music” series, the content is more melodic overall than a “Golden Age Of American Rock’n’Roll” edition might be. Nevertheless, there’s a generous helping of up-tempo hillbilly and borderline rockabilly among the straight-ahead country to give listeners a bit of light and shade. As usual, the CD comes with a generously illustrated and copiously annotated booklet.

During the early 1960s, rock and roll grew by leaps and bounds. The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and Motown and Stax Records all entered the stage, and soon nothing would be the same. But, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and much of the Top 40 retained the classic ’50s sound – from teen idols like Jimmy Clanton (“Venus In Blue Jeans”) to nascent Tex-Mex by Sunny & The Sunglows (“Talk To Me”). Eric Records’ Hard To Find 45s On CD, Volume 10: 1960-1965 documents it all, from new sounds – like the Sir Douglas Quintet’s “She’s About A Mover” (in true stereo for the first time ever!) – to the loping rockabilly of Harold Dorman’s “Mountain Of Love.”

Various Artists - The Hillbillies: They Tried To Rock, Vol. 2 (2014) {Bear Family BCD17406AH rec 1953-1958}
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© 1953-58, 2014 Bear Family Records | BCD 17406 AH
Hillbillies / Rock & Roll / Country / Country Boogie / Rockabilly

The second volume of Bear Family's riotous 2014 series The Hillbillies: They Tried to Rock is every bit as good as its companion, possibly because it has many of the same players as the first disc. Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Johnny Horton, Webb Pierce, and Marvin Rainwater didn't cut just one jumping rock & roll single, they cut several and the best of these appear on this 31-track delight. Although there are a few exceptions here, nearly everything on this collection dates from 1956 through 1958, when it was still possible that rock & roll was just another dance fad and not a cultural revolution.

This CD is volume two in a series produced by Frenchman Bernard Frémeaux and his associates that explores the roots of rock & roll in the blues and rhythm & blues of the late '30s, the '40s, and the early '50s. The songs of that era were sung by primarily African American musical artists and became the inspiration for the phenomenon known as rock & roll. The music features hard-driving rhythms, as well as a sensuousness in both style and lyrics. Many of the early rock & roll stars, notably Elvis Presley, drew on this rich tradition. Unlike the King, most of these musicians received little notice or remuneration from the white audiences that devoured rock & roll music from the '50s on. In this volume of the collection, the music comes from as early as 1938 and carries up through 1946…