Gotta Roll

Compiled and annotated by R&B and rock & roll authority Dave Penny, the 3CD set In The Shadow Of Sun is a mighty 101-track survey of the rockin’ records released on indie labels in Memphis and environs in the wake of the success of Sun Records.

Roughly a year after Texas hard rock band Bloodrock disbanded for good, certain memorable moments were culled from their earliest releases and packaged in the form of Bloodrock-n-Roll. Odd as it was the exclude material from their fourth and arguably most consistent record, Bloodrock U.S.A, what does show up here is solid in its own right. As far as the tracklisting is concerned, listeners are of course given what they really want immediately with the opener being the band's trademark doom-and-gloom anthem "D.O.A." which, upon its initial release a few years earlier, gave countless critics and would-be fans all they ever cared to hear from the group.

As its name suggests, Quiffs At The Flicks is a celebration of music from the rock n roll era, as included in feature films of the time. More than that, it is a celebration of specifically British feature films.

As its name suggests, Quiffs At The Flicks is a celebration of music from the rock n roll era, as included in feature films of the time. More than that, it is a celebration of specifically British feature films.

Before the Beatles, Cliff Richard was the biggest star of British pop. Sir Cliff Richard is a British institution, one of the biggest-selling pop stars ever in the UK with a popularity that has endured since the 1950s. John Lennon once said that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music." His good nature has made him a figure of fun for some, but after more than half-a-century in the public eye, Sir Cliff is an English icon to be proud of. This UK only four CD box set, an all-encompassing study of Cliff's early career and arguably his most important period.

Legend would have it that Rock'N'Roll was born in Memphis in 1954 when a young truck-driver by the name Elvis Presley opted to sing "Black Blues" his way. A legend that drastically over-simplifies reality, however, for the roots of Rock'N'Roll are already to be found in the early recordings of Blues, Jazz and Country music of the mid-1920. This collection, created by Gérard Herzhaft, shows that the Rock 'n' Roll was not born with Bill Haley and Elvis Presley but before, the fusion of Rhythm and Blues, Western Swing, Country, Gospel - or the whole of popular music from the early twentieth century. This collection has become indispensable, because the history of interbreeding reveals the crystallization and the formation of gender identity as the history of amplified music…

Yep Roc to release new career retrospective of 'Sam Phillips - the man who invented Rock 'n' Roll'. This 2CD/3LP collection is curated by Peter Guralnick, companion to Guralnick's "monumental" (Kirkus Reviews), and featuring tracks by Elvis Presley, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more…. Also includes an exclusive essay by Guralnick. "Sun Records and Sam Phillips himself created the most crucial, uplifting and powerful records ever made." - Bob Dylan On October 30, Yep Roc will release 'Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll,' a companion to Peter Guralnick's forthcoming biography of the same name, and a personal, idiosyncratic survey of one of the most important bodies of work in recording history.

Such an unimaginative title for such a imaginative boxful. Across four discs and 105 songs, Cliff Richard's earliest catalog comes in for precisely the kind of treatment every rock & roll star should have: an all-encompassing study of his most important period. Even more impressively, though the song titles all sound familiar, the performances rarely are. Thirty-seven tracks are bona fide unreleased (South African 78s notwithstanding), but several dozen more are culled from scarce EP-only mixes, rarely resurfacing B-sides, and unusual mixes. One cut, an undubbed take of "Willie and the Hand Jive," was hitherto available only on a mid-'80s budget-priced single disc, covering much the same period as this. It wasn't aimed at collectors, it wasn't heavily advertised, and it probably didn't sell many copies. Of such things do completists dream, but when you have a beakful of hen's teeth to sort through, do such things really matter? Discs one through three are the conventional ones.