Johnny Kidd

Kidd (b. Frederick Heath, 23 December 1939, Willesden, London, England, d. 7 October 1966, England), is now rightly revered as an influential figure in the birth of British rock. Although his backing group fluctuated, this enigmatic figure presided over several seminal pre- Beatles releases. Formed in January 1959, the original line-up consisted of two former members of the Five Nutters skiffle group, Kidd (lead vocals) and Alan Caddy (b. 2 February 1940, Chelsea, London, England, d. 16 August 2000; lead guitar), joined by Tony Docherty (rhythm guitar), Johnny Gordon (bass) and Ken McKay (drums), plus backing singers Mike West and Tom Brown. Their compulsive debut single, ‘Please Don’t Touch’ barely scraped into the UK Top 20, but it remains one of the few authentic home-grown rock ‘n’ roll performances to emerge from the 50s.

Johnny Kidd & the Pirates were an English rock and roll group led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd. They scored numerous hit songs from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, including "Shakin' All Over" and "Please Don't Touch".

Rockin' Bones: 1950's Punk & Rockabilly is a 2006 4CD box set focusing on the roots of rock & roll through rockabilly and the attitude involved that helped to form what became punk rock. This was released by Rhino.

With Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and even some R&B acts like Little Richard and Fats Domino gaining popularity it was obvious that Britain could no longer rely on ageing pop singers to service the rock and roll audience and the search for home grown talent began. This excellent 2CD set from Jasmine turns the spotlight onto some of the lesser known rock and roll acts that surfaced on our shores. Although Tommy Steele can't quite be labelled as unsung, he was the first teenage star to perform rock and roll and scored the first home grown hit with the original song "Rock With The Caveman". The journey rocks on with, Terry Dene's cracking "Baby She's Gone", Wee Willie Harris's "Riot in Cell Block No 9", Dickie Pride's "Slippin N Slidin" and Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" which is a candidate for the UK's greatest rock and roll record.

Jasmine is proud to present this superb 2CD set featuring many of the artists and tracks that helped to inspire The Beatles and the emerging beat group scene in the early 1960s. Enjoy the early recordings from such iconic pop stars as Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Joe Brown and Johnny Kidd plus The Beatles first single "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I Love You" and their early recordings with Tony Sheridan. Fully detailed liner notes with biography and career achievements for many of the major artists.

Parlophone UK Presents British Beat Before The Beatles 1955-1962 album original hits and the original artists genre Rock, Blues.

British rock was born before the cultural upheaval brought by The Beatles. Inspired at first by the United States, as well as Jamaican and Trinidadian colonies, English rock blossomed out of blues musicians like Alexis Korner, boogie, such as Winifred Atwell’s, and the great skiffle craze led by Scotsman Lonnie Donegan. Then came the rise of young artists inspired by the Elvis Presley phenomenon in the US: Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Johnny Kidd, Vince Taylor - and also great English stars such as Billy Fury & Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Bruno Blum unveils some remarkable records here and comments on the best of this overlooked period, as The Beatles were assimilating this music and already building their up-and-coming revolution.

British rock was born before the cultural upheaval brought by The Beatles. Inspired at first by the United States, as well as Jamaican and Trinidadian colonies, English rock blossomed out of blues musicians like Alexis Korner, boogie, such as Winifred Atwell’s, and the great skiffle craze led by Scotsman Lonnie Donegan. Then came the rise of young artists inspired by the Elvis Presley phenomenon in the US: Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Johnny Kidd, Vince Taylor - and also great English stars such as Billy Fury & Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Bruno Blum unveils some remarkable records here and comments on the best of this overlooked period, as The Beatles were assimilating this music and already building their up-and-coming revolution.

Delta's acclaimed Hot Hundred series of 4CD sets reaches the 1960s. Containing 100 of the very greatest hits of that seminal decade with million selling hits by Bobby Darin, Everly Brothers, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Sam Cooke, and many more!