Rock n Fokk

If you lived outside America during the 1950s, when rock & roll exploded across the world, the opportunities to see your idols in the flesh were few and far between. Even at home, in North America, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis could only be in one place at a time when performing live. So the obvious marriage was made, between rock & roll and the movies. And back then, all the songs you hear spread over this comprehensive 3CD collection could be heard – and seen! – at the cinema.

The ten CDs are, so to speak, the antidote to our eroticly charged box '' Sex, Drugs And Alcohol '': Absolutely youthful, this new edition is full of romance, longing, love cries and the accompanying drama. The Rockn Roll era, which was otherwise so wild, has given us a lot of memorable love songs, which the young Elvis was so lucky enough to make on his first LP. He is in this box as well as many of his Rock'n'Roll-colleagues, but there are hardly any well-known singers, who have not dealt with heartache and love-passion during their career:

This CD is part of a comprehensive study of the early influences of rock & roll. The blues and rhythm & blues sound created by African American artists, as well as a few crossover Anglo musicians, in the late '30s, '40s, and the '50s, laid the foundation for what was to become rock & roll. It was a sound characterized by a throbbing drumbeat and sensual notes on piano and horns, often with lyrics to match its earthy quality. Volume six collects some notable recordings of the year 1950, just before the big rock & roll explosion caused by artists such as Bill Haley & His Comets and Elvis Presley. The compilation makes clear the great musical debt these artists, who became rich and famous, owed to earlier artists, many of whom remained poor and obscure…

To discover the origins of rock & roll, one has to return to the music of the 1930s and '40s, when the blues and rhythm & blues ruled the airwaves. The musical geniuses of these genres were primarily African American, although a few Anglo artists crossed over into the earthy music played in dance halls and on the radio. Few of these artists cashed in like their spiritual descendants a generation later. Nonetheless, they have left a legacy in song of their rich tradition. This CD is part of a series that traces the colorful history of rock & roll to its source. Making an appearance are New Orleans R&B giants Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. Other well-known artists include B.B. King, Wynonie Harris, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Louis Jordan, Champion Jack Dupree, and the Sons of the Pioneers…

In the Roots of Rock N' Roll series, this volume covers 1951, a year flowing with lively, rhythmic and humorous master-pieces - all the ingredients for pure Rock 'n' Roll. Fats Domino, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Wynonie Harris are still around. But they have to make room for the newcomers who are to add spice to Rock 'n' Roll - Little Richard, Bill Haley. Big Mama Thornton…

This 3-CD SoulMusic Records’ set celebrates the recordings that Solomon Burke made for the legendary Atlantic Records label between 1960 and 1968. Solomon is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers to emerge during the genre’s golden days. He signed to Atlantic before ‘soul music’ became a bona fide sub-genre of African-American music and it was Solomon who helped define this new movement and he was, in fact, one of the first artists to use ‘soul’ to describe his music. He would eventually be known the world over as ‘The King of Rock and Soul’.

This is the eighth (and last) volume in a series of double-disc anthologies from French label Fremeaux Records that chronicles the years that led up to the birth of rock & roll. While the magic year of 1954 is usually accepted as the dawn of the rock & roll age, the whole matter has always generated a good deal of debate, and this installment in the Fremeaux series only muddies the waters, since the year it covers, 1952, shows things rocking along pretty well. One could argue that some of the tracks here, like Wally Mercer's wonderful "Rock Around the Clock," are really just speeded-up R&B, and technically, that's probably so, but there's no denying that something resembling the rock & roll attitude is already in full swing in 1952…