Various Artists: Bear Family Records Rocks, Vol. 2

​DETAIL ALBUM

Tracks:

1. Jimmy Cavallo And His House Rockers: Rock, Rock, Rock
2. Ritchie Valens: Come On, Let’s Go
3. Carl Mann: Ubangi Stomp
4. Sonny Burgess And The Pacers: Feelin’ Good
5. Mary Robbins: Respectfully Miss Brooks
6. Roy Orbison: Chicken Hearted
7. Scotty McKay: Rollin’ Dynamite
8. Ronnie Hawkins And The Hawks: Baby Jean
9. Glen Glenn: One Cup Of Coffee And A Cigarette
10. Wanda Jackson: Baby Loves Him
11. Johnny Burnette And The Rock ’N Roll Trio: All By Myself
12. Ricky Nelson: Milk Cow Blues
13. Roy Hall: Diggin’ The Boogie
14. Carl Perkins: Caldonia
15. Link Wray And The Wraymen: Raw-Hide
16. Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps: Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me
17. Buddy Knox With The Rhythm Orchids: My Baby’s Gone
18. Jerry Lee Lewis: Birthday Cake (Keep Your Hand Off Of It)
19. Billy Lee Riley: That’s Right
20. Dale Hawkins: Four Letter Word (Rock)
21. Charlie Feathers: Jungle Fever
22. Eddie Cochran: Pretty Girl
23. Rusty York: Sweet Love
24. Bill Haley And His Comets: Where’d You Go Last Night
25. Bob Luman: Wild Eyed Woman
26. Narvel Felts: I’m Headin’ Home
27. Sanford Clark: Usta Be My Baby
28. The Everly Brothers: This Little Girl Of Mine
29. Sleepy LaBeff And The Versatiles: Ride On Josephine
30. Conway Twitty: I Vibrate (From My Head To My Feet)
31. Don Gibson: Sea Of Heartbreak
32. Bobby Darin: I Want You With Me
33. Frank Virtuoso: Rollin’ An’ A’ Rockin’
34. Mac Curtis: Missy Ann
35. Jack Scott: The Way I Walk

In de door het Duitse Bear Family Records in het leven geroepen serie ‘Rocks’, kwamen reeds een indrukwekkende rij artiesten aan bod. Artiesten uit zowel de zwarte rhythm & blues als de blanke rock-‘n-roll. Vorig jaar verscheen het eerste volume van ‘Bear Family Records Rocks’, waarin de nadruk lag op de getalenteerde zwarte artiesten die de rhythm & blues gestalte gaven. Op het nu verschenen tweede volume focust het label op het kruim van de blanke rockers, en dat zijn er heel wat. De 35 tracks op dit album herbergen enkel grote namen. Namen van artiesten die de rock-‘n-roll wereldwijd uitdroegen en daardoor eeuwigheidswaarde hebben. Tussen haakjes, alle artiesten op deze compilatie kwamen individueel reeds aan bod in de ‘Rocks’ serie.
Jimmy Cavallo and His House Rockers mogen het vuur aan de rocklont steken met het toepasselijke ‘Rock, Rock, Rock’, waarna de ene na de andere hit mekaar in sneltempo opvolgen. De Sun Studio van Sam Phillips deed pionierswerk in de rock-‘n-roll. Vanzelfsprekend krijg je dan ook artiesten die Sam onder zijn vleugels nam. Zo tref je hoogstaande rock-‘n-roll aan van Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Sonny Burgess en Carl Mann. Maar ook andere labels deden hun duit in het rock-‘n-roll zakje.
Daarvan krijg je sublieme opnames van labels als Columbia, Parkway, Roulette, Era, Capitol, Cora, Imperial, Decca, Charly, Epic, Checker, Kay, Liberty, Chess, Coral, Del-Fi, Rockstar, Dot, Cadence, Wayside, MGM, RCA, Atco, Rhythm, King, Carlton en natuurlijk Bear Family Records. Die leverden opnames van klinkende namen waaronder Ritchie Valens, Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, Glen Glenn, Johnny Burnette and The Rock ’n Roll Trio, Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent, Link Wray and The Wraymen, Eddie Cochran, Bill Haley, Narvel Felts, Wanda Jackson, The Everly Brothers, Sleepy La Beff (toen nog zo genoteerd), Conway Twitty en Bobby Darin. Voor de volledige tracklijst verwijzen we je graag naar de rubriek ‘DETAIL ALBUM’.
Stuk voor stuk zijn deze 35 tracks de aller-, aller-, allerbeste opnames van de ‘crème de la crème’ van de blanke rockers. Bovendien krijg je er nog een schitterend uitgevoerd, kleurrijk 39 pagina’s booklet bij, met daarin alle info betreffende artiesten en tracks.  Het hoeft dan ook geen verder betoog dat dit album met zijn fantastische geluidskwaliteit, niet alleen meer dan zijn geld waard is, maar je ook doet rocken van begin tot einde. Kom achteraf niet zeggen dat wij je niet verwittigd hebben van deze toprelease.
 
Lambert Smits

In the series ‘Rocks’, created by the German Bear Family Records, an impressive number of artists have already been featured. Artists from both black rhythm & blues and white rock-‘n-roll. Last year, the first volume of ‘Bear Family Records Rocks’ was released, in which the emphasis was on the talented black artists who gave shape to rhythm & blues. In the now released second volume, the label focuses on the cream of the crop of white rockers, and there are quite a few. The 35 tracks on this album contain only big names. Names of artists who spread rock-‘n-roll worldwide and therefore have eternal value. Incidentally, all artists on this compilation have already been featured individually in the ‘Rocks’ series. Jimmy Cavallo and His House Rockers are allowed to light the rock fuse with the appropriate ‘Rock, Rock, Rock’, after which one hit follows the other in rapid succession. Sam Phillips' Sun Studio pioneered rock-and-roll. Naturally, you also get artists that Sam took under his wing. For example, you will find high-quality rock-and-roll from Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Sonny Burgess and Carl Mann. But other labels also did their bit for rock-and-roll.
You get sublime recordings from labels such as Columbia, Parkway, Roulette, Era, Capitol, Cora, Imperial, Decca, Charly, Epic, Checker, Kay, Liberty, Chess, Coral, Del-Fi, Rockstar, Dot, Cadence, Wayside, MGM, RCA, Atco, Rhythm, King, Carlton and of course Bear Family Records. They delivered recordings by big names including Ritchie Valens, Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, Glen Glenn, Johnny Burnette and The Rock ’n Roll Trio, Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent, Link Wray and The Wraymen, Eddie Cochran, Bill Haley, Narvel Felts, Wanda Jackson, The Everly Brothers, Sleepy La Beff (then still noted as such), Conway Twitty and Bobby Darin. For the complete track list, we would like to refer you to the section ‘DETAIL ALBUM’. Each of these 35 tracks is the very, very, very best recording by the ‘crème de la crème’ of white rockers. In addition, you will also receive a beautifully produced, colourful 39-page booklet with all the information about artists and tracks. It goes without saying that this album with its fantastic sound quality is not only more than worth its money, but will also rock you from start to finish. Don’t say afterwards that we didn’t warn you about this top release!