120 years ago, on November 14, 1903, Hollywood became an independent community. The famous letters, a Hollywood landmark, were placed 100 years ago. Two anniversaries in one year, inspiring the Bear Family label to create a musical tribute to this legendary place. That tribute resulted in a double CD with no fewer than 61 tracks, spanning the period 1928 to 2011, covering both the period of the 'silent film' and more recent productions. The songs partly consist of recordings made by heroes of the silver screen. Other tracks are by artists from various music genres and there are also a number of fragments of film music that have never before been released on CD. On the first CD, the first songs emphasize Hollywood. Eddy Bell and The Bel-Aires, Gene Ray with Dusty Miller and His Colorado Wranglers, Carl Perkins, The Thunder Rocks and Ray Campi and His Rockabilly Rebels immediately gave Hollywood a rock 'n' roll and rockabilly jacket. Jazz is translated instrumentally here by Chet Baker & Bud Shank in the again appropriate 'Hollywood', after which the tracks that actors recorded on the silver screen follow. There is Johnny Weissmuller with the short but powerful 'Tarzan Call'. From the 'silent film' comes Dolores Del Rio, who later appeared on the silver screen with Presley, with 'Ramona'. Bing Crosby, Laurel & Hardy, Judy Garland, Gene Autry and The Andrew Sisters follow with songs from the first heyday of the 'talking film' of the 1930s and 1940s. When Hollywood in the middle of the last century, partly due to the rise of the rock 'n' roll is once again experiencing its heyday, new artists and actors are also emerging. Naturally, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Landon, Fred Astaire, Kirk Douglas and Anthony Perkins are immortalized here, as well as Errol Flynn and Robert Mitchum who took their place behind the microphone.
On the second CD, Hollywood's success story continues with contributions from, among others, Robert Mitchum, Sophia Loren, John Wayne, Richard Chamberlain, Doris Day, Telly Savalas and Ann-Margret. The latter was also at Presley's side in the film 'Viva Las Vegas'. Great performances are also provided by Henry Mancini's orchestra with 'Moon River Cha Cha', 'Baby Elephant Walk' and 'The Sweetheart Tree' and by the Hugo Montenegro orchestra and 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly'. We end just as we started with a line of rock 'n' roll by Val Kilmer, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, after which the curtain finally falls with the instrumental 'Walk Don't Rango' by Los Lobos, feat . trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.
In the 38-page booklet, in addition to the history of Hollywood, you also get all possible information about the 61 tracks.
Initially, film fans in particular will enjoy this release immensely. However, that does not alter the fact that others with an 'open mind' will also more or less enjoy this release.

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