DONNIE BROOKS IS A GREAT PART OF THE 50'S
erniegarcia3 | 07/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"WHEN I THINK OF DONNIE BROOKS SINGING "MISSION BELLS" I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK OF THE 5O'S AS I REMEMBER THEM!THE SONG WAS PLAYED ALOT ON DICK CLARK'S "AMERICAN BANDSTAND"FROM PHILADELPHIA!HE TOO WAS A COUNTRY CROSSOVER WHO DID IT WITH ALOT OF RTHYM AND STYLE. HIS FAST SONGS WERE DANCEABLE TO THE STYLE OF THAT TIME. "DOLL HOUSE" IS ALSO ON THIS COLLECTION.I STILL GET GOOSEBUMPS WHEN I FIRST PURCHASE A C.D. SUCH AS THIS ONE.THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL AND NOT RERECORDINGS. I ADVICE TO COLLECTORS NOT TO MISTAKE THEM. THE ORIGINALS ALWAYS CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THAT TIME. I RECOMMEND THIS C.D. HIGHLY!!!BUY IT!!!"
Finally!!!!!
Howard Thomason | Ceres, CA United States | 06/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Canetoad finally saw there ARE some Brooks fans
still around!
Included are some rare Johnny Faire (his real name was Faircloth)material.
This is a MUST HAVE CD for any Rock and Rockabilly fan.
IF you ever get a chance to see him perform live, GO!Until then this is THE BEST!!!"
Did He Suffer From Multiple-Personality Disorder?
Howard Thomason | 08/09/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Sigh. 34 tracks for an artist who had exactly three charted hits in 1960/61, and somehow they could not find room for the flipside to his biggest hit. I can only conclude that Canetoad uses Collectables as its model.
Born John Abahosh on February 6, 1936 in Dallas, Texas, he was raised as John Faircloth by his adoptive parents in Ventura, California. Before settling on the name Donnie Brooks [donnybrook?], he recorded as Johnny Faire, Dick Bush, and Johnny Jordan, and many of the contents of this compilation come from that part of his career.
His big break came with the Era label in 1960 when Mission Bell climbed into the Top 10 at # 7 Billboard Pop H0t 100 in August b/w Do It For Me. Unfortunately, Canetoad didn't do it for us [hit collectors] when they chose to leave off the flipside. However, both sides of his last two hits are here, starting with Doll House which went to # 31 Hot 100 in December b/w Round Robin, itself a Hot 100 "bubble under" at # 115, and in March 1961 Memphis [not the Chuck Berry composition] petered out at # 90 Hot 100 b/w That's Why. And that was it insofar as chart success was concerned.
Except for that missing side, this is a nice, albeit expensive, package from the little-known Canetoad and is the ONLY place [so far] where you will find all three hits by Donnie Brooks."
Track Listings (34) - Disc #1