Search - Golden Age of American Rock 'n Roll :: The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll, Volume 3

Excellent...with a warning about "Jennie Lee"

Jeff Pearlman | Lakeland, FL USA | 04/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This ten-volume series by England's Ace label is simply amazing. Each contains a hefty 30 (!) tracks, mixing big hits with lower-charting classics and curiosities. As the series goes on, the balance shifts toward the latter. If you stumble over any one of these you will want to collect them all. All songs date from 1954-63 and made the Billboard Hot 100. (Another Ace series called Chartbusters deals with 1964-1969 and has generated three excellent volumes so far.)



One apparent flaw is a poor mix of Track 4, Jan and Arnie's "Jennie Lee." I have not tracked down the original 45 but suspect that the lead vocals are not supposed to be buried in the mix. The verses are virtually inaudible. I don't think it's just my copy, because I heard the same problem when I clicked on the little music note next to the title in the track listing. Please stop reading right now, scroll up to the titles, and check for yourself. But don't forget to come back and click that "helpful" key!!! Now where was I...oh yes. Wasn't that hook addictive, all drums and echo and Ba BA Ba-Ba Ba Ba Ba? By the way, this is the Jan (Berry) who subsequently paired with Dean (Torrence) for many more hits. Poor Arnie (Ginsburg).



With this lone exception the sound quality is excellent throughout the series; Ace goes all-out to find the best masters available. Each disc also has a booklet jampacked with liner notes. (Though they, alas, don't tell us what became of Arnie Ginsburg. I hope things worked out for him.)



30 tracks are a lot to absorb at once, so don't forget to keep an ear out for Jody Reynolds' creepy, haunting "Endless Sleep" (it has a happy ending, kinda) and the next-to-last track, "The Freeze." I can imagine dancers in 1958 were obliged to stop gyrating each time the music stopped. And that the resulting aggravation kept the record from pushing past Number 33 on the charts. To this spelunker of chart artifacts, even such a possibility qualifies Tony & Joe's effort as a lost classic."