Search - Various Artists :: Casey Kasem: America's Top 10 - 50's

Casey Kasem's chronological countdown of 50's rock 'n' roll

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The perfect musical anthology for any given year or decade in rock music history is an impossible dream. This is simply because of the copyright limitations that Casey Kasem or anybody else faces in putting together such a collection: how can you do anything serious on the Sixties without the Beatles? Consequently, with "America's Top 10 Through the Years: The 50's" the obvious glaring omission is Elvis (Of course, even if you have Elvis, what song do you pick? But that is another question for another day). That being said, Kasem has provided exactly what you would expect from the man that has been counting them down almost from the beginning: a first rate collection covering the artists and songs that defined rock 'n' roll in the decade of the 1950s. Yes, the countdown should have begun with Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" (even though Kasem's chronological order makes sense) but here is Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Richie Valen, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Here are the harmonies of the Everly Brothers singing "Wake Up Little Susie," Carl Perkins playing guitar on his classic "Blue Suede Shoes," and the get down saxophone of "Yakety Yak" and "Tequila." We start with the relative innocence of "Splish Splash" and "Rockin' Robin" but when we get to "Great Balls of Fire" you know Top 10 music has changed forever. With 20 classic tracks you should be able to find the requisite five (or more) tracks to add to your music library. Even with the inherent limitations facing him, Kasem has put together a first-rate musical anthology for the first decade of rock 'n' roll."

Original hit recordings of actual HITS

Kristin | Ellicott City, MD | 09/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"(FYI: it seems I have the newer 2004 cover which apparently amazon.com is not advertizing here instead of the 2001.)





I haven't yet actually bought many compilation albums, but I've looked through a lot. "Casey Kasem Presents America's Top Ten Hits: 1950s" is 1 of the few that seems to actually get it right. This album features ACTUAL HITS (not fringe 1-weekers that nobody remembers), shocking for any compilation it seems.



And shocking for an oldies album (I've been following '50s-'60s stuff since my high-school days in the '80s) - they are the actual, original recordings that actually hit the chart - rather than some re-tread an aging act did in concert 15 years later or some stylized improvisational spin they tried to be "different".



So, I think I'll be trying Casey Kasem's versions for the other decades. I might actually get 20 songs that were actually hits that I heard on the radio instead of unknown songs and re-recordings made by crackly-voiced old "artistes" trying to be different and sound hip to the fringe elements."

Great album if you're looking for 50's hits

LuckeyDuckey | San Diego, CA United States | 08/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My mom has been looking for a 'best of' CD of Fifties music for forever. I finally stumbled across this CD and had her check out the song listings and with her approval I bought it for her for her birthday. She loves it! As stated before, you don't get Elvis, but if you really want Elvis you should buy a whole Elvis CD. When you figure that you get 20 songs for under $16 this CD is a great deal. I only wish there had been more Little Richard but here you only get one song per artist. If you're looking for a best of the fifties CD this is the one to get."