While King had many facets of American country- and blues-derived popular music covered from the 1940s to the 1960s, it was far weaker in rockabilly than it was in blues, hillbilly country, R&B, and early soul. Still, it did record more rockabilly in the 1950s than many have realized, although Charlie Feathers's releases in the style tend to be the only King ones that are remembered. A couple dozen rockabilly items from the mid-'50s to the early '60s are here, and only a few names will be recognized even by rock scholars. ...
Read More
While King had many facets of American country- and blues-derived popular music covered from the 1940s to the 1960s, it was far weaker in rockabilly than it was in blues, hillbilly country, R&B, and early soul. Still, it did record more rockabilly in the 1950s than many have realized, although Charlie Feathers's releases in the style tend to be the only King ones that are remembered. A couple dozen rockabilly items from the mid-'50s to the early '60s are here, and only a few names will be recognized even by rock scholars. There's Feathers (with an alternate take of "Bottle to the Baby"); Moon Mullican (with his 1956 single "Seven Nights to Rock," an attempt by the middle-aged former hillbilly star to jump on the rockabilly bandwagon); Boyd Bennett; and, most surprisingly, Dave Dudley, who did his rather mild "Rock'n'Roll Nursery Rhyme" in 1956, long before making his mark with truck-driving country anthems. And there's also Hank Mizell, whose "Jungle Rock" wasn't a hit in 1958, but unexpectedly made the British Top Ten in 1976 as a reissue; Mac Curtis is also here, and also got some belated acclaim on the European rockabilly revival circuit. On the whole, it's just average derivative rockabilly, sometimes with the hillbilly roots of the performers showing, though the production is better than those of many independent labels, as you'll notice when playing this next to other label-centric '50s rockabilly collections on Ace itself. Charlie Gore and Louis Innis's "(You Ain't Nothin' But a Female) Hound Dog," an answer record to Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," is of above-average interest as far as this thing goes, though it's closer to hillbilly than rockabilly. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.