Press Archive - Champion Jack Dupree - Rocks - AllMusic
The entries in Bear Family's ongoing Rocks series spotlight the hardest-rocking moments in an artist's catalog, sometimes offering a counter-narrative to an established narrative. In the case of Champion Jack Dupree, the hard-driving New Orleans blues and R&B pianist, his Rocks provides an introduction to his career that wasn't otherwise available when this was released in 2018.
The entries in Bear Family's ongoing Rocks series spotlight the hardest-rocking moments in an artist's catalog, sometimes offering a counter-narrative to an established narrative. In the case of Champion Jack Dupree, the hard-driving New Orleans blues and R&B pianist, his Rocks provides an introduction to his career that wasn't otherwise available when this was released in 2018.
Press Archive - Various - The Bill Haley Connection (CD) - AllMusic
Bill Haley is a pivotal figure in rock & roll and not only because he had one of the first rock & roll hits in "Rock Around the Clock," a jumping little number that went to number one in 1954. Haley didn't write the song, nor did anybody in his Comets. It was written by Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight, who shopped it around to a number of groups before Haley cut the song. Sonny Dae & His Knights, a jump blues band from Indianapolis, was the first to record "Rock Around the Clock," playing it as a standard jump blues, which was good enough to catch the ear of Haley, who cut it with a harder, swinging backbeat, and the rest is history.
Bill Haley is a pivotal figure in rock & roll and not only because he had one of the first rock & roll hits in "Rock Around the Clock," a jumping little number that went to number one in 1954. Haley didn't write the song, nor did anybody in his Comets. It was written by Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight, who shopped it around to a number of groups before Haley cut the song. Sonny Dae & His Knights, a jump blues band from Indianapolis, was the first to record "Rock Around the Clock," playing it as a standard jump blues, which was good enough to catch the ear of Haley, who cut it with a harder, swinging backbeat, and the rest is history.
Press Archive- Eddie Cochran - The Year 1957 - AllMusic
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]
The title The Year 1957 carries an air of documentary to it, so it's no surprise that this 2018 Bear Family collection does play a bit like a history lesson, telling the story of a pivotal 12 months in Eddie Cochran's career. During this year, Cochran scored his first Top 40 hit with the sultry slow-burner "Sittin' in the Balcony" and cut the swinging rock & roll standard "Twenty Flight Rock," along with several other fine sides for Liberty, many of which were issued on the album Singing to My Baby. Nearly all of that album is featured on The Year 1957, with the notable exceptions of substituting alternate takes for "Completely Sweet" and "Twenty Flight Rock," along with the undubbed take of "Ah, Pretty Girl." Added to the mix are a host of radio interviews and promos, plus three live tracks, including a version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." For most Cochran fanatics -- and it's hard not to argue that this is targeted at them -- it's this back section that will provide the most revelations, and for those who know the hits and want to dig a bit deeper, the interviews do push this collection of tremendously entertaining music toward the educational.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]
The title The Year 1957 carries an air of documentary to it, so it's no surprise that this 2018 Bear Family collection does play a bit like a history lesson, telling the story of a pivotal 12 months in Eddie Cochran's career. During this year, Cochran scored his first Top 40 hit with the sultry slow-burner "Sittin' in the Balcony" and cut the swinging rock & roll standard "Twenty Flight Rock," along with several other fine sides for Liberty, many of which were issued on the album Singing to My Baby. Nearly all of that album is featured on The Year 1957, with the notable exceptions of substituting alternate takes for "Completely Sweet" and "Twenty Flight Rock," along with the undubbed take of "Ah, Pretty Girl." Added to the mix are a host of radio interviews and promos, plus three live tracks, including a version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." For most Cochran fanatics -- and it's hard not to argue that this is targeted at them -- it's this back section that will provide the most revelations, and for those who know the hits and want to dig a bit deeper, the interviews do push this collection of tremendously entertaining music toward the educational.
Press Archive- Eddie Cochran - The Year 1957 - AllMusic
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]
The title The Year 1957 carries an air of documentary to it, so it's no surprise that this 2018 Bear Family collection does play a bit like a history lesson, telling the story of a pivotal 12 months in Eddie Cochran's career. During this year, Cochran scored his first Top 40 hit with the sultry slow-burner "Sittin' in the Balcony" and cut the swinging rock & roll standard "Twenty Flight Rock," along with several other fine sides for Liberty, many of which were issued on the album Singing to My Baby. Nearly all of that album is featured on The Year 1957, with the notable exceptions of substituting alternate takes for "Completely Sweet" and "Twenty Flight Rock," along with the undubbed take of "Ah, Pretty Girl." Added to the mix are a host of radio interviews and promos, plus three live tracks, including a version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." For most Cochran fanatics -- and it's hard not to argue that this is targeted at them -- it's this back section that will provide the most revelations, and for those who know the hits and want to dig a bit deeper, the interviews do push this collection of tremendously entertaining music toward the educational.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]
The title The Year 1957 carries an air of documentary to it, so it's no surprise that this 2018 Bear Family collection does play a bit like a history lesson, telling the story of a pivotal 12 months in Eddie Cochran's career. During this year, Cochran scored his first Top 40 hit with the sultry slow-burner "Sittin' in the Balcony" and cut the swinging rock & roll standard "Twenty Flight Rock," along with several other fine sides for Liberty, many of which were issued on the album Singing to My Baby. Nearly all of that album is featured on The Year 1957, with the notable exceptions of substituting alternate takes for "Completely Sweet" and "Twenty Flight Rock," along with the undubbed take of "Ah, Pretty Girl." Added to the mix are a host of radio interviews and promos, plus three live tracks, including a version of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." For most Cochran fanatics -- and it's hard not to argue that this is targeted at them -- it's this back section that will provide the most revelations, and for those who know the hits and want to dig a bit deeper, the interviews do push this collection of tremendously entertaining music toward the educational.