V/A

Sun Records Originals: 52 Rockabilly Rarities

(Sun Records)

It was not illogical that some hopefuls who stepped up to Sam's vintage microphones echoed preceding marquee names. (Elvis's hiccupping, shrieks, and glottal stops were sometimes emulated, as was the deadened bass strings-picking of Luther Perkins.) Their stylings held much attraction, then as today. Besides, meeting market preferences is just wise. But there was more affoot than commercial considerations. These lesser-reputed waxings reveal raw talents that merit appreciative recollection. Those who cut loose on them romped and stomped with unfeigned exuberance, and such investment bespeaks value that doesn't come with a dollar sign.

The Ike-era seasons were pregnant with possibility. A new music was evolving, one that bore features of both Hillbilly Country and Blues in its yet-unefined countenance. There were no rules. That which earned plaudits from hardwood-swarming couples and jukebox coin-feeders became the guiding standard. Unfruitful gambits were left by the roadside. An art of the common man was in glorious development, and it was without fixed parameters.

Though their names didn't all grace the day's twenty-five cent magazines, these aspirants were parts of an upswell that opened popular culture to important blue-collar and redneck voices. It is right and just that their bygone toils be preserved.

Recommended: "Hey Baby Doll" (Eddie Bush), "Love Is My Business" (Cliff Gleaves), "Rakin' and Scrapin'" (Dean Beard), "To Be With You" (Harold Dorman), "Waitin' For You" (Johnny Powers), "Rock Me Baby" (Jimmy Haggett), "Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves On the Trees)" (Linda Gail Lewis), "Rock It Baby, Rock It" (Johnny Carroll), "Forty Days" (Wade Cagle and the Escorts), "Never Did I" (Don Hosea), "Lonely Wolf" (Ray Harris), "Mean-Eyed Cat" (Dane Stinit), "Miss Pearl" (Jimmy Wages), "Jumpin' Jack" (Cliff Thomas), "Going Crazy" (Mack Self), "Walkin' Shoes" (Onie Wheeler), "I Fell In Love" (Ken Cook), "Rock Around the Town" (Dean Beard), "Sittin' & Thinkin'" (Linda Gail Lewis), "John Henry" (Don Hosea), "You Better Believe It" (Tommy Blake)

Videos: "Love Is My Business" (Cliff Gleaves)                         "Nothin' Shakin' But the Leaves On the Trees" (Linda Gail Lewis)

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