The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll, Vol. 4

A bit of a drop off in song selection in ACE’s volume 4 of this terrific pre-British Invasion (1954-1963) series of American pop/rock music. Each of the first three volumes included several songs that failed to reach the Top 40, but this time it’s almost a third of the total–nine to be exact. And in a couple instances (Nappy Brown and the Royalteens), the artist’s only Top 40 hit was overlooked in favor of the song included on this anthology. [Although in the case of Brown, his No. 25 hit "Don't Be Angry" does show up on volume 8.] So you’re going to get a number of unfamiliar songs like Don French’s “Lonely Saturday Night,” the Lafayettes “Life’s Too Short,” and the Roommates’ “The Glory of Love.”

But as with the other volumes in this series, it’s the joy of getting to hear infrequently anthologized gems like Little Caesar’s “Those Oldies But Goodies,” the Dubs’ “This Could Be Magic” and Billie & Lillie’s “Lucky Ladybug”; as well as the more familiar hits like Dion’s “Drip Drop,” Buddy Knox’s “Party Doll,” and Little Anthony & the Imperials’ “Tears on My Pillow.” When you add it all up into one generous 30-track CD, you get a more accurate picture of the American popular music landscape of the era than if all you got were the same big hits available on numerous collections.

Almost as much fun as listening to these golden oldies, is reading the 20-plus pages of information about each of the artists and songs. Did you know the Edsels released “Rama Lama Ding Dong” three years before it became a hit in 1961 as “Lama Rama Ding Dong”? [What a difference a title makes!] Atlantic Records released 28 separate versions of Tommy Facenda’s 1959 hit “High School USA,” each one mentioning actual high schools by name in a specific geographic location throughout the United States. Duane Eddy plays acoustic guitar on Donnie Owens’ 1958 hit “Need You.” The Rocky Fellers consist of a father and his four sons from the Philippines–their surname is Feller. The Regents first recorded “Barbara Ann” as a demo in 1958. When the song became a hit in 1961, the group had disbanded.

This is fascinating music, and there are intriguing stories behind each song and artist. If this set is a little weaker than its three predecessors, it still is an amazing collection and this series as a whole is unmatched. RECOMMENDED