"ROCK YOU SINNERS!" The Dawn Of British Rock & Roll

Somewhere between the explosion of Elvis and the young Andrew Loog Oldham's disappointment at the UK tour by Bill Haley and The Comets came a uniquely British reaction. which had been, to be honest, evilly brewing for a while in the most unlikely Jazz circles... So a disparate crew of ex-Jazzers, crazies, showbiz stalwarts and Soho skiffle kids thought that they too could Rock'N' Roll!... And why not? Soon enough and hot on the heels a technicolor 3D Expresso Bongo world of 2 i's, Six-Five Specials and Oh Boys would spring from the brow of Jack Good and his cohorts. Meanwhile, go back with us to the Year(s) Zero of an artform which would take over the world; British Rock'N'Roll... (and see if you too can spot that Lady Madonna in the Bad Penny Blues... courtesy of a young Joe Meek!). (Liner Notes)

For most listeners around the world, the "dawn" of British rock & roll didn't take place until the Beatles started to make their first records. Even for those who grew up in the U.K. at the time, the true dawn of British rock often isn't considered to have taken place until the late '50s, when the first credible homegrown singers in the idiom emerged, like Cliff Richard and Billy Fury. In fact, however, British rock & roll -- or, perhaps more accurately, the influence of rock & roll in British pop music -- was starting to be heard as early as 1953, when bandleader Ted Heath covered Bill Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy" (included on this CD). This intriguing 31-track compilation offers a wealth of pre-Cliff Richard & the Shadows recordings that, if not exactly rock & roll, showed British pop musicians trying to do something with the form. As it happened, they more often than not ended up sounding like rather staid swing jazz bands trying to broaden their appeal by putting a rock & roll or R&B song in their set without gaining any true grasp or appreciation of this newfangled music that had originated on the other side of the Atlantic. It wasn't really until Tommy Steele's late-1956 hit "Rock with the Caveman" (also included here) that any British performer made a reasonable approximation of authentic rock & roll sounds, and even that hit was something of a clumsy novelty. But while this is by no means something you would put on the order of the later British pioneers like Richard, Fury, and Johnny Kidd, let alone jump blues and early rock & roll bands rocking the urban centers of the United States, that doesn't mean that this isn't a fairly enjoyable compilation on its own musical terms, if something of a crass guilty pleasure. Though many of these efforts to spice up what's essentially fairly square jazz-pop music with a bit of rock & roll (or at least do a rock & roll song with a jazz arrangement) sound a little unintentionally funny, much of them do have a somewhat appealing naïve energy, like that of performers suppressing a grin while they exploit a passing fad. Of course, that passing fad, both in the U.S. and U.K., turned out to be the most popular musical style of the 20th century, relegating these early somewhat exploitative attempts to mimic it to the dustbins of history. This compilation is a small revelation, however, in exposing how the roots of the music's foothold in Britain ran much deeper and earlier than is commonly assumed, almost amounting to documentation of a missing chapter in rock & roll history. Yes, there are some awfully stiff covers of early rock & roll hits on board, like Gale Warning's Mae West-ish take on "Heartbreak Hotel." But really, some of these tracks aren't bad by any standards, like Steele's credibly swinging "Doomsday Rock" and Tony Crombie & His Rockets' credibly pounding "Rock Shuffle Boogie," while the Goons' parody "Bloodnok's Rock 'n' Roll Call" (an actual number three U.K. hit in 1956) remains pretty funny. (Allmusic)

trax:
1. Bloodnok's Rock 'n' Roll Call - The Goons 2. Bygraves' Bogie - Max Bygraves 3. Dance With Me Henry - Henry Crun & Minnie Bannister 4. Crazy Man Crazy - Ted Heath 5. Giddy Up A Ding Dong - Ray Ellington 6. Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie - Ivor & Basil Kirchin Band 7. Birmingham Bounce - Ted Heath & His Orchestra, Jack Parnell 8. Oakie Bogie - Ted Heath, Lita Roza 9. Smack Dab In The Middle - The Deep River Boys 10. Tweedle Dee - Ivor & Basil Kirchin Band 11. Sugaree - Dennis Lotis 12. That's Right - The Deep River Boys 13. Art's Theme - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 14. Rock 'n' Roll Boogie - The Squadronaires 15. Let's You And I Rock - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 16. Shake, Rattle & Roll - Jack Parnell & His Orchestra 17. Rock Around The Clock - The Deep River Boys 18. Rex Rocks - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 19. Rock Around Town - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 20. Heartbreak Hotel - Gale Warming & The Weathermen 21. Whole Latta Shakin' Goin' On - The Deep River Boys 22. Teach You To Rock - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 23. Short'nin' Bread Rock - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 24. Seventeen - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 25. Doomsday Rock - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 26. I Gotta Have Lovin' - Art Baxter & His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners 27. Left Hand Boogie - The Ray Ellington Quartet 28. Rock With The Caveman - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 29. Stop It (I Like It) - Tony Crombie & The Rockets 30. Rock Mr piper - Don Lang & The Frantic Five 31. Rock Shuffle Boogie - Tony Crombie & The Rockets
...served by Gyro1966...