GREAT BRITISH ROCK 'N' ROLL Vol. 1: Just About As Good As It Gets - disc 1

This fascinating collection sets out to show what was going on in the swing rock 'n' roll scene in Britain from the early 50's to 1956.
Many would argue that there was no such thing as Great British Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s, or at least not until 1958 when Cliff Richard's "Move It" offered a rather more convincing home-grown hit than all of its predecessors. However, apart from the Skiffle explosion, there was another quirky musical scene happening in Britain during the late '40s and 1950s. As far as we are aware, this compilation is the first authoritative musical documentation of that scene.
Perhaps it should better be classed as NOSTALGIA rather than Rock 'n' Roll but there is a lot of fascinating stuff here, such as the Deep River Boys (from Virginia, USA, recording in Britain during their many UK tours), Ray Ellington (a British-based black bandleader of American & Russian descent) and Winifred Atwell, a classically trained pianist from Trinidad who would go to 'her other piano' to belt out some rockin' boogies. Elsewhere there are numerous talented British jazzers seeing which way the wind was blowing and jumping that jive, and some up 'n' coming UK popsters swaying their hips to the transatlantic rhythm. And of course Tommy Steele, who was acclaimed as Britain's first Rock 'n' Roll star (long before he started serenading little white bulls).
This goes to show that swing rock 'n' roll was being recorded and performed on Britain in the early 50's far more than most realized.

trax CD 1:
1. Rock a beatin' boogie - The Deep River Boys 2. Giddy up a ding dong - Ray Ellington 3. Rock with the caveman - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 4. Teach you to rock - Tony Crombie & His Rockets 5. Boogie in the groove - Winifred Atwell 6. Ain't that a shame - The Southlanders 7. Seventeen - Don Lang w/The Langhorn Big Six 8. Honky Tonk - Bert Weedon & George Chisholm 9. Shake, rattle & roll - The Deep River Boys 10. Bell bottom blues - Alma Cogan 11. Stranded in the jungle - Ray Ellington 12. Big city blues - The Kirchin Band 13. Elevator rock - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 14. Don't nobody move - Lee Lawrence 15. Oakie boogie - Lita Roza 16. Yancey special - Winifred Atwell 17. Blue suede shoes - The Canadians 18. Why do fools fall in love - Alma Cogan 19. My boy flat top - Frankie Vaughn 20. I want you to be my baby - Don Lang w/The Langhorn Big Six 21. Doomsday rock - Tommy Steele & The Steelmen 22. Shortin' bread rock - Tony Crombie & His Rockets 23. Tweedle Dee - The Kirchin Band 24. Rockin' through the rye - The Canadians 25. Sound Barrier boogie - Thunderclap Jones 26. That's right - The Deep River Boys 27. Hamp's boogie woogie - Winifred Atwell 28. Where in the world is Billy - Eve Boswell 29. Rock 'n' Roll Opera - Lee Lawrence 30. I didn't know - Johnny Brandon 31. Rock around the clock - Hedley Ward Trio
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