Smith & Co

Between the mid-to-late Fifties Rock 'n' Roll heyday and the Sixties tsunami of Beat, Folk, Soul and such, on both sides of the Atlantic there was a sanitization of the vocal talents being hit paraded - when instrumental recordings provided a more exciting antidote.  They could be studio sessioneers vamping under an alias, backing groups stepping to the fore, established soloists or newly formed combos.

In the USA it was the Pop chart that most reflected a noticeable blip towards instrumentals during 1958-62, with acts such as Duane Eddy & The Rebels, Johnny & The Hurricanes and The Ventures breaking big.  But instrumental recordings had always been part of the Country and R&B landscapes as well, so there was a wide variety of styles and sounds on offer, featuring acoustic & electric guitarists and keyboard players, honkin' & mellow saxmen, even bass men and drummers given their spotlight.  All aspects of which vibrate throughout this third volume of US instrumentals from Smith & Co.

Between the mid-to-late Fifties Rock 'n' Roll heyday and the Sixties tsunami of Beat, Folk, Soul and such, on both sides of the Atlantic there was a sanitization of the vocal talents being hit paraded - when instrumental recordings provided a more exciting antidote.  They could be studio sessioneers vamping under an alias, backing groups stepping to the fore, established soloists or newly formed combos.

In the UK this wave of sound was predominantly (though not exclusively) a battle of electric guitar-led recordings.  This second Smith & Co volume of British instrumentals again illustrates that although Hank Marvin of The Shadows is usually the best remembered homegrown Fender-bender of the era, other axe-wielders were often more potent.  To name but three among the many featured on this release:  Big Jim Sullivan, Vic Flick (both ubiquitous) and young Ritchie Blackmore with The Outlaws.  How's your ear?  Can you tell a Gibson from a Gretsch or a Les Paul from a Fender, or which nimble-fingered plucker best knew his rectum from his plectrum?  Here are 60 good reasons to find out.

Volume One received 4 and 5 star reviews and has been selling consistently since the day it was released. Hailed as a magnificent addition to the "Just about as good as it gets! " series, we had no choice but to bring a second volume of classic American Rock 'n' Roll Instrumentals to a demanding public. 64 lovingly mastered recordings feature on this double collection bringing us more of those instrumental goodies that were consistently charting in the late fifties as well as some diamonds that never reached this side of the Atlantic or, for that matter, made much of an impression at the time stateside! We have also taken a bit of poetic license here and there and you may detect a vocal now and then, but in each case the vocal is, or should be, subservient to the wonderful instrumentalist which we are trying to highlight.

A new genre in the “Just about as good as it gets!” series, this 2CD highlights the many great Rock ‘n’ Roll instrumentals which emerged from the U.S. along with the vocal hits. The Instrumental has always been popular and thrived especially with the advent of the cylinder player and the Victrola. With the coming of jazz on record, that popularity soared, as, for the 1st time, black people had dance music that they could relate too. The coming of swing in the 1930's took instrumental music to another level again. Not only were white and black teenagers buying records, as well as going out dancing, the bands were being received with fanatic adulation at their stage shows. This huge enthusiasm was contagious and soon spread worldwide, especially to Britain, where local dance and jazz bands soon picked up on what the Americans were doing. After World War II, many of the big swing bands had to cut down their personnel, as costs were too high, but those smaller combos churned out a stream of instrumental records, really hitting the heights with the coming of rock 'n' roll. Aside from the jazzmen, the early days of rhythm & blues played a large part in popularising instrumental music, as will be seen wandering through this fascinating collection.

Our JUST ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS! series is now an established guarantee of great value, authoritative compilations, expert re-mastering, consistently recognisable presentation, positive reviews and persistent sales in the Formula One reissue market.  So no further introduction required?  Well perhaps a few more words about this particular 2CD set…

Some reviewers were suspicious when we released Great British Rock ‘n’ Roll #1 (SCCD1124) in 2007.  Did the UK produce any great rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s?  Or was this just a play on words, alluding to the efforts of homage to the USA by young upstarts in a North Atlantic monarchy that still then called itself Great Britain?  After three successive volumes and now into #5 the judges rumble on amongst themselves while we continue to prove that along with the big three - Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and Billy Fury - there was a lot more cooking in Britain at the time than is generally remembered.  Some of it is ham, much of it is beef, mostly prime cuts.  Exotic vegetables and wavy gravy served on the side.

Love it or hate it, Britain had a Rock ‘n’ Roll scene in the late fifties. It even had it Rock ‘n’ Roll stars such as Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele and Billy Fury. These rocking musicians are the artists that had your parents (I’m assuming that primarily younger people will be reading these sales notes) and, in many instances, your grand parents, dancing their pants off on a Saturday night. That’s why, despite some derogatory mutters from certain persons about British Rock ‘n’ Roll, the previous 3 volumes of “Great British Rock ‘n’ Roll” are still selling every month. Pure nostalgia, memories of good times and some damn good songs, original or covers, is what makes this series of releases sell. Volume 4 is no exception! Packed with great tracks from the likes of not only the artists mentioned above, but also Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, Vince Taylor, Mort Shuman (then resident in the UK), Larry Page, Tony Crombie and Adam Faith as well as many others lesser names make this another ‘must have’ collection. 70 all time gems from a wonderful era of British music.

Volume 3 in the highly acclaimed “Just about as good as it gets!” series. Includes early Cliff Richards and Shadows (The Drifters) recordings. British rock ‘n’ roll still has some harsh critics, despite the huge improvement in sound mastering and the discovery of so many genuine gems included on this compilation. Yet, on the other side, interest continues to grow in this hybrid of the original. Rock ‘n’ roll and Jive clubs now often pulsate to the sounds of the Southlanders, Ray Ellington, Tony Crombie and Wee Willie Harris and many others, bringing home to so many that quite a large chunk of those 50’s British rockers were really good. So enjoy some of the best one more time.

As the rosy and comfortable world of American Music Stars like Doris Day, Wayne King, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bing Crosby began to retreat under the onslaught of the 'Big Beat' of Rock 'n' Roll' in the Mid-1950's, the ultra-Conservative Music Business of the time reared back in horror at what was being offered up as the New Music! The sheer raw energy of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Little Richard and so many others was in violent contrast to what had gone before and the bespoke suited executives of the Music Industry began to feel like potentially endangered species!!  Perhaps not surprisingly, the same thing happened to Britain. When Rock 'n' Roll hit the stores of Britain with Bill Haley, Elvis, Gene, Fats & Little Richard, the back lash from the British Music Press was by way of incredible condescension towards the music, which was clearly regarded as primitive and of little musical value and indeed would fizzle out in a couple of years. Fizzle out it didn't and many a Jazz Journalist had to quietly back away from their openly hostile attitude. The strange thing about the attitude of those Journalists is that Rock 'n' Roll had existed in Britain before 1956 and the coming of Presley, albeit in a slightly more relaxed form. This second fascinating collection sets out again to show something of what was going on in Britain between 1954 and 1957.

Another fascinating collection to be sure! By 1957 British Rock 'n' Roll was a little more mature, although still much maligned. It was the vocal side of things that was showing an understanding of the genre better. Singers like Marty Wilde and Terry Dene were obviously listening to American records and learning the vocal inflections, something that would make such a difference in the future. With Cliff Richard, Johnny Kidd, Vince Taylor and Dickie Pride waiting in the wings, British Rock 'n' Roll was on the move.

Of the four Smith & Co 'Just About As Good As It Gets' releases this month, this 62-track volume is the hardest to categorize. 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 documented by SCCD1122 & SCCD1123, there was another quirky musical scene happening in Britain during the late '40s and 1950s. As far as PMD is 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).