The Compilation Discs

These compilation CDs are filled with 113 original master recordings of the best-known Rockabilly Legends’ hits and a congregate of their rarest recordings, each digitally refurbished and restored exclusively for this memorable collection. These Rockabilly classics sound as powerful and fresh as the day they were first recorded. Music industry veteran Tommy Overstreet joined Jerry Naylor carefully hand-picked each original track from deep inside the cavernous vaults of historic Sun Records and other major record labels. This collection features 1950s recordings from Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Gene Vincent, Buddy Knox, The Johnny Burnette Trio, Johnny Horton, Bob Luman, Sleepy LaBeef, Narvel Felts, Billy Lee Riley, Rufus Thomas, Jr., Howlin’ Wolf, Carl Mann, Warren Smith and Little Junior Parker. Many of these classic Fifties Rock masters have never before been released. The co-producers also carefully selected a rare bonus track for each of the eight CDs from live performances by the Everly Brothers, Bill Haley & The Comets and Gene Vincent. Each CD also features a colorful 8-page booklet, which chronicles the legacy of the legends and their music which changed the world.

BOOK REVIEW – The Rockabilly Legends

They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock And Roll

Just the sight of that word ‘rockabilly’ on front of this great slab of a book was enough to give me the thrill. And why, as I turned the beautifully designed and lovingly printed pages, reading the stories behind the first recordings by Elvis and Carl Perkins, I found my fingers and feet involuntarily tapping out the beat of That’s Alright Mama and Blue Suede Shoes. The room was silent. The records, fresh and new, were playing in my head.

It’s a tribute from a man whose life was changed in the 1950s to the men who changed it, focusing on the ones he knew and toured withy. During the ‘60s, Jerry Naylor filled Buddy Holly’s shoes in the Crickets. Before that, as a 15-year-old part time DJ, he remembers spinning Presley’s first 45 – and dancing around the studio screaming and yelling as it played.

It’s that enthusiasm that defines this book and, ultimately, the music (of which there is plenty on a DVD of vintage performances tucked into the back cover). In 2057 will there be hip hop festivals like the rockabilly ones that flourish today?

I doubt it. But I bet that, in 3057, out in space, there will be a teenager thrilling to Carl Perkins singing, “I’ve got my cat clothes on and my blue suede shoes…”

Douglas McPherson, CMP Book Review