This sampler for some of the artists
Ace Records
has reissued as part of its back catalog is full of roaring, raging, and nearly out-of-control early
rock & roll
classics from the late '50s, including
Bobby Day
's
"Rockin' Robin,"
Larry Williams
'
"Dizzy Miss Lizzy,"
Big Al Downing
's mad and loony
"Down on the Farm,"
Don & Dewey
's combustible
"Justine,"
and
the Wailers
"Dirty Robber,"
which features a throat-shredding vocal from
Kent Morrill
. The sequence burns and blisters from start to finish. Most, if not all, of these sides were released by independent labels. Once the major labels entered the
sweepstakes, things got watered down considerably, but these tracks are the real deal, cut before
was reduced to being a paper tiger. ~ Steve Leggett