There's something surprising and annoying about this CD, an extraordinary collection of late-'50s to late-'60s rock & roll and R&B classics in decent sound. The disc covers some bases that are usually overlooked in the typical oldies compilation- 's is the most familiar song here, and neither he nor it are exactly part of every record collection. The real highlights are titles like 's soft, sweet 's soaring ' achingly lyrical 's slow rocking and ' brooding, violin-laden 1961 Not all of the songs are quite up to their standard -- is too pop-oriented, and is downright strange with its odd, off-key touches. Rounding it out are such relatively obscure numbers as by , , and, perhaps better known, , featuring . One wishes the programming were more generous than a paltry 12-songs, and that there'd been some notes as well. ~ Bruce Eder