The second volume of 's comprehensive series spotlighting 's '50s singles has both sides of 14 of his singles from 1953 to early 1956, presented in chronological order. (A couple of songs from a 1956 LP are tacked on as the final two tracks.) Only one of these songs is likely to be familiar to the average fan, that being ' first really huge hit and indeed one of the first big hits of any kind. Several other big hits are sprinkled throughout the disc, though, these including (which actually even made it to number 24 in the charts in 1953), and Generally, this material finds ' music slowly moving from early to pioneering early , retaining many of the ingredients present in his music right from the time he did in 1949. More varied melodies and tempos make their way into the picture, however, even if many of the songs might nonetheless be too similar to each other for the casual fan. By in fact, was already putting out sound-alikes himself. For those heavily into , , and early , however, there are plenty of interesting sides to be heard here, several of them B-sides. puts close to territory with its Mardi Gras rhythms and whistling; has some of his greatest piano trills, as well as a melody that no doubt profoundly influenced ; unveil the stop-start rhythms that would feature so heavily in a few singles down the line; and have shufflin' Crescent City rhythms that got smoothed out of his post-mid-'50s work. ~ Richie Unterberger