Music City Vocal Groups: Rock 'N' Roll It, Mambo, Stroll It

Liner Note Authors: Dave Antrell; Alec Palao.
Recording information: ??/??/1954-08/09/1960.
Illustrators: Barry Wickham; Robert Armstrong; Alec Palao; Dennis Leonis.
Photographers: John Goddard; Kirk Roberts; Lou D'Aria.
The second volume of forgotten 45s and unreleased material from the vaults of the Berkeley-based Music City Records focuses on a different sound than its predecessor. Where the first volume, Greasy Love Songs of Teenage Romance, Regret, Hope & Despair concentrated on dreamy doo wop, this is a jumping R&B and rock & roll from the late '50s, frequently goosed by fuzzed-out guitars, hopping 88s, and a propulsive backbeat. Some of these sides are prized by doo wop collectors, primarily for their rarity but also because these records do swing, with an exuberant blend of street corner harmonies and roadhouse rhythms. Simply put, these are 45s that crackle with energy and the feel is as important as the song -- which is good, because the songs are often no more than fine, either amiably energetic genre excursions or attempts to hitch the wagon to other big hits ("Annie Pulled a Hum-Bug," "Drive-In Movie"). The songs don't matter so much but the recordings do, as they capture a specific sound and time, an era when recordmen like Ray Dobard would record everybody he could in the hopes of getting a hit, and the groups would play right along. Those hits never came and Dobard was clever enough to manipulate the collectors' market in later years, so he fetched prices that were a little bit more than they were perhaps worth but that's fine: he knew he had some good records in his possession and, happily, this disc shares them with the world at large. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine