VA - Chartbusters USA Volume 1

 

Review by Richie Unterberger  

Conceived as a counterpart to Golden Age of American Rock'n'Roll, Ace's excellent anthology series covering the first decade of U.S. rock, Chartbusters USA does the same thing for American rock spanning 1964-69. It's perhaps less valuable than the Golden Age series because the material anthologized, at least to judge by the first installment, is somewhat less difficult to acquire, or hear on oldies radio, than the Golden Age stuff. There's no conceptual thread running through the selections, except general top-of-the-line quality: you get "California Dreamin'," "Dance to the Music," "Hi Heel Sneakers," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Walk Away Renee," "Psychotic Reaction," and "Green Tambourine" right next to each other. The only truly hard-to-find item is the Soul Sisters' mid-chart soul hit "I Can't Stand It" (covered by the Spencer Davis Group), though some of these hits, like "Elusive Butterfly" (Bob Lind), "G.T.O." (Ronny & the Daytonas), and the original 1965 hit version of Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About a Mover," don't turn up on various-artists collections often. Still, if you're seeking a wall-to-wall blast of mid-and-late 1960s classic American rock singles, it's real good value, with 30 songs, nearly every one a classic. Hugo Montenegro's "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" seems an odd choice in the midst of a very rock-oriented disc, though.

01 - Sir Douglas Quintet - She's About A Mover 

02 - Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl 

03 - The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe In Magic 

04 - Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - Wooly Bully 

05 - The Bobby Fuller 4 - I Fought The Law 

06 - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels - Jenny Take A Ride! 

07 - Joe South - Games People Play 

08 - Brenton Wood - Gimme Little Sign 

09 - Bob Lind - Elusive Butterfly 

10 - The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin' 

11 - The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee 

12 - Ronny & The Daytonas - G.T.O. 

13 - Lee Dorsey - Working In The Coalmine 

14 - The Soul Sisters - I Can't Stand It 

15 - Tommy Tucker - Hi Heel Sneakers 

16 - Roy Head - Treat Her Right 

18 - Hawaii Five-0 - 1969 

18 - The Ventures - Hawaii Five-0 

19 - Paul Revere & The Raiders - Kicks 

20 - The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine 

21 - Canned Heat - On The Road Again 

22 - Count Five - Psychotic Reaction 

23 - The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard 

24 - The Hombres - Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) 

25 - The Box Tops - Soul Deep 

26 - The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) 

27 - Dobie Gray - The In Crowd 

28 - Hugo Montenegro - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly 

29 - The Soul Survivors - Expressway To Your Heart 

30 - Sly & The Family Stone - Dance To The Music 

Thank a Lot to Cor

320 Kbps