VA - Teen Beat Volume 1 - 6

 

Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 1

Teen Beat, Vol. 1 Review by Richie Unterberger.

30 instrumentals from the late '50s and early '60s, the era when instrumental rock was at its peak. Most of these were hits, though a few of them didn't make the Top 20, and some didn't even make the Top 100. Hence the selections are often more obscure than what you'll find on Rhino's Rock Instrumentals series. The Rhino series, however, remains not only a much better introduction to this nifty genre, but considerably higher in overall quality. The best songs on Teen Beat are often on the Rhino series as well (the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run," Preston Epps' "Bongo Rock," Link Wray's "Rumble"); the lesser-known ones, though a boon to collectors, simply aren't as good or imaginative. It's a serviceable supplement, though, if you're looking for more of the style, and the best cuts are certainly dynamite.

Tracklist:

 Teen Beat - Sandy Nelson

2.       Swanee River Hop - Fats Domino

3.       Raunchy - Ernie Freeman

4.       Rumble - Link Wray

5.       The Green Mosquito - The Tune Rockers

6.       Poor Boy - The Royaltones

7.       Topsy II - Cozy Cool

8.       So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra

9.       Tequilla - The Champs

10.   The Happy Organ - Dave Baby Cortez

11.   The Clouds - The Spaceman

12.   Twitchy - Rene Hall's Orchestra Feact Willie Joe

13.   Guitar Boogie Shuffle - The Virtues

14.   Wild Bird - The Jive-A-Tones

15.   Midnighter - The Champs

16.   East Freight - Arvee Allens

17.   In The Mood - Ernie Fields Orchestra

18.   So What - Johnny Duhon And The Yellow Jacks

19.   Wild Weekend - The Rockin' Rebels

20.   Torquay - The Fireballs

21.   Bongo Rock - Preston Epps

22.   Walk Don't Ru - The Ventures

23.   Nut Rocker - B Bumble & The Stingers

24.   Wheels - The String-A-Longs

25.   Bulldog - The Fireballs

26.   Rockin' Crickets - The Rockin' Rebels ( aka Hot Toddy's )

27.   Wham - Lonnie Mack

28.   Slumber Party - The Van-Dells

29.   Spunky - Johnny Jenkins

30.   Memphis - Lonnie Mack

 

Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 2

Teen Beat, Volume 2 Review by Richie Unterberger.

This digs way deeper into the cobwebs of history than the first volume of the series. Although a few of these were big hits, over half of the 30 tracks didn't even make it into the Top 100. That doesn't mean they should be dismissed. But in the case of these selections at least, they're simply not nearly as memorable as the best early rock & roll instrumentals, whether hits or flops. There are some nifty highlights, like two raw, bluesy '61 cuts by a young Roy Buchanan, uncommonly rocking items by Chet Atkins, and the early Danelectro bass workout by the Fireballs ("Carioca"). But a lot of these are standard-issue three-chord instrumentals by no-names like the Atmospheres, or forgettable flop followups by one-hit wonders like Dave Cortez, Floyd Cramer, and the Champs. The energy level is always high, but that in itself isn't a high recommendation, although devotees of instrumental rock will certainly find a lot of cuts here that are hard to locate on CD.

Tracklist:

1. The Teen Beats - Califf Boogie

2. The Champs - El Rancho Rock

3. String-A-Longs - Mathilda

4. Floyd Cramer - Flip Flop And Bop

5. Roy Buchanan - Mule Train Stomp

6. Reg Orchestra Owen - Manhattan Spiritual

7. Les & The Soul Rockers Cooper - Wiggle Wobble

8. Duane & The Rebels Eddy - Ramrod

9. Chet Atkins - Boo Boo Stick Beat

10. The Atmospheres - The Fickle Chicken

11. Boots & His Blockbusters Brown - Cerveza

12. The Roller Coasters - Wild Twist

13. Jimmy Combo Rivers - The Blue Eagle [Part 1]

14. Sandy Nelson - Big Jump

15. Perez Orchestra Prado - Patricia

16. Chet Atkins - Teensville

17. Dave ''Baby'' Cortez - Mardi Gras (The Blues)

18. The Fireballs - Carioca

19. Duane & The Rebels Eddy - Rebel Rouser

20. Vince Trio Guaraldi - Cast Your Fate To The Wind

21. The Rip Tides - Machine Gun

22. Gary Usher - Power Shift

23. The Atmospheres - Kabalo

24. Ernie Orchestra Fields - Hucklebuck (Twist)

25. Guitar Gable - Guitar Rhumbo

26. Roy Buchanan - Pretty Please

27. B. Bumble & The Noble Knights - Apple Knocker

28. Skippy Brooks - Doin' The Horse

29. King Curtis & The Noble Knights - Soul Twist

30. Nat & The Swans Kendrick - Dish Rag [Part 1]

 

                                                     Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 3

 

Teen Beat, Volume 3 Review by Richie Unterberger.

 

Devoted wholly to rock instrumentals of the late '50s and early '60s, this 30-track disc is a good investment for collectors looking for hits in the genre that didn't crack the Top 20 (and hence don't get played on oldies radio today), or missed the charts entirely. A couple smashes ("Wipe Out," "Pipeline") slip through, but otherwise there's a variety of forgotten hot wordless platters here, like the Astronauts' "Baja" (some of the best instrumental surf to originate outside out of California), the New Orleans-cum-Philly R&B of saxophonist Lee Allen, the creepy organ of the Wailers' "Mau Mau," the minimalist rockabilly of the Rock-a-Teens' "Woo-Hoo," the Ramrods' wacky adaptation of "Ghost Riders in the Sky," and the hard guitar of Duane Eddy associate Al Casey. When all's said and done, though, these aren't as good as the most famous vintage instrumental hits -- stick with the more prominent compilations unless you're deeply into the sound.

Tracklist:

1. The Fireballs - Quite A Party

2. The Ventures - Perfidia

3. The Teen Beats - The Slop Beat

4. The Wailers - Mau Mau

5. Phil Combo Upchurch - You Can't Sit Down [Part 1]

6. Phil Combo Upchurch - You Can't Sit Down [Part 2]

7. The Ramrods - Ghost Riders In The Sky

8. Lee & His Band Allen - Walking With Mister Lee

9. Owen Quintet Bradley - Big Guitar

10. The Rock-A-Teens - Woo Hoo

11. The Duals - Stick Shift

12. The Megatrons - Velvet Waters

13. Duane Eddy - Moovin' 'n' Groovin'

14. Al Casey - Ramrod

15. The Chantays - Pipeline

16. Plas Johnson - Blue Jean Shuffle

17. The Rockin' R's - Heat

18. The Surfaris - Wipe Out

19. Arthur Lyman - Yellow Bird

20. The Astronauts - Baja

21. Troy & The T-Birds - Twistle

22. The Rondels - Back Beat No. 1

23. The Dartells - Hot Pastrami

24. String-A-Longs - Brass Buttons

25. Bumps Blackwell - Sumpin' Jumpin

26. Lord Dent & His Invaders - Wolf Call

27. The Champs - Too Much Tequila

28. The Atmospheres - Telegraph

29. Buddy Lucas - I Want To Know

30. Jimmy Orchestra Dorsey & Lee Castle - Jay-Dee's Boogie Woogie

 

Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 4

Teen Beat, Volume 4 Review by Richie Unterberger.

In some ways this series actually gets more interesting with the fourth volume, possibly because the need to fill up so much space (another 30 tracks worth) with instrumental rock oldies meant that more unusual items had to be excavated. There are a few big hits (Bill Justis' "Raunchy," Bill Black's "Smokie"), yet most of these are singles that didn't even make it into the Top 100; over half missed the listings altogether. Not all of these are rock, either; Hank Levine's "Image" is a lost exotica single, Moe Koffman's "The Swingin' Shepherd Blues" is light jazz, and Kokomo's "Asia Minor" is classical boogie. While some of the selections are only average, there are some good nuggets here, like the Megatons' scorching variation of "You Don't Love Me" ("Shimmy, Shimmy Walk"), Travis Wammack's innovative guitar work on "Scratchy" (which has a snatch of backwards vocals that was way ahead of its time for 1964), the Centurians' moody surf instro "Bullwinkle Pt. II" (used in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack), and Lonnie Mack's "Chicken Pickin'." There's also the peculiar belly-dance rock of the Hollywood Persuaders' "Drums-a-Go-Go," which was created by a pre-Mothers Frank Zappa with Paul Buff.

Tracklist:

1. Piltdown Men, The - Brontosaurus Stomp

2. Busters, The - Bust Out

3. Levine, Hank - Image [Part 1]

4. Levine, Hank - Image [Part 2]

5. Anthony, Ray - Peter Gunn

6. Mack, Lonnie - Chicken Pickin'

7. Cortez, Dave "Baby" - Rinky Dink

8. Justis, Bill - Raunchy

9. Megatons, The - Shimmy Shimmy Walk [Part 1]

10. Megatons, The - Shimmy Shimmy Walk [Part 2]

11. Wammack, Travis - Scratchy

12. Cannon, Ace - Tuff

13. Dakus, Wes - Side Winder

14. Nite Rockers, The - Nite Rock

15. Koffman, Moe Quartette - The Swingin' Shepherd Blues

16. Fields, Ernie - Honky Tonk

17. Meyers, Dave & The Surftones - Church Key

18. Cooper, Garnell & The Kingfolks - Green Monkey

19. René, Googie - Wiggle Tail [Part 2]

20. Kokomo - Asia minor

21. Centurians, The - Bullwinkle [Part 2]

22. Willie Joe & His Unitar - Unitar Rock

23. Fatimas, The - Sandstorm

24. Brown, Boots & His Blockbusters - Trollin'

25. Fuller, Bobby Four - The Lonely Dragster

26. Hollywood Persuaders - Drums A Go-Go

27. Troy & The T-Birds - Take Ten

28. Busters, The - Astronauts

29. Black, Bill Combo - Smokie [Part 1]

30. Black, Bill Combo - Smokie [Part 2]

Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 5

Teen Beat, Volume 5 Review by Richie Unterberger.

The fifth and final installment of Ace's series of early rock instrumental compilations is one of the best Teen Beat volumes, in large part because about half of these are acknowledged classic hits. Booker T. & the MG's' "Green Onions," Sandy Nelson's "Let There Be Drums," the Pyramids' "Penetration," Link Wray's "Raw-Hide," the Routers' "Let's Go (Pony)," Jack Nitzsche's "The Lonely Surfer," Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk," the Mar-Keys' "Last Night," Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Like Long Hair": they're all dynamite tunes, and even if they might not be that hard to find on other reissues, it's good to have them all in one place. The 30-track disc is filled out by lesser hits that haven't made it into oldies radio formats, although all but a couple at least entered the charts. Some of them, frankly, are highly derivative and forgettable, even if they actually did quite well. What, then, are the relative rarities here to keep an eye on? There's "Week End" by the Kingsmen, not the "Louie Louie" folks but an entire different outfit comprised of Bill Haley's Comets playing under a different name. New Orleans pianist legend James Booker almost made the Top Forty in 1960 with the highly atypical (for him) "Gonzo," with its organ and flute. Ray Bryant Combo's big band-cum-rock "The Madison Time (Part 1)" was used in the soundtrack of John Waters' Hairspray. Phil Spector did the rare , non-charting Duane Eddy-like tune "Bumbershoot" in 1959, under the pseudonym Phil Harvey. There's even a leap back to the pre-rock era with Arthur Smith's "Guitar Boogie," a 1948 hit that pointed the way to the hillbilly-boogie fusion that would lay a major foundation for rock'n'roll, and was redone as a fully rock'n'roll hit in 1959 by the Virtues (as "Guitar Boogie Shuffle").

Tracklist:

1. Routers, The - Let's go

2. Nelson, Sandy - Let there be drums

3. Surfaris, The - Point Panic

4. Nitzsche, Jack - The lonely surfer

5. Booker T. & The MG's - Green Onions

6. Austin, Sil - Slow walk

7. Harvey, Phil - Bumbershoot

8. Billy Joe & The Checkmates - Percolator

9. T-Bones, The - No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)

10. Denny, Martin - Quiet village

11. Doc Bagby - Dumplin's

12. Gone All Stars / Lucas, Buddy - 7-11 (Mambo no. 5)

13. Kingsmen, The - Weekend

14. Marketts, The - Surfer's stomp

15. Frantics, The - Werewolf

16. Revere, Paul & The Raiders - Like long hair

17. Booker, James - Gonzo

18. Randolph, Boots - Yakety Sax

19. Wray, Link - Rawhide

20. Bryant, Ray Combo - The madison time [Part 1]

21. Pat & The Satellites - Jupiter-C

22. Rumblers, The - Boss

23. Mar-Keys, The - Last night

24. Mark II, The - Night theme

25. Pyramids, The - Penetration

26. Alaimo, chuck Quartet - Leap frog

27. Jimmie & The Night Hoppers - Night hop

28. Smith, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" & His Cracker-Jacks - Guitar boogie

29. Doggett, Bill - Honky Tonk [part 1]

30. Doggett, Bill - Honky Tonk [part 2]

Various Artists - Teen Beat Volume 6

How time flies when you're having fun. Believe it or not, it's been 18 years since the last volume in this much-loved instrumental series was issued. Sticking to the maxim "if it ain't broke don't fix it", here on "Teen Beat Volume 6" we have adhered to the proven winning mix of top-class classics, hits and rarities, with the odd surprise thrown in. Rock instrumental classics do not come any greater than Duane Eddy's 'Peter Gunn' or Johnny & the Hurricanes' 'Reveille Rock', which get the compilation off to a flying start. Less well known are the Rondels' riotous assault on 'Caldonia', which rocks like there's no tomorrow, the Busters' thrilling 'All American Surfer' and the Ramrods' glorious 'Night Ride', a totally authentic wedge of surf - even though the band came from Alabama. When it comes to rarities we have two definite aces up our sleeve. Sandy Nelson's 'Drum Shack' is so rare that we were not even sure it really existed until we got the master in our hot little hands, while the Astronauts' 'Big Hunk O' Love' was issued in 1966, but never beyond Japanese shores. Other obscurities include the Invaders' 'Disc Jockey' which is as clever as it is calculating (what DJ could resist?), the Mus-Twangs' rock-up of 'Frankie & Johnny' featuring Paul Cotton of Poco when he just wanted to be Duane Eddy, Don Cole's exhilarating guitar work on 'Free Flight' and the Titans' 'Noplace Special', which is actually a very special place indeed.

Tracklist:

1. Duane & The Rebels Eddy - Peter Gunn

2. Johnny And The Hurricanes - Reveille rock

3. The Rondels - Caldonia

4. Bobby & The Shadows Vee - Flyin' high

5. Titans - The noplace special

6. The Busters - All American surfer

7. The Ramrods - Night ride

8. Jackie Lee - Happy vacation

9. Jorgen & his Guitar Ingmann - Apache

10. Bobby & His Orchestra Darin - Theme From ''Come September''

11. The Mus-Twangs - Frankie and Johnny

12. James and The Famous Flames Brown - Choo-choo

13. Dicky Doo & The Don'ts - Nee nee na na nu nu

14. Teddy & The Rough Riders - Pathfinder

15. The Frantics - Straight Flush

16. Chet Atkins - One Mint Julep

17. Travis Wammack - Have you ever had the blues

18. Jerry & The Hully Girlies Reed - Hully gully guitar

19. Sandy Nelson - Drum shack

20. Bill Doggett - (Let's Do) The Hully Gully Twist

21. The Invaders - Disc jockey

22. King & The Noble Knights Curtis - Beach party

23. Don Cole - Free flight

24. The Astronauts - A big hunk o' love

25. The Ventures - The 2,000 pound bee [Part 1]

26. The Ventures - The 2,000 pound bee [Part 2] 

  

*** part1

*** Part 2