Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock
2. The Crows - Gee
3. Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle And Roll
4. The Moonglows - Sincerely
5. Chuck Berry - Maybellene
6. The Penguins - Earth Angel
7. Fats Domino - Ain't That A Shame
8. The Platters - Only You
9. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
10. Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
11. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps - Be-Bop-A-Lula
12. Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall In Love
13. Shirley & Lee - Let The Good Times Roll
14. Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes
15. Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n' Roll Trio - The Train Kept A-Rollin'
16. The Cadets - Stranded In The Jungle
17. LaVerne Baker - Jim Dandy
18. The Five Satins - In The Still Of The Night
19. The Diamonds - Little Darlin'
20. The Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love
21. Dale Hawkins - Susie-Q

Disc 2:

1. Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On
2. 4
3. The Big Bopper - Chantilly Lace
4. Mickey & Sylvia - Love Is Strange
5. Sam Cooke - I'll Come Running Back To You
6. Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
7. Danny & The Juniors - At The Hop
8. The Del Vikings - Come Go With Me
9. Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns - Rocking Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu
10. Lee Andrews & The Hearts - Tear Dropsn
11. The Elegants - Little Star
12. The Monotones - Book Of Love
13. The Champs - Tequila
14. Ricky Nelson - Believe What You Say
15. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
16. Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser
17. The Coasters - Yakety Yak
18. The Drifters - There Goes My Baby
19. Frankie Ford - Sea Cruise
20. The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You
21. Jackie Wilson - Lonely Teardrops
22. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis
23. Mr. Lee - The Bobbettes
24. Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper
25. Love Is Strange - Mickey & Sylvia
26. I'll Come Running Back to You - Sam Cooke
27. Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly
28. At the Hop - Danny & the Juniors
29. Come Go with Me - The Del Vikings
30. Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu - Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns
31. Tear Drops - Lee Andrews & the Hearts
32. Little Star - The Elegants
33. Book of Love - The Monotones
34. Tequila - The Champs
35. Believe What You Say - Rick Nelson
36. Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
37. Rebel Rouser - Duane Eddy
38. Yakety Yak - The Coasters
39. There Goes My Baby - The Drifters
40. Sea Cruise - Frankie Ford
41. I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos
42. Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson

Disc 3:

1. Ray Charles - What'd I Say
2. Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City
3. Santo & Johnny - Sleep Walk
4. The Skyliners - Since I Don't Have You
5. Ritchie Valens - La Bamba
6. The Ventures - Walk - Don't Run
7. Roy Orbison - Only The Lonely
8. Brenda Lee - Sweet Nothin's
9. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Finger Poppin' Time
10. The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
11. Dion - Runaround Sue
12. Del Shannon - Runaway
13. Joey Dee & The Starlighters - Peppermint Twist, Part 1
14. The Marcels - Blue Moon
15. Gary "U.S." Bonds - Quarter To Three
16. Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl
17. The 4 Seasons - Sherry
18. The Angels - My Boyfriend's Back
19. The Chiffons - He's So Fine
20. The Beach Boys - Surfin' U.S.A.
21. What'd I Say - Ray Charles
22. Kansas City - Wilbert Harrison
23. Sleepwalk - Santo & Johnny
24. Since I Don't Have You - The Skyliners
25. Bamba - Ritchie Valens
26. Walk, Don't Run - The Ventures
27. Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison
28. Sweet Nothin's - Brenda Lee
29. Finger Poppin' Time - Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
30. Will You Love Me Tomorrow? - The Shirelles
31. Runaround Sue - Dion
32. Runaway - Del Shannon
33. Peppermint Twist, Pt.1 - Joey Dee & the Starliters
34. Blue Moon - The Marcels
35. Quarter to Three - Gary "U.S." Bonds
36. Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
37. Sherry - The Four Seasons
38. My Boyfriend's Back - The Angels, Angels
39. He's So Fine - The Chiffons
40. Surfin' U.S.A. - The Beach Boys

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27405 in Music
• Released on: 2004-04-13
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

Clearly, a First Class 3CD Set from Rock's "Golden Era"
Compiled to celebrate rock and roll's 50th anniversary this year, this Hip-O three-disc, 62 song set features some of the best sound treatment these evergreens have received in the CD era. Gavin Lurssen's exceptional remastering allows you to clearly hear the Coasters' bass-tenor harmony-comedy in 1958's "Yakety Yak" and the Cadets' in 1956's still-weird operetta "Stranded in the Jungle." You hear the rollicking piano behind the guitar solo in Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," and the twangy guitar intros to Richie Valens and the Everly Brothers' (not to mention original twangy guitar Duane Eddy's) signature songs.

And signature songs, one from each artist, is all executive producer Andy MacKaie's team seemed to have room for in this expansive collection. One song each from titans like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Rick Nelson and Buddy Holly. In most cases he safely relied on their first hits ("Maybelline," "Tutti Fruitti") but also allowed hints of the 1960s producer-dominated era in tracks from the Four Seasons and Beach Boys. Hearing "Rock Around the Clock" and "Tequila" again recalls how popular these songs remained in films and television more than three decades after first charting.

Despite Billy Altman's pedantic liner notes, the set deserves five stars for the sheer number and quality of hits present (more than 30 #1 hits and more than enough songs associated with the era.) Too many artists are missing for "The Golden Era" to be definitive: no Elvis, nothing from the Cameo-Parkway or Phil Spector eras, a curious Sam Cooke track. But this collection is a worthwhile introduction or summary of rock and roll's first 10 years, an era fading from oldies station playlists and for today's senior citizens (teenagers when Elvis hit in 1954) becoming the anachronism the big bands were to a previous generation. Essential music, worthwhile here but more so in individual anthologies from Berry, Holly, and others.

Golden Era of Rock 'n' Roll a golden collection.
This is one of the best self-contained collections of music from the early years of Rock `n' Roll. The set includes 62 songs (all original versions), digitally remastered, and chronologically arranged on three CDs. Out of those 62 songs, 35 went #1 on the pop or R&B charts (and nine of those were #1 on BOTH the pop AND the R&B charts), 10 made it to #2 and six topped out at #3. Groups and artists featured in this collection include "Bill Haley & His Comets", Buddy Holly, Dion, "The Angels", Brenda Lee and "The Beach Boys". And no less than 33 of the acts on "The Golden Era" are members of the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Just a few of the songs on this collection include the first #1 Rock `n' Roll song of all time "Rock Around the Clock", the "Marcels" version of "Blue Moon", and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". One track to take note of is the Cadets "Stranded In The Jungle". The version included on "The Golden Era" features "jungle noises" I've never heard on any other version. This is the perfect compilation for someone just starting off his or her Rock `n' Roll collection. And for the collector who has all of these already, now they're all in one collection.

For those smart enough NOT to buy American Graffiti OST
This compilation has nearly all the tracks from American Graffiti's soundtrack, and so much more. This is exactly what I've been looking to fit my eclectic taste. All the hits are here, this side of Great Balls of Fire and Willie and the Hand Jive. Those two would have made this compilation perfect, but perfection is hard to come by when dealing with era compilations.

I wasn't around back when these songs were blasting on the radio, but I grew up listening to this music - thanks, mom! If you want to experience the sound of this era, this three-set cd collection is perfect. I've been looking for Maybellene, Be-Bop-A-Lula, Peggy Sue, Sea Cruise and Blue Suede Shoes and they're all here on the same set!

Try ebay before you buy here. I found this set relatively cheap over there. There were about five sellers when I bought mine, all vying for the lowest price.

This is great road music for those of you in my generation brave enough to try something new and break away from the Death Cab for Cutie/Outkast conformity we hear all the time on mainstream radio.

For those of you who grew up on this stuff, please let me reintroduce you to your old friends. This cd has almost all of them.