Dion And The Belmonts: The Singles and Albums 1958-62
(Acrobat)
Rating: 5/5
Every home should have at least one Dion collection, and if you don’t have one, this reasonably priced 58-track chronological compilation should solve your problem. It covers Dion’s early material with The Timberlanes, his initial career highlights with The Belmonts, and his 60s solo hits. It features all nine Belmonts chart entries including Top Five hits Teenager In Love and Where Or When, plus his 12 solo hits including Runaround Sue, The Wanderer and Love Came To Me. Dion had, and still has, one of the most recognisable voices in rock’n’roll, had superb choice in the material he recorded, and was the go-to guy from some of the era’s best songwriters who sought Dion’s golden pipes wrapped round their lyrics. Various LP tracks flesh out this collection and his takes on Little Star, In The Still Of The Night and Queen Of The Hop are the equal of The Elegants, The Five Satins and Bobby Darin. An excellent booklet accompanies the collection, everything you wanted to know about the early Dion. His career continues. John Howard

 

Various Artists: Boss Black Rockers Vol. 1
(Koko Mojo)
Rating: 5/5
The ‘Mojo’ Man presents a 28-track compilation that salutes the black pioneers who turned rhythm & blues into rock’n’roll. They include Hank Ballard And The Midnighters, Joe Tex and Bobby Freeman, with Sugaree, You Upset My Home, and Betty Lou Got A New Pair of Shoes, respectively. In addition to black lead vocals, every track features saxophone, not to mention a strong dance beat. Great to see Ron Holden’s fantastic B-side, My Babe, getting some long deserved recognition. Can’t wait for Volume 2. JH

 

Various Artists: Southern Bred R&B Rockers
(Koko Mojo)
Rating: 4/5
Volume six of this excellent series switches states from Mississippi to Texas to produce another fine helping of 50s rock’n’roll, jump blues and even some up-tempo doo-wop. Bigger names include Joe Tex with She’s Mine, Little Willie Littlefield with Rockin’ Chair Boogie and King Curtis with Rockabye Baby. There are 28 tracks in all, and even some of the more unfamiliar names keep up the quality, so thanks to Jesse Powell, Earl Gillian and Vivian Greene, who, the informative sleeve notes by compiler Dee Jay Mark Armstrong tell me, went on to coach The Jackson 5. JH

 

Jerry King: Jerry King is Back!
(El Toro)
Rating: 4/5
Jerry King established quite a rockin’ reputation as the frontman for The Rivertown Ramblers (a band formed in 2003), but little has been heard from him for the best part of 10 years. Not only has this Indiana native got a great, and versatile singing voice, but he is also a fine songwriter with an excellent grasp of wordplay. There are 15 original songs in this impressive collection, and it’s also available on vinyl. King has a crack band behind him, too, so all we can say is: “Jerry, please don’t disappear again.” JH

 

Various Artists: The 1960 R&B Hits Collection
(Acrobat)
Rating: 2/5
Great value 115-track 4CD collection covering almost all the biggest hits on the US Billboard charts in this seminal year that saw rhythm & blues morphing into soul. Brook Benton was the biggest seller of the year, and his smooth stylings are always welcome. However, Billboard’s chart compilers stretched the term R&B almost to breaking point, so we have the likes of Freddy Cannon, Frankie Avalon and Jim Reeves included. However, if they sold on the sepia market, they were in! JH