A BLOCKBUSTER OF A COMPILATION
Name: Barry McCanna
Email: hirondelle61@wanadoo.fr
Review Date: 06-07-2012 11:56
On the face of it, a 5-CD set for £12.99 including postage & packing would seem too good to be true, but the price is the only cheap thing about this compilation. Every CD is self-contained in that each comes in a separate jewel case, with a comprehensive liner note and clearly annotated tracks, which are arranged in chronological order. Broadly speaking, the collection covers the thirties and forties, plus a handful of tracks from the fifties.
One of the potential drawbacks with such compilations is the extent to which “the usual suspects” get duplicated, for which reason I’ve gone through all those that I can check (that is, up to 1945) with a fine-tooth comb. By my reckoning, fifty of these tracks have never been reissued since their original appearance, and only fourteen have been reissued on LP. Leaving aside about twenty that I cannot vouch for, this means that only forty have been reissued on commercially available CDs already, and you’d need to own a lot of CDs to cover all of them.
Turning from the general to the particular, several tracks deserve particular mention, including “Who Made Little Boy Blue?” by Joe Loss, “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” by Tommy Kinsman, and “Hands Across the Table” by Eddie Wood, all of which were issued on the extremely rare Octacros label. There are many groups which have been overlooked by compilers, and some making a welcome appearance here are The Blue Mountaineers, Jack McCormick, Don Marino Barreto, Nat Star, Ben Frankel, The Four Bright Sparks, Syd Seymour & Joe Orlando. Last but not least, the remastering is crisp and clear, and I recommend this package without reservation.
One of the potential drawbacks with such compilations is the extent to which “the usual suspects” get duplicated, for which reason I’ve gone through all those that I can check (that is, up to 1945) with a fine-tooth comb. By my reckoning, fifty of these tracks have never been reissued since their original appearance, and only fourteen have been reissued on LP. Leaving aside about twenty that I cannot vouch for, this means that only forty have been reissued on commercially available CDs already, and you’d need to own a lot of CDs to cover all of them.
Turning from the general to the particular, several tracks deserve particular mention, including “Who Made Little Boy Blue?” by Joe Loss, “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” by Tommy Kinsman, and “Hands Across the Table” by Eddie Wood, all of which were issued on the extremely rare Octacros label. There are many groups which have been overlooked by compilers, and some making a welcome appearance here are The Blue Mountaineers, Jack McCormick, Don Marino Barreto, Nat Star, Ben Frankel, The Four Bright Sparks, Syd Seymour & Joe Orlando. Last but not least, the remastering is crisp and clear, and I recommend this package without reservation.




























