The London American Label Year By Year 1958 Various Artists (London American)

£11.70

Genre:
Rock'n'Roll
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 1310

1958 as documented by the releases of the UK’s most famous source for US rock’n’roll, pop and R&B.

Our “London American Label Year By Year” series has been among the most popular we’ve come up with since we opened for business. A lot of work goes into producing three of these projects a year, but the acclaim we’ve had more than justifies the effort that goes into their creation.

This year we’ve already presented a selection of true delights from London’s 1963 release schedule, and there are still many more years from the Swinging 60s that we have designs on anthologising. For the rest of this year, however, we’re in reverse. 1957 will be our October offering, and most of its contents are already licensed and ready to sequence. This month it’s the turn of 1958 to show us just some of the many goodies that London brought us in order to further Great Britain’s musical education.

London released 242 singles in ’58 – a staggering total that was difficult to reduce to just 28 representative examples. Fortunately, other Ace series have previously done London proud, and you can find many of the label’s classic releases on “Golden Age”, “Teen Beat” and suchlike. However, there many gems that you can’t yet find elsewhere on Ace, and 27 of our inclusions are making their catalogue premiere here. More than 20 are brought to you directly from the mono tapes used to manufacture the stampers for the original London 45s and 78s over 50 years ago. It’s hard to imagine how we could get any more authentic, really.

As with all the other volumes, 1958 offers a splendid mix of proven classics and arcane obscurities. For every Eddie Cochran and Duane Eddy, there’s a Ganim’s Asia Minors or Frank DeRosa that have seemingly been reissued nowhere at all, until now. It would have been easy to just pull together London’s biggest hits to represent the label for the year, but that would have failed to show the full range of what could be bought by anyone with a spare 7/6 in their pocket, and an urge to connect with an America that was so far beyond the physical reach – and the affordability – of most UK teens of the time, that it might as well have been on Mars.

As always, the booklet features a label shot for every track – not all of which were easy to locate, but you know us when it comes to completism! – and a 7000+ word essay featuring individual annotation for all 28. The 1958 foreword is written by John Broven, who won’t mind me saying that his appreciation of London was already bordering on an obsession even then.

On a personal note, ’58 was the year in which I saved enough pocket money to buy my first London 45. Naturally, it’s included here, but you’ll have to buy a copy to find out what it was.

By Tony Rounce

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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview Cannonball - Duane Eddy, His "Twangy" Guitar & The Rebels

  • 02 Preview Get A Job - The Mills Brothers

  • 03 Preview Just A Dream - Jimmy Clanton & His Rockets

  • 04 Preview Break-Up - Jerry Lee Lewis & His Pumping Piano

  • 05 Preview A Wonderful Time Up There - Pat Boone

  • 06 Preview Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes - Chuck Willis

  • 07 Preview Lend Me Your Comb - Carl Perkins

  • 08 Preview Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran

  • 09 Preview Sweet Little Rock And Roll - Chuck Berry

  • 10 Preview Margaret - The Royal Holidays

  • 11 Preview Big Guitar - Frank DeRosa & His Orchestra

  • 12 Preview It's Only Make Believe - Jimmy Starr

  • 13 Preview Wait A Minute - Jo-Ann Campbell

  • 14 Preview Daddy Lolo - Ganim's Asia Minors

  • 15 Preview The Shadow Knows - The Coasters

  • 16 Preview Ooh' My Soul - Little Richard

  • 17 Preview The Freeze - Tony & Joe

  • 18 Preview Come What May - Clyde McPhatter

  • 19 Preview The Secret - The Gainors

  • 20 Preview Tootsie - Carl McVoy

  • 21 Preview Splish Splash - Bobby Darin

  • 22 Preview The Greasy Spoon - Billy & Lillie

  • 23 Preview Geraldine - Jack Scott with The Chantones

  • 24 Preview The Day The Rains Came - Jane Morgan

  • 25 Preview Guess Things Happen That Way - Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two

  • 26 Preview Moonlight Bay - The Drifters

  • 27 Preview Jennie Lee - Billy Ward & His Dominoes

  • 28 Preview The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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Arguably the most satisfying instalment of the series so far. ★★★★

Record Collector

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