Sixty years after it made its first major impact in the pop charts, rock ‘n roll continues to fascinate musicologists and sociologists alike, encapsulating as it does the aspirations and instincts of the baby-boom generation as mass media and the emergence from post-war austerity saw long-established musical strands in blues, R&B and country come together, and rebellious teenagers rejected the established norms of popular music to claim a piece of the musical high ground.

The two volumes of this collection reflect the impact of rock ‘n’ roll as a phenomenon in the pop charts in its homeland of the USA during the first decade or so of its progress through to the point where artists it influenced in the UK began to make their transAtlantic impact during the ‘60s.

The two great value 150-track 5CDs set comprise a high proportion of the records that could be called rock ‘n’ roll in some shape or form which made the US pop Top 10 from 1954 to mid-1959, reflecting the complex roots of the music in R&B, country and blues and also the various that Tin Pan Alley shaped and developed the genre over its formative years.  They are therefore a fascinating amalgam of hits, which nevertheless share the common strand of giving an entire generation a sense of musical belonging, and as such they make for hugely entertaining listening.

Details are:

ACFCD7505        Rock 'n' Roll USA Vol. 1 1954-59    Various Artists

Full details at  http://acrobatmusic.net/?cid=5&AlbumId=992

ACFCD7506        Rock 'n' Roll USA Vol. 2 1959-62    Various Artists

Full details at: http://acrobatmusic.net/?cid=5&AlbumId=993