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We continue our highly popular and successful Americas Greatest Hits series as we work back through the 1950s, this time with an expanded 4-CD set edition to sit alongside the existing single CD 1951 edition (ACRCD177) originally released in 2006 before we introduced the 4-CD format in recent years. This great-value 105-track collection comprises every record which charted in the Top 15 of the Billboard Best Sellers and Cash Box chart during 1951, along with all those that made the Top 10 of the Juke Box and Disc Jockey charts (it omits certain records which peaked in 1952 and which have already appeared in our Americas Greatest Hits 1952 collection and some which were big hits in 1950, and had already peaked, so will appear in that collection). As with all these collections it features all the biggest hits of the year and all the biggest names in American pop of that era, so it very much captures the spirit of the times, but also includes a number of lesser known records which are not heard very often and which have not been readily available on CD. As always, it includes a substantial 15,000-word booklet with a commentary on every track, and its a must for collectors of our completist chart-based anthologies. REVIEWS "One of the jewels in Acrobat's crown is undoubtedly their ongoing series of 'America's Greatest Hits' in its expanded form and this latest volume may well be the one that has the greatest resonance for readers of 'In Tune' focusing as it does on 105 best sellers from 1951, a year that was especially fruitful for so many singers of the standard era. The forty eight page booklet contains extensive track by track commentary packed with information about the songs and the artists involved. Three of the features of this period were how few were the different number of record labels in the charts (four labels had 80 of the 105 tracks here), how frequently multiple versions of the same song made it and how the charts were dominated by a comparatively small number of artists. 1951 was the year of Tony Bennett's breakthrough, but it was also a good year for many other Columbia stars like Doris, Jo, Rosemary, Frankie Laine etc and for RCA's Perry Como and Eddie Fisher. A fine collection which will evoke plenty of nostalgia among record buyers of a certain age." - Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 329) “A whopping 4CD set celebrating America's Greatest Hits from 1951, a year before the first UK best selling record chart. Since we slavishly followed US tastes at the time, these were the likely best sellers in Britain, too. Stars include Patti Page, Guy Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone and Frankie Laine, and among the 100 plus tracks are perennials like Mocking Bird Hill, Jezebel and Blue Velvet. Includes every number that entered Billboard trade magazine's top 15 chart, and, as such, is a valuable historical document.” – John Howard (Vintage Rock Issue 43)
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