Format Details: Jewel Case
Release Date: 28 April 2003
Label: Ace Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 029667188524
Genres: Rock 'N' Roll Rockabilly
Description
OK, you've got a choice here. On the one hand you could buy THE COMPLETE ROCKABILLY & HILLBILLY RECORDINGS double-CD containing both sides of all 19 rare and wonderful singles from the legendary Meteor label of Memphis. On the other hand, you could decide to hunt down the original 78s or 45s instead. It may be a difficult one to figure out, but let's see if I can help you weigh up the odds. There's no denying that the sound from a pristine 78 rpm record is wonderful, given the right equipment, but you also get top quality sound with the Ace CDs and it will stay that way forever - and the CDs won't break. You get four originally unissued tracks from Steve Carl as well, 42 tracks in all, and a lavish 40-page booklet full of good stuff. There are detailed biographies and stories about all the artists and their recording sessions. No 78 rpm or 45 rpm label - not even the old King promo labels - will tell you the complete artist story. And what stories these Meteor people had to tell! Even those who've been dead twenty five years didn't escape, courtesy of some old unpublished interviews and family reminiscences. We all know the Charlie Feathers' story I guess, and a bit about Junior Thompson, the makers of those classic Meteor rockabillies, Tongue-Tied Jill and Raw Deal. And those guys get the full photographic and biographical treatment here. Did you know Feathers was a milkshake fiend, or that Junior wrecked Meteor boss Lester Bihari's house and then enrolled in bible school? And did you know anything at all about, say, Mary Edwards, an artist so obscure that the few written references have normally labelled her an R&B singer. In fact, she sang country and ballads on the Louisiana Hayride and was friends with Bob Hope and Elvis Presley. Did you know that the hillbilly hitmaker on Meteor, Bud Deckelman of Daydreamin' fame, was so unreliable he couldn't keep his band together and they'd go off playing jazz instead? Or that his producers Quinton Claunch (yes, he of subsequent James Carr fame) and Bill Cantrell were integral in establishing the Meteor hillbilly and rockabilly sound, as well as paving the way for the future Muscle Shoals recording scene? Do you know which of the Meteor artists played with Hank Williams, and which Meteor artist's son plays with Hank Junior? What about Elvis's mom sending dinner over on a plate to one of the artists making a Meteor session? And which artist used to go "carousing" with Sam Phillips? Or indeed which Sun artists also recorded for Meteor? One of the Meteorites wrote songs for Ivory Joe Hunter, another was a city fire chief, and then there was the strange case of the "dirt-dobbers" and the snakes in the studio. The Meteor sidemen were pretty heavy cats too. One of them went on to play with everybody who was anybody. Another met an early death after writing hits for Arthur Alexander. Another owns a chain of motels having given up being a private eye, a record label boss, and a steel guitarist. Then th
Tracklisting
Young Jessie
Wynonie Harris
Willie Hightower
Willie Headen
Wayne Cochran
Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Walter Horton
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
