Search - Modern Story :: Modern Story

Great sound - great sounds!

p. silverman | USA | 12/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before Rock and Roll became an Industry mostly driven by major labels, independent companies like Atlantic, Specialty, Vee Jay, Sun, and Modern broke ground for the new youth-oriented mass market. They recorded in living rooms, in store fronts. They got a perfectly *imperfect* sound which remains transcendant to this day. I doubt the Bihari Brothers or any of their contemporaries cared if their discs were called R & B or R & R when their discs made some noise - without heavy distribution! This excellent assemblage covers mostly '47 to '56 and features the true pioneers like Ike Turner (pre-Tina and with Tina), Pee Wee Crayton (with the fast "Texas Hop", a sound from '48 that Charles Edward Berry must have dug at some point prior to '55), Young Jesse (with a non-charting classic called "Mary Lou"), a few from Elmore James, and many, many more. The notes are exceptionally fine. The pressing is headphone-friendly, to say the least.
I felt that one of Little Richard's '65/'66 efforts would have fit in well, perhaps "Do You Feel It? (The Second Line)" which spent some time on the Cashbox Black Singles chart. Let's hope a "Part Two" is in the works to accomodate this number and several others from a very signficant label."