This compact disc combines two Ace Records vinyl compilations of choice 1950s material. Rarest Rockabilly & Hillbilly Boogie anthologizes rockabilly history through the prism of the vanity pressing. For a hundred dollars or so, an Elvis wannabe could cut a couple songs and get back a small pressing for their efforts. Once copies were distributed to nearby radio stations, promoters, and juke box operators, the remaining stash was given away to fans and relatives or sold at dances. Texas-based Starday Records was a hotbed for this; in a period of six years, they issued over 500 titles on their Dixie label or vanity labels, and these are this basis for this compilation. As primitive as some of these are, the music is just fine. Most of the artists collected here are just names on labels of a phonograph record company, yet the inclusion of two early rockin' sides from Jimmie Dale Gilmore are most illuminating. This compilation errs on the side of hillbilly boogie but if cowboy boots stand in for blue suede shoes, there's still pep aplenty in selections like Bill Mack's "It's Saturday Night" and Buddy Shaw's "Don't Sweep That Dirt on Me." Best of Ace Rockabilly returns to the classic sound and is loaded with collector's prizes. Sonny Fisher's "Rockin' Daddy" and "Sneaky Pete" are raw Texas style rockabilly at its best, while Louisiana is represented by Link Davis' "Trucker From Tennessee" and Jimmy Johnny's "I Can't Find the Doorknob." The big ticket items are two of George Jones' rare excursions into the deep waters of the big beat, "Rock It" and "How Come It." All in all, a superlative compilation that truly gives a sense of rock & roll's ground-floor incarnation in the wake of Elvis. ~ Cub Koda, Rovi
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