The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Vol. 4 (CD - 1994)

Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Vol. 4 is another reliably well-packaged collection of major and minor pre-Beatles rock hits. Besides the hits by stars like Dion, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Jan & Dean, and Buddy Knox, you have plenty of one-shots by the likes of the Edsels ("Rama Lama Ding Dong"), Little Caesar & the Romans ("Those Oldies but Goodies"), Barbara Lynn ("You'll Lose a Good Thing"), and Ray Sharpe (the classic R&B/jump rocker "Linda Lu"). The further the series goes, the deeper it gets into the lower rungs of the charts, so even rock scholars may not have previously heard cuts by the likes of Nat Kendrick, Nappy Brown, or the Royaltones. Others you may have only heard once or twice, like those by Tommy Facenda, the Rip Chords, and Billy & Lillie. ~ Richie Unterberger minimize