Rockabilly Riot [Sanctuary] (CD) by Various Artists

CD. Rockabilly Riot is a 22-track collection of some very hot sides recorded (with one glaring exception) in the exciting mid-'50s heyday of rockabilly. Most of the disc is made up of Sun artists (biggies like Elvis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and small fries like Warren Smith and Billy Riley), but the disc also gathers up a wide range of top-flight rockabilly cats like Johnny Burnette, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Everly Brothers. As if that wasn't enough, this effort scoops up amazing tracks by obscure artists like Janis Martin, Jimmy Lloyd, and Billy Adams. The compilers don't always go for the obvious track: Gene Vincent is represented by the frenetic "Race With the Devil" instead of "Be Bop a Lula" and Jerry Lee Lewis by "Real Wild Child (I'm the Wild One)" instead of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." This helps keep the disc fresh-sounding. It is definitely an exciting, fun collection that the casual rockabilly fan will no doubt find satisfactory. Rockabilly snobs may find the inclusion of two tracks by Carl Perkins, Ritchie Valens, and Roy Orbison to be a waste of space. Why not include Charlie Feathers, Wanda Jackson, or some worthy, obscure artist like Glen Glenn or the unbelievably cool Collins Kids? The disc makes no claims to being a definitive collection of the style, it's true, but where the heck is Eddie Cochran? Surely a Cochran track would be more of a riot than a mannered Robert Gordon track from 1977. So mark Rockabilly Riot down as a decent disc that is a lot of fun, but one that could have been so much better. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi