The Crest Records story - 34 rockin tracks from the fifties.
1. Stack-a-records - Tom Tall 2. Ballin' keen - Bobby and Terry Caraway 3. Primitive love - Tom Reeves 4. Can you bop? - Tom Wilson 5. Ridin' the frets - Desert Stars 6. Skinny Jim - Eddie Cochran 7. Rock'n'roll blues - Norm Skylar 8. Lovin' Lorene - Glen Garrison 9. Yea, yea, come another day - Tony Casanova 10. Let's coast awhile - Bo Davis 11. Been gone a long time - Hank Sanders 12. Date bait - Bill Skidmore III 13. Spot light - Frank and Ernie 14. What happened last night - Johnny Donn 15. Three carburettors - Don Carson 16. Buzz saw - The Gee Cees 17. Rockin' and a-rollin' - Dick Bills 18. Don't be bashful little girl - Four young men 19. Turn around and look at me - Glen Campbell 20. You're the reason - Bobby Edwards 21. Check out time - Jay Chevalier 22. Long black limousine - Vern Stovall 23. Three stars - Tommy Dee 24. Wild man wild! - Hal Jackson / The Chromatics 25. Function at the junction - Smiki Whitfield 26. Cool juice - Tommy Law 27. Love bug on the loose - Freddy and Al 28. How come my dog don't bark - Roscoe Sculley 29. Get back - Prince Partridge 30. Clothes line (wrap it up) - Boogaloo / Gallant Crew 31. Talk about a party - Boogaloo / Gallant Crew 32. Big fat lie - Boogaloo / Gallant Crew 33. Cops and robbers - Boogaloo / Gallant Crew 34. That's all - The Ebb Tones
At last! Great obscure Fifties stuff. Track three is a MONSTER. Years ago, this was a great LP, but now it's grown into a brilliant CD. This is great value for money - we even named an album after track one!
The Crest Records Story
Crest Records was founded in the 1950s and was located on Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California. The founder of Crest Records, Sylvester Cross, was also a publisher with American Music and had over 150 hits in their catalogue. Terry Fell acquired Crest Records in the 1960s, launching the careers of many artists.
"We all agree with the fact that independent labels have always been the creative force behind rock and roll : well, with this CD release from 1999, RockStar Records spotlighted one such record company called Crest Records, whose offices were located at 9109 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, California and whose first releases appeared in 1955. RockStar had issued three compilation LPs of Crest material in the past, all deleted : 'The Best Of Crest-Vol.1' (RSR LP 1002), 'The Best Of Crest-Vol.2' (#1003) and 'Spotlight On Crest Records' (#1011). They tried to cull the best sides from those albums for the CD pictured above. An offshoot of the famous American Music publishing firm, Crest Records recorded a long list of artists in a wide variety of styles and were more of a pop label, similar to Liberty Records for instance. In fact, another major similarity between those two labels lies in Eddie Cochran's involvement. Eddie had been signed to American Music as a songwriter by Sylvester Cross and cut his first solo record there, in July 1956 : 'Skinny Jim' (Crest 1026) is one of the highlights on this compilation. The original Crest single, with 'Half Loved' on the flip, had been legally reissued for the first time by RockStar on a 1979 single (RSR SP 3002). Vintage rock and roll and rockabilly numbers abound and are featured on the first half of that 79-minute disc. At the same session as Eddie's, a certain 'Bo' Davis cut two wild sides with Cochran on lead guitar, Connie 'Guybo' Smith on upright bass and black drummer, Jesse Sailes, a veteran player who had backed up Joe Turner, Jay Mc Shann and Ike Carpenter among others : 'Let's Coast Awhile' (#1027) has been selected here. The other, 'Drowning All My Sorrows', should have been included too because rockabilly cannot get any better. Of course, both Davis tracks previously appeared on a number of Rockstar EPs, LPs and CDs. The big discovery is that Bo Davis was NOT Hank Cochran in disguise but local singer, Gene Davis, who later went on to cut more good rockers like 'Curfew' (R-Dell 107, backed with 'No Rockin' & Rollin' incidentally !) and 'I've Had It, I'm Through' (Rosco 404). He also had 'Facts Of Life' b/w 'My Only Prayer' on Challenge 59091. The completely zany but superlative Tom Reeves single (#1029) may have been cut at that same Cochran-Davis split session. 'Primitive Love', with its sound and vocal effects, plucked guitar backing and maraccas beat, is one of the few novelty records you can't tire of. Its flip, 'Baby, I'm A Lonesome Cowboy', with slap bass, piano and maraccas but minus the vocal effects, was just as good. It appeared on both RSR LP 1002 and RSR LP 1011....." more at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rockin.paul/CREST%20RECORDS.htm
The Crest Records story - 34 rockin tracks from the fifties.
At last! Great obscure Fifties stuff. Track three is a MONSTER. Years ago, this was a great LP, but now it's grown into a brilliant CD. This is great value for money - we even named an album after track one!