The British Rev-Ola label kicks it into high gear with Zoot Suit Riot: Instrumental R'n'B Smash Hits of the 1950s. There isn't a downer second on this crunchy, crispy riotous disc of offerings form all the biggies:
Roy Milton,
Lloyd Price,
Johnny Otis,
Big Jay McNeely,
Cecil Payne, Kid King, and may others. Even
Betty Carter's "Hucklebuck" is on this slab, as is
Little Walter's "Juke" and
Jimmy Forrest's slow and sultry honker "Night Train" (yeah it's the same one
James Brown did, just turned right side in). Another winner is
Earl Bostic's classic "Flamingo." There is a ton of bang for the buck on this baby. Get it. ~ Thom Jurek