Rare Meat, Early Works Of Frank Zappa

Early work that Frank Zappa had his hands in. Two big highlights for me are the East L.A. classics "Every Time I See You" and "Cradle Rock" by the Heartbreakers. Limited liner notes but a nice pick up.
5 out of 10

The Paragons / The Jesters

Pretty much all of the nice ballads from these two classic Doo Wop groups are included in these collections. The War CD sound quality is not as good as what you get in the Relic Records release. Doo Wop fans are more that familiar with the highlights.
5 out 10

Rumble

Standard NYC 50's R&B by those groups we see often across many comps. Light on packaging, no liner notes.
4 out of 10

Doo-Wop Classics, Tip Top Records

Top picks on this compilation are "You Are My Darling" by The Creations, "Chapel Bells" by The Sunny Boys, "Darling I Do" by Sebastion, "Give Me Your Heart" by The Performers and "Too Young" by The Emblems. A recommended pick up for the Doo Wop fans.
5 out of 10

Doo Wop From Dolphin's Of Hollywood

Early west coast R&B from the legendary John Dolphin's stable. Highlights include "Soft, Soft Lips" by The Sunrisers, "Emily" by The Turks", "Tell Me" and "Why Did You Leave Me" by The Gassers and "My Confession" by The Hollywood Flames. leave this one for the hardcore early R&B crowd. Very good sound quality.

4 out of 10

The Gaytunes

A couple of nice, not widely known ballads on this short and simple CD. "You Left Me", "I Love You" and "Tell Me You Love Me" are the good ones. For the price this goes for,  no Doo Wop fan should pass it up.
5 out of 10

The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll

Now, here is a collection for those "radio" oldies fans. Only reason I would recommend to some of the more devoted oldies fans is if you are looking to get a very good sounding recording of a track on this set. Standard tracks by The Jive Five, The Teen Queens, The Five Satins, The Cliques, Big Jay McNeely, Barbara Lynn, Johnnie And Joe, Robert And Johnny, Rene And Ray, The Sixteens, Donnie Elbert, Shirley And Lee plus others. A+ sound quality and lots of liner notes.

5 out of 10

Brunswick / Dakar Soul Stream Vol. 3

Standouts here include "You Have No Time To Lose" by The Four Pennies, "Can't Stop Loving You" by Otis Leavill,  "It's All Over Between Us" by Lee Charles, "She Put A Hurting On Me" by Soul Brothers and "The Thrill Will Still Be New" by Billy Jackson. 

5 out of 10

What More Can A Woman Do? Brunswick and Chi-Sound Sisters Of Soul

Highlights on this release include "I Just Don't Need You (At All)" by Erma Franklin, "The One Who Really Loves You" by Sugar Pie DeSanto, "Living In The Footsteps Of Another Girl' by The Promises and "What Did I Do? (What Did I Say?)" by The Sweethearts and "Fool, Fool, Fool (Look In The Mirror)" by Barbara Acklin. Clean sound quality and good batch of liner notes.
5 out of 10

Honey Cone

I always passed up on this group thinking they only had upbeat numbers until SFV_Soul played "The Feeling's Gone" on one of his oldies shows and I had to have it. "Who's It Going To Be" and their cover of "Stay In My Corner" are also decent tracks. If you dig 70's soul and don't mind the upbeat tracks, this is a good pick up.

4 out of 10