Although Chess Records' reputation firmly rests on their monumental achievements in the blues and rhythm & blues field (and rightly so), the label also recorded -- or leased from other labels -- a fair amount of high-quality rockabilly music. Much of this interest came from Chuck Berry's success in the pop market with "Maybellene," and was followed by the leasing of Dale Hawkins' hit "Susie Q." This 19-track collection gathers up many of the singles that Chess issued during that flurry of activity, with the addition of a couple of unissued sides. "Sugaree" by Rusty York was originally cut for Note and appears here off the stereo master, a surprising audio development for a rock & roll record from 1959. Not many African-Americans were willing to adapt to the new shakin' music, but those that did usually came up with fine results, and West Coast bluesman Johnny Fuller's "All Night Long," and G.L. Crockett's "Look Out Mabel," featuring Earl Hooker on guitar, are prime examples of the form. Later Nashville session stalwart Hargus "Pig" Robbins clocks in with two tracks of piano-pumping rock & roll, as does Russell Bridges (later to reincarnate as Leon Russell) with a very Jerry Lee-like "All Right." Fans of guitar-driven Southern-style rockabilly will positively revel in the inclusion of Bobby Sisco's "Tall Dark Handsome Man" with its fine guitar solos, Billy Barrix's rewriting of "Baby Let's Play House," with his "Cool Off Baby," and "Love Me" by Jimmy Lee and Wayne Walker, the duo that gave the label its first hit in the country field. Other notable tracks include "Roses Are Blooming" by Bob Silva & the Silva-Tones, and Memphis rockabilly man Gene Simmons' bluesy "The Shape You Left Me In." -- Cub Coda, allmusic.com
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