Johnny & The Hurricanes - The Very Best Of Johnny & The Hurricanes

The rock instrumentals coming out of the Golden Age of American rock and roll were defined by the likes of Duane Eddy, the Ventures, the Champs and Sandy Nelson. As much a part of this era but much less recognized was the group of Johnny Pocisk and his Hurricanes. This band produced a string of energetic, organ and sax-dominated rock instrumentals in the late 50s and early 60s. Much of their output was based on a formula of creating rock tunes out of traditional songs. In spite of their notable chart successes, their music has largely been ignored in the domestic CD reissue market until now. Varese Vintage records has come out with this first high-quality compilation of Johnny and the Hurricanes tunes. Titled as the "Very Best of...", this collection contains most of the higher-charting singles along with some b-sides and album cuts. The omission of two of their lower-charting singles notwithstanding, this piece presents a good overview of the Hurricanes' output from both their Warwick and Big Top label stints. (These missing tunes are available on some other import Hurricanes CDs from Black Tulip - an excellent greatest-hits collection - and album-oriented CDs from Repertoire in Germany). Sound quality is very good and far better than most other Hurricanes pieces available. Many tracks (1,2,4,8,11,12,13,17,20) are in true stereo. An eight-page booklet contains some pics and a backround history of the group. Another high-quality reissue from Varese Vintage that fills a long-standing gap in the universe of classic American rock and roll reissues.

Tracklisting:
1. Reveille Rock
2. Bye Bye Blackbird
3. The Hungry Eye
4. Beatnik Fly
5. Miserlou
6. James Bond Theme
7. Buckeye
8. Sand Storm
9. Red River Rock
10.Bean Bag
11.Walkin'
12.You Are My Sunshine
13.Storm Warning
14.Down Yonder
15.Time Bomb
16.Rocking Goose
17.Like Rock
18.The Sheik of Araby
19.Crossfire
20.Sheba

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