Search - Platters :: 19 Hits

Five Star Review By Album's Producer

Ed Salamon | New York , N.Y. | 06/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the late 70s, I persuaded then Nashville based King records to let me produce what grew to the seventeen volume Vintage Vault Collectors series from their R&B and Rockabilly master tapes. It was essentially a labor of love to enable me to get some of these rare and unissued tracks for my own collection and to share them with fellow collectors. Over the years, I was pleased to see many of these turn up on "essential" album lists by publications including Rolling Stone, and ultimately many to be reissued on CD nearly a quarter of a century later. The Platters' album was one of my personal favorites. It collects the master takes of all nineteen songs that the group recorded for King and Federal before signing with Mercury and cutting their breakthrough hit "Only You". These previously difficult to find tracks include the original version of that song, plus a totally different style of primitive rock and roll. In my hometown of Pittsburgh, Deejay Porky Chedwick frequently played the rocking jump tunes "Beer Barrel Boogie" (led by bassman Herb Reed), "Maggie Doesn't Work Here Anymore" and "My Name Ain't Annie" (The Platters backing Linda Hayes), which are all on this CD. If you are looking for the polished signature sound of the Platters, buy another album instead. If you are a rock and roller, this will be a real treat. Back in the 70s the expense of typesetting was a consideration, so the liner notes are slim (maybe I'll get to rewrite them someday). However, with a generous nineteen tracks at a budget price (and a great drawing by Roman Szolkowski on the cover), this CD a bargain."