Rock & Roll: 50th Anniversary Collection

Although this collection is unnecessary for anyone but the greenest Fifties rock neophyte, these 2 CDs are a decent value for those who just want a collection of early rock classics.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of rock and roll's birth, or at least its acceptance in the marketplace, if you measure that event by the release of Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" (which didn't even become a hit until a year later, but never mind). To that end, Madacy records commemorates rock's half-century mark with this 2CD set, which culls 34 rock classics (including two "bonus tracks") that help define the early days of the music. "Rock Around The Clock" is here, of course, but so is Jackie Brenston's "Rocket '88," the main contender for the throne these days, as well as Haley's 1953 hit "Crazy, Man, Crazy," which begs the question of whether or not the spitcurled bandleader really DID usher in rock before Elvis. (The sound quality varies, but given the breadth of the selection, that's not a major quibble.)

Speaking of The King, he's not here. But that can hardly be held against Madacy, because most labels can't afford to lay out the big bucks needed to license his work. However, this comp sidesteps the issue so neatly - including tracks covered more famously by Elvis (Connie Francis' "My Happiness," Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes") and tracks by his brethren at Sun (Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls Of Fire"), that the set inadvertently ends up making the case that rock would have been born without Elvis. Indeed, as the early cuts prove, it was already happening all around him.