VARIOUS ARTISTS
CHICAGO ROCKS, VOL. 1 - WINDY CITY ROCK AND ROLL

Chicago’s vast and glorious legacy as a teeming postwar hub for blues, soul, and doo-wop has been documented exhaustively. But what of the Windy City’s indigenous early rock and roll scene, long before The Buckinghams, Cryan’ Shames, New Colony Six, Shadows of Knight, and American Breed established a recognizable mid-‘60s Chicago rock movement? It’s barely been seriously examined at all, so this collection sets that longtime injustice straight. This first volume of ‘Chicago Rocks’ gathers some of the finest rock and roll the city had to offer from the mid-‘50s through the early ‘60s, its contents a river comprised of several tributaries. First, a stream of Elvis-influenced rockabillies waxed sides for local labels. At the same time, a squad of homegrown teen idol-style rockers emerged, starring at youth-focused clubs, small arenas, roller rinks, and high school hops. Lounge bands - their members somewhat older, their approach more polished - jumped into the rock and roll fray, and a handful of white doo-woppers entered the mix. Then the Twist exploded; from conventioneer-oriented Rush Street to the outlying suburbs, everyone was Twisting, the city’s musical cadre enthusiastically embracing the national craze. The set leads with Elvis soundalike Ral Donner - the only early Chicago rocker to achieve national stardom--and storms through fellow young stars Ron Haydock (a dead ringer for Gene Vincent), Ronnie Rice, Tobin Matthews, and Steve King, transplanted rockabillies Hayden Thompson, Hank Mizell, Benny Ingram, Eddie Cash, Wayne Worley, and Frank Deaton, lounge-style entertainers Tony Smith and His Aristocrats and Bill Skully and The Dynatones, and Chuck Berry doppelganger Clear Water (aka Eddy Clearwater), with plenty of surprises along the way. Even it hasn’t received proper critical recognition, Chicago hosted plenty of exciting rock and roll action during the idiom’s formative years. It’s finally time to explore it!