New Ace CD with mono Versions

If you're a collector of 60s hits in mono, you'll want to check out the new series on Ace Records called "The London American Label Year By Year". I just picked up the initial volume in the series, "1960", and it has some hard-to-find mono versions of hits from that year, such as "Poetry In Motion" and "You're Sixteen".

Deviating from Ace's usual approach, the liner notes indicate that there was a deliberate decision to present all the songs in mono for authenticity, and that most of them come from tape sources. Also, the notes indicate that there will be CDs for 1961, 1962 and 1963. Sound quality is quite good. Here is the track listing:

1. LET IT ROCK Chuck Berry
2. THREE STEPS TO HEAVEN - Eddie Cochran
3. WISHFUL THINKING - Wynn Stewart
4. KOMMOTION - Duane Eddy
5. BLUE ANGEL - Roy Orbison
6. MYSTERY TRAIN - Vernon Taylor
7. TINY TIM - LaVern Baker
8. POETRY IN MOTION - Johnny Tillotson
9. I LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE - Marv Johnson
10. ROAD RUNNER - Bo Diddley
11. BEATNIK FLY - Johnny and the Hurricanes
12. ALL I COULD DO WAS CRY - Etta James
13. TOO YOUNG TO DATE - The Delicates
14. DON'T BE CRUEL - Bill Black's Combo
15. WAKE ME, SHAKE ME - The Coasters
16. JUDY - Teddy Redell
17. SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME - The Drifters
18. HEY LITTLE ONE - Dorsey Burnette
19. LOVEY - The Clovers
20. SOMEBODY TO LOVE - Bobby Darin
21. I'VE BEEN LOVED BEFORE - Shirley & Lee
22. DOLL HOUSE - Donnie Brooks
23. PERFIDIA - The Ventures
24. LIKE STRANGERS - The Everly Brothers
25. MY GIRL JOSEPHINE - Fats Domino
26. THE GIRL ON DEATH ROW - Lee Hazlewood with Duane Eddy and his orchestra
27. SADIE'S BACK IN TOWN - Sonny Burgess
28. YOU'RE SIXTEEN - Johnny Burnette

This series won't appear in the database since it is an import. Here's hoping that Ace keeps up the good work on this series.

I have received this CD, and I'm thrilled that this new series of (Ace U.K.) mono 45 versions has been both started and appears will continue for a while. So far, I have confirmed that it finally features the correct-speed 45 versions for both Donnie Brooks' "Doll House", and Bill Black's "Don't Be Cruel" - neither of which have ever appeared correctly on CD before, to my knowledge.

Thanks, Brian - just ordered it from Amazon. There is now just one left in stock. This makes me happy, because it seems that these recent, mono version and/or Collectors' Choice-type, money-making singles comps (their top new release sellers of late, says Gordon Anderson) are really selling well. Here's hoping that both CC & Ace (U.K.) keep up their great work, that other labels (hint: Rhino, re-hire your employees!) will take note of the favorable sales figures of others, and will hop on board with some similar packages of their own. Yes, the youngsters love their downloads, but tons of us over-40-types still love buying/having our music on CDs!

Gary Mack wrote: Which tracks are needledrops on these two releases? GM

I don't know... the liner notes don't say.

Thanks for the update, Brian. I've been pleased with the quality of the first two releases in this Ace series and am looking forward to future installments.