Eastern Pa Rock 1 / Various

Eastern Pa Rock 1 / Various

During the first half of the '60s, a young entrepreneur by the name of Clay Barclay had the foresight and vision to capture Hamburg to Pottsville's prolific and bustling music scene. All 32 tracks on Eastern PA Rock--Part One were recorded in his Mr Wizard approved recording studio (also doubling as his parents' living room and basement) centrally located in Orwigsburg. Later he teamed up with established music industry types and relocated his facility to Reading, where he experienced a second wind of activity which has been resurrected on Part Two [1966-'69] of this reissue series. No overproduced pop schlock here--this stuff is RAW, CRUDE and BARE TO THE BONE. Absolutely essential if you loathe Fabian and the Four Seasons but go frantic over Link and Louie Louie. All this and more documented on one 78+ minute CD wrapped in an archival fact-filled 40-page booklet. Kickin' off this 32-track retrospective are six songs from legend Chuck Barr, the region's undisputed grandpappy of R'n'R. (His Joe Botch is an ode to exploited teenage coal laborers everywhere.) Highlights abound with the Ramrods War Party (a Billy Miller Top 10 personal fave), five cuts by the Triumphs (including their rompin' unissued Triumphs Theme), hot rockabilly from Richie & The Rebels, plus brutally honest tracks from the Starlites, Wayne & The Impressions, Jaguars and Joey & The Prophets. Five WKBA radio promos (Barclay's clandestine confederate ten-watt station that broadcast from the bowels of his folk's house) by the Mistics, bring you back to an era when AM was more than a compliment to PM.s tracks