Benny Joy - Crash the Rockabilly Party (CD)

All Music Guide

Joy only released three singles in the late 1950s (all here), but a bunch of previously unissued material (some without a full band) from the era was scoured up for various reissues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With the addition of half a dozen more unissued cuts and three instrumental sides by guitarist Big John Taylor (who played with Joy), Crash the Rockabilly Party has 28 cuts from Joy's early years -- quite a job, given how little Joy managed to get on the market in the 1950s. Certainly the cuts are rather similar-sounding, and Joy could have really done with a higher grade of material if he had wanted to make the big time. At his best, his all-out enthusiasm conquers the generic tunes, as on "Miss Bobby Sox," "Little Red Book," and "Spin the Bottle." At other times, it's apparent he's trying to follow someone's lead; "Ittie Bittie Everything" is sung as if under instructions to imitate Buddy Holly, for instance, while "Kiss Me" emulates Elvis Presley's ballad style, and "Bu...ndle of Love" sounds like a son of Elvis' "I Got Stung." - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Read more Less