BEAR FAMILY REVIEWS AUGUST 2026
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘ROCK-A-BALLADS – FLIPSIDE DREAMS and Loving Schemes Vol 2’
(Bear Family)
The slow dance, the ‘erection section’ as our local club used to call it, to close the night or maybe just it started proper if you were lucky, existed well into the 1980’s. Here’s a rockabilly, rocker and teddy boys’ wet dream choice to hit the smoochy numbers floor from the 1950's and beyond. 31 tracks from the golden era of rock n roll. The compilers haven’t dug too deep into obscurities, after all this is just volume two and I imagine the possibilities going forward are endless. Having said that, we haven’t got obvious choices either, The Phantom with ‘Whisper Your Love,’ alongside Jody Reynolds, The Neutrons, Gene Vincent, Warren Smith, Charlie Feathers, mostly well known artists with songs less travelled but Ritchie Valens ‘Donna’ is including to make allcomers feel at home. Everyone needs a little love and there’s a ton of it here. The sleeve notes in the booklet are once again top notch as you’d expect from Bear Family.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘THE WORLD IS PINK – 30 TRACES OF PINK’
(Bear Family)
Oh yes, I can just imagine the slavering lips when given the job of compiling a 30 track compilation of ‘Pink’ themed songs from mostly the 1950’s. Carl Perkin’s brothers wanted to give Elvis a hiding when they first saw him on stage resplendent in pink clobber, before long everyone was wearing it, driving it and singing about it, pink that is. This is a gloriously florid ensemble of recordings, mostly rock n roll, real classics, ‘Sonny Fisher’s ‘Pink and Black’, Eddie Cochran’s ‘Pink Peg Slacks’ Carl Perkins ‘Pink Pedal Pushers’ but there are some excellent wild cards thrown in too, The Tads ‘Pink Panther,’ Lionel Hampton’s ‘Pink Champagne’ from 1950, as you’d expect from a Bear Family, ‘theme’ compilation, and what a flavoursome combination of tracks they’ve come up, any you don’t know about, you will after the read the magnificent booklet, add it to your collection.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISITS
‘DIESEL SMOKE and DANGEROUS CURVES’
(Bear Family)
Sub headed ‘A truckload full of country boppers for the road’ you can’t really argue with the description. The tracks democratically span about 20 years of songs regaling the life of a trucker. It didn’t appear to change much from 1951 to 1969, they drove their rigs around the towns and cities of the good ole US of A for days and weeks at a time, guzzled down amphetamine pills with strong coffee to keep lead in their pencils, no doubt stirred each other’s porridge entertaining the good ole gals that served them and kept the country moving while still finding time to record some great tunes bigging up the life they'd chosen as warriors of the road. It’s doubtful that many of the singers of these songs actually drove big eight wheelers but they came up with some great music and some lived very colourful lives, read all about them in the booklet, great stuff.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘DESTINATION HAWAII’
(Bear Family)
There’s a guy that can’t marry his fiancé because she wants to honeymoon in Hawaii and several others who are waxing lyrical about the paradise island in the sun that never made it there though found someone who could play a mean steel guitar and a rocking band. There are 33 tracks here that bring the delights of palm trees swaying in unison with grass skirted dancers and some excellent rocking and not too rocking bands. Falling into the latter sphere though no less enjoyable Bing Crosby kicks things off for the theme, his dulcet tones meandering through the decades from 1937 following his vanguard are a luminary bunch of country and rock n roll stars with as you’d expect some left of field entries, Ertha Kitt, Gary Williams and Paul Kuhn to name but three. This album is Ambiance with an intentional capital, you can almost feel the sand in your blue suede shoes.
Simon Nott
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