An overlooked pioneer of rock and roll, guitarist and vocalist Charlie Gracie (b 1936) is re-evaluated on this fun loving 2 disc set that covers his days with a plethora of labels.
Gracie’s voice and delivery was sort of a mixture of Buddy Holly and Conway Twitty, mixing a hiccupping singing style with a dash of growl, while his guitar playing was rooted in R&B and rockabilly. He swings hard on material like the 8 to the bar “Boogie Woogie Blues while he’s backed by a Mel-Tones-ish chorus on “Rockin’ and Rollin’”. He had a big hit with the bopping “Butterfly” with his vocal mix of twang and soul, while showing how to deliver a heartfelt ballad on “Fabulous.” He gets into an R&B mood and does a nice impersonation of Porky Pig as he stutter’s through “W-Wow” and gives a rocking swing to the standard “Makin’ Whoopie”. It gets fun at the end of the collection with some recordings from TV, as his appearance on the Paul Whiteman Show have him giving a comet of a “Rock The Join” and his guitar sizzles like Dick Dale on “Guitar Boogie> An appearance on Dick Clark’s nascent TV show has him singing to raise funds on “Fabulous” while Gracie boogies to the end on “Cool Baby”. An overlooked gem.