Various Artists - A-Z: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll

Styles: Roots Rock, Rockabilly, Boogie-Woogie, Western Swing, Jump Blues, Country & Western

Review by Maddy Costa: Impeccably put together by precocious teen siblings - Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - this compilation gleefully rummages through the 1940s and 50s with such joy that both aficionados and those who wouldn't know boogie-woogie from rockabilly should be equally entertained. The high number of novelties - notably Louis Jordan's School Days and the Western Melody Makers' Who Put the Turtle in Myrtle's Girdle - heightens the impression that the trio were rocking to this stuff in the cot. But that innocence is balanced by rude sauce and sass: Rufus Thomas's Bear Cat, a hiss-spit riposte to Hound Dog, or the Swallows' It Ain't the Meat, a glorious celebration of the female body, whatever its shape. The siblings' own cover of a 1940s song, called Ooo Wee, is so authentic that only the demotic London accent gives its modernity away.

Disc: 1
01. Albert Ammons - Boogie Woogie Stomp
02. Rufus Thomas - Bear Cat
03. Spade Cooley - Oklahoma Stomp
04. Floyd Dixon - Hey Bartender
05. The Flamingos - The Hot Guitar
06. Little Junior's Blue Flames - Jump Children
07. Oscar McLollie - Feelin' Good
08. Oscar McLollie - Hey Lolly Lolly
09. The Swallows - It Ain't the Meat
10. Louis Jordan - School Days
11. Sid King - Sag Drag & Fall
12. Pete Lewis - Louisiana Shop
13. Miller-Olsen Combo - Twist All Wrong
Time: 34:28 Min

Disc: 2
01. Willie Nix - Baker Shop Boogie
02. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Ooo Wee
03. Earl Hines & His Orchestra - Piano Man
04. Andy Starr - Dig Them Squeaky Shoes
05. Louis Jordan - Run Joe
06. Tex Williams & His Western Caravan - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
07. Blanche Thomas - You Ain't So Such a Much
08. Unknown - Grandma's Rockin'
09. The Platters - Voo-Vee-Ah-Bee
10. The Western Melody Makers - Who Put the Turtle in My Myrtle's Girdle
11. Johnny Carroll & The Hot Rocks - Hot Rock
12. Roy Brown - Rock-A-Bye Baby
13. Bob Zurke - Honky Tonk Train Blues
Time: 34:02 Min

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