The Ultimate School of Rock & Roll - Album Reviews

Album Reviews

• "The perfect summation of Gene Summers' career, The Ultimate School of Rock & Roll offers 32 tracks spanning the years 1957-77, although the preponderance of the collection is devoted to his early rockabilly and rock'n'roll recordings. Summers was a regional artist, but his classic rockabilly sides are masterpieces of the genre. In the '60s Summers stuck with rock'n'roll instead of performing straight country like most former rockabilly artists, and his efforts from this period wouldn't sound out of place on the Nuggets box set. Also of interest is a topical song from 1968 about the theft of Bonnie (of Bonnie and Clyde fame) Parker's headstone, and a song written for Elvis on which he approximates Elvis' vocal style. A lot of care obviously went into this package, which features excellent notes, session info, photos, and numerous previously unreleased tracks." - Greg Adams, All Music Guide, 1997

• ".....All of Gene Summers’ rocking recordings together on one CD –what more could a rockabilly fan ask for? Also included are rare out-takes and previously unissued performances from the Head Teacher at the School of Rock 'n Roll." - CD Review, 1999

• "In my hands I have maybe the most complete Gene Summers compilation ever released, the best looking one for sure, this set of 35 tracks is based on another compilation released in 1997 in the USA by Crystal Clear Sound from Dallas, Texas. In order to offer the Rockabilly side of Summers the pals at Roller Coaster have excluded some of the songs from the 60's originally released by Crystal Clear and which won't be missed by the Rockabilly lovers and have added 14 unreleased tracks that are partly songs from the 50's and mostly different versions of Nervous, Twixteen, Fancy Dan and others, plus a few recordings from the early 80's made in England with the best Rockabilly musicians of the moment backing Summers. The presentation of the CD on a cardboard open out sleeve cannot be better; filled with cool pictures and a 28 page booklet in the fabulous line of the latest Rollercaster Records releases, the Rolapak rules again! A must have. -Carlos Diaz, Rock Therapy Magazine, 1999

• Rockin' Rock A Billy, February 20, 2007
  "An excellent rock-a-billy CD. I'd put it at the top of my rock-a-billy collection, which is pretty good sized. A must have disc for rock-a-billy music fans. We play it a lot during the Rock-a-billy Review radio show." - The Mean-Eyed Cat, KNON-FM Radio, Dallas, Texas

• Excellent & essential, March 4, 2007
  "Top notch material, revved up 3 chord R&R and a few smooth ballads. Good quality mastering (probably from vinyl but sounds very good).... I hadn't heard much about Gene until someone sent an MP3, and I got the full CD. Why he isn't up there with Gene (Vincent), Eddie (Cochran) and Buddy (Holly) I really don't know! Added many tracks to my oldies station, excellent stuff!" - AnotherMusicExpert (Duluth, MN USA)