Not Now Music's three-disc, 75-track 2014 set Cruisin' Rockabilly is a heavy dose of jumping rockabilly and rock & roll, one that spends as much time on the margins as it does on the big names. And, make no mistake, there are some big names here, beginning with the king of rock & roll himself, Elvis Presley, and running through Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Jack Scott, Charlie Feathers, and Johnny Burnette. There are also cult favorites here -- the Collins Kids, Warren Smith, Sid King & the Five Strings, Billy "Crash" Craddock -- plus a bunch of other cool cats who are known to many, but not all, aficionados. It can be fun to spot trends, such as the rocking septuagenarians of Skeets McDonald's "You Oughta See Grandma Rock" and Mac Curtis' "Grandaddy's Rockin'," and find original versions of songs later popularized by big-name rockers (Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac," which was covered by the Clash on London Calling); it's also cool to hear a country singer like Dave Dudley dabble in rockabilly or discover the occasional song that shares a title with a better-known tune (Don Woody's "Bird Dog," which has nothing to do with the Everly Brothers song of the same name). Chronological order is thrown out the window, and there are some big artists and songs missing, but this never attempts to be a definitive rockabilly set: it's a cruise through the music's '50s heyday and it's plenty fun indeed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
