This tribute to the influential (ask Paul Simon, who memorialized him in "The Late, Great Johnny Ace") R&B balladeer was originally released in 1957, three years after he (allegedly) accidentally killed himself playing Russian Roulette. It's an improvement on the abbreviated eight-song 10-inch LP version that came out in 1955, but sadly, it doesn't collect all of Ace's recordings (he had three other singles) and it stints on the harder, rock & roll numbers that appeared on his b-sides. Nevertheless, this is a fine introduction to a seminal artist, and it proves that there was more to him--a lot more--than his best-known hit, the often-covered "Pledging My Love."
