New Orleans Rock & Roll Party

A delightful collection of sides recorded between 1955 and 1959 at J&M and Cosimo's studios and originally released on regional New Orleans labels, this set of lively party songs from Night Train Records is full of rare gems like Billy Tircuit's goofy and infectious "Crazy Green Lizard," Stella Johnson's stark "Trial of Stagger Lee," Al Reed's conjunto-like "El Rancho Grande," and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold," a hard-charging, triple-time march from Big Al Downing. Most of these tracks are hybrids, poised right at the cusp of New Orleans R&B and sax-driven early rock & roll, making this set historically interesting as well as being a stomping good listen.