America's Greatest Hits: 1952

by Various Artists

America in 1952 was to say the least a very significant year. Television was getting a foothold and the most significant events in music was the first reported 'Rock 'n' Roll riot at Alan Freed's Moondog Celebration Ball in Cleveland, Ohio, the first broadcast of 'American Bandstand' (without Dick Clark) and on March 27th the opening of Sun Studios in Memphis Tennessee. These last three occurrences had a profound impact on most of the artists featured on this CD; America's Greatest Hits of 1952. All of these titles reached the top 3 on the Billboard charts for the year. Pee Wee King's opening track was surely one of the first Country titles to cross over to the pop charts. Mind you the country artists and writers were supplying a lot of crossover hits in this period and Jo Stafford's cover of Hank Williams; "Jambalaya" was no exception. Al Martino's big ballad "Here In My Heart" also has the distinction of being the very first No 1 on the very first British Hit Parade in 1952. This album is very much a barometer of the popular sounds of the day with, perhaps, the exception of Johnny Standley's "It's In the Book", a big favourite on BBC Radio at the time but never a UK hit. It's a parody of fundamentalist preachers and is presented here in its full-length version, which featured a sing along gospel pastiche.