http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Hits-Walking-New-Orleans/dp/B000S868Y6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1290113739&sr=1-1

That's a pretty thorough and inexpensive way to go.

A boxed set like this http://www.amazon.com/Walking-New-Orleans-Fats-Domino/dp/B00005YU8W/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1290113739&sr=1-9 would be even better, but obviously more expensive.

You gotta start somewhere though.

Domino is the most criminally underrated artist of all-time. This is mainly because of who is doing the judging of history and who they like. Most of those writers and historians came of age in the 60's and they worship the 60's era artists like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and Bob Dylan and since those artists have been far more vocal about their love of Chuck Berry, it stands to reason that in the eyes of the writers, historians and critics it would be Berry of all the 50's artists who they'd go back to praise. Consequently Berry's stature rose over time while Domino's has diminished. That's totally wrong.

Here's the Domino page on DDD that I wrote (Bruce did the song and album listings).
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_artists-bio/fatsdomino.html

Read it, then pick up the book by Rick Coleman that is mentioned on the bottom of the page along with the album recommendation I just made in the previous post to learn even more.

Thanks for the info Sampson.

I have to say this is the best work that I have seen on DDD and exactly what I was looking for:
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/b ... omino.html

You have a good point, though. It seems to me that if Fats Domino is a greater rock artist than Chuck Berry in the fifties, then he would also be the greater rock artist on the all-time list. They both had one top ten hit on the singles chart in the sixties, although Fats had many more in the Top Forty than Chuck. As for the seventies, I doubt "My-Ding-a-Ling" justifies putting Chuck over Fats on the all-time list. But I think his influence should. The electric guitar became the dominant instrument of rock 'n' roll thanks in large part to Chuck Berry. But if that puts Chuck over Fats on the all-time list, then I think it ought to for the fifties list, as well. But Sampson didn't make the all-time list, so I'm not sure which of the two he thinks is the greater artist.

EDIT: Looks like he thinks it's Fats.

Yes, I remember that there was a time when I thought that those were the big 5 of '50s rock. The explanations that you and Sampson have given pretty well explain the reasons for that. I'd add that some sources pretty much ignore everything pre-1955 - I didn't even learn about Elvis' Sun Sessions until later - so it cuts into Domino's legacy if you ignore his early work, though even from '55 on, he has a more important body of work than JLL.

I agree that more recent rock artists have tended to not be that big on Fats, although Van Morrison is a Domino fan.

If you're looking for an Everly Brothers compilation, the challenge is that they moved from Cadence to Warner Brothers in the middle or slightly after the middle of their peak years, and most of the compilations are for one of the 2 labels, and what I think would be ideal (taking economy into account) would be a well-filled single disc covering both labels. What I have is the vinyl 2 disc 24 Original Classics on Artista, which would be a good choice if it were on CD, but I don't think it is. Time-Life's The Rock 'n' Roll Era: The Everly Brothers - 1957-1962 is a well-chosen 22 song set, but it's from the '80s, so there may be later compilations with better sound quality.

... one of my personal favourite avant garde artists emerging into the 50`s and would highly recommend the following album ... Moondog a sort of weirder but more eccentric earlier version of Frank Zappa if you will ..... Take care

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJXS3LBWFOQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqaycpzPqZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azb2Uv-M9s8

Here's the best current single purchase for the Everly Brothers. A two-disc set, recently remastered so it's got good sound. I think it's missing a few important Cadence sides (Wonder If I Care As Much, This Little Girl Of Mine, Poor Jenny, Claudette, Take A Message To Mary, I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail, Love Of My Life), but the great thing about music now is if you get a really strong collection to start with, you can just download individual tracks it may be missing and fill out your collection that way.

This one has got the best variety of Warner Brothers stuff on it too, with the original version of Love Hurts (later made famous by Nazareth) and Gone, Gone, Gone, Man With Money and Bowling Green that sometimes get left off other collections. So this is the way to go for The EVerly Brothers and at 15 bucks its the best value too.

http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Pop-Everly-Brothers/dp/B000GH3QC6/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1290124765&sr=1-2

... and there certainly weren`t any long haired artists in the 50`s such as Moondog..... Take care

Also a main reason why "rock 'n' roll" as a term became necessary, when he sued Alan Freed over the right to use the name Moondog (Freed's nickname and the title of his radio show in Cleveland). Freed lost and dubbed the NYC show "Rock 'n' Roll" Party" and the term caught on nationally within weeks (the music was already widely referred to as rock 'n' roll - as well as rhythm & blues - since the late 40's, but this is when it became known by nothing BUT that).

Life Magazine released a decent issue for the 40th anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll in 1992. They chose the Moondog Coronation Ball of 1952 as their start date. That concert is also the primary reason the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is located in Cleveland.

When the term "rock n roll" was turn into simply rock?

Exactly, I agree with much of that.

Wouldn't it also stand to reason that if Chuck Berry was more influential to artists such as Bob Dylan and The Beatles that he was overall more influential than Fats?

...impressed on how quickly recognized .... "why" the Moondog posting as a reference point to the 50`s .... Take care

... and trip further into the music of the 50`s ... if there was a Pink Floyd in the 50`s it would have been Kenny Graham and his Satellites ... one of the early Joe Meek artists ...have called the first tune below the beginning of Prog Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnskASlKlsA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gti9uFdb ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4CcZsR8 ... re=related

Joe Meek was not progressive rock or psychedelic rock but more like sci-fi music which is totally different. I know one thing the man was awesome in his time.

... and if there was a Zeppelin in the 50`s .... it would be Willie Nix .... Take care

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66oceB6lXTA