Crash The Party (The Benny Joy Story 1957-61, Vol. 1)

'Joy only released three singles in the late 1950s (all here), but a bunch of previously unissued material (some without a full band) from the era was scoured up for various reissues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With the addition of half a dozen more unissued cuts and three instrumental sides by guitarist Big John Taylor (who played with Joy), Crash the Rockabilly Party has 28 cuts from Joy's early years -- quite a job, given how little Joy managed to get on the market in the 1950s. Certainly the cuts are rather similar-sounding, and Joy could have really done with a higher grade of material if he had wanted to make the big time. At his best, his all-out enthusiasm conquers the generic tunes, as on Miss Bobby Sox, Little Red Book, and Spin the Bottle. At other times, it's apparent he's trying to follow someone's lead; Ittie Bittie Everything is sung as if under instructions to imitate Buddy Holly, for instance, while Kiss Me emulates Elvis Presley's ballad style, and Bundle of Love sounds like a son of Elvis' I Got Stung'. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide