"Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Vol. 10" (11/05/2002) Oldies Various Artists, AcePerformers include: Bobby Darin, Janis Martin, The Coasters, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Bobbettes, Roy Hamilton, Royal Teens, Sammy Masters, Lee Dorsey, Titus Turner, The Volumes, Jerry Butler, The Impressions, The 5 Royals, Clyde McPhatter. Contains 30 tracks. As inevitably happens when the number of volumes in an anthology series runs into the double digits, the tenth installment of the vaunted Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll series is a little diluted in comparison with its earlier counterparts. This digs a little deeper into the lower regions of the charts than most of the prior volumes. While that's a boon for collectors looking for minor early rock & roll chart hits that are rarely anthologized or even played on oldies stations, usually those lower-charting singles weren't nearly as good as the high-charting classics. Still, you can't fault the quantity of songs -- 30 tracks -- and there are a good number of higher-charting classics to balance the rarer but less-interesting rarities. Among those classics are the Coasters' "Searchin'," Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," Clyde McPhatter's "A Lover's Question," Ricky Nelson's "Stood Up," Jerry Butler's "For Your Precious Love," Lloyd Price's "Just Because," the Chords' "Sh-Boom," Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "Ain't Got No Home," Carl Mann's "Mona Lisa," and Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya" -- none of them hard to find, but all of them a pleasure to hear. Among the best of the lesser-known songs are the 5 Royales' magnificent original version of "Dedicated to the One I Love"; Janis Martin's "Will You, Willyum," an outstanding example of the rarely traveled field of female rockabilly; Roy Orbison's early minor rockabilly hit "Ooby Dooby"; and the Cleftones' "Little Girl of Mine," an acknowledged doo wop standard despite making only number 57 on the charts. There are also numerous barely charting rock & roll, doo wop, and rockabilly singles by the likes of Sammy Masters, Donnie Elbert, the Schoolboys, Titus Turner, the Cues, and Sonny Spencer that aren't too interesting, but are inarguably underexposed and hard to find on reissues. As for oddities, the leading contender is the Bobbettes' "I Shot Mr. Lee," their belated follow-up to their huge 1957 hit "Mr. Lee." ~ Richie Unterberger