"Dancin' And Twistin'" by HANK BALLARD And THE MIDNIGHTERS – Tracks from 1959 to 1969 on Federal and King Records (October 2000 UK Ace Records CD Compilation with Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, DOO WOP, ROOTS

RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD 

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"…Mary Is Doin' It! 

So Is Sue! 

It's Twistin' Time!"

Now here's a sweetie CD covering Ballard's stay at King and Federal from 1958 to 1969 concentrating on his dance-craze string of American 45's. Here are the hip-swivelling details…

UK released October 2000 – "Dancin'’ And Twistin'" by HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS on Ace Records CHDCD 779 (Barcode 029667177924) is a CD Compilation of Remasters that breaks down as follows (65:40 minutes):

HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS

1. The Twist (1959, King 5171, A)

THE MIDNIGHTERS

2. Rock And Roll Wedding (1955, Federal 12240, A)

3. Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More) (1955, Federal 12224, A)

4. E Basta Cosi (1957, Federal 12293, A)

5. Rock, Granny, Roll (1956, Federal 12260, A)

HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS

6. The Coffee Grind (1960, King 5312, A)

7. Finger Poppin' Time (1960, King 5341, A)

8. Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go ((1960, King 5400, A)

9. The Hoochi Coochi Coo (1960, King 5430, A)

10. The Continental Walk (1961, King 5491, A)

11. Let's Go Again (Where We Went Last Night) (1961, King 5459, A)

12. The Float (1961, King 5510, A)

13. The Switch-A-Roo (1961, King 5510, B)

14. Keep On Dancing (1961, King 5535, A)

15. It's Twistin’ Time (1962, King 5601, A)

16. Good Twistin' Tonight (1962, King 5635, A)

17. Do You Know How To Twist? (1962, King 5593, A)

HANK BALLARD

18. That Low Down Move (1963, King 5719, A)

19. (I'm Going Back To) The House On The Hill (1963, King 5719, A)

20. Poppin' The Whip (1965, King 5996, A)

21. Sleep And Slide (1965, King 6018, A)

22. Dance Till It Hurtcha (1967, King 6092, A)

23. Funky Soul Train (1967, King 6131, A)

24. Butter Your Popcorn (1969, King 6244, A)

Compiled by JOHN BROVEN and PAUL HARRIS – Harris' liner notes in the 12-page booklet are peppered with label repros - pictures of Federal 12224 ("Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)", Federal 12240 ("Rock And Roll Wedding"), Federal 12260 ("Rock, Granny, Roll"), King 5593 ("Do You Know How To Twist"), the British 45 for his iconic hit "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's GO” on Parlophone 45-R 4707 and a few others. 

The back page has sheet music to "Finger Poppin' Time" (in colour), a photo of the band having a laugh as they do 'The Twist' live, trade adverts for King Records and even a rare 45 picture sleeve that gives typed instructions as to "How To Do The Continental Walk". It's a fun read as you can imagine and all of it complimented by DUNCAN COWELL Remasters from original analogue master tapes.

The audio quality on stuff like "Rock And Roll Wedding" is fantastic ("…there was a boy named Rock and a girl named Roll…") - the same for "The Coffee Grind" with the drums bashing away as the girls sing, "They did the Susie Q!" after each verse.

I've always dug the upbeat dancer "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" while the faster pace of "The Switch-A-Roo" sounds like a hit and it was (it went to Number 3 on the American R&B charts). Of his solo Hank Ballard sides, he sounds closest to James Brown on "That Low Down Move" and "Poppin' The Whip" while "Funky Soul Train" has a great Stereo remaster complete with brass fills in-between the driving beat. "It's Twistin' Time" is probably the best of his dance craze themed songs ("Mary is doing it…so is Sue…") and again it's here in great sound quality.

Not all genius of course, but the good stuff is great and with that top drawer audio – a must buy for fans…