Bear Family Germany

Town Hall Party was California's largest country music barn dance, and it ran from early 1952 until early 1961. The show was broadcast every Saturday night from a theater made up to look like an old barn, in the Compton suburb of Los Angeles. The guest list was a "who's who" of country, rockabilly, and rock 'n roll. Here's incredibly rare footage of Eddie Cochran filmed Feb. 7th, 1959. This DVD includes a rare interview with Cochran, and he performs C'mon Everybody, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, Don't Blame It on Me, Summertime Blues, School Days, Be Honest with Me, Money Honey and others.

To date, we've seen the same footage of Gene Vincent and other early stars of rock 'n roll over and over again. It seemed as though there wasn't much...and we'd seen it all. But then Bear Family did an exclusive deal for the rights to the old Town Hall Party show, California's largest country music barn dance. On this DVD, we see Gene with the Blue Caps filmed Oct. 25th, 1958, as well as July 25th and Nov. 7th, 1959. He sings Be-Bop-A-Lula, High Blood Pressure, Rip It Up, Dance to The Bop, You Win Again, For Your Precious Love, Rocky Road Blues, Pretty Pearly, Be-Bop-A-Lula, High School Confidential, Over the Rainbow, Roll Over Beethoven and She She Little Sheila.

Here are priceless performances filmed during the Town Hall Party show, broadcast every Saturday night in the Compton suburb of Los Angeles. Bob performs on shows taped on Sept. 21st & 27th, 1958, as well as Oct. 4th & 25th 1958. Here, we see why Luman was one of rock 'n roll's all-time great performers as he sings Svengali, I Walk the Line, Blue Suede Shoes, Ready Teddy, Shake, Rattle & Roll, Rockin' Robin, Early in the Morning, Folsom Prison Blues, Precious, Oh Lonesome Me, Itchy Twitchy Feeling, Love Makes the World Go Round, Stagger Lee, A Lover's Question, I Got a Woman and My Baby Walks All Over Me.

We've heard so much about how great the Collins Kids were on the old Town Hall Party shows, but now there's finally a chance for us all to see just how great they really were. Lorrie looked like an angel and sang like an angel. Larry was among the era's most dynamic performers. He could run, jump, and duckwalk…all while playing a guitar that was almost as big as he was. This DVD really sets the record straight. The Collins Kids might have had no hits, but they were among the brightest stars in early rock 'n roll. Here (from 1954-58) they're mostly playing other peoples' hits, blues hits, and pop classics, but they're never outclassed by the originals.