1099 - Mojo Special 20. Various Artists - The Girl Can't Help It OST (1956)

Track Listing

1. The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
2. Tempo's Tempo - Nino Tempo
3. My Idea Of Love - Johnny Olenn
4. I Ain't Gonna Cry No More - Johnny Olenn
5. Ready Teddy - Little Richard
6. She's Got It! - Little Richard
7. Cool It Baby! - Eddie Fontaine
8. Cinnamon Sinner - The Chuckles
9. Spread The Word, Spread The Gospel - Abbey Lincoln
10. Cry Me A River - Julie London
11. Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
12. 20 Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran
13. Rock Around The Rock Pile - Fats Murdoch
14. Rockin' Is Our Bizness - The Treniers
15. Blue Monday - Fats Domino
16. You'll Never, Never Know - The Platters
17. Ev'rytime (feat. Ray Anthony) - Eileen Wilson, Ray Anthony Orchestra
18. Big Band Boogie - Ray Anthony Orchestra
19. The Girl Can't Help It (end credits) - Ray Anthony Orchestra

Review

A good soundtrack which is unfortunately composed of a lot of tracks I already own in other formats, actually some of the best tracks like Julie London's, Fats Domino's and Little Richard's have already been on this blog before in their own recordings. Still there are good things here like Gene Vincent's Be-Bop-A-Lula which we have not heard here before but surely have listened to plenty throughout our lives.

The extra material is not that impressive, there is a lot of big band music which somehow passed as rock in the 50s but is clearly out of place in such a rocky context. It is however an important historical soundtrack in its use of pretty good rock music during the 50s.

Fats and Little Richard sound way ahead of the game, Richard's flamboyant aggressiveness is extremely revolutionary here, breaking with the other music much more radically than anyone else. So some great tracks which can be gotten better in other media... oh well.

Track Highlights

1. Ready Teddy
2. She's Got It
3. Blue Monday
4. Be-Bop-A-Lula

oh and I need to include:

5. Cry Me a River

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The movie’s influence on rock music is significant. The film reached Liverpool, England in the early summer of 1957. The featured cameo performances of early rock ‘n’ roll stars such as Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent and His Bluecaps, fascinated a 16-year-old John Lennon by showing him, for the first time, his "worshipped" American rock ‘n’ roll stars as living humans and thus further inspiring him to pursue his own rock and roll dream.

Ready Teddy: