Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks - The Roulette Years

This 57-track double-CD set seems like a no-brainer -- get almost all of Ronnie Hawkins' rock & roll recordings in one place. The packaging here is good, thoughtful, and legitimate, but could also be a little misleading to those who are buying this expecting to hear a lot of early work by the musicians who later became The Band -- Levon Helm was aboard on drums from The Hawks' first official recordings, but the remainder didn't begin arriving on the scene until almost two years later; they're only on hand more than one or two at a time for less than half of what's here. Read More