Destination Desert: 33 Oriental / Various Destination Desert: 33 Oriental / Various CD

Destination Desert: 33 Oriental Rock 'n' Roll Treasures Off to the desert, embark on a R 'n' R trip to the orient, to exotic destinations and distant cities: this CD edition from the 'Destination' series on Bear Family Records½ is all about rock 'n' roll and sheikhs, harems, oases, King Tut and Ali Baba and faraway places like Baghdad and Istanbul. -Musical companions include Bill Haley and his Comets, Jerry Reed, Art Neville, Dinah Washington, The Fendermen and Preston Love. -The playlist from the 1950s and early '60s provides Caravan, Come With Me To The Casbah, Turkish Doghouse, Ahab The Arab, Sinbad, Ali Ben Ghazi and more musical highlights. -Charmingly written liner notes and info on each performer by music historian Bill Dahl and careful re-mastering round out a delightful project. If you were astride a mighty camel while fearlessly navigating the wind-swept sands of the Sahara, good old-fashioned rock and roll would be just about the last commodity you would expect to encounter. Yet such fantastic scenarios inspired a slew of songs set to exotically rocking rhythms, their unusual narratives constructed around sheiks, harems, oases, King Tut and Ali Baba, and far-off locales like Bagdad and Istanbul. Those happen to be the very subjects dominating Bear Family's 'Destination Desert - 33 Oriental Rock 'n' Roll Treasures.' Some very unexpected names turn up on this anthology that you'd never expect to see searing their feet in such scorching, sun-strewn climes: rockabilly guitar ace Jerry Reed, for example, or sax wailer Preston Love, or New Orleans piano pounder Art Neville. Glamorous R&B chanteuses Dinah Washington and Big Maybelle seem highly unlikely candidates to hop aboard a dromedary, but they're here as well. The Fendermen, The Polk Brothers, and Bobby Christian offer contrasting treatments of Duke Ellington's immortal Caravan.

1. Jerry Reed - Rockin' In Bagdad 2. The Champs - Ali Baba (2 rmst.) 3. The Polk Brothers - Caravan Rock 4. The Ramrocks - Pasha 5. The Silver-Tones - Arabian Rock 6. Eddie 'The Sheik' Kochak - Shish Ka Bob Rock 7. The Majestics - Oasis 8. Big Maybelle - That's A Pretty Good Love 9. Jack Hammer - Ali Ben Ghazi 10. The Latins - Habibi Twist 11. The Slaves - Hari's Harem 12. The Saxons - Camel Walk -part I 13. Jo Ann Campbell - Ahab The Arab 14. Preston Love - Ali Baba's Boogie 15. The Colts - Sheik Of Araby 16. Dinah Washington - One Arabian Night 17. The Fendermen - Caravan 18. Ferlin Husky - Aladdin's Lamp 19. Leroy Holmes - In A Persian Market 20. Bill Haley and His Comets - Oriental Rock 21. Bobby Freeman - Sinbad 22. The Teentones - Sands Of Arabia 23. Ganimian and His Orientals - Come With Me To The Casbah 24. Dave ; The Customs - Ali Baba 25. Art Neville - Arabian Love Call 26. The Socialties - King Tut Rock 27. The Big Sound Of Don Ralke - Zooba! 28. Billy Grammer - Princess Of Persia 29. Johnny and The Hurricanes - Sheba 30. Kent Westberry - Turkish Doghouse Rock 31. The Renegades - Istanbul 32. The Sandpipers - Ali Baba 33. Bobby Christian - Caravan