Dootsie Williams' DooTone Records had a special policy when it came to recording the R&B vocal groups that Williams found singing in the Los Angeles area during the first half of the '50s, and it's evident from the opening song, "Be Fair" by the Pipes (led by Huey Roundtree), on this 28-track collection. Unlike a lot of other record company heads of the era, who tried to dress up their acts as professionally as possible, embellishing their work to make it seem polished and professional, he would keep any musical accompaniment or backing arrangement to an absolute minimum, so that the raw "street" quality of the singing came through. There would be a bass and drums present, and maybe a piano and even occasionally a saxophone break, but the latter would never eclipse the singing, which was the point of the recording in the first place. The result of that policy, as demonstrated here, is a surprisingly raw and honest body of R&B harmony vocal music -- commonly called doo wop -- that manages to be both authentically "street" in its sensibilities yet just professional enough to be radio-friendly. "Strange Love Affair" by the Dootones is perhaps the perfect example of Williams' notion at work, virtually a cappella except for a tiny bit of tinkling piano and a bass that's barely audible. As is usually the case with these Ace Records compilations, the selections are impeccable and the mastering is a match, bringing out details that were present but not always obvious on the original records, either in the singing or accompaniment. An occasional blues-style track, such as "I Cried All Night" by Charles McCullogh & the Silks -- which is unusually guitar-heavy for a song on this collection, and closer in spirit to Chicago blues (and, if that's what you're into, is almost worth the price of admission by itself) than to doo wop -- sneaks in, but in the main this is as solid an R&B vocal collection as you're going to find. As an added enticement, the annotation by Jim Dawson is thorough and detailed, and the only complaint that one has is the size of the typeface on the latter, which is barely readable, and not easily legible even with a magnifier. ~ Bruce Eder