As an overview of
Price's ABC-Paramount years, this is markedly inferior to MCA's prior CD collection,
Greatest Hits: The Original ABC-Paramount Recordings. That disc had 18 tracks; this one has just 12, all of which are also on
Greatest Hits: The Original ABC-Paramount Recordings. Still, it does zero in on his most popular recordings for the label, at the time during which
Price's pop crossover success peaked. The biggest hits are all here: "Stagger Lee," "Just Because," "Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)," "I'm Gonna Get Married," "Personality," "Lady Luck," and "Question." It might not be as down-home New Orleans R&B as his earlier Specialty recordings, but it's good late-'50s rock & roll that comfortably integrates R&B and pop. Note that the version of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is not his original 1952 R&B hit (recorded for Specialty), but a late-'50s remake. ~ Richie Unterberger