Hayden Thompson

Unsung rockabilly legend Hayden Thompson didn't have any hits. The few sides he cut for Sun records in 1956 and 1957 sadly fell through the cracks. Bear Family's single-disc compilation Rockabilly Gal: The Sun Years Plus highlights those lost definitive sides and much more. Thompson's most sought after track, "Love My Baby," may be more familiar via Junior Parker's original or Robert Gordon's version on his Rock Billy Boogie album. Backed up by Billy Lee Riley's band with Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, that cut alone should have sealed his place in the early rock pantheon between Elvis and Carl Perkins. During this period Thompson also waxed R&B classics like "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and "Kansas City" alongside a few hillbilly crooner cuts, including his first single released on the Von label in 1954, "I Feel the Blues Coming On" backed with "Act like You Love Me." While all of this rare material is highly recommended, keep in mind that the listed 35 tracks include alternate versions without a whole lot of difference between the master takes. Most listeners won't need three similar versions of "Love My Baby," but like most Bear Family releases, the tracks are broken up so as not to feature them successively. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide