Cool It Baby compiles 18 recordings
Milt Trenier and
the Treniers cut for various RCA labels in the mid-'50s, including seven previously unreleased songs. The Treniers' OKeh recordings are much better known, but
Milt Trenier's solo recordings compiled here date from the same period -- he waxed them in between
the Treniers' OKeh sessions in 1953-1954.
Trenier's raucous brand of rock & roll is so exhilarating that even hitting "Rock Bottom" seems like a cause for celebration. The Treniers weren't scoring any hits during this period, but their songs are interesting --
Milt's first RCA session included three
Leiber & Stoller songs;
the Treniers recorded an unlikely cover of
Jaye P. Morgan's pop hit "The Longest Walk" that remained unissued until 1988; and "Cool It, Baby" is paint-by-numbers rock & roll recorded for the 1956 film Teenage Rebel. The group's indefatigable allegiance to uptempo music is evident on the instrumental "Sorrento," which switches gears from romantic to rock in the second half, while "(We Want A) Rock and Roll President" expresses the urgent need for rockin' representation in the White House. Bear Family issued a second volume,
Hey Sister Lucy, that compiles
the Treniers' late-'40s recordings for the Mercury label with several songs from the same RCA sessions that
Cool It Baby covers.