Shout Factory’s Boom Boom Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Best of Freddy Cannon is on par with Rhino’s Best of Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon, even though the track selection is slightly altered, omitting “Cha Cha Doo,” “You Know,” and “Boston My Home Town.” The main tracks are the hit versions originally recorded for the Swan label, alongside four recorded in the mid-’60s on Warner Bros and one released in 1981 on the Miasound label. Listening to these songs in chronological order makes you wonder why a lesser heard gem like “The Dedication Song” didn’t achieve the same lofty place in AM pop history as “Tallahassee Lassie” or “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.” Definitive versions of “Palisades Park,” “Abigail Beecher,” and “Action” sound great remastered, as do the more obscure numbers like “Twistin’ All Night Long,” from 1962 featuring Danny & the Juniors and “Let’s Put the Fun Back in Rock N Roll,” recorded in 1981 with the Belmonts. This fine package certainly won’t disappoint the “Boom Boom” novice or collector, because, after all, fun is timeless and this disc has that in spades! – Al Campbell