Crest Records was founded in 1947 as an offshoot of American Music Publishing, who handled some of the top songwriters from the early days of country music. When rhythm & blues began crossing paths with hillbilly music and spawning rock & roll, Crest was one of the many independent labels that hopped on the bandwagon, and this compilation from the German SPV label collects 30 tunes from Crest's archives. Crest's best known act was Eddie Cochran, who cut some country-flavored sides for the label and scored his first rock & roll hit with "Skinny Jim" before moving on to Liberty Records, where he recorded his best and best known work; "Skinny Jim" makes the cut here, as well as a C&W number he recorded with Bob Denton, "Pretty Little Devil." Glen Campbell also recorded some early material for Crest, and "Buzz Saw" (credited to the Gee Cees) is a tough instrumental number with Campbell's guitar work facing off against a horn section. Beyond Cochran and Campbell's juvenilia, the best known release from Crest was Tommy Dee's "Three Stars," a maudlin tribute to Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper released only a few weeks after their fatal plane crash in February 1959 (oddly, Eddie Cochran also cut a version of the tune, and his less saccharine, more heartfelt interpretation is vastly superior), and the rest of The Best of Crest Records is devoted to lesser-known material. But most of the tracks on this collection are fun stuff, ranging from swinging country boogie verging on rock (Tom Wilson's "Can You Bop" and Hank Sanders' "Been Gone a Long Time"), wild R&B ("Function at the Junction" by Smoki Whitfield), and hot instrumentals "Ridin' the Frets" by the Desert Stars) to lots of potent early rock & roll. Crest may not have been one of the great labels of the first rock & roll era, but this stroll through their catalog shows they released more than their share of top-notch singles, and there are plenty of fine sounds to be found here.