Guitar Boogie Shuffle CD

Frank Virtue & The Virtues
Guitar Boogie Shuffle and Other Guitar Greats 1955-1962 CD

Philadelphia-born Frank Virtue first took up guitar and double bass as a teenager, in the mid-1940s.
His musical roots were based on the sound and style of the immediate pre-war Big Bands, and his earliest line-ups of The Virtues (originally called The Virtuosos Trio) reflected these influences.
By the mid-1950s they had expanded to a quintet and were playing Big Beat and embryonic Rock 'n' Roll, vying for popularity with local heroes Bill Haley & The Comets.
In 1959 they registered a hit with Guitar Boogie Shuffle, a revival of Arthur 'Guitar Boogie' Smith's 1940s hit, which made the U.S. Top 10 and sold a couple of million copies.
This collection is built upon the subsequent Guitar Boogie Shuffle LP, also issued in 1959, plus assorted 45rpms issued between 1955-62, credited variously to The Virtues, Frank Virtuoso, Frank Virtuoso & His Men Of Virtue, and Jimmy Vespe (the band's lead guitarist).