Holly, Cash Hits Revisited as CDs

One of the most engaging nights on the Los Angeles club scene occurs each Jan. 8 when a couple of dozen local rockers gather at the Music Machine to salute Elvis Presley’s birthday.

The musicians perform their favorite Elvis songs (or sometimes Elvis’ dumbest recordings) with a sense of relaxed fun rather than competitive tension.

That same, inviting spirit is reflected in “Every Day Is a Holly Day,” a delightful tribute to another classic ‘50s rocker, Buddy Holly.

Just released in the United States by Emergo Records, the album was produced in France by Patrick Mathe of New Rose Records to mark the 30th anniversary of Holly’s death in a Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash. It features 17 chiefly roots-minded rockers, each performing one song by or associated with Holly.

The artists, best known within alternative rock circles, range from the Shoes (doing “Words of Love”) and Elliott Murphy (“Everyday”) to Chris Spedding (“It’s So Easy”), Tav Falco’s Panther Burns (“Peggy Sue”), the Lolitas (“Not Fade Away”) and Chris Bailey (“It Doesn’t Matter Any More”).

Much the same affectionate, good-natured spirit is also exhibited in a salute to Johnny Cash that was released earlier this year in England by Red Rhino Records to raise funds for an AIDS-related campaign. Titled “ ‘Til Things Are Brighter,” the 13-song album is available here in shops that carry CD imports. It, too, features artists best known by alternative rock fans.

Among the participants: Michelle Shocked (“One Piece at a Time”), Pete Shelley (“Straight A’s in Love”), the Mekons (“Folsom Prison Blues”) and Marc Almond (“Man in Black”).

A second compilation, just relased in England by Start Records, also salutes a classic rock figure, Bob Dylan, but this album brings together previously released recordings rather than versions recorded specifically for the album. Also unlike the other two salutes, “The Songs of Bob Dylan” features mostly internationally known artists.

The 77-minute CD (an even longer two-record vinyl set is also available) features Bryan Ferry (“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”), Elvis Presley (“Tomorrow’s a Long Time”), the Byrds (“Mr. Tambourine Man”), Siouxsie and the Banshees (“This Wheel’s on Fire”), Eric Clapton (“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”) and Jerry Lee Lewis (“Rita Mae”).

CD BUDGET FILE: Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett’s “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall” (originally released in 1962) and separate 16-selection, easy-listening retrospectives by Percy Faith, Mitch Miller and Jim Nabors have all been released by Columbia Records. . . . Among the sound-tracks just released in CD by Capitol: “Giant,” “The Deer Hunter” and “Romeo and Juliet”. . . . PolyGram has issued five albums Chuck Berry recorded in the ‘60s for Mercury after leaving Chess Records, where he did his most acclaimed work. They include “Live at the Fillmore”. . . . PolyGram has also released in CD seven early Kiss packages, including “Alive” and “Alive II.”