Three discs-48,49,51 minutes each approximately. The sound is fairly good, if a little thin-but the music is what's important here. The 12 page booklet contains an essay on the label, and a number of the artists/songs on this set. But for some reason 3 pages are taken up with track listings for both discs-why? Also included are a few b&w photos of some of the artists, and 45 Singles of the period. This collection is similar to the "Bullet Records Story" released by this same label a while back. The discs are in individual cardboard sleeves, and everything slides into a flimsy, fairly thin cardboard slipcase. Four "stars" because I personally like this style of music from this era. You may rate it a bit lower if this isn't exactly your cup of tea.
All three discs in this set feature a lot of hot (mostly) rhythm & blues (and a few doo-wop tracks), mostly by lesser known (unless you're a deep collector) artists. Included are Little Ike, Christine Kittrell, Gene Allison, Murfreesboro, Larry Birdsong, Little Shy Guy & the Hot Rods, The Kinglets, The Clips, The Daddy Dean Orchestra, and a number of others. Also included are the relatively well known Earl Gaines, and the gospel group, The Fairfield Four. The Jimmy Beck Orchestra contributes several atmospheric instrumentals also.
But don't let the lack of "name" performers fool you. This set is full of some strong r & b performances. The vocals are alive and exciting, and the bands are (for the most part) tough rocking groups. There's honking saxes, some good guitar work, and some great rhythm sections on these tracks. Champion Records was started in 1956 and went out of business in 1959. But during those few years they recorded some good to great r & b, which is well worth hearing.
This is another good example of what the smaller labels were recording during this period. Fans of r & b should check this out-you may be surprised at what you hear.