Monna Bell: Sus Primeros EP's (1959-61) ... plus

Monna Bell, was born in Chile but settled in Spain in the late '50s and recorded for Hispavox from 1957 through 1967, a period in which she enjoyed immense international popularity. Even though she continued recording in Mexico for the Musart and Orfeon labels, it is her Hispavox recordings that guarantee her place in history forever. This compilation of Monna Bell's legendary recordings gathers a generous amount of her classics, most recorded with orchestras conducted by two Spanish musical geniuses, Augusto Algueró Jr. and Gregorio García Segura, who were also responsible for the arrangements. Here you will find all the songs that made Miss Bell an international sensation including 'Un Telegrama', the jazzy tune that won, thanks to her interpretation, the top spot at the First Song Festival in Benidorm, Spain in 1959. It has been reported that 'Un Telegrama' was recorded more than ninety times by other artists, but Monna's version remains the definite rendition. No wonder if you consider that Miss Bell is one of the few Latin singers that could be considered a true jazz singer. She not only improvised in her interpretations but her phrasing was both impeccable and inventive. She had the rare quality of singing behind the beat to stress a phrase or a word and then speed things up to come back right on place. Her genius made even the most banal tunes like 'El Día de los Enamorados' or 'Comunicando' sound interesting, but she was definitely at her best when she transposed her jazz style to ballads such as the mesmerizing 'La Montaña.' Her unique approach is also felt in steamy boleros such as 'Silencio Corazón', 'Aún Te Sigo Amando' or 'Recordaré Tu Amor.' Hear the romance on her voice as she softly utters 'Un Amor Inolvidable', the love theme from the film 'An Affair to Remember' one of many American tunes she covered in Spanish. She can also sound wicked and mischievous when she attacks samba-flavored tunes 'Amor en Río' or 'Pan, Amor y Besos' and she is delightful doing something so incoherent as 'Domenica Es Siempre Domenica,' an Italian-Spanish tune that might sound an abomination today, but was quite popular in the late '50s. In short, these collection is the best proof that Monna Bell was a great vocalist who created a style and had a unique sound, unlike the all-alike crap we are being fed today on Spanish-language radio and television. I added as an extra gift a sampling of Monna's '60s repertoire, including jazzy tunes with romantic boleros, European ballads, and those crazy novelty numbers that were so popular then and were probably imposed upon the vocalist by the record producers. Included are 'Chiquitina' and 'Tómbola' (also recorded by the Spanish child prodigy Marisol), 'Nubes de Colores', 'La Chica de Ipanema', 'La Playa', 'Trenes, Barcos y Aviones' and 'Estaba escrito', a song that was in the OST of the Almodovar's film "Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón". 73 songs in all!! Partially taken from Marcos' review on http://www.amazon.com/
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Monna Bell performing 'Desafinado'. Excerpt of the Julián Soler's film Buenas Noches, Año Nuevo, from 1964:

Monna Bell singing live 'Rogar' and 'Pequeña Mía':

Lori Burton: Breakout (1967) ... plus

So you think the Shangri-Las were tough and streetwise girls? Well, you ain't heard nothing. The Whyte Boots 'Nightmare' takes the 'Leader of the Pack' scenario to the next level: a girl has been showing off the singer's boyfriend's ring, leading to a vicious catfight in which one of the girls is killed!! Woah! But in reality, the Whyte Boots did not exist, but were a construct of Brill Building hit girls Lori Burton and Pam Sawyer. Together they formed one of the better New York pop/rock songwriting teams of the '60s, although not too many of their songs were widely known hits. Their 'I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore' gave the Rascals their first chart entry; 'Baby Let's Wait,' also done by the Rascals, gave the Royal Guardsmen a hit; Patti LaBelle & the Blue Bells did 'All or Nothing'; Lulu and Cindy Malone did 'Try to Understand' and Prince Harold did 'Forget About Me.' Burton and Sawyer were briefly signed to Motown as songwriters and were one of the few (if not the only) female production teams on the New York rock scene in the mid-'60s. But Lori Burton was also a very credible blue-eyed pop/soul singer, who had a very good earthy voice, delivering both cool sensual low growling and impassioned rasp at the most climactic points. She began recording as a solo act for Roulette in the mid-'60s and in 1967, issued this album, Breakout, on Mercury. The LP has a cover showing Lori in biker chick/Cleopatra makeup breaking out (geddit?) of a barrier consisting of a huge Billboard chart. From the strains of 'Nightmare' to the thundering Northern Soul extravaganza of 'Gotta Make You Love Me' and 'There Is No Way (To Stop Lovin’ You)', what we have here is impressive, well-produced pop-soul with New York's sophisticated brand of pop-rock production. 'Since I Lost Your Lovin'' is the closest female impersonation of the Righteous Brothers you'll come across, and 'Bye Bye Charlie' does the same to early Neil Diamond, though Burton actually brings a more vibrant, emotional vocal quality to her vocals than Diamond did on such material. It is unfortunate that Lori did not have the chance to develop further as a recording act in her own right. This reissue of her 1967 album Breakout contains the mono single versions of three of the album cuts and, as a bonus track I have included the A-side of her only single for Roulette 'Yeh, Yeh, Yeh (That Boy of Mine)'. http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/

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Mable John: Stay Out of the Kitchen (1993)

Relatively unknown outside the circle of soul fanatics, Mable John had one of the sultriest voices in her genre, and co-wrote some of the era's best, yet unheard, soul classics. Most notable of her material was her theme song 'Able Mable,' a finger-snapping piece reminiscent of 'Fever,' a single once recorded by her little brother Little Willie John. It's remarkable that the song 'Able Mable' or her other singles, like the fantastic 'Running Out' or 'I'm a Big Girl Now', never pushed her to greater stardom. Coupling the suave of soul with the smokey physicality of blues, Mable John's vocal approach is virtually unmistakeable. On Stay Out of the Kitchen are John's most notable recordings for the Stax/Volt label, all of them recorded between 1966 and 1968, combining issued sides with a truck load of unissued material. What makes the tracks even more remarkable is the impeccable playing by Stax regulars: Booker T. Jones, backing vocals from staff writer Deanie Parker, members of Jeanne and the Darlings, drummer Al Jackson, Jr. and Isaac Hayes. Hayes also produced and co-wrote several of the songs alongside David Porter, Mable John has several of her own songs and other notable writers include Steve Cropper, who produced several of the tracks (and of course contributes some very tasteful guitar figures throughout), Eddie Floyd and Homer Banks. The final song on the disc is her moving tribute to her brother Little Willie John who had just died, his signature song 'Need Your Love So Bad', written by another brother, Mertis John. We had to wait nearly thirty years to get a chance to hear them, but their power is undimmed by time. Stay Out of the Kitchen is a portrait of a timeless soul singer at her best.~ http://www.cduniverse.com/

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Mable John (second from the right) with the Raelettes and Ray Charles singing 'Shake' in the Dick Cavett Show, 1972:

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Nancy Wilson: Today, Tomorrow, Forever (1964) / A Touch of Today (1966)

A very groovy set of standards and '60s pop tunes, all done by Nancy Wilson in her great soulful swinging style! On Today, Tomorrow, Forever, Nancy lights up a set of the usual pop standards of the era: 'One Note Samba,' 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco,' 'Unchain My Heart,' 'Wives and Lovers' and 'Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life,' among others. They're all good choices for her breathy voice and occasional improvisations, especially 'One Note Samba' and 'Wives and Lovers'. On them, Wilson plays with the notes and rhythm, making a pair of lighthearted songs even more playful and irresistible than they had been previously. Nancy is at the height of her early career here and she is getting backing from a very sympathetic west coast group that includes Jack Wilson on piano and organ, Lou Blackburn on trombone, Bill Perkins on tenor, and Milt Holland on percussion. Considering the dozens of traditional jazz-based singers unfamiliar with their place in the middle of the turbulent '60s, Today, Tomorrow, Forever is an accomplished album that sounds almost effortless. A Touch of Today is another of Nancy Wilson's contemporary dates, comprised of standards from Broadway, Motown, the Beatles, and Bacharach, among other '60s sources. Her voice is as strong and pliable as ever, and most of the songs work just fine. Wilson stamps her versions of familiar pop songs like 'Uptight (Everything's Alright),' 'Call Me,' 'The Shadow of Your Smile,' 'And I Love Him (Her)', 'Yesterday,' and 'Goin' Out of My Head.' The arrangements, handled either by Oliver Nelson or Sid Feller, are occasionally too reliant on period clichés, but A Touch of Today is another solid album adrift in a period of lesser efforts by great singers. http://www.dustygroove.com/, http://www.answers.com/

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Nancy Wilson sings 'Almost In Your Arms,' circa 1963:

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Nancy singing 'Forn Once in My Life' in Sopot (Poland), 1971:

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Inez & Charlie Foxx: The Dynamo Duo (2004)

Inez and Charlie Foxx were a R&B and soul brother and sister duo from Greensboro, North Carolina. Inez was a former member of the Gospel Tide Chorus. Her first solo single, ‘A Feeling’, was issued on Brunswick Records, credited to ‘Inez Johnston’. Charlie was, meanwhile, a budding songwriter and his reworking of a nursery rhyme, ‘Mockingbird’, became their first single together. Released on the Sue label subsidiary Symbol, it was a US Top 10 hit in 1963, although it was not until 1969 that the song charted in the UK Top 40. Their immediate releases followed the same contrived pattern, but later recordings for Musicor/Dynamo, in particular ‘I Stand Accused’, were more adventurous. However, their final hit together, ‘(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days’ (1967), was modelled closely on that early style. Solo again, Inez continued to record for Dynamo before signing with Stax/Volt in 1972. Although apparently uncomfortable with their recording methods, the results, including the Inez Foxx ‘In Memphis’ album, were excellent. Make no mistake about it, this track rates among one of the greatest underplayed records on the Northern Soul scene. ~ http://www.oldies.com/

Barbara & The Browns: Can't Find Happiness - The Sound of Memphis Recordings (2007)

A four-girl family group out of Memphis, led by Barbara Brown, was first known as the Brown Sisters, but by the time they enjoyed their first and only charted single, ‘Big Party’, in 1964 (first on Wil Mo, then leased to Stax; peaked at # 97-pop) they had become Barbara & the Browns, and later on it would be only Barbara Brown on a couple of labels (Atco and Tower). Barbara has got a deep, rich voice that is clearly schooled in gospel, but pointed towards more secular ends; an approach that is very much in keeping with the best late ‘60s wave of soul from Atlantic Records, and which is carried off here with a sharpness and precision simply mindblowing. Why Brown never scored bigger is a real mystery, because these tunes come off like the cream of the crop of southern soul at the end of the 60s: not just obscurities for obscurity sake, but some of the highest level of soul a female soul singer could hope for at the time! This 20-track compilation has eight previously unreleased cuts, and it can roughly be divided into two parts. The first one covers releases on such labels as Cadet, Atco and Tower between 1966 and '68 - including most of the unreleased songs, too - and the second one offers singles on XL and Sounds of Memphis from 1971 and '72. If you're into raw and horn-heavy Memphis sound with intense and gospel-infused singing, then this set is for you. Barbara's six Stax sides (from '64 and '65) are not originally included in the set (though I added myself their 1964 version of ‘Big Party’ as a bonus), but there is more than a fair share of big-voiced deepies to satisfy your soul – ‘Can't Find No Happiness’, ‘It Hurts Me So Much’, ‘If I Can't Run to You I'll Crawl’, ‘I Don't Want to Have to Wait’ (this one has appeared on a number of compilations before), ‘Pity A Fool’, ‘Big Party’ (the 1972 version), ‘Play Thing' and 'Great Big Thing’, among others. Most of them are placed in the first part of the compilation, but starting from track # 7 there are also some toe-tappers, dancers and stompers on display. The '68 Tower single contains two country-soul sides, the touching ‘Things Have Gone to Pieces’ and the bluesy ‘There's a Look on Your Face’. Can't Find Happiness was well worth the wait. http://www.soulexpress.net/, http://www.dustygroove.com/
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Jackie Lee Special: End of a Rainbow - A Pye Anthology + 23 Bonus! (1961-1973)

One of my all-time favorite Brit Girls, Jackie Lee was a sadly underrated vocalist who enjoyed a long career in the music business, but only received great success for a pair of television theme songs. Born in North Dublin as Jacqueline Norah Flood on May 29, 1936, Jackie was raised in a household of music lovers — her mother played piano and her father was a trained baritone vocalist — and as a girl she won a scholarship to Dublin's Municipal School of Music, where she studied voice. By the age of 14, Flood was already singing professionally, appearing regularly with local dance bands and performing on Irish radio. In the early '50s, Flood relocated to London, England, to pursue her career and soon landed a prestigious gig as vocalist with Ronnie Aldrich's Squadronaires, a successful British dance band, where she took the professional name Jackie Lee. In 1955, Lee left the group to work as a solo act, and released her first single, 'For So Long as I Live' b/w 'I Was Wrong.' In 1959, Lee and her manager Len Beadle (who was also her first husband) formed a vocal combo known as the Raindrops, who recorded for Parlophone/EMI, Oriole, and Philips, specializing in covers of American pop and rock hits. While the group made frequent radio and television appearances and can be seen in the film Just for You (aka Disk-O-Tek Holiday), they never scored a major hit, and the members parted company in 1965. That year, Lee relaunched her solo career with a new single for Decca, 'I Cry Alone' b/w 'Cause I Love Him.' Two further singles, 'Lonely Clown' b/w 'Love Is Gone' and 'I Know, Know, Know I'll Never Love, Love, Love Anyone Else' b/w 'So Love Me', issued on the Columbia label, also failed. One of her finest moments came with her third single for Columbia, released in November 1966, 'The Town I Live In,' which was a wry comment on the suburban nature of the Buckinghamshire new town. The hitless Jackie was renamed Emma Rede for her next single, 'Just Like a Man'. (The excellent beat ballad 'I Gotta Be with You' appeared on the flip.) The move resulted in a place in pirate station Radio London's Fab forty charts in February 1967, and the record remains much in demand with collectors. Later that year, Jackie recorded 'Born to Lose' for the movie Robbery! The song was released as a single by Decca in September of that year, but also failed. In 1968, she was hired to sing the theme song for a BBC television series for young people, White Horses, and when the show became a hit, Lee's recording of the signature tune became a major chart success, though it was credited simply to Jacky. A follow up, 'We’re off and Running' b/w 'Well That's Loving You', proved inappropriately titled, though Jacky did get to release an album off the back of her hit single, which featured piano work from Dudley Moore. She also got to record for the soundtrack to Roger Vladim’s classic movie Barbarella. However, her material never made it into the film. Undeterred, she worked on a second soundtrack, this time for the film Loving Feeling, and released the single 'Love Is Now' b/w 'Never Will I Be', a fan favourite, on the Page One label. In 1969 she began a contract with the Pye label, and issued the great 'Love Is a Gamble' b/w 'Something Borrowed, Something Blue'. In 1970, another one of Lee's television recordings brought her back to the pop charts when she sang the theme song for the children's show The Adventures of Rupert Bear, which became a Top Ten hit for Pye Records. Pye took Lee into the studio to cut an album to capitalize on 'Rupert''s success, 1971's Jackie's Junior Choice, and a handful of fine singles followed, including the awesome 'Black Country' (a B-Side) and one of her best releases, which turned out to be her last, 'You Make My Head Spin' (1973). That same year, due to a throat problem, Lee retired from the music business, and after several years in the United States she settled in Canada. This collection gathers together for the first time Jackie's later solo recordings from her time with Pye Records (1969-1973). I also included 23 bonus tracks from her wonderful Decca, Columbia, Page One and Philips earlier catalogue, (most part of the aforementioned and all of the highlighted). These will surely be much more appealing to you than some of the 1970-'71 children's tunes. There are as well six cuts recorded with her group the Raindrops between 1961 and 1964; 49 tracks in all! I hope you enjoy Jackie as much as I do! http://www.readysteadygirls.eu/, http://www.allmusic.com/

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A rare performance by Jackie Lee on German TV in 1967. A couple of months later she became simply Jacky and recorded 'White horses':

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Cinebox reel of Jackie & The Raindrops from 1963, adapted for the American movie Disk-o-Tek Holiday:

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'I Gotta Be with You', the song that made me absolutely fall in love with Jackie's voice, ten years ago, when I first heard it on the first volume of Dream Babes:

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A super-rare 16mm film reel of Jackie Lee & The Raindrops, recorded at De Lane Lea in 1963. The Raindrops were signed to Oriole at the time, but this particular song never made it onto vinyl:

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And, finally, Jackie performing 'Rupert' (as in Rupert the Bear). She scored her second and final hit with this children’s TV theme, which made #17 in the UK charts in 1971:

Eydie Gormé: Eydie Swings the Blues (1957) / Eydie in Love (1958)

Although most of her career was conducted during the rock era, traditional pop singer Eydie Gormé carved out a place for herself in several areas of entertainment. For 20 years, from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, she consistently scored in the pop charts, with a parallel place in the Latin pop field from the '60s on. For most of her career, she worked both solo and in a duo with her husband, Steve Lawrence. Soon before she married him, in 1957, Eydie released Swings the Blues, where we find her spreading her jazz wings and digging into a nice selection of pop/jazz/blues-style material. Paired here with her usual conductor and good friend Don Costa, it's one swingin' tune after the next. From the opening 'I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues,' right to 'A Nightingale Can Sing the Blues', the theme is obvious; the sentiment apparent. Costa and Gorme would go on to record many more albums together, as would Costa and Steve Lawrence. This album was, undoubtedly, a precursor for great things to come from Costa's baton and Gorme's pipes. Standouts here include Harold Arlen's 'When the Sun Comes Out,' with its torchy, soaring vocals and blazing brass all around Miss Gorme, and the sly underlying of 'I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart' in the arrangement of another Duke Ellington classic 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore.' Listen how effortlessly Eydie glides over vocal triplets on the tags of the old standards 'After You've Gone' and Gershwin's 'The Man I Love'. A year after this release, in 1958, Eydie recorded Eydie in Love, a heartfelt, deeply sincere collection of love songs and ballads that's sweet but never saccharine, thanks as much to her poignant vocals as to the impeccable backings of Costa. Gormé manages to articulate both girlish infatuation and world-weary resignation with authority and understanding, all rendered with the signature warmth that makes her records so appealing. From the opening strains of the poignant 'When the World Was Young,' sung here by young Eydie from a woman's point of view, to the classic, simple reading of 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,' to Eydie's soaring vocals on the torchy 'Love Letters,' it's just one beautiful song after another. It is interesting to note that Steve Allen wrote the lovely 'Impossible'. Let's not forget Eydie recorded this in the earlier days of her career at age 27, just after she married Steve Lawrence, whom she met on the original Tonight Show hosted then by Steve Allen himself. A labor of love from one of the classiest female vocalists ever. http://www.amazon.com/
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Eydie Gormé singing 'Ma He's Making Eyes At Me':

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Eydie's rendtion of 'I Wanna Be Around', 1966:

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LaVern Baker: See See Rider (1963) / Blues Ballads (1959)

A versatile vocalist, LaVern Baker proved capable of melding blues, jazz and R&B styles in a way that made possible the emergence of a new idiom: rock and roll. The niece of blues singer Memphis Minnie, Baker had a stunning voice that, with little effort, could crack walls, and yet her ballad singing was wonderfully sensitive. During her time at Atlantic Records (1953-62), she cut half a dozen singles that rose to high positions on both the pop and R&B charts, including 'Tweedle Dee' and 'Jim Dandy.' Here are two of her best albums from the vaults of that label: ‘Blues Ballads’ and ‘See See Rider’, released in 1959 and 1963, respectively. The tracks are not presented in the original sequence, but the ones dating from 1963 are easily identifiable as they are in stereo and tend to feature prominent bass guitar, then something of a novelty. While the former is not all blues or ballads, there are some great sides here, all sung with the intensity and energy that made Baker's material so memorable, like 'I Cried a Tear', a major hit for her late in 1958. It also includes a solid version of the Edith Piaf hit 'If You Love Me' plus 'Love Me Right', 'I Waited Too Long', 'Humpty Dumpty Heart', 'St. Louis Blues' and others. "Rider" has a more pop oriented feel with strings on many cuts. Besides the hit 'See See Rider', it includes 'He's a Real Gone Guy', 'You Said', 'Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes' and more. LaVern fans will enjoy this, since it contains so many fine recordings that aren't available anywhere else. http://www.oldies.com/

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LaVern Baker performing 'Love Me Right in the Morning' (1957):

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