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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