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GROOVIEST SOUNDS AROUND!
1960s MUSIC ON CD
Your All-Genres Guide To
Exceptional Reissues and Remasters
"...Top Of That Hill..."
Beat
Goes On of the UK (BGO) touched on Jackie DeShannon's fab Sixties output back
in August 2005 when they combined her "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" album (1964
on Liberty Records) with her 3rd LP "This Is Jackie DeShannon" (1965
on Imperial Records) plonking both onto 1 CD (Beat Goes On BGOCD 684).
This
complimentary 2015 two-disc set gives us four STEREO albums on Imperial put
onto 2CDs and all of it in their customary tasty reissue style (card wrap,
extensive booklet, quality remasters of Stereo and Mono mixes). Here are the details
and the love what the world needs right now…
UK
released March 2015 – "In The Wind/Are You Ready For This?/New Magic/What The
World Needs Now Is Love" by JACKIE DeSHANNON on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1176
(Barcode 5017261211767) offers 4LP Remastered onto 2CDs and breaks down as follows:
Disc
1 (62:03 minutes):
1.
Blowin’ In The Wind
2.
Walkin’ Down The Line
3.
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
4.
If I Had A Hammer
5.
Jailer Bring Me Water
6.
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
7.
Needles And Pins [Side 2]
8.
Little Yellow Roses
9.
500 Miles
10.
Oh Sweet Chariot (Mono)
11.
Puff (The Magic Dragon)
12.
Don’t Turn Your Back On Me
Tracks
1 to 12 are her 4th album "In The Wind" – released 1965 in the USA
on Imperial LP-9296 (Mono) and LP-12296 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used except
for track 10 "Oh Sweet Chariot"
13.
I Can Make It With You
14.
Music And Memories
15.
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Mono)
16.
Are You Ready For This
17.
To Be Myself (Mono)
18. Love
Is Leading Me
19.
Windows And Doors (Mono) [Side 2]
20.
You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
21.
So Long Johnny
22.
To Wait For Love (Is To Waste Your Life Away)
23.
Call Me
24.
Find Me Love
Tracks
13 to 24 are her 5th album "Are You Ready For This?" – released 1966
in the USA on Imperial LP-9328 (Mono) and LP-12328 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is
used except for tracks 15, 17 and 19 - which are Mono.
Disc
2 (68:05 minutes):
1.
Come On Down (From The Top Of That Hill)
2.
The Carnival Is Closed Today
3.
I'll Be Seeing You
4.
A Sunday Kind Of Love
5.
The Wishing Well (from the motion picture Hawaii)
(Mono)
6.
Night And Day
7.
I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do
8.
Time
9.
A Proper Girl
10.
Where Does The Sun Go?
11.
That's The Name Of The Game
12.
Poor Someone
Tracks
1 to 12 are her 6th album "New Image" – released 1967 in the USA on
Imperial LP-9344 (Mono) and LP-12344 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used except
for track 5 - which is Mono.
13.
What The World Needs Now Is Love
14.
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (Lo Che Non Vivo)
15.
It's All In The Game
16.
So Long Johnny
17.
Changin' My Mind
18.
Windows And Doors (Mono)
19.
A Lifetime Of Loneliness
20.
Everything Under The Sun
21.
To Wait For Love
22.
Where Does The Sun Go?
23.
Little Yellow Roses
24.
Call Me
Tracks
13 to 24 are her 7th album "What The World Needs Now Is Love" –
released 1968 in the USA on Imperial LP-12404 (Stereo only) except for Track 18
– which is Mono.
The
16-page booklet has superb liner notes by noted writer and musicologist JOHN
TOBLER as well as album credits, black and white publicity photos and original
LP liner notes where available. Between it and the card wrap – you get a very
classy feel to this reissue. But the real goodies come with the Stereo mixes of
the albums which sound utterly brill thanks to quality remasters from BGO’s
resident go-to Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I’ve sung this guy's praises before
and he's done the business by these records. There are (as you can see from
above) some instances where the Mono take is replaced by the Stereo version and
the audio definitely takes a dip for the worse – but these Universal licenced
tapes are clearly in great shape.
With
the winds of change and social upheaval going through American society like a
dose of salts – it’s clear that like so many others - the wallop of Bob Dylan's
albums and his thought-provoking consciousness hit out Jackie hard. She opens "In The Wind" with no less than three Dylan covers in a row sounding like she
means every word – then taps into Pete Seeger's "If I Had A Hammer" and Eric
Von Schmidt's "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" (another Dylan favorite complete
with harmonica fills that ape BD's style). Even Bobby Darin's "Jailer Bring Me
Water" is made to sound like a Folky anthem. I could probably live without her
saccharine cover of Peter, Paul and Mary's "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and the
Mono cut of the Traditional "Oh Sweet Chariot" doesn’t do much for me either. Better
is her lone composition on the album "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" – an excellent
and hooky Pop hit that would give Goffin and King a run for their Brill Building money.
Vanguard Records folky Hedy West provides the lonesome and lovely "500 Miles" -
another highlight on a very strong album.
Returning
to the melodrama of Phil Spector strings and girls – the “Are You Ready For
This?” LP opens strongly with the Dusty Springfield sounding “I Can Make It
With You” (another winner penned by Chip Taylor). But the album sees
DeShannon’s songwriting talent start to shine through big time. The title track
“Are You Ready For This?” is the first of four self-penned songs to kick in (“To
Be Myself”, “Love Is Leading Me” and “Find Me Love” are the other three) which
combined with “Windows And Doors”, “So Long Johnny” and “To Wait For Love” by
Bacharach and David – give the album a strong edge by virtue of such strong
material. “To Be Myself” and “Love Is Leading Me” give a musical nod towards
the girl group sound of Motown and are so catchy – she even gives it a brassy
stab at Tony Hatch’s “Call Me” - a huge hit in the UK for Petula Clark.
Things
take a more decidedly Pop turn with the “New Image” album – very upbeat and
cheery in that Summer Of Love kind of a way – epitomised by the opener “Come On
Down (From The Top Of That Hill)”. The audio quality on “The Carnival Is Closed
Today” is truly fabulous. Things getting decidedly soppy with “A Sunday Kind Of
Love” but “The Wishing Doll” is dreadful film dross (made worse by dreary
Mono). Things pick up with her chipper version of Cole Porter’s “Night And Day”.
Both “Time” and “Poor Someone” are great upbeat/mid-tempo Sixties Pop but even better
are her own two contributions – “Where Does The Sun Go?” and “That’s The Name
Of The Game”.
Probably
her most famous and beloved song – Bacharach & Davids "What The World
Needs Now Is Love" still has that eternally optimistic Sixties magic about it. Another
B&D winner comes in the shape of "So Long Johnny" while her own "Where Does
The Sun Go?" gets another version that is so Bobbie Gentry in its delivery. "Little Yellow Roses" (with surprisingly deep lyrics) and Hatch's "Call Me" end
it in style.
It's
not all genius of course but for lovers of Jackie DeShannon and her Sixties
Sound this is yet another great reissue from BGO. Fans should dig in right away
and enjoy – especially given the superb audio and presentation…
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