"Spotlight On Maxine Brown/Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits" by MAXINE BROWN – March 1965 and November 1967 US Albums on Wand Records in Stereo – Guests include Arrangers and Songwriters Ed Townshend and Van McCoy with Backing Singers Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Estelle Brown and Sylvia Shemwell who became The Sweet Inspirations (July 2000 UK Ace Records/Kent Soul Compilation – 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD in MONO with Bonus Tracks Including Two Previously Unreleased) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...My Baby... "

What a peach of a CD reissue this is. Class and quantity combined. 

In a nutshell, you get the full 12-tracks of Maxine Brown's second US studio album "Spotlight On..." (first issued March 1965) sat alongside the guts of a "Greatest Hits" mop-up set from November 1967 that featured chart R&B winners across several labels from the previous two years itself pumped up by unique new cuts to tempt customers of the day. Both were originally on Wand Records. 

You should say that a wee glitch in proceedings is that the original 15-track Greatest Hits LP does inexplicably have two tunes missing (see Notes below), but those omissions are more than compensated for by seven very tasty and period-applicable Bonus Tracks. Featured amongst those are four unissued sides from a long deleted but much admired 1985 UK LP on Ace's own Kent label ("Like Never Before"), a rare stand-alone British 45 B-side first released in 1986 (also on Kent) and Two Previously Unreleased making their debut here.

Talk about spotlight on some classy 60ts Soul and the lady who delivered it. Oh no, not my baby - oh yes indeed I say. Let's get to the magic wands...

UK released 31 July 2000 (August 2000 in the USA) - "Spotlight On Maxine Brown/Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits" by MAXINE BROWN on Ace Records/Kent Soul CDKEND 187 (Barcode 029667218726) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD with Eight Bonus Tracks (Two Previously Unreleased) in MONO that plays out as follows (71:31 minutes):

1. Oh No, Not My Baby [Side 1]

2. It's Gonna Be Alright 

3. Ask Me 

4. I Cry Alone 

5. Coming Back To You 

6. He Does Something To Me [aka "You Do Something To Me"]

7. I Wonder What My Baby's Doing Tonight [Side 2]

8. Since I Found You

9. Gotta Find A Way 

10. Yesterday's Kisses

11. You Upset My Soul 

12. Little Girl Lost 

Tracks 1 to 12 are her second studio album "Spotlight On Maxine Brown" - released March 1965 in the USA on Wand Records LP-663 (Mono) and Wand WDS-633 (Stereo) – the MONO mix is used.

13. We Can Work It Out 

14. I Don't Need Anything 

15. Anything For A Laugh 

16. If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody 

17. One Step At A Time 

18. I've got A Lot of Love Left In Me 

19. One In A Million 

20. Soul Serenade

Tracks 13 to 20 are from the "Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits" LP in MONO – see NOTES

22. He's The Only Guy I'll Ever Love (first issued November 1985 on the Maxine Brown UK Compilation LP "Like Never Before" on Kent Records KENT 047 - then a Previously Unissued track)

23. Slipping Thru My Fingers (as per Track 22, from the LP KENT 047, November 1985)

24. Do It Now (as per Track 22, from the LP KENT 047, November 1985)

25. When I Fall In Love (as per Track 22, from the LP KENT 047, November 1985)

26. I Got Love (B-side of "It's Torture", first released March 1986, UK 45-single on Kent Records TOWN 110)

27. Listen to My Heart (Previously Unissued, 2000)

28. Wrong Number, Right Girl (Previously Unissued, 2000) 

All songs in MONO 

NOTES (Tracks and Audio): 

The November 1967 US LP "Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits" on Wand Records WDM-684 (Mono) and Wand WDS-684 (Stereo) featured 15-Tracks when originally issued (the front cover artwork lists only 14 sides in error). So it should really have 15-songs as this release claims to have all of both LPs. But it doesn’t – two are missing. Ace later explained that those songs ("All In My Mind" and "Funny") were originally on Nomar Records so excluded from this Wand Records based CD. 

Also, with regard to Audio, the Remasters were done at Sound Mastering in London (probably Nick Robbins) but although this reissue uses a STEREO LP on the front page of the booklet artwork – the Remasters are actually all MONO (fans will note that many of the song titles have their US 45-single catalogue number beside them because of this). 

So, with the exception of two songs, the full 15-track MONO variant of "Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits" US LP can be sequenced from CDKEND 187 as follows:

Side 1: 

1. All In My Mind (Not on this CD)

2. Oh No, Not My Baby (Track 1)

3. Funny (Not on this CD)

4. We Can Work It Out (Track 13)    

5. It's Gonna Be Alright (Track 2)

6. Ask Me (Track 3)

7. I Don't Need Anything (Track 14)

8. Anything For A Laugh (Track 15)

Side 2:

1. If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (Track 16)

2. Since I Found You (Track 8)

3. One Step At A Time (Track 17) 

4. Little Girl Lost (Track 12)

5. I've Got A Lot Of Love Left In Me (Track 18)

6. One In A Million (Track 19) 

7. Soul Serenade (Track 20)

You have to love liner notes where your interviewee (Mick Patrick, Peter Gibbon and Rob Hughes do the writing and explaining) tells you with a clear twinkle in her eye that she bought the mini-skirts used for the cover art of two 60ts LPs ("Hold On, We're Coming!" and Commonwealth United") in London's Oxford Street while on a British 1967 tour. There are 1997 photos of Maxine, adverts for her shows in the UK, even a signed publicity photo. It's very good, although you'd have to say that if this compilation should be reissued in 2021, it would be packed out more and feature better photos applicable to the years of the LPs and the singles that surrounded it. The AUDIO from original master tapes is all MONO and kicks like a mule - lovely clarity (45-junkies will dig all those A&B-sides they can sequence with practically every song). Speaking of which, to the tunes...

Dee Dee Warwick and Cissy Houston are amongst the girly backing singers for the utterly sublime "Oh No, Not My Baby" - a Goffin and King song that had been previously butchered by The Shirelles. Maxine's gorgeous almost languid 'Dock Of The Bay' interpretation simply oozed class - and the public thought so too raising the 45-single of Wand 162 up to No. 2 R&B in October 1964 and No. 24 in December 1964 on the Pop Charts. As well as Cissy and Dee, the backing singers also included Sylvia Shemwell and Estelle Brown - all four of who would go on to be The Sweet Inspirations on Atlantic Records. 

Other notable Arrangers and Songwriters include Ed Townshend and Van McCoy for "Since I Found You" with Luther Dixon on "Little Girl Lost" and "I Cry Alone". Goffin & King also sprinkle their songwriting magic dust on the lovely "It's Gonna Be Alright". Van McCoy was also the songwriter on the wonderful "Wonder What My Baby's Doing Tonight" and one of the newbees - "Listen To My Heart".

There are loads more like say Ashford & Simpson's "One Step At A Time" and Maxine's own "Anything You Do Is Alright". It may be over 20 years old, but this little groover still has the goods and the lovely lady is still with us. How cool is that...