"Yeh Yeh/Get Away/Hall Of Fame Plus Bonus Tracks" by GEORGIE FAME – Two US Albums from December 1964 and March 1966 on Imperial Records in Stereo and Mono, One British Compilation Album in Mono-only from March 1967 on EMI Records Plus Nine Bonus Single Sides (November 2022 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation – 3LPs Plus Nine Bonuses Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0B9K8TRDN&asins=B0B9K8TRDN&linkId=b7013647bcc44c11e706e766e060b3d9&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>
 

"...Preach And Teach... "

 

Back in October 2015 most Georgie Fame fans here in the UK were licking their lips in glee at the new and gorgeous Universal/Polydor 5CD Box Set "The Whole World's Shaking: Complete Recordings 1963-1966".

 

That peach contained his second British album "Fame At Last" from October 1964 and third "Sweet Things" from March 1966 and so much more. However, those titles were track-list rejiggered (omissions and additions), artwork changed and issued as "Yeh Yeh" and "Get Away" in America in December 1964 and March 1966. And once Fame had left EMI for a new contract with Columbia/CBS Records – EMI UK issued a new March 1967 UK-only Mono-only compilation called "Hall Of Fame" – a title not covered by the 5CD Box Set.

 

And that is where this very cool Beat Goes On twofer CD compilation comes a yeah-yeah bopping in. It gathers together all three of those albums in the one place for the first time and throws in Nine Bonus Tracks – British LP tracks and seven-inch single sides from the period. This release also sees BGO of the UK reach the milestone of catalogue number 1,500 - so there are extra notes from Andy Gray of the reissue label on that too. A lot to talk of, so to the details...

 

UK released 17 November 2022 - "Yeh Yeh/Get Away/Hall Of Fame Plus Bonus Tracks" by GEORGIE FAME on Beat Goes On BGOCD1500 (Barcode 5017261215000) is a Compilation that Remasters 3LPs Plus Nine Bonus Tracks onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (73:09 minutes):

1. Let The Sunshine In [Side]

2. Yeh Yeh

3. Get On The Right Track, Baby

4. The Monkey Time

5. Preach And Teach

6. Gimme That Wine

7. I'm In The Mood For Love [Side 2]

8. Pride And Joy

9. I Love The Life I Live

10. Point Of No Return

11. Monkeying Around

12. Pink Champagne

Tracks 1 to 12 are his American Debut LP "Yeh Yeh" – released December 1964 in the USA on Imperial LP 12282 in Stereo (charted 5 January 1965 and rose to No. 137 after 3 weeks).

 

13. Get Away [Side 1]

14. Sweet Thing

15. Ride Your Pony

16. Funny How Time Slips Away

17. Sitting In The Park

18. See Saw

19. Music Talk [Side 2]

20. Last Night

21. It's Got The Whole World Shakin'

22. El Bandido

23. The World Is Round

24. The "In" Crowd

Tracks 13 to 24 are his second American album "Get Away" – released March 1966 in the USA on Imperial LP 9331 in Mono only (didn’t chart).

 

CD2 (47:03 minutes):

1. Sunny [Side 1]

2. Like We Used To Be

3. Outrage

4. In The Meantime

5. Something [Side 2]

6. Do Re Mi

7. Lil' Darlin'

Tracks 1 to 7 are part of the UK-only album "Hall Of Fame" – released March 1967 in the UK on Columbia SX 6120 in Mono only.

NOTE: In order to not duplicate titles on this 2CD compilation, seven tracks of its original 14 are not on CD2. If you want to sequence the original "Hall Of Fame" LP as was - use the following:

 

"Hall Of Fame" LP, March 1967, Columbia SX 6120 in Mono-only

Side 1:

1. Yeh Yeh (CD1, Track 2)

2. Sunny (CD2, Track 1)

3. Point if No Return (CD1, Track 10)

4. Like We Used To Be (CD2, Track 2)

5. Get On The Right Track, Baby (CD1, Track 3)

6. Outrage (CD2, Track 3)

7. Let The Sunshine In (CD1, Track 1)

Side 2:

1. Getaway (CD1, Track 13)

2. Sitting In The Park (CD1, Track 17)

3. In The Meantime (CD2, Track 4)

4. Something (CD2, Track 5)

5. Do Re Mi (CD2, Track 6)

6. Sweet Thing (CD1, Track 14)

7. Lil' Darlin' (CD2, Track 7)

 

BONUS TRACKS

8. Do The Dog (Live)

9. Shop Around (Live)

Tracks 8 and 9 are from the January 1964 UK debut album "Rhythm And Blues At The Flamingo", also January 1964 UK 45-single on Columbia DB 7193 A & B-sides. The album was recorded 'live' in September 1963 and Produced by Ian Samwell with Glyn Johns as the Engineer (Mono).

 

10. Green Onions

Track 10 is a non-album Mono B-side to "Do Re MI" – a UK 7" single released April 1964 on Columbia DB 7255

 

11. I'm In Love With You

12. Bend A Little

Tracks 11 and 12 are the Mono A and B-sides to a July 1964 Promo-Only UK 7" single on Columbia DB 7328

 

13. Telegram

Track 13 is the non-album Mono B-side of "In The Meantime", a February 1965 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 7494 – peaked at 22. "In The Meantime" the A-side is on the "Hall Of Fame" LP

 

14. It Ain’t Right

Track 14 is the non-album B-side of "Like We Used To Be", a July 1965 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 7633 (the A is Mono, the B is Stereo) – peaked at No. 33 on the charts. The A-side "Like We Used To Be" is on the "Hall Of Fame" LP

 

15. Don't Make Promises

Track 15 is the non-album Mono B-side of "Sunny", a September 1966 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8015 (peaked at No. 13 on the charts). The A-side "Sunny" is also on the "Hall Of Fame" LP

 

16. Many Happy Returns

Track 16 is the Non-LP B-side of "Sitting In The Park", a December 1966 UK 7" single on Columbia DB 8096. The A-side is on the "Get Away" LP

 

The outer card slipcase looks and is classy, the 24-page book repros all the original artwork front and rear, pictures some foreign seven-inch sleeves to frame the Bonus Tracks and adds in new liner notes by noted writer and fan CHARLES WARING. Waring goes into depth giving a deep-dive print on those manic Modernism years between 1964 and 1966 particularly. Georgie Fame broke down doors for Mods and their adoration of all things American R & B and Soul – and so many of the covers here reflected Clive Powell’s obsession with the same. In fact, it seems off that given the British Invasion the "Get Away" album did not dent the top 200 of the American charts. It says Digitally Remastered from Original Tapes but not when or by whom, so we can presume that having licensed the material from Universal who handled the 2015 Box (it made a point of having found the best audio sources) – then these are the same. They certainly sound like it – clean – muscular and very punchy (mostly Mono).

 

Having said all of that, the first thing you could argue is that if you already own the October 2015 5CD Box Set "The Whole World's Shaking: Complete Recordings 1963-1966" – why would you buy this if 85% of it is already Remastered to perfection on that set (Tristam Powell – his son – and Andrew Walter did those RMs at Abbey Road)? The answer is the stragglers on the "Hall Of Fame" album. To the music...

 

It's easy to hear why the Flamingo-live "Do The Dog" and "Shopping Around" failed as a debut 45-single – it's joyful stuff for sure, but it’s just 'too' rough and cluttered. No such sweat with the brill R&B blasting out of your speakers with stuff like "Let The Sunshine In" and Motown's "The Monkey Time" – the girly vocals and brass jabs – all sparkling. The rhythm-section shuffle in "Pink Champagne" is fabulous – Fame's vocals fresh too. It's hard to do an instrumental diamond like "Green Onions" any kind of justice because its owned by Booker T & The M.G.'s – but Fame gives it a barnstorming arrangement that allows both the organ and Saxophone room to shine.

 

The original UK album closed on the Jazzy smooch of "I'm In The Mood For Love". Cool-city is the only way to describe the mod dancer B-side "Do-Re-Mi" (I can see why its so sought after by mod collectors) – unfortunately it's equally easy to hear why the sappy "I'm In Love With You" went only to demo-level only (the flip "Bend A Little" is far better). I'll admit that It's been decades since I last heard the Ska and Blue Beat EP – but what a blast the foursome are – and in great Audio too. But best of all for me is the monster "Yeh, Yeh" (his first No. 1) with its superb "Preach And Teach" flip (surely a shoe in for one the great double-siders).

 

The funky-as-a-gnat's-knackers "See Saw" packs huge punch while "Sitting In The Park" is as echo-lovely as the Billy Stewart 1965 Chess original. The drums on the 'so' 60ts "Music Talk" is a mod's wet dream as is his organ-drenched instrumental cover of the Ramsey Lewis nugget "The "In" Crowd". Both "The World Is Round" and the box set's namesake "The Whole World's Shaking" are fabulous Sixties R&B Jivers (I can just see the girls on the dancefloor blowing the sharp-dressed boys minds with their shimmy-shimmy-shake moves). The "Hall Of Fame" set gave a first-time-on-LP place to the rare B-side "In The Meantime" while another best Audio B-side goes to "It Ain't Right" – his own composition – worth the entry price alone.

 

OK – you could argue that there is a lot of duplication for fans on here – but even they will want the stragglers – and for newcomers - stonkingly great Audio for Georgie Boy Fame is his Mod-glorious prime (I say yeah yeah)...