Search - Gary Lewis & Playboys :: Best of

For the money,you can't beat this collection.

Robert Badgley | London,Ontario,Canada | 04/19/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For a more comprehensive collection of songs from Gary Lewis and the Playboys,that is for fans who are compleatists,there are other more expensive collections available to buy.But if you are a kind of passing fan of the group who just like their light,toe tapping songs this is the one for you,and at an unbeatable price.

Gary Lewis,of course son to comedian Jerry,admirably wanted to make it big on his own so he auditioned and was hired to play Disneyland in California;using only Gary and the Playboys.The group made a great splash there and eventually Gary entered the recording studio thanks to financial assistance from his mom.Legendary producer Snuff Garrett who produced the session asked Gary to start using his last name for obvious reasons.Gary and the Playboys' vocals and instrumentation were also pushed far into the background as Garrett used solid studio musicians like Tommy Allsup on guitar(with Buddy Holly on his last tour),Leon Russell on keyboards,a drummer,bass player and even a studio vocalist!Garrett was determined to get a hit and a hit he got as "This Diamond Ring" went gold.The group then went on to have more major successes with songs like"Save your heart for me","Green Grass","Sure Gonna Miss Her" and many more.All light as air pop but with a solid beat and catchy song hooks which the young buying public eagerly bought up.I recall his father Jerry Lewis finally getting in on his son's success and introducing him personally on a few shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show.

In January/67 Gary was inducted into the Army and over a year later was discharged.He lost the momentum he had built up,nevr quite regaining it and the group broke up completely a couple of years later after already having undergone personnel changes.Gary still does nostalgic rock and roll shows today and tours off and on.

As I mentioned earlier this CD contains all of his major hits and no one who has even just a passing interest in Gary Lewis(like myself) will dislike this CD,especially for the price.One song I wished they had NOT included is the last one"Sealed with a Kiss".Gary sounded well when blended vocally with the group but as a solo artist he,sorry to say,just didn't have the chops.He is often off key and just sounds lost throughout this tune.This one should have been left in the more capable hands of say Brian Hyland and/or Bobby Vinton.The rest of the tracks however are definite gems and are sure to bring back a lot of memories for those of you who were there...then."

Great quality sound with all the hits

D. Novak | Georgia | 07/18/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is mastered well and has great sound quality compared to other CDs. All the hits are here in one place and the price is right. I highly recommend it."

A Hard to Find CD

olddude54 | 08/17/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A very good Cd that covers all this group's big hits. It's important to note they were one of the few groups on this side of the Atlantic to have a significant number of songs at #1 or even in the top ten. These songs are very hard to find at normal retail outlets which is why Amazon is great for finding hard-to-find items. The production and engineering is great on this cd; however I would have liked some info on Gary, the band, the songwriters, etc."