Search - Georgie Fame :: Georgie Fame for Cafe Apres-Midi

Georgie jazzing it up in the 60s &70s

Anthony H. Wilson | Leeds, England | 06/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Georgie Fame on my first ever visit to Ronnie Scotts in London, many many years ago and wondered what this pop musician was doing at a jazz club. I listened to him and his great backing musicians and became a fan. My biggest complaint about this guy ever since is that he doesn't produce enough albums. So here I was searching Amazon for CDs I had never heard of before and finding this Japanese compilation import CD and hoping it wasn't going to be too pop orientated and contained just a few tracks that could be considered Jazz. I needn't have worried, apart from several pop tunes, here's Georgie at his most fun and talented best displaying a sound that swings and swings between blues, jazz, calypso and pop ( and the tracks were recorded in the 60s & 70s!!! - WOW ). If you haven't got any of his early ( POP? ) albums, you'll love this CD. If like me you think this guy is one of the most underated and unappreciated artists in the jazz/blues genre check out his early stuff on this CD - impressive or what?"

A great place to start ! ! !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 01/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I held off for a long time checking out Georgie Fame, but now I realize what I was missing. This is not just another white psychadelic era British bluesman mod rocker guy riding on the heals of the enormous influence of Jimmy Smith/Booker T. in the 60's - - the guy's a stylist. Apparently he tooked tunes he liked, and sang and arranged them well, very well, and wasn't afraid to venture into whatever territory he liked. From swinging rock and roll to disco, the album includes his takes on everything from Vocalese to Memphis Soul, and very convincingly. Hearing a guy doing a Booker T. tune one minute, a rock and roll calypso number the next, bebop singing the next and my favorite Bobby Womack tune Daylight the next can be a bit freaky... yet the tightness, energy and rockin' swing is all there and it works (even though I think it was a bit retarded of him to replace the proper word Z - - pronounce Zee, with ZED on Sunny... gosh, I get so annoyed everytime I hear the word Zed... its Zee, Zee, Zee as in Zebra, not Zedbra.) Enough nitpicking... the arrangements and playing are great. Highly personalized too... he does some very funny and subtle things when he's really wound up. Though lesser known in the US, I'd have to say that he's definitely in a category all of his own !"