Search - Richard Berry :: Have "Louie" Will Travel

Good, but forgotten

Ron Heck | 11/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I heard about a 20 second clip of the original Louie, Louie on an episode of Northern Exposure. I then downloaded the song of iTunes (its no longer available on iTunes, however) and really liked his sound. So, I found this on Amazon, but with no sound clips, or reviews, I pretty much had to buy it on faith and impulse. I'm glad I did. This is a very expansive 30-track look at his career and it includes a great biographical booklet that provides a story for just about every track that is on here. The music is a very good blend of soul music and doo-wop from the late fifties and early sixties, and the sound quality is fantastic. He never had a big hit, even with his excellent rendition of Louie, Louie, but there are still a lot of great songs. Most notable are In a Real Big Way, No Kissin' and a Huggin', Well Done, Its All Right, and Have Love Will Travel (even though it's basically a retread of Louie, Louie, it's still a good song. Granted, there are some songs on here that don't work as well as others, especially those from his brief attempt at country, and it seems that after a while he was trying to find anything that would give him a decent hit. He did, after all, write a hit song that other people were making famous. But still with 30 songs, there is a lot to like on this disc."

Berry Berry Good

Arthur Aw | Seattle | 03/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Richard isn't eaxctly an unsung hero but most everything by him, and that's not much, is a keepsake."