Search - Various Artists :: Collector's Essentials: 60's

Eclectic mix of hard-to-find 60s hits

Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 03/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another excellent entry in the Dick Bartley series of CDs gathering up seldom-found-on-CD 45s from the classic years of American rock and roll. All but one of the tunes on this volume made it into the top 50 of the pop charts.



While a few of these tunes are readily available on CD elsewhere, here they appear in sonically superior stereo. The pristine stereo of Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It Is" here blows away the muddy mono versions on other discs. The Turtles' intriguing, quasi-psychedelic "She's My Girl" is for the first time presented from the original stereo masters. Though in mono as no stereo masters exist, one of the gems in this collection is the Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take A Miracle", the sadly-underrecognized Teddy Randazzo-written (of Little Anthony and the Imperials "Goin' Out Of My Head" fame) soul supreme accomplishment taken into the top 10 via Deniece Williams' 80s inferior mechanical version.



Sound quality is outstanding throughout the disc and all but three tracks (1,9,15) appear in stereo. The liner notes booklet provides brief but informative backround on all the included tracks. Production and repertoire deserve five stars and if there were a few more tracks over the relatively meager 15, this would definitely deserve the top rating."

Memories....

Bruce E. Munck | Gaston, SC United States | 02/03/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is loaded with some great but not often heard songs. I have never understood why Don Fardon's rendition of "Indian Reservation", which is the ORIGINAL version, didn't top the charts. In my opinion it outclassed the remake by a wide margin. I would guess that Don has some Indian blood in him from the way he put his heart into the song. This song alone would be enough to get my dollars, but with "Pied Piper" and "Laurie" on the same CD...well, it's a steal. Keep 'em coming, guys!"

Interesting 60's Collection

Kenneth M. Gallagher | Philadelphia, PA USA | 10/19/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"From the British Pop of "The Pied Piper" to the reggae sounds of "Baby Come Back", this collection has a variety from the 60's. One reason I got this was to hear the version of "Indian Reservation" by Don Fardon. Paul Revere and The Raiders took this song to #1 in 1971 and the version by Fardon is an interesting one to say the least."