Rock — CDs  

The genius of 60s pop is hardly summed up better by anyone else than Claudine Longet! This dreamy female singer cut a handful of excellent late 60s albums for A&M – and this gem from 1967 is one of her best! The set's arranged by Nick DeCaro, and produced by Tommy LiPuma – all in a gently grooving mode that takes elements of bossa, jazz, and other A&M pop – and softly fuses it into a perfect backdrop for Claudine's breathy vocals – completely sublime, and a wonderful illustration of the A&M genius at work! Titles include "Think Of Rain", "How Insensitive", "Good Day Sunshine", "The End Of The World", "Manha De Carnaval", and a sublime reading of "The Look Of Love". CD features a full bonus mono mix of the album too!

Always-great work from lovely French singer Claudine Longet – a vocalist with a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of! This one's another sublime blend of French 60s pop and sunny A&M production – arranged to perfection by the great Nick DeCaro, with touches that deepen the album from earlier work – like chorus vocals, more ambitious instrumentation, and even some guest duet vocals from Tommy Lipuma! Claudine is incredible throughout – a masterpiece of gentle understatement – and she sparkles on tunes that include "Happy Talk", "Who Needs You", "Walk In The Park", "Snow", "When I Look In Your Eyes", "Dindi", and "Love is Blue". Includes a whole bonus mono mix of the album too!

Incredible work from the songwriting team of Roger Nichols & Paul Williams – sublime greatness from the end of the 60s era at A&M! At the time of these recordings, Nichols had just finished cutting his landmark Small Circle of Friends album for A&M – and Paul Williams was an out of work actor hanging around the label with a few ideas for songs. The two were paired, and instantly began working on a string of hits for Claudine Longet, The Carpenters, and other artists. These rare recordings are demos cut by the pair to showcase their songs – with Williams doing most of the vocals, and Nichols handling the instrumentation on guitar, piano, and drums. The tracks have a rough quality that makes them sound better to our ears than their more famous versions by bigger stars – with the honest optimism that you'd hear in Nichols' earlier album, and the moody sad style that Williams brought to his own work. Titles include "Let Me Be The One", "The Drifter", "Time", "Somebody Waiting", "After All", "So Many People", "When Love Is Near", "Do You Really Have A Heart", and "Out In The Country".

Great work from this solo member of the Paris Sisters – stepping out here in two obscure late 60s albums, plus some rare bonus tracks too! First up is the album Priscilla Sings Herself – tracks that show Priscilla as a surprisingly great songwriter on her own – working in music that goes way deeper than her pop of a few years before, with moody moments and deeper strains that echo some of the hipper singer/songwriter material at the time. Don Peake handles the arrangements, often with gentle orchestrations that work well with Paris' style of singing – on tracks that include "I'm Home", "Stone Is Very Very Cold", "He Owns The World", "My Window", and "Wandering". Next is the rare Priscilla Sings Billie – an unusual take on the music of Billie Holiday, done with a relatively sweet feel overall! Paris is definitely trying for Holiday's tone at times – but her sound is always a bit warmer and airier – almost as if Claudine Longet were doing a tribute to Billie, with a spacious late 60s feel that's almost A&M at times! Backings are by Sid Feller and Don Peake, and players on the date include Jimmy Rowles on piano, Jim Crutcher on bass, John Guerin on drums, and Peake on guitar – plus a bit of added strings. Titles include "In My Solitude", "Girls Were Made To Take Care Of Boys", "Just Friends", "I Love You Porgy", and "My Man". CD is completed by four rare bonus tracks – including "Some Little Lovin Lie", "Twelve Twenty Nine", and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix".

One of our favorite records of all time! We've got to admit, this one's an acquired taste, but if you dig cool LA studio pop from the early 70's, this record's a real treasure! Nick DeCaro was probably best known to the world as an instrumental arranger for A&M (he did a lot of the Claudine Longet albums), but this record from the early 70's has him singing in a set of cool spacey tracks that mix studio pop and jazz for a sound that's unlike anything else we've ever heard before. Nick's backed by a tight group that includes LA jazz players like Arthur Adams, Wilton Felder, Paul Humphrey, Harvey Mason, and David T. Walker – and the sound is very compressed, very laidback, and very very hip. Tracks include "Under The Jamaican Moon", "Wailing Wall", and great versions of "Getting Mighty Crowded" and Stevie Wonder's "Angie Girl". Remember, it's an acquired taste, but if you like stuff like middle period Steely Dan or Maria Muldaur, you'll really dig this one!

One of the few albums as an artist from the great Nick De Caro – one of the hipper arrangers of the 60s, best known for his collaborations with Claudine Longet on A&M! Nick's a very subtle genius – one who can work firmly inside the mainstream, but also bring something different to the table – a magical way of inflecting a tune, spare use of silence, or controlled emotion that always made his backings a perfect fit for the adult sound of A&M. Instrumentation here is heavily strings, but never in a syrupy, sleepy way – and many numbers feature a standout lead instrument – such as piano by Lincoln Mayorga, soprano sax by Gabe Balthazar, or tenor sax by Bill Perkins. Nick sings on 2 tracks – "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "Caroline No" – in this compressed style that's totally wonderful – and other titles include "Love is All", "Quiet Sunday", "Lullaby From Rosemary's Baby", "Happy Heart", and "I'll Forget You". CD also features a bonus single edits of "Happy Heart" and "Spanish Flea".

The sounds of The Beatles – completely transformed – as a handful of tunes by John Lennon & Paul McCartney, and a few by George Harrison too, are taken up by the A&M Records crew of the 60s and 70s! We're huge fans of A&M, as the label's always had a way of taking already-great music, and making it even better – through inventive arrangements, cool studio production, and an ultra-stylish way of putting over a record – all of which really comes through here in the collection's transformative batch of tunes! Some of the singers are surprising choices, but really make the music come across wonderfully – and the overstuffed set features 26 tracks that include "Good Day Sunshine" by Claudine Longet, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by Punch, "All My Loving" by The Sandpipers, "Blackbird" by Punch, "Ob La Di Ob La Da" by Nick DeCaro, "Get Back" by Billy Preston, "Something" by Claudine Longet, "Don't Let Me Down" by Dillard & Clark, "For No One" by Liza Minelli, "Yesterday" by Chris Montez, "She's Leaving Home" by Julius Wechter & Baja Marimba Band, "Day Tripper" by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, "Golden Slumbers" by Claudine Longet, "Hey Jude" by Shango, and "Come Together" by Brothers Johnson.