A really great little album from Georgie Fame – one that has moving past the swinging Mose Allison-inspired jazz vocal mode of earlier records, into a groovier style that picks up a range of different sounds! Georgie kicks off the album with his version of the ever-popular late 60s "Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde" – and seems to use that tune as an excuse to explore a nice range of older jazz vocal approaches, including one tune that even has him reciting the lyrics in a Beatles-sounding monologue! Arrangements are by Harry South, with players that include Gordon Beck, John McLaughlin, Ronnie Scott, Tony Coe, and Ian Hammer – and titles include "Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde", "Ask Me Nice", "When I'm Sixty Four", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Blue Prelude", "Bullets Laverne", "This Is Always", "Mellow Yellow", and "Side By Side". CD

A nice little package, one that brings together three American releases of music by London's legendary Georgie Fame! First up is the classic Yeh Yeh – a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie Fame's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "I Love The Life I Live", "Point Of No Return", "Preach & Teach", "Get On The Right Track Baby", and the hit "Yeh Yeh". Next is Get Away – a great little album from Georgie Fame – with a hard raw soul sound that shows what a big crossover potential he had with the UK soul market – so much so that this batch of material was issued in the US as well! The album's got some wonderful arrangements – quite raw, with some nice organ, and plenty of heavy vocals from Georgie in a strong blue eyed soul mode. Titles include "Sitting In The Park", "Get Away", "Sweet Thing", "Ride Your Pony", "The In Crowd", "Last Night", and "Music Talk". Hall Of Fame is a bit of a best-of – a record that features some singles, and some album tracks – the latter of which aren't included here, as they'd be duplicated. The remaining material is Fame at his raw early best – working in a great soulful style, with plenty of jazzy charms – on cuts that include "Outrage", "Lil Darlin", "Sunny", "In The Meantime", "Something", "Do Re Mi", and Fame's own "Like We Used To Be". CD also features 9 more bonus tracks, some live recordings – titles that include "Bend A Little", "Telegram", "It Ain't Right", "Don't Make Promises", "Many Happy Returns", "I'm In Love With You", "Shop Around", "Green Onions", and "Do The Dog". CD

Some of our favorite work ever from the mighty Georgie Fame – key tracks from his years on CBS – when he was really moving past straight jazz, into a whole great style of his own! First up is the full album Georgie Does His Thing With Strings – a set that has Georgie Fame singing with a host of string-heavy backings from the great Keith Mansfield! Given Mansfield's roots in the sound library scene, the style here is never as sleepy or hokey as you might expect from the "strings" in the title – but there is a moodier, mellower approach than you'd hear on other Fame albums – a style that's partially aimed at older jazz vocal modes, but which also echoes with sounds of the Scott Walker generation – a newly mature mode that's a really great fit for Georgie's unique style of singing, and which exposes yet another amazing side of his seemingly limitless talents! There's always a nice sense of warmth and wit going on – one that keeps these tunes from just being the usual sort of standard vocal fare of the period – and Mansfield's backings have a lean quality that often pulses with a very gentle groove at the bottom. Titles include "Who's Kissing You Blues", "Girl Talk", "This Guy's In Love With You", "A House Is Not A Home", "Woe Is Me", "Need Your Love So Bad", and "Guess Who I Saw Today". Next is the rare Knock On Wood EP – with four songs that include the title track, plus "Close The Door", "All I'm Asking", and "Didn't Want To Have To Do It". THEN – the CD adds in 21 more bonus tracks – almost all non-album single cuts by Fame from the late 60s and start of the 70s – most of which have never been reissued, and are a flurry of mad soul, clever vocals, and lots of hip instrumental twists – all delivered with that undeniable Georgie Fame charm. Titles include "Down Along The Cover", "Seventh Son", "No Thanks", "Try My World", "Bidin My Time", "For Your Pleasure", "Kentucky Child", "Peaceful", "Entertaining Mr Sloan", "Someday Man", and "The Movie Star Song". CD

A pair of late 60s Columbia classics from Tony Bennett – back to back on a single CD! First up is Tony Makes It Happen – a very jazzy album, with a group that features Joe Wilder and Joe Newman on trumpets, Urbie Green on trombone, Joe Soldo on flute, and orchestrations from Marion Evans – all of whom really bring out those unique qualities that set Bennett apart from so many other singers in his generation! Where a Vic Damone might have used his inherent richness to push things over the top, the maturing Tony is a master of restraint – still able to run the full gamut of his amazing range, but set up with these beautiful arrangements that bring some adult understanding to the tunes, in a beautifully subtle vibe. Titles include "What Makes It Happen", "I Don't Know Why", "Can't Get Out Of This Mood", "She's Funny That Way", "A Beautiful Friendship", and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". Next is Yesterday I Heard The Rain – fantastically mature work from Tony Bennett – a record that follows in that great direction the singer was taking in the 60s – delivering sophisticated vocals that didn't care much for the charts, but which really stand the test of time as the years go by! As on some of Tony's best from the period, arrangements are by Torrie Zito – whose careful orchestrations always let Bennett's vocals soar out in the lead, while also hitting some occasional flourishes that bring just the slight touch of drama to the music – but never in the over the top styles of some of his contemporary! Space is the key here – lots of space between the words and the notes – which makes even simpler songs sound pretty darn amazing. Titles include "Sweet Georgie Fame", "Fool Of Fools", "Only The Young", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "Yesterday I Heard The Rain", and a surprisingly great version of "Hushabye Mountain". CD

There's few singers we like better than Blossom Dearie – and this great little record captures Blossom at her unfettered best, working live before an intimate crowd at London's Ronnie Scott's nightclub in the 60s! The performance is in the same small combo mode as some of Dearie's Verve albums from the 50s – but there's a looser swing here that's really great – an even hipper approach to the even hipper tunes that pushes the Blossom aesthetic very nicely into the 60s. Blossom herself is on piano, supported by the bass of Freddie Logan and drums of Alan Ganley – and overall, the album's a few notches up from the better-known Blossom Time At Ronnie Scotts, thanks to a more fluid groove and very strong choice of material. Titles include "Big City", "One Note Samba", "On A Clear Day", "You Turn Me On Baby", "Let's Go Where The Grass Is Greener", "You're Gonna Hear From Me", "Peel Me A Grape", "Sweet Lover No More", and an early reading of "Sweet Georgie Fame". CD

A great sampling of work from Monica Zetterlund – the icy-voiced singer who's one of Scandinavia's greatest jazz vocalists ever! Monica first came to light at the end of the 50s, singing songs in both English and Swedish, in a style that rivalled some of the best American and English vocalists of the same time – often working in a small combo jazz mode, but also sounding equally nice with larger swinging arrangements. The set offers 18 tracks in all – mostly from the 60s, with a few numbers from the 70s thrown in for good measure – and titles include Swedish versions of "Dat Dere", "Sweet Georgie Fame", "Alfie", "Walking My Baby Back Home", "Take Five", "Waltz For Debby", and "Un Homme Et Une Femme". CD

Hits sung in German from Manfred Mann, Alma Cogan, Beach Boys, Twinkle, Georgie Fame, Petula Clark, Michel Polnareff, France Gall, Rob De Neys, and more - 27 tracks in all. CD

Music from Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Scott, Shirley Horn, Take 6, the Bill Holman Big Band, Georgie Fame, David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, and more. CD

There's few folks who know the British mod scene better than Eddie Piller – as the DJ and head of Acid Jazz records has done plenty in recent decades to both give exposure to older British groups who never got their due, and also help some contemporary mod combos get the exposure they deserve! Yet here, Eddie's going way back to the roots – to present a set of tracks that really gets at the full scope of musical genius that exploded on the British scene in the mid 60s – not music that us Americans were digging in the Brit Invasion, but grittier groups who were drawing heavily from soul, jazz, and R&B – and really setting the scene for all the musical changes that were beginning to take place in England. At some level, this might be the first moment where British groups really started to diverge from American rockers – something you can definitely hear in the way the rhythms, vocals, and instrumentation come together – superbly directed through Piller's great choice of material. 4CD set features a massive 100 tracks in all – with work from Sharon Tandy, The Eyes, Carnaby, The Creation, Birds, Fleur De Lys, Syndicats, Wynder K Frog, Bluesology, Love Affair, PP Arnold, Apostolic Intervention, Alan Bown Set, The Quik, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Georgie Fame, Small Faces, High Numbers, Artwoods, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Richard Kent Style, Dusty Springfield, The Organisers, Tony & Tandy, and Jimmy James & The Vagabonds. Sleeve notes from mod author Paul Anderson – in a cool book-styled package with photos as well! CD

A fantastic bunch of grooves – and one of the best installments in our favorite compilation series ever! The genius DJs at Hamburg's Mojo Club have always had a great ear for a song – and that ear gets better and better with each new compilation. This package is a brilliant assortment of tunes that runs from heavy funk to sweet soul to funky jazz and groovy 60s tunes. There's loads on here that you've probably forgotten about – or just plain never heard – and the pacing of the compilation means that the tracks maintain a very cool vibe throughout, making the set always a fresh listen for the discerning ear! Titles include "Love Power" by Dusty Springfield, "House of Bamboo" by Earl Grant, "Sophisticated Cissy" by Davy Jones, "Everywhere I Go" by Lou Rawls, "Chicken & Booze" by Manny Corchado, "The Chair Dance" by Rob Agerbeek, "Mazurka Cocadou" by Eddy Louiss, "Fiesta" by Gato Barbieri, "Choosing You" by Lenny Williams, "Ain't Nobody Straight In LA" by The Miracles, "I'm A Winner" by Smoked Sugar, and "Hot Stuff" by Georgie Fame. CD

A really well-done set from the solo stretch of Andy Fairweather-Low – music that's a lot more down to earth than the sounds created by his earlier group – at a level that mixes roots rock performance with maybe just a slight touch of sharper production – all handled beautifully in the studio by producer Glyn Johns! There's definitely some elements here that mark that shift to more rural inspirations on the British scene in the early 70s – but those are offset by more than enough well-crafted guitar solos, and contributions from a hip lineup of guests that includes Georgie Fame, Jimmy Jewel, Gerry Rafferty, and Kenney Jones. Titles include "Jump Up & Turn Around", "Halfway To Everything", "8 Ton Crazy", "Grease It Up", "Wide Eyed & Legless", and "Inner City Highwayman". CD

A mighty nice pairing of talents – the great Van Morrison, working here in a soul jazz setting with plenty of work on Hammond from the equally great Joey DeFrancesco! The album's a lot like the one that Van cut with Georgie Fame years back – and with all that organ, the sound is a bit like Fame's work of the 60s – much more in a soul jazz mode than any of Morrison's work from his early years, and a great setting for his mature vocals – which still have all the charm of before, but have maybe changed in a way that suits a jazz setting more than the albums of his early solo years. The group's also got some strong tenor from Troy Roberts, and Joey plays some trumpet too – on titles that include "Celtic Swing", "Sticks & Stones", "Close Enough For Jazz", "Goldfish Bowl", "Have I Told You Lately", "All Saint's Day", "Hold It Right There", "Miss Otis Regrets", and "Magic Time". CD

A great batch of songs by legendary New Orleans R&B and soul producer Dave Bartholomew – recorded by a sprawling line-up of soul, pop, R&B and rockers – another revelatory set in the Ace Records series of songwriter compilations! The numbers here stretch back to the 50s and continue up to the end of the 60s/start of the 70s – with Bartholomew-penned tunes done here by Fats Domino, Shirley & Lee, Elvis Presley, Johnny Burnette, Brenda Lee, Georgie Fame, Bobby Charles, Tami Lynn, Bobby Mitchell, Dave Bartholomew himself and many more! 25 tracks in all: "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino, "Ain't Gonna Do It" by The Pelicans, "Blue Monday" by Georgie Fame & The Blue Fames, "Sick And Tired" by Neville Grant, "One Night Of Sin" by Tami Lynn, "The Big Beat" bh The Del Vikings, "The Monkey" by Dave Bartholomew and many more. CD

A much better collection than you'd expect from looking at the cover. There are still some familiar songs on here – especially for the Dusty Groove crowd – but also a real effort to look beyond the obvious hits and explore the wider reaches of sixties with nice rock nuggets, hip vocalists, and quirky bachelor pad tunes. Includes 100 songs by Plastic Penny, Shirley Bassey, Brenton Wood, The Sandy Nelson, Horst Jankowski, Bobby Darin, Georgie Fame, The Sorrows, Duane Eddy, Sir Douglas Quintet, Henry Mancini, The Tremeloes, Family Dogg, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, Sandie Shaw, The Foundations, Bobbie Gentry, and others. CD