One of the hippest John Barry scores we've ever heard – quite different than his music for James Bond films, but still equally groovy! At some level, Barry's working here with an Ennio Morricone-like sense of space and sound – a love of gentle elements that emerge with a soft, tender sort of feel – but one that's still quite dark underneath, with a real undercurrent of tension. But unlike some of Barry's other serious scores of the time, this one's never too tense – and has a really great sense of melody and overall sound – one that makes the music extremely haunting all the way through! A watery, echoey piano dominates many tracks – and titles include "Capito", "Boom", "Urgentissimo", "Of A Year Unknown", "Pain Gone Till Tomorrow", and "Mister Death Angel Flanders". Also includes "Hideaway" – a wonderfully hip Georgie Fame tune that's one of our favorites from his late 60s years! LP, Vinyl record album

A real lost chapter in the career of singer Georgie Fame – mid 70s material recorded for Island Records! The sound of Fame during these years is a bit of an extension of his previous work at Columbia – not really the jazz or R&B of his roots, and more a complicated blend of hip pop modes, all inflected with some of the Jamaican sensibilities you might expect from Island – yet never in a way that's too cliched, or a silly pop take on reggae. Instrumentation is often a bit laidback and stripped-down – and there's a fair bit of organ and electric piano in the mix, both instruments that help bring out the hipper qualities of Georgie's vocals, and set him up nicely for the 70s. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few American albums ever issued by Georgie Fame – a great set of tracks from his early CBS years, put together with a package that was bound to appeal to US fans digging the Bonnie & Clyde movie! The work here is a hip mix of jazz, soul, and R&B styles – all served up with that Georgie Fame charm that made his music unlike anyone else's at the time. And although we're not sure, it appears that there's a few tracks here that might not have been issued on LP back in the UK – as the set list features 11 tracks that include "Mellow Yellow", "Bullets La Verne", "This Is Always", "Side By Side", "Blue Prelude", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Ask Me Nice", "When I'm Sixty Four", and "The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde". LP, Vinyl record album

A great cover, and a great little record to match – one 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". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool record – and a bit different than some of the other MGM material by the Animals! Eric Burdon's soulful vocals are in the lead, and set up here with great backings from Benny Golson and Horace Ott – both of whom bring a strong current of soul jazz to the set, for a mod groove that's almost in Georgie Fame territory! LP, Vinyl record album

A great set by one of the most unique voices in early 70s British pop – the enigmatic Norman "Hurricane" Smith, a strange singer whose work fits into a spectrum that lies somewhere between Georgie Fame, Gilbert O'Sullivan, and Ray Davies! Like all 3 of those artists, Hurricane's got an ear for days gone by – a slight touch of nostalgia that comes through in the subjects of his tunes and the instrumentation that accompanies his voice. And if we were to link his style with anyone, it would probably most directly be Gilbert O'Sullivan – who shares a similarly quirky style of songwriting and arranging, and who gave Smith a hit in the tune "Who Was It?" The rest of the numbers off this album are originals, with titles that include "Aunti Vi's", "Getting To Know You", "Theme From An Unmade Silent Movie", "Many Happy Returns", "Take Suki Home", "Back In The Country", and "Don't Let It Die". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from one of the hippest jazz singers of all time – and a hell of a pianist too! Mose Allison began his recording career laying down piano on jazz sessions for Stan Getz and a few others – but here, he emerges as a fully-formed talent of his own – steeped in modes from the New Orleans scene, but also able to spin out his own uniquely hip approach – at a level that went onto have a huge influence on later generations of singers – from Dr John to Georgie Fame to Paul Weller – as well as the UK mod scene of the 60s! This album's one of a few that Allison cut for Epic Records, which are among some of our favorites – and titles include "Baby Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone", "Back On The Corner", "Mad With You", "Life Is Suicide", "I Love The Life I Live", and "Ask Me Nice". LP, Vinyl record album

Plenty of fire here – the kind of quick-witted piano work we've really come to admire from Tete Montoliu – who really hits a new level of genius on his 70s recordings for the Steeplechase label! Montoliu has this amazing way of hitting hard, with a real edge – then laying back and just letting things flow – kind of a shift between left and right hand emphasis that really makes for some breathtaking runs on the keyboard – especially with backing here from Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass and Albert Tootie Heath on drums. Tracks are nice and long, and titles include "Sweet Georgie Fame", "Blues For Perla", "Falling In Love With Love", and "Old Folks". LP, Vinyl record album