- Various Artists.
- Ace Records UK.
28 tracks spanning the kitsch to the cool, featuring The
Shirelles, Rosie & The Originals, Lesley Gore, Barbie Gaye, The
Exciters, Ruby & The Romantics, The Sensations, The McGuire
Sisters, The Pearlettes and many more. The first thing you notice
is the mouth-watering cover: as soon as you flip open the lid,
you half expect to find delicately sculpted Swiss chocolate:
wrapped in gold foil rather than the digital storage medium that
is a compact disc. However, the music it contains is equally
delicious and not nearly as ephemeral. Brought to you by the
professorial team behind the Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll
(plus input from Mick Patrick), Early Girls Vol. 2 continues our
exploration of female pop in the early rock era and encompasses
solo artists, girl groups and male vocal groups fronted by a
female lead. In common with the first volume, the emphasis is on
Hot 100 hits, such as Ruby & the Romantics' stylish Our Day Will
Come (a U.S. #1), Lesley Gore's cry for independence You Don't
Own Me, Peggy Lee's truly timeless Fever (heard here in
phenomenal stereo), Dinah Washington's irresistible September In
The Rain and The Exciters' torrid pop-soul innocence, Bobby's
Girl, a Top 3 US hit in 1962. Incidentally, another goodie, April
Stevens' kitsch Teach Me Tiger is being featured in a (UK) TV ad
for a well- known cat food, and will probably receive a wider
audience than when it first came out (in the States only) in
1959. Ann-Margret's I Just Don't Understand was a particular
favorite of John Lennon's and a Beatles' version, recorded for
the BBC 1963, was released on one of the Anthology volumes.
Rockabilly singer Kent Westberry originally wrote I Just Don't
Understand as a harmonica instrumental for his friend Charlie
McCoy but nothing came of it. Songwriter Marijohn Wilkin put
words to the melody and Ann-Margret cut the song in Nashville,
with McCoy on harmonica and Jerry Kennedy playing the first fuzz
guitar licks-heard on a hit record. Damita Jo recorded the
engaging answer record I'll Save The Last Dance For You, which
reached the US Top 30 in the wake of the Drifters #1 Save The
Last Dance For Me. Both records utilized the same arranger, Stan
Applebaum, who astutely ensured that Jo's version was
sufficiently different to merit airplay in its own right. In
fact, there are those who prefer it to the Drifters' original. We
leave it for you to decide. This sparkling set also contains
several significant non-hits, most notably the little known
original version of My Boy Lollipop by 16 year old Barbie Gaye,
recorded some 7 years prior to Millie Small's million seller. We
feel this alone is worth the price of the CD. Songwriter Ellie
Greenwich (heard elsewhere on this CD as a member of the
Raindrops), was so taken by the record that she named herself
Ellie Gaye when she began making records in 1958. Also included
is the rare Highland label version of Lonely Blue Nights, Rosie &
The Originals' lost follow-up to Angel Baby, and Forgive Me (For
Giving You Such a Bad Time) by Babs Tino - surely a record that
deserved a better e than its minuscule chart placing. As
always, we bring you premium audio quality and presentation to
match. Please form an orderly queue!