Super-obscure but likeable cover of the Tommy James & Shondells track
Label: MGM
Year of Release: 1968
Like most record collectors, I have a regularly updated 'wants list' of scarce records I'm keeping an eye open for. This one sat on it for years on end... so long, in fact, that by the time a copy actually turned up a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't remember why I'd started looking for it in the first place. Doh! What am I like, eh?
The trouble is, I still can't remember. My best guess is that some years ago I was tipped off about this being a good record by a trusted fellow music lover, and took a note of it without giving it an awful lot of further thought. It's a very pleasant and very well performed cover of Tommy James & The Shondells "Out Of The Blue", given a slightly West Coast harmony pop arrangement. Problematically, though, I doubt that the group are actually from the USA, despite its presence on the MGM label or the style of the record (or indeed the use of the word 'color'). This didn't appear to get released over there, and the production team behind this (Harry Robinson and Finito) are UK based, with the former in particular having his fingerprints all over the British sessions of the day.
Who is responsible, then? Well, all the likely evidence points towards the involvement of vocalists Jackie Lee and Barbara Moore, both moonlighting under a group name. Curious stuff.
If this kind of sunshine harmony pop puts a spring in your step, though, you're probably going to find something to enjoy here, and so far as I can tell no sound files for either side have been available online before.
If the previews below aren't working properly, please go right to the source.
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