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RHYTHM & BLUES, SOUL & DOO-WOP
LaVern
Baker -> Billy & Lillie
| LAVERN BAKER | Classics 5126 | The Chronological LaVern Baker | ● CD $14.98 |
| Terrific collection of 23 of the earliest recordings by
LaVern ranging from here earliest sides from 1949 and 1950 where she
recorded as Little Miss Sharecropper, her 1951 recordings with Maurice King
& His Wolverines under the name of Bea Baker, a couple of sessions with Todd
Rhodes & His Orchestra from 1952 and on to her first Atlantic sessions,
culminating in her first R&B and crossover hit Tweedle Dee. |
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| LA VERN BAKER | Collectables 6224 | La Vern/ La Vern Baker | ● CD $13.98 |
| La Vern's first two Atlantic albums from 1956 and '57.
"La Vern" features her earliest Atlantic sides before she hit it
big - ballads and blues like Lots & Lots Of Love/ You'll Be Crying/
In A Crying Mood/ Harbor Lights/ Romance In The dark, etc. "La
Vern Baker" has all of her biggest hits from 1956 & '57 - Jim
dandy/ Tra-La-La/ Bop-Ting-A-Ling/ Still/ Tweedlee Dee, etc. LAVERN BAKER: Bop Ting A Ling/ Everybody's Somebody's Fool/ Fool That I Am/ Get Up, Get Up/ Harbor Lights/ How Can You Leave A Man Like This/ How Long Will It Be/ I Can't Love You Enough/ I'll Never Be Free/ I'm In A Crying Mood/ Jim Dandy/ Lots And Lots Of Love/ Mine All Mine/ Miracles/ My Happiness Forever/ Of Course I Do/ Play It Fair/ Romance In The Dark/ Still/ That Lucky Old Sun/ That's All I Need/ Tomorrow Night/ Tra La La/ Tweedlee Dee/ You Set My Soul On Fire/ You'll Be Crying |
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| LA VERN BAKER | Collectables 6231 | See See Rider/ Blues Ballads | $13.98 |
| "Blues Ballads" is from 1959 and "See See
Rider" is from 1962. While the former is not all blues or ballads
there are some great sides here like I Cried a Tear, a major hit
for Baker late in 1958. It also includes a solid version of the Edith Piaf/Kay
Starr hit If You Love Me plus Love Me Right, I Waited Too
Long, Humpty Dumpty Heart, St. Louis Blues and others.
"Rider" has a more pop oriented feel with strings on many cuts.
Besides the hit title song it includes he's A Real Gone Guy/ You Said/
Don't Let The Stars get In Your Eyes and more. LAVERN BAKER: A Little Bird Told Me So/ All The Time/ Dix A Billy/ Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes/ Endless Love/ Half Of Your Love/ He's A Real Gone Guy/ Humpty Dumpty Heart/ I Cried A Tear/ I Waited Too Long/ I'm Leavin' You/ If You Love Me/ It's So Fine/ Love Me Right/ See See Rider/ So High, So Low/ St Louis Blues/ Story Of My Love/ Trying/ Whipper Snapper/ Why Baby, Why/ You Better Stop/ You Said/ You're Teasing Me |
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| LAVERN BAKER | Collectables 6415 | Precious Memories/ LaVern Sings Bessie Smith | $13.98 |
| Two Atlantic albums on one CD showing LaVern's talent as an
interpreter - one album features gospel songs and spirituals and the other
features her doing some of the songs made famous by one
of the greatest blues singers
of the 20s and 30s -
Bessie Smith. LAVERN BAKER: After You've Gone/ Baby Doll/ Back Water Blues/ Carrying The Cross For My Boss/ Didn't It Rain/ Empty Bed Blues/ Everytime I Feel The Spirit/ Gimme A Pig Foot/ I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle/ In The Upper Room/ Journey To The Sky/ Just A Closer Walk With Thee/ Money Blues/ Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out/ On Revival Day/ Preaching The Blues/ Precious Memories/ Previous Lord/ Somebody Touched Me/ There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight/ Too Close/ Touch Me, Lord Jesus/ Without A God/ Young Woman's Blues |
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| LAVERN BAKER | Atlantic 82311 | Soul On Fire - The Best Of Lavern Baker | $11.98 |
| From the Atlantic Remasters series comes this excellent
collection of Lavern Baker hits recorded between 1953-'62, and all
digitally remastered by Stephen Innocenzi. The first song, Soul On Fire,
written by Ahmet Ertegun, comes from her initial Atlantic recordings and
never charted, but deserved to. The 20-song set includes biggies like Tweedle
Dee/ Bop Ting A Ling/ I Cried A Tear/ Play It Fair/ Jim Dandy/ Still/ I
Can't Love You Enough/ Jim Dandy Got Married/ I Waited Too Long/ See See
Rider. Uncharted, but cool nonetheless are You Said/ Tomorrow
Night/ How Often which features Lavern and Ben E. King, and throws in
King Curtis on tenor sax for kicks. These historically important
recordings are essential listening for anyone interested in the
development of rock and roll, or for anyone who likes to dance around in
their socks with the volume turned up loud. Is that Doc Severinson blowing
his trumpet on Shake A Hand? Yup. Thank Nick Tosches for the fine
notes. (JC) |
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| LAVERN BAKER | Royale 101 | The Uncollected LaVern Baker | $18.98 |
| Terrific collection of 24 tracks by LaVern not available on
other reissues. Quite a few of the tracks pre-date her hits of the mid 60s
when she worked as a fine but straight ahead jump blues and R&B
vocalist recording as Little Miss Sharecropper for National in 1950, as
Bea Baker for OKeh in 1951 and with The Todd Rhodes Orchestra in 1952.
Lots of fine sides from this period like I Want To Rock/ Take Out/ Good
Daddy/ Los Child/ Pig Latin (a much better song than you might think
from the title)/Trying/ I Want A Lavender Cadillac and others.
There are also some of her lesser known songs from her mid/late 50s hit
making period like You Better Stop/ Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny/ Tiny Tim/ If
You Love Me and others. Finally there are four sides from a live
concert in 1956 including Tweedle Dee/ I'll Do The Same For You/ Fee
Fee Fi Fo Fum/ Play It Fair. |
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| MICKEY BAKER | Bear Family BCD 15654 | Rock With A Sock | $21.98 |
| 28 tracks, 77 mins, recommended Mickey Baker is a great guitarist whose hot licks graced hundreds of R&B sessions held in New York in the 50s until he hit it big as half of Mickey & Sylvia in 1957. After several years in the pop business he grew disgusted with and moved to Europe. This disc presents his solo recordings from 1952 through 1957 along with 5 previously unissued Mickey & Sylvia cuts that were not included on the Bear Family double set (BCD 15438 - $41.50). 9 of the tracks are exciting R&B instrumentals including the dynamite title tune. There are another half a dozen fine R&B cuts from Groove with vocals by Mickey or Larry Dale and band members like Sam Taylor, Jack Dupree, "Panama" Francis and others. The remaining solo tracks are either dreary ballads or cocktail lounge jazz instrumentals. The Mickey & Sylvia tracks finds them at their most pop with none of Mickey's guitar though I Can't Get You On The Phone is quite catchy. Brief notes by Kurt Mohr who mentions that Mickey is working on his autobiography - now that should be interesting. Usual exquisite Bear Family sound and booklet has some wonderful photos including a couple from 1948 with his first group. (FS) |
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| MARCIA BALL | Rounder 3095 | Hot Tamale Baby | $15.98 |
| MARCIA BALL | Rounder 3101 | Gatorhythms | $15.98 |
| MARCIA BALL: Daddy Said/ Find Another Fool/ How You Carry On/ La Ti Da/ Mama's Cooking/ Mobile/ Red Hot/ The Power Of Love/ What's A Girl To Do/ You'll Come Around | |||
| HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS | Collectables 2823 | The Very Best Of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters | ● CD $15.98 |
| 25 track collection of this great group featuring all their
chart hits and lots more. 20 of the songs appear here in stereo for the
first time. I HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS: Big Red Sunset/ Cute Little Ways/ Deep Blue Sea/ Do You Know How To Twist/ Finger Poppin' Time/ Good Twistin' Tonight/ House With No Windows/ I Said I Wouldn't Beg You/ Kansas City/ Keep On Dancing/ Let's Go Again/ Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go/ Look At Little Sister/ Nothing But Good/ Rain Down Tears/ Sugaree/ Teardrops On Your Letter/ The Coffee Grind/ The Continental Walk/ The Float/ The Hoochi Coochi Coo/ The Rising Tide/ The Switch-a-roo/ The Twist/ What Is This I See |
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| HOMER BANKS | Stateside 875 222-2 | Hooked By Love - The Best Of Homer Banks | ● CD $12.98 |
| 20 tracks, 54 min., essential Banks is best known for having penned many a hit at Stax Records back in the glory days, including Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One, a hit for Johnnie Taylor; I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down, a hit for Sam & Dave (and later Elvis Costello); I'll Be The Other Woman, a hit for Soul Children; and many others. As a singer Banks cut one 45 for Isaac Porter & David Hayes' short-lived Genie label (Lady Of Stone b/w Sweetie Pie) and then a handful of sides for Minit during the 1960s. Most of his output from that period is collected here, including 10 previously unreleased cuts. His finest moments include A Lot Of Love, which he co-wrote, and the Porter-Hayes pieces Hooked By Love, 60 Minutes Of Your Love, and Do You Know What. The deep soul ballad Foolish Hearts Break First (another co-written by Banks) is haltingly good. The rest of Banks' catalog is out of print, so this is the only game in town (and a good game at that), other than hunting for vinyl. (JC) |
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| THE BAR-KAYS | Stax 8542 | The Best Of The Bar-Kays | $12.98 |
| The Bar-Kays have a long, involved history, starting as the
#2 Stax house band (#1 was the MGs/Mar-Keys) and currently an extremely
popular black funk band. The original band is the band that was killed
with Otis Redding in the plane crash, and survivors James Alexander (b)
and Ben Cauley (t) started a new version which replaced the MGs as Stax
house band in the early 70s, best known for being Isaac Hayes's original
backing group (that's them on Shaft ), and doing instrumental hits
before adding Commodores-influenced funk and vocals. This set includes
their instrumental hits, including Son of Shaft and Copy Cat , a
sound-alike of the original band's Soul Finger , plus a few early
vocal hits like Holy Ghost and Don't Stop Dancin' (To The Music)
. |
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| THE BARONS | Funky Delicacies 05 | Society Don't Let Us Down | $15.98 |
| 20 tracks, 57 min., essential A vocal group out of New Orleans, The Barons spent the 1960s and '70s melding elements of doo wop and soul and succeeded every way but financially. They could sing as sweeter than aspartame or turn so funky that Perry Como and Pat Boone would run frightened and confused into the streets. This collection includes their earliest releases on the tiny Etah label, their last stab at monetary reward was undertaken in 1981 when they still sounded fine despite considerable lineup changes, and lots of good stuff in between. Impressive. (JC) |
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| THE BASIN STRET BOYS | Night Train 7028 | Satchelmouth Baby | $16.98 |
| 18 tracks, recommended The Basin Street Boys were a late 40's vocal group in the same vein as the Ink Spots and The Five Red Caps. The group was formed in LA by singer/ guitarist Ormand Wilson and had some good success in 1946 with the song I Sold My Heart To The Junkman recorded for Exclusive with accompaniment by Eddie Beale's Quartet. The 18 tunes featured here were all done for Leon Rene's Exclusive label and show the boys to be very talented in a variety of styles from slow crooning to gently rocking. They recorded some of the hippest jive numbers too like Voot Nay On The Vot Nay/ I Need A Knife, A Fork, And A Spoon and the title Satchel Mouth Baby. You'll also dig tenor sax great Lucky Thompson, and alumnus of the Counta Basie Band, who appears on many of these. Other cuts include Nothing Ever Happens To Me/ Exactly Like You/ Near To You/ Josephine/ Summertime Gal, etc. ( |
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| JIMMY BEAUMONT & THE SKYLINERS | Collectables 8822 | 40th Anniversary Edition | $24.98 |
| Two CD set with 40 tracks by this fine and distinctive vocal
group. Starting in 1959 this set spans their entire recording career for
an array of labels like Calico, Colpix, Atco, Viscount, Jubilee, Drive,
and Capitol. The set includes five previously unissued alternate takes
including an alternate of their most popular Since I Don't have You. JIMMY BEAUMONT & THE RAY CHARLES SINGERS: Blossoms In The Snow/ THE SKYLINERS: Another Lonely New Year's Eve/ Believe Me/ Close Your Eyes/ Comes Love/ Footsteps/ Happy Time/ How Much/ I Can Dream, Can't I/ I Could Have Loved You So Well/ I'd Die/ I'll Be Seeing You/ I'll Close My Eyes/ If I Loved You/ It Happened Today/ Lonely Way/ Lonely Way/ Lorraine From Spain/ One Night, One Night/ One Night, One Night/ Our Love Will Last/ Pennies From Heaven/ Since I Don't Have You/ Since I Don't Have You/ Since I Fell For You/ Stardust/ Tell Me/ The Day The Clown Died/ The Door Is Still Open/ The Loser/ This I Swear/ This I Swear/ Tired Of Me/ Tired Of Me/ Tomorrow/ Warm/ When I Fall In Love/ Where Have They Gone/ You're My Christmas Present/ Zing Went The Strings |
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| WILLIAM BELL | Atlantic 82252 | The Soul Of A Bell | $11.98 |
| Reissue of the 1967 Stax classic. 11 tunes by this early
& vastly under-rated soulster who brought a strong country feel to
soul. Includes his 1st 2 self penned hits, which came 5 years apart - You
Don't Miss Your Water (from 1962!) & Everybody Loves A Winner
, his wonderful version of Do Right Woman - Do Right Man , plus Then
You Can Tell Me Goodbye/ You're Such A Sweet Thang/ It's Happening All
Over/ Nothing Takes The Place Of You and more. |
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| WILLIAM BELL | Stax 8541 | The Best Of William Bell | $12.98 |
| The best of Bell's post-Atlantic Stax hits, 1968-75. Many
tunes co-written by Booker T who produced, along with Al Bell. Includes a
funky remake of the Jones-Bell classic Born Under A Bad Sign , his
two hits with Judy Clay -- Private Number and My Baby
Specializes , plus 'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone / I'll Be Home /
I Forgot To Be Your Lover . |
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| WILLIAM BELL | Stax 8566 | A Little Something Extra | $12.98 |
| The most amazing thing about this collection is that the
songs were all previously unissued before coming out recently on the
British Stax imprint. It is a testament to the strength of Stax that these
20 tracks were left in the can. But after hearing Let's Do Something
Together/ You're Never Too Old/ She Won't Be Like You you wonder how
the folks at Soulville USA determined which songs to issue. These tracks
were laid down between 1961-67, and Otis Redding's influence is strong,
but the material here represents a variety of styles. Most were presumably
demos, but the instrumentation, rather than the quality, is the betraying
factor. When you hear Bell's Will You Love Me Tomorrow you'll
probably throw out your Shirelles' record. Recommended. (JC) |
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| ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS | Rhino 71725 | Best Of - Tightening It Up | $15.98 |
| ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS: Tighten Up/ I Can't Stop Dancing/Do The Choo Choo/ Love Will Rain On You/ Showdown, (There's Gonna Be A)/ I Love My Baby/ Girl You're Too Young/ My Balloon's Going Up/ A World Without Music/ Don't Let The Music Slip Away/ Wrap It Up/ Dancing To Your Music/ Ain't Nothing For A Man In Love/ I Could Dance All Night/ Soul City Walk/ Let's Groove/ Everybody Have A Good Time/ Glad You Could Make It/ I've Been Missing You/ Strategy | |||
| THE BELMONTS | Ace CDCHD 580 | The Laurie, Sabina & United Artists Sides, Vol 1 | $18.98 |
| 30 tracks, 77 min., recommended Dion's one time backup group herein gets the first class treatment that characterizes England's Ace label. Tracing the group's recordings from their first performance without their former lead in 1961 through their first four U. A. sides in the mid-60's, the program here makes a convincing argument that this solid trio deserved more success than it originally found. Featured tracks include Such a Long Way, Come On Little Angel, My Love Is Real, Searching for a New Love, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Time to Dream, Summertime, Diddle-Dee-Dum, and Today My Love Has Gone Away. Good music from start to finish, with fine liner notes, great cover graphics, and excellent sound quality. But do note: If you already own Relic's two Belmonts' volumes (#'s 7085 and 7089), you already have 24 of these cuts. THE BELMONTS: (I've Got) More Important Things To Do/ Ann-Marie/ Come On Little Angie/ Come Take A Walk With Me/ Dancin' Girl/ Diddle-Dee-Dum/ Don't Get Around Much Anymore/ Have You Heard/ Hombre/ How About Me/ I Confess/ I Don't Know How To Cry/ I Don't Know Why, I Just Do/ I Got A Feeling/ I Need Someone/ My Love Is Real/ Not Responsible/ Now It's All Over/ Searching For A New Love/ Smoke From Your Cigarette/ Such A Long Way/ Summertime Time/ Tell Me Why/ That Background Sound/ Time To Dream (Brahms Lullaby)/ Today My Love Has Gone Away/ Walk On Boy/ We Belong Together/ Why/ You're Like A Mystery |
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| THE BELMONTS | Ace CDCHD 685 | The Laurie, Sabina & United Artists Sides, Vol 2 | $18.98 |
| Complementing Ace 580 this features the remaining sides cut
by Dion's former backing group The Belmonts for Laurie, Sabina &
United in the early/mid 60s. Includes previously unissued songs, alternate
takes and foreign language versions of their Sabina sides. |
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| THE BELMONTS | Relic 7085 | The Best Of The Belmonts | $13.98 |
| 25 tracks, 65 min., recommended The digital reissue of the rare Carnival of Hits lp (Sabina 5001) from 1962, featuring the efforts of this well-known group after former-lead Dion DiMucci had gone solo. There are 13 bonus tracks here to sweeten the offering, and Carlo Mastrangelo, Angelo D'Aleo, and Freddie Milano at their best still produced undeniably appealing music. Featured tracks here include their version of Tell Me Why, plus Coma Coma Baby, Time to Dream, Searching for a New Love, How About Me?, More Important Things to Do, and Come On Little Angel. It's some of the best white doo-wop around, and this compilation includes four unreleased tracks, many numbers in stereo, fine graphics, and Donn Fileti's usual solid liner notes. (DH) |
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| THE BELMONTS | Relic 7089 | Lost Treasures | $13.98 |
| 25 tracks, 65 min., recommended A compendium of rare and unreleased sides, most laid down between 1962 and 1963 when the Dion-less trio was recording for Sabina/Sabrina, with 11 tracks in stereo. Standout numbers include Look Out for Cindy/ Loneliest Guy in the World/ Come Take a Walk with Me, Broken Heart, The Wedding Song, and I'll Be Seeing You. Polished group singing from start to finish, and a fit companion to Relic 7085 reviewed above. And like its predecessor, it features fine sound quality, knowledgeable notes, and several vintage photos. |
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| JESSE BELVIN | Collectables 2701 | Golden Classics | $15.98 |
| Includes Secret Love/ Ol' Man River/ Zing! Went The
Strings Of My Heart/ Witchcraft/ Funny/ In The Still Of The Night/ The
Best Is yet To Come/ Goodnight My Love, etc. |
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| JESSE BELVIN | Specialty 7003 | Legends Of Specialty - Jesse Belvin : The Blues Balladeer | $15.98 |
| BROOK BENTON | Mercury 830 772-2 | Best Of Brook Benton | $10.98 |
| Kiddio/ Endlessly/ Frankie & Johnny/, Fools Rush In
and 10 more smooth soul stylings from the slick side of the sixties. |
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| BROOK BENTON & DINAH WASHINGTON | Verve 526 467-2 | The Two Of Us | $11.98 |
| Reissue of classic LP from 1960 - includes 4 by Brook (Call
Me/ Something To Believe In, etc.), 4 by Dinah (Love Walked In/ Again,
etc.) & 4 duets including the smash hit Baby (You've Got What It Takes
) & A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around & Fall In Love) |
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| RICHARD BERRY | Ace CDCHD 977 | Have "Louie" Will Travel | $18.98 |
| Great collection of R&B and doo-wop from the man who
created the original version of the immortal Louie Louie. This
collection features 30 tracks recorded for Flip, Paxley, K&G and Warner
Brothers between 1956 and 1962 including, of course, Louie and
featuring four previously unissued tracks. Richard's earlier recordings
for Flair and Modern are available on Ace 355 ($16.98). Great sound and
set comes with 16 page illustrated booklet with extensive notes by Eric
Prudahl. |
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| RICHARD BERRY | Nile 101 | Baby, Please Come Home | $17.98 |
| 27 tracks from this important artist - Louie, Louie/ Tell
Me You Love Me/ Tender Love/ Do I, Do I/ I'll Never, Ever Love Again/
Sweet Sugar You/ You Are My Sunshine/ The Mess Around, etc. |
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| BIG MAYBELLE | Collectables 5902 | That's All - The Very Best Of | $11.98 |
| Includes Put Yourself In My Place/ I Will Never Turn My
back On You/ In The Still Of the Night/ I Won't Cry Anymore/ I Know Love/
That's All, etc. |
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| BIG MAYBELLE | Westside 589 | Half Heaven, Half Heartache | $13.98 |
| First reissue on CD of Maybelle's Brunswick recordings
includes two complete albums, a non album single and unissued tracks! |
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| BIG SANDY | Hightone 8092 | Dedicated To You | $13.98 |
| 16 tracks, 44 mins, recommended Best known for his
recreation of the classic rockabilly and country boogie style, Big Sandy
now tries his hand at a collection of 50s/early 60s R&B and doo-wop.
With outstanding vocal back up from legendary Los Angeles group The
Calvanes plus guest vocal appearances by Dewey Terry, Vicky Tafoya and
others he does a splendid and convincing job on this collection of
lowrider favorites. Includes Lonely Guy/ Gloria/ Baby Baby Me/ Hey
Girl, Hey Boy/ Death Of An Angel/ Have LOve Will Travel/ I'm Leavin' It
All Up To You/ Yama, Yama Pretty Mama, and others. (FS) |
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| BILLY & LILLIE | B&L 4002 | La Dee Da | $17.98 |
| 31 track collection including their hits La Dee Dah/
Happiness/ Lucky Ladybug and Bells, Bells, Bells) |
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