5 comments about The Essential Marty Robbins: 1951-1982.

1. OTHER THAN NOT GETTING THE BOX THAT A SET IS SUPPOSED TO COME IN THE PRODUCT WAS PERFECT.



2. With the exception of Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, and Johnny Cash, no other Country artist had as big an impact on the more lucrative Billboard Pop singles charts than Marty Robbins, as no less than 24 times did he crack the Top/Hot 100, with another eleven just missing by making the "bubbling under" charts. And among that 24, four were Hot 100 hits only as Cap & Gown [# 45 in 1959], Is There Any Chance? and Ballad Of The Alamo [# 31 and # 34 respectively in 1960], and I Told The Brook [# 81 in 1962] did not make the Country charts.
   
   Also, contrary to one reviewer's contention, A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation) was not his best pop hit. That honour belongs to El Paso which was his only # 1 in late 1959/early 1960 [A White Sport Coat made it to # 2 in 1957 and was his second best].
   
   He did, however, have SIXTEEN # 1 Country hits, beginning with his very first for Columbia way back in 1952 [I'll Go On Alone] and ending in 1976 with Among My Souvenirs. Both are in this box set. In addition, he had 78 other Country Top 100 singles.
   
   So, yes, it would be rather difficult to put together a set containing 50 selections and not leave off SOMETHING of significance. In my case, for example, I would have loved to see Ballad Of The Alamo included.
   
   But hey, what is here is worth the price because, not only does it contain 24 charted hits, they are fully detailed in the 22-page booklet that accompanies the 2 CDs. This also contains informative liner notes written by Rich Kienzle in July 1991 along with many great photos of Marty over the years, as well as album cover reproductions (including his first), and personal appearance/movie poster reproductions.
   
   For once Columbia did something right.



3. The sound reproduction is excellent. This a very good collection of his songs, but the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that "Streets of Laredo" is conspicuously omitted. Considering that there are 2 discs with a total of 50 songs, I don't know why this song wasn't included.



4. The other reviewers have it pretty well-covered: this CD best covers the career of the Glendale, Arizona, native. Some of the early tunes are representative of songs that some people can point to as "hick" music. Marty didn't begin to hit his stride until the mid-50s with songs like "The Story of My Life" and "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation", the latter of which he wrote himself in just a few minutes. His "Don't Worry ('Bout Me)" was a unique crossover in that it employed the so-called "honky tonk" country sound with a malfunctioning piece of studio equipment that sounded like s "bass sax". (They left the sound in to great effect). His gunfighter albums were big sellers and, besides the classic "El Paso", included "Song of the Bandit" and "Cool Water", songs written by a hero of his, Bob Nolan, the main songwriter for his group, the original Sons of the Pioneers. Marty's ability to handle all popular song styles is displayed in this exceptional album. He refused to be placed in a rut or be classified as just a country singer. We could have done without some of the earlier unrecalled songs in favor of a few left out, but all in all, this item is well worth the price. For the record, "El Paso, City (by the Rio Grande)" is my favorite. Hope you enjoy it.



5. What did Elvis, Jim Reeves, Frankie Laine, Faron Young, Merle Haggard and Gene Autry all have in common? They were all fans of Marty Robbins; probably the greatest singer ever to grace Country Music. Robbins could have taken off his stetson, stepped out of his spurs and left the Country trail to be a Pop singer as his great voice effortlessly embraced songs such as 'That old Feeling', 'As time goes by', 'You made me love you', 'September in the Rain', 'Summertime', 'It had to be you' with versions that were better than many of the Pop balladeers of his time. The man was such an immense talent that most of his hits were his own compositions and not only could he sing any genre of music he could also write them as well. Soul is a much misused word in Music but Robbins had it in abundance and you believe it when Marty sings weepers like 'Begging to you', 'I walk alone', 'Don't Worry' and the vocal gymnastics he displays on 'Tonight Carmen', 'You gave me a mountain' and 'My woman, My woman, My wife' are a joy to the ear. His versatility is astonishing (probably only Elvis and Bobby Darin) can rival his talent for singing such a wide variety of songs. This box set is a stunner; Great versions of the oldies like 'Yours', 'Beyond the Reef', 'Ghost Riders in the Sky', plus a plethora of Robbins hits abound on this album.I am just disappointed there haven't been further volumes as there is enough in Columbia's vaults to justify follow ups of this truly once in a lifetime talent.

5 comments about Miss Peggy Lee.

1. Unlike many of my reviews, I will keep this one quite short.
   
   Peggy Lee....Has there EVER been ANOTHER singer LIKE her??? (NO)
   
   This collection starts at the beginning of her looong (lucky for us) career (at Capital), and travels right up to the end of her days with them the second time. This collection, rightly, belongs in any lover of great music's collection. You will also, in fact, need the "Singles Collection", and "The Best of the DECCA Years", too, if you want a complete representation of the GREAT LADY's career.
   
   Do not be "put off" by some few reviews here, stating that she's "boring", etc. Don't kid yourself...do you really think Peggy Lee was ever capable of being "boring"?!
   
   Trust me, and dozens of others who have reviewed this album positively, "you need this"....Enjoy! ~operabruin



2. The extesive career of Miss Lee on Capitol Records is very well sampled here. You'll find a lot of different arrangers and small combos spaning from the mid 40's to the late 60's. Of course that there is a lot of great tracks that were left out, but you can find the complete records through the English Emi double features releases if you're into a particullar record. Personally I thing that there is too many tracks from the Forties, pratically half of CD1 and the whole CD2, which due to the original recording technologies are not as pleasant to listen as the late ones. The sound mastering is unpecable, by the way much better than those in the english releases that I mentioned . The only thing to regret is the absence of some of her Decca recordings (1951/1956) which would be wellcome... despite that I think is a great buy. Try it.



3. I have no quarrel with the talents of Peggy Lee. Certainly she is one of our best jazz/pop singers and has been so for many decades. Her album with George Shearing called "Beauty And The Beat" would be on my Top Ten Desert Island Discs. However, this quite expensively priced, 4 CD set has a "sameness" to too many of the arrangements and presentations.

   Although we've all heard the Peggy Lee of the sexy, almost whispered, come-hither phrasing, (think: "Is That All There Is?") she has proved herself capable of so much more. And with a few exceptions, this set delivers too many of those undersung, quiet-to-a-fault performances. When you hear the all-too-few selections from the above-mentioned "Beauty And The Beat" you'll hear a refreshing change of pace.

   Lee can belt, she can do Broadway, certainly she swings, and her taste in songs is perfect. Then why do song after song (and there are over 100 in this collection) sound much too similar here? I'm not enough of a musician to answer my own question, but I know it's true. And it's a disappointment.

   Want a good sampling of Peggy Lee's artistry? Choose your own selection of 4 of her CD's, making sure that on one she sings with a small combo, another with a full orchestra and be certain that the arrangements were done by different people.




4. In the late 60s, when I was about 4 years old, I saw Disney's "Lady and the Tramp," which features Peggy Lee singing "He's a Tramp." I just loved that song, and the song about the cats too, but until I bought this set I didn't know anything else about Peggy Lee. Well, I can say that this set is well worth the price. The sound quality, for one, is outstanding for recordings of this era-you feel like you're front row for a performance. The songs themselves are mostly great too-some of them are so jaunty you want to get up and dance and sing along as you clean the house.

   An example is "Why don't you do right"--"You had a plenty money 1922! You let other women make a fool of you! Why don't you do right, like some other men do. Get outta here, and get me some money too!" Some of the material from the late 50s and 60s is a little too orchestrated for my taste, and takes some getting used to. The liner notes by Gene Lees are oustanding, and have some great phoots to give you a sense of what this neat lady is like. The only reason I don't give this 5 stars is that the songs aren't in chronological order-you can suddenly skip from a jazzy mono song from 40s to a stereo song from the late 50s, and then back again on the next disc to the 40s, which can be a bit jarring. Overall highly recommended, however, for the first time listener or the dedicated fan--several of the 100+ songs are rare or even previously unreleased. You'll have to get the best of the Decca years to get "He's a Tramp" though, it's not on this set!




5. Listening to this stunning collection of songs from the 40s through the 60s from the bluesy, indomitable Miss Lee is not as much a blast from the past as a smoldering, come-hither nudge as only Peggy can deliver. These recordings sound better than ever and four CDs are just the right amount to adequately represent the various styles of music and collaborators this genuine American original has complemented. Her fading health in recent years seems to have dimmed Miss Lee's contribution to the world of music, elevating Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, and Billie Holiday to higher rungs at the same time. My advice is to listen to this collection of classics and be reminded, ever so subtly, of the brilliance of this musical genius and startlingly original visionary artist.

5 comments about Roots of Rock N Roll: 1946-1954.

1. A real history lesson in the roots of Rock-A-Billy and Rock n Roll. If you enjoy music you'll enjoy this cd...Some great songs, by great artisit. It rocks, it rolls and it will have all the cats jumpin'
   
   A welcome addition to anyones music collection. Very well done, with great song selection.
   
   
   The Mean Eyed Cat
   KNON 89.3
   Dallas, Texas



2. For those of you who are interested in the roots of much of the music that's everywhere, this is a perfect starting place. Here are three discs to show you where almost all great pop music, Post World War II, came from. It couldn't have been picked much better. There are vocal groups, jump blues bands, and thank God, some country songs. They seem to have done a great job with licensing and all that too. I had quite a few of these records and got this as a recent birthday gift, but there was still plenty to thrill me.
   
   One warning: You'll want to follow up by buying almost everything you can by these great artists. It's a happy disease.



3. I've been collecting rock and roll for a long time, and there are some gems on this cd that I've never heard. This is a very concise,thoughtout, and meaningful collection. Oh to have been "back in the day" when these were filling the air-waves. This is a great cd. You will not go wrong.!



4. Most of us cats n kitties out there know that rock n roll was created from white country music and black rhythm and blues. That may be the long and short of it, honeys, but the truth is that this great big 3-CD box set also contains numbers that might be considered jazz ("Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"), gospel ("Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air"), musical theatre ("Ol' Man River"), comedy ("Riot In Cell Block #9"), and, of course, blues ("How Many More Years", "Hootchie Cootchie Man"). As a matter of fact, both country and r and b came from the blues, but that is a story best told another day. Roots of Rock N Roll: 1946-1954 contains all the above unforgettable performances plus too many more to mention, and the hip compilers at Hip-O records did a masterful job of assembling this assortment, guaranteed to reward listeners with hours of listening pleasure. A great collection, to be sure. However, in the interest of better informing the potential buyer, I feel I must add a couple of cautions. One: Although there are relatively few country selections (maybe half a dozen or so), I realize that country music is a polarizing genre, which means that some listeners really LOVE it and some really HATE it. These particular tracks, from Hank Williams "Move It On Over" (later covered by George Thorogood), to Hank Snows "I'm Movin' On" (later recorded live by The Rolling Stones---look it up!) are pretty soulful, but if you are put off by "steel guitars and a twang" at all, then you may not like them. Two: When you come right down to it, some of these choices don't stand the test of time. Example: Johnny Ray may be seen as an influence on both The Four Seasons and Dion and the Belmonts, but I confess I'm rather bewildered why his rather ordinary pop song "Cry" spent so many weeks atop the charts. And while Faye Adams recording of "Shakes A Hand" created tremors throughout the South when whites and blacks dared to risk arrest by reaching across segregated dance floors to shake hands every time this song was played, the truth is it's not that great a number. And while we're on the subject: "Shotgun Boogie" may showcase Tennessee Ernie Ford's cornpone persona to perfection, but "Sixteen Tons" would have been a much better choice; the latter number is one of the finest fusions of country, pop, gospel, and r and b ever recorded, and it's omission from this collection is a glaring one. Finally, the collection bogs down at times with too many slow numbers. For my money, the compilers could have doubled the number of jump blues songs and made a better collection. Still, don't let these rather minor troubles worry you. Rather, get this collection and marvel at how anyone could be a "Sixty Minute Man", find out where Elvis got his "Hound Dog" from, and, most of all, delight in the unstoppable energy of trains in such unforgettable classics as "Freight Train Boogie" and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"!! OUTASITE!!! So get Roots of Rock N Roll today and party down while deciding whether or not to dye your own roots!! Crazy, Man, Crazy!!!!



5. Typically, we're asked to believe that rock and roll started with Elvis. Or that rock and roll was, more than anything else, an evolutionary variation on country music. Or that rock and roll represented (and continues to represent) a white-black fusion.

   Certainly, this collection lays waste to the first two notions. In his informative liner notes, Pete Grendysa tells us that rock and roll existed long before the main (i.e. middle-class white) record-buying public knew about it. And the country examples are relatively few. I'd have been happy if they were none, but I can live with the well-chosen examples here.

   In particular, Hank William's "Move It On Over," while not exactly rock and roll (a two-beat pulse doesn't qualify as such, to my ears), does feature a verse identical to the first four bars of "Rock Around the Clock." And, like Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" (Disc 2, track 4), it is a hillbilly boogie in standard twelve-bar blues form. It's not far from the mark.

   And The Delmore Brother's "Freight Train Boogie," from 1946, turns into pure Carl Perkins near the end, easily out-rocking anything Elvis recorded at Sun. Having heard other Delmore Brothers sides that aren't anything like rock and roll, I was surprised and delighted by this number.

   But the black recordings are the real, and whole, point of this collection. Such sides have far too often been disgracefully dismissed by too many rock historians as primitive, artistically-incomplete efforts by African-American musicians struggling toward something higher--"something higher" meaning, of course, Elvis. But listen for yourself. Most of these African-American numbers rock with the force of a thousand Elvises. And these are not performances striving to become whole; they are more than whole. The musicianship, for the most part, is assured and aggressive and infinitely more competent than some of what was to come after rock and roll had conquered the pop charts.

   Many thanks to the genius who thought to include Lionel Hampton's 1946 if-it-ain't-rock-and-roll-what-the-heck-is-it masterpiece "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" (with its wonderful, be-boppy jazz piano chords in eight-note triplets at the start). Many more thanks for Jimmy Preston's 1949 recorded-in-an-insane-asylum "Rock the Joint" (however did Bill Haley manage to tame this tune down so drastically?). More thanks, even, for Hal Singer's proto-surf "Cornbread" (1948), Percy Mayfield's masterful "Please Send Me Someone to Love" (1950), and Ruth Brown's superbly soulful "Teardrops from My Eyes" (1950, again--a great year for Soul).

   The best compilation of its kind. If you want to know the real Story of Rock and Roll, you've got to hear the records. And they're here.

5 comments about Hollybilly: Buddy Holly 1956 - The Complete Recordings.

1. Admittedly, this set is for the completist, but Buddy Holly was magnificent both as a musician and a vocalist. Plenty of these come from rare acetates (that's all that exist in many cases) and the complete Owen Bradley sessions are here in great quality (it's a shame Bradley didn't have a clue as what to do with Holly). The real treat is the Clovis demos (Norman Petty's studio truly must have been state-of-the-art) because those tracks, especially "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" really shine on their first ever undubbed debuts (it was overdubbed for a 60s release to "modernize" it...to call that unneccessary is an understatement). The sound quality varies greatly depending on the source material, but with the professional recordings (the Clovis demos and the Bradley sessions) I have never heard them sound better. Something tells me these sets from the El Toro label will be the Holy Grail of Buddy Holly recordings one day.



2. Nearly 50 years after his death, unheard Buddy Holly tracks still emerge despite the comprehensive, but now rare Vigotone bootleg set from the 1990s. On the present set, a new version of "Rock Around with Ollie Vee" (November, 1956) and some new demos from Clovis add to the listening pleasure. Sound is generally good and often superior to the Vigotone set. While looking forward to El Toro's next Buddy Holly set for 1957 (and perhaps ones for 1958 and 1959?) two minor irritations, a lack of track sources and details to the extent known and a total running time of 77 mins that could've been put on a single CD at less cost.
   As noted in a variety of web discussion sites - until Universal/MCA resolve the legal issues around Buddy Holly's recorded estate that began immediately after his untimely death and continue to this day - sources such as Vigotone, El Toro and the endless recompilations of the MCA recorded estate will have to do until the ultimate annotated box set with the total Lubbock, Clovis, New York and "Apartment" sources included appears. Hopefully this will happen before the CD format disappears and while Buddy's remaining fans still have their hearing!



3. Great service; great CD. Buddy Holly is timeless.



4. Buddy Holly was a excellent artist. His singing was amazing, I loved his screams, and the way he played his guitar. He wrote some amazing songs in his short life. His drummer, Jerry Allison was one of the best rock drummers in the early days and very underrated. Holly has plenty of greatest hit collections out but which one to get? I cant tell you. I do own all of his work expect one song. Anything that doesnt have the picks in it would be a great start.



5. For those who are dying to find out what is actually on this CD
   
   Track Listings
   Disc: 1
   1. Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
   2. Love Me
   3. Don't Come Back Knockin'
   4. Midnight Shift
   5. Blue Days Black Nights
   6. Rock Around With Ollie Vee
   7. Rock Around With Ollie Vee
   8. Because I Love You
   9. Changing All Those Changes
   10. I Guess I Was Just A Fool
   11. It's Not My Fault
   12. I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down
   13. Rock A Bye Rock
   14. Girl On My Mind
   15. That'll Be The Day
   16. Ting A Ling
   17. I'm Changin' All Those Changes
   18. I'm Changin' All Those Changes
   19. Modern Don Juan
   Disc: 2
   1. You Are My One Desire
   2. You Are My One Desire (1)
   3. Rock Around With Ollie Vee
   4. Honky Tonk
   5. Good Rockin' Tonight
   6. Brown Eyed Handsome Man
   7. Bo Diddley
   8. Rip It Up
   9. Blue Monday
   10. Blue Suede Shoes
   11. Shake Rattle And Roll
   12. Ain't Got No Home
   13. Holly Hop
   14. Bo Diddley
   15. Brown Eyed Handsome Man
   16. Have You Ever Been Lonely
   17. Have You Ever Been Lonely
   18. Have You Ever Been Lonely
   19. Have You Ever Been Lonely 2
   20. Gone
   21. Gone 1
   22. Gone 2

1 comments about Remembered.

1. The Shangri-Las are one of the best girl groups ever! Something like this is missing from pop culture, probabaly because you can't find 4 girls that can ACTUALLY sing and harmonize like the Shangri-Las...the production in these CD's is great...I am glad I have this in my library! - Mike Rivas

3 comments about Platinum Collection.

1. I have been wanting a Charles Aznavour collection CD for a while and thought that this would be it. I was particularly interseted in some key songs of his, such as L'amour cest comme un jour, which is not the original version I have on an old vinyl. This was particularly dissapointing. Overall the quality of the recording lacks the bass (tone) I associate with versions of Aznavour I have heard on older vinyl recordings.



2. I love Aznavour - this is its real deal. I have bought other Aznavour but this one is his original music in French. And it has its best songs



3. In French, that is. This doesn't include any of the English-language versions of his classics, but is otherwise an excellent overview of his 40+ year career. And even though my French is entry-level at best, I prefer to hear Aznavour in his native tongue.

5 comments about Soul Spectacular! The Greatest Soul Hits of All Time.

1. A very good collection of some of the biggest hits of soul. If you are starting from a limited stash, this is a good boost for your collection. However, the depth of catalog is limited mostly by the fact there are only 4 CDs. A 10 CD box set or more would really be required to capture the biggest hits of the era. Overall, a good set.



2. I ain't dropping stars for this one because it is absolutely brilliant as far as I am concerned. Love every track from head to toe BUT not only is there no Sam Cooke but there's no Stevie Wonder either. So maybe the title should have been 'The Greatest Soul Hits of all Time without arguably the 2 MOST influential Soul artists of all Time' certainly 2 of the top 5 eh? Aretha, Ray and Otis are here. Anyway back to the set and it is a fantastic list of brilliant, well known and some hidden, gems! Production is good - sounds like the originals to me! 'Cept they don't have that little crackle that my record player used to create! If you wanna buy this and are just checking the reviews to tip the scales - I say DO IT! You WILL love it, but you might just wanna get a Sam & Stevie best of set to go with it.



3. If Rhino's 4CD "Soul Spectacular" had been released in the mid-1980s it may have stood with Clapton's "Crossroads" and Bob Dylan's "Biograph" as among pop's essential box sets. Success of films like "Dirty Dancing" and "The Big Chill" returned many of these songs to public awareness as baby boomers recognized them as part of the idealized soundtrack of their lives. As Ben Edmonds says in the liner notes, "This music isn't simply of its time; it embodied it." This was a far cry from music critic Dave Marsh once wondering in the mid-1970s if Wilson Pickett and other soul giants would one day be available only on bootlegs.
   
   But the more than 20 years since have seen these songs anthologized countless times on soundtracks,hits and anthology collections (yours truly once owned every one of these songs in one recorded format or another) and played daily on oldies radio. (Barbara Mason's grand 1965 original, "Yes I'm Ready," far from the biggest hit here, has aired more than one million times.)
   
   This collection's best and worst point is its familiarity. Even casual pop music fans know the signature songs of the Temptations, Mary Wells, Percy Sledge, Ben E. King and others here. No choice is a glaring misstep but some are questionable: why "I Count the Tears" from the Drifters instead of 1964's more popular "Under the Boardwalk" or 1959's more influential "There Goes My Baby?" Why James Brown's now-cliched "I Got You (I Feel Good)" over "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," one of music's most aggressive, important singles? Let alone essential performers (Sam Cooke? The Dells? Jerry Butler?) left out altogether. Motown, pop culture's most active recycling plant, whips through 1962-3 songs from the Miracles, Vandellas and Supremes; only three Motown hits are heard across discs 2-3.
   
   Those two middle discs are the set's best as they zip through a variety of styles: Muscle Shoals soul (Sledge, Brook Benton) Philadelphia (Fantastic Johnny C, Intruders, Delfonics), Chicago (Barbara Acklin, Billy Stewart) and, of course, Memphis and Detroit giants. Each artist is represented by one song except Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding, featured on solo and duet track each. The liner notes tell little more than oft-told tales of Stax and Motown's records respective founding.
   
   "Soul Spectacular" is just that; 90 clear-sounding classics worth playing at any party or road trip without a dud in the bunch (at least until deep into disc four with one too many smooth Philadelphia International ballads in a row.) It's a first-class soul starter set, with greatest hits sets from any major individual artist listed an essential buy.



4. It is truly one of the best collections I have ever seen/heard!
   Ok, it doesn't include Sam Cooke, but hey, you can't have everything! It has NEARLY everything BUT Sam Cooke!
   Rhino obviously couldn't obtain the rights to Sam's music, but they have done a great job of obtaining some of the best of the Stax/Volt, Atlantic, Motown and other great Soul Recording Labels!
   Several of these tunes have been PLAYED TO DEATH by 'Oldies' radio formats-- MOST OF THE MOTOWN STUFF--, but there are many gems in this set of CD's amongst the 'standards'--Gems like CRY BABY by Garnett Mimms, WALKING THE DOG by Rufus Thomas, MEMPHIS SOUL STEW by King Curtis, LOVE IS A HURTIN' THING by Lou Rawls, and oh so many more! There are 88 songs to choose from, and if you want a decent collection of Soul & R&B oldies, this is it!
   I am a bit of a musicologist and
   have studied this music for 20 plus years, and I must say that this is a very groovy 4 CD set for Musical Novices and Experts alike! I'm impressed!
   I didn't rate it 5 stars because I agree that leaving Mr. Cooke out is not cool!



5. Often when a particular artist is not included in a collection it is because rights were not available for use of his/her recordings. That aside, this box set could not have a more accurate title -- it is spectacular in every sense. The PBS tie-in concert is a fund-raising staple for good reason -- 40 years of brilliant music performed by some of the greatest entertainers of the century. See it, hear it, buy it, love it!

5 comments about Essential Collection: 1965-1997.

1. A few favorites come to mind. Of course "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" were always my favorites from my high school days. But the real jewels were the songs I didn't really listen to until 20 years later. That's when I found "A Song For You" with Karen's beautiful and haunting vocal, and great tenor sax solo by Bob Messenger; which became one of my all-time favorite pop ballads. Prior to hearing this rendition, I had only heard Woody Herman's Thundering Herd play this on their Grammy Winning album "Giant Steps." I hadn't even heard of Leon Russell.
   
   But I must also add the wonderful "1980 MEDLEY - Sing/Knowing When To Leave/Make It Easy On Yourself/Someday/We've Only Just Begun", in which Richard orchestrated some beautiful string and woodwind movements. Especially on "Make It Easy On Yourself" - extremely lush string arrangement and first-rate vocal harmonies. Oh, but "Someday" stands out with the marvelous voicings of the strings, flute and oboe; plus the addition of the O.K. Chorale Singers (angelic choir-like voices) - WOW!. I almost lose it every time the singers come in. Thank you Richard, for writing some of the most brilliant string and woodwind accompaniments for Karen's "One-In-A-Million" voice.
   
   I'd be remiss, not to mention Richard's orchestrating great strings and woodwinds (first oboe, then flutes and clarinets) in "Where Do I Go From Here." Last, but not least (for me) - The happy, upbeat, Latin-tinged, "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song" showcasing the tenor saxophone of Tom Scott.
   
   I'm a woodwind and percussion player (and have always wanted to play the string family), so I sometimes lean on the side of listening to more the orchestrations than I do of the vocals of The Carpenters. Not to take away anything from the moving and beautiful voice of Karen, but I feel that Richard really complemented Karen greatly by writing so many wonderful string and woodwind passages in their music, to move the listener besides just Karen's voice. So I'm not going to apologize for overdoing the kudos on the orchestrations and not enough on Karen. Most all of the reviews have done the praising of Karen, so that should satisfy her fans. I (like the majority) loved and adored Karen Carpenter.



2. During the era of the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, there was a certain kind of music being made by a segment of the musical population. To counteract the difficult, sometimes unbearable issues that were happening historically, there seemed to be a kind of musical quilt being tapestried (if I may borrow a Carole King word here) to help people cope, to comfort or encourage.
   
   Among the performers that fell into this category were Karen and Richard Carpenter. Karen's unforgettable and golden voice was the main instrument in delivering these beautiful songs, while Richard's keyboard instrumentation and song arrangements showcased his sister brilliantly.
   
   Finally! What we have in this box set is a proper treatment of each song in their catalog. Every recording is presented singularly, showcased as the true gems they are. There is no cross fading from song to song; there is no obvious "updating" these tracks with extra instrumentation for their own sake as there had been in previous collections. You are getting each and every song as they were intended to be heard and it is nothing short of brilliant.
   
   But the telling thing about this exquisite four disc set, as you listen to it, is the overall theme. A constant message in Carpenters songs is love, of course, but most especially it's about unrequited love, losing love or not being able to find love. What you might not know is that this existed even before the world had heard of the group.
   
   Here, you get to hear songs like "Looking For Love" and "The Parting Of Our Ways," songs recorded before their breakout hit "(They Long To Be) Close To You," and that demonstrates that overriding theme of searching and dealing with heartache and heartbreak that was echoed in Karen's personal life.
   
   This is more than a collection of hits from a group that helped to define an era in American History, it's a document for them, a biography for this sister and brother, and it is spacious, gentle, well crafted and a must for collectors of Carpenters' material.



3. If you were to obtain only one Carpenters greatest hits compilation, this would be it. As a Carpenters fan myself, most all of the Carpenters songs are hits, so there are always a few songs missing that you would like to have been included. For a beginning Carpenters fan, however, this is a very good collection. Especially valuable are the early Carpenters collection, disc one of four, 1965-1970. It has some very good recordings of pre-Carpenters songs, and some original recordings of early Carpenters songs, which were later re-recorded for the Carpenters albums. Richard Carpenter's booklet narratives explaining the history of the songs is very informative and entertaining. One interesting thing Mr. Carpenter said was that most of the master tapes recordings of the pre-Carpenters from their early days on the Magic Lamp label with Joe Osborn were destroyed in a fire in 1975. This may explain at least partially why there are so few recordings of early (pre)-Carpenters music available. In any event, I highly recommend this album, most especially for its early Carpenters songs, which you may not be able to find anywhere else.



4. The output and legacy of The Carpenters is as easy to overrate as it is to underrate. It's true that they were rather catagorically dismissed as uncool during their heyday, but in the haste many folks make these days to say, "Hey, we really did love 'em, we just couldn't SAY so," there were some pretty good reasons why The Carpenters got dissed back then. Exhibit A is "Sing," a little ditty that can put you into insulin shock upon first contact, and their renditions of "Please Mr. Postman" and "Ticket To Ride" didn't do the Marvelettes or the Beatles any favors either. But there's also a lot of music Richard and Karen Carpenter put out that not only justifies the belated critical acceptance today, it exceeds expectations the casual listener might have that this was just a sappy pop duo and nothing more.
   
   Much of the evidence for this can be found on this collection, where the hits ("Close To You," "For All We Know," "We've Only Just Begun," etc.) comingle with less-heard material, including Richard and Karen's early days as two-thirds of the jazzy Richard Carpenter Trio (a solid rendition of the Duke Ellington standard, "Caravan") and album tracks/singles that deserved more exposure ("Maybe It's You," "Ordinary Fool," "Make Believe It's Your First Time"), and some genuinely inventive and WEIRD stuff as well (a drum roll for "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" and the rock 'n roll medley from the album NOW & THEN). There's also, inevitably, the tracks you skip over immediately when they come on, but two things are predominant throughout. There's Richard Carpenter's arrangements, which, when they work, REALLY soar into pop heaven, not unlike those of fellow Angeleno Brian Wilson. But most of all, there's the lovely voice of Karen Carpenter, as graceful and full a voice as any pop singer could ever want. She was capable of making you fall in love, breaking your heart and putting your emotions in a whirl, sometimes all in the same song. When the two siblings' particular talents click together, as they often do on this retrospective, few things in pop music sound better.
   
   I have a few quibbles with this collection, more with omissions than with what's included. I would have like to have seen "Look To Your Dreams" from VOICE OF THE HEART included; for my money, it showcases the finest singing Karen Carpenter ever did. And the inclusion of "Mr. Guder" and "Your Wonderful Parade" just underscores the fact that songs of social protest were not The Carpenter's strong suit. But balance this out with what's here ("Solitaire," "Those Good Old Dreams," "Goodbye To Love," the list goes on and on) and what you have left is ample proof that there was much depth and breadth to The Carpenters....and that they were pretty cool after all.



5. This collection is truly essential for any Carpenters fan. The only thing missing in the wonderful book that accompanies the collection is the lyrics to the songs.

5 comments about Old Friends.

1. Having owned every LP (yea I'm that old) that Simon and Garfunkel ever produced and replaced them with CD's, it is nice to have a compilation of their entire collection on three CD's along with some interesting previously unreleased work. The collection comes in a nice hard booklet case with vintage photos and commentary, including frequent excerpts from past interviews. If you are as big a fan as I am, this is the ultimate collection. Although Simon and Garfunkel have long split (with an occasional reunion tour) their music lives on very nicely in this collection.



2. I mean, as far as state of the art compilations go, anyway. Check out the Coltrane Classic Quartet or Miles' 1965-68 Quintet compilations - these are real winners as far as I'm concerned. I was very disappointed by the lack of information on the recording sessions and their sidemen and with as fine a poet as Paul Simon, you would think that the lyrics for all of these tunes would have been included. Frankly, I'm also disappointed that the other reviews on the Amazon site (as of 1/08/07) are both five stars. It seems like the reviewers were only complimenting themselves on their recent, pricey purchase. It seems irresponsible to the Amazon community to me.



3. If you're looking for the ideal Simon & Garfunkel collection, your search is over. "Old Friends" is the ideal colletion for all the Simon & Garfunkel you need. These three discs contain 59 of the finest songs in the history of American music, including enduring classics like "The Sounds Of Silence", "I Am A Rock", "Homeward Bound", "The Dangling Conversation", "Scarborough Fair / Canticle", "The 59th Street Bride Song (Feelin' Groovy)", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as well as more underrated tracks like "Comfort And Joy", "Overs", "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" and "Song For The Asking".
   
   The sound quality is absolutely incredible. It's one of the best sounding cds I have ever heard. The accompanying booklet is excellent, and this is overall a virtually flawless compilation.



4. This is arguably one of the best boxed-sets ever released by a band that has held sway over music for a very long time. There are probably only a small amount of people out there who truly understand the brilliance of S&G and this album will help bring out those smiles or tears. For casual listeners, this box set contains the common S&G masterpieces like The Sound of Silence, Bridge Over Troubled Water, The Boxer, Cecilia, etc. I recommend this album or any album of S&G to anyone out there who's sick of all the phony tunes that have inevitably infiltrated the universe of music. Simon and Garfunkel are definitely one of the few remaining truths in music.



5. I am not really one for compilations generally unless they are comprehensive like the "Message In a Box" compilation for The Police, but this one is just something else. Not only are pretty much all of the best songs by S&G included in the album (at least all my favourites are here so I am happy) there is a clutch of unreleased and previosuly unheard stuff like "Hey Schoolgirl" form their 'Tom and Jerry' days (although a later live version), the original cut of "Sound of Silence" without the drums and the electric guitars added on (which sounds ethereal).

   On top of the superb selection of songs and the lovely packaging, there is the fact that the soudn quality is superlative. The songs have been taken off the original tapes and that gives the sound a clarity and vibrance which is sometimes missing form many S&G recordings floating around.

   And oh yes it has "We Got a Groovy Thing Going Baby"!!

No comments about Gold: Greatest Hits.