Carole King, Gerry Goffin - Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.64 You Save: $9.35 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $10.63 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967
Free Music Review: THE Best Song-Writing Duo Of The 1960s
Hit: 5 Stars
This Ace of London release falls within the same series honouring renowned song writers/produces (see also Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy as examples) and, like those two volumes, mixes the contents with bona-fide hit singles and either failed singles, those which registered only on the Billboard Pop Hot 100 "Bubbling Under" charts, or which are considered among classic album cuts. The fact is, they could just as easily have concentrated only on their hit singles as a song-writing team (Carole King, born Carol Klein on February 9, 1942 in Brooklyn, did the melodies, while Gerry Goffin, born February 11, 1939, also in Brooklyn, did the lyrics), and come up with enough to fill out two volumes, especially if they included collaborations with others such as Barry Mann and Phil Spector, as well as songs composed individually or with others after their marriage broke up in 1968.
As a team, however, they wrote and composed mainly songs which centred around themes of teenage love, rejection, and jealousy and, in that regard, there were none better..Indeed, they were so good at what they did for the Aldon Publishing component of Don Kirshner's famous Brill Building (which they had joined as newlyweds in 1960) that he established Dimension as a separate record label almost exclusively for their songs, at which point they also moved into production and arranging.
Of the 26 tracks included here, a full 18 were not hit singles (tracks 4 to 12, 16 to 20 and 23). Four of these were, however, the uncharted flipsides of hits: Yours Until Tomorrow, which was the B-side to Dee Dee Warwick's I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (# 13 R&B/# 88 Hot 100 in December 1961/January 1962 on Mercury); the Drifters' Another Night With The Boys backed their mega-hit, Up On The Roof (# 4 R&B/# 5 Hot 100 in late 1962/early 1963 on Atlantic) - which they also wrote but for whatever reason was excluded from this album; I Was There by Lenny Welch which was released on the reverse of Two Different Worlds (# 66 Hot 100 in September 1965 on Kapp); and A Man Without A Dream by The Righteous Brothers b/o On This Side Of Goodbye (# 47 Hot 100 in November 1966 on Verve).
Nor do they include what turned out to be their first major hit, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? After initially being released on Scepter as simply Tomorrow, the subsequent pressings with the title change rose to # 1 Hot 100/# 2 R&B in late 1960/early 1961. Later it would be covered by such divergent artists as The 4 Seasons,. Roberta Flack, Melanie, Donnie Elbert, Dana Valery, and Dave Mason. In fact, hardly any of their earliest hits are provided here and one that is. Tony Orlando's Halfway To Paradise, is the LP version as opposed to the Epic single which reached # 39 Hot 100 in May 1961.
It then jumps to 1964 to include these hits from that memorable year which kicked off the British Invasion: I Can't Hear You by Betty Everett (# 66 Hot 100 in July on Vee-Jay); He's In Town by The Tokens (# 43 Hot 100 in August on B.T. Puppy); Let Me Get Close To You by Skeeter Davis (# 45 Country and # 106 Hot 100 :Bubble Under" in October on RCA Victor); and I Just Can't Say Goodbye by Bobby Rydell (# 94 Hot 100 in December on Capitol). Skipping over 1965, they then include, from 1966, Ben E. King's So Much Love (# 96 Hot 100 in May on Atco) and Don't Bring Me Down by The Animals (# 12 Hot 100 in June on MGM). The last hit included here is the now-classic (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by the great Aretha Franklin (# 2 R&B/# 6 Hot 100 in November 1967 on Atlantic).
Of course, since this isn't presented as a collection of their "greatest hits" I can't be my usual critical self in that regard. It is, in fact, a superb compilation of their various styles from 1961 to 1967, replete with informative liner notes as only Ace can do them, and excellent sound quality.
However, in the event you are not all that familiar with the Goffin-King library, here are just some of the other hits they wrote as a team: Some Kind Of Wonderful and When My Little Girl Is Smiling - The Drifters; Pleasant Valley Sunday and The Porpoise Song - The Monkees; Chains and Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby) - The Cookies; I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits and Ethel "Earl-Jean" McRae, lead for The Cookies; Goin' Back - The Byrds; Don't Forget About Me - Dusty Springfield; Every Breath I Take - Gene Pitney; Take Good Care Of My Baby - Bobby Vee; One Fine Day - The Chiffons; The Loco-Motion - Little Eva (discovered by the duo as she was babysitting their daughter Louise); Point Of No Return - Gene McDaniels; Go Away Little Girl - Steve Lawrence; Hey Girl - Freddie Scott; I Can't Hear You - Betty Everett, and later covered by Helen Reddy as I Can't Hear You No More; Oh No, Not My Baby - Maxine Brown; Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll) - Blood, Sweat And Tears; and Smackwater Jack - Carole King (she would also have 17 other hits as a solo artist).
Small wonder they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990.
Free Music Review: Gold Mine
Hit: 5 Stars
This British import is a real delight. Ace did a blockbuster job with the selection, mastering and documentation. The Tokens' "He's In Town" is a delight with that high falsetto, "No, you don't have to tell me." Skeeter Davis' rendition of "Let Me Get Close to You" is as sweet as it is dated, "Now I have finally said it, come on baby, don't make me regret it." Carole King does backup vocals on Tony Orlando's version of "Halfway to Paradise" in his pre-Dawn days. Bobby Vee recorded a number of Goffin-King tracks. "The Idol" has a strong string arrangement that sounds great in this remaster, "I read somewhere that I'm happy guy; I'm glad to hear it." The Chiffons, known for "Sweet Talkin' Guy," recorded "The First & Last" in 1963, although it's sha-la-la chorus must have seemed a blast from the past by its 1970 release. Richard "Popcorn" Wylie's "Brand New Man" is a rare King-Goffin track that has a joyful melody. The Drifters' "Another Night With the Boys" has their patented smooth soulful sway. Jackie DeShannon's stellar voice shines on "Heaven Is Being With You." "I Didn't Have Any Summer Romance" by The Satisfactions produced by Jack Nitzsche debuts on this CD. Bertell Dache recorded demos for Goffin/King & had four sides released by United Artists. His "Love Eyes" puts a smile on my face with its bubbly cheerful dreamy chorus. The Crickets' version of "Don't Ever Change" is a delight. The Beatles sang this song on BBC radio. Jill Jackson who was the Paula in Paul & Paula sang "I'll Love You For A While," "When I leave you, you'll say that I loved you well." The 1965 Lenny Welch version of a track associated with Johnny Mathis, "I Was There," boasts a smooth romantic sound, "I was there to bring you a daily bouquet, to make the world your playground if you wanted it that way." Betty Everett's version of "I Can't Hear You" sets your toe tapping and your head spinning with the glorious throbbing Carole King melody, "You walked out on me once too often; and I can't take no more of your jive & that's the truth." Ramona King's "Hey Everybody" is a great rocker spiced with some soulful sax. P.J. Proby's "I Can't Make It Alone" is a densely arranged song written for The Righteous Brothers also recorded by Bill Medley. The Righteous Brothers do a great job on the breakup song "A Man Without a Dream." The Animals burned a blazing top ten record with "Don't Bring Me Down." Dusty Springfield's version of "Wasn't Born to Follow," the song the Byrds did for the film "Easy Rider," has some delightful slide guitar in Dusty's classic soulful style. Carole King arranged and played piano on Ben E. King's "So Much Love." Dee Dee Warwick's version of "Yours Until Tomorrow" wears extremely well 40 years later, "Tomorrow the real world will come crashing down on me; I know I must lose you; That's the way it has to be." The CD concludes with a bit of ambrosia from Aretha Franklin, the classic "Natural Woman." Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote an amazing quantity of songs with extraordinary results. This disc is a gold mine for Carole King fans. Bravo!Free Music Review: ~STUNNING COLLECTION FROM LEGENDARY SONGWRITING DUO~
Hit: 5 Stars
Music lovers around in the great musical sixties enjoyed countless chart-topping hits by legendary songwriting duo CAROLE KING & GERRY GOFFIN married during their early hit making years which is the incredibly prolific period this wondrous collection is drawn from. Starting with a mesmerizing "He's In Town" by THE TOKENS, this mini-masterpiece features a sophisicated and fascinating arrangement complete with great sax & guitar solos swirling around hypnotic vocals...each song in this stunning ACE IMPORT come from a diverse collection of stellar artist's ranging from ARETHA FRANKLIN to THE EVERLY BROTHERS then all the way back to the "White Queen Of Soul" DUSTY SPRINGFIELD who CAROLE herself named as her all-time favorite interperter of her songs! "Wasn't Born To Follow" is an engrossing DUSTY SPRINGFIELD performance and this great legendary singer should have had many more chart-topping #1 hits and Grammy Awards than she had and this haunting classic is a clear example of another lost "hit" song opportunity. Passionate & riveting winners like "Halfway To Paradise" by a soulful sounding TONY ORLANDO still sound great after all of these years and the stunning rhythmic sizzler "I Can't Hear You" by overlooked Soul Icon BETTY EVERETT along with her other classic "near top 10 hits" ("You're No Good" & "It's In His Kiss") should have all gone to #1! "Yours Until Tomorrow" by DEE DEE WARWICK show that anyone from this generation after generation legendary singing family has a great voice and this winner would easily have been TOP TWENTY with any exposure at all yet was only a R&B chart hit...great songs from this era sunk when only going to the R&B charts and the sublime "ATLANTIC SISTERS OF SOUL" is a goldmine collection of lost classic stellar performances and to date this timeless & superb collection is the finest "DIVA FEST" available and a must have for lovers of great soul singers and these great ladies really do get down!!! ERIC & THE ANIMALS burn the house down & "Don't Bring Me Down" is a rocking & soulful classic while THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS "A Man Without A Dream" is another glorious example why this classic duo went on to have an amazing career spanning decades. While all mesmerizing songs in this tremendous collection from greats such as BOBBY RYDELL, JACKIE DESHANNON, BOBBY VEE & others have that classic sixties hit sound, another engrossing collection would be to have a "TOP TEN COLLECTION" of those numerous classics from this amazing songwriting duo who both continue to this day writing volumes of great songs making them trailblazing giants who long ago went to legendary status both individually and collectively! Like all great ACE IMPORT COLLECTION'S, the "GOFFIN & KING" collection is rich in sound and the generous liner notes make for informative & fascinating reading! Bravo to CAROLE KING & GERRY GOFFIN for making music an enjoyable, memorable and wondrous listening experience throughout the great musical sixties and then beyond...definitely the greatest songwriter/composers from the past few generations and again...beyondFree Music Review: Not the Usual
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this CD out of curiosity---I did not recognize most of the titles or, if I recognized the title, I did not remember hearing the artist involved performing the song.
I am really glad I was curious. The songs on the CD are terrific and it has been a long time since I have had so much pleasure so unexpectedly. Like most people I know the work of Goffin/King quite well but what I didn't know was how deep the catalog is.
I have a very large record collection so I am well aware that those of us who grew up in the 50's and 60's did not hear everything that was available on our radios---we just thought we did. If artist X had 2-3 hits and we never heard him again we wondered what happened to him/her but went on to the next thing presuming that was all there was. Tony Orlando, for example, big local hit on the East Coast with "Halfway to Paradise", bigger national hit with "Bless You"--and then gone.
This recording reinforces how much great music was written and recorded and failed simply because we never got to hear it. I was too young to understand payola and too naive to realize how radio playlists were put together but I am always grateful when a CD such as this comes along to show me some of what I missed.
If you are a fan of the 1961-1967 music scene, try this CD. You won't be sorry. You'll recognize some of the artists and some of the songs but I am sure you will like most of what you hear.
Free Music Review: Snapshot of this songwriting powerhouse
Hit: 4 Stars
First off, this is a collection of tunes written, not performed, by the team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King should there be any question in the prospective purchaser's mind. Though Carole King became a standout performer in her own right in the '70's, the tunes here are those written by her and her husband and fed to a wide spectrum of material-hungry recording artists in the '60's. Along with such prolific pairs like Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Carole King and Gerry Goffin generated an astounding number of compositions that contributed much to the development of rock's early history.
While many of their well-known works are ubiquitously available, this piece from Ace Records of the U.K. presents a wide spectrum of the hits, misses and stuff in between. The bigger and modest hits are represented by the likes of "He's In Town" by the Tokens, "Halfway To Paradise" by Tony Orlando and Aretha Franklin's "A Natural Woman". Much of the interest here however, is in the titles that never made it big on the charts. While some of these recordings seem to warrant more sales attention than they received at the time, not everything they wrote turned to gold and they had their fair share of failed efforts. Ace has done a noteworthy job here in sampling the varying music-writing fortunes of this essential team.
Complementing the recordings, the accompanying 24-page booklet provides both background on the performances and a biographical sketch of Gerry and Carole. Sound quality is dependably good with many of the 26 tracks in stereo and the remainder (1,4,6,9,12,18-20, 24) in clean mono. Rather than focusing on just the hits, this new collection offers an interesting smorgasbord of output from one of the most prolific songwriting teams of the formative years of the rock and roll era and may interest both the casual and die-hard fans of the genre.
More Free Music Notes:
1 2
1 2