"Girls On 45" - Volume 2

Girls on 45 Volume 2 is a MOST welcome addition to my collection of girl group recordings. Once again, Teensville has compiled a fantastic slew of of impossible-to-find, impossibly great girl group records. It's hard to believe that most of these weren't hits! I suppose, back in the day, when you'd have had new sides by the Chiffons, the Supremes, the Angels, the Shangri-las, Shirelles, etc., sitting on your desk, most programmers and MDs would have gone with the obvious, but, man - they should have auditioned a few of these!..

...There are some real gems here (and many that are VERY expensive singles - and that's if you can find them!) and this CD is filling some big gaps for me. Early sides by Merry Clayton and Clydie King, who both found success as background singers in the late '60s (that's Merry singing the famous "Rape - murder!" section on the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"), prove that they coulda been contenders. Just grab a copy of the great new documentary "20 Feet From Stardom" about our greatest background singers, including Merry, to see what I'm talking about. Outstanding stuff.
"Run Johnny Run" by Ramona King (which references the lick from Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk In The Room") is a real find. A great, criminally overlooked group is the Reasons out of Pennsylvania who are represented here by "Then Came Heartbreak," one of the legendary Gerry Granahan's greatest productions. Later sides by The Carolines and Lynne Randell prove that the girl group sound need not have fallen out of favor until the punk/new wave explosion a decade later.
I could write something great about each of 26 tracks, so I'll just say, this is a must-have album for anyone interested in this historic genre. The liner notes indicate that some of the sides were mastered from 45s as the master tapes have been lost to time. All I can say is that each and every track sounds glorious and pristine and that the remastering here is so great that no disclaimer would have been needed! Great stuff, great sound, great price.

trax:
1. Usher Boy - Merry Clayton 2. Run Johnny Run - Ramona King 3. I Cry Inside - Rickie Page 4. Outside City Limits - The Cashelles 5. He's Hurtin' Me - Beverly Williams 6. Oh I Wonder Why - The Gypsies 7. The Boy With The Guitar - Joanne Engel 8. Don't Pity Me - Joanie Sommers 9. How Many Times Can One Heart Break - Gwen Stacey 10. He'll Come Back - Sylvia Shemwell 11. Changed Disposition - The Party Favors 12. I'll Remember Jimmy - Miss Cathy Brasher 13. Don't Let It Get You, Girl - Debbie Rollins 14. Wild Angel - Vicki Sallee 15. Big Man - Barbara Jackson 16. Only The Guilty Cry - Clydie King & The Sweet Things 17. (Will You Ever Be My) Steady Boyfriend - April Young 18. Sweetly And Completely - Georgetta Banks 19. After Last Night - The Rev-Lons 20. Stranger In My Arms - Lynne Randell 21. Then Came Heartbreak - The Reasons 22. He's Looking This Way - Joanne Engel 23. Mr. Magic Moon - The Gleams 24. You're My Baby - The Carolines 25. You're Not The Guy For Me - Ernestine Anderson 26. Don't Say Goodbye - Jean King
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