Most soul fans know Bob Crewe through his 60s pop/soul songs and recordings with Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and his New Voice and Dynovoice labels that teem with hidden gems. Less known are his early songs and productions by such heavyweights of the black music world as Ben E King, Chuck Jackson, Jerry Butler and Barbara Lewis. That follows from his first big success in music, which was with black Brooklyn doo wop combo Hal Miller & the Rays, whom he managed, wrote and produced for. ‘Silhouettes’ by them was a big hit on both the pop and R&B charts in 1957. Crewe clearly loved the R&B sound and penned for Faye Adams, Charlie & Ray, the Bey Sisters and Billy & Lillie in the 50s. He took Hal & the Rays through to the early 60s, when he also wrote and produced soul singers Lenny O’Henry and the High Keys well known names to northern fans. Crewe was adept at composing soulful ballads for Hal Miller, Chuck Jackson, Jerry Butler and the like but could also hit a dance groove, as shown by Dee Dee Sharp’s swinging 60s 45 ‘Deep Dark Secret’ / ‘Good’ and the High Keys’ R&B gem ‘Pistol Packin’ Mama’. He wrote groovy numbers for Tracy Dey and Shirley Matthews and an inspired and sublime ‘Pushing A Good Thing Too Far’ for Barbara Lewis. Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons started out as a street corner vocal group and were steeped in the black music tradition, so they were happy to go along with Bob Crewe for the ride when Motown’s success inspired him to write in that vein. ‘I’m Gonna Change’ was an obscure LP track that got picked up by Northern Soul DJs in the 70s and went massive in the terminology of the day. Frankie Valli had belatedly charted with his solo billing ‘You’re Ready Now’ in the UK, due to the rare soul scene spins, though his ‘(You’re Gonna) Hurt Yourself’ is arguably the more soulful of the tracks from that mid 60s period. Mitch Ryder fronted a white Detroit rock band whose music was its own genre of tough soul ‘You Get Your Kicks’ being a high point in teenage angst with an adrenalin fuelled dance beat. By the mid-60s Crewe’s labels had moved with the times and the slick, rhythmic pop soul sounds of Lainie Hill’s ‘Time Marches On’ and Kenny Wells’ ‘Isn’t It Just A Shame’ reflect that. Crewe was working for many other labels, producing gems such as Lynn Randell’s ‘Stranger In My Arms’ for Columbia and writing ‘Everything Under The Sun’ for revered soul man Walter Jackson at Okeh. In the UK there were excellent covers of his songs by Kenny Lynch and Kiki Dee, while UK band the Soul Mates covered Dey & Knights’ groovy ‘Sayin’ Something’ Kent went with the original in this case i,m pleased to say..This is a brief history in time of some the northern scenes greatest spins..The man is a LEGEND!...Brilliant Album!...Read the Booklet all info in there!
AMM
Review Courtesy Of Oldsoulrebel
The Tasters!
34 comments:
many thx oldsoulrebel for an amazing review!
Thanks OldSoulRebel. Some new Crewe sounds.
Thank you AMM and oldsoulrebelfor this Album
Thank you for this excellent review of Mr. Crewe. Thank you AMM.
Thanks for such a good fresh review
Thnak you Oldsoulrebel and AMM for another great comp on Kent
Reb
thank you kindly for the review mate - a belter!
A new Kent can only be interesting!!!
Thank you Oldsoulrebel and AMM for sharing.
Yves
Thanks for another superb Kent record guys!
Amazing! I just discovered this release and now you are reviewing it here! You're the best!
/Jumpstart
Excellent review of this comp
Many thanks OldSoulRebel & AMM. Great review.
Nice one!! Many thanks oldsoulrebel and AMM for this great share!
Cheers!
Bill
Most definitely! Please and thanks.
Another fine collection... many thanks OSR & AMM for the review
BigD
Another day, another Kent. No disguise for this blessing! Thanks, Oldsoulrebel and AMM!
Little by little I will manage to complete my Kent. Thanks Collins.
Pierre
Love these Kent comps, thanks to Oldsoulrebel.
Cheers, AMM and Moxy. Thanks for this. Another good comp..
Thanks for sharing another Kent review
never heard this or Bob Crewe either thanks so much Oldsoulrebel and AMM
Kent's are always welcome. Shout out to Oldskoolrebel for his collaboration with AMM. LINK me up for this review please AMM!!
News to me. Didn't know crewe did this. By the way, if you haven't seen the movie Jersey Boys yet. Check it out. Crewe plays a big part.
Thank you AMM and oldsoulrebel for this review
I am always glad to find a Kent release here that I don't know already. Thanks for review, P.
Thanks AMM and Oldsoulrebel for the review
Thanks
Thak you oldsoulrebel!! Fantastic review!!!
Oooh supercool, yeah, Bob Crewe is a familiar name to me somehow. Thanks a lot AMM & OldSoulRebel ✌🏻🌞☮️
Thank you oldsoulrebel and AMM for this review.
Many thanks to Oldsoulrebel and AMM for a dose of Bob Crewe certainly had a bit of style in more ways than one another wicked review
Cheers Pedro
Superb review, thank you Oldsoulrebel & MM.
cheers,ELtel
Hi AMM,
Many thanks for the review, this certainly ticks all the boxes, thanks
Nice review for another great set from Kent. Thanks a lot.
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