Customer Reviews

Best of

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In this eclectic collection of rare tunes, tv-teen actress SHELLEY FABARES shines brightly as a true recording artist with such rare gems asBYE, BYE BIRDIE and TELEPHONE, WON'T YOU RING. Of course, her main hit, JOHNNY ANGEL, isalso included here in true stereo and still sounds GREAT!This CD is a must-have for Shelley Fabares' many fans.

Not the possessor of a strong voice, nor a charismatic, individualistic way with a song, Shelley Fabares was a radio-friendly song-interpreter, a singing actress who did more than a decent job with the material handed to her. The tracks are well-produced and occasionally memorable. Especially good are "Ronnie, Call Me" and "He Don't Love Me". Of course, "Johnny Angel" is the one real classic, and it still sounds good on oldies-radio, but Shelley had other treats in store and this compilation pulls some great ear-candy out of oblivion. (NOTE: my copy contains 18 tracks in all--3 not listed here on Amazon: "I Know You'll Be There", "Lost Summer Love" and "Pretty Please", plus a "bonus track", Shelley in the studio)

I, too, fell for the inaccurate track listing for this CD, whereas the one I received had only 15 songs. In my case, the whole reason I bought the CD was to get the two P.F. Sloan/Steve Barri songs, listed as tracks 16 & 18. So this was a waste--I should have ordered the Rhino/WEA version.

I have so enjoyed this CD because not only does Shelley have a great singing voice, she is a wonderful actress and very kind person. I am a HUGE fan! I have written Shelley several times and she ALWAYS writes back with a nice hand written note or picture. She always hated to sing but I am so glad she did! What a fun CD full of easy songs to listen and sing too. I recommend this CD to anyone that likes 60's girl group music, You cannot go wrong! Also Try the other Shelley Fabares Double Album CD "Shelley" / "The Things We Did Last Summer" you will not be disappointed either way!

In 1958 Shelley Fabares appeared on the hit ABC domestic comedy "The Donna Reed Show" as Mary Stone, the young teenage daughter, whose younger brother Jeff was played by former Mousketeer Paul Petersen. Mary Stone was the personification of the perfect daughter ("Princess" whined too much on "Father Knows Best" to be really beloved) and was eventually asked by the show's producers to work with Colpix Records, the label for Columbia Pictures Television. Fabares's debut release was "Johnny Angel," a typical girl group type of song that atypically reached #1 on the Billboard pop charts in early 1962.

Of course, a hit single meant an album and Fabares released two during that year, "Shelley!" and "Things We Did Last Summer," with a third album "Teen-Age Triangle" a year later. Several of the songs on this collection appeared on none of those albums because in the Sixties lots of artists released singles that were never put on albums (just think of the Beatles with their two volumes of "Past Masters"). After her big hit "Johnny Angel" Fabares only had a few more singles that did anything: "Johnny Loves Me" (#21), "The Things We Did Lat Summer" (#46), and "Ronnie Call Me When You Get a Chance" (#72), all of which appear in this hits collection.

Those titles alone tell you exactly what sort of songs you are going to find on a Shelley Fabres album, although none of her covers of other hits like "Johnny Get Angry" and "Sealed With a Kiss." The appeal here is simply unpretentious "girl group" songs about the poignant pain of teenage yearning. Shelley Fabares was not trying to be Leslie Gore, so the comparisons are unfair. Fabares was never really serious about a music career and was more interested in parlaying her television acting career into doing movies with Elvis Presley, although most people remember her today from playing Craig T. Nelson's girlfriend and wife on "Coach." Still, all this considered her songs stand up better than a lot of other albums recorded by television stars.

All reviews + the Amazon song list state 18 songs on Shelley's
"the best of CD". I wonder why I've got only 15. The CD is
exactly the same (Sequal, 1994). In spite of that some of the
songs are nice because they formed part of our schooldays but
the rest is quite silly. There are 2 very nice ones, however,
the beauty "I'm Growing Up" and "He Don't Love Me". When I heard
the latter for the first time I immediately thought of Jan & Dean
and when I checked the writer it was Jan Berry indeed. Anyway
may be its better to have 15 instead of 18 songs all together.