Best of

Spencer Davis Group | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00000DQTM
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,263 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spencer Davis Group deserves better, January 17, 2001

By 

J. Kramer (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Great group, great tunes, bad production quality on this particular cd. "Gimme Some Lovin'" is one of the all-time great tunes to get people partying, but I'd suggest looking for it on another cd, or play this only on a boombox on a crowded beach, where sound quality isn't so important (the sample you hear on amazon is of better quality).

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vocals, Keyboard by Winwood Precursor to Later Work, January 11, 2007

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

There are two monster hits on this compilation (the 1966 "Gimme Some Lovin,'" and "I'm a Man" and their inclusion probably justifies the 60's music fan's purchase of this otherwise disappointing CD. Why disappointing? Because there are the most perfunctory of liner notes, nothing on track personnel, recording date, song authorship, and almost nothing biographical about the group (although Stevie Winwood, as its virtuoso and most durable musician gets added attention for his later efforts). There's nothing, really, about the band's place in British blues/rock history, just the familiar account of how the band met up, and a perfunctory list of their hits.

Still, any album that opens with their great, precocious single, "Gimme Some Lovin" is worth a look. Winwood's outstanding vocal against a raucous background chorus, the sexually tinged lyrics, and joyous, kicking beat, made it a classic-- a #2 record in England, and # 7 in the US. "Keep on Runnin'" didn't enjoy the same success, but chances are you'll recognize this R&B tune with it's buzzy guitar and bouncing beat. It's got the requisite "Hey hey hey" chorus, and could easily been done by the Stones (albeit with more sexual menace). It's got a trace of ska, not surprising considering (as the liner notes inform us) that it was a gift from Jamaican musician, Jackie Edwards. "I'm a Man" features a great beat and vocals, with an extra dose of percussion that gives it complexity and texture. Stevie Winwood's instincts, as always, are just right; he injects genuine, unstudied soul and passion into this brief but energetic song.

I Can't Stand It" is a fun song that sounds fairly typical of the era; it's a something the Yardbirds might have done, but it lacks their heavy blues-base and overall musicianship. I liked the spirit of "When I come HOme" (especially the chorus), as well as "Every Little Bit Hurts"-- mostly because of its uncanny resemblance to the Fine Young Cannibals' sound! Check it out. "Stevie's Blues" is Your_Basic-British-Blues, but Winwood's authentic sounding vocals and some totally kick-ass guitar work completely elevate it. Winwood's vocal and Davis' guitar similarly lift "Goodbye Stevie." The lead guitar also tracks Winwood's voice in the latter part of the song, an interesting change from the blistering solos preceding this.

Working On the Railroad" sounds dated, a kind of British country and western/folk/rock aesthetic that the Kinks would eventually perfect on "Village Green Preservation Society.' There are a number of other less-than-memorable tunes here (e.g., "Strong Love", Back Into My Life Again, instrumental "Trampoline," the fairly standard "Somebody Help Me"--although some listeners may have their own fond memories of these), but at the right price, this is worth it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic sixties R+B, January 10, 2006

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

The Spencer Davis Group were one of several excellent British R+B bands of the sixties. Best remembered in Britain for Keep on running (one of the best songs of the sixties, regardless of genre), by the time they started to make an impression in America, they were on the verge of losing their key man, Steve Winwood.

They actually had two number one hits in Britain (Keep on running and Somebody help me) and several other big hits, including Strong love (not included here), Every little bit hurts (a cover of the Brenda Holloway song), Gimmie some lovin' (a remixed version of which was a hit in America) and I'm a man (also a hit in America).

In 1967, Steve Winwood quit to form a new band, Traffic. The other band members struggled on for a while, but those recordings are not included here (and are not as good).

This is a nice introduction to the Spencer Davis Group. If you enjoy it a lot, there is a double CD, 8 gigs a week, which contains all the music they recorded while Steve Winwood was a member of the group.