Customer Reviews

Geordie Boy: Anthology

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As a longtime Alan Price fan dutifully replacing my vinyl with CDs, this cache of Alan Price recordings was a godsend, one-stop shopping for a musician who's always a pleasure to listen to. From the early stuff like I Put A Spell on You, when Price was defiantly proving he could be just as bluesy on his own as he was with the Animals, through several delicious Randy Newman covers (I love Randy Newman, but Price's renditions of things like So Long Dad, Tickle Me, and Living Without You are better than Randy's), through Georgie Fame duos, it covers his solo career intelligently, and has shrewd selections from subsequent albums such as O Lucky Man!, Between Today and Yesterday, and A Gigster's Life For Me. If you had to pick only 41 tracks from the man's 30-plus prolific years as a solo artist, these would probably be the tracks you'd want -- they highlight his chamelon-like ability to perform in any number of music genres, from blues to folk to bossa nova to country to music-hall-tinged political commentary. But while this does showcase his versatility and his amazing voice, with its complicated bluesy texture and nuanced phrasing, it doesn't showcase his keyboard work as well, which is a pity because he is one of the great pianist/organists of his era. It's a good introduction, but it eventually sent me back to acquire the full albums, where some of his most interesting numbers were buried. Price has always thought of himself as an entertainer rather than an artist, though in fact he is a considerable artist; often his albums featured some facile pop numbers, which got more airplay than the purer and more intriguing back tracks. So buy and enjoy, but don't stop here -- he gets better the deeper you dig. (The House That Jack Built, the Complete 1960s Alan Price Set recordings, gives you perhaps a truer idea of just how good Price can be.)

Alan is best remembered for the classics he recorded with the Animals, most notably House of the rousing sun, but he made plenty of great music after quitting the Animals and going solo. One of the reasons he quit the Animals was that he didn't like the extensive touring, so he did less of that as a solo singer - this may be why his solo records met with only limited success in America, where he had one minor hit (I put a spell on you) but was otherwise ignored.

After leaving the Animals, Alan had four UK top ten hits and three other hits that nearly made the UK top ten including Rosetta, a duet with Georgie Fame. The remarkable aspect of Alan's solo hits is their variety. I put a spell on you (a cover of a Screaming Jay Hawkins song) is a bluesy song that could so easily have been recorded by the Animals. By contrast, Don't stop the carnival (a cover of a Sonny Rollins song) is a calypso-flavored song, while Hi Lilli hi lo is a cover of a song from a fifties musical (Lilli). Simon Smith and his amazing dancing bear (written by Randy Newman) is another great song.

Alan sometimes wrote his own material and two of his UK top ten hits were with his own songs. One was The house that Jack built, but the other is perhaps the most famous of Alan's solo hits even though it wasn't the biggest of his hits. It is, of course, Jarrow song, an anthem for the people of Newcastle. Alan also had a minor hit with a superb ballad, Just for you. It deserved to be a much bigger hit but by the time of its release (1978), Alan was no longer fashionable.

This compilation contains the best of Alan's post-Animals music including some of his duets with Georgie Fame.

This 2 CD compilation covers most of Alan Price's recording career from the mid-sixties after having left the Animals and up till 1995. Vocally Price does not quite stand up with former bandmate Eric Burdon of the Animals nor musical Georgie Fame with whom he recorded the album "Together" in 1971. But the as a songwiter Price is probably the most prolific and versatile of the three.

The running order of the songs is built up chronolically, and I have to admit that CD 1 is my clear favourite. Here you fine his early hits such as "Simon Smith", "The House that Jack Built" along with some outstanding performances of Randy Newman songs - such as "Tickle Me".

The sound of the early recordings is typically 1960's, but the arrangements are often surprising and at times highly original.

It seems that Price confidence as a songwriter was quickly growing through his first years after the Animals and he began to write most of his material himself.

Among his early selfpenned songs ""Take Me Home" and "The House that Jack Built" stand out. Strongest track with Georgie Fame is the soulful "Yellow Man", also written by Randy Newman.

"Poor People" and "O Lucky Man" off his 1973 album are great tunes too.

Gradually his style becomes more and More "middle of the road", though in a lot of various genres.

There are fine moments on CD 2 too - The two 1979 ballads "Baby of Mine" and "Those Tender Lips" - along with the energetic rocker "I'm Coming Back" stand out.

Closing track "Some Change" is a worthy full stop to a fine compilation that'll give you a great overview of the long recording career of the sympathetic artist Alan Price.