Customer Reviews

Hippy Hippy Shake: Definitive Collection

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The only thing the Swinging Blue Jeans are remembered for in this country is "Hippy Hippy Shake," a fairly heavy-sounding piece of rock 'n roll. In actual fact, however, the Blue Jeans were more inclined to record midtempo ballads. In the U.K., they are probably best known for their fantastic Merseyfied cover of "You're No Good," a genuine classic from the era. Although it was cut two years too late (in 1966)to be commercially viable, their Merseyfied version of Bacharach/David's "Don't Make Me Over" is another classic. They also did a fine version of "Don't Go Out Into the Rain, You're Gonna Melt" about one year before Herman's Hermits. There is some very good stuff here.

However, the Swinging Blue Jeans also produced a fair number of very pedestrian tunes, oftentimes written by themselves. This is particularly true of their earliest period in 1963 and 1964; some of the songs are embarrassingly corny. For those of you familiar with the successful British writers of the era, think of a more chirpy and irritating alternative to Mitch Murray and you've got the picture.

For you Hollies fans, longtime member Terry Sylvester will be found on the Swinging Blue Jeans tracks from 1966 forward.

This is not an ideal anthology of this group. There are actually a good number of other tracks recorded by the band which are vastly better than many of those included here. But as an introduction that gives you their big important classics, this set will suffice. The sound is excellent.

There are two different CDs called "Hippy hippy shake: The definitive collection" here on Amazon. One from 1993 with 26 songs that's probably the best compilation there is with this band. This one you can only buy from private sellers here. And one from 2008 with 13 re-recorded songs that you can buy new for a very cheap price directly from Amazon. For some reason Amazon has chosen to put all the reviews for these two different CDs in the same place. And they put the same tracklist on both. Don't be fooled.

I think that we can be generous. While not as polished as The Beatles, The Searchers, and Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Swinging Blue Jeans were one of the definitive Mersey Beat groups. Nevertheless, this is the real stuff.

"Hippy, Hippy, Shake" is their big hit. Along with "Shaking All Over", a few other songs that are certainly Mersey Beat are "It's Too Late Now" and "Promise You'll Tell Her" - the Liverpool harmonies, the major/minor chord syncopated transitions, the piano/guitar leads and the bass/drums back beat. Their unique signature is Ray Ennis' reaching vocals.

Per Mr. Bernabo's comment, it was The Who on the Live at Leeds recording that was the other well known version of "Shaking All Over" with a stadium sound version.

I was unlucky, I suppose. When I ordered this item (ASIN B000055Y5V), I did not get the 26 song Definitive Collection. I got the Lt Series CD titled "The Swinging Blue Jeans - Hippy Hippy Shake". And they say on the label "NEW RECORDING by original artists", copyright 2000.

I'll list the 13 songs on this CD.

1. You're No Good (song made famous by Linda Ronstadt)
2. Good Golly Miss Molly (quite different from original)
3. Hippy Hippy Shake (very close to the original)
4. Angel
5. Still the One
6. I'm an Old Rock'n'Roller
7. You Win Again (the Hank Williams song)
8. Banging In My Head
9. Higher Than a Kite
10. Poets
11. Love Machine
12. Whole Lotta Trouble
13. Way Down Yonder

I'll try again for the original recordings - maybe from Collector's Choice Music. This CD is going in the trash.

The CD picured in this ad is not a re-recording. It is, in fact, a top notch collection of vintage Merseybeat. There is filler, but there are also some great gems like "It's True" and the haunting "What Can I Do Today". It's definitely worth exploring for folks who like lesser known sides by bands like the Hollies, Gerry and the Pacemakers and the Easybeats.

The Swinging Blue Jeans [who actually started out as the Bluegenes] were one of those acts whose exciting live performances did not translate well to vinyl. Not helping at all was a profound lack of original material.

In fact, each of their only three North American charters in 1964 were oldies revivals: Chan Romero's Hippy Hippy Shake [# 24 Billboard Pop Hot 100in April b/w Now I Must Go], Little Richard's Good Golly Miss Molly [# 43 in June b/w Shaking Feeling], and Betty Everett's You're No Good [# 97 in August b/w Shake, Rattle & Roll] - all for the Imperial label.

Clearly their "success" - brief as it was - was predicated upon the assumption among the record-buying public back then that, if they came from Liverpool they HAD to be good. However, this was one British Invasion firecracker that fizzled out pretty fast for reasons that become obvious as soon as you listen to most of the 26 selections offered.

It seems ludicrous, too, that the producers of this CD could not find room for the B-side to their last legitimate charter. Drives us completist collectors absolutely nuts.