Customer Reviews

Lovers Who Wander/So Why Didnt You Do That the Fir

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I have the second album and many of the tracks were never released commercially. Dion's version of Crying is great. Aint That Better Baby is a great tune as well and the title track is an awesome, bluesy number.

Dion should have re/recorded some of these songs on his New Masters CD (which is incredible)

I ordered this c.d. on the strenght of the "Lovers who wander" album. I have the original 1962 vinyl album, but I wanted a c.d. for convenience. In the bottom right hand corner of the picture of this c.d., it is stated "2 ORIGINAL LP'S ON ONE C.D.". I took that to mean this contained the ORIGINAL 1962 l.p. release of "Lovers who wander". THAT IS NOT WHAT IS HERE.
Several years ago "Ace" had made up these two albums by digging up alternate takes, and stuff still "in the can" to create this line up, and released these tracks on vinyl. This is very mis-leading for Ace to use the EXACT album cover of Lovers who wander, and state "2 original l.p.'s on one c.d.", meaning THEIR original l.p.'s that are now on c.d. They talk in the liner notes about what a wonder find this stuff is. Well maybe it is IF thats what your looking for, and you know thats what your getting. Even the "editorial review product discription" does not make it clear what your getting.

All but one of the 12 songs that made up the original "LOVER'S WHO WANDER" album ARE here, BUT presented in alternate takes. "Little Diane", a song that is on the original 1962 album, and a top ten hit, is not here.

The second half of this double c.d. "WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT THE FIRST TIME" is either "RARE" or alternate takes, 10 of the 16 are from 1985.

The story got even more confusing with Ace's revamping of their c.d. in 1998. When I ordered my copy the Amazon picture of it is as I stated. But the cover of the copy I received looks a bit different then shown here. The statement about "2 ORIGINAL L.P.'s ON ONE C.D." is a change from the copy I received which says "2 ALBUMS ON ONE C.D." and is dated 1991.

The point is to let you know:
1. This is not the exact original 1962 "Lovers who wander" album release. For an example, if you have an original version of the song "Lovers who wander" and can compare that song with the version on this c.d., you'll notice the vocal emphasis is different, etc.
2. This is all alternate or "RARE" tracks.
3. Some songs sound like your in a recording session in progress, with talking in the songs.
4. Missing is "Little Diane" form the original albums 12 songs.
5. The entire c.d. sounds different, Ace calls this crystal clarity, I say it lacks the rich fullness of the original 1962 album sound.
6. On the part of "Why didn't you do that first", - one song was recorded in 1974, and 10 in 1985. That equals 11 of the last 16 album tracks being recorded much later, and Dion's voice certianly reflecks that fact.

I AM a Dion fan, I have been since I was a teenager. I am looking for some of those wonderful Dion albums that I loved when I was in high school. Sorry to say, this is not one of them.
One nice thing for me is that the seller also beleived this to be the tracks from the origial 1962 "Lovers who wander" album, and was kind enough to be fine with the c.d. being returned. So this reveiw may not show as a "Verfied Amazon purchase", but it did serve me to realize to be more cautious when concidering what to buy.

Footnote note: I have since found the exact "Lovers who wander" album on c.d. It is one single c.d. with the original 12 songs. It looks exactly like the original L.P., AND sounds exactly like the original L.P.
Released in 1993 by 'The Right Stuff' a division of Capitol Records. The copy I got was brand new, still original wrapping with a sticker that said "Official Reissue of the original L.P.". And for only $8.00. NOW THIS is what I was looking for!

Ace have done quite a lot to revamp their catalogue of Dion repertoire, but this CD compiled in 1991 is still in great need of overhaul. It consists of re-issues of two vinyl albums put out by Ace, one a 1985 compilation of rare and previously unreleased tracks, some from his time with the Belmonts, and the other a Dion solo album originally from 1962. The sound is pretty good throughout, mostly having been mastered from the original two-track tape masters, with all but 10 of the tracks in true stereo (the rest mono, nothing duophonic thank goodness), resulting in a clean, fairly hiss-free result that lacks the reverb that was added to some of the mono mixes at the time.

Product descriptions of the Lovers Who Wander half of the album describe the track-listing as having been "re-sequenced". The vinyl album had added three bonus tracks taken from a subsequent album, Dion Sings Love Comes To Me, but time constraints on the CD meant that two tracks had to be dropped. They are Love Comes To Me (one of the bonus tracks) and Little Diane, a key track on Lovers Who Wander since it was a Top Ten US single at the time the album came out. There must be a rationale behind presenting the album incompletely whilst including two tracks (Little Girl, Candy Man) that belong somewhere else, but it doesn't make sense to me, especially as Little Diane happens to be a favourite of mine.

So Why Didn't You Do That The First Time is presented in full, though, and must have been a revelation when it came out. Alongside bouncing early stereo takes of singles (The Wanderer, Lovers Who Wander, A Teenager In Love, Every Little Thing I Do) there is an alternative take of My Private Joy and some fabulous unheard outtakes (Moon River, Crying, Baby What You want Me To Do, In A Room, Ain't That Better Baby). Also previously unreleased is a version of It Was Never Meant To Be from before the Belmonts overdubbed their doo-wop harmonies. The rest were originally released in 1963 on By Special Request: Dion &The Belmonts Together On Record. They were presumably recorded between 1958 and 1960 and left in the can, apart from two rare tracks (We Went Away/Tag Along) that originally appeared on the Mohawk label in 1957 and comprised the first single by Dion and the Belmonts together.

Neither Dion Sings Love Comes To Me or By Special Request: Dion &The Belmonts Together On Record are in catalogue at the time of writing so perhaps Ace should consider re-issuing Lovers Who Wander in full, paired with Dion Sings Love Comes To Me; and adding the rest of By Special Request to a new edition of So Why Didn't You Do That The First Time, along with any other appropriate material that turns up.