Customer Reviews

Raindrops

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry teams up together to make simple, yet outstanding little 'pop nuggets'. Some of these songs were later recorded with Phil Spector in a more orchestrated and fully developed way (i.e. 'Not Too Young To Get Married'), but here they are still in a raw and sometimes more expressive form. It is interesting to note some old blues roots in 'Don't Let Go', and even a kind of pre-disco song, reminiscent of 'Do You Wanna Dance', called 'Let's Go Together'. All in all, I give it four stars - for retaining its freshness and energy through the years. Thank you Ellie and Jeff!

Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich worked from NYC's Brill Building, as did many other young early-1960s songwriters such as Neil Sedaka, Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Jackie De Shannon, Boyce & Hart, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Neil Diamond . . .

For my money, Barry & Greenwich wrote the best girl group songs of the era, not the least of which is The Shangri-Las' monster hit, "Leader Of The Pack". And who could forget Jeff Barry's ode to rock & roll, "Who Put The Bomp"? They just don't write 'em like that anymore.

Jeff & Ellie recorded demos of the songs they would shop to prospective artists, as The Raindrops. These were full (though demo-quality) recordings, complete with drums, bass, piano, and very tasty vocal arrangements. The fact that these are demo recordings doesn't mean the sound is muddy, or the performances are uninspired. FAR from it. Some of these demos were actually released - and charted! "Not Too Young To Get Married" (which they co-wrote with Phil Spector, and landed with Darlene Love) is a powerhouse of a recording, as is their rendition of Roy Hamilton's "Don't Let Go". It's a revelation to discover The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" is a carbon copy of The Raindrops' recording - right down to the sax solo. The standout, among many gems, has got to be 1964's "Let's Go Together". This one rates high on my list of best girl group songs of the '60s. It's infectious dancebeat would have made it a club favorite in the 1980s, had Blondie gotten hold of it.

As a longtime fan of the girl group genre, I'd have to say that I don't find a bum song in the 20 that make up The Raindrops CD - not a bad track record. Ellie Greenwich proves herself to be as good a vocalist as many of the artists she wrote for. The chick can SING! So, should you buy The Raindrops CD? I for one, think you'll dig it the most!

This obscure group includes two Rock and Rock songwriter hall of famers, Jeff Barry and Ellen Greenwich. The only reason I purchased this was to verify that song #26 (no credits given) on another CD, 'The Girl Group Sound' (Red Bird Records) was the same song as The Raindrops 'Another Boy Like Mine'. This was the case, but after listening to other Raindrop songs I was pleasantly surprised with some of the other songs. I like two songs that I believe were written and recorded by the RainDrops before other groups made them famous: 'Hanky Panky' and 'Da Doo Ron Ron'. Other songs on the CD that I had never heard before but like is 'What A Guy', 'Isn't That Love', 'Not Too Young to Get Married', and 'Let's Go Together'. And lastly I like their version of 'Book of Love' and 'Don't Let Go', written by others. Sometimes Jeff Barry's occasional deep vocals get in the way, but he wrote it so he can sing on it.

Since I was a child of the 70's, i had almost missed some of the greatest stuff from the 60's, if it were not for my older sister, who lived through the 60's. I missed an era of music that helped define how pop music had changed in such a way that no longer were vocal groups fabricated, but honest to goodness groups who wrote their own music, and performed their own instruments.
In between all of that, were those who wrote and produced. Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry, two very talented individuals took songwriting and producing to many levels.
The late Ellie Greenwich dabbled in recording from an early age, and Jeff, a talented writer who had a few writing credits on some pop songs met up and decided to collaborate. To see how much material they amassed in such a short span on time, well, not enough space here.
This cd includes almost all of their recordings under the name of The Raindrops, a name that Ellie took when Dee Clark's 'Raindrops' was #1 on the Pop charts.
Mind you, most of these tracks are demos, a product that a producer creates to give a singer an idea of what the vocal 'sound' should be like. Ellie and Jeff worked for Trio Music, and while trying to peddle one of their new songs that was on acetate to their boss, he liked it so much that he wanted the song to be released, just as it was. Thus we have 'What A Guy'. With added drums and echo, the song was released and actually did well on the Pop charts.
As for the other songs, including one of my favorites 'The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget', the sound is pure pop.
Ellie and Jeff's work extended to working with Phil Spector, creating classics like 'Da Doo Ron Ron', to their nurturing the talent of Neil Diamond.
For a fun listen, this cd delivers.