Customer Reviews

The Sound of Love: The Very Best of Darlene Love

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With the Philles catalog now in the licensing hands of Sony Legacy and EMI, the fiftieth anniversary of the label's 1961 founding is being celebrated with a new round of reissues. First out of the gate are remastered best-of collections for the Ronettes, Crystals, Darlene Love and Phil Spector. This 17-track Darlene Love collection proves that while Ronnie Spector (nee Veronica Bennett) may have been Spector's greatest heartthrob, Darlene Love was his vocal MVP. As the lead vocalist on key singles by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, the Blossoms (both under their own name, and as the West Coast version of the Crystals), and solo singles, not to mention her work with the Blossoms as go-to backing vocalists, Love's voice was as important an element of the Wall of Sound as the Wrecking Crew's drums, guitars, pianos and basses.

Included here are tunes by the Crystals, Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans (though not their first hit, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," on which Bobby Sheen sang lead), the Blossoms, and solo sides. This collection mostly duplicates the track line-up of ABKCO's out-of-print 1992 Best of Darlene Love, dropping "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and a pre-Dixie Cups version of "Chapel of Love," and adding four titles: the Blossoms' "No Other Love, "That's When the Tears Start" and "Good Good Lovin'," and Love's "Strange Love." A couple of her lower charting singles (the pre-Philles "Son-in-Law" with the Blossoms, and the 1992 soundtrack single "All Alone on Christmas") are absent, but more puzzlingly, neither the earlier or current collection includes Love's signature holiday pièce de résistance, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."

Though all this material has been previously released, several of Love's solo tracks went unissued at the time of their recording, turning up a decade later on rarities anthologies. Among these are "Run Run Runaway," "A Long Way to Be Happy," and the brilliant Poncia and Andreoli song, "Strange Love." Fleshing out her post-Philles career is a soulful 1965 turn on Van McCoy's "That's When the Tears Start" (produced by Reprise staffer Jimmy Bowen) and a 1975 session with Phil Spector on Mann and Weil's "Lord, If You're a Woman." As with the other volumes in this series, this isn't the vault discovery fans are waiting for, and the lack of stereo (except tracks 16 and 17) will vex long-time collectors, but with ABKCO's earlier best-of out of print, this is a welcome return to retail of Love's classic sides. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Phil Spector, while certainly a moody sullen guy, was at the time, what many would have considered a genius. No need to go over the distinctive, inimitable sound..that being said, there were a few drawbacks. the sound at the time was really not that sonically superior, even though it was a breakthrough of sorts.

Of course, remember this was back in the 60s when we "didn't know any better". There have been several reissues of Phil Spector material since the CD made its debut in the mid 80s. The previous review reminds us that Abkco has released domestically much of the Phil Spector catalogue. In addition, there have been several import pieces on Darlene Love, The Ronettes, & The Crystals.

This particular piece is certainly far from ideal. The lack of stereo has been noted; however, just remember that NONE OF THIS was originally recorded in stereo, and it was not meant to be listened to in stereo (Phil Spector, were he not in prison, would likely concur completely). There are stereo versions of The Ronettes material, and I personally have a couple of Crystals tracks which have been remixed to simulate stereo. They sound OK. But even I, who am likely the biggest stereo freak on the planet, have to agree that they likely sound sonically superior in the original monaural mix.

This package includes the core of Darlene's best material, and I have to say that the sound quality is as good as you can possibly get..given the nature of the original recordings. "The Wall Of Sound" was never meant to sound "pretty" & "homogenized". The name pretty much sums it up: "Wall of Sound". What connotations does that give you??

Yes, there are many who bemoan the fact that this is not in true stereo. Heaven spare us "fake stereo"! I would have to give this package a "95" overall grade. No, "95" isn't perfect, but please put it all in context.

I purchased all 4 Very Best of CD's released in 2011 by Legacy (Phil Spector, The Crystals, Darlene Love, and The Ronettes). My aim is to get the finest sounding examples of these recordings possible, and these sets deliver the finest MONO sonics possible from the almost-50 year old recordings. Almost 50 years-WOW! Where does the time go, from AM radio to digital files played on CD's, IPODS and cellphones? Thanks Phil, for giving us kids the "little symphonies"! BTW, the packaging and liner notes are excellent also.

One of the finest singers of her era, Darlene Love's long overdue induction into the rock'n'roll Hall of Fame in 2011 is well deserved. All but one of these recordings were made between 1958 and 1965, with the exception being from 1975.

Darlene had her biggest successes with groups, although nine of the tracks here are solo recordings. The group recordings feature three tracks each from the Blossoms (a 1958 cover of No other love and two sixties tracks produced by Jimmy Bowen, who later became an important country music producer) and Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans (including Why do lovers break each other's hearts) and two Crystals tracks (He's a rebel and He's sure the boy I love). Darlene was not a regular member of the Crystals, but she certainly brought something a little different to their music.

Three minor American solo hits (Today I met the boy I'm gonna marry, Wait till my Bobby gets home, A fine fine boy) are featured along with one of their B-sides (My heart beats a little faster) and some other excellent solo tracks that one doesn't normally come across. The 1975 recording (Lord if you're a woman) is a little different, but I prefer the earlier music.

Along the way, Darlene recorded plenty of backing vocals on other people's records, though of course none are featured here although some are mentioned in the liner notes.

Apart from the music here, Darlene also features strongly in A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. I'm not sure how much music Darlene actually recorded as a lead singer, but while I'd like to see a more comprehensive compilation, all the essentials are here except for those Christmas tracks, which should be very easy to find at the appropriate time of year if you haven't already got them.

I really didn't know she was so prolific until I heard this collection. She should have been given greater due back in the days, but even Elvis got shafted in his early days. See her videos on youtube. This cd is timeless...

"The Sound of Love: The Very Best of Darlene Love," comes to us with some of the signature songs by one of America's greatest, under-recognized, vocalists, finally, as of 2011, voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of the songs on here have been many-times released, but might nevertheless be largely out of print. Others might not have been released when originally recorded, or for a puzzlingly long while.

Music legend Phil Spector himself hand-picked Love as a singer, for his immortal Phillies label, and the "Wall of Sound" technique he perfected. And he used her here, there and everywhere, in places you might not expect to find her. Spector, a shrewd man once upon a time, also suggested she take "Love" as a stage name: she says she always mistrusted Spector, we now know with very good cause, so she later legally changed her surname. She was, in fact, born Darlene Wright, a preacher's daughter, and is actually the sister of Betty Wright, who also sings a bit. (Betty Wright is a one hit wonder: she had a monster in "The Cleanup Woman," which, I understand was the first U.S. hit set to a Caribbean beat.)

At any rate, Love's is widely considered the voice that launched a hundred hits. During the 1960's mega girl-group era, she sang backup for artists like Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Cher, Dionne Warwick, the Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones and many others. She is surely also on some of Spector's greatest hits: every voice on the supposedly Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" was hers; as was every voice on any Bobby Sox and the Blue Jeans hit. She played Maybelle Motormouth for three years in the Broadway production of "Hairspray:" (Queen Latifah took the part in the film.) Love co-starred with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in all four of the Lethal Weapon 1-4 [Blu-ray] films. She also appeared in the last film made by Elvis Presley, in 1969,Change Of Habit [DVD] [1969], with Mary Tyler Moore. Love has long been a favorite of American TV personality David Letterman's; she has performed on his Late Night Christmas special since 1986. Her music has also been featured on over 22 movies soundtracks.

Some of the songs on this DVD are:
He's Sure the Boy I Love
He's a Rebel
Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry
Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts?
Not Too Young to Get Married
Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home
Run Run Runaway
Lord, If You're a Woman

Many reviewers have commented on the absence of her great Christmas song, "Christmas Baby, Won't You Please Come Home," available on Phil Spector's memorable Christmas album. And I miss two of my favorites, "Da Doo Ran Ran," supposedly by The Crystals, and "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," initially credited to Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. And some have commented negatively on the relative paucity of her material on here. This CD probably won't satisfy her biggest fans, but it will satisfy most of us, and is fine for people just coming to her work. Furthermore, and its biggest strength: it's available. Love is a great, longtime favorite of mine, and I've managed to read her autobiography, long out of print, and hard to find, unfortunately: My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story. I've also managed to see her several times. At least twice at New York's late, lamented club, the Bottom Line (a site now absorbed into New York University), doing her Christmas show with Ronnie Spector, another of Spector's great stars, and also a long-time favorite of mine. And at New York's Central Park, in an open-air show with Nona Hendryx. And Love is still performing, if you ever get a chance at her: she may be no spring chicken, but her voice has lost none of its personality or power.

...if you're a fan of Prehistoric Monaural Sound! Found this gem in Wal-Mart, where most Audiophiles go. Actually, it's a decent CD, but sadly mixed to monophonic sound, when I know it could have sounded better in Stereophonic sound. However, Sony and EMI get whatever binary files they get to master the CDs, certainly not session tapes. They get any ol' Joe to (re)master for them.