Symphonies for Susan [Import]

The Arbors | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 6, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Rev-Ola
• ASIN: B000RMIYGI
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Baroque Pop

Track Listings

1. Letter

2. Graduation Day

3. I Can't Quit Her/For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her

4. A Symphony for Susan

5. Touch Me

6. Just Let It Happen

7. Okalona River Bottom Band

8. Lovin' Tonight (Maybe Tonight)

9. Valley of the Dolls

10. Like a Rolling Stone

11. Mas Que Nada (Pow Pow Pow)

12. Motet-Overture

13. A Day in the Life of a Fool (Manha de Carnaval)

14. Mr Bus Driver

15. Julie, I Tried

16. So Nice (Summer Samba)

17. Good Day Sunshine/Got to Get You into My Life

18. Love Is a Groovy Game

19. Most of All

20. Dreamer Girl

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

The Arbors are the last great 'lost' vocal harmony act of the 1960s. While The Association, Harper's Bizarre and even The Four Seasons have seen their back catalogues repackaged and expanded and have slipped back into the mainstream forty years later, The Arbors continue to languish in semi-obscurity with virtually no reissues or compilation appearances to their name. Until now! Formed by two sets of brothers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1965 (and you thought the MC5 were the first cool Ann Arbor act!), the quartet were signed to Columbia's Date imprint and scored their first hit with "A Symphony For Susan" in 1966.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Of The Arbors Currently Available, September 8, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symphonies for Susan (Audio CD)

Since the other Arbors release is currently out of print, and fetching an outlandish used price, this volume is your best bet by far if you're seeking the five hits produced by this quartet out of the University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor [hence their name]. Brothers Edward and Fred Farran, and Scott and Tom Herrick, had an undistinguished sound, as evidenced by their modest chart success for the Date label. Certainly nothing like the group they are frequently compared with, The Vogues, who could boast 24 hits in the same era.

A Symphony For Susan was their debut hit, reaching # 18 Adult Contemporary (AC)/# 51 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in late 1966 b/w Love Is The Light. For their follow-up they reached back to a 1956 hit by the similar-sounding Rover Boys and Four Freshmen, taking Graduation Day to # 19 AC/# 59 Hot 100 in June 1967 b/w I Win The Whole Wide World (not included here).

Late that year The Valley Of The Dolls, inspired by the book and the film (although NOT the same as the Dionne Warwick song with the same title), reached # 26 AC b/w You Are The Music, and after being shut out for all of 1968, they returned to the charts in early 1969 with another cover, this time of a 1967 # 1 by The Box Tops, when The Letter became their fourth hit, reaching # 20 Hot 100/# 26 AC in April. Then, in June, they had their final hit when I Can't Quit Her stalled at # 67 Hot 100 b/w Lovin' Tonight (Maybe Tonight).

Decent liner notes and superb sound quality make this a 5-star release despite the omission of some B-sides.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SUPER RELEASE, August 28, 2007

By 

charlie bear "Music Maven" (Big Sky Country) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Symphonies for Susan (Audio CD)

This is NOT the re-release of "A Symphony For Susan" as some retaliers have it listed.
The full title is: "The Very Best Of The Arbors - Symphonies For Susan"
It has 22 cuts on it and includes every song from their best album: I Can't Quit Her/The Letter
It's a long overdue retrospective that effectively replaces an earlier out-of-print compilation that has been fetching outrageous prices.
This is a superb collection drawing from all three of their releases, many on CD for the first time.
The Arbors were ahead of their time in many ways, blending sugary sweet vocals with some cosmic production and arrangements. On some songs you could say: The Lettermen on steroids.
If you've watched any television in the last 30 years, you've heard their voices. A lot. The Arbors sang the jingles for McDonalds, United Airlines, Green Giant ("Up in the land of the Jolly Green Giant..."), Texaco and many more.

As usual, great Rev-Ola treatment. Very Good sound, good notes. A quality release.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars hey Joe! More better than you think!, March 7, 2008

By 

Kurt C. Piepenburg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Symphonies for Susan (Audio CD)

Forget the above reviews which seem to parrot the liner notes. I remember hearing The Arbors versions of The Letter and I Can't Quit Her on Chicago radio quite often and was taken by the moody production of these songs. The LP containing those two, aptly titled "The Arbors:I Can't Quit Her-The Letter, released on Date records, ALSO contained in it the best version of Hey Joe you will EVER hear, ESPECIALLY if you are sick and tired of all the versions you HAVE heard before. (I'll just BET you haven't heard THIS one!) It is worth the price alone to hear this song . All 10 of the lp's songs are included here, plus a number of earlier, more middle-of-the-road (schmaltz) selections from earlier releases, pre-Letter. BUT! Thanks! They have also included the very trippy-sounding "Okalona River Bottom Band", a late single that shouldn't have died, but did. Well, LO! and Behold! Now you can hear these wonderful songs on an un-scratchy CD! Pow!Pow!Pow! Buy it before it disappears!