Customer Reviews

My Town My Guy & Me / Lg Sings All About Love

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Everyone knows the hits. The amazing thing about Lesley Gore's albums was how much good stuff enveloped the singles. While most of her contemporaries, especially at Motown, loaded their albums with filler, Lesley, Quincy Jones, arranger Claus Ogerman (mostly) & co. lavished care on ALL tracks, as if they ALL were going to be the next single. And these two albums, while containing her lower charting hit singles, are definitely her best. And they're together on 1 CD. "My Town..." is her last full album with Quincy Jones at Mercury and contains Lesley's own song "A Girl in Love" with the smokey verses in a minor key (where Les does her own call and response--or maybe something deeper) that jump to a major for the chorus. Also here is Phil Spector's arranger Jack Nitzche, who turns "What am I Gonna Do With You" into a dense wall of sound classic (he was the song's original producer); "No Matter What You Do" is the hardest rocker she ever sang on, and Van McCoy's beautiful "Before and After" is given the definitive treatment here."...SINGS ALL ABOUT LOVE" is the album she made with producer Shelby Singleton, but its the unique arrangements by Alan Lorber that make this a classic. Is there a better Lesley Gore record than her own "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)" ? With her ballsy vocal and Lorber's strings swirling behind her like a tornado, this 2 minute kiss-off is a beaut and was probably TOO good to be a major hit. Her sexiest song has got to be "Start the Party Again", while her raunchiest is the Valerie Simpson-Neil Ashford tune "I Just Can't Get Enough Of You", and dig that King Curtis-like sax break. In between are the gems "Only Last Night", "With Any Other Girl", "I Can Tell"(her last "girl-group" record), and the jazzy "We Know We're in Love". And how about what's done with Spector's "To Know Him Is To Love Him"? The sound quality here is very good as were the original Stereo pressings. And these peformances were all cut "live" in the studio, which give these recordings that extra zing!

1965 was a great year for Lesley Gore. She started the year winning nearly every music industry award for Best Female Vocalist, including Cash Box, Record World, Music Business and 16 magazines, and she was appearing on movie screens in three films, including the legendary live rock concert, "The TAMI Show." Her first edition of "Golden Hits" was a mainstay on the LP charts, and Mercury Records kept her busy in the studio when she was on hiatus from her sophomore year at Sarah Lawrence College. The first fruits of her Hollywood and New York recording sessions with Jack Nitzsche and Quincy Jones were found on the album from those dates, originally titled "Lesley Gore Sings for Girls in Love," but re-titled "My Town, My Guy and Me," when the single of the same name leapt into the top 40. "My Town, My Guy and Me" showed a maturing Lesley Gore at the crossroads, straddling girl group pop (Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry's sublime "What's A Girl Supposed to Do?"), standard Gore betrayl angst ("You Didn't Look 'Round" from "The TAMI Show")and runaway rage ("I Don't Care"). But the album also found her triumphantly belting solid West Coast Rock ("No Matter What You Do"), a Jackie DeShannon-Jack Nitzsche rhythm ballad with Barbara Lewis' name all over it ("Baby That's Me") and a trio of sophisticated uptown Brill Building gems, including the definitive version of Van McCoy's "Before and After." Gore's own "A Girl in Love" is another highlight of that set, which presaged her brilliant late 1965 single, "I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)," co-written with her brother, Michael Gore, and widely considered one of her classic tracks by rock historians. That single, produced by Shelby S. Singleton because Quincy Jones was scoring film in California, was featured on the second Gore album cut in 1965, "Lesley Gore Sings All About Love," which hit record stores the very last week of that year. In a series of New York City studio sessions, Lesley sang with the cream of Nashville musicians and Manhattan players, for this seamless, smooth collection that saw her step all the way out of the echo chamber and double-tracked vocal sound on every single song. She had been singing in nightclubs for a couple of years now, and the updated sound was as becoming as the new short haircut. The chart hits, "We Know We're in Love" and "Young Love" (#50 in the US, but top 10 in Canada and Australia), are the best-known cuts, but the incendiary "With Any Other Girl" and sexy "Only Last Night" are the real highlights. And Lesley's readings of Nat King Cole's "Too Young" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" are sheer vocal genius. Yes, Lesley Gore sang for girls in love in these two great 60s LPs, now on one CD, but thank God for us boys, we get to listen, too...

How ironic that 40 years after the fact, the world is finally figuring out that Lesley Gore is one of the most important girl singers in pop history and that her albums are treasure troves of intriguing songs intricately arranged and impeccably sung. Mercury's decision to market "the amazing 17-year-old" as a character out of a teen magazine proved both a stroke of genius and a terrible mistake. How was anyone serious to know that albums titled "Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts" or "Boys! Boys! Boys!" or "All About Love" were not about a hit or two and forgettable filler but track after track of rich, ahead-of-its time music. All that double-tracking on the early hits also made it seems as if Lesley had a small voice when the truth is she was always a vocal powerhouse. And, as "It's My Party" proved, she had incredible on-keyness, terrifically steady intonation far beyond the capabilities of most singers, an intriguing aftervibrato and the ability to literally sing anything. Her pronunciation also is remarkable--every word crisp and clear. Wow, what a talent and it's taken FOUR decades for people to wake up to it. Today Lesley is at the peak of her powers, looks terrific and still has that charismatic personality and set of brights that sets her so apart from run-of-the-mill performers. It's lovely to think that now at last she is getting the recognition she long deserved as an artist rather than just an unbelievably consistent hit maker (boy did she make the money for Mercury!). If you look at her chart history it's quite amazing. These two albums are her best and should not be missed.

So much more then just her "Golden Hits," Lesley Gore is in top vocal form with her best two albums on one CD. This CD is a treasure and showcases Lesley as a true talent who can sing it all. From the standards to some rocker, LESLEY shows the many sides of her as a fine interpreter of songs. These CD were recorded in the 60's, but still hold up today. Lesley Gore is someone the new crop of girl singers should look to on how to do it, and do it with your voice and not with your body. A true talent!

This collection of songs by Lesley Gore is a "must have" for her millions of fans! From her hit tune of "My Town My Guy and Me" to her terrific version of "Things We Did Last Summer" Lesley proves once again that she was one of the very best female vocalists to emerge from the 1960's. The CD collection also features "You Didn't Look Round" and "Just Let Me Dream" two Gore goodies that allow Lesley to really cut loose. Lesley was obviously never afraid to try new music styles, and this CD is a perfect example of that. Maybe more of her Mercury albums will be released on CD in the near future. MORE GORE!

My Mom introduced me to the joys of Ms. Gore, as she bought all her LP's in the 60's. The one I remembered most was, "All About Love" I still own these awsome LP's and then some. I have nothing but praise for these 2 magnificent collections. These two LP's are Les at her best. The sound is great (even on vinyl), and the covers are beautiful. I highly recommend this CD, you could not possibly be let down. Key tracks to listen for (for me at least), "A Girl In Love", "Before and After", "Any Other Girl", "Only Last Night", and my personal favourite, "I Don't Care". If you have the chance to grab up the BEAR box set, go for it, as there are countless joys to discover by Lesley that haven't made it to "2-fer" sets.