Customer Reviews

Very Best of Chad & Jeremy

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If it had not been for the British Invasion of the early Sixties, it is quite likely the world would never have heard of Chad and Jeremy. It would have been our loss. Although their soft folk/pop stylings were in sharp contrast to contemporaries like the Beatles, the Animals or the Rolling Stones; Chad and Jeremy placed eleven singles in Billboard's Hot 100 over a brief two-year period.

Their albums displayed a tendency to cover other artists' hits: Peter, Paul and Mary's "For Lovin' Me," the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man," Stan Getz's "The Girl From Impanema" and Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year." While none of those songs are on this CD, it clearly indicates Chad and Jeremy's taste when it comes to song selection: safe MOR pop. Like Peter and Gordon, their material (especially the hits) featured Everly Brothers-style harmonies, lush orchestration and folky guitars. Hits like "Yesterday's Gone" (their only UK hit at No. 37), "A Summer Song" and "Willow Weep for Me" are charming artifacts of the mid-Sixties. [And speaking of Peter and Gordon, I hope it was an inside joke and not a glaring mistake that one of the photos in the CD booklet was of Peter and Gordon!!!]

While this collection is very similar to One Way's "The Best of Chad & Jeremy," I give the nod to "The Very Best of Chad and Jeremy" for two reasons: 1.) Although it has two fewer songs, it includes all seven of their Top 40 hits. One Way omits their last three hits on Columbia: "Before and After," "I Don't Want To Lose You Baby" and "Distant Shores." 2.) This set includes the failed single "Teenage Failure" (written by Jeremy Clyde), the closest Chad and Jeremy came to recording a rock song. [Plus, I have fond memories of having seen them perform this song during an appearance on (I believe it was) "The Dick Van Dyke Show." I mean how cool was that to see a pop star on a hit sitcom! ]

While this CD will satisfy your hunger for the hits, what keeps it from being truly definitive is that it includes nothing from their two experimental albums from 1967 and 1968--"Of Cabbages and Kings" and "Ark." RECOMMENDED

I shall admit, looking at the pictures of them in that period is a shocker....they were so YOUNG!! As a wee lassie adoring the fav duo, they seemed so handsome and mature! It's great to see pre-teen idols, still come through on the talent all these years later, though maybe to a slight lesser degree to contemporary artists Peter and Gordon. It's to be noted that Peter Asher was brother to Jane Asher, McCartney's girlfriend at the time, so he wrote with John Lennon several songs for the duo. That gave them a leg up in 'polish' of the songs, as Chad & Jeremy tended to go with a lot of original material. What set Chad and Jeremy apart and made them special, was their perfect blend of voices that create such beautiful harmony.

The album has most of their biggest hits - lacking When I Was Seventeen. They used soft instruments, such as harpsichord, and 12 string guitars rather than electric rock - counter to the British Invasion sounds. It's also to be noted Chad Stuart co-wrote many of their hits, with even Jeremy Clyde writing a bit, too.

The album holds up well, is still great easy listening. The only flaw is ones of omission, not including all the hits.

The Very Best of Chad & Jeremy is a great CD with eighteen solid numbers by this British duo; and the sound quality is excellent. I really enjoyed listening to this album and the artwork is very nicely done.

The CD starts with "A Summer Song;" this tune remains one of their best. Chad & Jeremy harmonize to perfection; and the musical arrangement works well with drums, strings and more. Chad & Jeremy also have excellent diction and this enhances their ability to perform. "A Summer Song" is a beautiful number that is sure to put a smile on your face. "From A Window" also has Chad & Jeremy harmonizing well; they sound so good together. The unusual melody works much better than I thought it would--as a whole this song is rather good.

"Yesterday's Gone" rocks gently and this ballad has a Paul McCartney type of flavor to it; they sing well and the catchy melody is upbeat as the drums carry it well. "September In The Rain" features Chad & Jeremy doing a stunning cover of this classic ballad; and they never miss a beat! Their interpretation is elegant and the strings do a lot for the musical arrangement. "If I Loved You" also features Chad & Jeremy vocalizing passionately.

"Willow Weep For Me" is a beautiful ballad that stuns me with its beauty; Chad & Jeremy do this up right! "Now And Forever" rocks harder and our fine duo sings this out well. The electric guitars dominate the arrangement and the percussion works nicely, too.

"I Don't Wanna Lose You Baby" has a good beat to it that has that rock ballad flavor; and the album ends with "Teenage Failure." "Teenage Failure" may not have been their biggest hit but I think it's rather good anyway. The chorus is good and they harmonize as well as they ever did.

The liner notes come in the form of an eight page booklet about the career and the songs of Chad & Jeremy. Great!

Overall, this fine CD is an excellent retrospective of Chad & Jeremy's artistry. The album includes "Distant Shores;" "I Don't Want To Lose You Baby" as well as "Before and After." The sound is great and people just getting to know Chad & Jeremy will be thrilled with this CD.

While most of the acts from the so-called "British Invasion" enjoyed success on both sides of the "pond", to the best of my knowledge Chad and Jeremy never even appeared on the charts in England. Seems very strange to me because here in America Chad and Jeremy made quite a splash in the years 1964 to 1966. As another reviewer has duly noted Chad and Jeremy produced several
hit records with "harmonies to die for".
"The Very Best of Chad and Jeremy" is yet another superb offering from the Varese Sarabande label. This beautifully remastered disc features all of their familiar hits from their stint at World Artists records as well as some of the best loved tracks from their days at Columbia. Looking for the hits? You will find them all here including "A Summer Song", "Willow Weep For Me" and "Yesterday's Gone". While these tunes are great I am partial to some of the duo's lesser known hits including their rendition of the Lennon-McCartney tune "From A Window", "What Do You Want With Me" and my all-time favorite Chad and Jeremy tune "If I Loved You" from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel". I have never heard a better version of that tune! In 1966 Chad and Jeremy moved on to Columbia records with some very ambitious plans. They made a couple of critically acclaimed LP's which for some inexplicable reason never quite caught on with the record buying public. "The Very Best of Chad and Jeremy" offers the 3 singles released from these albums including "Distant Shores", "I Don't Want To Lose You Baby" and the beautiful "Before and After". Talk about great harmony!!! I would also recommend to you a couple of other gems including "The Truth Often Hurts The Heart" and "September In The Rain".
As usual Varese Sarabande has included a thoughtfully done 8 page booklet highlighting the career of Chad and Jeremy. Fans of 1960's pop music will certainly enjoy this one. Chad and Jeremy briefly reunited in the late 1980's to record a new LP. I actually owned a 45 from that album. Time had not diminished the great harmonies one bit. Chad and Jeremy reunited for a PBS special in 2004. Since that time that have made occasional appearances and there are even plans in the works for a new album. Chad and Jeremy are often overlooked and in my mind they are perhaps the most underated act of their day. Check out the "Very Best of Chad and Jeremy" and I bet you will agree. Highly recommended!!!

This CD truly has the best of all the things ever done by C&J. Most importantly to me, it contains the unheard-of "Teenage Failure". I have been looking for the name of the song and the artist for about 42 years now, but have not heard the song once in all that time, since it was charted on AM radio. (yeah, I'm old!) Aside from that personal favorite, this is a compilation of the smooth, even, broad range of the duo, without a bad selection to be found. Amazing that two young guys could decide to get into the music game, put aside their studies, truly make the big time, enjoy success, then just as easily put it all behind them and proceed with their original career goals; Chad in acting and directing in Great Britain, and Jeremy in writing and producing in the Pacific Northwest. INHO, they both had the talent to continue in music should they have decided to do so, and might still be appearing from time to time in Reno or Las Vegas, to the delight of all those who remember the first days of the British Invasion. This CD is a must buy.

I could give you a long review like the others for this album,but I wont bore you.This is a great cd and just to listen to it makes you understand how much crap is out their today compared to what wonderful sounding music is right here.Im 39 but came to hear Chad and Jeremy and Peter and Gordon a few years ago and was hooked.This is a great album.Chad and jeremy did not have a lot of albums so you have all their hits here.

The stereo mix and mastering of all these tracks are fantastic! This is one of the better remastered CD's out there if you're like me, and suddenly get the urge to own about ten best of packages of artists from the British Invasion. Chad and Jeremy had about 11 Hot 100 charted singles, so with this collection, you do get their three biggest hits:

Yesterday's Gone (#21) 1964
A Summer Song (#7) 1964
Willow Weep For Me (#15) 1965

The rest of the songs are no less wonderful from a fabulous British Invasion duo like Peter and Gordon.

Anyway, if you're like me, you can't just have one CD of an artist from the British Invasion. I just went nuts one day and ordered about 10 collections from various British Invasion artists, which include:

Gerry and the Pacemakers
Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas
Herman's Hermits
The Animals
The Searchers
Peter and Gordon
The Hollies
Them (featuring Van Morrison)
The Zombies (a cool 4 disc set)
The Dave Clark Five
The Kinks
The Rolling Stones
Bee Gees
Petula Clark
Dusty Springfield

Of course, I already had all The Beatles that I need, so having that and all these CD's shuffling in my CD Carousel make for hours of British Invasion bliss.

About 20 years ago, Rhino Records had a 9 CD collection of the The British Invasion which included many one-hit-wonders and cool obscurities. If you are one to have that collection, I am certain that you are the envy of many. I was too stupid to realize that I should have kept it.

Collection of Chad and Jeremy- contained my favorite song " Willow Weep for Me"- that's why I ordered it.CD received within reasonable time from order time, was in good condition.Quality of CD good. Was satisfied with purchase.

An excellent walk down memory lane. Excellent service and an excellent buy.
Could not find this deal anywhere else. I have checked them all.

My Husband always looks and usually listens to the cuts (songs) that are offered on the product explanation page. The delivery time was great and the DVD was new, as promised.