Very Best of

Johnny Cymbal | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 1, 1995)
• Original Release Date: July 10, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Taragon
• ASIN: B000003H6M
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #337,220 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mr. Bass Man

2. Sacred Lovers Vow

3. Teenage Heaven

4. Cinderella Baby

5. Dum Dum Dee Dum

6. Marshmallow

7. There Goes a Bad Girl

8. Robinson Crusoe on Mars

9. Little Miss Lonely

10. 16 Shades of Blue

11. Cheat! Cheat!

12. Mr. Bass Man [Alternate Take]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I knew Johnny Cymbal, September 19, 2001

By 

Karen L Herrmann (Olmsted Falls, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Best of (Audio CD)

This album is very good, a good indication of what his talent was. However, people think only of Mr.Bassman, and Cinnomin as his big hits, and then disapearing. He recorded another album,under Wes Farrell, called Cymbal and Clinger, which is great also, but never really made it past the West Coast. I would like to see this work reproduced on C.D

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite A One-Hit Wonder, August 5, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Very Best of (Audio CD)

Technically, the reviewer from Beaverton is incorrect because, while Johnny Cymbal (born February 3, 1945 in Ochitree, Scotland) may not have exactly become a household name in North America, he did produce five hits before fading into the woodwork.

After relocation to Cleveland, Ohio in 1960, and while under contract to the Kapp label, his novelty hit Mr. Bass Man rose to # 16 Billboard Hot 100 in April 1963, featuring ex-Cadillacs and Valentines bass Ronald Bright in the key bass parts (he had also performed a similar task on Who Put The Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp), a # 7 Hot 100 by Barry Mann in 1961). The flipside on Kapp 503 was Sacred Lovers Vow.

In June, Teenage Heaven made it to # 19 on the new Adult Contemporary charts as well as # 58 Hot 100 b/w Cinderella Baby on Kapp 524. and that August he had Dum Dum Dee Dum top out at # 77 Hot 100 b/w (Surfin' At) Tia Juana on Kapp 539.

Then, following a five-year absence from the charts, he resurfaced on the Bang label with the hit Cinnamon under the single name Derek, taking it to # 11 Hot 100 in December 1968 b/w This Is My Story on Bang 558. Not in this compilation, Cinnamon can be found on the CD Dick Bartley's 1-Hit Wonders Of The 60's Vol. 2. Once again, however, it seems as if Bartley overlooked the fact that Derek & Johnny Cymbal were one and the same. And even if he was referring only to his new persona, Cymbal returned to the charts in 1969 - again as Derek - with Back Door Man which peaked at # 59 Hot 100 in March b/w Sell Your Soul on Bang 566. After that he went into the record producing field. So, to pass him off as a one-hit wonder is unfair.

As for this compilation, since many earlier 10- to 12-tracks CDs are being re-issued with additional selections, it would be nice to see the one missing flipside [(Surfin' At) Tia Juana], and all four sides of his Derek hits included. In the meantime, the sound quality is excellent, as is the case with all Taragon releases.

Johnny tragically passed away at age 48 following a heart attack on March 16, 1993.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Johnny Who?, October 6, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Very Best of (Audio CD)

Johnny will forever be remembered as a one hit wonder with Mr. Bass Man. . . if remembered at all. None the less, there are a couple of other cute songs on this CD if you like this type of oldies from the early sixties.

This CD is produced by Taragon which has established a well deserved reputation for using the highest level master tapes in existence. This CD is no exception. All 12 tracks are in flawless true stereo. A note on the back of the CD states the following:

"Tracks 1-11 are stereo ADD from the original 4 track session tapes, all other tracks are stereo AAD from the original 2 track mixdown master, tracks 5-11 appear in true stereo for the first time".

The part of that statement that is a little confusing is "all other tracks". If 1-11 are from the session tapes then only "one" other track (12) is from the stereo mixdown master. Right? Go figure.