Walking Along: Very Best Of

The Solitaires | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collectables
• ASIN: B00003TKKB
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,701 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Walking Along

2. Girl of Mine

3. Magic Rose

4. Chances I've Taken

5. The Angels Sang

6. Blue Valentine

7. The Wedding

8. Fine Little Girl

9. Please Kiss This Letter

10. Wonder Why

11. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You

12. What Did She Say

13. Lonely

14. The Honeymoon

15. Nothing Like a Little Love

16. My Dear

17. Don't Fall in Love

18. I Really Love You So (Honeybabe)

19. You've Sinned

20. Embraceable You

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars some gems among the rocks, February 25, 2008

By 

Barbara Jones "acacia" (alexandria, virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking Along: Very Best Of (Audio CD)

This group may not have made the top of the list but several selections on this album are classics in by book. And their harmony equaled that of the harptones. I guess its just a matter of choice. I could listen to "Sinned" and "The Angels Sang" forever and never get tired of hearing them.
My only disappointment, as with most albums, are the filler songs one has to endure.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars National Prominence Just A Major Label Away, September 8, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Walking Along: Very Best Of (Audio CD)

Back in 1951, a young vocal group from the New York City area calling themselves The Mello-Moods, cut a record for the Red Robin label called Where Are You (Now That I Need You) and saw it go to # 7 on the R&B charts that February. Among the group were Alvin "Bobby" Baylor and tenor-guitarist Monteith "Monte" Owens who, sometime in late 1953, would join with Herman Curtis Dunham, Pat Gaston, Bussy Willis and Bobby Willams to form The Solitaires. That's the basic history of the group and while the entire story, including personnel changes over the years, is much more involved, it would fill several pages - far too much to include in a review like this.

The essence of their story is that, between 1954 and 1961, they cut a slew of singles for Hy Weiss' Old Town Records, a label specializing in Doo-Wop - and not one made the national R&B or Pop charts. Not because the records were no good - but rather due to the limited promotional ability of Weiss who had a number of acts recording for him and all competing for air/juke-box play and record sales at the same time (Billy Bland, The Cleftones, The Valentines, The Royaltones, Robert & Johnny, The Supremes (not the later Motown legends) and The Keynotes, to name a few). In fact, the label would not have its first actual national hit until May 1958 when Robert & Johnny had We Belong Together go to # 12 R&B/# 32 Pop on Old Town 1047.

But of all the various Doo-Wop groups to emanate from the New York City area back then, The Solitaires developed the largest cult following and, in one form or another, are still entertaining today in Oldies gatherings, and this excellent release from Collectables, with background notes by Marv Goldberg, gives you most of those singles releases. Their first, Blue Valentine b/w Wonder Why, came out in 1954 on Old Town 1000, followed that same year by Chapel Of St. Clair b/w If I Loved You (Old Town 1003 - both missing here), Please remember My Heart b/w South Of The Border (Old Town 1006 and 1007 - only the A side here), and Lonely b/w Chances I've Taken (Old Town 1008).

Four more followed in 1955: I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance b/w Girl Of Mine (Old Town 1010), What Did She Say? b/w My Dear (Old Town 1012), The Wedding b/w Don't Fall In Love (Old Town 1014), and Magic Rose b/w Later For You Baby. The patter continued in 1956 with these four releases: The Honeymoon b/w Fine Little Girl (Old Town 1019), The ANgels Sang b/w You've Sinned (Old Town 1026), You're Back With Me (not here) b/w a re-release of You've Sinned (also on Old Town 1026), and Nothing Like A Little Love b/w Give Me On More Chances (Old Town 1032 - the B-side is missing here).

By now a major label would have dumped them, but Weiss saw that they were hugely popular locally and were selling just enough records in and around New York to pay the bills so, although the releases were cut back, he kept recording them. The only 1957 release was, as it turns out, their best with Walking Along doing very well on a local basis b/w Please Kiss This Letter on Old Town 1035. A year later the white group, The Diamonds, covered it and had it go to # 29 Pop in November 1958 - but they had the promotional backing of Mercury Records.

Just two releases came out in 1958, Big Mary's House (not here) b/w a re-release of Please Remember MNy Heart (Old Town 1059) and Embraceable You b/w `Round Goes My Heart (Old Town 1066). Neither of their final two singles are here either - Light A Candle In The Chapel b/w Helpless (Old Town 1071) in 1959, and Lonesome Lover b/w Pretty Thing (Old Town 1096) in 1961. The cuts I Really Love You So (Honeybabe) and The Thrill Of Love don't appear to have been released as singles.

All in all, a pretty thorough retrospective on one of the best Doo-Wop groups ever to record and who would surely have had a lot more commercial success with the backing of a major label.