Words & Music: Songs of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart

Boyce & Hart | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 24, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Fontana
• ASIN: B0000014XQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,920 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight

2. Last Train to Clarksville

3. I'll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind

4. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

5. Valleri

6. We're All Going to the Same Place

7. Words

8. Out and About

9. Action

10. Pretty Little Angel Eyes

11. Come a Little Bit Closer

12. Hurt So Bad

13. Goodbye, Baby (I Don't Want to See You Cry)

14. Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend)

15. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day

16. I Wanna Be Free

17. Something's Wrong With Me

18. I Remember the Feeling

Editorial Reviews

Boyce & Hart, best known as frequent songwriters for the Monkees, were among the more successful West Coast pop/rock composers of the late '60s, also landing some material with other artists and making some records of their own, including the hit "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight." Only six of these 18 tracks were recorded by the Boyce & Hart duo (another was recorded by Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart). But since Boyce & Hart's principal importance came from their songwriting rather than their performing, this compilation -- which matches the most notable Boyce & Hart recordings with the best and most famous cuts by other artists covering Boyce-Hart compositions -- is the best representative sampling of their most important music. Other than "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite," Boyce & Hart's own tracks pale next to the cover versions on this disc, which include the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Valleri"; "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" in its pre-Monkees version by Paul Revere & the Raiders; and relatively rare, gritty versions of "Words" (from 1966, by the Boston Tea Party) and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" (from 1965, by the Astronauts), both of which would later be done by the Monkees as well. There are also a bunch of hits that Boyce & Hart did not write on their own, or to which only Boyce or only Hart contributed, like Freddie Cannon's "Action," Curtis Lee's "Pretty Little Angel Eyes," Jay & the Americans' "Come a Little Bit Closer," and Little Anthony & the Imperials' "Hurt So Bad." Overall, it's a decent compilation of the best work of a composing team with a knack for the peppy and catchy melodies typical of the form of LA '60s rock known as sunshine pop, although their songs were usually on the lightweight side. ~ Richie Unterberger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Boyce & Hart Get the Treatment They Deserve!, February 24, 1999

By 

Scott Clarkson (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Words & Music: Songs of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (Audio CD)

This is for geeks like us: the ones who bothered to read the production and writing credits on our Monkees lp's; the ones who noticed the fact that Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart appeared as themselves on both "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie"; the ones who cared enough to feel bad on hearing of Boyce's death in '94. This collects their genuine hits as well as alternate versions and a few songs that rightly went unheralded. I don't know where they stack up against Rogers and Hart, the Gershwins, or Lennon & McCartney, but this grabs a lot of stuff that would otherwise fall through the cracks of your music collection. The Monkees are well represented of course, but my favourites may be Little Anthony and the Imperials' "Hurt So Bad" and Boyce and Hart's own "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight". They get a bit heavy (handed) on tracks like "We're All Going to the Same Place", but when they keep it fun ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes"! "Come a Little Bit Closer"!) they're hard to beat.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real treat!, February 15, 2003

By 

Eric Charles (Ottawa, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Words & Music: Songs of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (Audio CD)

I just bought this CD two days ago and it has been in heavy rotation on my portable CD player since! I especially enjoy Boyce & Hart's signature tune "I wonder what she's doing tonite".
I think that the other tracks on this disc really reflect this duo's immense talent for songwriting. I also enjoyed some tracks that, up until now, I've only known the Monkees to perform, such as "Words" and "I'm not your stepping stone". The versions performed here show that these songs are written in such a way that they sound good by whomever is performing them! Overall, this CD is a real treat to listen to and I highly recommend it!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, the 60's lost pearls, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Words & Music: Songs of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart (Audio CD)

Just adding some info about boyce & hart's tv appearances. They have also been on "The Flying nun " episode playing a couple of their rare songs of the "Nuggets " LP,I guess from 1967. This Lp brings us lost pearls such as "Sometimes she's a little girl" and Girl I'm out to get you among others. Attention Labels: Why don't you reprint this title? Certainly it will be sold here.It's going to be a hit!!!!!