Happy Memories - The Greatest Recordings Of The Cleftones ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED Set

Another nice 2 disc collection highlighting their songs. I may not be a fan of all their music, but basically I purchased this set for "Heart and Soul". Even though I had this song elsewhere in my collection, I was hoping to find a few songs I would listen to more than once. And I did!

If you haven't gotten this cd into your oldies collection yet, I suggest you get it. Just like most of the oldie's groups, the harmony of the Cleftones sets the stage for a great time of listening pleasure.

love it good tunes

Better than expected, good representation from early R&B. Far better, "Complete Pop Recordings, 1960 & 1961." I sometimes play them over and over for weeks at a time.

GREAT

Great cd for any doo-wop fan.

If you've looked up The Cleftones, a mid-1950s R&B Doo-wop group, you realize you are faced with a number of choices, but if it's their five nationally charted singles you're seeking then the best choice is the 2007 volume from Collectables which contains all five and three of their B-sides, has excellent sound reproduction and informative notes written by the noted music historian Marv Goldberg, who has likely forgotten more about that genre than most will ever learn.This volume from Jasmine of the U.K., despite the blurb above which claims "This double disc set features ... all their singles," left out their last charter, 1962's Lover Come Back To Me/There She Goes (Gee 1079), as well as the uncharted How Deep Is The Ocean?/Some Kind Of Blue (Gee 1080), although it does contain all previous four charters and their flipsides. The Collectables volume omits both There She Goes and `Deed I Do which backed their 1961 hit, For Sentimental Reasons. I also found the sound quality here to be as good as the other one, and the liner notes are quite as comprehensive in detailing their history and chart results.Originating as The Silvertones while still in high school in New York City, and after merging with another group called The Clefs, lead Herbie Cox, first tenor Charles James, bass Warren Corbin, baritone William "Buzzy" McClain, and second tenor Berman Patterson finally secured a contract with George Goldner's Gee Records in 1956 as The Cleftones after having been turned down by Old Town, Apollo and Baton, and embarked upon a career that would see them release 17 singles to 1963, 12 on Gee and 5 leased to Roulette.Always selling well on a regional basis in the greater New York area, their first taste of a national charter came in February 1956 when You Baby You reached # 78 Billboard Pop Top 100 on Gee 1000 b/w I Was Dreaming, followed in May by Little Girl Of Mine which peaked at # 8 R&B and # 57 Top 100 on Gee 1011 b/w You're Driving Me Mad - all four sides backed by the Jimmy Wright orchestra. They then disappeared in terms of national hits for five years, and when they registered their best hit ever, Heart And Soul, a cover of the 1938 # 1 for the Larry Clinton orchestra, still with Gee but with McClain and Patterson replaced by Gene Pearson and female vocalist Pat Span. It finished at # 10 R&B/# 18 Pop Hot 100 in June 1961 on Gee 1064 b/w an up-tempo cut along the lines of Little Girl Of Mine called How Do You Feel?They then went to another oldie, this time Nat "King" Cole's 1946 # 1 For Sentimental Reasons, but this time they had to settle for a mediocre # 60 Hot 100 in September 1961 and no results on the R&B charts, on Gee 1067 b/w 'Deed I Do which, before this came out, was impossible to find on CD. Their final charter, a cover of the Paul Whiteman 1929 # 3 Lover Come Back To Me, struggled to a # 95 Hot 100 in December 1962 on Gee 1079 b/w There She Goes. Why they didn't go to a few more tracks on Disc 2 and include those two sides and that other single mentioned above is beyond me, and for that I reluctantly deduct 1 star.Tracks 1 to 12 on Disc 1 are from their 1961 LP "Heart And Soul" (Gee SGLP-705) while tracks 13 to 24 are from the 1962 album "For Sentimental Reasons" (Gee SGLP-707). Some from each were released as singles, as indicated in the list in the Comments below. Track 15 on Disc 2 came out in 1958 on the multi-artist Roulette LP "Pajama Party" (Roulette SR 25021), which was originally scheduled to be released as Gee GLP-703 but issued by Roulette after they acquired Gee Records from Goldner. Two other Cleftones sides in that album, See You Next Year and String Around My Heart, were part of the Gee releases as indicated and are included here, as are Lover Boy and Little Girl Of Mine which were included in the 1959 multi-artist Roulette LP "Rock And Roll Record Hop" (Roulette SR-25059).

worth buying

Arrived within stated time frame & in good condition. I rip all my music to a hard drive, managed by J River music, to aid in organization. J River usually has great metadata for most albums, ie album art ,track listings etc.. I guess this is an obscure album, so no such luck. I had to enter information by hand.

本CDは2枚組で、ディスク-1には1961年のアルバム2枚を丸ごとオリジナル通りに収録、ディスク-2には1956年から1961年にシングルで発売された曲で、アルバムには未収録の曲が古いほうから順に収録。デスク-1に収録の1961年発売の2枚のアルバムには、モノラル盤とステレオ盤両方が存在しますが、ステレオ盤での収録。ただし、モノラル録音しか存在しないいくつかの曲は、そのままモノラルで収録されています。一方、ディスク-2はシングル曲なので基本モノラルですが、いくつかの曲がステレオで収録されています。Disc-1(58分56秒）＊1～12　1961 Album 「Heart And Soul」（Gee SGLP-705)01.Heart And Soul(Gee Single-1064　1961)　R&B 10位, POP 18位02.How do you Feel?(Gee-1064 1961)03.A Hundred Pounds Of Clay04.Please Say You Want Me05.Can't We Be Sweethearts?(Gee-1016 1956)06.Time Is Running Out On Our Love07.Little Girl Of Mine(Gee-1011 1956)　R&B 8位, POP57位08.Heavenly Father09.Glory Of Love10.You And I Can Climb11.You Baby You(Gee-1000 1956)　POP78位12.String Around My Heart(Gee-1025 1956)＊13~24 1961 Album 「For Sentimental Reasons」（Gee SGLP-707)13.For Sentimental Reasons(Gee1067 1961)　POP60位14.Blues In The Night(Gee-1074 1961)15.Red Sails In Sunset16.She's Gone17.Vacation In The Mountains18.My Babe19.Earth Angel(Gee-1074 1961)20.Deed I Do(Gee-1067 1961)21.Shadows On The Very Last Row22.What Did I Do That Was Wrong?(Gee-1041 1957)23.Hey Babe(Gee-1041 1957)24.Leave My Woman Alone＊5、6、7、11、12、22、23の7曲はモノラル録音Disc-2(41分37秒）01.I Was Dreaming(Gee-1000 1956)02.You're Driving Me Mad(Gee-1011 1956)03.Neki Hokey(Gee-1016 1956)04.Happy Memories(Gee-1025 1956)05.I Like Your Style Of Making Love(Gee-1031 1957)06.Why Do You Do Me Like You Do?(Gee-1031 1957)07.See You Next Year(Gee-1038 1957)08.Ten Pairs Of Shoes(Gee1038 1957)09.Lover Boy(Gee-1048 1958)10.Beginners At Love(Ge-1048 1958)11.Trudy(Roulette-4094 1958)12.She's So Fine(Roulette-4094 1958)13.Mish Mash Baby(Roulette-4161 1959)14.Cuzin Casanova(Roulette-4161 1959)15.Since We Fell In Love(Roulette LP-20251)16.Again(Gee-1077 1961)17.Do You(Gee-1077 1961)＊14、16、17の3曲はステレオ録音計41曲収録されていますがザ・クレフトーンズの全曲集というわけではなく、1962年に発売された2枚のシングル4曲だけが未収録となっています。未収録のシングル曲Lover Come Back To Me/There She Goes(Gee-1079 1962)How Deep Is The Ocean/Some Kinda Blue(Gee-1080 1962)ディスク-2は収録時間に余裕があるはずなので、どうせならばあと4曲収録してくれればよかったのですが。おそらく本CD自体が1961年までという括りなのかも。なお、私が入手した本商品はCDではなく、CD-Rでした。この商品を発売しているジャスミンの以前の商品はプレスCDだったはずですが、最近購入した3つほどがCD-R商品でした。古い商品でも追加プレスや、今後発売の新しい商品はCD-Rなのかも知れません。音質に関しては問題ありませんが、拘るかたは購入の際ご注意ください。＊ディスク-1の7.「Little Girl Of Mine」・・・昔から聴きなれた曲でしたが、今回このCDの購入で改めて聴き直していたところ、「なんかリードが女性の声で」このメロディを聴いたような気がして、非常に気になり2回ほど繰り返して聴いたところではっと気付きました。リトル・エヴァがヒットさせた「Let's Turkey Trot」がこの曲に酷似したメロディでした(笑)