Personnel: Jackie Marshall, Johnny Caufield, Otis Munson, Ken Goodloe, Ben Asero, John H. Fitch, Jr. (tenor).
This compilation originally started out as a 14 track vinyl doo-wop collection of rarities from the Jamie-Guyden catalog issued in 1974. Originally mastered from vinyl sources, one of the tracks actually skipped on the vinyl incarnation of this set! Fortunately, digital remastering from the original tapes brings us all but one of those original 14, along with five new bonus tracks, again all from the original masters. This is, in the main, raw Philadelphia R&B and doo-wop that also includes great one-offs from Cleveland's Larks ("I Want Her to Love Me"), New Jersey's No Names ("Love"), Brooklyn's Heartbeats ("Darling I Want to Get Married" and "One Million Years"), and California groups like the Pentagons and Tony Allen and the Wonders. Other highlights include "Here Am I Broken Hearted" by the Four J's, "Love Is Like Music" by the Five Chords, "Chapel of Love" by the Sundials and "When I Grow Older" by the Butlers. Put together by collector-dealer Val Shively and disc jockey Harvey Holiday, both supreme doo-wop experts, this is some raw vocal group music at its most basic and exciting. ~ Cub Koda
