Scarlett Ribbons/If I Were A Carpenter/Rainin’/Hold Me/Yesterday/Small World/He’ll Have To Go/A Man Chases A Girl/Visions/Bella Rosa/Lazy/Colouring Book/The Folks Who Live On The Hill/Take Me
With his Rocks But Gently LP Irish crooner Val Doonican knocked Sgt Pepper of its perch at the top of the UK album chart. Back in 1967 Doonican's MOR style of music was mainstream taste for the grown ups. It was only the young 'uns who were into the psychedelic music for which that year is now best remembered. Despite huge sales at the time, none of the Val Doonican chart LPs from the sixties have yet been released on CD, which must be some reflection of their artistic merit. (UK:1)
"The thing about Val is, not only was he an easy listening demi-god who deserves to rank up there with Jim Reeves, he was also a very decent guitarist with some genuinely good songs."
"It’s an album of crooning easy listening, very old fashioned sounding tracks from the multi-coloured jumper wearing Irish singer. It’s quite 'dinner jazz' in places too. It’s not unpleasant, I could probably bear this more than something by Westlife, but it’s clearly not a classic by anyone’s standard."
"Title refers to onstage gimmick of singing from a rocking chair. Although record sales fell away, his easy-going style (derived from Perry Como: he often hired Como's producer, Ray Charles) kept his TV music/variety show going for many years."
"Val was unique in 1967 as he was the only solo artist to have a number one album whilst the Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Sound Of Music dominated the top spot."
"Generally overlooked by many rock fans as just one more in a long line of super suave mid-60s crooners, and epitomized for a generation of TV viewers by the image of him smiling gently, cardigan clad in his rocking chair, Val Doonican nevertheless possessed one of the most distinctively restful voices of the age."
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