Somewhere My Love – RAY CONNIFF****

Red Roses For A Blue Lady/Downtown/Charade/King Of The Road/Edelweiss/Young & Foolish/Somewhere My Love/Days Of Wine & Roses/Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport/Wouldn’t It Be Loverly/So Long Farewell

Somewhere My Love was bandleader Ray Conniff's highest placed LP on the US album chart. The title track was a US No. 9 hit and won a Grammy for best pop vocal group. (US:3 UK:34)

"The lushest of all Conniff's albums, this one features the theme from Dr. Zhivago."

"This was probably Ray Conniff's best selling album of all time. The sound quality and performance is exceptional. Conniff also shows that he has a sense of humour with his cover of Rolf Harris' Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport."

"Amazing how in the old days the albums had great tracks throughout the whole record. Now you are lucky if you get more that two good songs per album. Great easy listening."

"This sounds like what you hear when you get into some elevators. It is a collection of songs, mostly from movies, made popular by others and rendered by the Ray Conniff Singers. They do a good job but the results are not like the originals. I suspect they were never intended to compete with the originals. This is not bad. The quality is good but it is somewhat homogenized."

"Featuring a great variety in the song selections. Of course, Somewhere My Love is Ray's most successful recording ever, and one of my personal favourites of all time, For real variety, compare these selections to the light heartedness of King Of The Road and Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport."

"Easy listening at it's best, most tracks are well known and hummable or sing-a-long to. Only one duff track, Tie Me Kangaroo Down. Americans trying to do Aussie, no way! Leave it to Rolf."

"This is just about the best of Ray Conniff. An excellent choice of songs well performed by RC singers. A must for any easy listening collection."

"Wouldn't have dared listened to this as a kid unless I was alone in the house. But it always hit me dead in the heart."

Red Rubber Ball – THE CYRKLE***

Red Rubber Ball/Why Can’t You Give Me What I Want/Baby You’re Free/Big Little Woman/Cloudy/Cry/Turn Down Day/There’s A Fire In the Fireplace/Bony Moronie/How Can I Leave Her/Money To Burn

US folk-rock group The Cyrkle hit the No. 2 spot on the US singles chart with the Paul Simon song Red Rubber Ball. The accompanying album also includes their next US hit, the No. 16 placed Turn Down Day. Their future releases achieved much lower chart placings. (US:47)

"The Cyrkle's debut was a pleasant, if marginal, album, blending a light folk-rock flavour with fluffy pop/rock production and songwriting. Red Rubber Ball and the follow-up hit, Turn Down Day were, as one might expect, by far the best cuts. The rest was split between group originals and odds and ends from an assortment of other writers. On the whole, it's feel good and not terribly deep 1966 pop/rock, heavy on the breezy harmonies, occasionally using mild touches of experimentation, like the sitar on Turn Down Day, and inventively reverbed guitars."

"Let's face it, the Paul Simon authored Red Rubber Ball was a hit by The Cyrkle since it sounded like Simon & Garfunkel backed by a 12-string. That song is reason enough to look into the group, but they never raise themselves above second tier folk entertainment, its all surface no substance. Still, the surfaces are inviting enough, but listeners are advised to look into the hard stuff."

"Red Rubber Ball is a great 60s pop song. Defines bubblegum and should be a part of any 60s compilation. The rest is fairly forgettable."

"A delightful period piece from the summer of 1966, and a stronger than expected collection of sunny folk-rock with great harmonies and subtle psychedelic tinges."

"If you like the music of The Lovin' Spoonful, I think you'll love some of these tracks, but there are also quite a few duds."

"Nothing too great here, but it does have a few of the better Cyrkle songs. All in all, a nice sampler of a better than average group of the era and a good choice for laid-back summer listening."

"This was fun music in a fun music era. They came up with some interesting sounds."

Paradise Hawaiian Style – ELVIS PRESLEY***

Paradise Hawaiian Style/Queenie Wahine’s Papaya/Scratch My Back/Drums Of The Islands/Datin’/A Dog’s Life/ House Of Sand/Stop Where You Are/This Is My Heaven/Sand Castles

On Paradise Hawaiian Style Elvis returns to Hawaii for his latest soundtrack, in a doomed attempt to recreate former glories. Too many album releases, with too few decent songs, would appear to be the problem. (US:15 UK:7)

"A sleepy kind of Elvis record, mindless fluff we expect from his soundtracks, but ya got to give him some credit - he gives a good performance."

"Paradise Hawaiian Style was an attempt to recapture some of the success of 1961's Blue Hawaii, which was Elvis' all-time biggest hit album. If they had done it a few years earlier, perhaps it would have worked, but too much time had passed and it was nowhere near as successful."

"The material is not the best in his career. Some clever arrangements along with a surprisingly inventive Presley performance give us the reason not to neglect this."

"This is one of the weaker Elvis albums. It has more novelty songs than any other Elvis soundtrack. There is just one good song, This Is My Heaven."

"With more vigour and vim, some better songs and a stronger script, Paradise Hawaiian Style could have equalled Blue Hawaii. But, all Colonel Parker was interested in was the bottom line. On that note, many people may not know this, but no Elvis Presley movie ever lost money. Some may have just scraped in over the line, but most of them were huge successes. A lot of his movies were lousy, but Elvis was miserable all the way to the bank."

"Younger viewers seeking an answer to why the British Invasion of the mid-1960s was almost instantly successfully need look no further than this film. By 1966 Elvis Presley had gone from a target audience of teenagers looking to scare their parents with his sensual style of rock and roll, to being the heart-throb of the nursing home circuit; electing to skip entirely the huge demographic between these two groups. The British Invasion was able to hit our beaches almost unopposed. Unlike the much better Blue Hawaii, there are island themed musical productions but no actual island songs or music. And the geriatric garbage Elvis sings is surreal in its wholesomeness."

Love – LOVE***

My Little Red Book/Can’t Explain/A Message To Pretty/My Flash On You/Softly To Me/No Matter What You Do/ Emotions/You I’ll Be Following/Gazing/Hey Joe/Signed DC/Coloured Balls Falling/Mushroom Clouds/And More

The self titled debut album from Californian rock band Love fronted by Arthur Lee. There are hints here of greater things to come from this influential 'underground' group. (US:57)

"Love's 1966 debut album was an excellent sign of things to come. Arthur Lee and company were always an inspired bunch, and it was clear from the start that they would be more than just another band from L.A. Most of their first album consisted of uptempo rock 'n roll numbers inspired by blues of The Rolling Stones and the vibrant, chiming guitars of The Byrds. However, Love had some tricks up their own sleeves that would be more fully realized on their following LPs. They were sufficient to make their debut an interesting - if not classic - album of the sixties."

"Ramshackle mid-60s guitar pop-rock. A promising debut rather than a spectacular one, I would

"While this is pretty uneven and some of the ideas are not fully formed and still sound too much like Byrds wannabes, but there are some bright spots to be had. My Little Red Book is a spot on classic cover of the Bacharach tune. Signed D.C. is an ode (lament) about a former drummer and drug issues. This is by no means a bad album and Love would really wow us with the next two LPs."

"It's a combination of disaffected garage punk, dreamy proto-psych, Byrds influenced folk rock and smart, soulful pop. Arthur Lee's vocals are perched somewhere between wildcat and wise man."

"As a first album, there is really nothing overtly special about this one, but then again, it has the right kind of mix of good tracks and bad tracks that any first album has. In fact, the whole album is your average first album, to be taken in consideration because of what came after it."

"Love is probably mostly remembered for being a collection of what is overall a bunch of pleasant songs."

In Concert – PHIL OCHS***

I’m Going To Say It Now/Bracero/Ringing Of Revolution/Is There Anybody Here/Canons Of Christianity/There But For Fortune/Cops Of The World/Santo Domingo/Changes/Love Me I’m A Liberal/When I’m Gone

In Concert was the only live concert album from folk musician Phil Ochs during his prime and includes many of his best remembered songs. There But For Fortune was made famous when covered by Joan Baez. (US:149)

"In Concert contains Ochs' strongest folk material. Love Me I'm A Liberal is the centrepiece. Though the references and jokes are, of course, a bit dated, the song's theme was prescient. To Ochs, progressivism demanded more than mere opinions: action and sacrifice were required if ideology was to serve any purpose.”

“Despite a block of really good songs that were written and performed by Phil this suffers a little because of the minimal arrangements. Phil started as a topical folk singer and the beauty was in the story telling and melody of the songs. Those attributes are evident throughout. In this case, with Phil only strumming some chords as his total backup, you really need a good voice and great material to have any success at all. Phil had that kind of talent and that is what saves this somewhat.”

“This one is a great introduction to some of Phil's best songs. And reviewers have it right, the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. Many of the issues Phil was distressed by are still with us.”

“Phil Ochs is criminally underappreciated by the mass music buying public and it is a shame. On this album, he spins great folkie oriented tales while strumming his acoustic guitar. He also jokes and banters with the audience. If you love music which makes you think, and are open-minded to a great voiced man of the past, give Phil Ochs In Concert a shot.”

“As an introduction to the man and his music this is the quintessential Phil Ochs record. The songs here represent some of the best works of this intelligent performer; brave and open statements of social, personal and political clarity.”

“The anger, the eloquence, the irony and the hope in Phil's words and in his voice cut through me then, and cuts through me now. How can you listen to Love Me I'm A Liberal and not realize that these same people live in our neighbourhoods today?”

The Impossible Dream – JACK JONES****

The Impossible Dream/The Shadow Of Your Smile/I Will Wait For You/Then Was Then & Now Is Now/All Or Nothing At All/Feeling Good/Alfie/Strangers In The Night/What Now My Love/This Is All I Ask/My Best Girl/You Better Go Now

Easy listening vocalist Jack Jones achieved his highest US album placing with The Impossible Dream. With changing musical tastes his albums would be placed significantly lower during the remainder of the decade. (US:9)

"The cream of the cream of the American song under the elegant voice of one of the best singers ever."

"What an amazing achievement Impossible Dream remains for Jack Jones, and not just because it's his all-time best-selling album. Its songs come together as a single theme of a typical young man, focusing on what he has, what lies ahead, and where he stands in the big scheme of things."

"Jack Jones, with his smooth as silk voice, impeccable sense of timing and singularly beautiful renditions of many love songs, remains quite a force to be reckoned with. Aspiring artists would do well to study Jones's style and form."

"The track begins with The Impossible Dream. Jack's voice is in perfect form and his excellent diction enhances his performance. The musical arrangement relies on the harp and strings to bolster it; and this works very well. The Shadow Of Your Smile follows; Jack starts this ballad with just a piano to create a stunningly beautiful effect; and all through the arrangements keep Jack's vocals squarely in the spotlight."

"I recall purchasing this album on vinyl back in 1966. I played it and sang along with Jack over and over many, many times. Great tunes, fabulous voice and arrangements. No one gives a better performance of The Impossible Dream."

"If you like jazz you will really enjoy All Or Nothing At All, I Will Wait For You, This Is All I Ask, and You'd Better Go Now. With all due respect to Matt Monro, Tony Bennett and Sinatra, Jack's covers of their songs stand on their own merit. This is the best and most collectable of all the Kapp albums he recorded."

"Jones at his best, and as creative as ever, in the swinging uptempo tunes and surprisingly inspired in the slow ballads. A dream come true."

I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love – PETULA CLARK***

Strangers In The Night/A Groovy Kind Of Love/Rain/Wasn’t It You/There Goes My Love There Goes My Life/Monday Monday/Bang Bang/Homeward Bound/Two Rivers/Come Rain Or Come Shine/Elusive Butterfly/I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love

Petula Clark had enjoyed over a decade of singles chart success before she achieved her UK album breakthrough with I Couldn't Live Without Your Love. The title track was a No. 6 UK hit single. Her career was reinvigorated in the mid sixties when she teamed up with songwriter and producer Tony Hatch. (UK:11)

"Essential for any true Petula fan. For the less committed, it depends which songs you are looking for, but there's no filler here. If you enjoy Petula's music, you cannot go wrong with this."

"I Couldn't Live is mostly covers, as her main songwriter, Tony Hatch, didn't have time to write much new material, aside from the upbeat title track and Pet's self-penned Two Rivers. She does a very interesting cover of Frank Sinatra's Strangers In The Night, a sort of revenge for his infamous cover of Downtown."

"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love, contains mostly covers. The songs are largely upbeat, but there is plenty of variation in pace. Of the other original songs, my favourite is Two Rivers, an autobiographical song about London and Paris, Petula's two cities with rivers running through them."

"Petula's cover of Elusive Butterfly blew me away when I first heard it, and it was one of the factors which made me realise that Petula was a far better singer than I had hitherto acknowledged."

"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love begins with the title track, a top ten hit and another Tony Hatch number (he clearly knew how to write for Clark's voice and vocal stylings). However, this album also has one of the best songs Clark wrote on her own with Two Rivers, which is noticeably different from the rest of the songs. The recognizable covers are a mixed bag, which on this is most of the songs."

"The title song is great. There Goes My Love, Elusive Butterfly and Two Rivers are also must-haves, but the rest are filler."