Various Artists - The Bert Berns Story Vol. 1 - 3 (@320)

 

The Bert Berns Story, Vol. 1: Twist and Shout 1960-1964 

Review by Richie Unterberger.

Like other compilations on the Ace label devoted to great Brill Building songwriter/producers (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Gerry Goffin and Carole King), this volume on Bert Berns is a welcome retrospective of an important figure. Like those other volumes, however, it should be cautioned that this might be more for serious fans/collectors than the general early pop/rock fan, since its mix of hits and rarities means the quality is more uneven than what one might expect from a best-of anthology, and not as comprehensive as one might expect from a box set. In this particular case, it seems that care has been taken not to offer more than one song from any particular artist, which means that quite a few noteworthy items are missing from the likes of the Drifters, Solomon Burke, Garnet Mimms, the Isley Brothers, and Ben E. King. So don't take the CD as a compilation of Berns' very best work -- a separate project that someone should really undertake, especially as a previous attempt (The Heart and Soul of Bert Berns) was woefully skimpy in that regard. Judging this disc for what it is rather than what it isn't, however, it does offer an interesting cross section of his early work, including the big hits "Twist and Shout" (the Isley Brothers), "A Little Bit of Soap" (the Jarmels), "Cry to Me" (Solomon Burke), and "Killer Joe" (the Rocky Fellers). There are also some good not-so-big singles from fine '60s recording stars Gene Pitney ("If I Didn't Have a Dime [To Play the Jukebox]"), Garnet Mimms ("Look Away"), and Little Esther Phillips ("Mo Jo Hannah"). And there are also some rare or at least uncommon originals of some very noteworthy songs made into bigger hits by others, including the Mustangs' "Baby Let Me Take You Home" (covered on the Animals' first single), Lulu's eerie and not wholly successful version of "Here Comes the Night" (covered by Them), and the Vibrations' "My Girl Sloopy" (redone as "Hang on Sloopy" by the McCoys). On the other hand, there is a bunch of rather generic pop/R&B/Latin combinations that stick with too many similar chord progressions, though it's interesting to hear a lick crop up in one of these, Marv Johnson's "Come on and Stop," that would be recycled to much better use in Them's "Here Comes the Night." When he was at his best, however, Berns could make that pop/R&B/Latin combo work as well as anyone, as the finest selections on this CD demonstrate. As is the custom for Ace, excellent liner notes detail both Berns' early career and these songs/recordings in particular.

 

Tracklist:

1.1 Push Push - Austin Taylor

1.2 Lighted Windows - Hoagy Lands

1.3 A Little Bit of Soap - the Jarmels

1.4 You'd Better Come Home - Russell Byrd

1.5 Pour It on - Sammy Turner

1.6 I Should Have Listened - Little Jimmy Dee

1.7 Cry to Me - Solomon Burke

1.8 Tell Her - Gil Hamilton

1.9 Twist and Shout - the Isley Brothers

1.10 If I Didn't Have a Dime (To Play the Jukebox) - Gene Pitney

1.11 Pencil ; Paper - Ruth McFadden

1.12 Gypsy - Ben E King

1.13 Hold on Baby - the Hockadays

1.14 You Can't Love 'Em All - Mel Torme

1.15 Come on and Stop - Marv Johnson

1.16 I'll Be a Liar - Betty Harris

1.17 You Can't Run Away from Me - the Wanderers

1.18 Moment of Weakness - Jimmy Radcliffe

1.19 Look Away - Garnet Mimms

1.20 One Way Love - the Drifters

1.21 You Can Count on Me - Roy Hamilton

1.22 My Girl Sloopy - the Vibrations

1.23 Mo Jo Hannah - Little Esther Phillips

1.24 Killer Joe - the Rocky Fellers

1.25 Baby Let Me Take You Home - the Mustangs

1.26 Here Comes the Night – Lulu

***

Bert Berns Story Mr Succes, Vol. 2: 1964-1967

 Review by Richie Unterberger.

The first volume of Ace's overview of tracks associated with producer-songwriter Bert Berns restricted itself to recordings from 1960-1964. This follow-up takes up the story to his premature death, with cuts from the years spanning 1964 and 1967. Though Berns was a notable soul-pop behind-the-scenester who had a vital hand in many excellent records, this isn't uniformly excellent, owing to Ace's usual strategy of mixing hits with rarities, and efforts by major stars with outings by relative no-names. That doesn't mean this CD isn't good, but it does mean, as is so often the case with songwriters of stature, that the gap between the best stuff and the not-the-best-stuff is considerable. The best songs tend to be the most famous, here including the McCoys' "Hang on Sloopy" (in its long, unedited version), Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" (in the radio edit that eliminated what was thought to be a risqué lyric), Solomon Burke's soul classic "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," Wilson Pickett's "Come Home Baby," Garnet Mimms' "It Was Easier to Hurt Her," the Drifters' "I Don't Want to Go on Without You," and Erma Franklin's "Piece of My Heart" (an R&B hit made more famous by Big Brother & the Holding Company's cover). The rest tends toward the routinely competent, even when the artist (such as Lorraine Ellison, the Exciters, Ben E. King, Patti LaBelle, Barbara Lewis, and Freddie Scott) could clearly work wonders with superior songs. Still, nothing's that mediocre, the tunes and arrangements sometimes displaying Berns' predilection for similar Latin-flavored beats and chord progressions. It's not necessarily reason to buy this CD, but Otis Redding collectors may want to know that this anthology includes a previously unreleased alternate take of "I Got to Go Back (And Watch That Little Girl Dance)" (aka "Look at That Girl"). Note, too, the 1967 single "Mojo Mama," so similar to Edwin Starr's later Motown hit "25 Miles" in some respects that Berns and co-composer Jerry Wexler would eventually get co-writer credits for the song.

Tracklist:

01. I'm Gonna Run Away From You - Tami Lynn

02. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love - Solomon Burke

03. Come Home Baby - Wilson Pickett

04. It Was Easier To Hurt Her - Garnet Mimms

05. Hang On Sloopy (Unedited Version) - The McCOYS

06. If I Would Marry You - Tammy Montgomery

07. Come On Girl - The Knight Brothers

08. In Front of Her House - Larry Hale

09. I Don't Want To Go On Without You - The Drifters

10. Show Me Your Monkey - Kenny Hamber

11. Cry No More - Ben E King

12. Run Mascara - The Exciters

13. You'll Never Leave Her - Pat Embers

14. You May Be Holding My Baby - The Pussycats

15. I Went Out With My Baby Tonight - Moses K & The Prophets

16. You Forgot How To Love - Patti LaBELLE & The Blue Belles

17. I'll Take Good Care of You - Garnet Mimms

18. Better Not Believe Him aka Sorrow - Barbara Lewis

19. Mr Success - Bobby Harris

20. Gone Gone - Roy C

21. No One Could Ever Love You - Freddie Scott

22. Mojo Mama - Don Varner

23. Brown Eyed Girl (Radio Edit) - Van Morrison

24. Piece of My Heart - Erma Franklin

25. I Got To Go Back (and Watch That Little Girl Dance) aka Look At That Girl - Otis Redding

26. Heart Be Still - Lorraine Ellison

***

Hang on Sloopy: The Bert Berns Story, Vol. 3 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

 

Following Ace's first two volumes of The Bert Berns Story by nearly five years, Hang on Sloopy is by design quite light on well-known hits. Those popped up on the earlier volumes, which leaves this to round up interesting covers of signature songs -- the Shirelles do "Twist and Shout," the obscure Latin rock outfit Arsenio makes mincemeat out of "Hang on Sloopy" in 1966 -- and a bunch of very good selections from Berns' catalog. To an extent, this collection of recordings cut between 1960 and 1968 (the great majority date from the middle of the decade) winds up being a testament both for Berns' skills as a writer and how R&B and soul reverberated throughout pop in the '60s. Berns was one of the key writers at the Brill Building who helped clean up R&B for a crossover audience, but he never lost sight of what made R&B click -- or what made it adaptable, either. Here, there's straight uptown R&B from Ben E. King and the Drifters, but there's also the surprisingly thick funk of Freddie Scott, the testifying of Wilson Pickett and Garnet Mimms, and the Isley Brothers copping the Righteous Brothers' Latin lilt on "You Better Come Home," along with the McCoys turning that soul beat into a rock & roll stomp and Lulu pushing "You'll Never Leave Her" into the realm of folk-rock. This wide variety keeps Hang on Sloopy hopping and winds up as a testament to Berns' catalog as well as the kinetic diversity of '60s pop.

 

Tracklist:

1. Ben E. King - Let The Water Run Down (LP Version)

2. Freddie Scott - Am I Grooving You

3. The Knight Brothers - Love (can't you hear me)

4. Tammy Montgomery - I've got nothing to say but goodbye

5. The Isley Brothers - You Better Come Home

6. Baby Washington - There he is

7. The Drifters - Aretha

8. Erma Franklin - Open up your soul

9. Roy Hamilton - A thousand tears ago

10. Garnet Mimms - One girl

11. Betty Harris - Mo Jo Hannah

12. Roy C - Stop what you're doin'

13. The Exciters - There they go

14. Hoagy Lands - (I'm gonna) cry some tears

15. Tami Lynn - At the party

16. LaVern Baker - You'd Better Find Yourself Another Fool

17. Wilson Pickett - Teardrops will fall

18. The Shirelles - Twist And Shout

19. Patti & The Bluebelles LaBelle - All Or Nothing

20. Clyde McPhatter - My block

21. Lulu - You'll never leave her

22. Solomon Burke - Beautiful brown eyes

23. Van Morrison - Chick-A-Boom

24. The McCoys - I wonder if she remembers me

25. Arsenio - Hang on sloopy

26. Russell Byrd - Hitch hike [Part 1]

***