Search - Barry Mann :: Inside the Brill Building - His Complete Recordings

There are no less than 80 songs on this three-CD box set, 58 of them unreleased, spanning 1959-1964. As Barry Mann was one of the greatest Brill Building songwriters (usually in collaboration with Cynthia Weil), your appetite might be sparked for a lost treasure chest. But it's best to approach this package with caution even if you're a Brill Building enthusiast, and certainly don't expect anything on the order of "On Broadway," "We've Gotta Got Outta of This Place," or "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Like Brill Tone's retrospective of fellow Brill Building giant Carole King (Brill Building Legends: Complete Recordings 1958-1966), more than half of this consists of demos of a quality far below the composer's famous classics. Disc three is by far the most listenable of the trio, as it's comprised primarily of material Mann actually released, including his entire 1961 LP Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp (paced by the hit title track) and rare non-LP singles he did for ABC, Colpix, JDS, and Red Bird between 1959-1964. The 1961 album is okay but unmemorable Brill Building pop, aside from "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp" itself. The singles, though quite rare and thus appealing to serious collectors, are similarly lightweight, although the 1964 45 "Talk to Me Baby" is fair white soul-pop that's similar to the Reflections' "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet," and his 1959 JDS 45 is a pretty spot-on early Paul Anka sound-alike. Overall this set certainly has value to dedicated Brill Building historians, but to appreciate the true legacy of Mann, you have to hear the best covers of the Mann-Weil songs by other artists. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide