Good Sampler of Husky-Voiced Brit Girl
Randall E. Adams | Los Angeles, CA United States | 07/28/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In the U.S., Helen Shapiro is an unknown, having only minimally dented the chart in 1961 with "Walkin' Back to Happiness." In the U.K., she was really big stuff in 1961 and 1962. This collection can help demonstrate the reasons.In 1961, Helen was a bizarrely precocious 14 year old whose versions of jazz and blues standards did not embarrass and whose pop hits deservedly topped (or nearly topped) the British charts in those pre-Beatles days. From the very start, her voice sounded like it had been leavened on a lifetime of cigarettes and booze, totally belying her age. No mere cover artist, her singles were mostly written for her or were taken from still-fresh songwriting demos.The gods of the pop music biz were fickle, however, and Helen's commercial career began to sink in 1963 as that of the Beatles ascended. This was in no way due to a decline in quality of her recordings, however. It was in 1963 that Helen flew to the U.S. to record her universally-acclaimed "Helen in Nashville" album featuring the original version of "It's My Party" and an early Jackie de Shannon tune along with ten other excellent country-flavored pop numbers. And this loss of popularity was in no way due to any disrespect by the Beatles themselves. They toured with her and John Lennon reported that "Misery" was written for her. Her producer unwisely passed on the song. Much younger than the Fab Four, Helen Shapiro was written off as an old fart.This collection covers the most obvious selections from Helen's EMI contract, running from 1961 through 1966. The material selected is consistent and exhibits Ms. Shapiro's deft journey through British female pop rock as it developed in the 1960s. All of her big hits are here as well as some of her worthy later efforts to rekindle the spark. Two tracks from "Helen in Nashville" are included. The only gripe is that EMI could have easily fit eight to ten more tracks on this CD and was definitely not lacking in fine material (such as additional "Helen In Nashville" tracks, her suave self-penned "He Knows How to Love Me" and her last EMI a-side, Northern Soul favorite "Stop and You Will Become Aware"). But for the uninitiated, this CD is a very good choice."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1