Search - Jack Jones :: This Could Be The Start Of Something (ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED)

Finally, after 50 long years!

*closet fan* | Midwest | 11/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jack Jones' time with Capitol Records would be short-lived, beginning with a full LP of traditional pop songs (This Love of Mine), and ending with a number of contemporary rock 'n' roll singles. No accompanying LP was issued for the rock 'n' roll titles, and Jones was eventually fired for lack of sales. He, of course, went on to become one of pop's biggest stars of the 60's, yet Capitol chose to simply license out this early Jones material for budget compilation LPs. Enter Jasmine Records (U.K.), who have now transferred nearly all of Jones' Capitol recordings onto one CD (Where Can I Go Without You, Careless Hands, and Suddenly are the only songs not included on this release).



The "singles" are grouped together as tracks 1-12, and feature Jones' attempts at being a legitimate rock 'n' roller (backed by choruses, as was typical of the times). Jack has often spoken critically of these songs, and has admitted that he wasn't always "into them." Once such title is Laffin' At Me, an interesting (though bizarre) tale of a man who rudely breaks up with his lover and is then haunted by fears of her mockery everywhere he goes. The chorus voices are loud and shrill, amplifying the paranoia of the lyrics, but Jones' noticeable disinterest in the song makes this drama go flat. For most of these "singles" selections, however, Jack does a fine job of performing them (his rendition of the popular old standard, A Very Precious Love, is especially beautiful). His singing voice is clear and powerful, and the songs are no better or worse than others being typically heard in 1959. But I imagine that Jones' "black tie" looks and voice seemed too mature to teens to regard him as was "one of their own."



Included in the "singles" grouping is an early Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition, Make Room for the Joy, written for Jones' acting debut in Jukebox Rhythm. It's such a lovely song that, unfortunately, gets cheapened by an insipid chorus that sounds straight out of the Lawrence Welk Show.



The remaining tracks are all traditional pop standards, written by Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Steve Allen, Peggy Lee and Frankie Laine, plus one song composed by Jones himself. It's more difficult to recognize Jack's voice on these numbers, as he seemed to be imitating the vocal styles of 40's legends, such as Sinatra, Como and Crosby. The arrangements are also uninspired, and greatly lacking the sophistication that would soon accompany Jones at Kapp. But even through these many misguided steps, it's obvious that we're hearing a developing, gifted young singer, which makes this a CD worth owning.



Overall, the sound quality for this CD is very good. While obviously transferred from vinyl, with a few muffled segments here and there, most of its contents are sharp and clean. Strangely, the front cover features a poorly-colorized and unflattering photo of the very young Jones, while the back reproduces his Kapp cover shot from Our Song (ten years older!). And Jack's legendary caveman photo is, sadly, missing from this package. But still, Jasmine has given us this very generous and appreciated CD of long out-of-print recordings, so we can't expect EVERYTHING! :-)

"

Not stereo

Jay Holder | 02/17/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Good sound and song material. However I have Stereo records of this album, so I was disappointed that it was not in stereo otherwise I would have rated it a five."