Brilliant early sixties pop singer
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 06/09/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Originally making his name as a musician, Joe Brown eventually made his name as a singer with a string of UK hits in the early sixties. Most of these were minor hits but three made the top ten, these being A picture of you (a number one hit in some charts but not the one now most widely recognized), It only took a minute and That's what love will do. Unlike many pre-Beatles British singers, these major hits were not covers of American songs but original material. Despite this, Joe failed to make it in America but his songs were covered by such American acts as the Kalin twins, Paul Evans and Bobby Goldsboro.
As the sixties progressed, Joe focused more on acting than singing. He later became interested in country music and performed on the British club circuit. His marriage to a member of the Breakaways (a British all-female sixties group) produced a daughter, Sam Brown, who had some success in the late eighties and early nineties.
This compilation includes the three major hits together with I'm Henry the Eighth I am (Joe's version is the original, recorded two years before Herman's Hermits covered it), Darktown strutter's ball (a distinctive cover of an American jazz song that gave Joe a minor UK hit), Shine, Your tender look, Nature's time for love, Sally Ann and With a little help from my friends (Joe's other minor UK hits of the sixties). A minor UK hit recorded for a different record label in the seventies (Hey Mama) is missing, but it's not important.
With very few covers and plenty of original material, Joe's music has plenty to offer sixties pop fans, especially those who are tired of hearing the same old songs."
