Search - Little Richard :: Little Richard - The Very Best of the Vee Jay Years, Vol. 1

Uneven but fine collection for new fans.

plsilverman | USA | 08/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, here they are again! Little Richard's highly durable Vee Jay retreads. You would think that between the three major reissue labels indicated somebody could come up with something previously unreleased - longtime fans beware! Another area of concern is in the misinformation as to writer's credits and the inclusion of material strongly believed to be from another label, possibly from the '70s! Add to this, several tracks found in true stereo elsewhere: in '72 Ala Rcords and in '93 TKO/Charly issued "Goin' Home Tomorrow", "Money Honey", and "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" in long, stereo versions! Having said that, lets identify some worthy cuts for the new fans. "Goin' Home..." is the Fats Domino classic, featuring Don Harris of Don & Dewey on electric violin (historians note that Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention used the same artist in the same vein for their workout on Richard's "Directly From My Heart To You"). "Lawdy..." is a LR vocal and instrumental showcase, a brilliant sound obviously noted by Richard copyists like Paul McCartney and Tom Jones. His piano solo is the best of his career. Three songs from the May, 1965 New York City session are here and are reported to include Jimi Hendrix, Billy Preston, and Don Covay - "Dancing All Around The World", a blistering blues-based blast, "You Better Stop", a contemporary R & B/Rock item, and the soul classic now *finally* recieving it's due recognition on many releases, "I Don't Know What You've Got But It's Got Me", a soul ballad in the "Hold On To What You've Got"-"Time Is On My Side" style but completely overshadowing both in artistry and soul power. The '50s recuts are very disappointing on Vol. One - "Send Me Some Lovin'" (interestingly enough also recorded by Dean Martin around this time) is the only cool one. Richard's voice is *not* in shape on the others like "Long Tall Sally" and "Slippin' and Slidin'". Lucille" kicks off in an exciting way but very soon degenerates in a messy arrangement. A great vocal is heard on a new tune, "Something Moves In My Heart", a rockin' soul item reminiscent of Sam Cooke's "Ain't That Good News". Another new song, "Groovy Little Suzie" is super - a '50s type mover by Mr. John S. Marascalco, a writer/co-writer of many LR Specialty hits. (A longer version is found on the vinyl "Wild & Frantic Little Richard" on Modern). There's enough here to recommend Vol. One if Vol. Two is also considered."

There's a reason Little Richard only had one hit on Vee Jay

C. Dennis Burns | Cleveland, Ohio | 08/18/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"All of the "Hits" on this collection are re-recordings. The only Vee-Jay song to chart was "I Don't Know What You've Got But It's Got Me (#92 - 1965).



This collection is only for the true collector of everything Little Richard."