"I am a fan of Something Smith and the Redheads since 1975 when I found a 78 rpm disc that had been purchased by my father in 1955; I am talkin about "It's a sin to tell a lie" that was a succes in my country, argentina, since that year. I thought that I had al the records that had been made by Somethin Smith but I found out that there are a lot that I have not.
I would like to know more about the group and if the integrants are still alive and of course that more CDs will be done."
Sauls daughter
Mark Radzin | 01/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I would first like to say that my father, Saul Striks (he was the pianist and sang background vocals) loved music all of his life. He loved to talk about his time with "Something Smith and the Redheads".
We lost him in 1980 when he suffered a massive heart attack during a trip to Chicago in hopes of getting a publisher to publish his book on music theory. Saul was a child prodogy and played with the Detroit Symphony at the age of 7.
As far as the "Come to Broadway" CD not having the B-sides on the release is a huge mistake. Unfortunatly there will not be anymore music by this group which had great instrumental an vocal merit. Such tight harmony and enjoyable and fun music. This type of music will never die."
Somethin' Missin'
Mark Radzin | Greenwich, CT United States | 03/14/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, this is a specialized record, but (other reviews notwithstanding) not everyone who buys it is a "completist collector"-- I had some of these boys' vinyl and was intrigued enough (granted, mostly for the kitsch factor) in hearing more of their white-bread, smooth-pop stylings of moldy perrenials of the twenties, thirties, and forties. Much like a Rusty Draper, these guys are so incredibly square that they somehow manage to be hip.As for the disc itself, leaving off key B-sides is a valid complaint, but that's not all that's missing... the majority of the A side of the "Somethin' Smith and the Redheads... Come to Broadway!" LP is represented, but not one song from the B-side (the side that actually contains songs about Broadway and New York City) made it on. Certainly some of those performances deserve inclusion ("Manhattan" springs to mind) , but alas.Also, I noticed that the short sung introductions before the songs were included sporadically-- present on "Heartaches" and "In a Shanty" but missing on "Give Me the Simple Life", and "Ma!"... What the the rationale for this?Anyway, with the whole collection timing out at only fifty minutes, you would think they could put on a few more tracks and make everyone happy-- after all, it's not as though another Somethin' Smith "best of" collection is likely to be put out in the next few decades. All in all interesting but lacking."
They Have To Be Kidding!
Mark Radzin | 09/07/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Here you have 20 selections from a group that put all of four songs on the singles charts, and the producer strives to leave off three of the flipsides in a release labeled "the best of."! Other than completist collectors, who do they think is going to purchase this CD? Their legions of fans?
The group [Smith on vocals and guitar, pianist Saul Striks, and violinist Major Short] had a brief chart career with Epic in 1955/56 doing mostly oldies from the 1930s/1940s, with their best being It's A Sin To Tell A Lie - an old Fats Waller tune - that reached # 7 Billboard Pop Top 100in May 1955 b/w another oldie, My Baby Just Cares For Me. Both of those are included.
That November their next charter barely made the Top 100 as When All The Streets Are Dark peaked at # 90. The B-side, another blast from the past called Pretty Baby is omitted from this compilation.
So too is Coal Dust On The Fiddle which was the flip of their second biggest hit, In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town [a # 1 for Ted Lewis in 1932], which reached # 27 Top 100 in July 1956. That is at track 11. Their fourth, and final, hit came in September 1956 when they took Heartaches - a 1947 # 1 for Ted Weems - to the # 71 Top 100 position b/w the old Dick Jurgens hit, Cecilia. The latter is omitted.
Why would anyone put together a collection of their songs and then deliberately leave off three B-sides? Having said that, they did have a nice sound, ideally suited to sprucing up the oldies as you will see from the other tracks in this fine volume. They just arrived on the scene at a time when a runaway train known as R&R was knocking artists better than them off the tracks."