East Side Story, Vol. 7 in Bloomington, MN

Strange mix of early-'50s to mid-'70s
R&B
, juxtaposing
Gene Chandler
(
"Duke of Earl"
),
Billy Stewart
"Cross My Heart"
the Five Satins
"In the Still of the Night"
the Escorts
"Look over Your Shoulder"
), and
Johnny Ace
"Pledging My Love"
) on the same CD, with no notes, explanations, or accounts of music or careers. There are some forgotten hits, such as
"Talk to Me"
by
Sunny & the Sunliners
, a cover of the
Little Willie John
song that became a number 11 hit in 1963. The better sides here include
salsa
star
Ralfi Pagan
's falsetto version of
David Gates
'
"Make It with You,"
Yvonne Carroll & the Roulettes
"Gee What a Guy,"
Brenda & the Tabulations
"Dry Your Eyes"
(a number 20
pop
hit in 1967), and
the Incredibles
' hit
"Heart and Soul."
The sound is decent if not exactly state-of-the-art on most of this (though
' track has definite surface noise from a disc source), but the selection mixes the familiar and the unusual in an engaging and entertaining fashion. More anthologies should follow this lead, but this disc should also have included one or two more cuts and some notes, to really be of value to its purchasers. ~ Bruce Eder