The Best of 1963-1964

Philadelphia's were one of the sweetest vocal groups to ever step into a recording studio. Led by the warm, expressive tenor of , whose voice and phrasing were heavily influenced by , and blessed with a producer at , , who knew exactly how to record them, hit right out of the box with their debut single, the sparse and elegant in 1963. Written by , the song was given a simple, floating arrangement by that was driven by what would become the group's trademark finger snaps and featuring smooth-as-honey vocals by and fellow group members , and . followed this classic with a version of (the song that launched ' own career in 1957) that was every bit as strong as and completed the hat trick with a third impressive single, Everything recorded with at had this same high quality, and the future looked more than bright, but the group's run on the charts pretty much ended with the advent of Beatlemania in 1964, which signaled a sea change in the recording industry. For some reason never released the catalog on CD until 2005, and this collection marks the debut of in the digital age, some 40 years after these classic were recorded. Gorgeously arranged and sung, the tracks compiled here have an elegant, timeless quality that works in part because of their simple sparseness, which allows plenty of breathing room to do what they do best, which is sing like the angels sing. and are all here, along with other gems like (one of the few instances where go upbeat) and the sublime Better late than never, this CD is essential listening for fans of the vocal group genre. ~ Steve Leggett