Various – The Herald Records Doowop Collection 1953-63 – 3CD

The Herald label was founded in 190 by Fred Mendelsohn, formerly with Savoy, and he was soon joined by Al Silver, who owned the pressing plant that made the label’s records. Silver had an ear for R&B and doowop, and built Herald into a creative hub for R&B recording and most particularly becoming renowned for its output of doowop recordings by a string of different groups during the late ‘50s and into the 1960s. Most notable among those groups were The Nutmegs, The Turbans, The Mello Kings and Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, who all had hits on the label. This great-value 91-track 3-CD set brings together most of the label’s releases by artists whose work falls broadly into the category of doowop, although this is obviously not a definition which can be slavishly or precisely applied. It features the A & B sides of most of the Herald releases by the groups named above, plus The Embers, The Five Willows, The Sonnets, The Cashmeres, The Rocketeers, The Thrillers, The Sunbeams, The Mint Juleps, Little Butchie Saunders, The Four Js, The Desires, The Loungers, The Vocalaires, The Concords and The Premiers. It features the Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs’ R&B No. 1 ‘Stay’, and their other hits ‘I Remember’ and ‘Come Along’, The Nutmegs’ hits ‘Story Untold’ and ‘Ship Of Love’, The Turbans’ No. 3 ‘When You Dance’ and the Mello-Kings’ ‘Tonite, Tonite’. It’s a feast of classic doowop from a label which was at the heart of the genre.

Track Listing:

CD1: The Embers: 1. Paradise Hill -   2. Sound Of Love -   The Rocketeers: 3. Foolish One -   4. Gonna Feed My Baby Poison -   The Thrillers: 5. Please Talk To Me -   6. Lizabeth -   The 5 Willows: 7. Lay Your Head On My Shoulder -   8. Baby Come A Little Closer -   The Heralds: 9. Eternal Love -   10. Gonna Love You -   The Five Willows: 11. So Help Me I Love You -   12. Look Me In The Eyes -   The Sunbeams: 13. Come Back Baby -   14. Tell Me Why -   The Nutmegs: 15. Story Untold -   16. Make Me Lose My Mind - The Turbans: 17. When You Dance -   18. Let Me Show You (Around My Heart) -   The Nutmegs: 19. Ship Of Love -   20. Rock Me, Squeeze Me -   21. Whispering Sorrows: - 22. Betty Lou -   The Turbans: 23. Sister Sookey -   24. I'll Always Watch Over You -   Cashmeres: 25. Little Dream Girl -   26. Do I Upset You -   The Nutmegs: 27. Key To The Kingdom (Of Your Heart) -

CD2: The Nutmegs: 1. Gift O' Gabbin' Woman -   The Sonnets: 2. Please Won't You Call Me -   3. Why Should We Break Up -   The Turbans: 4. B-I-N-G-O (Bingo) -   5. I'm Nobody's -   Mint Juleps: 6. Bells Of Love -   7. Vip-A-Dip -   Little "Butchie" Saunders And His Buddies: 8. Lindy Lou -   9. Rock 'N' Roll Indian Dance -   The Turbans: 10. It Was A Night Like This -   11. All Of My Love - Little "Butchie" Saunders And His Buddies: 12. Great Big Heart -   The Nutmegs: 13. Comin' Home -   14. A Love So True -   The Turbans featuring Al Banks: 15. Bye And Bye -   16. Valley Of Love -   The Mellokings: 17. Tonite-Tonite -   18. Do Baby Do -   19. Sassafras -   20. Chapel On The Hill - The Turbans: 21. Congratulations -   22. The Wadda-Do -   The Mello Kings: 23. Baby Tell Me Why Why Why -   24. The Only Girls I'll Ever Know -   25. Valerie -   26. She's Real Cool -   The Four J's: 27. Kissin' At The Drive-In -   28. Dreams Are A Dime A Dozen -   The Desires: 29. Cold Lonely Heart -   30 Bobby You -

CD3: The Loungers: 1. Remember The Nite -   2. Dizzy Spell -   The Mello-Kings: 3. Chip Chip -   4. Running To You -   The Nutmegs: 5. My Sweet Dream -   6. My Story -   The Mello Kings: 7. Dear Mr. Jock -   8. Our Love Is Beautiful -   Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs: 9. Stay -   10. Do You Believe -   The Mello Kings: 11. Kid Stuff -   Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs: 12. I Remember -   13. Always -   14. Come Along -   15. Do I -   The Mello Kings: 16. Penny -   17. Till There Were None - Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs: 18. Come And Get It -   19. Some Day -   20. High Blood Pressure -   21. Please -   The Mello Kings: 22. Love At First Sight -   The Dynamics feat. Tony Maresco: 23. Forever Love -   24. Betty My Own -   Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs: 25. It’s Alright -   The Vocalaires: 26. Dance-Dance -   27. These Empty Arms -   The Nutmegs: 28. Rip Van Winkle -   29. Crazy 'Bout You -   The Concords: 30. Marlene -   31. Our Love Wasn't Meant To Be -   The Premeers: 32. Diary Of Our Love -