www.musicweek.com PRODUCTREISSUES CISSY HOUSTON/DEE DEE WARWICK/ISAAC HAYES/DIONNE WARWICK • EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL • ODYSSEY • GREENWICH & BARRY


CISSY HOUSTON • Presenting (SoulMusic.Com SMCR 5054) DEE DEE WARWICK • Foolish Fool (SMCR 5053) ISAAC HAYES & DIONNE WARWICK • A Man And A Woman(SMCD 5055)


Released simultaneously to celebrate ‘the first family of soul music,’ are Cissy


Houston’s debut solo album Presenting from 1970, her niece Dee Dee Warwick’s 1969 effort Foolish Fool and A Man And A Woman, a 1977 live set by Dee Dee’s sister Dionne and touring partner Isaac Hayes. Originally a fairly slender affair, with nine covers of contemepraneous pop and R&B songs and a playing time of 28 minutes, Presenting is expanded to 21 tracks for reissue, taking up nearly 70 minutes. Houston’s style can be a little overpowering but she hits the right balance more often than not, and excels on Jim


Weatherly’s Midnight Train To Georgia, recorded in charming country style before Gladys Knight got her hands on it. Dee Dee Warwick’s vocals had a great deal more light and shade, and the expanded Foolish Fool reveals her as a fine R&B singer, with a métier of her own. Dionne oozes class on A Man And A Woman, a series of lengthy jams with Isaac Hayes which throws up some excellent vocal juxtaposes, like their pretty melding of By The Time I Get To Phoenix and I Say A Little Prayer. Not a vital album, but fun.


EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL: Eden / Love Not Money / Baby The Stars Shine Bright / Idlewild (Edsel EDSK 7004 / EDSK 7005 / EDSK 7006 / EDSK 7007)


After releasing promising solo albums, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt pooled


resources to became one of Britain’s best-loved duos with a


succession of albums on Blanco Y Negro. The first four – originally released between 1984 and 1988 – are now being reissued as extensively expanded two-CD sets, each presented as a casebound book, with notes from the duo, full lyrics and a plethora of bonus tracks, including previously unissued demos and BBC sessions. First album Eden was an instant success, a collection of breezy and enjoyable songs. The more direct sound of Love Not Money and the string-driven, retro Baby The Stars Shine Bright helped EBTG to solidify their support, while Idlewild catapulted them into the big time, thanks to the top three success of their version of Danny Whitten’s I Don’t Want To Think About It.


ODYSSEY: Hang Together (Big Break CDBBR 0153)


Criminally ignored in their US homeland – where their only Top 40


hit was Native New Yorker – Odyssey were more than one hit wonders in the UK, putting together a run of impressive and polished hits in the R&B/dance vein. Now remastered and expanded, Hang Together was the first of three consecutive albums by the group to crack the Top 40 here, and arguably the best. The sinewy title track, which slowly unfurls over six minutes, sets the pace for a cracking album, which also includes the incredibly infectious disco-styled Use It Up And Wear It Out. Single versions, extended 12-inch mixes and a booklet replete with extensive liner notes and pictures complete an excellent package.


VARIOUS: Da Doo Ron Ron - More From The Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry Songbook (Ace CDCHD 1340)


In the early 1960s, New York’s Brill Building was a


hive of songwriting activity, and one of the finest teams working in its confines were Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. So prolific were the duo that in 1964 alone – halfway through their stormy four-year marriage – they racked up a total of 20 UK and US hits, and Do-Wah-Diddy only scratched the surface. Although their songs could and would be recorded by a wide variety of artists, Greenwich and Barry really gelled with girl groups, hence the inclusion of The Ronettes’ Baby I Love You, The Dixie Cups’ Chapel Of Love, The Crystals’ title track and similarly successful confections given to The Chiffons, The Jelly Beans and The Butterflys. Spector co-wrote and produced many of the songs but Greenwich and Barry were a formidable team even without Spector. A copiously illustrated 24-page book, complete with essays on every song, help to make this a package worthy of the songs it celebrates.


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