I'm very surprised there are no other Georgie Fame songs here.
Here's yet another British solo singer of the 1960's who never really made it in America...except, I think, with the song 'Bonnie & Clyde'.
By 1969 Georgie Fame's success as a hit-maker was starting to wind down, before, in the early '70's, he teamed up with Alan Price and had a hit with the forgettable 'Rosetta'.
I think this song has been forgotten, this version anyway, but it's far from forgettable.
A really terrific late '60's chart hit, that only made it to no.16 on the British charts, but should have done so much better.
A really upbeat, summer song.
It was covered by someone else sometime in the '70's, I think, but that version was far inferior to this.
Wondeful gentle arrangement...lots of mellow brass & Georgie's voice at its understated, confident best.
available on CD - yes (Raven)
07 Dec 05 ·konsu: This song was written by Kenny Rankin. A legend in his own right in the US. The Fame version is awesome indeed, i've heard a lot of takes on this one and his takes the prize. 23 Mar 06 ·audioadventures: I agree I re-discovered this song recently and it has been added to my best songs of all time.
Well, Nick Drake seems to be finally enjoying his place in the sun, fame & success-wise, even if: 'Fame is but a fruit tree, so very unsound'.
I first heard Nick Drake being played in a record shop in London. I thought it was '60's Donovan. Anyway, it wasn't & I bought the record and haven't looked back since.
Part of his non-success was due to his inabilty to come up with a hit single, or a single at all and this was still, to a large degree, a singles era.
I've often thought that this song, of all of his, could have been a single, given a slightly different treatment.
Anyway, it wasn't, but I love it very much and do think it's one of his catchiest, even though that's probably not the right word for anything by Nick Drake.
from Pink Moon (Island) available on CD - Yes (Island)
Peter Asher, who was the Peter part of this duo, was the brother of Jane Asher who was Paul McCartney's girlfriend at the time of this song, asked Paul to write them a song.
They decided it would be interesting to see if it would be a hit without the Paul McCartney/Beatle stamp on it. So they released this song saying that it was written by a Mr. Bernard Webb.
It only reached No. 28 in the British charts.
Jane Asher, many years later, chose it as one of her 'Desert Island Discs', but she never talks about Paul or her Beatle days and failed to tell the story around the song.
Very nice string arrangement/intro.
This was the early days of using classical instruments in pop songs. I think the classical slant is what appeals to me most about this recording.