Various The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)

Preview: The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)

The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)

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catalog number: CDCHD1152
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(2007/ACE) 26 tracks with 16 page booklet In November 1959, the New York songwriters, Doc Pomus... more

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Various: The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)

(2007/ACE) 26 tracks with 16 page booklet

In November 1959, the New York songwriters, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, came to London for a special edition of the ITV show, Boy Meets Girls, devoted to their work. Joe Brown told me that they should have appeared on What’s My Line? They would have beaten the panel convincingly as nobody would have guessed that they wrote teenage love songs.

By the time they wrote A Teenager In Love, Doc Pomus was in his thirties and married with a daughter. He had been crippled through polio as a child, but he didn’t let his disability prevent from singing in small dives around New York. He had written many blues songs and had had success with Lonely Avenue in 1956. Many people suppose that Ray Charles is singing about his heroin addiction but really it is Doc talking about the loneliness of being trapped in some sleazy hotel (“My room has got two windows”).

On his own, Doc felt too old to capture the teenage market and he recruited Mort Shuman, who was born in 1938, to help make some decent money. Mort was the same age as the teen idols of the 50s but, like Ritchie Valens, he looked much older than he was. Both of them were determined to live life as they pleased. Once they had success, Mort used his royalties to travel the world and so he often wasn’t around when Doc wanted him. This, however, had its benefits as the Latin rhythms in Save The Last Dance For Me gave their work a distinctive edge. Because of its Cuban feel, Doc wrote a lyric that sounded like a translation: hence, the clumsy “And in whose arms you’re going to be”. I ask you – how clever is that?

Ironically, one of the compelling things about Pomus and Shuman is that they would write a classic one day and turn out a piece of junk the next. This is unlike Bacharach and David who rarely faltered. I love the fact that when they came to the UK (looking like salesmen when they got off that plane!), they passed their duds to a host of British performers with Jess Conrad and Tommy Bruce among the recipients. Indeed, I hope that Ace will do a volume of Pomus and Shuman in the UK, though I might be the only person who would buy it. Here, though, we have two of the best results from their UK trip: the glorious It’s Been Nice from Marty Wilde and the hit single, Too Good for Little Tony & His Brothers.

This excellent collection, with first class booklet notes from Mick Patrick, demonstrates their versatility (which became even more marked once they split up). It includes Del Shannon’s curious version – the original, incidentally - of His Latest Flame with a Runaway organ (and why not?) and LaVern Baker’s answer to Little Sister, Hey Memphis. Elvis Costello has sung the praises of Gary “US” Bonds’ glorious Seven Day Weekend and then there’s Gene McDaniels’ exquisite Spanish Lace. Fabian is often considered a joke (and a bad one) but he doesn’t sound too bad on Turn Me Loose, which would have been ideal for Presley.

As I write this Marty Wilde is touring the UK and singing “Why must I be a teenager in love?” at the age of 67. Of course, he should be singing, “Why can’t I be a teenager in love?”, but the point is that the song holds good. It is among the first songs to include the word “teenager”: there were hardly any before the mid-50s!

Spencer Leigh

Article properties: Various: The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)

Interpret: Various
Album titlle: The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD)
Genre Rock'n'Roll
Label Ace Records
Artikelart CD
EAN: 0029667026826
weight in Kg 0.1

Various - The Pomus & Shuman Story - Double Trouble 1956-1967 (CD) CD 1
01	(Wake Up) Miss Rip Van Winkle	TIBBS BROS
02	Lonely Avenue	CHARLES, Ray
03	I Ain't Sharin' Sharon	DARIN, Bobby
04	Hushabye	MYSTICS
05	It's Been Nice	WILDE, Marty
06	(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame	SHANNON, Del
07	Angel Face	DARREN, Jimmy
08	Turn Me Loose	FABIAN
09	A Teenager In Love	DION & THE BELMONTS
10	Hey Memphis	BAKER, Lavern
11	Save The Last Dance For Me	DRIFTERS
12	Go Jimmy Go	CLANTON, Jimmy
13	Too Good	LITTLE TONY & HIS BROS
14	Seven Sins	STRONG, Barrett
15	So Close To Heaven	DONNER, Ral
16	First Tast Of Love	KING, Ben E.
17	Can't Get Used To Losing You	WILLIAMS, Andy
18	All You Gotta Do Is Touch Me	VEE, Bobby
19	A King For Tonight	DARVELL, Barry
20	Suspicion	STAFFORD, Terry
21	Seven Day Weekend	GARY U.S. BONDS
22	Spanish Lace	McDANIELS, Gene
23	Double Trouble	PRESLEY, Elvis
24	I'm Gonna Cry 'til My Tears Run Dry	THOMAS, Irma
25	Stop	TATE, Howard
26	Say Those Magic Words	McCOYS

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