KJR 16 All American Hits (VA) (1967)

This compilation was made in 1967 for a radio station in Seattle, KJR, by a record company that seems to have specialized in making compilations, Take 6. In fact, it seems like Take 6 specialized in making many of the same compilation and putting different labels on them (sometimes). Like those custom wine-makers that have bad wine and put peoples' labels on them. What is that called? Private label wine? But these songs are actually pretty good, and a lot of the artists have either faded into obscurity over the years, have hits that have become dissociated with their names, or have members that have moved onto bigger and better things under different names. For example, here we have the original version of Gloria by Them, aka Van Morrison's old band. And also, despite the title, these are not all necessarily "All American Hits". About half of the artists are part of the British Invasion. For example, Them.

But I liked about all of the tracks. A lot of them are pretty garagey (The Seeds), and others totally fit the bill for 60's pop. Which is a lot of fun. My favourites were probably the tracks by the Association, B.J. Thomas, The Leaves, and the Shangri-Las. For a little trivia, See You In September by The Happenings was part of a list of songs that Clear Channel suggested be taken off the airwaves following 9/11. Which makes the song that much more intense, despite the obvious anachronism.

Track List:

Side One

1. Association - Along Comes Mary

2. Five Americans - Western Union

3. Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy vs. Red Baron

4. B.J. Thomas - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

5. Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City

6. Them - Gloria

7. Neil Diamond - Cherry, Cherry

8. The Happenings - See You In September

Side Two

9. Tommy James and the Shondells - Hanky Panky

10. The Leaves - Hey Joe

11. The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard

12. Ian Whitcomb - You Turn Me On

13. Canibal and the Head Hunters - Lord of 1000 Dances

14. The Sonics - The Witch

15. Shangrilas - Leader of the Pack

16. The Standells - Dirty Water

KJR - 320kbps