Reviewed by Tony Cummings

This 58-song compilation is a fascinating piece of musical history as it chronicles the pivotal time in the career of one of the giants of popular music as he moved from being the frontman of one of the most admired gospel quartets of the '50s to become a regular pop chart hitmaker. All the singles lovingly compiled here by Acrobat Records include gems like the rockaballad "You Send Me", the wistful "Wonderful World" (co-written by Herb Alpert and once gruesomely covered by Herman's Hermits) and finally into the era when his hits like "Chain Gang" and "Twistin' The Night Away" were laying down the template for the emerging soul music. As I've said already, this is absorbing musical history. But the compilation does show up that ever before he found his creative focal point with soul gems like "A Change Is Gonna Come" (not included here) he was an ambitious singer so keen to pursue the big money in white showbiz that he often allowed himself to record substandard songs or be given dire pop/middle of the road arrangements. For example, his first mainstream single for Specialty, "Lovable", is excruciatingly banal while later records for Keen like "Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha" or "Teenage Sonata" for RCA do not make for repeated play. If you want to hear Sam at his musical best I suggest you buy Acrobat's recent 'The Singles Collection 1950-61' by the Soul Stirrers plus his last couple of RCA albums. But then, with 58 tracks here, there's still plenty to enjoy.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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