Reviewed by Martin Purnell

If you were brought up on '60s music, then the name P.J. Proby may be familiar to you. He was born in the States as James Smith and as a young adult found he had a good singing voice. As part of the music scene he ended up over here, and whilst on a UK tour, tragedy struck! The press let it be known that whilst on stage...his britches ripped! There was a polite outcry but just a few days later, the terrible incident repeated itself. Now if I was to say that he then got banned from theatres, you'd think that I was making it up, but in the 1960s this is what happened to our Jim. A few years ago he resurfaced in the hit London musical Elvis playing Mr Presley in his cheeseburger years and getting good reviews. And that's where I now have a problem, because I have sympathy for Mr Proby and want to encourage him. He has most probably had more downs than an eider duck quilt factory! The production isn't bad in that it competently recreates the cheesy sounds of '50s country gospel but my question is, 'Why has it been released?' I do not know if P.J. is on a spiritual journey or he simply saw a way of appealing to Elvis nostalgists. But if you would like to hear standards sung in an Elvisesque way, such as "Crying In The Chapel", "How Great Thou Art", "I Believe" and "Precious Lord" then this CD might appeal though more likely you'll turn to one of the Elvis gospel reissues.

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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