There are collectors…and then there are ‘doo wop’ collectors, which is why we have dedicated our first Cameo Parkway compilation to the fantastic vocal groups who recorded for the label. All of these (except the Rays track and the two Roommates tracks, which we HAD to include) are from the original tapes, and only one track (the Lydells’ ‘There Goes the Boy’, which again we felt was a must) has ever been out on CD at retail before. 24 tracks…on your marks, doo wop fans!

These two 1961 albums (presented here in their original stereo mixes) represented an effort by Bobby to move beyond the limitations of his teen idol persona. By recording a live album at the Copa, Bobby was following a well-trodden trail left by other pop male vocalists like Bobby Darin and Paul Anka, and “The Great Ones” in the title of the first record refers to the songs from The Great American Songbook that he covers on the album.

Clint Eastwood? ‘That’ Clint Eastwood?! Well, sure…Clint has demonstrated a musical streak throughout his acting and directing career, and here you catch him right at the beginning of it, fresh from his success on the TV series ‘Rawhide’, crooning (and quite competently so) a collection of cowboy favorites! We have added both sides of his 1962 single ‘Rowdy’ b/w ‘Cowboy Wedding Song’, to the complete 1963 release. Also includes ‘Bouquet of Roses; Along the Santa Fe Trail; The Last Round Up; Sierra, Nevada; Mexacali Rose; Searching for Somewhere; I’ll Love You More; Tumbling Tumbleweeds; Twilight on the Trail; San Antonio Rose; Don’t Fence Me In’, and ‘Are You Satisfied’.

Discovered by high school classmate Len Barry, the Orlons (Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, Rosetta Hightower and Stephen Caldwell) were probably Cameo Parkway’s most popular vocal group and certainly the label’s top girl group. This twofer presents their only two charting albums, their 1962 debut ‘The Wah-Watusi’ and 1963’s ‘South Street’—both featuring Top 5 title tracks—in their original pristine mono, with notes by Gene Sculatti that include great quotes from band member Caldwell (he of that ultra-low “frog” voice)! Includes ‘Dedicated to the One I Love; Tonight; Mashed Potato Time; The Plea; Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes); I’ll Be True; The Wah-Watusi; He’s Gone; Let Me In; Over the Mountain, Across the Sea; I Met Him on a Sunday; (Happy Birthday) Mr. Twenty-One; Walk Right In; Big Daddy; Cement Mixer; Mister Sandman; Charlie Brown; Gather ‘Round; South Street; Between 18th & 19th on Chestnut Street; Don’t Let Go; Muskrat Ramble; Pokey Lou’, and ‘We Got Love’.

This is the first of a number of releases we’re planning that will demonstrate that Cameo Parkway (actually, these records came out on its Lucky Eleven subsidiary) recorded much more than the pop-rock and R&B it’s best known for. Terry Knight & the Pack were a garage band out of Flint, Michigan that had a number of regional Midwestern hits but never broke nationally, and would probably be destined for eternal if undeserved obscurity but for one thing: this is the band that gave Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad their start! Liner note writer Jeff Tamarkin tells the story while you dig the fuzz-laced sounds of ‘Numbers; What’s on Your Mind; Where D You Go; You’re a Better Man Than I; Lovin’ Kind; The Shut-In; Got Love; A Change on the Way; Lady Jane; Sleep Talkin’; I’ve Been Told; I (Who Have Nothing); One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show; Love, Love, Love, Love; Come with Me; Got to Find My Baby; The Precious Time; Anybody’s Apple Tree; The Train; Dimestore Debutante; Dirty Lady; Love Goddess of the Sunset Strip; Forever and a Day’, and ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’. The complete 1966 and 1967 releases!