THE SHIRELLES - AND SHADES OF PSYCHEDELIC SOUL

Artist: THE SHIRELLES; Title: SHADES OF BLUE; Label: PYE INTERNATIONAL; 

Format: 7"; Cat. No.: 7N.25386; Year: 1966; Country: UK.

Looking today at this overlooked 1966 gem from from one my all time favourite Girl Groups of all time The Shirelles - and one of that records that reflects the changing times of this period in the mid 60's.

The A Side gives you the rather excellent "Shades Of Blue", and I suppose the easiest way to describe it as psychedleic-tinged Soul.  Which doesn't mean you'll find Shirley Owens and co backed by backwards-looped feedback guitars or droning sitars, but that sense of things of a more psyche-feel are certainly there in the arrangements and structure of the song.  And Shirley Owens herself is in particular voice on this one - and first heard by yours truly at a Northern Soul all-nighter up in Stoke many moons ago.

The flip side gives you the more standard Shirelles type sound with "When The Boys Talk About The Girls" - which in the US was the single's A Side.  It's an interesting thing that I've come across collecting Soul stuff over the years, in that the UK issue will more than often favour the more uptempo sides over the US preference for the ballady tune as the lead side for the single.  This one's good, but for me nowhere as excellent as the A Side - so top marks for the people at Pye who favoured "Shades Of Blue" as the A side for the UK market!

SOME MORE KIWI SOUL

Artist: THE AD LIBS; Title: THE BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY; Label: PYE; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: BC-102; Year: 1965; Country: NEW ZEALAND

Carrying on the with Soul stuff issued in New Zealand - today's post features The Ad Libs wonderful debut from 1964, released on Leiber & Stoller's Blue Cat label - and via Pye in the UK, as well as in New Zealand where this copy originated.  And from the record library of New Zealand's equivalent of the BBC!

The A Side is the downright brilliant "Boy From New York City" with a suberb lead vocal by Mary Ann Thomas. What I really love it is the way it weaves in elements of Doo-Wop into the background the belting souful lead vocal. And it's one of those tracks that typifies the emerging Girl Group sound of the mid 60's. See The Shirelles output for further fine examples of the genre!

The flip side gives you "Kicked Around" - another good tune, this time with a more jazzy vibe to it. It's one of those tracks that's indebted to the Shirelles, and Mary Ann Thomas does sound a lot like Shirley Owens on this.  But given that Lieber & Stoller were also writing & producing stuff for the Shirelles around this time maybe that should come as that much of a surprise!