My Boy Lollipop: The Bes

On the radio in the early summer of 1964 along with Chapel of Love, Walk On By and A World Without Love, you couldn't miss the bright pop sound of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop. Like pure sunshine, the infectious song crossed all boundaries and became one of the monster hits of the year reaching #2 on the Billboard charts on July 4th, kept out of #1 by the Beach Boys' I Get Around. It was something new from Jamaica, a sound called ska that was a forerunner of reggae, and Millie introduced it to the world. Though by that time she lived in London and released the record on English label, Fontana, she was not considered part of the British Invasion.From south central Jamaica, Millie was discovered at a talent show and made a series of local hits with several producers and labels which brought her to the attention of Chris Blackwell, the founder of (at that time) local label Island Records.Blackwell was instrumental in popularizing Jamaican music by recording and distributing it. At first he sold records out of the back of his car but by this time, backed by RKO Entertainment, he had become an important producer with lots of connections. He was instrumental later on in the career of Bob Marley, and Island Records became a major independent label by the 70's with acts like Traffic, Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But back in 1963 he was looking for a talent who could become big outside of Jamaica and he immediately signed Millie when he heard her. He moved her to London and began developing a sound with her.The first single, Don't You Know, was kind of a fast rock and roll number that didn't go anywhere (it's on this collection). He felt they needed to do something more obviously Caribbean and chose My Boy Lollipop, a 1956 release by fourteen year old Barbie Gaye that hadn't even charted. Barbie's take on it is surprisingly similar to Millie's though the instrumental break used saxophone instead of harmonica. The great arrangement is by the legendary Ernest Ranglin. He and his associates believed in the song's potential so much that they licensed it to Fontana Records, a Philips label, because only a big label would have the production and distribution network in place to handle a big hit. It paid off because My Boy Lollipop became a huge hit worldwide selling over six million copies. Millie became a very successful touring artist and was especially popular in Asia. But her recording career stalled with the overly-similar Sweet William reaching only #40 and no hits after that.This collection is taken from her Fontana and Island recordings which cover her popular years. The songs run a gamut of styles from fast upbeat numbers like chilly kisses and Bloodshot Eyes to the ska-pop singles My Boy Lollipop and Sweet William. Wings of a Dove and You Better Forget are essentially reggae in all but name. Isalnd experimented giving her a Motown sound apparent in the beat and arrangement of Ooh Ooh (Doo-Doo) a Jackie and Millie duet and on My Street, which has a Martha & the Vandellas sound. The other duets with Jackie and slow, mellow numbers that make a nice break from the generally faster mood of the disc.They blended really well together and it seems to me these should have been hits. Chris Blackwell also teamed her up with two more of his discoveries, Jimmy Cliff (Hey Boy, Hey Girl) and the Spencer Davis Group (I'm Blue) which gives her a new rock sound with a hot guitar bridge.Not everyone likes Millie's voice. Still a teenager when she recorded most of these tracks, she still had a young girl's voice which some find a bit high and shrill. I find it unique and fun but you should listen to track samples first. Spectrum Music put out this disc in conjunction with Universal Music which own the original masters. Everything sounds really great, clear and well-balanced. It's hard to believe these are early to mid 60's recordings. The booklet is full of information and lots of photos. It's a job totally well done and I don't think you'll find anything better.EXTRA NOTE: NOT ROD STEWART. For a long time it was rumored that a young Rod Stewart played the harmonica break. This was not pure fantasy, as Rod Stewart had actually been the harmonica player in the Five Dimensions, the group that backed up Millie, around this time. But he wasn't in the group for long and was not at this session. The original harmonica player was Jimmy Powell. However Blackwell did not like his playing and another member of the band, Pete Hogman recorded a new version which was overdubbed onto the recording. Powell's recording was considered lost for decades but was rediscovered and it's his original version that is used on this collection. Ordinarily I'd complain that both versions should be here for the sake of comparison, the usual practice with alternate takes. However since I have the song on a number of collections I gave them several side by side listenings and they're almost identical. The bridge is the same note for note, but Hogman's has a little more oomph than Powell's slightly more relaxed take. There's really no big difference at all.

This is one very enjoyable collection of Millie Small's recordings she made as a teenager in the mid 1960s, kicking off with her signature song, "My Boy Lollipop," and closing with an (alternate) instrumental take of it led by her brilliant guitarist/arranger, Ernest Ranglin, in which you can hear Ms. Small's vocals faintly in the mix. In between are 18 tracks that cover ska, pop, rhythm and blues, and ballads. (I would have rated this CD five stars had the decision-makers seen fit to fill the other 32 minutes of the disc with her music instead of barren plastic.)I realize this is not the first anthology of Millie Small's recordings, but this collection is tight -- no filler. It also has excellent remastered sound and informative liner notes. (Laurence Cane-Honeysett finally puts to rest the widespread belief that a teenaged Rod Stewart played harmonica on "My Boy Lollipop.") The booklet is further enhanced by reproduced picture sleeves and record labels along with a dozen pictures of Ms. Small that reveal a fine-looking young woman with a radiant smile.While I'm tempted to bemoan the fact that her records after "My Boy Lollipop" should have enjoyed greater chart success both here in the States and around the world, I prefer to marvel at just how good these recordings still sound today. Her energetic singing, whether alone or in her duets with her frequent singing partner, Wilfred "Jackie" Edwards, is perfectly matched to solid arrangements and strong material. (Her versions of Fats Domino's "Be My Guest" and Wynonie Harris's "Bloodshot Eyes" are terrific.) Other highlights include a duet with a young Jimmy Cliff on "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" and a cover of the Ikettes' "I'm Blue" on which Ms. Small (in her sassy "little girl" voice) is joined by the Spencer Davis Group.Not everyone over the years has expressed a fondness for Ms. Small's vocal stylings. So, I'm hoping Amazon and/or AMG will provide the curious among you with 30-second samples of these tracks to help you decide whether to buy this CD collection. Her longtime fans -- and I am one, as I was 12 when "My Boy Lollipop" graced the airwaves in 1964 -- who don't already have a CD collection of Ms. Small's recordings should find this to their liking. Music is my drug of choice, and this collection is good stuff.

Yuck! Even 'My Boy Lollipop' lacked the pizzaz I know it has. Sounds like an a.m. radio broadcast through bad speakers. Ska lacked drive. Soul lacked soul. But the dull sound could be due to the dull recording quality. This recording is not worthy of Millie, and this review has nothing to do with her performance.

Very good artist that should have been bigger stateside Of course includes the songs we know by her in her unique voice worth the buy alone!My Girl lollipop!

One of The Wonderfuls Dis Is Great

I really enjoyed this CD as this was popular when I was growing up. It brought back such memories. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the early music of rock etc. We used to play these songs at dance parties and school sock hops. These are such wonderful memories.

I gave this product five stars the sound quality is the same as on a smash record label recording.I highly recommend this cd for all of us Millie Small fans Just as sweet as she was in 1964 they are theoriginal recordings. thank you

Good product would buy from them again.

I remember the title track when it first hit and also the way many people had fond memories across the 60s at they grew older of its happy impact. This owed a lot to the fun element Millie used to deliver the lyrics and the stomping music and harmonica playing (all explained in the notes as to how this came about) which was much better than a lot of other 1964 hits, when single releases were a very competitive market. Sadly little else was heard or known to most record buyers and the further big hits never materialised though later success followed for others from a Jamaican ska background, notably Desmond Dekker. That big gap is all put to rights by this fulsome compilation of all her 60s output. I can add little to what the other reviewers have stated - all the music carries a happy punch whether singing solo or duetting with other UK based black male singers (Jackie Edwards and Jimmy Cliff), orchestrations reflecting the strong West Indies music ska connections and production teams under the ever hustling young Chris Blackwell whose Jamaican connections made the UK end work. An amazing slice of a unique talent who probably suffered at the hands of the endless gigs and touring and poor promotion if the sleeve notes are to be believed.

A very good voice and great to listen to. Known for only her one hit wonder in the UK in 1964, My Boy Lollipop, the rest of her album is enjoyable to dance and listen to. The instrumental version only concludes on this album. Like Shirley Ellis, Complete Congress Recordings, this album like Millie is good to keep in your soul, dance and reggae collection as Shirley Ellis is only Known too for one hit wonder of The Clapping Song.

I have Millie's "Time will tell" on viynl and wanted to experiance some of her hidden gem's. Much of her work had not been re-realised since it's original inception, say for My Boy Lollypop which I first came across via Bad Manners Fprging Ahead in 82.Love the Ska beat " Hey Boy Hey Girl with the great Jimmy Cliff..If your in to early Ska Get it.

Love this

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