- Audio CD (3 Jun 2002)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Spectrum Audio
- ASIN: B00005Q8U5
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 93,067 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Bend Me Shape Me |
| 2. The World Of Broken Hearts |
| 3. Gin House Blues |
| 4. Judge Rumpel Crasilla |
| 5. Love Me Tender |
| 6. I Am An Angel (But I can't fly) |
| 7. Expressway To Your Heart |
| 8. Can't Get Used To Losing You |
| 9. Lost And Found |
| 10. Nema |
| 11. I Know |
| 12. Run Run Run |
| 13. Something You Got |
| 14. Let The Good Times Roll - Feel So Fine |
| 15. Satisnek The Job's Worth |
| 16. Our Love (Is in the pocket) |
| 17. I Don't Wanna Discuss It - Amen |
| 18. Good Time |
| 19. High In The Sky |
Product Description
ORIGINAL RECORDINGS: GIN HOUSE BLUES
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Amen Corner are best remembered for their number one hit, If paradise was half as nice, which was recorded on the Immediate label. The recordings they made for Immediate have been repackaged many times, but their earlier Decca recordings were unavailable on CD before this was released, except for Bend me shape me, which can be found on 60's various artists compilations.
Andy Fairweather-Low, the lead singer, has a distinctive falsetto voice which is difficult to forget and it works just as well on these recordings, which have a definite R+B flavor, as it does on the music he recorded after leaving Decca.
These tracks were recorded in 1967 and 1968 and yielded three hits - Bend me shape me (a cover of an American hit for American Breed), Gin house blues and High in the sky, though the first of these is much better known in Britain than the other two. All three turn up on Immediate collections via live recordings, but I much prefer the original studio versions.
The set also includes great covers of Love me tender and Can't get used to losing you, which you certainly won't mistake for the originals - not just Andy's voice but the arrangements are very different.
I don't know how well Amen Corner did in America, but they were certainly one of the best British groups of the late sixties. For anybody interested in British pop/R+B music of the late sixties, the Amen Corner is worth investigating.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This CD is a bit of a rarity, a collection of their material prior to their time with Immediate Records, and for that reason alone it is worthy of inclusion in the collection of any Amen Corner and/or Andy Fairweather-Low fan. The music here, recorded in 1967 and 1968, is far more r'n'b than their 'If Paradise is Half as Nice' era material, and also features many 'classics', such as 'Love Me Tender' and 'Can't Get Used to Losing You'. It also contains their classic hits 'Bend Me, Shape Me', 'Gin House' and 'High in the Sky' (stalwarts of the 'Explosion' live album).
These songs are tight, disciplined and superb. Not as 'radical' as their Immediate stuff, but let's not forget that these guys were only just on their way and had their future ahead of them.
Buy it, crank it up loud and dance, just like they want you to!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This contains tracks from Amen Corner's early recording career and it includes all four of the hit singles they had with the Deram label.
The inclusion of a cover of Andy William's "Can't Get Used to Losing You" - should give you an idea of the variability this CD contains: A song that is plainly unsuitable for Andy Fairweather-Low and a long way off base for a band that was first known for soul music covers and their top 20 hit "Gin House {Blues}" (included here) - and yes, they sound pretty uncomfortable with Andy Williams' song.
We get their superbly arranged and best ever hit (IMHO) "Bend Me Shape Me", and its strange B-side "Satisnek The Jobs Worth", we get the deservedly minor hit "World of Broken Hearts" and we also get "High in the Sky" (their last hit for Decca's Deram label before they defected to Immediate Records). The rest of the CD contains all the single B-sides, soul and pop covers and also-ran material, some good (I think their version of Elvis' "Love Me Tender" works surprisingly well) and some just ho-hum.
Amen Corner, despite contrary impressions, were actually quite a minor chart force in the 1960s. They had a chart career (not including re-issues) that lasted only a couple of years (they disbanded in 1969) and four top ten hits during that time: Other roughly contemporary bands such as Dave Dee & co had far more.
The ever-present "(If Paradise is) Half as Nice" was of course Amen Corner's biggest, a number one hit in 1969 - their first single release after signing for Immediate Records. That song - which I always found annoyingly whiney and over-long! - is not present on this collection, neither is their only other Immediate hit "Hello Suzie" (written by Roy Wood). What we get on this disc is all stuff they recorded for Deram - and it's a mixed bag - but well worth a listen (I rate "Something you got" as a discovery).
One word of caution, these are all the cod stereo versions, not the mono releases. This spoils some tracks, especially where there is total channel separation between - for example - the vocal and the backing. This can sound very odd when played in a car or a large room. It's a real shame that companies re-issuing material of this age can't do a little channel blending, or just release the whole thing in Mono. Heaven knows it's a simple enough thing to do, and it makes the music sound far more cohesive and (in many cases) more powerful.
I guess we have to conclude that the music companies are only interested in milking this back catalogue for all its worth, and don't really care about the music. You would think that perhaps someone from the band would have invested the time in some restoration, but perhaps they don't have any financial ownership of these recordings any more?
An appreciable minority of Amen Corner's recorded output still stands up pretty well - the horns-heavy arrangement of many tracks enables their best stuff to ride alongside all the Stax and Atlantic hits of that era which were, and are, still played and loved today by music fans of all ages.
Alan T
The inclusion of a cover of Andy William's "Can't Get Used to Losing You" - should give you an idea of the variability this CD contains: A song that is plainly unsuitable for Andy Fairweather-Low and a long way off base for a band that was first known for soul music covers and their top 20 hit "Gin House {Blues}" (included here) - and yes, they sound pretty uncomfortable with Andy Williams' song.
We get their superbly arranged and best ever hit (IMHO) "Bend Me Shape Me", and its strange B-side "Satisnek The Jobs Worth", we get the deservedly minor hit "World of Broken Hearts" and we also get "High in the Sky" (their last hit for Decca's Deram label before they defected to Immediate Records). The rest of the CD contains all the single B-sides, soul and pop covers and also-ran material, some good (I think their version of Elvis' "Love Me Tender" works surprisingly well) and some just ho-hum.
Amen Corner, despite contrary impressions, were actually quite a minor chart force in the 1960s. They had a chart career (not including re-issues) that lasted only a couple of years (they disbanded in 1969) and four top ten hits during that time: Other roughly contemporary bands such as Dave Dee & co had far more.
The ever-present "(If Paradise is) Half as Nice" was of course Amen Corner's biggest, a number one hit in 1969 - their first single release after signing for Immediate Records. That song - which I always found annoyingly whiney and over-long! - is not present on this collection, neither is their only other Immediate hit "Hello Suzie" (written by Roy Wood). What we get on this disc is all stuff they recorded for Deram - and it's a mixed bag - but well worth a listen (I rate "Something you got" as a discovery).
One word of caution, these are all the cod stereo versions, not the mono releases. This spoils some tracks, especially where there is total channel separation between - for example - the vocal and the backing. This can sound very odd when played in a car or a large room. It's a real shame that companies re-issuing material of this age can't do a little channel blending, or just release the whole thing in Mono. Heaven knows it's a simple enough thing to do, and it makes the music sound far more cohesive and (in many cases) more powerful.
I guess we have to conclude that the music companies are only interested in milking this back catalogue for all its worth, and don't really care about the music. You would think that perhaps someone from the band would have invested the time in some restoration, but perhaps they don't have any financial ownership of these recordings any more?
An appreciable minority of Amen Corner's recorded output still stands up pretty well - the horns-heavy arrangement of many tracks enables their best stuff to ride alongside all the Stax and Atlantic hits of that era which were, and are, still played and loved today by music fans of all ages.
Alan T
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How bad !!!
This has to be one of the worst albums i have herd.
purchased the " Love Affair" album and it was good, but the Amen Corner, was a big disapointment
purchased the " Love Affair" album and it was good, but the Amen Corner, was a big disapointment
Published 13 months ago by Fairlie G
Disappointed
I saw Amen Corner when they first came to fame and thoroughly enjoyed the act. I must admit I sent for this CD without listening to any tracks and in the main I was very... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. Hollamby
Andy Weatherfield Low and Amen Corner
It is so good to have these numbers on CD as a bck up to Vinyl!!
Published on 3 Nov 2009 by Mr. R. Shelvey
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