7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Richard's Early Years, 7 Jan 2005
By Ron Heck - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Yama Yama: the Modern Recordings 1954-1956 (Audio CD)
While not quite as good as the compilation Have "Louie" Will Travel this is still a worthy companion to it. It is clearly obvious that Ace Records intended it to be. Like the other album, it has an astounding number of songs and biograhical information, all mixed with family and wedding pictures. However, it just seems that the songs aren't as good as the ones on Have Louie and the biography doesn't seem as interesting. This is partly due to the fact that this came out after Have Louie, and this covers the earlier parts of his career. A lot of the songs just sound the same as other songs on the record. Also, the best songs aren't quite as good as the best songs on Have Louie. There are some definite throwaways like Big John, Hey Henry, At Last, and even the title track which is a very obvious (attempted) cash-in on Little Richard's success. Nonetheless, there are some very bright spots on this CD. Particularly, The Wallflower, which is classic, just about all his material with The Dreamers, and it shows his solo work develop into his own very unique style. There are also a few alternate takes, but according to the liner notes only a couple of words and phrasing is changed from the original releases, making the other compilation of this same period of his career, Get Out of the Car, obsolete. I would definitely recommend buying Have Louie first and if you can't get enough of him (which you probably won't) I recommend picking this up. Now, if only Ace will put out a CD compiling recordings made after Have Louie, if there is any.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rare Richard Berry Songs, 21 May 2007
By James M. Maley - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Yama Yama: the Modern Recordings 1954-1956 (Audio CD)
I have been a Richard Berry fan since the mid 50's with Louie Loue, Have Love will Travel etc. This recording has a number of songs which I have not heard before such as Big John and two under the name Ricky and Jenell. I do a 50's R&B radio show on SF Bay Area radio and these songs and others from the album were a big hit with our audience as they thought they had heard everything by Richard Berry. Great album!