Customer Reviews

Complete A's And B's

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4 star:		(3)
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Do we need yet another Dusty compilation when the market is already flooded with them ? Well, the short answer is a resounding YES because Mercury finally gets it right by putting out a truly essential compilation with a theme - her Complete A & B sides released in the UK between 1963 and 1970 and the result is simply smashing. Strictly no messing about. The singles are in strict chronological order with the A sides on one disc and the B sides on another. They are also in rare mono - the original singles mix - unless the tapes are unavailable, in which case the familiar stereo mixes are used (eg, Losing You and Little By Little). Some of the hits (eg. Goin' Back) are aurally very different in mono and a special treat. Some of the fades also run on longer than usual (eg, In The Middle Of Nowhere and Some Of Your Lovin').

The non-stop run of hits (plus a couple of unconscionable misses like the funky Northern Soul classic What's It Gonna Be and Clive Westlake's excellent I Will Come To You) on Disc 1 simply leaves you breathless and giddy with joy and admiration at how in the 60s Dusty was faultless in her selection of original material for singles. Songs tucked away on the B sides were almost as good. Four were even written or co-written by her (eg, Once Upon A Time, Something Special, I'm Gonna Leave You and Go Ahead On). My own personal favourite is the little known Goffin & King girl group beat song I'll Love You For Awhile, given a real punchy treatment here.

And you can't ask for more in terms of packaging. Eclipse has used a gorgeous photo of a sooty-eyed Dusty circa 1965 for the front cover and it's just fab ! Complete A & B Sides is truly an essential buy. Hurry, grab yourself a copy.

Wow! I didn't realise how many hits she had. Some songs I had never heard before.The "B" side songs are fabulous. An absolute must for Dusty fans.

I admit it - I'm obsessed with Dusty's voice. The A sides will be familiar to most fans. The Bs are a bit more obscure.

A rare chance to visit her entire canon. There will never be another one like her. She could sing anything brilliantly and make it exquisitely her own.

There are die hard entusiasts who want the original mono versions of tracks, but I am not one of them, after all, we were born with 2 ears. Although it is true that some mono takes are different from the stereo takes, this is not always the case as many mono tracks are just the stereo takes reduced to one channel.
So it all depends on what you want, the music is great, all of Dusty's hit singles, but the sound quality, well that's a different matter. Many of these tracks are available in stereo, but not in one package like this, for alternatives see my other reviews of Dusty's CD's.
To sum up, music ***** ,sound quality *** , great value for mono enthusiasts.

This is perhaps the essential Dusty collection (of her 60's material in any case), and is the perfect introduction to Dusty to the un-initiated. Here are Dusty's single releases from the 60's (by and large) in mono as listeners in the 60's would have heard them - and more than likely the mixes that Dusty would have worked on herself (without credit). Even as a Dusty fanatic - it's an album I can play end to end without skipping a track ie. no filler material here! And that includes the B-sides!!
Some of the tracks sound distinctly different, and in some cases quite superior in mono - particularly "You Don't Have To Say you Love Me" (in my opinion), although unfortunately it seems that the mono mixes of some of the singles no longer exist/can't be located and a few stereo tracks sneak in here and there, and "Little by Little", although mixed to mono, is not the same as the 45 release unfortunately.
As for the music itself - it's sublime, intelligent, soulful, heartfelt....how could a song like "I Will Come To You" not make a dent in the top ten at least??!! Miss you Dusty!!

i am a massive dusty fan and have been since she went solo, as they say the white queen of soul, ahead of her time, cd is great i have most of a sides, but i bought it for the b sides, had these on vinyl, but not anymore, superb album

Great, I love this cd even if no matter if the music is considered " vintage". Perfect interpretations in any track of the album

As a life long fan of Dusty, i have of course all the single 45s, and as the B sides are just as good, it's great to have them all on a CD.With all the A sides and B sides, you could ask for nothing more. I love you Dusty. Gray Owens-John

It's got all the hits you'd expect and more besides, I've got a lot of Dusty LP's but hadn't got around to getting digital versions until now, this was ideal for that purpose.

This release is perfect and with a wonderful picture of Dusty too.

I'd love similar As/Bs compilations from many acts.
For example, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, David Bowie's and Marc Bolan's 60s output, The Who up to 1969.

Hey! even The Beatles flips from the 60s would make a great single CD.....check it out:
1. P.S. I Love You
2. Ask Me Why
3. Thank You Girl
4. I'll Get You
5. This Boy
6. You Can't Do that
7. Things We Said Today
8. She's A Woman
9. Yes It It
10. I'm Down
11. Rain
12. Baby, You're A Rich Man
13. I'm A Walrus
14. The Inner Light
15. Revolution
16. Don't Let Me Down
17. Old Brown Shoe
18. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Better than 'Love' ain't it?
I'd buy it.