Search - Ricky Van Shelton :: Pure Country

One of Ricky's Best ever

07/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I used to have all of Ricky's older cassettes.. I am updating to CDs and forgot just how great he is. About as country and pure of voice as they come....."

Shelley Fabares's 1962 #1 hit single: "Johnny Angel"

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 06/30/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Today Shelley Fabares is best known as the long suffering girl friend and wife on "Coach," but back in 1958 she was Mary Stone, the perfect teenage daughter on the hit ABC domestic comedy, "The Donna Reed Show." When Ricky Nelson became a singing star because of performances on "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet," the producers of "The Donna Reed Show" had Fabares and her young co-star former Mousketeer Paul Peterson head into the recording studio of Colpix Records, the label for Columbia Pictures Television. Fabares was less than thrilled with the idea (she did not believe she had a good singing voice), so it was ironic when her debut release "Johnny Angel" reached #1 on the Billboard Pop Charts in early 1962."Johnny Angel/How I love him/He's got something that I can't resist/But he doesn't even know that I exist." Every time she passes him in the hall she gets a "tingle" and her heart starts to fly every time he says hello. Other boys want to take her out on dates but she prefers to stay home and dream of the heaven their lives will be when Johnny finally wakes up and notices she is the perfect girl for him. "Johnny Angel" has the standard girl group sound and while Fabares might not have a great singing voice, but her acting training certainly allowed her to use it well in singing this song. The young girl could have come across as a pathetic lost soul locked away in her room dreaming of a world that is never going to be, but instead Fabares gives her, if not a sense of nobility as she pines away for her love, an undeniable sense of charm as she keeps insisting "You're an angel to me." Personally, I think she is too good for the guy. The B-Side of this single is "Where's It Gonna Get Me," which takes a more downbeat look at a similar situation. Both of these tracks are available on Fabares's first album, "Shelley!" So, unless you are really, really into CD-Singles that would be the way to go. Of course, "Johnny Angel" is also on "The Best of Shelley Fabares" as well as assorted hits collections from the period. The song is worth having in your music collection, but I would not suggest this is the best way of getting a copy, unless, as I indicated, you think having classic singles available on CD is kewl."