Search - Lesley Gore :: It's My Party: Mercury Anthology

Superb Overview of Lesley Gore's 1960s Work

James A. Allio | Oakland, CA USA | 05/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

""It's My Party: The Mercury Anthology" gathers together 52 Lesley Gore songs cut between 1963 and 1969 with a variety of producers, including Quincy Jones (who discovered her), Bob Crewe and Gamble and Huff. Every single is here, from the first, the massive #1 "It's My Party," still heard everywhere from oldies stations to movies to Burger King commercials, all the way to the last issued by Mercury, a friendly pop rendition of Laura Nyro's great "Wedding Bell Blues." This is the only US CD to contain every single one of Lesley's singles, as well as many key B-sides and LP tracks, and a number of cuts never released in the States, and heretofore available only on the German Bear Family 5-CD box set...recommended wholeheartedly to Goreheads everywhere. For the rest of you, still uncertain whether to proceed to the hard stuff on Bear, this double disc is the ticket for you. And it even includes three cuts not on the Bear box: stereo takes of "He Gives Me Love" and "I Can't Make It Without You," the lush Herb Bernstein 1968 singles that began to establish a prescence for Gore on the 60s MOR scene, and the original mono single version of "Wedding Bell Blues," in a hotter version than the stereo take on the Bear box. And, of course, any set that includes 2 out of the 3 cuts Lesley did with the Sound of Philadelphia, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, "I'll Be Standing By" and "Take Good Care," is worth the price and then some. And just think, Lesley worked with Kenny and Leon almost a year before Dusty Springfield got there!"

It's my party plus 51 other great songs

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 07/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are several Lesley Gore compilations. For anybody who is only interested in the hits, one of the single CD collections will probably suffice. Even in her American homeland, she didn't have many hits. In Britain, she only had two hits (It's my party and Maybe I know) and only the first of them is famous.



So, anybody buying this does so because they want B-sides, A-sides which didn't chart, choice album tracks and other rarities. Because Lesley recorded very few cover versions, there is a lot to get interested in. I enjoy covers, and sometimes buy albums full of them, but it's always great to hear original songs.



Of the lesser known songs, I particularly enjoy California nights, which was a hit and therefore can be found on those single-CD collections, but I also enjoy the other music she recorded around that time which some reviewers obviously don't like.



Wedding bell blues was recorded by Lesley with the intention of releasing it as an A-side single. Lesley didn't know that Fifth Dimension were also recording this song. If they hadn't, Lesley would surely have had another big hit and who knows what would have followed then?



Are two CD's too much of Lesley's music, as one reviewer suggested? Not for me - I eventually bought the Bear Family boxed set, because I enjoyed this so much, though I still play this from time to time.



You must make up your own mind."

Simply one of the best CDs ever compiled

Hercule Poirot | USA | 08/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lesley Gore's voice is strong, vibrant, and sometimes tough sounding. Her timing, sense of rhythm, and ability to overtrack and "duet" with herself is unmatched. The songs are some of the best songs composed in the sixties, but if Lesley Gore was not singing them, they would not have become hits. Lesley's voices carries each song and it is both powerful and inimitable. Definitely a five-stars compilation."