Little Anthony & The Imperials - The Best of Little Anthony & the Imperials

According to Bob Dylan, "rock & roll ended with Little Anthony and the Imperials," an odd comment considering that the group continued performing long after he made his observation. Dylan got one thing right: the Imperials' vocal mastery expressed something essential to the soul of rock & roll. Along with the Monotones, the Dells, and the Moonglows, Anthony Gourdine's quintet (later a quartet) was an exemplar of the golden age of doo-wop at its most heart-wrenching. Their signature tunes--"Tears on My Pillow," "Going Out of My Head," "Two People in the World," "Wishful Thinking," and "Hurt So Bad"--are nothing less than majestic. This ample and thoughtfully composed Rhino compilation belongs in every home. --Roy Kasten Amazon.com

"THE BEST OF LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS"

This compilation of "Little Anthony & The Imperials" includes most of their very best hits. "Take me Back", my all time favorite hit of that wonderful group and their all time blockbuster classic "Tears On My Pillow" are absolutely fantastic, the vocals are just superb.
Do not miss this great CD by who I choose to call "the monarchs of doo wop". January 10, 2008

An OK Compilation But With A Few Bumps In The Road

After reading Zubenelgenubi's review I have to think it has been misplaced and should perhaps accompany another CD for Little Anthony & The Imperials. First of all, he says this release "does not include any of their End label sides." In fact, of the 18 tracks 14 are End label cuts, including all six that made the Billboard Pop Hot 100. He also mentions a promo at the end of the disc. No such promo appears on my copy of the Rhino release. And it is considerably longer than 32 minutes.

If I have a complaint it's the inclusion, in a "Very Best Of" set, tracks 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, and 13 - all End selections that either never charted or were previously unreleased. With the DCP label he had six hits, and five of these are at tracks 14 through 18. Instead of those six End failures they should have included his final DCP hit, Hurt, which reached # 51 Hot 100 in 1966, along with the best five from his three Veep, three United Artist, and one Avco charters.

When Anthony Gourdine began singing in his native Brooklyn in 1955 he was part of a doo-wop group known as The Duponts. When they broke up he formed The Chesters with Tracy Lord, Ernest Wright, Glouster Rogers, and Clarence Collins and was snapped up by George Goldner's End label [he had a penchant for hauling groups literally "off the streets" and into the recording studio]. He also renamed the group The Imperials and this actually appeared on many of the End 45s of Tears On My Pillow, their first hit in 1958 (# 2 R&B/# 4 Hot 100 that fall). The flip, Two People In The World, is at track 2.

Part way through the release Alan Freed began calling the group leader Little Anthony and it stuck, appearing on all subsequent printings. After they split in 1960, Gourdine, Wright, Collins and Sammy Strain [later with The O'Jays]re-formed the group in 1964 and, of course, came up with 13 more charted hits to 1974, including the seminal Goin' Out Of My Head (# 6 Hot 100/# 22 R&B in early 1965).

One curiosity about the group was the fact that three of their End Pop Hot 100 hits - Wishful Thinking [# 79 in 1959], A Prayer And A Juke Box [# 81 in 1959], and My Empty Room [# 86 in 1960], made absolutely no impact on the R&B charts, whereas their other hits made both. Curious because this was, above all else, a R&B group right from the start.

I should also mention the excellent liner notes - four pages by Steve Kolanjan and two by Richard Barrett - which are chock-a-block full of interesting details and group photos, along with seven pages presenting their COMPLETE sessionography with all labels they worked for, including Janus [1971]. Normally I would deduct two stars for a "very best of" with so much obscure stuff, but the insert is worth one star on its own.

If you are not as hung up on "hits" as I am (especially when advertised as a "best of") you will enjoy this offering very much. September 1, 2007

LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES~BRAVO LITTLE ANTHONY!!!

Little Anthony & The Imperials are Pop & Soul legends and seeing Little Anthony in concert makes one wonder why he was not a huge solo success as Anthony Gourdine possesses one of the greatest voices in the history of popular music and great songs (to name a few) like "Tears On My Pillow", "I'm On The Outside (Looking In)", "Hurt So Bad", "Going Out Of My Head", "Better Use Your Head", all bear this out as they are timeless classics that sound great to this day...a new 2007 release "You'll Never Know" show this legend in great form and check out the duet with Deniece Williams for a rare musical treat! Get both great collections for the finest in soul-satisfying music and anything by Little Anthony & The Imperials is a must have for any true music lover!!! August 9, 2007

The Best...

This is classic American Pop! "I think I'm going out of my Head" stands out the most for me on this collection! Still, I give the entire disc a "Five star" rating! February 15, 2007

The IMPERIALS...IN THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME ?....YES !!

There's been a lot of talk lately that Little Anthony and the IMPERIALS are under serious consideration for induction into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. I say YES YES YES !! The IMPERIALS most DEFINITELY SHOULD be inducted into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.In fact, they should have been among the FIRST groups inducted. They, along with THE MIRACLES and DELLS ,(and to a lesser extent, the IMPRESSIONS),were the only groups of the DOO WOP era of the 1950's to maintain consistant success well into the '60's and '70's. That alone should have gotten them inducted.Their songs have become recognized classics ,having been recorded by artists as diverse as SERGIO MENDEZ,LINDA RONSTADT, FRANK SINATRA,REBA MCENTIRE .and others.They could very well have been the very first "ADULT CONTEMPORARY" GROUP,establishing a new level of class and sophistication never before seen in R&b groups,while at the same time never abandoning their DOO WOP roots. The LETTERMEN,for one, seem to have re-recorded every song they ever made.Songs such as TEARS ON MY PILLOW,HURT SO BAD,I'M ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN,TWO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD,GOING OUT OF MY HEAD,SHIMMY SHIMMY KO KO BOP,{which was featured in the TOM HANKS hit movie "BIG"},TAKE ME BACK,I'M ALRIGHT,BETTER USE YOUR HEAD,OUT OF SIGHT-OUT OF MIND,I MISS YOU SO,HURT,HELP ME FIND A WAY,and others have been recorded and re-recorded many times by others over the last 45 years. GOING OUT OF MY HEAD,for one, has had over 100 recorded versions, but none sounds as good as Little Anthony and The IMPERIALS'original version. They have also influnced an entire generation of artists , such as THE STYLISTICS, DELFONICS,BLUE MAGIC,MANHATTANS,CHI-LITES,and many more.In fact,the entire Philidelphia-based soft - soul movement of the 1970's,as exemplified by producers such as KENNY GAMBLE,LEON HUFF,THOM BELL,VAN MCCOY,and others,with it's emphasis on full symphonic orchestration and vocal harmony,can be traced directly back to the IMPERIALS'ground breaking early '60's recordings with TEDDY RANDAZZO and the late DON COSTA.Go back to the earliest days of rock and roll and they are there, with appearances on such shows as THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, AMERICAN BANDSTAND,PERRY COMO'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL,ABC'S SHINDIG,NBC'S HULLABLOO,THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL,and the MERV GRIFFIN SHOW - all the way up to their show stopping performances on the 2002 & 2003 PBS MUSIC SPECIALS-the IMPERIALS-ANTHONY, ERNEST,CLARENCE,& SAMMY-most definitely SHOULD {along with the MIRACLES,who STILL haven't been inducted }-be inducted into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME ! one listen to this cd,and YOU'LL SEE WHY !!

August 2, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...