Paul Petersen - My Dad/Lollipops and Roses

fine Paul Petersen two-fer CD

Paul Petersen sang with heart and soul even when he wasn't completely interested in being a famous singer. This CD gives us all of the tracks on two of Paul's record albums entitled My Dad and Lollipops And Roses. Great!

The CD track set begins with Paul singing "My Dad." Paul sings this without a superfluous note; and his excellent voice can express the subtlest of nuances to make "My Dad" a strong ballad. The female backup chorus and the strings compliment Paul Petersen's vocals very well. "Try A Little Tenderness" starts with a great musical flourish and Paul sings this ballad sweetly without missing a beat! "Try A Little Tenderness" also has a female backup chorus and the strings are used again without interfering with Paul's sublime vocals. Excellent! Moreover, listen for a bossa nova rendition of "I Only Have Eyes For You." Paul sings this like the pro that he was in that recording studio!

"You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" gets the royal treatment from Paul Petersen as he sings this flawlessly to an early '60s beat. The percussion, female backup and musical arrangement help "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" along, too. Listen for some fine early '60s jamming on this number, too! "Goody Goody" also gets an early '60s rock flavor to it and Paul sings this very well; "Making Whoopee" also gets a fine early '60s rock flavor to it--but the song is great and somewhat amusing just as always. Paul sings "Making Whoopee" to perfection. I like how Paul is able to use his voice to make subtle changes in tempo and keys; his talent was clearly undervalued.

"She Can't Find Her Keys" is an unusual name for a song; but the catchy melody works nicely and this hit for Paul displays his strong ability to sing very well. "Lollipops And Roses" has a flavor that is part early 1960s rock mixed with something akin to bubblegum music; and somehow this makes "Lollipops And Roses" a good number. Paul sings "Lollipops And Roses" well, all the while using his voice to express even the subtlest of nuances in the vocal arrangement. Moreover, "Love Me Tender" sounds wonderful in Paul Petersen's competent care; the guitar arrangement fits in well and Paul delivers "Love Me Tender" sweetly and perfectly to make his rendition a most romantic one. Great!

The CD ends with a rockin' duet with Paul and Shelley Fabares; they sing "What Did They Do Before Rock 'N' Roll" which tells of their shock that any music but their early '60s type of rock and roll could ever please anyone. This cute duet works well while Paul and Shelley sing this to perfection; "What Did They Do Before Rock 'N' Roll" ends the CD very fittingly.

The liner notes give us the cover artwork for the two record albums released here on CD entitled My Dad and Lollipops And Roses; and we get a good essay by Mark Marymont.

Paul Petersen may have had a short career as a singer; but people undervalue him. Paul sounds wonderful when he sings and it remains a mystery to me that he didn't go higher on the charts with his great songs. We still remember Paul Petersen fondly.

Thank you, Paul!
October 25, 2007

From Mouseketeer To Teenage Idol To Obscurity

Paul Petersen was born on September 23, 1945 in Glendale, California and, after appearing as one of Walt Disney's Mouseketeers, got a part on the hit TV series The Donna Reed Show along with Shelley Fabares.

Like Shelley he was pressed into recording songs on the Columbia Pictures subsidiary, Colpix Records, by executives anxious to garner the resulting publicity. His first release, She Can't Find Her Keys (track 13), was actually performed first on a Jauary 1962 episode of the show in which, in a dream sequence, he fantasizes about becoming a rock star. Once released it went to # 19 Billboard Hot 100 in April 1962 b/w Very Unlikely (a duet with Shelley not included here).

His next hit was Keep Your Love Locked (Deep In Your Heart) which reached a modest # 58 Hot 100 that July b/w Be Everything To ANyone You Love (tracks 14 and 16), followed by Lollipops And Roses, another lukewarm # 54 Hot 100 in September b/e Please Mr. Sun (tracks 19 and 21). But his biggest smash came in January 1963 when My Dad, b/w Little Boy Sad (tracks 1 and 15), soard to 2 on the new Adult Contemporary charts/# 6 Hot 100 AND # 19 R&B.

The flipside, however, pretty well summed up Paul's feelings about his career after the show folded in 1963, since he is among many pre-teen and teenage stars from that era who are bitter to this day about the way their lives and careers were handled. Prior to that he had had two minor entries, seeing Amy only make it to # 65 Hot 100 in May 1963 b/w Goody Goody on some releases, and I Only Have Eyes For You on others. Strangely, the hit A-side is omitted but both B-sides are here. His last came in December when The Cheer Leader stalled at # 78 Hot 100 b/w Polka Dots ANd Moonbeams, both of which are left off.

Ordinarily I would assign this 5 stars as it is such a fascinating look at one of the several young stars who, pushed into doing something they really didn't want to do in the first place, surprised everyone by turning in some fine performances. But since they left out some of his hit singles and several flipsides I can only assign 4, as we completist collectors not apt to get those two missing hits anywhere else. August 4, 2007

My dad

The title songs brings back great memories of MY DAD who passed away already 40 years ago. I'm sorry he never heard it. March 15, 2007

M Y DAD/LOLLIPOPS AND ROSES

GREAT CD EXCELLENT SOUND I RECOMMMEND THIS TO ANY ONE WHO LIKES 60,S MUSIC January 9, 2007

Paul Petersen - MY Dad/Lollipops and Roses

I love having this cd collection of the best of Paul Petersen. I'll just keep my love for it locked. January 9, 2007

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