Part Four, The Wanderer returns:
The last eight songs on this set are from 1968 and 1969 when
Dion would make a return stop home to Laurie Records. This also marks the
beginning of what refer to as Dion’s Acoustic Years. This is a period that is
often overlooked in the illustrious career of Mr. DiMucci.
I begin with a TRUE CLASSIC from the period, “Abraham,
Martin and John.” Released in the fall of 1968, it peaked at #4 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and would remain on the charts for 14 weeks. The single was
issued in MONO; I mention that because STEREO 45’s were beginning to show up by
that time on infrequent occasions but this would change by the next year. On
this set, the sound quality is outstanding. That warm sound heard on the rest
of the songs carries over from the familiar beginning of this goodie. You hear
the harp, strings, horns and the nylon string guitar of Dion, all blended
together. My favorite part of the song is the Hammond organ break after verse
two and it sounds absolutely beautiful on this CD.
I remember back in the day, flipping this 45 over and
hearing “Daddy Rollin’ (In Your Arms,)” a blues tune that just rocks out on
this CD. I must point out that the other version of this song I have on CD was
also in MONO, but it didn’t sound this full and rich. This song is not unlike a
lot of the material Dion recorded on Columbia from 1964 until he left to return
to Laurie in ’68. Most of these songs would go unnoticed until years later when
Columbia would release “The Road I’m On,” a two disc set of many of Dion’s
Columbia sides.
The next single Laurie would release was the Jimmy Hendrix
classic “Purple Haze,” which did hit the Hot 100 and peak at #63. The song
sounds as good as it gets. If you’re not familiar with Dion’s rendition of this
Psychedelic standard, it sounds like Dion meeting Jose Feliciano and jamming
together with a lot of flutes and strings in the background. It’s actually kind
of an interesting take on the song.
The B-side of this 45 is “The Dolphin.” This song would have
fit in most of the albums Dion would record on Warner Brothers during the 70’s.
This is a wonderful song written by Fred Neil; the harp really rings out over
the acoustic guitar, bass, strings and the smooth Dion vocals. Many believe
this song should have been the A-side of this record. After listening to it
several times since I obtained this set, I agree.
The next single,
issued by Laurie in 1969, is Joni Mitchell’s “From Both Sides Now,” as it was
issued on the label. This one barely hit the Hot 100 at #91. I’ve always remembered the song as “Both Sides Now.” Dion
does a good job interpreting this song with the harp, strings, and acoustic
guitar arrangement similar to “The Dolphin.” That warm, full sound rings out
clear as a bell. This was Dion’s last chart hit for Laurie.
The B-side of this 45 is “Sun Fun Song.” This is one of the
few songs on this collection that I had not heard until now. It’s a nice little
tune written by Dion. Again the arrangement is as the previous two songs and it
sure sounds good. This one’s got a cool instrumental break that reminds me a
bit of “Penny Lane.”
The last Dion single on Laurie is a version of the Four Tops
“Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,” co written by Stevie Wonder. Again this
sounds like something Jose Feliciano might have recorded only with Dion singing
lead. It’s a good song as should have had some chart action, but it did not.
The flip side of this one is “He Looks A Lot Like Me,” a
Viet Nam era song written by Dion. There’s some good guitar work in that great
Dion style and again it sounds great.
This is one of the other songs I was not familiar with and
I’m sorry I never heard this one before; it’s very good.
All of these eight songs appeared on an album entitled
“Dion,” released by Laurie after the success of “Abraham, Martin and John.”
As I said earlier, they need to do this with Dion’s Columbia
singles and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see collections like this from other
artists and groups from this era. There are MONO collections of The Beach Boys
and The Beatles, if you can afford the Beatles MONO Box set. There have been
MONO sets from many Motown artists as well. There should be similar collections
from The Mamas and Papas, The Buckinghams, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The
Four Seasons and Jan and Dean, to name a few.
The bottom line about this OUTSTANDING collection is if you
like the sounds of the ‘60’s BUY THIS SET; if you’re a fan of Dion, BUY THIS
SET, even if you have all the other Dion CD collections; and most of all, if
you want to hear this music that way it sounded back in the day on those old
45’s, in GLORIOUS MONO, then by all means BUY THIS SET! You will NOT be disappointed at all.
A footnote to this review:
I have learned the Jan and Dean Complete Liberty Singles set along with sets from Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Paul Revere and the Raiders from Collectors Choice Music, were issued in MONO! I guess I'm going to have to get copies of those sets as well.
A footnote to this review:
I have learned the Jan and Dean Complete Liberty Singles set along with sets from Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Paul Revere and the Raiders from Collectors Choice Music, were issued in MONO! I guess I'm going to have to get copies of those sets as well.