East Side Story Volume 7 (Various Artists)

Strange mix of early-'50s to mid-'70s R&B, juxtaposing Gene Chandler ("Duke of Earl"), Billy Stewart ("Cross My Heart"), the Five Satins ("In the Still of the Night"), the Escorts ("Look over Your Shoulder"), and Johnny Ace ("Pledging My Love") on the same CD, with no notes, explanations, or accounts of music or careers. There are some forgotten hits, such as "Talk to Me" by Sunny & the Sunliners, a cover of the Little Willie John song that became a number 11 hit in 1963. The better sides here include salsa star Ralfi Pagan's falsetto version of David Gates' "Make It with You," Yvonne Carroll & the Roulettes' "Gee What a Guy," Brenda & the Tabulations' "Dry Your Eyes" (a number 20 pop hit in 1967), and the Incredibles' hit "Heart and Soul." The sound is decent if not exactly state-of-the-art on most of this (though the Incredibles' track has definite surface noise from a disc source), but the selection mixes the familiar and the unusual in an engaging and entertaining fashion. More anthologies should follow this lead, but this disc should also have included one or two more cuts and some notes, to really be of value to its purchasers. ~ Bruce Eder