A reissue that combines
Gary "U.S." Bonds debut album
Dance 'Til Quarter to Three (from 1961) and
Twist Up Calypso album (from 1962) onto one CD.
Bonds debut album was a typical recording for the era: a few hits (
"Quarter to Three," "New Orleans," "School Is Out") are surrounded by tunes not far removed from the style of the singles, but aren't nearly as memorable. At least this one was mostly comprised of original material, written by producer
Frank Guida,
Bonds, and saxophonist
Gene Barge, with a few others pitching in. The
calypso and Caribbean beats that found their way into several
Bonds singles crop up with some frequency;
"Please Forgive Me," "Don't Go to Strangers," and
"I Know Why Dreamers Cry" are
doo wop/
R&B ballads in a more traditional vein than
Bonds usual approach; and
"Not Me" would be covered for a hit by
the Orlons in 1963. For
Twist Up Calypso, the success of
"Dear Lady Twist" (included here) inspired an entire album of songs derived from
calypso music.
Bonds and producer
Frank Guida, it must be said, didn't do it halfway: almost everything here employs prominent
calypso beats, and in addition to covers of the
calypso tunes
"Day-O" and
"Mama Look a Booboo," several of the originals are obviously based on
calypso riffs (such as
"A Woman Is Smarter").
Bonds pulls off his task with genuine exuberance -- the arrangements are considerably hotter and more indebted to the "party" sounds of his hits than the filler on his first album -- though as usual it's the hits,
"Twist, Twist Senora!" and the fabulous
"Dear Lady Twist," that stand out. ~ Richie Unterberger
![I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four [Del-Fi]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0081227649425_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "I Fought the Law: The Best of the Bobby Fuller Four [Del-Fi]")
