Duane Eddy's 1961 release
Girls! Girls! Girls! was something of a concept album, but you might not have guessed if you hadn't read the song titles first. All 12 tunes are named after women, though the opening cut,
"Brenda," stretches this a bit, since it's actually a medley of three numbers that had been hits for
Brenda Lee (who posed with
Eddy for one of the cover photos, as did fellow honoree
Annette Funicello).
Girls! Girls! Girls! was fairly typical of
Eddy's albums of the period, as it tended to focus on pop songs and standards rather than the tougher, twangy numbers that earned
Eddy his first string of hits, but there's no arguing that he was as good as ever at what he did.
Eddy's single-note leads and subtle, well-modulated use of the whammy bar are uniformly impressive, and among the originals penned by
Duane,
"Tuesday" sounds nearly as provocative as the gal who inspired it (
Tuesday Weld), while
"Connie" is just as fresh and likable as Ms.
Stevens. The accompaniment is spare and subtle for the most part, and it's hard not to wish pianist
Larry Knetchel and rhythm guitarist
Al Casey had been given a bit more to do considering their abilities, though
Jim Horn's raucous sax work livens up several numbers and he adds an atmospheric flute solo to
"Annette." (The album could also have done without some of the string and vocal overdubs that add a sticky sweetness to several tracks.) And
Eddy admirably gives these sessions some variety, with both
"Big 'Liza" and
"Sweet Cindy" showing a strong country accent, and
"Patricia" adding some smooth cha-cha rhythms alongside the other more pop-leaning numbers.
Girls! Girls! Girls! isn't one of
Duane Eddy's great albums of the era, but it's good enough to confirm he put more thought and effort into his LPs than most acts catering to the teen market in the early '60s. [For the 2010 reissue of
Girls! Girls! Girls!, the album was given a new stereo mix and five bonus tracks were included. The new mix is clean and crisp and sounds a bit less artificial than most stereo rock & roll albums of the early '60s, through the panning and separation are still pretty wide. Of the bonus tracks, two were recorded around the same time as the album and were issued as singles,
"Runaway Pony" and
"Drivin' Home," and they reflect the classic
Eddy style better than most of the LP.
"Runaway Pony" also appears in an alternate mix, as do
"Annette" and
"Connie" -- the revised mixes strip off the overdubbed voices, strings and percussion and present the tunes as
Eddy originally cut them in Phoenix, and while the results are sometimes stark, they also reveal just how tight and intuitive
Eddy and his accompanists were in the studio.) ~ Mark Deming
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