The ABC Rarities

by The Impressions

Overview

Twenty-six song compilation of non-LP singles, rarities that only showed up on obscure reissues and various-artists collections, and material (both released and unreleased) from their sessions for their late-'60s The Versatile Impressions album. As a listen it's a little uneven, due in large part to the over-preponderance of standards from Versatile. None of this is on level with the best '60s recordings by Mayfield and the Impressions. Much of it, though, is the fairly solid sort of stuff that fans who care enough about the act to go beyond greatest-hits compilations will like to have. Actually, some of these were not terribly obscure; "Never Could You Be" was a small R&B hit in the mid-'60s, and "We're Rolling On (Pts. 1 & 2)" was a small pop entry in 1968, as was the 1968 antiwar ballad "Don't Cry My Love" (written by Mayfield with jazz singer Oscar Brown, Jr.). Oddities from the Versatile LP include the two lushly orchestrated songs they did for the East of Java soundtrack. However, much of the Versatile period is unsuitably pop in both material and production for the Impressions, although "Sermonette" and the previously unreleased "Devil in Your Soul" eschew that approach for some pretty gutsy, bluesy soul. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	06/08/1999
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667217026
Rank:	101084

Tracks

1. Can't You See
2. Live Is a Mystery
3. Emotions (Won't You Let Me Cry)
4. You'll Want Me Back
5. Never Too Much Love
6. Never Could You Be
7. (Man, Oh Man) I Want to Go Back
8. This Must End
9. I Need a Love
10. You've Got Me Runnin'
11. We're Rolling On, Pts. 1 & 2
12. Don't Cry My Love
13. Just Before Sunrise
14. East of Java
15. Yesterday
16. All My Trials
17. The Look of Love
18. Thanks to You
19. Sermonette
20. Once in a Lifetime
21. Puppy Love
22. Bring a Little Water, Sylvie
23. Oo You're a Livin' Doll
24. The Fool on the Hill
25. Devil in Your Soul
26. This Is the Life

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Impressions   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Ben Krass   Composer
Lee Adams   Composer
Curtis Mayfield   Composer
Mack David   Composer
Johnny Pate   Composer
Jon Hendricks   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Roger Armstrong   Tape Archivist
Jerry Butler   Composer
Duncan Cowell   Mastering
Cannonball Adderley   Composer
Alec Palao   Remixing,Tape Archivist,Tape Recorders
Burt Bacharach   Composer
Calvin Carter   Composer
Anthony Newley   Composer
Hal David   Composer
Peter Burns   Liner Notes
Charles Strouse   Composer
Oscar Brown, Jr.   Composer
Chris Popham   Design
Edward Thomas   Composer
Richard Brooks   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Paul McCartney   Composer