Basin Street Blues (Decca Rarities 1959-1964)

As its subtitle indicates, Vocalion's Basin Street Blues: Decca Rarities 1959-64 gathers together some of the lesser known recordings made by Anthony Newley during his five-year sojourn with Decca Records. Newley became an unlikely pop star in Great Britain in 1959 due to his appearance in the film Idle on Parade, and his Decca contract carried him through to the more mature stage success Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off and beyond. Here, he sings some of his British hits in phonetic German or French, and there are also stereo mixes of tracks better known in mono, as well as novelties. Annotator Paul Goodhead, president of the Anthony Newley Society, counts nine tracks never before issued on CD, an important point to the target audience for this album, which is, of course, other members of the Anthony Newley Society. Neophytes, however, may also be interested in hearing, for example, how different a song can become when altered for an international market, as Newley sings a version of his hit "Do You Mind" in French as "C'est Pour Toi" (or "That's for You"), a completely different lyric rather than a literal translation. Newley's stylistic range is on display, as he veers from traditional pop ballads to light rock & roll, even turning in a version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" set to an arrangement largely borrowed from Lesley Gore's "It's My Party." (And by the way, this recording was not issued in February 1961, as it says on the back cover; that would have been long before the Beatles themselves recorded the song!) Also, the tenor of the times is registered in a single Newley issued in early 1964, combining his self-written "Tribute," for recently slain President Kennedy, with "Lament for a Hero," Newley's musical setting of Walt Whitman's allegorical poem about President Lincoln, "O Captain, My Captain." The compilers couldn't find enough rarities to fill a long CD, and have added some of Newley's hits, such as "Do You Mind" and "If She Should Come to You," but that allows the listener to compare them with the French and German versions. ~ William Ruhlmann|