Celebration: The Complete Roulette Recordings 1966-1973

Tommy James & The Shondells

Released on 05/02/2021 by Grapefruit
Main artists: Tommy James & The Shondells
Genre: Pop

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Tommy James was one of the biggest pop stars of the '60s and early '70s, turning out a steady stream of radio-ready hits with his band the Shondells, including "Hanky Panky," "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Crystal Blue Persuasion," and many more. He was also prolific; between 1966 and 1973, Roulette Records issued no fewer than 13 albums on James (most with the Shondells, some of the later releases solo), in addition to a bunch of non-LP singles. It's a hefty body of work, and the U.K. reissue label Grapefruit Records have given fans an opportunity to study it at length with Celebration: The Complete Roulette Recordings 1966-1973, a six-disc set that collects everything James released for the label, along with a few rarities and unreleased tracks. For 99-percent of all Tommy James fans, Celebration is everything they will ever need from his catalog and then some, and it does reveal a more interesting and varied career than one might expect if they only know the hits. His first two albums, Hanky Panky and It's Only Love (both 1966), are dominated by covers of R&B hits, and present the Shondells as a tight, no-frills show band fronted by a better-than-average blue-eyed soul shouter. I Think We're Alone Now and Gettin' Together (both 1967) introduce the Tommy James we know best; producers and songwriters Ritchie Cordell and Bo Gentry started working with James, and their rocking bubblegum smarts gave him the perfect vehicle for his voice and personality. With Crimson & Clover (1969), James, Cordell, and Gentry started wading into psychedelia, and Cellophane Symphony (1969) was where they dove in head first, and it's an impressively trippy and exploratory work. Travellin' and Tommy James (both 1970) marked the end of the Shondells and the beginning of James' solo period, as psychedelia gave way to a rootsy, soft rock sound. James embraced Jesus Rock on Christian of the World (1971), which feels sincere and welcoming in its spirituality and heartfelt midtempo rock, and My Head, My Bed, and My Red Guitar (1971) was an ambitious country rock project, recorded in Nashville with a crew of Music City session aces. Celebration is the record of an eclectic career from an era in which pop music went through a wealth of dramatic changes, and through it all, James is a versatile and consistently strong singer, as well as an able guitarist and songwriter when he chose to contribute. The 1989 compilation Anthology is a more compact career overview that will do the job for the vast majority of Tommy James fans, but if you have the time and the inclination to dig deep into the most vital and productive period of his life, Celebration is a superb box set that leaves no stone unturned.

© Mark Deming /TiVo

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Celebration: The Complete Roulette Recordings 1966-1973

Tommy James & The Shondells

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Hanky Panky