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• First-ever complete 3CD anthology of 60s recordings from leading British harmony pop vocalist Tony Rivers.
• Featuring all of his studio recordings as leader of both The Castaways and Harmony Grass as well as 80 minutes of previously unreleased BBC session recordings from the same timeframe.
While other contenders may have had greater commercial success, Tony Rivers was surely the British harmony pop scene’s pivotal figure during the 60s.
As leader of The Castaways, he made a series of superlative singles before finally scoring a hit in 1969 with the irresistible ‘Move In A Little Closer Baby’ shortly after the band had been relaunched as Harmony Grass.
But follow-up singles failed to repeat the trick, and after the superb album ‘This Is Us’ was ignored, Tony left the band to accept a backroom role in the industry. Meanwhile, he made several pseudonymous singles that were instrumental in his 1975 recruitment as leader of Cliff Richard’s vocal harmony trio.
‘Move In A Little Closer’ is the first-ever complete anthology of Tony’s exemplary studio work with both The Castaways and Harmony Grass, including a number of tracks that were unreleased at the time, as well as an entire CD’s-worth of previously-unissued BBC sessions recorded with both bands.
The definitive 3CD set in a lavish digipak package includes a new 6000 word essay on Tony’s early career that contains reminiscences on his associations with managers Brian Epstein and Robert Stigwood and his brushes with rock royalty including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and his prime inspirers The Beach Boys.
Tracklist
DISC ONE
Tony Rivers and The Castaways studio
1 SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE
2 ROW, ROW, ROW
3 THE HAPPY SONG
4 I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK
5 I LOVE YOU
6 LIFE’S TOO SHORT
7 (DON’T YOU EVER) TELL ON ME
8 SHE
9 ‘TILL WE GET HOME
10 COME BACK
11 WHAT TO DO
12 COME ON AND LOVE ME TOO
13 PRETEND
14 BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO
15 LOVE YOU BABY
16 NOWHERE MAN
17 GIRL FROM NEW YORK CITY
18 GIRL DON’T TELL ME
19 SALT LAKE CITY
20 GOD ONLY KNOWS
21 CHARADE
22 CAN’T MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU BABY
23 EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK
24 GRADUATION DAY
25 SUMMER DREAMING
26 THE GRASS WILL SING FOR YOU
27 MR. SUN
28 TURN OF THE CENTURY
29 FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE
30 I CAN GUARANTEE YOU LOVE
32 PANTOMIME
1-2 Single, Columbia DB 7135, released October 1963.
3 Not originally released, recorded 1963.
4-5 Single, Columbia DB 7224, released February 1964.
6-7 Single, Columbia DB 7336, released August 1964.
8-9 Single, Columbia DB 7448, released January 1965.
10-11 Single, Columbia DB 7536, released April 1965.
12-15 Not originally released, recorded circa 1965
16-17 Single, Parlophone R 5400, not released, scheduled January 1966.
18-19 Single, Immediate IM 027, released February 1966.
20-21 Single, Columbia DB 7971, released July 1966.
22-29 Not originally released, recorded
1966-1967.
30-31 Single, Polydor 56245, released April 1968
DISC TWO
Harmony Grass studio
1 MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER BABY
2 MY LITTLE GIRL
3 WHAT A GROOVY DAY
4 I’VE SEEN TO DREAM
5 (IT AIN’T NECESSARILY) BYRD AVENUE
6 CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO
7 GOOD THING
8 MRS. RICHIE
9 SUMMER DREAMING
10 I THINK OF YOU
11 BALLAD OF MICHAEL
12 TOM DOOLEY
13 WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN LOVE DIES
14 HAPPINESSS IS TOY-SHAPED
15 FIRST TIME LOVING
16 I REMEMBER
17 TEACH ME HOW
18 CECILIA
19 IT TAKES A LOT OF LOVING
20 LET MY TEARS FLOW
21 YOU AND ISUMMER DREAMING
22 MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER BABY
23 TE LO RICORDI (I Remember,
Italian lyrics)
Tracks 1-13 The album This Is Us (RCA Victor SF 8034, released January 1970)
Track 14 Single, RCA Victor RCA 1772, released December 1968
Track 15 Single, RCA Victor RCA 1828, released June 1969
Track 16 Single, RCA Victor RCA 1885, released October 1969
Track 17 Single, RCA Victor RCA 1928, released January 1970
Track 18 Single, RCA Victor RCA 1932, released February 1970
Track 19 From the soundtrack album Take A Girl Like You (Pye NSPL 18353, February 1970) Tracks 20-22 Studio demos/out-takes, recorded 1969
Track 23 Live-in-studio recording for radio use, recorded January 1969, not originally released
Track 24 Italian single, RCA Victor N 1601, released April 1970
DISC THREE
The Castaways/Harmony Grass at the BBC
Tony Rivers & The Castaways
1 SWINGING ON A STAR
2 LITTLE DARLIN’
3 SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE
4 JEZEBEL
5 ALL MY LOVING
6 ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
7 SURF CITY
8 ROW, ROW, ROW
9 I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK
10 ABILENE
11 UNCHAIN MY HEART
12 I LOVE YOU
13 SHIPWRECK
14 LIFE’S TOO SHORT
15 THE FERRIS WHEEL
16 ROCKIN’ ROBIN
17 LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA
18 SHE
19 ‘TILL WE GET HOME
20 I GET AROUND
21 WHEN I GROW UP TO BE A MAN
22 BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO
23 I CAN GUARANTEE YOU LOVE
24 WINDY
25 A GIRL LIKE YOU
Harmony Grass
26 WALK ON BY
27 FIRST TIME LOVING
28 BABY YOU COME ROLLIN’ ACROSS MY MIND
29 SUMMER DREAMING
30 I REMEMBER
31 MRS. RICHIE
32 CECILIA
33 WICHITA LINEMAN
1-16 dates not known. 17-19 Saturday Club, recorded 6 January 1965, transmitted 9 January 1965.
20-22 dates not known.
23-25 Jimmy Young Show, recorded 28 April 1968, transmitted 27 May 1968.
26 Tony Brandon Show, recorded 22 January 1969, transmitted 3 February 1969.
27-28 Tony Brandon Show, recorded 25 June 1969, transmitted 7 July 1969.
29-30 Jimmy Young Show, recorded 13 October 1969, transmitted 27 October 1969.
31 Dave Cash Show, recorded 12 February 1970, transmitted 23 February 1970.
32-33 Terry Wogan Show, recorded 9 March 1970, transmitted 23 March 1970