For Collectors Only

AMG Review of For Collectors Only

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

Sixty-eight songs spread among three CDs may seem like a little more of the Shirelles than most listeners want, but the truth is that even the group's non-hit singles were so strong (especially the heartbreaking misses from late 1963 onward) that it's hard to speak of overkill, even in addressing relatively casual fans -- they will find plenty to like here, far beyond "Mama Said," "Soldier Boy," and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." If everything isn't on the level of soaring passions exhibited in "Tonight's the Night," it's still all nicely crafted and beautifully sung early-'60s pop-soul, some of which had a profound influence on white ock & roll when the Beatles took two of the group's songs, "Boys" and "Baby It's You," and added them to their stage repertory and, by extension, to their debut LP. More British Invasion influence can be found on disc two, with "It's Love That Really Counts," which became a key part of the repertory of the Merseybeats. But going into 1964 and songs like "Till My Baby Comes Home," the group was still producing superb music, even if relatively few people were buying the records by then. This set is a reminder of just how far the quality of the Shirelles' work extended beyond those hit singles, even when they started becoming highly derivative (as on "Bright Shiny Colors," which borrows its opening and chorus from "I Count the Tears"), right up through the very Motown-sounding "Last Minute Miracle," their final charting record. One comes away with the realization that, if the Shirelles didn't always make great records, or the most original-sounding music, they almost never issued anything that wasn't a lot of fun to hear, and was often diverting in the bargain. The sound throughout is very good if not exceptional, and most of this set is derived from the stereo versions of the masters, which are good and loud and do reveal a wealth of detail in the playing and singing. There are only a few complaints -- the producers either didn't (or couldn't) reach back to the MCA-owned original version of "I Met Him on a Sunday" and the group's two other early, pre-Scepter records releases; there's also no discography, or even a list of release dates; and the notes only address a small portion of the songs included here. But this is still nearly three hours of always enjoyable, sometimes enlightening listening.