Following
Ace
's first two volumes of
The Bert Berns Story
by nearly five years,
Hang on Sloopy
is by design quite light on well-known hits. Those popped up on the earlier volumes, which leaves this to round up interesting covers of signature songs --
the Shirelles
do "Twist and Shout," the obscure Latin rock outfit
Arsenio
makes mincemeat out of "Hang on Sloopy" in 1966 -- and a bunch of very good selections from
Berns
' catalog. To an extent, this collection of recordings cut between 1960 and 1968 (the great majority date from the middle of the decade) winds up being a testament both for
' skills as a writer and how R&B and soul reverberated throughout pop in the '60s.
was one of the key writers at the Brill Building who helped clean up R&B for a crossover audience, but he never lost sight of what made R&B click -- or what made it adaptable, either. Here, there's straight uptown R&B from
Ben E. King
and
the Drifters
, but there's also the surprisingly thick funk of
Freddie Scott
, the testifying of
Wilson Pickett
Garnet Mimms
, and
the Isley Brothers
copping
the Righteous Brothers
' Latin lilt on "You Better Come Home," along with
the McCoys
turning that soul beat into a rock & roll stomp and
Lulu
pushing "You'll Never Leave Her" into the realm of folk-rock. This wide variety keeps
hopping and winds up as a testament to
' catalog as well as the kinetic diversity of '60s pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine