Although they only hit the pop charts twice under their own name, in 1955 with
"Burn That Candle"
and in 1957 with
"Why,"
the Cues
, in their guise as the premier session
R&B
backup vocal group of the era, put their imprint on dozens of hits by other artists, including sides by
Nat King Cole
,
Ruth Brown
Big Joe Turner
LaVern Baker
Charlie White
Carmen Taylor
Ivory Joe Hunter
, and many others. Led by
Ollie Jones
were simply the best at giving a record a bright vocal sound, and there are several examples of that here in this collection of their singles from
Capitol Records
(there is a handful of sides from the
Lamp
Jubilee
, and
Groove
imprints as well), including both
and
the lovely
"You're on My Mind,"
and an uplifting, atmospheric version of
"Ol' Man River."
At the moment, this is the best set of
Cues
material on the market, and as usual,
Bear Family Records
provides top-notch annotation for each track. ~ Steve Leggett