Before he put it all together musically with , worked as a house producer for between 1963 and 1966, working with garage-styled groups like and , among others. He also turned out a half dozen or so solo singles, which form the basis of this collection. Nothing here is even remotely close to being in territory (although the closing track here, the impressive comes close to that distinctive horn-driven / template that would soon perfect), but it's by no means uninteresting, and shows trying on an assortment of different stylistic hats, some of which work surprisingly well. The clear highlight is the two-part 's own version of a song that would soon cover, sleek up, and take onto the charts. Also worth noting is a sharp take on 's and fun if hardly original versions of both done up in the then popular live-in-the-studio style. More revelatory than essential, but still fun to hear, these early and rare 45s show moving toward the ground-breaking synthesis that would make him a star. ~ Steve Leggett