Very Best of Billy J. Kramer

Very Best of Billy J. Kramer Artist: Billy J. Kramer
Label: EMI Gold Imports
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 724385741920
EAN: 0724385741920
ASIN: B000007ZYP


Release Date: 2004-04-27

Very Best of Billy J. Kramer


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
British Invasion British Invasion
Categories | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Rock Rock
Categories | Imports | Stores | Music

Tracks:

  1. I'll Keep You Satisfied
  2. Do You Want To Know A Secret
  3. I Call Your Name
  4. Sneakin' Around
  5. Second To None
  6. Bad To Me
  7. The Cruel Sea - The Dakotas
  8. Magic Carpet
  9. Oyeh
  10. I'll Be On My Way
  11. Sugar Babe
  12. It's Up To You
  13. Little Children
  14. From A Window
  15. It's A Mad Mad World
  16. Neon City
  17. Trains And Boats And Planes
  18. It's Gotta Last Forever
  19. That's The Way I Feel
  20. I'll Be Doggone
  21. We're Doing Fine
  22. Forgive Me
  23. The Millionaire
  24. Humdinger
  25. My Girl Josephine
  26. Take My Hand
  27. San Diego
  28. Ships That Pass In The Night
  29. You Can't Live On Memories

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Superb Musicianship.......2006-10-21

Here is my perspective of a girl growing up in California in the sixties:

The Dakotas were absolutely great musicians and of my two favorite BJK songs, "Little Children" and "Bad to Me", the arrangements and sound of the Dakotas is flat-out fantastic. I feel that as a singer, Billy J. Kramer was underrated, and any the critics really underestimated his talent. He brought suave and sexy to his songs just with his voice. And quite frankly, in the looks department, BJK made Simon Lebon (Duran Duran's quite sexy lead singer) look quite ordinary!
I recommend this CD as a "must have" for any fans of the "British Invasion" After all, many of the songs recorded by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas were written by Lennon/McCartney.

5 out of 5 stars Sixties Merseybeat group.......2003-12-11

Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas were one of several Liverpool groups to achieve a measure of pop success in the early sixties. Like the Beatles, they were managed by Brian Epstein. The Dakotas really wanted to be an instrumental group, following the example of the Shadows in Britain and the Ventures in America. It was agreed that they would get to record their own music (included on this compilation) in return for backing Billy J Kramer. The lead guitarist of the Dakotas is the brother of Elkie Brooks, a singer who failed to make it in the sixties but eventually achieved success in the late seventies with Pearl's a singer and some other great songs. To be honest, the Dakotas' musicianship was better than Billy's singing, which was good but not great. However, it doesn't really matter - the songs and the music compensate for any limitation in the vocal department.

The first single by Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas was Do you want to know a secret, a song that the Beatles had already included on their debut album, Please please me. It made number two in the British charts. Next came two more Lennon-McCartney songs, Bad to me, which topped the UK chart, and I'll keep you satisfied, which made number four. Perhaps the best song they ever did was Little children, an American song that gave them their second and last British number one. This was recorded in preference to another Lennon-McCartney song (title unknown to me) that Brian Epstein and George Martin wanted to go with. However, they returned to the Lennon-McCartney songbook for From a window, which just made the UK top ten. After that there was only one more significant hit, a cover of the Bacharach-David classic, Trains and boats and planes, which didn't quite make the UK top ten - it peaked at twelve. It's gonna last forever and Neon city both failed to chart.

Without Billy J Kramer, the Dakotas had a minor UK hit with The cruel sea (titled The cruel surf in America). Two other singles, Magic carpet and Oyeh, missed the charts. One of the B-sides, My girl Josephine, features vocals from one of the Dakotas and is included here.

This collection includes all the hits and misses, several B-sides and album tracks and a few recordings from Billy's comeback attempts (without the Dakotas) in the seventies and eighties.

Music Album:

  1. Freakin' Out/All Over Me, Pt. 2 ~ Graham Coxon
  2. Disconnected ~ Stiv Bators
  3. Psychedelic Pop ~ Various Artists
  4. Work in Progress ~ Dave Lambert
  5. Feeling the Love ~ Reactor
  6. ...More Than I Can Give ~ Matthew Moon
  7. Maximum Sum 41 ~ Sum 41
  8. Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Triumph Of The Spirit - Songs Of Encouragement And Motivation And Overcoming Adversity ~ Various Artists
  9. Earthbound ~ King Crimson
  10. Where Have All the Boot Boys Gone ~ Slaughter & the Dogs

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Tommy Flanagan Trio ~ Tommy Flanagan Trio

Great Moments ~ Monty Sunshine

Circle Of Friends ~ Judy Roberts

Reconfigurations ~ Rajesh Mehta

Stranger Things Have Happened ~ The Prodigal Sons

Nouar ~ Cheikha Rimitti

Oracle ~ Harvard

Rio Amazonas: La Madre y Sus Ninos ~ Various Artists

Sabes ~ Winiaypa

Dear Hearts & Gentle People ~ Brendan Shine