 |
| WAYNE FONTANA-24 Sycamore/From a Boy To A Man U.S. MGM K13762 1967 |
Mancunian singer Wayne Fontana cut a total of eleven solo singles for Fontana in the U.K. after splitting with his backing group The Mindbenders in late 1965. Just four of these found their way onto American releases. Today's specimen was issued in the U.K. as Fontana TF 827 in April 1967. It was issued here in July and would be his final American solo release of the Fontana records years.
"24 Sycamore" came from the pen of Les Reed and Barry Mason. At a first listen it's completely tepid, like something Paul & Barry Ryan would have tucked on a B-side, despite the incredible Walker Brothers style orchestral backing (care of Les Reed). Fontana's voice is actually pretty incredible on it and works well with the arrangement and grows on me with repeated plays, with Walker Brothers comparisons being very hard to avoid (in a positive way).
 |
| Sheet music c/o 45cat.com |
The flip side, "From A Boy To A Man", is a Wayne Fontana original (credited to his real name Glyn Ellis)and it is a complete miss. Despite the over the top orchestration by Art Gleenslade the number is completely uninspiring.
Wayne Fontana solo compilations are few and far between. The only one is BGO's 2004 deluxe two CD edition of his 1966 solo album "Wayne One" which collects all of his Fontana singles (A's and B's) including both sides of this record. Unfortunately none of these are available through streaming services.
Hear "24 Sycamore":
Hear "From A Boy To A Man":
No comments:
Post a Comment