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Track Listings

1	Do You Want To Know A Secret?
2	I'll Be On My Way
3	Bad To Me
4	I Call Your Name
5	Pride (Is Such A Little Word)
6	I Know
7	Tell Me Girl
8	I'll Keep You Satisfied
9	I'm In Love
10	Little Children
11	They Remind Me Of You
12	From A Window
13	Second To None
14	Mad, Mad World
15	It's Gotta Last Forever
16	Don't You Do It No More
17	When You Ask About Love
18	Trains And Boats And Planes
19	That's The Way I Feel
20	That Ain't Good For Me
21	Neon City
22	I'll Be Doggone
23	We're Doing Fine
24	Take My Hand
25	You Make Me Feel Like Someone

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.55 x 4.97 x 0.54 inches; 2.83 ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Capitol
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ November 4, 2006
Label ‏ : ‎ Capitol
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00000DRC8
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #235,658 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #1,043 in British Invasion Rock
- #98,911 in Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- #109,394 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 36 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

36 global ratings

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EVELYN VAN WEY

sound quality

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

Great cd, has all their hits, even the fill ins
are very good, underated group.

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Joseph P. Iorio

best collection to date

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2009

Verified Purchase

all the top hits plus sum rare song note heardin a long time liner noes are excellent

5 people found this helpful

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Don E. Marchione

Five Stars for Sound and a Lot of Fun

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2012

Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas was one of a number of "British Invasion" groups that followed the Beatles to the USA. There's quite a list of others: Dave Clark Five, Rolling Stones, Animals, Kinks, Searchers, Manfred Mann, Honeycombs, Zombies, Freddy & The Dreamers, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Swinging Blue Jeans, Herman's Hermits and others. Usually, when these groups appeared on TV there was a lot of screaming, shrieking, crying and hysteria among the young ladies in the audience. In fact, it was often difficult to hear the music amid all the noise. Fortunately, on this CD we get to hear an under-rated group's best work - and no noise! The tracks on this CD were mastered from the absolute best sources, most from the actual session tapes (very first generation!) with two tracks from master mixdown tapes. So, the sound is as good as it will ever get. Most tracks are stereo, which is great because much of the British music from that era was released in mono and specifically done so for AM radio, which at that time for most young listeners was a transistor unit with a very small speaker. Who really cared about sound at that age? FM consisted of classical and easy listening (e.g., Montavani, Percy Faith et al). On this CD, once again, Ron Furmanek's work ethic results in a great package for discriminating listeners.

The group's biggest U.S. hit was Little Children, but they had a few other tunes that charted. I was surprised, however, by the number of enjoyable songs on this release. It's not just a few hits and a lot of "album filler." Also, on a few of the songs that were mastered from the session tapes, there is some studio talk included before the song that reveals what was taking place. George Martin, who produced the Beatles, also produced all of these tracks. On one of the tracks, John Lennon is in the studio and we get to hear Billy J. Kramer tell him that he just can't hit the opening notes on a tune that Lennon wrote. But, it's all quite humorous. So, if you are a fan of or remember the music of this era, I give this CD Five Thumbs Up. Not to be missed. This is a very entertaining package in which great care was taken to achieve the result.

5 people found this helpful

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Terri W

Superb Musicianship

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2006

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.

4 people found this helpful

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Eddie H.

The Best of Billy J. Krame and the Dakotas

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2013

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If you like Rock and Roll of the 60's, this is the one for you. There is lively songs or some some slow ones. Very good variety.

4 people found this helpful

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John Bratton

Not Good

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2016

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This CD does not have the original popular recordings. The music doesn't even sound like the same vocalist and band. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

One person found this helpful

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Roscoe P. Marway

Kramer's Box Set and it is filled with a lot of songs by a lad with a nice voice. But all of his early hits are ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

2015 REVIEW! Well, I have Billy J. Kramer's Box Set and it is filled with a lot of songs by a lad with a nice voice. But all of his early hits are in MONO! Now, these are available in lovely STEREO on the CD titled "The Best Of" which is available for about $5.00 BRAND NEW! Twenty-Seven songs which is way more than enough for a lover of 60's music. SO, why did I pay so much for this collection? I didn't do the research in advance. When "From a Window" came out, I bought the single not knowing it was written by Paul and John just because I loved the song. My girlfriend loved "Little Children" and now we've been married for over 40 years. So, Billy sort of brought us together. But too much is just too much. And not including the big hits in STEREO is inexcusable. I would opt for the "Best Of" CD and leave this one alone!

2 people found this helpful

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Kenneth L Howard

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2017

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good

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ferruccio

ottimo lavoro

Reviewed in Italy on August 29, 2013

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direi una bellissima raccolta,fatta veramente bene anche come suoni,l'artista è supremo,una vecchia gloria della musica.una raccolta molto curata e ben fatta da non perdere

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寒木瓜

ステレオ録音版

Reviewed in Japan on February 21, 2013

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「Bad to Me」のステレオが聴けたのがよかったです。
ただし、「Little Children」はモノです。

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Philip A.Cohen

For Avid Fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2009

Verified Purchase

This is the latest in EMI's series of 4-CD box sets devoted to the label's 1960's beat group's, and the set follows the same pattern as the "Gerry & The Pacemakers" box, in that it gives you the complete released recordings(+ unreleased material) in mono sound, a previously unreleased 1964 concert in remixed stereo, and a reasonable sampling of the group's stereo versions. The sound quality is excellent(unlike the Gerry & The Pacemakers set where the vocals on the mono mixes sounded shrill)

Stereo gained acceptance from UK consumers several years later than in North America, and so EMI/UK believes that UK consumers would prefer the mono versions. In this series of box sets, even for those artists where some or all of the multitracks exist, EMI have opted to present the already released recordings via original 1960's mixes, remixing only where it was neccessary in order to obtain previously unreleased material.

The group's live E.P. appears in the set via the original mono mix, but you also get a complete composite concert in remixed stereo, taken from the two 1964 California shows from which the E.P. was derived. Apparently, the group played the same 11 songs at both shows, so it was a matter of selecting the best performances and recordings of each song. Be cautioned that the group could be quite ragged live. Billy's live singing is erratic. He sings off-key on the hits, but sings well on album tracks. He is not helped by a recording fault which renders bassist Ray Jones inaudible on some songs. This, and the absence of George Martin's piano playing renders the group's instrumental sound thin. In fairness, the group may have had difficulty hearing themselves due to the screaming audience. Still, it's an interesting documentation of that era.

The Dakotas also had a side career releasing a few singles on their own, and you get these tracks too(some presented in both stereo & mono) and unreleased material. Despite what you would think, not all of these tracks are instrumental, and an unidentified member(probably Mike Maxfield) provides vocals on some.

As for the recordings with Billy, you get their lone album("Listen") in both its' mono & stereo versions, and all the hits, some of which were especially written by Lennon & McCartney(mostly by Lennon), including "I'll Keep You Satisfied", "Bad to Me","Do You Want to Know a Secret" & "From a Window". Amongst the rarities included are a rendition of Lennon/McCartney's "I'm in Love"(later a hit for "The Fourmost", which was previously released in 1991 on an American CD "The Definitive Collection"). Unlike most of the other box sets in this series, there's no sessionography, so it's not possible to say whether this set gives us every existing unreleased track, though the 132-track set claims 30 previously unreleased songs or mixes.(some of the previously unreleased tracks appear in both mono & stereo).

Much has been made of Billy's vocal limitations, though certainly George Martin's expert production concealed some of the shortcomings of Billy & bassist Ray Jones, and resulted in some memorable recordings. George Martin has made derogatory comments about Billy's singing abilities over the years, but in fairness, it should be noted that Billy was naturally a baritone, but either the Dakotas or George Martin were setting the keys uncomfortably high on many songs, to have Billy sing in a tenor range, where he sometimes had pitch problems. Still this resulted in hits.

Billy was able to have two hits("Trains & Boats & Planes" & "Little Children") without Lennon/McCartney songs, but like many Northern beat groups, Billy J.Kramer & the Dakotas had difficulty adapting to the times, and Billy also blames substance abuse problems for his commercial downfall. After becoming sober in the 1980's, he briefly recorded for both the EMI & RAK labels, and those singles are also included here, including the anti-nostalgia "You Can't Live on Memories", a rare co-write from Billy himself, who was previously not a songwriter. While still not a vocal powerhouse, he certainly didn't lose any vocal quality(at least not up to that point).

As for the decision to use only original mixes of the released recordings, it should be noted that EMI/Uk executives(for unknown reasons) disliked engineer Ron Furmanek's remixed stereo versions of 1960's EMI beat group recordings done for a series of 1991 EMI Records Group/North America CD's titled "The Definitive Collection", and so few of these mixes have ever been issued in the UK.

Billy was unable to achieve one satisfactory take of Lennon/McCartney's I'm in Love", but Furmanek was able to assemble a (quite acceptable) composite of two takes, whose release EMI/UK executives disapproved of. How curious that Furmanek's stereo composite version appears in this set, albeit summed down to mono with additional E.Q. & reverb.

Unlike two other sets in this series of 4-CD boxes, this set is entirely free from mastering gremlins, and sounds great. Whether you need this much Billy J.Kramer & The Dakotas depends on you. This is obviously for hardcore fans and completists. Others would likely be satisfied by one of the numerous hits compilations.

The packaging is attractive, but the booklet is the most minimal of any of the 4-CD boxes in this series. There's no sessionography, recording dates or info about where(and on what single or album each track was first release) Still, the previously unreleased studio material is consistently good.

Does this 4-CD render all previous Billy J.Kramer & The Dakotas CD's obsolete? No. You'll still need the American CD "The Definitive Collection" which has the only-ever stereo versions of "Do You Want to Know a Secret", "Bad to Me", I'm in Love" & "I'll Be on My Way".

I look forward to more EMI box sets by artists of this era. With some speculating on how much longer the label may exist, now is the time to release the remaining vault material that they've got.

27 people found this helpful

rockabillymod1995

Yes!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Despite having huge popularity, the general releases for Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas on CDs is very low. You either get the same songs packaged again and again or 1980s (?) re-recordings of the hits. What this box set has is 4 x CDs full of hits, rarities and other interesting bits.

Billy J. Kramer was born in 1943 in Bootle, Liverpool and was one of the bigger stars to have come from the Merseybeat craze from the early 1960s. No doubt that some of his claims to fame are that he recorded hit recordings written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but there's plenty of other decent songs and covers on here to keep you satisfied (pun intended)…

In addition to the hits such as 'From A Window', 'Bad To Me', 'Do You Want To Know A Secret', 'I'll Keep You Satisfied' etc. there are plenty of songs here which have been unreleased (or perhaps unreleased in mono/stereo) showing that there's plenty of sought after material on here. There's also some Dakotas recordings (both instrumental and vocal tracks) which again are sought after and feature less often than the Billy J. Kramer recordings on CDs these days. There are cover versions of interest, including 'Great Balls Of Fire', 'Twilight Time', 'Under The Boardwalk', 'Sugar Babe' and many others. The live tracks that feature are also appreciated, as these are quite rare.

Some minor points - despite all the positives noted, the sleeve notes are rather thin for a package like this. Yes there's some, but for 4 x discs of material it was expected there'd be a little more general information. Also, it only occurred to me once I played this that it's not a complete reflection of Billy J. Kramer's work from the 1960s. The rare Bee Gees composition 'Town Of Tuxley Toymaker - Part 1' doesn't feature and neither does the final Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas pairing 'Chinese Girl' (although an alternate version features on here with a slightly different title). It does mention 'The EMI Years' on the case, however if all of these great songs feature then perhaps 2 more wouldn't have hurt! Oh well, both are available elsewhere.

Overall, the sound good and there are also many tracks in both mono and stereo so you can take your pick here! The tracks are already featured on the page and therefore won't be duplicated in this review.

It would seem that this box set is sought after these days, with prices being quite expensive for the collection (which boasts at the time of writing to be the most comprehensive collection of Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas), and the overall content on this box set is good too therefore it's one to have a look into if you enjoy the recordings you've heard of the group. Any fan of 1960s Beat/Pop or even Rock 'n' Roll will appreciate this box set. It'll certainly get a few plays (and if you're reading this review then you will have some interest to Billy J. Kramer o actually look at this, so this will be perfect for you).

One person found this helpful

andrew turner

Single 45

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

Good condition and quick service my daughter will love this thanks

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