Editorial Reviews

Atco/Atlantic had struck artistic and commercial gold when they brought Dusty Springfield to the States to record with Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd and topnotch Southern session musicians, so it made sense for the label to introduce another great British pop-soul singer, Lulu, to the same stellar production team. And Lulu, who had just married Bee Gee (and Atco label-mate) Maurice Gibb, didn t need much convincing given the success of Dusty in Memphis. The result was two overlooked classics: New Routes paired the Scottish singer with the classic Muscle Shoals session squad of Barry Beckett, David Hood, Roger Hawkins and Jimmy Johnson, with Eddie Hinton, Cornell Dupree and Duane Allman all sitting in on guitar. And Melody Fair, which also came out in 1970, retained the same production team but moved the sessions to Miami with the Dixie Flyers the back-up band. Those two albums comprise disc one of this two-disc set; the other disc features almost an album s worth of unreleased material produced by Dowd, plus alternate takes, the great single It Takes a Real Man (to Bring Out the Woman in Me) / You Ain t Wrong You Just Ain t Right and other stray tracks. Real Gone s reissue of this compilation (which came and went in a heartbeat in the U,K. about seven years ago and sells for a queenly sum) includes new liner notes by Richie Unterberger;. it s a fascinating look at forgotten phase in the career of one of the British Invasion s leading female figures.

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.58 x 4.94 x 0.41 inches; 4 Ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Real Gone Music
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 28937786
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2014
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ May 7, 2014
Label ‏ : ‎ Real Gone Music
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00K6D1RIA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2

Best Sellers Rank: #381,843 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #25,274 in R&B (CDs & Vinyl)
- #205,779 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 17 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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leadb75

Some of Lulu's Finest Work

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

Lulu spent much of her early career using her amazing voice to belt out whatever the record labels put before her. This yielded pop gems like "Shout" and "To Sir with Love," but it also forced her to record such cheesy ditties as "I'm a Tiger" and "Boom Bang a Bang," which, despite their hit status at the time, are quite forgettable and were generally abhorred by the woman whose voice made them famous. With her move to the Atco label, Lulu was afforded the opportunity to fully embrace the soulful facets of her voice that she'd only been able to flirt with in her early recordings. Anyone who ever doubted her vocal abilities need only listen to the way she belts out tunes like "Sweep Around Your Own Back Door," "Saved," and "Dirty Old Man." Fans of her gorgeously delivered ballads will delight in hearing her beautiful delivery of such gems as "To the Other Woman-I'm the Other Woman" and "After the Feeling Is Gone." Listeners will also be treated to some of the finest studio musicians any album could boast.

This collection includes both complete Atco albums and a bevy of tracks which appear to allude toward a third which never came to fruition, and while the collection doesn't boast many chart hits from Lulu's long and impressive career, it definitely represents some of her finest and most personal output. It's a necessity for all Lulu fans and for anyone who enjoys strong female vocals and outstanding musicianship.

5 people found this helpful

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John Walsh

LULU IS A GREAT SINGER

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

I have been looking for this cd for a while now and was pleasantly surprised to see that Amazon had it for a reasonable price. I did not regret my purchase since this is contains Lulu's New Routes and Melody Fair released during the late sixties-early seventies period. Also included a bunch of bonus tracks from the sessions. This 2 cd set is a must for any Lulu fan.

John Walsh

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Audio Guy

Real deal singer belts with the best.

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

Lulu can flat out sing. And working with the Muscle Shoals folks pushed her talent to another level. Finally having “I’m A Fool for you Baby” on CD is a Big Plus

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Was a little disappointed but there are some good songs.

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RatBruce

Fans of Lulu need to have this one.

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great songs. Any fan of Lulu will love it.

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

Lulu is as good as ever and was and is my favorite female vocalist along with Cher.

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2016

Great

A Review from a “casual” fan of Lulu – Disc Two is the “meat” – though last track has distorted sound.

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2014

I approached this new 2-disc release from Real Gone (who has done some real fine reissues lately, picking up the quality releases that Rhino did until WEA acquired them) from a different viewpoint than the two folks who have posted reviews before I’m posting this. They are obviously “Lulu fans” big time. I can’t say that about me.

Of course, if you say “Lulu” to me the first thing that pops into my head is “To Sir With Love”. I can’t pick another record of hers unless you say “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby) and then my mind says “oh yeah, I remember that one!”. I never owned either of the Lps included here (I was buying 56s then, but probably buying more Dusty (Springfield) than Lulu. So, frankly, these performances were mew to me. And I liked that. Well most.

As Richie Unterberger says in the five page essay in the 12 page booklet (two of which are full page photos and one the back cover of the “Melody Fair” Lp), the Lps were a mix of “pop” and “soul”. I love the soul numbers but some of the pop numbers (such as “Mr. Bojangles” on the first disc seemed to lightweight. The singles both – released and unissued – on the second disc are the “meat” of this package, in my opinion. When she was allowed to get soulful, Lulu was on a par with Dusty in her Memphis recordings.

The transfers are all great, save one. The last track on disc 2 – the Italian single “Povera Me” sounded distorted on both my stereos – unlike any of the other 38 tracks here. (Maybe others who have this album can confirm it.)
As I said, I’ll leave it to the others- who know Lulu’s work better than I – to tell you more about her. Or you can just buy the set and read Unterberger’s notes.

Another nice release from Real Gone providing “complete” sessions for some well deserving artists of the 1960s and 70s.

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
“Anything Phonographic”

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Richard Purcell

Lulu at her best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great CD. Had these sessions on vinyl but this CD collection contains extra tracks. These songs show what a great talent she has and backed by tremendously accomplished musicians (Duane Allman my all time favourite guitarist) this CD makes very enjoyable listening.

One person found this helpful

mark p.

lulu at her best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

it's great to have this album back on sale at a decent price, this is lulu at muscle shoals and the lady shines like a true star, all we need now is for the chelsea records to become available at a decent price

4 people found this helpful

steff

pure gold

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a fab 2 cd box .bit expensive but you get her two albums and bonus tracks. Pure gold.buy it.

2 people found this helpful

Karl Johansen

LULU AT HER BEST

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2016