This is the latest release in the excellent “Jasmine EP Collection” series. Cliff joins the likes of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson, Eddie Cochran and Billy Fury to name just a few of the artists Jasmine have featured. The basis of the collection to only include songs from a single artist that were released on “Extended Play” seven inch, 45RPM vinyl records. This compilation is drawn from Cliff’s twenty EPs, issued in the UK between 1959 and 1962. There is at least one side from each, although in order to avoid overloading it with hits, there is only one track each from his hits-oriented collections. There are some rockers and excellent pop songs too in this set.

The collection starts with one of Cliff’s lesser known rockers, ‘No Turning Back’. He sounds moody and there’s nice guitar solo from Hank Marvin. The song was written by Lionel Bart. ‘Mad About You’ is another rocker and that theme continues with two live tracks. For me the overzealous screaming detract from Cliff’s performance, but it’s clear he had a good rocking band. ‘Love’ is a great fast moving track with a driving bass line and a surprise appearance of some bongos, but then the track is taken from the film ‘Expresso Bongo’. The pace drops dramatically with track 6 which despite its title is not a Christian/gospel song. I actually prefer Cliff’s version of ‘Here Comes Summer’ over the hit by Jerry Keller. It is a bit faster and has some nice guitar from Mr Marvin. ‘The Snake And The Bookworm’ is a rocker with a Bo Diddley beat. Then we have two covers of classics. Cliff’s version of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Mean Woman Blues’ are both good in my book, especially with guitar work in the latter. 

‘I’ll String Along With You’ is rather typical of the pop ballads of the early 60s that Cliff exceled at. We stick in that mode with a cover the Dean Martin hit ‘I Don’t Know Why (I Just Do)’. It’s back to rocking with ‘Nine Times Out Of Ten’ followed by a pop rock tune that has touch of the Crickets about it. ‘You And I’ was written by Bruce Welch and Hank Marvin, but I bet they had been listening to Buddy beforehand. ‘Evergreen Tree’ is an almost country & western ballad thanks to the harmonica. Otis Blackwell wrote ‘You’re Just The One To Do It’, but trust me, this is a pop song without the punch of his classic rocker, ‘Great Balls Of Fire’. While on the subject of famous songwriters, Ian Samwell who wrote ‘Move It’ for Cliff also wrote ‘Choppin’ and Changin’. It’s another good rocker. ‘Tell Me’ is one of those ballads that really suits Cliff’s voice. ‘Gee Whiz It’s You’ is one of the tracks on this CD that was issued as a single. It made number 4 in the UK charts during 1961. 

Cliff does another cover with his version of ‘What I’d Say’, it is a good job but not quite up to the hit by Ray Charles despite the enthusiastic “oos” from the backing singers. Even if you are not a fan of Cliff, it is hard to deny the fact that he could sing and his voice suited the pop of the pre Beatles’ era in the UK. Just to listen to tracks 21 trough 25. ‘Forty Days’ is a cover of the Ronnie Hawkins rocker. It’s basically the same song as Chuck Berry’s ‘Thirty Days’. R&B legend Johnny Otis wrote ‘Tough Enough’ and Cliff’s version rocks along nicely with Hank doing a bit of Duane Eddy on the guitar. ‘Got A Funny Feeling’ is happy sounding pop rocker written by Hank and Bruce. As the title suggests, ‘Lessons Love’ is another pop ballad. ‘We Say Yeah’ has Cliff working his vocal cords hard in this rocking, British beat number. Get the tissues out for ‘Fifty Tears For Every Kiss’: a sugary ballad! Track 32 is not a cover of Presley’s ‘Poor Boy’. This is classic 60s pop dealing the subject of romance gone bad and a broken heart. We finish with a good cover of Jerry Lee’s ‘It’ll Be Me’.

Jailhouse John Alexander

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