Various Artists
The Red Bird Story

The Red Bird Story

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'Motown might have been 'The Sound Of Young America', but for just over two years Leiber and Soller's Red Bird label vied for that legend, too, yielding a preposterous number of hits - 20 in their first 13 months - thanks to a peerless songwriting team and a stable of acts who stirred up every crazy emotion. '

★★★★★ MOJO

60 original recordings from the celebrated New York label including classic tracks from The Shangri-Las, The Dixie Cups and more.

Founded in 1964 by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Red Bird Records may only have been operational for three years but during that time the label became synonymous with the 60s girl group sound, particularly due to the success of The Shangri-Las and The Dixie Cups – both of whom scored No.1 hits for Red Bird in its fledgling year. Rising Phoenix-like from earlier try-outs with Tiger (founded in 1962) and later Daisy (in 1963), Red Bird was unique among indie labels in that its output was of a consistently high standard and almost half of its releases made a commercial impact.

The secret to Red Bird’s “hit factory” lay in no small part with the chart-topping Brill Building songwriting team of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry who’d previously penned hits for producer Phil Spector’s Ronettes and Crystals. In the years prior to the British Invasion, the husband and wife wrote prolifically for most of the label’s biggest names including the aforementioned Shangri-Las (‘Leader Of The Pack’, ‘Out In The Streets’) and Dixie Cups (‘Chapel Of Love’) The Butterflys (‘Goodnight Baby’), Sam Hawkins (‘Hold On Baby’), The Ad Libs (‘He Ain’t No Angel’) and Andy Kim (‘I Hear You Say’), as well as occasionally recording in their own right.

This deluxe two disc set draws together the best of Red Bird along with tracks from its Blue Cat Soul/R&B subsidiary and material from the short-lived Tiger and Daisy affiliates. Carefully compiled and annotated by Roger Dopson, this compilation is a worthy successor to previous volumes incorporating lesser-heard gems alongside the major hits.

Disc 1

  1. TIPPIE & THE CLOVERS Bossa Nova Baby
  2. CATHY SAINT Big Bad World
  3. MOODY & THE DELTAS Everybody Come Clap Your Hands
  4. LEOLA & THE LOVEJOYS He Ain’t No Angel
  5. BESSIE BANKS Go Now
  6. DEE DEE WARWICK Don’t Think My Baby’s Coming Back
  7. THE DIXIE CUPS Chapel Of Love
  8. ALVIN ROBINSON Something You Got
  9. THE JELLY BEANS I Wanna Love Him So Bad
  10. CHI CHI McCAULEY I Know He Loves Me
  11. THE ROCKAWAYS Top Down Time
  12. THE SHANGRI-LAS Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)
  13. THE BUTTERFLYS Goodnight Baby
  14. ALVIN ROBINSON Down Home Girl
  15. THE JELLY BEANS Baby Be Mine
  16. THE DIXIE CUPS No True Love
  17. THE SHANGRI-LAS Leader Of The Pack
  18. BARRY MANN Talk To Me Baby
  19. THE BUTTERFLYS I Wonder
  20. ELLIE GREENWICH Another Boy Like Mine
  21. THE DIXIE CUPS Wrong Direction
  22. THE AD-LIBS The Boy From New York City
  23. THE TRADEWINDS New York’s A Lonely Town
  24. RODDIE JOY Come Back Baby
  25. RODDIE JOY Love Hit Me With A Wallop
  26. THE SOUL BROTHERS I Got A Dream
  27. JIMMY RICE Spanish Perfume
  28. ALVIN ROBINSON I’m Gonna Put Some Hurt On You
  29. THE DIXIE CUPS Iko Iko
  1. THE SHANGRI-LAS Out In The Streets

Disc 2

  1. JEFF BARRY I’ll Still Love You
  2. JIMMY RICE Or Not At All
  3. RONNIE MITCHELL Having A Party
  4. THE TRADWINDS The Girl From Greenwich Village
  5. SAM HAWKINS Hold On Baby
  6. STEVE ROSSI Nobody But You
  7. THE AD-LIBS Ask Anybody
  8. THE BOUQUETS Welcome To My Heart
  9. THE GOODIES The Dum Dum Ditty
  10. EVIE SANDS Take Me For A Little While
  11. ELLIE GREENWICH You Don’t Know
  12. ELLIE GREENWICH Baby
  13. BARRY MANN We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
  14. VIC DONNA I Won’t Be Me Anymore
  15. RODDIE JOY If There’s Anything Else You Want (Let Me Know)
  16. ANDY KIM I Hear You Say (I Love You Baby)
  17. ORPHEUS My Life
  18. JIMMY CROSS Hey Little Girl
  19. SAM HAWKINS I Know It’s Alright
  20. EVIE SANDS I Can’t Let Go
  21. SIDNEY BARNES I Hurt On The Other Side
  22. TINY TIM Little Girl
  23. TINY TIM April Showers
  24. LINDA JONES Fugitive From Love
  25. DIDI NOEL Let The Music Play
  26. RAL DONNER It Will Only Make You Love Me More
  27. RAL DONNER Love Isn’t Like That
  28. KANE & ABEL He Will Break Your Heart
  29. THE YOUNG GENERATION The Hideaway
  1. THE SHANGRI-LAS Past, Present & Future

The Red Bird Story

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