Barry Ryan - Singing The Songs Of Paul Ryan 1968-69 (2005)

Barry Ryan was an odd figure on the late-'60s British pop landscape. He had a huge U.K. hit with "Eloise" in 1968, which went to number two on the charts, though he had no commercial success in the U.S. and was unable to land another big single in his native land. He did no original material, yet his songs were about as close to originals as they could get, written as they were by his identical twin brother, Paul Ryan (with whom he'd had some hits as part of a duo in 1965 and 1966). While his kind of orchestrated pop had similarities to what was being issued at the time by the Bee Gees and Scott Walker, it wasn't as heavy or hip, relatively speaking, as the work of either of those acts. This CD couldn't be a more definitive compilation of his late-'60s output, including the 1968 album Barry Ryan Sings Paul Ryan (which contains "Eloise"), the 1969 album Barry Ryan, historical liner notes, rare period photos and graphics, and two bonus tracks ("Look to the Right, Look to the Left" and "Oh for the Love of Me") only issued in Brazil. Not as dark and literate as Walker or as immediately pop-friendly as the Bee Gees, it does bear some casual similarities in the marriage of pop songs with orchestration, which to some might verge on the bombastic and bloated. Some of the songs (such as "Eloise") had an epic, quasi-operatic feel, though without leading toward profound revelations or fitting together to create something like an actual opera. In his lighter moments, Beach Boys and (more faintly) Beatles influences in the melodies and harmonies make this approachable for fans of U.S. sunshine pop, though the arrangements have a distinctly British cast in their tendency toward grandiose ballads. Ryan's vocal delivery, both when he's daintily crooning and winding himself up into mild histrionics, seems like it could just possibly have influenced Freddie Mercury a bit. Ryan's work could be an acquired taste for curious listeners in the U.S. in particular, as many '60s pop/rock fans could find it simultaneously interesting and irritating in different degrees, though his greater success in the U.K. and some parts of Europe (especially Germany and the Benelux markets) might make him more accessible to fans in those regions.