Mickey and Sylvia - The Singles & Albums Collection 1952-62 (2021)

Mickey Baker was a guitarist and Sylvia Vanterpool was a singer who was also one of his guitar pupils, and they teamed up to make records as Mickey & Sylvia, becoming famous for recording the first hit version of the timeless and much-recorded pop standard “Love Is Strange”, the first of their eight hits together through to 1961. This great-value 62-track 2-CD set comprises most of their A & B sides together on the Rainbow, Groove, Vik, RCA and Willow labels from this era, and the tracks from their “New Sounds” LP for Vik, plus, as a bonus, selected solo singles by Little Sylvia for Jubilee, and duet singles made by Mickey Baker with Kitty Noble as Mickey & Kitty for Atlantic, along with most of the titles from Mickey Baker’s solo album for Atlantic “The Wildest Guitar”. It features all their eight career hits in the US pop and R&B charts including the R&B No. 1 and pop No. 11 “Love Is Strange”, and the R&B No. 8 “There Oughta Be A Law”. They were one of the few boy/girl duos to make an impact in the R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and pop markets during the rock ‘n’ roll era, and occupy an interesting niche in the history of the genre. This substantial and fairly comprehensive overview of their output during the primary period of the career provides an entertaining showcase for their distinctive style and talents.