Dee Clark - Raindrops: The Singles & Albums Collection 1956-62 (2022)

Dee Clark, real name Delecta Clark, was born in Arkansas in 1938 and started out in gospel before recording at the age of 14 with a group called The Hambone Kids. By the mid-50s he was a member of R&B vocal group The Kool Gents, who signed to Vee Jay. He moved on to a solo career in the pop/soul/R&B style, for a while taking over Little Richard’s band when he went into the church, and had a string of hits in the late ‘50s and early’ 60s in the pop and R&B charts, the biggest a pop No. 2 with “Raindrops”. This 55-track 2-CD set comprises the A & B sides of singles from these years by The Kool Gents, The Delegates and Dee Clark on the Vee Jay, Falcon and Abner labels, plus selected tracks from his Abner albums “Dee Clark” and “How About That”, and his Vee Jay albums “You’re Lookin’ Good” and “Hold On….It’s Dee Clark”. It features all his twelve chart entries from this era, including the US No. 2 “Raindrops”, and the Top 40 hits “Nobody But You”, “Just Keep It Up” (also a UK Top 30 hit), “Hey Little Girl”, “How About That” and “Your Friends”, most of which also made the R&B Top 10. He was a stylish and versatile performer, his recordings transcending the genres, enabling him to handle Great American Songbook classics alongside soul rockers. This set is a substantial and entertaining showcase for those talents.