VA - 1999 - Where The Girls Are... Vol 2

 

Ace – CDCHD 711  269.11MB FLAC

Where the Girls Are, Vol. 2 is a 1999 Ace Records compilation built around 1960s girl-group and female soul recordings drawn largely from the Scepter, Wand and Musicor families of labels. Across thirty tracks, it mixes familiar names with singers and groups that never became household names, which is exactly where the collection becomes most interesting. Rather than functioning as a greatest-hits package, it digs through singles, alternate vocals, obscure sides and previously unissued recordings from the same musical ecosystem.

The opening stretch establishes that range immediately. Maxine Brown’s “She’s Got Everything” is followed by Nella Dodds’ “To Get Your Love Back,” Candy and the Kisses’ “Sweet and Lovely,” and Bettye LaVette’s “Happiness Will Only Cost You One Thin Dime.” The singers may come from different corners of soul and pop, but the recordings share the compact construction of the period: strong lead vocals, tightly arranged backing parts, percussion that pushes everything forward, and songs designed to make their point within a few minutes.

Several better-known names appear without dominating the collection. The Toys contribute “Let Me Down Easy,” the Shirelles appear with both “I Didn’t Mean to Hurt You” and “Make the Night a Little Longer,” and Tammy Montgomery, later known as Tammi Terrell, is represented by “Voice of Experience.” Hearing those tracks beside less familiar performers helps remove the artificial line between major stars and artists who left only a handful of records behind. The production values, songwriting craft and vocal performances were often operating at an equally high level regardless of how much recognition followed.

One of the compilation’s strengths is the amount of unreleased or relatively obscure material. Maxine Brown, Marie Knight, the Pawns, the Sonnettes, Goldie and the Gingerbreads and the Relatives all appear with recordings identified as previously unissued at the time of this compilation. That gives the disc the feeling of an archival excavation rather than a simple nostalgia collection. There are also alternate versions, including the Charmers’ “Looking for Trouble,” which further emphasizes the depth of material sitting in these label archives.

The set also shows how broad the term “girl group” can be. There is polished pop, tougher R&B, soul balladry, novelty touches, romantic melodrama and records with a much harder rhythmic edge. Bettye LaVette’s voice has a different weight from the lighter pop approach of some of the groups surrounding her, while tracks by the Shangri-Las, the Shirelles and Tammy Montgomery connect the compilation to several different branches of 1960s pop and soul history.

The packaging leans into the archival character. The front uses a vintage photograph of four women dressed alike against a black background, while the inside reproduces period record sleeves and publicity imagery. The back cover is dense with discographical information, listing original labels, catalog numbers, production credits and whether particular recordings had previously been issued. For a compilation like this, those details are part of the appeal because they make it possible to trace individual songs back into the larger Scepter, Wand, Musicor and related catalogs.

This Oakland Public Library copy carries the library’s classification sticker, barcode and hub marking, but the original Ace Records design remains easy to read. The yellow disc and colorful typography give the package the feel of a carefully assembled reissue rather than a generic budget compilation.

Where the Girls Are, Vol. 2 works best as a reminder of how much strong music existed beyond the handful of girl-group records that became permanent oldies-radio fixtures. The famous names provide landmarks, but the real pleasure is in hearing artists such as Nella Dodds, Baby Jane and the Rockabyes, the Teardrops, Diane and Annita, Barbara and Brenda and others placed on equal footing. Thirty tracks later, the compilation feels less like a collection of curiosities than a densely populated snapshot of a musical world that was much larger than its best-known hits.

―ChatGPT