Various Artists: 1-2-3-4!: Beat Beat Beat Volume 4
(Castle Music/Sanctuary)

If the title of this double-disc release has hooked you in because you're expecting a collection full of great platters from the Britbeat era, be forewarned. You may be in for a bit of a disappointment. This fourth volume of Castle Music's series does not present the cream of that golden era, nor does it claim to. Instead, the series presents a thorough, comprehensive chronological look at the releases of Pye Records during the movement (this volume covering the period between July and October 1964). Some tracks are very good, and some are notably lame, but that's the whole point of the series...to show all sides: the hits, the almosts, and the "what was Pye thinking?" selections. It's a thorough look at all angles of beat/pop music Pye was throwing to the world at the time. Even the notes acknowledge that some releases never had a chance and still do not hold up well today.

Some of the tracks here are well-known, such as the hits by The Searchers and The Kinks. Other recordings are Jimmy Page compilation staples probably already in your collection more than twice, like Wayne Gibson's "See Ya Later Alligator" or The First Gear's "Leave My Kitten Alone." And probably every collector of British Beat has already snagged The Wackers' "Love Or Money" or Tony Jackson's "Watch Your Step" somewhere before (probably on the same collection, as those two tend to always travel together.) But for most listeners, the bulk of the sixty songs housed within will be new to the ears, and even the familiar tracks are effective in this context when presented alongside their contemporaries. For example, sure we've all heard "All Day And All Of The Night" a zillion times, since The Kinks became national stars whose hits remain classic rock radio favorites. But to hear it alongside The Blue Aces and The Overlanders rather than alongside "Sunshine Of Your Love" or "Communication Breakdown" brings it back to a time when The Kinks, not yet big names, were regarded by the label as little more than just another beat group on their label, their records being released with no more or less expectations of success than the latest by The Hi-Fis or The Rocking Berries, Pye simply hoping at least one of said discs would catch fire.

For a large part, musically, things are clean enough to eat off of here: You can easily imagine the artists smiling brightly, wearing white-washed shirts under well-pressed suits and perfectly knotted ties. Stylistically, the music runs the gamut: There's still some Elvis and Jerry Lee left in the Brits, as Tony Dangerfield's and Tammy St. John's selections demonstrate, the latter doing a pair of rocker covers with a lot of annoying screaming. In other cases of the Brits looking to America for ideas, The Wolves offer the spooky and Gene Pitney-ish "Journey Into Dreams," while Antoinette nods to the girl-group sounds with the excellent I-can't-believe-this-was-recorded-in-England-by-English-people "There He Goes (The Boy I Love)." (Unfortunately, her flip, a danceable attempt at the standard "Little Things Mean A Lot," sounds forced). And Liverpool's legendary doo-woppers The Chants have a pair of tracks here as well.

The McGil 5 milk the hell out of their earlier ska UK chart smash "Mockingbird Hill" (featured on a previous volume of this series) with the inevitable soundalike "Boys And Girls." Some artists take on songs known better by other bands, with varying degrees of success. For example, Mark Wynter covers The Searchers' ballad "Can't Help Forgiving You" quite pleasantly, while Me & Them, apparently keen to be the next McGil 5, take a Jamaican wrecking ball to The Beatles' "Tell Me Why" in a version that will have you clinging your copy of *A Hard Day's Night* tightly to your body. Other artists change face completely from one side of the single to the other. The always diverse Overlanders' "Don't It Make You Feel Good" is an upbeat if sanitized mover, while the flip, the song-story "Sing A Song Of Sadness," recalls Peter Paul and Mary.

Random spots of interest: Joe Dolan and the Drifters' Showband had a punchy offering in "When You Say I Love You." "The Weaver" by, appropriately named enough, The Weavers, is amusing for its something-masquerading-as-a-hip-dance-record-for-the-older-set-so-they'll-feel-somewhat-hip ambience. And the recently departed Carl Wayne appears here with his first recorded group Carl Wayne and the Vikings. "What's The Matter Baby" may move no one, but enjoyable as his stepping stone into rock and roll.

So while few of these selections truly qualify as what most of us call Beat music, and though almost all artists presented are from the "also-ran" category, this series admirably showcases a less read but no less important chapter of English music history. I eagerly await future volumes.

And it's worth noting that should there be such a volume, the music featured would be likely to take a turn toward the rough side: Consider that this volume closes with "All Day And All Of The Night." As this, The Kinks' second smash, proved the quartet to be Pye's hottest act, no doubt the label slanted their repertoire in the direction of gritty rock and roll. Volume Five should be the proof.

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