Various - A Good Thing Goin'! Girl Group Sounds USA 1962-1967 (Vinyl)

Ace Records has been the go-to source of 1960s US girl group compilations since the release of Where The Girls Are, Girls About Town and Stop, Look and Listen vinyl albums back in the 1980s. The 10-volume Where The Girls Are CD series followed over the next few decades, along with a batch of standalone CD collections. These days, however, the vinyl long-player is back in favour as the format of choice for discerning collectors.

A Good Thing Goin’!, the latest in our current series of gorgeously packaged 12-inchers, drops this month. The album opens in fine style with What About You by the great sounding Mousie & the Traps. Darlene Love kicks off the second side with Let Him Walk Away, a song written by Jackie DeShannon with noted arranger Jack Nitzsche, no less. Darlene Love, one of the most beloved vocalists of the classic girl group era, also sings lead on the Blossoms’ terrific previously unissued You Had A Good Thing Goin’, while Jack Nitzsche produced the Satisfactions’ lush Baby I’m So Glad It’s Raining and Karen Verros’ castanets-driven version of the Crystals’ Little Boy.

Other highlights include Brenda Holloway’s silky pre-Motown gem Constant Love, the Puffs’ hip dancer I Only Cry Once A Day Now, the Fran-cettes’ latin-flavoured Late In The Evening and Linda and the Vistas’ Shrine Records rarity Bad Apple. As usual in the series, the swanky inner sleeve features a picture-packed 3,000-word track commentary by long-serving compiler Mick Patrick.

Tracklist:

1. How About You – Mousie & The Traps  
2. Little Boy – Karen Verros  
3. Your Kind Ain’t No Good – The Mirettes  
4. I Only Cry Once A Day Now – The Puffs  
5. Young Girl – Charmaine  
6. You Had A Good Thing Goin’ – The Blossoms  
7. Baby I’m So Glad It’s Raining – The Satisfactions  
8. Let Him Walk Away – Darlene Love  
9. Do It – Pat Powdrill  
10. West Side Party – The Pets  
11. Bad Apple – Linda & The Vistas  
12. Late In The Evening – The Fran-cettes  
13. Constant Love – Brenda Holloway  
14. I Know About Her – The D.C. Blossoms