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Odyssey: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde Vol II BELLA UNION 7/10

Second volume of ’60s and ’70s arcana from the British producer and arranger

In an alternate universe in which The Beatles never existed, Ivor Raymonde might have been a dominant figure in British pop. This is the second volume of work that collects tracks he worked on, variously, as an arranger, producer or songwriter. There are some big hits here – most of us will be familiar with Raymonde’s muscular arrangements on Dusty Springfield’s “Little By Little”, Frankie Vaughan’s chart-topping reading of Bacharach’s “Tower Of Strength” and Alan Price’s version of Randy Newman’s “Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear”. There is some juvenilia from Robert Fripp (a baroque folk single recorded with Peter and Michael Giles), a 1967 rarity from Cat Stevens and some stray hits by the Walker Brothers, Roy Orbison and Marty Wilde. But the most interesting entries are the oddities that have fallen between the cracks in pop history, such as the unreleased 1971 Twinkle single “Michael Hanna” (a breathyvoiced piece of heartbroken kitchensink realism), while fans of junkshop glam and budget-priced English pop whimsy will lap up Christopher Colt’s 1968 track “Girl In The Mirror”, Paul Slade’s Scott Walker-ish 1969 single “Odyssey” and The Martells’ incredibly prescient piece of 1966 freakbeat, “Time To Say Goodnight”. Extras: None.