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In the Naked City


  • 1. Big New York - Chuck Jackson
    2. On Broadway - The Cookies
    3. I Love New York - Marva Josie
    4. In My Apartment - Dee Clark
    5. Concrete Jungle - Arthur Alexander
    6. Second Window, Second Floor - Clyde McPhatter
    7. No Pity (In The Naked City) - Jackie Wilson
    8. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore - Jerry Butler
    9. Quiet Place, A - Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters
    10. Three Rooms - Audrey Freeman
    11. In My Tenement - Jackie Shane
    12. Upotwn - Little Eva
    13. I Found A Daisy (In The City) - Barry Darvell
    14. Nights In New York City - Jan Bradley
    15. Song Of The Street - Donald Height
    16. Strange Neighbourhood - Imaginations
    17. Up In The Streets Of Harlem - The Drifters
    18. Those City Lights - Wayne Bartlett
    19. That Old Neighbourhood - Eric Williams
    20. Street Talk - The Tymes
    21. No Butterflies - Walter Jackson
    22. City Of Fools - Colette Kelly
    23. Medley: Up On The Roof/Some Kind Of Wonderful - Ralfi Pagan
    24. Spanish Harlem - Aretha Franklin
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  • Additional Info
    Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 299

  • Credits
    Producer
    Engineer

    Ah, New York, New York! The big apple! City of dreams! The town so nice they named it twice! Where would songwriters be without having the Big Town to use as a metaphor and/or a setting where big hopes and bigger challenges face every person who walks those mean streets? Two dozen classic rock and R&B songs about life in the Big City are collected on In the Naked City, a compilation from Kent Soul that pays musical homage to New York and its musical identity. These tunes were recorded between 1962 and 1972, with most dating from the mid-'60s, and while not all of the songs specifically namecheck New York City, all tell stories of the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life, from the celebratory (Chuck Jackson's "Big New York" and Marva Josie's "I Love New York") to the bittersweet ("No Pity in the Naked City" by Jackie Wilson and "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" by Jerry Butler). Appropriately, most of these tracks lean to the polished Brill Building production style that ruled the airwaves in the mid-'60s, though Ralfi Pagan's cover of "Up o the Roof" adds some potent Latin flavor to the disc (as does Aretha Franklin's "Spanish Harlem"), and the great Arthur Alexander transplants a bit of Southern soul to his window box with "Concrete Jungle." A few key songs appear in cover versions, most notably Little Eva's recording of "Uptown" (a major hit for the Crystals), but compilers Mick Patrick and Tony Rounce have done a splendid job of tracking down great performances of tunes related to their theme, and In the Naked City is superb listening either for native New Yorkers celebrating their hometown or outsiders who've fallen in love with Manhattan's image in the media. ~ Mark Deming

  • Critic Reviews
    Record Collector (magazine) (p.105) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "With much of the material coming from the 60s, the songs are as glorious and welcome as you might expect..."
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