{"product_id":"hey-baby-the-nino-tempo-april-stevens-anthology","title":"Hey Baby! The Nino Tempo \u0026 April Stevens Anthology","description":"It's a bit difficult to make a consistent anthology of Nino Tempo \u0026amp; April Stevens' recordings, as the pair's career was so long and encompassed several quite different styles. This 24-song CD (including a few solo sides by Stevens and Tempo, though mostly devoted to duo efforts) might be the best collection to date, however. It includes most (though not all) of their best-known songs, and focuses mostly on the mid-'60s period that's of most interest to rock listeners. This does have some material before and after that era, notably a couple of almost novelty-like over the top sex kitten Stevens solo singles from the 1950s (1953's \"Soft Warm Lips\" and 1959's \"Teach Me Tiger\"); the unexpectedly funky, almost Malo-like Tempo 1973 instrumental \"Sister James\"; and a 1993 soft jazz outing, \"Amazon River.\" But the emphasis is on those few years when the unlikely duo, whose career stretched back well into the pre-rock generation, found some pop\/rock success with updates of the standards \"Deep Purple\" and \"Whispering,\" then moving into hipper Phil Spector-influenced productions. The 1966 Top 30 hit \"All Strung Out\" is the best of these, but a few others hold up well too, especially the eccentric bagpipe-driven version of \"I Love How You Love Me\"; \"Follow Me,\" which closely follows the arrangement that Lyme \u0026amp; Cybelle used on their minor Warren Zevon-penned folk-rock hit; the gentle, almost folky \"The Habit of Lovin' You Baby,\" which compares well to similar sides by the Mamas \u0026amp; the Papas; and the extremely Beach Boys-like Tempo solo track \"Boys Town (Where My Broken Hearted Buddies Go).\" On her 1967 solo single \"Wanting You,\" Stevens even moved into credible blue-eyed soul. If there's any mild criticism to be noted, it's that they sometimes made variations on a theme that were too obvious, as when they followed up \"Deep Purple\" with a quite similar-sounding update of another standard, \"Whispering.\" But generally they made adventurous and quite enjoyable recordings on the poppier side of pop\/rock. They're showcased well on this package, with detailed liner notes that include many vintage illustrations and comments from both Tempo and Stevens. ~ Richie Unterberger","brand":"MovieMars","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45823227592991,"sku":"029667045421","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/7833\/0399\/files\/9b199e3cc3458a0e2de41274720d1b9d_13b77fa0-a22c-4d9e-b4a4-f4468cbe4e3e.jpg?v=1777660370","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemars.com\/products\/hey-baby-the-nino-tempo-april-stevens-anthology","provider":"MovieMars","version":"1.0","type":"link"}