NOW Yearbook Presents - The 60s - Volume Three: 1965-1966 (Special Edition 4CD)

Step back to the mid-1960s with NOW Yearbook Presents – The 60s – Volume 3: 1965–1966, featuring 85 classic tracks across 4 CDs, presented in deluxe hardback book packaging with a 28-page booklet including a detailed look at the mid-’60s pop revolution and full track-by-track guide. Available 10th July.

CD1 opens with some of the decade’s most iconic vocal performances; Dusty Springfield leads with ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’, a UK No.1 hit that also reached the US Top 5, followed by The Righteous Brothers’ classic ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’’, a chart-topper in both the UK and US. The Walker Brothers’ ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ was a UK Top 3 hit, while The Beach Boys follow with ‘God Only Knows’, widely regarded as one of their finest moments. The Byrds and The Mamas & The Papas captured the rise of folk-rock with ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, which was a US No.1, and ‘California Dreamin’’ which became a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and Cher announced one of the most successful and enduring careers in music with ‘I Got You Babe’ – a #1 duet with Sonny. More classic 60s smashes arrive courtesy of The Kinks, The Animals and Small Faces, alongside The Spencer Davis Group, Manfred Mann and The Mindbenders. The disc closes with a trio of soul standards from Jimmy Ruffin with ‘What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted’, The Temptations, whose ‘My Girl’ was a US No.1(and eventually a UK #2 in 1992), and Percy Sledge’s ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’, another US chart-topper and a UK Top 5 hit in 1987 when it featured in a TV ad campaign.

CD2 opens with the explosive sound of 60s soul and crossover pop. Ike & Tina Turner kick us off with the timeless ‘River Deep – Mountain High’, a UK Top 3 hit. Motown is strongly represented with The Four Tops, whose ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ hit the US No.1 spot, alongside The Supremes, who scored another US chart-topper with ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. Next, a stellar run including Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Stevie Wonder, leads in to (later) Northern Soul classics from Gloria Jones and Frank Wilson – plus - James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Fontella Bass bring raw R&B energy. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons’ ‘Let’s Hang On’ was a UK Top 5 single, and features alongside The McCoys, whose ‘Hang On Sloopy’ reached No.1 in the US. Elvis Presley (‘Love Letters’), Donovan (‘Catch The Wind’) and Marianne Faithfull (‘Come And Stay With Me’) are all featured ahead of the discs’ closer from The Seekers with ‘The Carnival Is Over’.

CD3 opens with pop classics from Tom Jones who leads with ‘It’s Not Unusual’, a UK No.1, alongside Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames’ UK chart-topper ‘Yeh Yeh’ and Chris Montez with ‘The More I See You’. Next up a run of sophisticated easy listening pop from Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra’s iconic ‘Strangers In The Night’ , Nina Simone’s ‘I Put A Spell On You’, Burt Bacharach’s ‘Trains And Boats And Planes’ and the huge instrumental hit ‘A Walk In The Black Forest’ from Horst Jankowsaki. More easy-pop gems follow from Jackie Trent,  Cilla Black,  Ken Dodd, and Jim Reeves while Peter and Gordon hit with their cover of ‘True Love Ways’, and The Everly Brothers (‘The Price Of Love’), Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders (‘The Game Of Love’) and The Fortunes with ‘You’ve Got Your Troubles’ all enjoyed chart success, and lead to the disc’s final tracks from The Overlanders with their cover of ‘Michelle’, Roger Miller’s peerless ‘King Of The Road’ and Roy Orbison with ‘Too Soon To Know’.

CD4 highlights the period’s rapidly changing pop landscape with more US artists finding success in the UK charts…Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Homeward Bound’ opens the final disc ahead of The Mamas & The Papas’ ‘Monday, Monday’ (a US No.1 and UK Top 5), and Beach Boys’ with their trans-Atlantic Top 5 hit ‘Sloop John B’. Sophisticated pop from Sandie Shaw and Petula Clark lead into more major hits from The Supremes (‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’), Four Tops (‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)’) – plus The Toys with ‘A Lover’s Concerto’ and The Shangri-Las’ legendary ‘Leader Of The Pack’. The Troggs’ pop-rock classic ‘Wild Thing’, which was a US No.1 and UK Top 2 is up next alongside Cher’s dramatic ‘Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)’ and ahead of era-defining hits from Barry McGuire and Bob Dylan’s hugely influential ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ reflecting the growing social awareness and changing approach to songwriting. Small Faces, The Spencer Davis Group and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich feature before the set starts it’s close with Tom Jones (‘Green Green Grass Of Home’), The Walker Brothers UK No.1 ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’, the superb vocals of Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield, and finishing with The Righteous Brothers’ undeniable and timeless ‘Unchained Melody’, a hit on release and a #1 in 1990 following it’s feature in the film ‘Ghost’.

NOW Yearbook Presents – The 60s – Volume 3: 1965–1966 – a snapshot of a rapidly evolving pop era where pure pop, soul, rock, beat, easy listening and songwriting sophistication converged.