Lenny Welch was a New Jerseyite who achieved a good few US hits by dint of good middle-of-the-road singing. As this 20-track collection shows, he spread this across a number of different styles.
Changa Rock successfully anticipates Trini Lopez’s easy Latino sound, while Mama, Don’t You Hit That Boy is as close as Welch gets to real rock’n’roll. Growing up on the East Coast gave Welch regular exposure to doo wop, and Congratulations Baby will catch the ears of genre fans, as will the Brill Building feel of It’s Just Not That Easy, which stands as a good example of early-60s New York pop.
Though The Beatles seemingly hijacked Welch’s smooth arrangement of A Taste Of Honey from his 1962 London single (one of his biggest US hits), the overall feel of this collection is exemplified by a string-filled version of Stranger In Paradise: tasteful, but ultimately very safe.
