The third and final of Ace's series documenting
Little Willie John's recordings for King is the weakest of the trio, though like the others it's a great service to fans who want as much of his output as possible available on CD. All of these two dozen sides originally appeared on 1961-1964 singles, with the exception of one previously unissued track, "Like Boy, Like Girl," which is actually one of the better cuts. By this time,
John's records had largely stopped selling, though his last big R&B hit, 1961's "Take My Love (I Want to Give It All to You)," is included on this disc. His voice remained as strong and soulful as ever, but the material he was given -- most of these songs, unlike "Take My Love (I Want to Give It All to You)," weren't written by
John himself -- was largely unimpressive. What's more, though this doesn't really matter so many years after this was recorded, it was also passé, for the most part not reflecting the trends that had displaced him from the charts. The best tunes here tend to be the covers of well-known songs, like the orchestrated version of the pop standard "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over"; "Every Beat of My Heart," the
Johnny Otis composition that was a big hit for
the Pips; and, in a much more unlikely selection, the country hit "She Thinks I Still Care." Other songs are often dragged down by a formulaic early rock & roll feel that was becoming dated by the early 1960s, and "Mister Glenn," inspired by astronaut John Glenn, even tries to ride a novelty bandwagon. While the sessions
John did in early 1966 for Capitol (now available on the Ace CD
Nineteen Sixty Six: The David Axelrod & H.B. Barnum Sessions) weren't great, they nonetheless found him more comfortably adapting to the times. This collection isn't so bad either, but is more for dedicated
John fans than the typical soul listener looking for the best one or two compilations of the singer's work. Incidentally, the liner notes, in addition to being up to Ace's usual high standard, are of more interest than usual in this case, including fascinating if sad descriptions of letters exchanged between
John and King label boss
Syd Nathan in the final years of
John's life, when
John was facing imprisonment or incarcerated.