One of the plethora of budget-priced releases that supplemented
Cliff Richard's 1960s discography,
It'll Be Me is, in fact, a straightforward reissue of the 1962 album
32 Minutes & 17 Seconds, itself significant as
Richard's final release before
Brian Epstein and
the Beatles rewrote the rock & roll rule book. It's not one of his best albums by a long chalk, but it does have moments of sheer brilliance. An excellent version of skiffle king
Chas McDevitt's "How Long Is Forever" ranks among his strongest ballad performances in some time, while "I'm Walking the Blues" could easily be "Travellin' Light" revisited, so closely (and knowingly) do voice and instrumentation ape that earlier hit. He brings a new voice to "Spanish Harlem" only months after
Ben E. King scored his original hit version, while the newly appointed title track, a rocking version of the
Jerry Lee Lewis classic that remains one of
Richard's most scintillating singles, is unimpeachable. Plus, in historical terms, it represented a massive red flag being waved at the bullish young beat merchants gathering to topple his throne. He'd never be so vulgar as to say the words out loud, but you know what
Cliff Richard is thinking: bring them on!