Hits & Rarities 1961-1968

by Paul Petersen

Overview

The March 3, 1962, issue of Billboard marked the Hot 100 debuts of two teenage actors from the same TV series, The Donna Reed Show, 18-year-old Shelley Fabares with "Johnny Angel" and 16-year-old Paul Petersen with "She Can't Find Her Keys," both on Colpix Records. Petersen's novelty tune only made the Top 20, while "Johnny Angel" topped the charts, but he managed five more chart entries, including the Top Ten "My Dad," before the hits stopped coming in 1964. This comprehensive collection includes the successful discs and some interesting obscurities in a musical career that was always something of a side project for Petersen. His main gig, of course, was the TV show, in which he appeared from 1958 to 1966, but since he could carry a tune it was a natural for him to try a pop singing career in the tradition of Rick Nelson. Most of the music was forgettable, of course, although he did get a chance to essay a Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition, "Keep Your Love Locked (Deep in Your Heart)," and Brian Wilson gave him a suitably surf-oriented production on "She Rides with Me." By 1965, with "You Don't Need Money," he was introducing a vocal growl that made his singing a bit more distinctive, but that was his last Colpix single. Among the rarities are two singles he cut for Motown Records in 1967-1968 that find him fronting the Funk Brothers session band on some decent material, particularly "Don't Let It Happen to Us," and a trio of songs from the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, including a rewrite of "Kids" called "Folks" on which he's joined by Fabares. Petersen survived his teen idol phase to become a novelist, but along the way he made some representative light pop music of the period, the highlights of which are heard here. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	07/19/2024
Label:	Teensville
UPC:	0097037078560
Rank:	114807

Tracks

1. She Can't Find Her Keys
2. Keep Your Love Locked (Deep in Your Heart)
3. Lollipops & Roses
4. My Dad
5. Amy
6. Girls in the Summertime
7. The Cheerleader
8. Poorest Boy in Town
9. She Rides With Me
10. Where Is She?
11. Hey There Beautiful
12. Little Dreamer
13. Happy
14. The Ring
15. You Don't Need Money
16. Little Boy Sad
17. Be Everything to Anyone You Love
18. Mama Your Little Boy Fell
19. I Wanna Be Free [TV]
20. Rosie [From Bye Bye Birdie]
21. One Girl [From Bye Bye Birdie]
22. Kids [Folks] [From Bye Bye Birdie]
23. Very Unlikely
24. What Did They Do Before Rock 'n' Roll?
25. Don't Let It Happen to Us
26. Chained
27. A Little Bit for Sandy
28. Your Love's Got Me Burning Alive
29. Two Little Boys
30. Quarantine
31. Quarantine [TV Insert]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paul Petersen   Primary Artist
The Honeys   Vocals (Background)
Larry Knechtel   Keyboards
Carol Kaye   Bass
David Gates   Bass
Meyer Rubin   Bass
Ray Pohlman   Bass
Mike Rubin   Bass
Al DeLory   Keyboards
Tommy Tedesco   Guitar
Tiny Timbrell   Guitar
Hal Blaine   Drums
Glen Campbell   Guitar
Billy Strange   Guitar
Bill Pitman   Guitar
Earl Palmer   Drums
Ernie Freeman   Piano,Keyboards
Jay Migliori   Saxophone
Howard Roberts   Guitar
Jimmy Bond   String Bass
Plas Johnson   Saxophone
Ray Johnson   Piano,Keyboards
Steve Douglas   Saxophone
Bobby Gibbons   Guitar
Ernie Hughes   Piano,Keyboards
Joe Gibbons   Guitar
Richie Frost   Drums
Larry Breeb   Bass

Technical Credits

Sid Wayne   Composer
Lee Adams   Composer
Billy Page   Composer
Cynthia Weil   Composer
Doc Pomus   Composer
Carole King   Composer
Wally Gold   Composer
Lee Pockriss   Composer
Wayne Walker   Composer
Peter Udell   Composer
Jerry Riopelle   Composer
Nick DeCaro   Composer
R. Dean Taylor   Composer,Producer
Mike Anthony   Composer
George Tipton   Arranger
Tommy Boyce   Composer
Brian Gari   Producer,Liner Notes
Stu Phillips   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Brian Wilson   Composer,Producer
Tommy Roe   Composer
Gerry Goffin   Composer
Hank Levine   Arranger,Producer
Gary Geld   Composer
Barry Mann   Composer,Producer
Tony Velona   Composer
Frederick Tobias   Composer
Gene Page   Arranger
Charles Strouse   Composer
Roy Alfred   Composer
Vance Wilson   Composer
Fred Anisfield   Composer
Deane Hawley   Composer
Edward Madden   Composer
Frank Wilson   Composer,Producer
Roger Christian   Composer
Alan Jeffreys   Composer
Theodore Morse   Composer
Ruth Talmadge   Composer
Stu Philips   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Wayne P. Walker   Composer
Fred Tobias   Composer
Sherman Edwards   Composer