While other contenders may have had greater commercial success, Tony Rivers was surely the British harmony pop scene’s pivotal figure during the 60s.

As leader of The Castaways, he made a series of superlative singles before finally scoring a hit in 1969 with the irresistible Move In A Little Closer Baby shortly after the band had been relaunched as Harmony Grass.

But follow-up singles failed to repeat the trick, and after the superb album This Is Us was ignored, Tony left the band to accept a backroom role in the industry. Meanwhile, he made several pseudonymous singles that were instrumental in his 1975 recruitment as leader of Cliff Richard’s vocal harmony trio.

Move In A Little Closer is the first-ever complete anthology of Tony’s exemplary studio work with both The Castaways and Harmony Grass, including a number of tracks that were unreleased at the time, as well as an entire CD-worth of previously-unissued BBC sessions recorded with both bands.

The definitive 3CD set in a lavish digipak package includes a new 6000 word essay on Tony’s early career that contains reminiscences on his associations with managers Brian Epstein and Robert Stigwood and his brushes with rock royalty including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and his prime inspirers The Beach Boys.

CD 1: Tony Rivers and The Castaways [Studio]
1. SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE
2. ROW, ROW, ROW
3. THE HAPPY SONG
4. I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK
5. I LOVE YOU
6. LIFE’S TOO SHORT
7. (DON’T YOU EVER) TELL ON ME
8. SHE
9. ’TILL WE GET HOME
10. COME BACK
11. WHAT TO DO
12. COME ON AND LOVE ME TOO
13. PRETEND
14. BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO
15. LOVE YOU BABY
16. NOWHERE MAN
17. GIRL FROM NEW YORK CITY
18. GIRL DON’T TELL ME
19. SALT LAKE CITY
20. GOD ONLY KNOWS
21. CHARADE
22. CAN’T MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU BABY
23. EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK
24. GRADUATION DAY
25. SUMMER DREAMING
26. THE GRASS WILL SING FOR YOU
27. MR. SUN
28. TURN OF THE CENTURY
29. FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE
30. I CAN GUARANTEE YOU LOVE
32. PANTOMIME

The first album, Tony Rivers and The Castaways [Studio], opens on the pure Dagenham sound of SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE and the rambunctious ROW, ROW, ROW and the comes the fervently poppy THE HAPPY SONG,a beat-heavy ripoff of John Lee Hooker’s Dimples via I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK, the Beatles styling’s within I LOVE YOU, a cool version of the Lafayettes’ 1962 original LIFE’S TOO SHORT, the smooth as silk (DON’T YOU EVER) TELL ON ME, and then we get the catchy, finger-snapper SHE, it’s original b-side ’TILL WE GET HOME, and their crossbreed sound of British Pop and California Surf sound, COME BACK.

Next up we get the Arthur Lee Love sound of WHAT TO DO and the pop-rock of the brilliant COME ON AND LOVE ME TOO and they are backed by the always-great, buoyant PRETEND (this cover, much like Alvin Stardust’s in 1981, largely based on Carl Mann’s 1959 version), the harmonized BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO, the guitar hipshaker LOVE YOU BABY, a cookie cutter version of the Beatles NOWHERE MAN, and then come the low slung vocals of GIRL FROM NEW YORK CITY, a kick-ass GIRL DON’T TELL ME, and in a decent nod to re-creating Pet Sounds, a duo from the Beach Boys in the form of SALT LAKE CITY and GOD ONLY KNOWS.

If the Beach Boys would have recorded CHARADE, it would have sounded like this and that is in turn followed by the wonderfully orchestrated CAN’T MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU BABY, the hand clapper EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK, the lovely vocal sound and balance of GRADUATION DAY, the sunny haze of SUMMER DREAMING, and original hit from Cherish, which was later covered by David Cassidy, the languishing THE GRASS WILL SING FOR YOU, the summer’s breeze of MR. SUN, the disc rounding out on the organ-hued TURN OF THE CENTURY, the cute FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, closing on the strident pop bounce of I CAN GUARANTEE YOU LOVE and the beautifully fervent, well-paced PANTOMIME.

CD 2: Harmony Grass [Studio]
1. MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER BABY
2. MY LITTLE GIRL
3. WHAT A GROOVY DAY
4. I’VE SEEN TO DREAM
5. (IT AIN’T NECESSARILY) BYRD AVENUE
6. CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO
7. GOOD THING
8. MRS. RICHIE
9. SUMMER DREAMING
10. I THINK OF YOU
11. BALLAD OF MICHAEL
12. TOM DOOLEY
13. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN LOVE DIES
14. HAPPINESS IS TOY-SHAPED
15. FIRST TIME LOVING
16. I REMEMBER
17. TEACH ME HOW
18. CECILIA
19. IT TAKES A LOT OF LOVING
20. LET MY TEARS FLOW
21. YOU AND I SUMMER DREAMING
22. MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER BABY
23. TE LO RICORDI (I Remember, Italian lyrics)

The next album is the Harmony Grass [Studio], which opens on the euphorically uplifting title track, MOVE IN A LITTLE CLOSER BABY and the hip-slapper MY LITTLE GIRL and then brings us the aptly-named WHAT A GROOVY DAY, the ambient I’VE SEEN TO DREAM, the free flowing (IT AIN’T NECESSARILY) BYRD AVENUE, a lush version of CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO (originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra), a sweeping GOOD THING, the train ride ambiance of MRS. RICHIE, the disc rounding out on the flower power vibe of SUMMER DREAMING, the simply beautiful I THINK OF YOU, closing on the wholly underrated BALLAD OF MICHAEL and the traditional folk song TOM DOOLEY, arranged a la Four Freshmen.

CD 3: The Castaways / Harmony Grass at the BBC
1. SWINGING ON A STAR
2. LITTLE DARLIN’
3. SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE
4. JEZEBEL
5. ALL MY LOVING
6. ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
7. SURF CITY
8. ROW, ROW, ROW
9. I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK
10. ABILENE
11. UNCHAIN MY HEART
12. I LOVE YOU
13. SHIPWRECK
14. LIFE’S TOO SHORT
15. THE FERRIS WHEEL
16. ROCKIN’ ROBIN
17. LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA
18. SHE
19. ’TILL WE GET HOME
20. I GET AROUND
21. WHEN I GROW UP TO BE A MAN
22. BABY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO
23. I CAN GUARANTEE YOU LOVE
24. WINDY
25. A GIRL LIKE YOU

This third album, which opens with a selection from Tony Rivers & The Castaways, kicks things off with the cozy love song SWINGING ON A STAR (first introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way) and the yearning ode within LITTLE DARLIN’ (made famous by the Diamonds) and back those up with another version of SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, a tight cover of Wayne Shanklin’s JEZEBEL, a by-the-book cover of the Beatles’ ALL MY LOVING, a rockin’ blues version of Chuck Berry’s infamous ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN, the brilliant-to-hear SURF CITY (Jan and Dean), and then we get another ROW, ROW, ROW, and I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK, and a cover of ABILENE (made famous beforehand by George Hamilton IV), the fun pop bounce of UNCHAIN MY HEART (a song written by Bobby Sharp and recorded first in 1961 by Ray Charles, and in 1963 by Trini Lopez, et al.), the rhythmically melodic I LOVE YOU, and then comes the surf rock of SHIPWRECK.

26. WALK ON BY
27. FIRST TIME LOVING
28. BABY YOU COME ROLLIN’ ACROSS MY MIND
29. SUMMER DREAMING
30. I REMEMBER
31. MRS. RICHIE
32. CECILIA
33. WICHITA LINEMAN

And the box-set rounds out with a section from Harmony Grass, the late Burt Bacharach’s magnificent WALK ON BY opening the collection and being stoutly followed by WALK ON BY and the pop bounce of FIRST TIME LOVING, and they are in turn backed seamlessly by their cover of Peppermint Trolley Company’s BABY YOU COME ROLLIN’ ACROSS MY MIND, another version of his very own Castaways’ SUMMER DREAMING, the oh-so beautiful harmonies within I REMEMBER, the album rounding out on another MRS. RICHIE, a by-the-book cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s joyous CECILIA, coming to a close on the fabulous WICHITA LINEMAN; written by Jimmy Webb and first recorded by Glen Campbell.

This is the first-ever complete 3CD anthology of 60s recordings from leading British harmony pop vocalist Tony Rivers.

Featuring all of his studio recordings as leader of both The Castaways and Harmony Grass as well as 80 minutes of previously unreleased BBC session recordings from the same timeframe.

Official 3CD Purchase Link