For those unaware, Liverpool beat band The Cryin’ Shames left behind a slim legacy of just two singles before splitting but they gave producer Joe Meek his last Top 30 hit in 1966 with the magnificent, haunting, tearjerker, ‘Please Stay’ and freakbeat fans love the B side, ‘What’s News Pussycat’, that sounds like the early Stones covering Dylan!

Their second single combined another ballad ‘Nobody Waved Goodbye’ with the infectious beat of ‘You’, but now alongside the four single sides, many other recordings have been unearthed from the Tea Chest Tapes including alternative versions and works in progress but also many previously unissued tracks such as interpretations of The Marvelettes’ ‘I’ll Keep Holding On’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘No Good Without You Baby‘ and Them’s ‘Gloria’.

Highlights abound with ‘Let Me In’ (also recorded by The Sorrows) and the previously unknown ‘Breakout’, particular stand outs. Offshoot band Paul And Ritchie And The Crying Shames formed by Charlie ‘Paul’ Crane and Ritchie Routledge (both formerly of The Cryin’ Shames) are represented by both sides of their sole single, including freakbeat classic, ‘Come On Back’ and three tracks recorded for the BBC’s Saturday Club.

Five songs from The Cryin’ Shames’ impressive audition with Joe Meek (when they were still known as The Bumblies) that persuaded him to sign the band are also included. Plus two unreleased tracks by Cryin’ Shames member Derek Cleary’s band Friendly Persuasion. Bonus track ‘Feels Like Loving’ is believed to have been recorded by singer Charlie ‘Paul’ Crane with session musicians, but planned as a Cryin’ Shames release.

CD 1:
1. Please Stay
2. What’s News Pussycat (Extended Fade)
3. Nobody Waved Goodbye
4. You
5. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – September In The Rain
6. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – Come On Back
AUDITION (as The Bumblies)
7. She Belongs To Me (Audition)
8. Please Stay (Audition)
9. Gloria (Audition)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man (Audition)
11. Pain In My Heart (Audition)
12. I’ll Keep Holding On (Version 2)
13. Land Of 1,000 Dances
14. Gloria
15. No Good Without You Baby
16. She Belongs To Me
17. My Girl
18. With God On Our Side
19. As Tears Go By
20. Only You
21. Wanna Be Loved
22. Take Me For A Little While
23. You’re A Wonderful One
24. Let Me In
25. Breakout
26. Feels Like Loving [Bonus Track]

This first disc opens on The Cryin Shames’ languishing, organ-hued Please Stay and the harmonica-driven What’s News Pussycat (Extended Fade), and then we get the very sad song Nobody Waved Goodbye and the Mersey beat-imbibed You, before a couple from Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames are brought forth.

Along next are a set from their audition as The Bumblies, the lonesome, Dylan-esque ode within She Belongs To Me, another Please Stay, the rambunctious Gloria, and the auditions culminate with the upbeat Gloria, the luxuriant hipsway of Mr. Tambourine Man and the shimmering Pain In My Heart, and then come a slew of gold musical nuggets, including the smoothly satisfying As Tears Go By, the mid-tempo Take Me For A Little While, the disc rounding out on the sweeping bonus track Feels Like Loving.

CD 2: Alternative Versions and Sessions
1. Please Stay (No Overdubs)
2. Please Stay (Overdubs Only Take 2)
3. Please Stay (Alternate Version)
4. What’s News Pussycat (Instrumental Take 3)
5. What News Pussycat (Alternate Version)
6. Nobody Waved Goodbye (Alternative Arrangement, Vocal Version Take 7)
7. Nobody Waved Goodbye (Alternate Arrangement, Backing Track Take 3)
8. Nobody Waved Goodbye (No Overdubs)
9. Nobody Waved Goodbye (Overdubs Take 2)
10. You (Take 2)
11. Let Me In (Phase 1 Take 2)
12. Let Me In (Phase 1 Take 3)
13. Let Me In (Overdubs Take 2)
14. Breakout (Backing Track Plus Guide Vocal)
15. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – September In The Rain (Alternate Version)
16. Come On Back Take 8
17. Come On Back (Alternate Vocal)
18. I’ll Keep Holding On (Version 1)
FRIENDLY PERSUASION
19. Friendly Persuasion (featuring Derek Cleary) – The End Of The World
20. Friendly Persuasion (featuring Derek Cleary) – Come On
LIVE AT THE BBC
21. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – Circles (BBC Saturday Club 13/09/1966)
22. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – Shake (BBC Saturday Club 13/09/1966)
23. Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames – September In The Rain (BBC Saturday Club 13/09/1966)
24. Please Stay (Live In France, May 1966) [Bonus Track]
25. Gloria (Live In France, May 1966) [Bonus Track]

The second disc opens on a trio of various Please Stay, the best, for my money being the interesting Alternate Version, a couple of What’s News Pussycat’s, again, the alt-titled What News Pussycat (Alternate Version) being the stand out for me, and then come a quartet of Nobody Waved Goodbye, the highlight for me being the No Overdubs version (very interesting to hear now).

Along next is a singular You (Take 2) which is backed by a trio of Let Me In, the highlight for me being the Phase 1 Take 3 cut, then we get a singular Breakout (Backing Track Plus Guide Vocal) and then the vibrantly colorful Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames cut September In The Rain (Alternate Version), and then a couple of Come On Back’s, before the singular I’ll Keep Holding On (Version 1).

A couple from Friendly Persuasion (featuring Derek Cleary) are not on deck, the languishing The End Of The World and the organ/drum-led, hand-clapping beauty Come On, before Paul & Ritchie & The Crying Shames then bring us a trio of live tracks from BBC Radio: the swinging London-vibed hits Circles, Shake and the mini-masterpiece September In The Rain, the collection closing on the Live In France, May 1966 bonus tracks Please Stay and Gloria.

Detailed notes are provided by the Joe Meek Society’s Craig Newton and the booklet includes rare band photos and pictures of original tape boxes.

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