T. Roe Price

Decades ago I enjoyed searching for musical vinyl at a long-defunct store called For the Record in Amherst, MA. They carried used records along with new releases, including imports. I bought most of my British Parlophone Beatles albums at For the Record, and some Beatles bootlegs too.

A lot of budget-priced reissues of Sixties music were coming out, and for $4.29 I bought an LP called “Tommy Roe Collectibles,” an MCA reissue of Roe’s recordings for ABC. Playing it this week for the first time in ages, I am stunned by the superb stereo sound most of the tracks have, with the exception of “Everybody,” which is presented in fake stereo. My favorite track is “It’s Now Winter’s Day,” which is nothing like the Bubblegum style that Roe is known for. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” has nothing on this one.

The best retrospective of Roe’s underrated career can be heard in outstanding mono on Andrew Sandoval’s “Come to the Sunshine” podcast at this link. Any performer who can have a #1 Pop hit in 1962 (“Sheila”) — the year the Beatles signed with Parlophone — and then have a #1 record again in 1969 (“Dizzy”) — the last year the Beatles worked together — deserves attention.

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