VA - Dream Babes Volume Six - Sassy And Stonefree (2005)

Where previous volumes of the worthy Dream Babes series focused on woman-sung British pop/rock of a slightly earlier (mid-'60s) vintage, Sassy and Stonefree: Dream Babes, Vol. 6 has a somewhat later timespan, featuring 22 recordings from 1966-1972 (three of them previously unreleased). Accordingly, there are more soul, heavy rock, and singer/songwriter influences to be heard, though it's still identifiably Brit-pop-based for the most part. Even if you think you know your '60s Brit-pop, you might not be well acquainted with many of the names here; it takes quite some digging to assemble a compilation of this sort in which the most famous names are Clodagh Rodgers (whose "Come Back and Shake Me," included here, made number three in the U.K. in 1969), Samantha Jones, and Lesley Duncan. It's shorter on highlights than other installments in the series, and not the kind of thing that would have given Dusty Springfield and Lulu much to worry about. There's some stuff to enjoy in what's a pretty pop-soul-oriented set, particularly on the production end. But there are no true standouts as far as the songs are concerned, and while the singers are okay, none are especially commanding (and some of the material would have probably been done better by the American artists the producers and vocalists sometimes seemed to be trying to emulate). Generally it's tastefully perky and upbeat, never more so than on Sandra Bryant's "Girl with Money," which is a little reminiscent of the kind of uptempo songs Neil Diamond wrote in his early solo career.