Brand New CD Reissue - VIVIAN REED: "Yours Until Tomorow: The Epic Years"

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Hot off the CD press is the release of Vivian Reed's "Yours Until Tomorrow: The Epic Years", courtesy of SoulMusicRecords. It marks "a first-ever compilation of all of the recordings by renowned entertainer Vivian Reed, cut between 1968-1971 for Epic Records. Included is Vivian's sole self-titled Epic LP, along with non-album tracks issued as A and B sides of singles issued both before and after the album's release in 1968."

The track lineup is as follows:
1. Baby Baby [[I'll Be Your Woman 'TiI I Die)
2. I
3. Yours Until Tomorrow
4. I Wanna Be Free
5. Look the Other Way
6. Down Here on The Ground
7. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling / [[You're My) Soul and Inspiration
8. Harper Valley P.T.A.
9. Walk on My Side
10. Let's Fall in Love All Over
11. The Shape of Things to Come
12. I've Gotta Be Me
13. Somewhere [[From "West Side Story")
14. Mama Open the Door
15. Then I'll Be Over You
16. Unbelievable
17. Lean on Me
18. Missing You
19. I Feel the Earth Move
20. Don't Close the Door on Me

This is a really exciting release! Vivian's vocals are both fresh and appealing. The material is top-notch in most cases, and the sound quality is excellent throughout. [[In my opinion, the only throw-away tracks are "Harper Valley PTA" and "The Shape Of Things To Come", but, who knows, they could turn out to be your favorites!)

My personal favorite tracks are:
TRACK #:
1) "Baby Baby [[I'll Be Your Woman 'Til I Die" [[which is a beautiful answer record to Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's "Woman Woman". Should have been a huge hit!)
3) "Yours Until Tomorrow" [[A beautiful ballad)
5) "Look The Other Way" [[a Philly track also recorded by Lesley Gore)
7) "You've Lost That Loving Feeling/Soul And Inspiration" [[a great musical arrangement)
9) "Walk On My Side"
12) "I've Gotta Be Me" [[an outstanding bluesy version of Sammy Davis, Jr.'s, standard)
13) "Somewhere" [[from "West Side Story" -- also given a fresh, bluesy treatment)
16) "Unbelievable" [[Also bluesy)

For The Van McCoy fans -- two beautiful productions from 1971:
17) "Lean On Me" [[the original, laid-back version of the masterpiece ballad covered 4 years later by Melba Moore), and
18) "Missing You" [[a mid-tempo, Motown-flavored tune with a real nice shuffle beat) BOTH RECORDINGS ARE TOP-NOTCH VAN McCOY/JOE COBB PRODUCTIONS!

and, finally,
19) "I Feel The Earth Move" [[a hot, rollicking version of the Carole King hit. Vivian can really get down!)

I bought Vivian Reed's "Yours Until Tomorrow: The Epic Years" CD for the two Van McCoy productions, but I ended up falling in love with more than half of the songs enclosed. Don't be fooled -- although Vivian Reed was famous for her Broadway performances, don't let that scare you. This CD is pure Pop/Soul. It's hard to fathom why her records didn't skyrocket up the charts.

Here's the Amazon [[U.S.) link:
https://www.amazon.com/Yours-Until-T...vivian+reed+cd