Dion: Runaround Sue CD Track Listing

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Dion Runaround Sue (1961)
Originally Released 1961\nRight Stuff CD Edition Released September 7, 1993\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Dion as a solo artist was initially a kind of hybrid performer, known for his teen idol image but trying for a harder and also a more advanced sound, as revealed on this album. The hits included here, "Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," and "The Majestic," are so familiar that they tend to eclipse the rest of this 14 song album -- all of the rest, however, is well-sung, -played, and -arranged, ranging from basic hard rock & roll ("Kansas City") to smooth teen pop, which always keeps at least one foot up to the ankle in rock & roll (hence the electric guitar solo on "Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight"). "Little Star" has rated inclusion on several key collections, while "Lonely World" is perhaps the lost single off of this album, with a great beat, killer hooks, and a beautifully shaped performance by the singer and his backup vocalists. What's more, even the covers of familiar material such as "Dream Lover" and "In the Still of the Night" are performed in a style unique to Dion and are worth hearing and owning. The singer was still straddling the gap between teen idol and serious rock & roller, and between late-'50s doo wop and a harder early-'60s sound, although the more serious love songs and the surprisingly articulate guitar solo on "Kansas City" clearly showed that he was winning the musical battle for his own distinct sound. It wasn't a long jump from the repertory here to his distinctive covers of R&B classics like "Ruby Baby." -- Bruce Eder\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOne of Dion's best and a great early rock LP, June 11, 2003\nReviewer: Harley P. Payette (Phillipsburg, New Jersey United States)\nWhile this isn't the place to start your Dion collection, (Get either the Repretoire Greatest Hits or the King of the New York Streets Box first.)if you're already a fan you should definitely dive in. This album is definitely one of the better LP from its era and some of Dion's best work. \nIn format, it's not a lot different than most other LPs of the time with a couple hits ("The Wanderer" and the title track), a handful of remakes and some token original tunes. However, this is a far more personal LP than you'll find from any other artist of the time. This LP truly represents the taste and personality of the Prince of the Bronx.\n\nThe covers here are not chosen randomly. "Dream Lover" is a tribute to one of Dion's most formative influences Bobby Darin. "Little Star", "In the Still of the Night" (the Five Satins song), "Kansas City" and "Life is But a Dream" were all the kind of stuff that Dion used to listen to on the street corner growing up. This is not to say that are all perfect. \n\nSome of these like the Darin number and Bobby Vee's "Take Good Care of My Baby" are a little too close to the originals. And Dion doesn't quite have the pipes to convert "In the Still of the Night" as well as Fred Parris. \n\nBut "Kansas City really kicks with an astonishing guitar solo. It stands proudly along "Sue" and "The Wanderer". And "Life is But A Dream" is Dion musically naked pushing his voice to its limit, expressing not just his love for the song but an outlook on life. \n\nThe original songs are also of a high quality. Dion co-composed "Lonely World" which features a great arrangement with the Del Satins and could have been a hit on its own. The lilting "Runaway Girl" and "Somebody Nobody Wants" express the other side of Dion's personality, the wounded lover. It's almost affecting as his swagger. There are no tracks originals or remakes that are anything less than respectable.\n\nWhat can you say about the hits? They are ageless and sound better here than on any other re-issue. Even more recent albums haven't captured what the engineers did here. You can hear the saxophone buried in the mix on "Sue" and the piano under the Del Satins' harmonies on "The Wanderer". \n\nThe new liner notes are brief but informative with input from Dion himself. The original notes are here as well. The main packaging drawback is that there are no additional photos to the ones on the front and back covers.\n\nOverall, this is a splendid buy, especially if you want to prove to friends that great rock albums did not start with the Beatles.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFairly Typical of the Era, September 20, 2005\nReviewer: Tony Picc "Tony" (Old Greenwich, CT USA)\nAlthough 2 of Dion's biggest are here, the rest of the LP/CD is typical of the early 60's LP formula; hits, covers & filler. The fact that this is Dion makes it more attractive, but I'd either go for a hits compliation or the Ace release from several years ago, "Runaround Sue/The Best of the Rest".\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA real classic, December 17, 2000\nReviewer: G. Sawaged (Canada)\n\nReleased originally in 1961, this album instantly became a classic and remained on the billboard charts for 51 weeks. I am quite sure that most people will know almost every song on this album, which, seeing as it is not a greatest hits album, is astonishing. He does an excellent cover of Bobby Darins 'Dream Lover' and a few other covers, but it's the song 'Runaround Sue' and the two blues 'Kansas City' and 'The Wanderer' that really make this album such a hit. A lot of people these days dismiss the old classics from the 50's and 60's as mere bubblegum, but I defy anyone to listen to this and not feel like dancing.\n\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nPersonnel includes: Dion (vocals); Sticks Evans (drums); The Del-Satins (background vocals).\n\nIncludes liner notes by George Werthener.\n\nLike his contemporaries the Four Seasons, Bronx, NY native Dion DiMucci provided a bridge from 1950s doo-wop and early rock & roll to '60s pop, much as the first Motown artists were doing in Detroit. Though Dion (one of the first rockers to earn single-name status) scored plenty of hits in the early '60s--not least of which being the raw, sassy title track of this disc--he never came across stronger than on "The Wanderer." This paean to waywardness was full of fun, freedom, lust--in short, all the things that made rock & roll important, not just great, to begin with. A hearty take on Wilbert Harrison's classic "Kansas City" also stands to prove that Dion was no slouch at singing the blues if that's what the situation demanded.
This rock cd contains 12 tracks and runs 31min 22sec.
Freedb: 9a07580c
Buy: from Amazon.com

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