Dave Berry

A Dozen Berry's was an accurate reflection of Dave Berry's mid-'60s output, inasmuch as it was a rather schizo collection of British Invasion styles, ranging from all-out R&B raves and '50s rock & roll covers to twee yet likable pop ballads. Whoever's playing on this (one would guess that Jimmy Page might well be on some or all of the guitars), they can play some cracking R&B-rock, heard to best effect on the covers of Dee Clark's "Hey Little Girl," Johnny Otis' "Casting My Spell," and Chuck Berry's "Round and Round." Would Berry have only been a vocalist on par with the likes of Mick Jagger or Van Morrison, this would be first-rate British R&B; he doesn't drag the songs down, but neither does he have enough personality to put his own stamp on them. Those are the first three songs on the LP, which makes it all the more shocking when track four turns out to be the mild, sentimental country-influenced ballad "Girl From the Fair Isle," complete with weepy strings and corny, '50s-sounding, ghostly female backup vocals. But that was Dave Berry for you: something for everyone, and surely not one to stick to a consistent style. Of the sentimental pop/rock ballads here, the best is certainly the gloomy "Tears to Remind Me," with its bullfighting horns and wailing female backup vocals. The best track of all, however, is the downright evil R&B of "I Love You Babe," which starts as a slow grinder before revving up to a manic rocker. It could be his best track ever, in fact (though it had already been released on the LP The Special Sound of Dave Berry), with the possible exception of the 1964 B-side "Don't Gimme No Lip Child." ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi