Ellie Greenwich

Making a solo album consisting mostly of remakes of hits she'd co-written for others in the early to mid-'60s was not necessarily a bad idea for Greenwich. As shown on the Raindrops singles and rare solo 45s, her vocals were good, as good, in fact, as those of most of the acts for whom she wrote. She'd never gotten to release her own versions of those songs back then, and this 1973 album gave her the chance to do so. The problem was, it was 1973, not 1963 or 1965, and she was lumbered with flat, dispirited complacent 1973 production that couldn't help but make these sound like tame adult contemporary counterparts to the classic originals. She went through the exercise anyway, putting down remakes of hits she'd helped pen for the Ronettes, Crystals, Lesley Gore, Dixie Cups, and Ike & Tina Turner. There's nothing wrong with her vocals, and certainly nothing wrong with the songwriting, but it pales next to the hit versions, and it's not even the best of the relatively scarce recordings she did manage to make on her own. The entire album is included on the Raven compilation Ellie Greenwich, which also includes her entire 1973 LP Composes, Produces and Sings, as well as a few non-LP cuts. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide