Skip to content Calling all Gary Brown fans! Calling all Gary Brown fans! Eighteen songs ranging from previously released hits to newer tunes is now available from KHP Music. OK, here’s the lowdown on this project. First up is “Let’s Dance”, which has already proven popular since it’s release on the “Coast To Coast” CD compilation earlier this year. Brownie’s charted version of Tony Orlando’s “Halfway To Paradise” is next. One of the cardinal rules when covering a well known tune is to do it “better” or “different” than the original. Now this is just my opinion friends, but that has been accomplished with “Something Old, Something New”, a beach classic originally recorded by The Fantastics. The tempo has been stepped up just a tat and the “slow down part” of the original has been omitted. Produced by Doug Manning, this is one of my favorites. Batting cleanup is the mega-hit “Is The Magic Still There”. Accompanied by some blues harp playing, “The Girl Can’t Help It” is next, followed by the soulful delivery of “I Walked Alone”. Another Doug Manning produced tune is “I Just Want To Dance With You”. Yes, this is the same song as recorded by country music superstar George Strait, but this version is all Beach Music! Number eight is “It’s All About You”, a ballad sure to get the floor busy. The happy go lucky “In My Dreams” is next, with “Man That’s Smooth” right behind it. Two songs that go hand in hand follow: “Ocean Drive” and “Hard To Say Goodbye”. The latter being a tribute to The “Late” Pavilion in Myrtle Beach, with some top shelf sax work from Mark Black. Brownie’s a lucky “such and such” because “She’s Got The Look (She’s Got The Touch)”, then he goes “Round & Round” on a great version of this Jack Mack classic. From the pen of Doug Manning comes the proven “So Hung Up On You” and a remake of one of my all-time favorite Catalinas’ songs, “Dancin’ Romancin’”. He sang lead with The Cats on this Lynn Barker (former Catalina) written song on their “Summertime’s Calling Me” LP in 1980 and it’s just as good in its new form as the original. Another one that has country roots is “Just Call Me Lonesome”, but this version is far from country with its driving intro, horns, and guitar work. As a bonus track, finishing up this project is “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. Your Beach Music collection needs to include “All Under One Roof”.
UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE BEST VOICES IN BEACH MUSIC….PROBABLY THE REASON MANY BANDS RECRUITED THIS VOCAL MASTER…CAN SING IT ALL….AND ALSO ADDED HIS UNIQUE VOICE TO MANY JOHNNY BARKER PRODUCTIONS. WILL ALWAYS BE PROUD TO CALL HIM MY FRIEND.