My Way: The Paul Jones Collection Vol. 1 Soundtrack CD - Import

This collection includes the 1966 album MY WAY, the PRIVILEGE EP, three non-album singles and two previously unreleased tracks.

Jones' debut album, 1966's My Way, found him and/or his record company seemingly determined to follow a far more all-around pop entertainer sound than Paul had trodden as the lead singer of Manfred Mann. Such strategies rarely yield fruitful results, and that was the case here, with a set list that, in trying to please everybody, came up short all around. Much of it is big-ballad pop in a sub-Tom Jones sort of style, and R&B/blues influences are, incredibly, virtually absent. Jones does manage to sneak in a few of his own songs (including an inferior remake of one he had done with the Manfreds, "She Needs Company"), but these are hardly exceptional. Coming on the heels of the Manfred Mann era, the bloated British orchestral-pop arrangements -- more suited to Petula Clark (but not as good as Petula's) -- were disappointing indeed, yet the album did yield a big British hit with "High Time." The CD reissue improves things considerably with the addition of nine bonus cuts from the same era, taken from EPs, singles, and unreleased tracks. These are highlighted by the EP versions of "Privilege" and "Free Me" (the latter reworked by Patti Smith in the mid-'70s), although be aware that this is not the same version of "Free Me" as the one on the soundtrack to the Privilege film. There's also Jones' second and last U.K. Top Ten hit, "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy," as well as an unexpected blast of pure blues with the B-side "Sonny Boy Williamson," co-written by Jack Bruce, who also plays bass on the song. ~ Richie Unterberger

Full title - My Way - The Paul Jones Collection Vol. 1. 2003 compilation includes the Manfred Mann vocalist's 1966 solo album, that's unavailable domestically, plus nine bonus tracks made up of two previously unissued tracks, 'Would You Believe' & 'Ouch', three non-LP 45 sides, 'Sonny Boy Williamson' (b-side), 'Thinking Ain't For Me' (a-side), & 'Softly (La Vita)' (a-side), & the Rare Privilege EP', 'Privilege', 'Free Me', '(My Poor Heart Is Surely) Breaking', & 'I've Been A Bad, Bad Boy'. Includes special fold-out sleeve with extensive liner notes, photos, & other memorabilia. RPM.

Personnel: Paul Jones (vocals, harmonica).

Liner Note Author: Richard Harries.

Recording information: 07/13/1967-08/17/1967.

Unknown Contributor Roles: The Ryan Brothers; Manfred Mann Chapter Three; Simon Robinson; Michael d'Abo; The Hollies.

Arrangers: Geoff Love; Mike Leander.