The Dave Clark Five - Complete History, Vol. 1

All Music Guide

Dave Clark hasn't seen fit to release more than a relatively small part of the Dave Clark Five's classic sides on CD and even that is outofprint as of 2003 and so the only way to get their material is either to find their complete US and UK vinyl releases, or go the underground route. This CD purports to contain 33 tracks, the complete output of their group as released on their first three US LPs, Glad All Over, Return, and American Tour. It's actually missing three songs, one from Glad All Over ("I Know You") and two from American Tour ("Who Does He Think He Is", "Move On"), that are listed as being present even so, the disc clocks in at over 76 minutes, making this a very full meal if not quite the menu promised. The audio is generally very good and occasionally excellent, the largerthanlife sax and rhythm guitar sounds, and the occasional lead organ very much right in the listener's face, with very good clarity and presence on most of the songs; a few show some excess noise, but generally this is very good work for a bootleg.

The producers have used stereo sources wherever they're available, which will serve to make this release competitive Clark's authorized CDs. The material itself is mostly very strong, Glad All Over consisting of many of the group's best early singles releases, Return containing virtually the complete contents of their first UK LP, and American Tour the first US LP done under Clark's control, thus offering a good crosssection of the group's work as they rose to their commercial peak. The artwork is also a treat for fans, reprinting front and back LP jackets and picturesleeve photos, and there is also the start of an extended historical essay on the band that continues across the next six volumes in the series.

- Bruce Eder, All Music Guide