GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS – Close Cover Before Playing – (Liberty) – 1968

• Everyday I Have to Cry Some – Alexander  – pure 60s pop ..perhaps a little dated in 1968 though there are some horns that put it firmly in the late 60s MOR genre… oddly the forgotten, but incredibly influential, Arthur Alexander who wrote it released it as a single in 1976 and it went to #45.
• Mister Memory – Laurence, Quinn  – fluffy pop with folk overtones with some strange tempo changes at the bridge. Strangely catchy.
• Main Street – Gordon, Griffin  – pop. Griffin was later in "Bread". Nuff said?
• Rhythm of the Rain – Gummoe – often covered though the big hit was for The Cascades in 1963 in the US (#3). Lewis always suited early 60s pop and this is no exception.
• Turn-Down Day – Blume, Keller – A cover of the The Cyrkle (1966, #16). This is is sunshine pop and well done.
• Over You – Jerry Fuller  – a mid tempo big ballad. Dramatic in that MOR way – you could see someone belting this on a TV special with their face superimposed over a dusk beach scene ….excellent. Sounds a bit like Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, mainly because Gary Puckett and The Union Gap recorded it originally (1968, #7)
• Apologize – Gordon, Griffin  – pop with folk overtones – not unlike Bob Lind of ""Elusive Butterfly" fame. Griffin, as mentioned before, was later in "Bread". Brian Hyland had the original as a single in 1967.
• Turn Around, Look at Me – Capehart  – An often covered track: Glen Campbell(1961, #62),The Vogues (1968, #7), The Lettermen (1962, #5), Eddy Arnold, The Bachelors and Esther Phillips. It's more big ballad stuff but surprisingly Lewis misfires on this one.
• Picture Postcard – Marmelzat, Proffer  – late 60s pop. Co-writer Spencer Proffer was 18 when he wrote this – he ended up having a long career in the music business and even "discovered" Quiet Riot. Groan.
• C.C. Rider – Trad  – the oft covered tune (most memorably, for me, by Elvis as his standard concert opener in the 70s). This is a credible version though there is no hint of it's R&B origins.
• Let's Pretend – Geld, Udell  –  part of the batch of late 60s songs when they had people singing through old school Rudy Vallee megaphones … to give them an old timey 1920s sound I suppose….
• I Think We're Alone Now – Cordell  – The 1967 hit for  Tommy James & the Shondells (#4) (subsequently recorded by others – The Rubinoos (#45 US, 1977) and Girls Aloud (#4 UK, 2006)). A great song regardless of the version ….Lewis does it straight.

 This album is patchy – there are some good tunes but overall it's patchy. Lewis generally tended to be swamped by the commercial considerations of the day and usually had trouble getting an album to sound like a unified whole. That is the main problem here but by the same token if you are in tune with 60s pop sounds there are enough delights here to keep you going. I'm in tune so I'm keeping this. …..file alongside The Velvet Underground. Ha.