Val McKenna was one of the better white female pop soul-style singers to come out of early to mid-'60s England, with her career being managed by John Carter and Ken Lewis, who were both members of the UK pop group The Ivy League. Apart from a convincing delivery on numbers like 'Mixed Up Shook Up Girl', she also benefited from the presence of Jimmy Page on lead guitar on her records, which included 'Baby Do It' and 'Now That You've Made Up Your Mind', the latter being her own composition. In 1966 she joined up with the afore-mentioned John Carter, plus Mickey Keen, Robin Shaw and Russ Alquist for some recording sessions with their band The Ministry of Sound, and on one of them they were also joined by singer Lesley Duncan, although none of the recordings ever saw the light of day as singles. With her bleached blond hair, sunglasses and PVC cap, 16-year-old McKenna embodied mid-60s youth, and once her own singles dried up she enjoyed a long career in the music business as a singer/songwriter, and sometime backing vocalist. Despite her run of singles in the mid-60's, there's very little information about her online, and in fact only two grainy black and white photos of her seem to exist, so I'll be the first to admit that the cover is not one of my best. The music, however, more than makes up for it.
Track listing
01 Baby Do It (single 1965)
02 I Believe In Love (b-side of 'Baby Do It')
03 Mixed Up Shook Up Girl (single 1965)
04 Now That You've Made Up Your Mind (b-side of 'Mixed Up Shook Up Girl')
05 I Can't Believe What You Say (single 1965)
06 Don't Hesitate (b-side of 'I Can't Believe What You Say')
07 Hey Girl (No Need To Push) (demo with The Ministry Of Sound 1966)
08 You've Gotta Tell Me (demo with The Ministry Of Sound 1966)
09 Something's Coming Along (demo with Lesley Duncan & The Ministry Of Sound 1967)
10 (Your Mama Said) Roll On (demo with The Ministry Of Sound 1967)
11 House For Sale (single 1968)
12 I'll Be Satisfied (b-side of 'House For Sale')
13 It's All In My Imagination (single 1969)
14 Sweet Sweet Lovin' (b-side of 'It's All In My Imagination')
15 Love Feeling (single 1970)
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