Barbara Kay - Yes I'm Ready (1971)

Barbara Kay started her musical career as a band singer, before joining Embassy Records in the early 60's under the name of Kay Barry, with the label specialising in releasing budget covers of chart hits on 7" singles, sometime with different artists on each side of the record. They managed to keep this enterprise going right into the 70's, when Embassy albums of sound-alike recordings were big sellers. She stayed with the label until 1965, but the year before she left them she joined up with former Vernon's Girls singers Betty Prescott and Lyn Cornell to form The Carefrees, and they had a novelty hit single with 'We Love You Beatles' in 1964. They followed this with 'The Paddy Whack' a few months later but then broke up, with Kay embarking on a solo career under her real name. She released 'That's What Angels Are For' in 1965 to little success, and then followed that with the novelty song 'Chips With Everything', although the b-side 'A Lot About Love' was taken more seriously. Her next single was a commendable take on Barbara Mason's 1965 U.S. hit 'Yes, I'm Ready', with the more up-tempo 'Someone Has To Cry' gracing the flip. In 1966 she issued the Cook/Greenaway song 'The Power And The Glory', delivering this peppy tune with zest, to a slick rhythmic arrangement, and the flip side is a quasi-novelty number on which Kay sings in falsetto and is joined on the track by an un-named male vocalist, who is believed to be Roger Cook. With this last flop single she gave up on a solo career and became much in demand as a session singer. In 1968 she provided a version of 'Hello Heartaches' for a tribute album to Rod McKuen, and then in 1971 she topped the charts with the novelty song 'Johnny Reggae', on which she was the un-credited lead vocalist of The Piglets. Following this she joined Mike Morton in the Mike Morton Congregation, which was a group that released albums of their own versions of chart hits, taking her right back to her beginnings with Embassy Records. For this overview of her career I've included recordings from her Embassy period where both sides of the single were her songs, the hit record with The Carefrees, all of her solo singles from 1965 and 1966, the Rod McKuen cover, and an example of her work with Mike Morton. I've included 'Johnny Reggae' as a bonus track at the end, as it doesn't really fit with the more mainstream pop of most of the rest of the main album, but it was her biggest chart success, even if no-one knew it was her vocals, so it deserves to be here.   

Track listing

01 It Might As Well Rain Until September (Embassy single 1962)
02 It Started All Over Again (b-side of 'It Might As Well Rain Until September')
03 Bobby's Girl (Embassy single 1962)
04 James (Hold The Ladder Steady) (b-side of 'Bobby's Girl')
05 We Love You Beatles (single with The Carefrees 1964)
06 Terry (Embassy single 1965)
07 Girl Don't Come (b-side of 'Terry') 
08 That's What Angels Are For (single 1965)
09 What's The Good Of Loving (b-side of 'That's What Angels Are For')
10 Chips With Everything (single 1965)
11 A Lot About Love (b-side of 'Chips With Everything')
12 Yes I'm Ready (single 1965)
13 Someone Has To Cry (b-side of 'Yes I'm Ready')
14 The Power And The Glory (single 1966)
15 I Wanna Walk In Your Sun (b-side of 'The Power And The Glory')
16 Hello Heartaches (from 'Love's Been Good To Me - The Songs Of Rod McKuen' 1968)
17 These Things Will Keep Me Loving You (with The Mike Morton Congregation 1971)

Bonus track
18 Johnny Reggae (single with The Piglets 1971)