Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Jimmy Webb (1974)

Although 'Sunshower' is considered to be the debut album of Thelma Houston, released in 1969 on Dunhill Records, it could also be classed as a Jimmy Webb album with Thelma Houston as the featured vocalist. It was all written by Webb, apart from a cover of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', and was also produced and arranged by him, and it charted at number 50 on the Billboard R&B chart. By 1969 Webb had already established himself as one of the best songwriters of the late 60's, with such classic songs as 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix', 'Galveston', 'Wichita Lineman' and 'MacArthur Park' providing massive hits for Glen Campbell and Richard Harris. By 1969 Webb was looking to start a career as a singer/songwriter, but it didn't get off to a very good start when a set of early demo recordings were redubbed and orchestrated by Epic Records without Webb's participation or consent, and released as the 'Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb' album in 1968. None of Webb's hit songs from that period appear on the album, and the sound quality of the recording is distinctly inferior, with Webb later denouncing the release in the strongest terms. He followed this debacle by writing, arranging, and producing Thelma Houston's first album, 'Sunshower', which produced four singles: 'Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon', 'Sunshower', 'If This Was The Last Song' and 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'. The songs were up to his usual high standard, and so it's no surprise that within a year nearly all of them had been covered by other artists, with Frank Sinatra choosing to include his version of 'Didn't We' on his 'My Way' album, released the same year as 'Sunshower'. By 1974 every single Webb song from the album had been added to another artists records, and so here are the best of them, offering an alternate look at Thelma Houston's debut album, without Thelma Houston appearing on it.   

Track listing

01 Sunshower (Affinity 1972)
02 Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon (Judy Singh 1970)
03 To Make It Easier On You (Nancy Wilson 1974)
04 Didn't We (Frank Sinatra 1969)
05 Mixed-Up Girl (Dusty Springfield 1972)
06 Someone Is Standing Outside (The Fortunes 1970)
07 This Is Where I Came In (Richard Harris 1971) 
08 Pocketful Of Keys (Revelation 1970)
09 This Is Your Life (The 5th Dimension 1970)
10 Cheap Lovin' (The Supremes 1972)
11 If This Was The Last Song (Bill Medley 1970)

Frank Sinatra - SinatraJobin (1970)

In 1967 Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim collaborated together on a Latin-influenced jazz/vocal album, which was released later that year to much positive acclaim. It was a new direction for Sinatra, and after it proved successful they teamed up again to record some more songs. The 'SinatraJobim' album was released in 1970 on 8-track cassette, but before the vinyl version was issued both Sinatra and the record company had doubts about the commercial viability of the record, and so they shelved the vinyl release. The 8-track version of the album is now one of Sinatra's most sought-after rarities (although who has an 8-track these days?), and although these songs have since turned up spread over a variety of albums, it's nice to have them all together again in one place, how they should be heard. There was a rumour that Sinatra shelved the album because he didn't like the cover, but that's unlikely to be true as that's the easiest thing to fix, and it's really not that bad.

Track listing

01 Song Of The Saboa
02 Bonita
03 Drinking Water (Agua De Beber)
04 One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So)
05 Don't Ever Go Away (Por Causa De Voco)
06 Someone To Light Up My Life
07 Triste
08 Wave
09 This Happy Madness (Estrada Branca)
10 Off Key (Desafinado)