Complete Singles 1964-1966

Varese Vintage's 2009 Complete Singles 1964-1966 is the latest in a long line of compilations that gather up the Sir Douglas Quintet's 7" releases for the Pacemaker and Tribe labels — in other words, it stops just short of their Smash/Mercury recordings, cut when they were in San Franciscan exile and turned into cosmic American hippies. Within this decade, this material has been remastered impressively by Sundazed, who issued expanded editions of the group's two LPs, but Varese takes a different approach, assembling an 18-track collection of highlights. It's the singles plus three well-loved album cuts — a rollicking "In the Jailhouse Now," a version of "In the Pines," plus "Please Just Say So" — and everything has been mixed from the original master tapes for the first time, with nine songs presented in true stereo for the first time ever, including "The Tracker," "The Rains Came," "Bacon Fat," and their signature hit, "She's About a Mover." This mastering is top-notch, as are the selections; even though there are many comps that cover this same material, few sound as good or as complete as this, so this is both a good summary and introduction to the group's early years. Fanatics — and Sir Doug & His Quintet do have devoted followers — will find this necessary for the fidelity, yet there may be less dedicated fans who just stick with their Sundazed discs, because the aural improvements, while evident upon close inspection, are the kind that only serious listeners notice in the first place.