Ultimate Collection [Best of]

So when I opened up the jewel case and started reading the liner notes, I had a good laugh. The writer, journalist Graham Simpson, obviously anticipated my mild skepticism. He starts out with, "Now it's not as if the world has been starved for choice when it comes to collections of Seekers tracks. So why another one?"

Simpson then proceeds to answer his own question. Admittedly, he makes a strong case for The Ultimate Collection; both his observations and track annotation are top-flight. But what has convinced me even more that I made a wise purchase is the quality of the remastering and the song selection. The Seekers themselves -- Athol Guy, Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and the incomparable Judith Durham -- helped choose the 26 songs for this compilation. The songs run the gamut from their early recordings at Australia's W&G Studios through their EMI (Capitol, stateside) classics such as "I'll Never Find Another You" and "Georgy Girl", their reunion years, and even a stunning version of an early Bee Gees hit, "Massachusetts," which they have lovingly dedicated to the late Maurice Gibb. (Simpson provides a great story about that song's history, forever linking the Bee Gees to the Seekers beyond their Australian ties.)

The sound quality (remastering) of this disc is superior to that of two other, same-titled Seekers CD collections I own -- The Very Best Of The Seekers (on the Collectables label) and The Very Best Of The Seekers on the EMI/MFP (Music For Pleasure) label. Now, there is a catch: Each of those two earlier anthologies contains tracks not found on this new one (and vice versa). The former CD includes "Red Rubber Ball" (cowritten by Woodley and Paul Simon), which was a Top 40 hit for the Cyrkle in 1966, and a rare Potger-penned song, "All I Can Remember"; the latter CD features such chestnuts as "Danny Boy," "Waltzing Matilda" and "The Water Is Wide." But it's impossible for any single disc to contain every song the group has ever recorded, so I don't want to completely discount those two earlier anthologies. I'm holding on to them. (Besides, the Collectables entry has excellent liner notes by Dawn Eden and track annotations by Ron Furmanek, whose name has graced several CDs I own.)

Still, this new anthology, The Ultimate Collection, is arguably the best of the "best ofs." Its liner notes and annotation are well-written (despite leaving you wanting more), the remastering is superb, and the song selection cannot be faulted. If you don't own any Seekers CDs, then get this one. If want an upgrade from your old vinyl records or "so-so sounding" CDs, then get this one. If you're a completist, then . . . you've already ordered this one. I listen to everyone from Aerosmith to the "killer B's" (Beach Boys, Beatles, Byrds); Buddy Guy and Lonnie Mack to Patsy Cline and Dwight Yoakam; Bob Marley to Aretha Franklin to Miles Davis. Gospel, zydeco, rockabilly, you name it. Yet despite (or perhaps because of) my eclectic tastes in music, there remains a special place in my heart for the Seekers. That's because my favorite instrument is the human voice. And the singing -- especially those soaring harmonies -- that these four gifted people have given us since the 1960s will always be essential listening for me. If you do get The Ultimate Collection, do yourself a favor: Don't listen to it through the headphones. Crank up your stereo and let your speakers fill the room with the quartet's glorious voices and solid musicianship.

SINCE MANY/SOME ARE POLARIZED TODAY LIKE VNAM---I SUGGEST THIS IS* A SMALL BUT MODEST WAY TO BUILD SOME BRIDGES FROM THE PAST===TO TODAY LET US BEGIN ANEW THE SEARCH FOR "WE SHALL ALL BE FREE" AND "WE SHALL OVERCOME" --- EACH GENERATION NEEDS TO REACH FOR PEACE AND STRIVE FOR EQUALITY FOR ALL, EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK, RIGHTS TO YOUR OWN BODY, AND RIGHTS TO HAVE A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PERSON YOU LOVE:-)

*SOME DAY, ONE DAY WE CAN SHARE THE DREAMS........OH, SOME DAY.....OOOH:-)

NOT JUST A MIDDLE AGED PEACENIK, BUT RETIRED FROM THE USAF AND GLBT AND HOPING FOR A BETTER TMRW FOR HUMANKIND, THE EARTH AND ESPECIALLY WILD AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. PEACE AND LOVE TO MY SEEKER FRIENDS, THAT I HAVE YET TO MEET:-) SEEK TRUTH, JUSTICE AND WORK FOR IT?