Though sometimes classified as a girl group singer because of the Top Ten success of "The Shoop Shoop Song,"
Betty Everett's main thrust was much more in the R&B/soul vein. This excellent 25-track anthology of her 1963-1965 material shows her facility with various soul, R&B, and pop styles. She had three other minor hits -- the original hit version of "You're No Good," the energetic
Goffin/
King pop/rocker "I Can't Hear You," and
Van McCoy's soulful "Gettin' Mighty Crowded" -- all of which are featured here. But most of the other material is equally enjoyable, including other early efforts by
McCoy,
Valerie Simpson, and
Nick Ashford, and even
P.F. Sloan (whose "Can I Get to Know You" is presented in a much earthier, slower version here than
the Turtles' rendition several years later). This CD doesn't include her hit duets with fellow Chicago soulster
Jerry Butler, but is a consistently enjoyable retrospective of an underrated singer who straddled the soul and pop worlds.