Side 1:

Listen: Bama Lama Bama Loo / Tom Jones & The Squires
Bama

Listen: I Can’t Stop Loving You / Tom Jones & The Squires
I

Side 2:

Listen: Lucille / Tom Jones & The Squires
Lucille

Listen: Little By Little / Tom Jones & The Squires
Little

During the 60′s, EP’s reached their commercial peak, even culminating in a UK EP Chart. In reality, most EP’s were usually twice the price of singles. Logically, they often included a couple of recent A sides. Still, given the price, the majority had small press runs and resulted in minimal sales. Some stores only stocked an EP when special ordered by customers, occasionally bringing in an extra copy or two for their inventory. Very few remained in print for more than six months often resulting in early scarcity.

For most 7″ fanatics like myself, these UK EP’s are pretty desirable. They have full color covers, often laminated, many with spine details and are generally replicas of larger 12″ LP counterparts, but in the much more manageable 7″ size.

Today begins a month long SO MANY RECORDS, SO LITTLE TIME EP spotlight, the 31 days of December, or something like like.

Decca were known to have some of their acts re-record hits and/or their more popular stage numbers in the studio, and coat them with canned audience cheers, thereby turning the sessions into live recordings. Technically, they were live versions, and quite frankly, these would have been equally exciting without the fake room sounds as an addition.

A perfect example being Tom Jones with his touring band The Squires. At heart, he was and is an incredible soul singer. Even then, a white vocalist who had the power, timbre and phrasing of a black voice got the British public wild. My bet is Tom Jones & The Squires would have been a damn good night out especially when his first successful single ‘It’s Not Unusual’ was rising his star, TOM JONES ON STAGE being the proof.