Today, we're rounding up a quartet of recent additions to Crimson Productions' ever-growing library of 3-CD Gold collections!

The Foundations occupy a place in history as the first multi-racial band to score a U.K. No. 1 single in the 1960s.  While the pop-soul group's run of hits was relatively short-lived, their classics "Build Me Up, Buttercup" and "Baby, Now That I've Found You" still remain in the rotation on oldies stations everywhere.  Crimson's Gold volume proves that The Foundations' legacy extends beyond just those two songs with 46 catchy selections on three discs.  Their story was an unusual one in many ways; their initial eight-man line-up including a horn section not only consisted of artists from varying backgrounds but also varying ages ranging from 18 to 38.  Tony Macaulay penned "Baby, Now That I've Found You," the group's debut single, with his then-songwriting partner John MacLeod; Macaulay co-wrote 13 of the 29 tracks on the first two discs of Gold.  Tensions arose behind the scenes over the pop direction Macaulay was encouraging, but it's hard to argue with the tunesmith's track record.  "Baby..." went to No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 11 in the U.S., and Macaulay and Mike D'Abo's "Build Me Up, Buttercup" reached No. 2 in the U.K. and No. 3 in the U.S. while other earworm-worthy hits included "Back on My Feet Again" (No. 18 U.K./No. 59 U.S.) and "In the Bad, Bad Old Days Before You Loved Me" (No. 8 U.K./No. 51 U.S.).

Original lead singer Clem Curtis left the group in 1968, just a year into The Foundations' success.  He was replaced by Colin Young, the lead vocalist on "Build Me Up, Buttercup" and "In the Bad, Bad Old Days..."  Note that Gold has elected to use Young's rendition of "Baby, Now That I've Found You" for which he laid down a vocal over the original backing track.  Macaulay and MacLeod's "My Little Chickadee" became the band's final hit in 1969; they broke up two years later after departing Pye Records and releasing a lone single for MCA.  (Both Clem Curtis and Colin Young subsequently led iterations of the band.)  Gold is an efficient overview of their original Pye years; it has a version of every A-side and B-side released on the label plus a smattering of live tracks (including a spacey jam on Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love," the vocal version of Philly soul classic "The Horse," and Jeff Barry and Bert Berns' "Am I Groovin' You"), other favorites like Tony Hatch's "Call Me," and the lesser-known tracks written by the band members after they parted ways with Macaulay and MacLeod.  (Varese Sarabande's 2017 single-disc compilation The Very Best of The Foundations has the A-side of the band's lone Uni single, "Stoney Ground.")  A number of the grittier live tracks, in particular, reveal a very different band than that of the impeccably-produced Tony Macaulay-era singles.  Phil Penman has compiled, and Phil Kinrade has remastered.

Chronicling Neil Sedaka's musical history is much more difficult, as the Brooklyn-born singer-songwriter recorded prolifically through the 1980s and is still making new music today.  So Crimson has made the choice to only focus upon Sedaka's recordings for RCA on this 47-song collection.  After a couple of singles released on Decca and Guyden, Sedaka debuted at RCA with 1958's "The Diary" and remained there through 1966, briefly returning in 1971-1972.  His volume of Gold has every RCA A-side through 1963's "Bad Girl," and in total, all but five of his U.S. A-sides for the label.  These include such evergreens as "Oh! Carol" (Billboard No. 9 Pop), "Stairway to Heaven" (No. 9), "Calendar Girl" (No. 4), "Little Devil" (No. 11), "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen" (No. 6), "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (No. 1), "Next Door to an Angel" (No. 5), and more.  In addition to these classics written by Sedaka and lyricist Howard Greenfield, Gold includes his takes on standards such as "Smile," "We Kiss In a Shadow," "Because of You," and "Fly Me to the Moon" as well as his two final RCA chart entries from 1965, both of which were co-authored by Peter Allen: "The World Through a Tear" and "The Answer to My Prayer."

Gold jumps ahead to 1972 for its final track, the future standard "Solitaire."   Though never released by the self-acknowledged "King of the Doo-Be-Doos" as a commercial single, the powerful ballad written with lyricist Phil Cody earned such status via renditions by Carpenters, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, and others.  The version here is from Neil's Kirshner/RCA album also called Solitaire.  Sedaka would go on to have a couple of "second acts": as an in-demand songwriter ("Workin' on a Groovy Thing," "Puppet Man," "The Girl I Left Behind Me," "Love Will Keep Us Together," "Rainy Jane") and once again as an artist.  His famous "comeback" saw a string of hits including "Laughter in the Rain," "Bad Blood," "The Immigrant," and the "slow version" of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," but those shall have to wait for another volume of Gold.  Surpassing their teen pop origins, the songs on this set have more than stood the test of time.  Want to hear Sedaka performing them now?  Tune into his YouTube channel, Neil Sedaka Music, Monday-Friday for his daily Covid-era "mini-concerts" in which he delightfully revisits songs spanning his entire career.

The late Doris Day (1922-2019) had a legendary career on film, television, and records.  She, too, has been recognized by Gold with a 60-track, non-chronologically assembled anthology drawing on her two decade-plus tenure at Columbia Records.  Day's career has been chronicled in such depth on previous releases that this set serves as a sampler rather than as a serious overview, but any assemblage of five dozen Doris Day recordings can't help but be a tasty sampler, indeed - not to mention a master class in the art of popular singing.  You'll find standards, novelties, showtunes, movie songs, pure pop outings, and more, all sung with fidelity to the authors' intentions in Day's pure tones.  The superstar's early recordings fronting Les Brown's renowned orchestra are represented here, as are duets with Frank Sinatra ("Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk"), Frankie Laine ("Sugarbush"), Johnnie Ray ("Let's Walk That-a-way," "A Full Time Job," "Ma Says, Pa Says"), Danny Thomas ("Makin' Whoopee"), and Buddy Clark ("Love Somebody," "My Darling, My Darling") as well as pianist Andre Previn and his trio ("My One and Only Love").  At Columbia, Day worked with the day's top greatest arranger-conductors, many of whom are featured here: Percy Faith, Frank DeVol, Harry James, Paul Weston, and Neal Hefti.

Doris' major hits are showcased: "Sentimental Journey" (U.S. No. 1), "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" (U.S. No. 1), "Till the End of Time" (U.S. No. 3), "It's Magic" (U.S. No. 2), "Again" with The Mellomen (U.S. No. 2), "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" (U.S. No. 9), "Shanghai" (U.S. No. 7), "A Guy Is A Guy" (U.S. No. 1), "Secret Love" (U.S. and U.K. No. 1), "The Black Hills of Dakota" (U.K. No. 7), "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" (U.S. No. 2, U.K. No. 1), and "Everybody Loves a Lover" (U.S. No. 6, U.K. No. 25).  There are also the title songs to such beloved films as Love Me or Leave Me, On Moonlight Bay, its sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Teacher's Pet, Pillow Talk, and Move Over Darling (but, alas, no Send Me No Flowers).  In addition to Doris' beautiful and intimate readings of beloved compositions like "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Desafinado," Gold has made room for three Christmas songs.  Phil Kinrade is credited with remastering.

Crimson's Gold volume for Tammy Wynette (1942-1998) follows the recent one for her onetime husband and frequent duet partner George Jones.  Like the Doris Day collection, it's a generous 60 tracks spread over three discs.  Wynette spent almost the entirety of her recording career within the Epic/Columbia family of labels, and this overview spans over two decades from those labels, from 1966-1987.  Some purchasers of the Jones volume were curious about the absence of his many duets with Wynette; happily, this companion set features a dozen of them in addition to Tammy's recordings with David Houston ("My Elusive Dreams") and Marc Gray ("Sometimes When We Touch").

A master storyteller through song, Tammy charted seventeen singles on the Billboard U.S. Country chart, beginning with "My Elusive Dreams" and continuing through such signature songs as "I Don't Wanna Play House" (U.K. No. 37), "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" (U.K. No. 12), "Stand by Your Man" (U.K. No. 1), "Bedtime Story," "Kids Say the Darndest Things," and "'Til I Can Make It on My Own." All seventeen U.S. chart-toppers are featured here alongside her renditions of favorites like Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and Carole King and Howard Greenfield's "Crying in the Rain."  Gold has songs by Tammy herself and her longtime producer Billy Sherrill, plus other country luminaries including Dallas Frazier, Harlan Howard, Bobby Braddock, Jerry Chesnut, Johnny Paycheck, and Norro Wilson.  This collection from The First Lady of Country Music proves that her title should long remain intact.

All four Gold volumes are available now at the links below.

The Foundations, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD642, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Baby, Now That I've Found You
2. Build Me Up, Buttercup
3. Back on My Feet Again
4. I Can Take or Leave Your Lovin'
5. It's All Right
6. Come On Back to Me
7. Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)
8. We Are Happy People
9. New Direction
10. Jerkin' the Dog
11. Call Me
12. Show Me
13. Love Is a Five-Letter Word
14. Personality Man
15. Things Are Getting Better (Live)

CD 2

1. In the Bad, Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)
2. Why Did You Cry
3. My Little Chickadee
4. Solomon Grundy
5. I Can Feel It
6. That Same Old Feeling
7. Waiting on the Shores of Nowhere
8. Take Away the Emptiness Too
9. Let the Heartaches Begin
10. The Writing's on the Wall
11. Tomorrow
12. People Are Funny (Live)
13. Am I Groovin' You (Live)
14. Comin' Home Baby (Live)
15. Harlem Shuffle (Live)
16. Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.) (Live)

CD 3

1. Born to Live, Born to Die
2. Baby, I Couldn't See
3. A Penny, Sir
4. Take a Girl Like You
5. I'm Gonna Be a Rich Man
6. In the Beginning
7. Give Me Love
8. Till Night Brought Day
9. Hold Me Just a Little While Longer
10. A Whole New Thing
11. A Walk Through the Trees
12. Things Get Better
13. Love Is Alright (The Horse) (Live)
14. Where the Fire Burns
15. The Look of Love (Live)

Neil Sedaka, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD671, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Oh! Carol
2. Calendar Girl
3. Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen
4. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
5. Stairway to Heaven
6. Little Devil
7. I Go Ape
8. King of Clowns
9. Next Door to an Angel
10. The Diary
11. No Vacancy
12. Moon of Gold
13. Crying My Heart Out for You
14. All I Need Is You
15. Stupid Cupid

CD 2

1. Fallin'
2. The Girl for Me
3. One Way Ticket (To the Blues)
4. You Gotta Learn Your Rhythm and Blues
5. Going Home to Mary Lou
6. You're Knockin' Me Out
7. I Belong to You
8. As Long as I Live
9. I Waited Too Long
10. Another Sleepless Night
11. Without Your Love
12. You Mean Everything to Me
13. Run, Samson, Run
14. What Am I Gonna Do
15. I Ain't Hurtin' No More

CD 3

1. Smile
2. Another Day, Another Heartache
3. We Kiss In a Shadow
4. Sweet Little You
5. Walk with Me
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Let's Go Steady Again
8. Bad Girl
9. The Dreamer
10. Waiting for Never (La Terza Luna)
11. Look Inside Your Heart
12. Sunny
13. Fly Me to the Moon
14. Because of You
15. The Answer to My Prayer
16. The World Through a Tear
17. Solitaire

Doris Day, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD681, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
2. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
3. Secret Love
4. If I Give My Heart to You
5. Everybody Loves a Lover
6. The Black Hills of Dakota
7. Let's Walk That-a-Way - with Johnnie Ray
8. Ready, Willing and Able
9. Sugarbush - with Frankie Laine
10. Move Over, Darling
11. My Love and Devotion
12. A Full Time Job - with Johnnie Ray
13. A Bushel and a Peck
14. Ma Says, Pa Says - with Johnnie Ray
15. A Very Precious Love
16. I'll Never Stop Loving You
17. Love Me or Leave Me
18. Teacher's Pet
19. Pillow Talk
20. Lullaby of Broadway

CD 2

1. Sentimental Journey
2. My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time
3. Love Somebody - with Buddy Clark
4. Again - with The Mellomen
5. It's Magic
6. A Guy Is a Guy
7. On Moonlight Bay
8. (Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai
9. Till the End of Time
10. My Darling, My Darling - with Buddy Clark
11. Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
12. You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)
13. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
14. Canadian Capers (Cuttin' Capers)
15. Mister Tap Toe
16. Aren't You Glad You're You?
17. Can't Help Falling in Love
18. By the Light of the SIlv'ry Moon
19. My One and Only Love - with The Andre Previn Trio
20. Autumn Leaves

CD 3

1. Dream a Little Dream of Me
2. Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk - with Frank Sinatra
3. I Got the Sun in the Morning
4. Makin' Whoopee! - with Danny Thomas
5. Singin' in the Rain
6. When I Fall in Love
7. Just Blew In from the Windy City
8. The Very Thought of You
9. Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)
10. Would I Love You
11. Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
12. Glass Bottom Boat
13. Por Favor
14. I Believe in Dreams
15. Be True to Me (Sabor a Mi)
16. Keep Smilin', Keep Laughin', Be Happy
17. Soft as the Starlight
18. Here Comes Santa Claus
19. Winter Wonderland
20. I'll Be Home for Christmas

Tammy Wynette, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD 669, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Stand By Your Man
2. I.V.O.R.C.E.
3. My Elusive Dreams - with David Houston
4. Take Me to Your World
5. Apartment # 9
6. Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad
7. Lonely Street
8. I Don't Wanna Play House
9. There Goes My Everything
10. Singing My Song
11. The Ways to Love a Man
12. Take Me - with George Jones
13. We Sure Can Love Each Other
14. Good Lovin' (Makes It Right)
15. The Wonders You Perform
16. Till I Get It Right
17. He Loves Me All the Way
18. Run, Woman, Run
19. I'll See Him Through
20. Bedtime Story

CD 2

1. Golden Ring - with George Jones
2. (We're Not) The Jet Set - with George Jones
3. The Ceremony - with George Jones
4. Reach Out Your Hand
5. Kids Say the Darndest Things
6. We're Gonna Hold On - with George Jones
7. Another Lonely Song
8. Help Me Make It Through the Night
9. Woman to Woman
10. Let's Build a World Together - with George Jones
11. Old Fashioned Singing - with George Jones
12. Crying Steel Guitar
13. I Still Believe in Fairy Tales
14. No Charge
15. You and Me
16. We Loved It Away - with George Jones
17. (You Make Me Want to Be) A Mother
18. 'Til I Can Make It on My Own
19. My Man (Understands)
20. Near You - with George Jones

CD 3

1. Let's Get Together (One Last Time)
2. Southern California - with George Jones
3. I'd Like to See Jesus (On The Midnight Special)
4. Womanhood
5. Two Story House - with George Jones
6. Starting Over
7. A Pair of Old Sneakers - with George Jones
8. He Was There (When I Needed You)
9. They Call It Making Love
10. Cowboys Don't Shoot Straight (Like They Used To)
11. You Still Get to Me in My Dreams
12. Another Chance
13. Crying in the Rain
14. You Can Lead a Heart to Love (But You Can't Make It Fall)
15. Sometimes When We Touch - with Marc Gray
16. Talkin' to Myself Again
17. No One Else in the World
18. Beneath a Painted Sky
19. Your Love