Honeysuckle Breeze

Tom Scott's debut recording as a leader (he was 19 at the time) set the "standard" for much of his solo career. The ten selections on this obscure and long-out-of-print Impulse LP match Scott with a rather mundane nine-piece vocal group called the California Dreamers. The dated effects (Bill Plummer's sitar, the electronic devices on Scott's tenor, alto and soprano, and the primitive electric keyboards), weak material (mostly current pop tunes including the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home," Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" and Joan Baez's "North"), and the brevity of the performances (clocking in between 2:14 and 4:30) make this a rather forgettable commercial record. Only of historical interest. ~ Scott Yanow