Bella Union

Odyssey: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde Volume Two is Bella Union’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde. The new compilation is a further celebration of the great British arranger, musical director, producer and songwriter Ivor Raymonde, who died at age 63 in 1990. Bella Union, the label behind both releases, is run by Ivor’s son Simon Raymonde.

Like Paradise, Odyssey has been compiled by Simon with author, journalist and music historian Kieron Tyler. Simon explains that: “The research Kieron and I did for Paradise showed us that there was still an extremely rich seam of his music to be uncovered. A follow-up volume was increasingly inevitable.”

Odyssey is additional confirmation of the seemingly limitless scope of Ivor’s talents. More hits are featured: the Alan Price Set’s irresistible Top Five interpretation of Randy Newman’s “Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear”, Dusty Springfield’s kinetic “Little By Little”, Frankie Vaughan’s epic chart topper “Tower Of Strength” and the aural drama of Marty Wilde And His Wildcats’ “Endless Sleep”. There are also lesser-known tracks by best-sellers: Los Bravos’ Raymonde-composed soul stomper “Brand New Baby”, Cat Stevens’ moody “Blackness Of The Night” and the extraordinary 1966 Walker Brothers’ album track “Where's The Girl”, which pointed to where the solo Scott Walker would soon be heading.

Odyssey: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde Volume Two is issued on CD, double album and as a download. Every track but one was originally issued or recorded in mono: stereo became standard in the pop market in 1968/1969. Keeping the integrity of the compilation in mind, all but one track appears in mono. With tracks issued as singles, the masters used are those of the singles themselves.