At Request: Curt Boettcher - The Complete Singles Collection 2015 (only mp3@320)

Producer and composer Curt Boettcher was among the principal architects of the sunshine pop sound of the mid-'60s, his harmony laden, melody rich approach gracing the Top Ten hits of the Association as well as his own projects, including Sagittarius and the Millennium. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he began his career as a folksinger, co-founding the GoldeBriars in 1962; the group's self-titled debut album appeared on Epic two years later.

Although the GoldeBriars' complex harmonies anticipated the style of Boettcher's subsequent work, the foursome dissolved after a second LP, Straight Ahead; he then turned to studio work, in 1966 arranging the Association's breakthrough hit "Along Comes Mary." The chart-topping "Cherish" followed and Boettcher also produced the band's debut album And Then, Along Comes the Association; however, the collaboration soon ended and in between producing material for Tommy Roe, Boettcher turned his focus to his own group the Ballroom, recording a long-unreleased LP which finally saw release three decades later on Rev-Ola under the title Preparing for the Millennium.

Boettcher then signed on with producer Gary Usher's studio supergroup Sagittarius; 1967's Present Tense also featured contributions from the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston and Glen Campbell, the latter assuming lead vocals on the classic "My World Fell Down." While recording Present Tense, Boettcher formed the Millennium, which issued its sole album Begin -- the product of what was then the most costly recording session in the history of Columbia Records -- in 1968.

Boettcher with 'The Ballroom'

After the record's commercial failure, he returned to studio work, but in 1973 issued a solo album, There's an Innocent Face. In the process of contributing production and session vocals to a handful of late-'70s Beach Boys releases, Boettcher changed his name to the more phonetic Becher; he died in 1987. (Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com)

I've been looking for years for a lossless version of this compilation, but there doesn't seem to exist any. I'm not even sure anymore if this compilation has ever been pressed on CD or if it's not a 'home made' work of a fan. If any of you have more information about this compilation I would be very grateful for a comment. However, the compilation includes six ''CDs'' with a total of 150 tracks. Besides well-known productions like The Goldebriars, The Ballroom, The Association, Saggittarius, Lee Mallory and Tommy Roe (to name but a few) you can also listen to lesser known ones. At least for those of you who aren't so familiar with Boettcher's work. For example Jonathan Moore, Jacobson & Tansley, Lyme & Cybelle, Jameson, The Brothers Cain, The Mother Love, Moses Lake, Mark Richardson, Song, and also artists you might not necessarily associate with the name Curt Boettcher: Elton John, Kiki Dee, Gene Clark, Dave Edmunds, Sailor, Eric Carmen.
Boettcher was a pop genius in his field for more than two decades, until his untimely death. This compilation is both a good introduction to Curt Boettcher's work and a good overview of his oeuvre. Enjoy(Frank)

mp3@320