Johnny Kidd & the Pirates - Best of - Music

Best known for their 1960 smash hit Shakin All Over, which topped the chart and has since attracted cover versions from The Who, The Twiliters, The Guess Who, Humble Pie, Cliff Richard, The Beach Boys, Van Morrison and Suzi Quatro, among others, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates seemingly struggled to emerge from the shadow cast by that single.

Whilst their chart history paints a picture of a group that never quite managed to sustain their early burst of success, the aural evidence on this album is that it wasn't for the want of trying.

There are several cuts here that deserved to become bigger hits than they ultimately were, in particular Restless and Linda Lu, whilst Please Don't Bring Me Down is rightfully regarded as a rock & roll classic.