This 27-track CD of rather mysterious origin is the most comprehensive Billie Davis anthology, but not without its imperfections. In its favor, it does include nine tracks from her 1963-1964 girl group-influenced singles, whereas the most commonly available Davis anthology (Tell Him: The Decca Years has just four of those. In all, it has ten songs not on Tell Him: The Decca Years, but is also missing three songs that are not that release, whose sound quality is better (though not seriously flawed). And the liner notes on Her Best: 1963-1970 are perfunctory, though it does contain a complete 1962-1970 Davis discography. So what most people would pick this up for are the ten songs not on Tell Him, which are useful for Davis fans, but not (with one exception) among her most outstanding recordings. That one exception is the moody, sassy 1964 single "Whatcha' Gonna Do," perhaps her best girl group-styled effort; the Mersey-influenced chirpy warble of its B-side "Everybody Knows" is pretty enjoyable too.

This is a superb collection comprised of Billie Davis' singles for England's Decca Records, most of them dating between 1967 and 1970 (with four tracks from her 1963 stint with the label), and augmented with a handful of tracks from her self-titled 1970 album. It's all superb girl group-style pop, with a distinctly American, soulful edge and even an occasional psychedelic intrusion, highlighted by her spirited rendition of "I Want You to Be My Baby" and her impassioned version of "Wasn't It You," among other tracks. There's not a loser in the bunch and, in fact, the songs all show an amazing consistency despite origins as different as Joe Cocker, Carole King, Ian Anderson (yes, she covered "Living in the Past"), and Neil Diamond. Strangely enough, the appending of the four early Decca sides at the end of the CD is sort of jarring, throwing listeners back to an earlier (though still eminently enjoyable) era of British pop/rock. The sound is excellent throughout and the CD comes with an excellent career overview on Davis.

The Hammond organ, named after its inventor Laurens Hammond, debuted in 1935 as a cost-effective electro-acoustic alternative to the gigantic pipe organs mainly installed in churches. Among Hammond’s first customers were George Gershwin and Count Basie. Jazz pianists like Basie, Fats Waller, Wild Bill Davis and Milt Buckner were the founding fathers of the instrument’s international conquest, which led across all styles of popular music, from jazz to progressive rock, with its heyday in the 1960s and '70s…