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Liner Note Author: Clive Richardson . Not to be confused with the 1959 LP titled Mr. Personality, this is an entirely different release, issued in 2008 as a CD compilation. The 27 tracks all hail from Lloyd Price's time on the ABC label in the late '50s and early '60s, which saw him find his biggest commercial success when he sweetened his New Orleans R&B roots with pop and big band influenced arrangements. It's a little hard to figure out the concept behind this particular anthology, however. It's not quite a best-of, as it has most of his ABC hits, but is missing a couple ("Come into My Heart" and "No If's -- No But's") that made the Top 40. His 1961 LP Lloyd Price Sings the Million Sellers, from which nine cuts are drawn, is unduly emphasized considering that all of these are cover versions. That's especially the case since some of these are big hits ("He Will Break Your Heart," "Shop Around," "Spanish Harlem," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow") which are far more exciting when heard as sung by the original performers. You still get a good overview of Price's ABC sound here, with the huge smashes "Just Because," "Stagger Lee" (represented by both the hit 45 and an alternate version), "Personality," and "Lady Luck," as well as the odd overlooked highlight like the gritty calypso-influenced B-side "Have You Ever Had the Blues." But Greatest Hits: The Original ABC-Paramount Recordings, though shorter at 18 tracks, remains a considerably superior collection by virtue of including all the ABC hits, and avoiding the rather trivial padding found on some of this CD. ~ Richie Unterberger
