With 19 hit singles on Billboard's Hot 100 between 1963 and 1967, Lesley Gore was one of the most successful female pop stars of her time. Having recently released Girl Talk and Magic Colors, each with copious bonus tracks, Ace continue their exploration of Lesley's Mercury Records catalogue with this reissue of her California Nights album. Originally released in 1967, California Nights is regarded as Lesley's masterpiece. The album comprises seven tracks recorded in New York with producer Bob Crewe and three titles cut with arranger Jack Nitzsche in Los Angeles. Ace's reissue includes an additional dozen highlights from Lesley's 1965 albums My Town, My Guy And Me and All About Love and three mid-60s recordings that first surfaced from the Mercury vaults in the 1990s. Interviewed by Sheila Burgel in the booklet to the Girl Talk CD, Lesley had this to say about Bob Crewe: He was just a bloody genius. I think of him with such fondness. He was one of the most brilliant people I have ever known. Working with him was one of the more thrilling experiences of my life. Sadly, Lesley Gore and Bob Crewe have both since died. Let this expanded reissue of California Nights be a tribute to them. Also available GIRL TALK CDCHD 1383 MAGIC COLORS CDCHD 1307