Kent (U.K.)
1997
The Biggest Man
About This Album
This 29-song compilation of Hunt's 1961-68 recordings for the Scepter and Dynamo labels features, as the liner notes declare, "80% of Tommy Hunt's U.S. solo recordings." Most of the CD is taken from Hunt's 1961-64 singles for Scepter (including the original version of Bacharach-David's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" and his biggest hit, 1961's "Human") and outtakes from the period that showed up in the '80s and '90s on assorted Kent compilations. There are also less impressive tracks from his stay at Luther Dixon's Dynamo label in 1967-68. The notable but odd New York 1960s soul offered here has its virtues, but nonetheless, it is not immediately arresting -- not enough to garner more than a cult following. Hunt, like fellow Scepter artists Dionne Warwick, Chuck Jackson, and Maxine Brown, benefited from the label's patented "uptown" brand of soul, with its sumptuous string arrangements, choral backup vocals, and theatrical pop songwriting. Yet Hunt lagged behind everyone else in that list regarding his commercial impact and, ultimately, the quality of his work. He had a deep voice which was a tad overwrought, but not as dramatically overwrought (and therefore appropriate for the Scepter/Wand production mill) as that of his rival Chuck Jackson.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,21,22,23,24,25 and 26)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.