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Gene Forrest and Eunice Levy were one of the boy/girl duos, like Shirley & Lee, who were an integral element of the R&B scene in the late 1950s and early 60s – they were both from Texas, but met up in Los Angeles when they were both in their early ‘20s and trying to forge careers as R&B songwriters and singers in the mid-1950s. Gene Forrest initially made records for John Dolphin’s Recorded In Hollywood label and then Aladdin, before they teamed up as Gene & Eunice to record their song “Ko-Ko-Mo” for the small Combo label, and then re-recorded it for Aladdin to score a debut hit. They went on to have a couple more hits as they recorded together into the 1960s. This 41-track 2-CD collection comprises most of their A & B sides on the Recorded In Hollywood, RPM, Combo, Aladdin, Case and Lilly labels from these years, with some solo recordings as well as performances as a duo. It includes Gene Forrest titles with The Eddie Beale Fourtette, Freddie Simmons Quintet, Gene Forrest Combo and The Four Feathers, and Eunice Levy recordings with the Jake Porter Combo. It features their three R&B and pop hits - “Ko Ko Mo” and “This Is My Story” from 1955, and “Poco Loco” from 1959, bookending the most successful part of their career. They were very much part of that particular era in pop/R&B, and this is about as complete an overview of their core career as we could assemble, and it makes for thoroughly entertaining listening.
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