Woman, Woman/ Don't Make Promises

This was the group's first hit, credited as "The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett". As impressive as the A side is, appealing to fans of both Sunshine Pop and Northern Soul, a lot of collector interest is directed to the equally impressive, but rarely heard, B side. "Don't Make Promises" was written by Tim Hardin, who released his own, folky version on the B side of a 1968 single, "Lady Came From Baltimore." This Union Gap recording is the first version released on 45 rpm, and somehow Jerry Fuller and Al Capps transformed Hardin's simple folk number into a catchy, crescendoing Northern Soul toe-tapper with a hypnotic bass line. As I listened to it again just now, I decided it deserved a place in the Classic 45s "jukebox", so have a listen to the mp3 snippet! (Please forgive me! To keep the snippet under 2 minutes and still capture the climax, I edited out the first verse following the first chorus. You wouldn't notice it if you were unfamiliar with the song.) The song's soul pedigree was further enhanced by Z.Z. Hill, who released his own soulful version in 1969 on Kent Records. Unfortunately, the song never did get the airplay it deserved... in any market. Note: This beautiful copy comes in a Near Mint picture sleeve that has one small flaw - a small hole cut-out in the upper right corner. The 45 itself has pristine sound, a real rarity for this fragile styrene pressing.