The history of '60s rock is littered with stories of great rock classics
-- the Savages' album, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators' first two albums,
the first two Chocolate Watch Band albums -- that should have been better
known than they were. The Young Rascals is that rare example of a genuinely
great album that got heard and played, and sold and sold. Apart from the
presence of a hit ("Good Lovin'") to drive sales, every kid
(and his girlfriend) in any aspiring white rock band on the East Coast
in 1966 seemingly owned a copy. And it's easy to see why -- the Rascals'
debut couples a raw garage band sound with compelling white soul more
successfully than just about any record since the Beatles' Please Please
Me. The band had three powerful singers in Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati,
and Gene Cornish, and an attack honed in hundreds of hours of playing
dance clubs on Long Island and New York City. The result is a record without
a weak moment or a false note anywhere in its 35 minutes: "Do You
Feel It" shows them crossing swords stylistically with Smokey Robinson
& the Miracles; "Just a Little" and "Like a Rolling
Stone" show off their folk-rock chops; and "Slow Down,"
"Good Lovin'," "Mustang Sally," and "In the Midnight
Hour" are all '60s rock & roll classics in these versions. "Like
a Rolling Stone," in particular, now seems all the more compelling,
pointing the way toward a future that included Hendrix's version of "All
Along the Watchtower." The CD is one of Warner Special Products'
better sounding reissues, having been remastered by Rhino's Bill Inglot.
The original album was on Atlantic, and was one of the label's best-sellers
of the mid-'60s.
(by Bruce Eder, AMG) |