Oct 30, 2017 - Album of the Week - Young Rascals - Groovin'

[Hymie]

The first "Album of the Week" is an album that I am shocked is not listed at all here on the site. It was a huge hit album, getting to # 5 on the Billboard album chart and staying on that chart for about a year. It's "Groovin'" by the Young Rascals, from 1967. Some of the younger folks around here have probably never heard the album. It had a great cover:



Here it is on youtube, check it out!

TRACK LISTING:

A1 A Girl Like You 2:46
A2 Find Somebody 3:40
A3 I'm So Happy Now 2:46
A4 Sueno 2:45
A5 How Can I Be Sure 2:50
B1 Groovin' 2:25
B2 If You Knew 3:01
B3 I Don't Love You Anymore 3:04
B4 You Better Run 2:25
B5 A Place in the Sun 4:50
B6 It's Love 3:10

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Here's my review of the album:

The album kicks off with "A Girl Like You," a big hit single that was released just a week or so before the album. The second track "Find Somebody" is very garage sounding and somewhat psychedelic too, with the guitar parts crossing back and forth between the right track and the left track. These guys were very soulful sounding white guys from New Jersey and New York, but they were also very influenced by the hippie rock sounds and the British Rock stuff that was popular at the time. Most of the members of the Rascals were members of Joey Dee and the Starlighters before they formed this band.

The third track "I'm So Happy Now" is straight pop rock in a similar style to the Turtles, who were also huge at this time. It would later be released as the B side to the final single from the album, "How Can I Be Sure." "I'm So Happy Now" was written and sung by Gene Cornish.

Next up is "Sueno," which was the B side of the "Groovin'" single from a few months before the album came out. It's a cross between 60s pop rock and a bit of flamenco guitar showing a mild Latin influence.

After that is the big hit single "How Can I Be Sure." This was the final single from the album, released about a month after the album entered the Billboard charts. Eddie Brigati sings the lead on this one and his brother Dave Brigati is credited on the album cover with providing "vocal background effects" for the album. Believe it or not "How Can I Be Sure" was being used for a time in later years as the theme song of a TV ad for condoms.

Side 2 of the album kicks off with the title track "Groovin'." Band leader Felix Cavaliere takes the lead on this one. This was one of the biggest hit singles ever in the New York City area. It was number one for 7 weeks on the biggest radio staion in town, WABC, and was also number one on the black stations in town, like WWRL and WNJR. The record had mass appeal for most all of the different neighborhoods in the New York City area, White, Black, Hispanic, whatever, it did not matter. Everybody loved the record. Nationally it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks, and even got to # 3 on Billboard's Top Soul Singles chart. Few white acts were making that chart at all at this time, and almost none were making the top 5, but the Rascals were the epitome of Blue-Eyed Soul in 1967. Like the Righteous Brothers were in 1965.

The next track is "If You Knew." This one is a duet with Eddie and Felix singing together on lead. Most of the Rascals songs were written by Felix and Eddie together, like Jagger-Richard and Lennon-McCartney. The Rascals had excellent singers, and two of them harmonize beautifully on this track.

The next track is another Gene Cornish song where he sings the lead, "I Don't Love You Anymore." He was the George Harrison of the group, the lead guitarist who worked on his own songs apart from the other 2 songwriters in the band. Felix played the keyboards, and Eddie was just a vocalist. Dino Danelli was the drummer. This one is a pretty ballad with great background vocals, sort of like the Association sound on things like "Never My Love" and "Cherish."

Next up is an older single called "You Better Run" that had not been on an album before. It was a top 30 national hit from the summer of 1966, about a year before the album was released. Pat Benetar later had a hit with the song. After this we get to the only song on the album that is not a Rascals original. The boys tackle the big Stevie Wonder hit song "A Place In The Sun." That happens to be my favorite Stevie Wonder record. This reading is somewhat schmaltzy, but the song is just that way to begin with, even Stevie's version. Eddie takes the lead here. The false ending and the eventual real ending are a little over the top.

The album closes now with "It's Love," which was the B side of the "A Girl Like You" single that kicked off the album. It features a flute solo from Hubert Laws. The 1960s stereo is cool on this track, and pretty much on the entire album IMO.

The youtube video has one bonus track, their huge 1968 hit "A Beautiful Morning" which comes on after the album. This album for me evokes a nice early summer day in the New York City area. High 70s in June, not a cloud in the sky, and we are Groovin'!

This band does not have much cred with album fans, but this album is very good, and their debut album "The Young Rascals'" is too, as well as "Collections," which was their second album. Later on they went away from their strengths and tried to be more progressive and hard rockin', and it did not work for me.

Bruce Eder, writing for AllMusic, rates the band's 1967 album "Groovin'" as their best, noting the record's soulful core and innovative use of jazz and Latin instrumental arrangements. The band was enormously popular in Canada, although they never made it big in the United Kingdom, with only "Groovin'" becoming a big hit single over there.

On a scale of 0 to 10 I give this album a 7. I don't think it's great or even excellent, but I think it's very good.

[Henry]

Thanks for reminding of this album.

I do remember the album and I enjoy the following songs very much:

A Girl Like You
Groovin' (I confused "endlessly" with "and Leslie")
How Can I Be Sure
You Better Run

I also enjoyed I'm So Happy Now
I'll have to listen to the other songs to see if my memory can be refreshed regarding my enjoyment of them.

I'd rate the album a 6 as well.

[spiritualized]

"Groovin'" is on streaming as I write this.
I had listened to the album once before, rating it a 6 out of 10. As it plays, I think this may have been a bit low.
The record is indeed rooted in the British Invasion sound of the sixties and pleasantly so. You can however hear whiffs of the Beach Boys and the Byrds - sign of the times, no doubt.
I'm also loving the guitar riff on "You Better Run", a highlight of the record.

The downside - I did not recognize the "hits" at all. I feel some of the tracks are fillers and are downright average.

My take on "Groovin'" ? A record which sadly doesn't compare to the gems released in the same time period. On its own, it's rather good, but put it in a context and suddenly it becomes less special. 6/10

[StevieFan13]

I only know them for their version of “Good Lovin’” so this’ll be a neat listen.

[Hymie]

May I suggest we use my 0 to 10 rating system below for this feature every week:

10 - Incredibly awesome
9 - Great
8 - Excellent
7 - Very Good
6 - Good
5 - Pretty Good
4 - Okay
3 - Not Very Good
2 - Bad
'1 - Terrible
0 - Unbelievably Horrible

So far I gave it a 7 and spiritualized gave it a 6.

[Moonbeam]

Gave this a spin last night as someone completely unfamiliar that there was even a group called The Young Rascals. 60s pop/rock isn't usually my bag, but there were some quite nice surprises in this. I can hear why it made it onto the RnB charts, though I wouldn't call this an RnB album. My favorites were the utterly lovely "How Can I Be Sure" and "It's Love". I'm going to give this another spin after reading Hymie's review.

[prosecutorgodot]

Hymie, would you say you love this album? This would seem like a waste of time if the recommender does not even love the album. On my scale, a 7/10 means you like the album a lot, but wouldn't say you love it.

Going into the album, I had heard the title track, which I consider a fantastic song. Seeing as critics love it too, but do not have the album ranked, I was already expecting it to be a bland album with that single highlight. And I was pretty much right. I find the male vocalist to not be that emotive, and the lyrics quite lacking. I did dig quite a few instrumentals though, and a few other moments that were pretty great. Overall I felt the album lacked the bite I would like in my music. Another way to say this is that the music was too bland. The funny thing about all of that is that the title track isn't too different from the rest of the album. I guess I would say that "Groovin'" has a slightly better vocal melody, musical arrangement and lyrics than the other songs, which pushes it over the edge to become truly great. I'll go with a light to decent 6/10. (I liked it a bit)

[Hymie]

Gave this a spin last night as someone completely unfamiliar that there was even a group called The Young Rascals. 60s pop/rock isn't usually my bag, but there were some quite nice surprises in this. I can hear why it made it onto the RnB charts, though I wouldn't call this an RnB album. My favorites were the utterly lovely "How Can I Be Sure" and "It's Love". I'm going to give this another spin after reading Hymie's review.

Glad you liked it. "How Can I Be Sure" has some non rock elements to it. It's almost like a cabaret thing or something, like "It's That All There Is" by Peggy Lee. Most of the album does not sound like R&B, but the song "Groovin'" does, and was a huge hit single on the black charts of the day.

[Hymie]

Hymie, would you say you love this album? This would seem like a waste of time if the recommender does not even love the album. On my scale, a 7/10 means you like the album a lot, but wouldn't say you love it.

No, as I said, I think the album is very good, but not better than that. I was trying to promote an album that I thought that some members here may not know, but might like more than they would think at first. If I started only with albums that I LOVE, they would either be really well known already, or would not likely impress most here, as I mainly like 1950s R&B and rock and roll, and blues. For example, here's an album that I love:





But I just don't see any of the younger members of this forum appreciating this one.

[StevieFan13]

Hymie, would you say you love this album? This would seem like a waste of time if the recommender does not even love the album. On my scale, a 7/10 means you like the album a lot, but wouldn't say you love it.

No, as I said, I think the album is very good, but not better than that. I was trying to promote an album that I thought that some members here may not know, but might like more than they would think at first. If I started only with albums that I LOVE, they would either be really well known already, or would not likely impress most here, as I mainly like 1950s R&B and rock and roll, and blues. For example, here's an album that I love:





But I just don't see any of the younger members of this forum appreciating this one.

Hey now, don’t write us off yet. I’m down for just about anything, music-wise.

[BleuPanda]

Hymie, would you say you love this album? This would seem like a waste of time if the recommender does not even love the album. On my scale, a 7/10 means you like the album a lot, but wouldn't say you love it.

No, as I said, I think the album is very good, but not better than that. I was trying to promote an album that I thought that some members here may not know, but might like more than they would think at first. If I started only with albums that I LOVE, they would either be really well known already, or would not likely impress most here, as I mainly like 1950s R&B and rock and roll, and blues. For example, here's an album that I love:





But I just don't see any of the younger members of this forum appreciating this one.

You shouldn't make those assumptions. I'm pretty sure the main reason a lot of us 'younger members' don't talk a lot about that era of music is we simply aren't familiar with it. Especially looking into it, I'd be much more interested in Blues from the Gutter than another late 60s pop-rock album.

[Hymie]

I'd be much more interested in Blues from the Gutter than another late 60s pop-rock album.

Okay!

Be My Guest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP454k6 ... jMsHXCUnrU

[Hymie]

The other problem for me in terms of what I "love," is that very little of what I love was even released on an album. Either the act never had an album, or, they only had albums that were collections, like greatest hits, or box sets, or retrospectives from decades later.

Albums just were not important to the genres I listen to in the 40s, 50s and early 60s.

[Honorio]

"Blues from the Gutter" was featured on Moderately Acclaimed Albums 5 three years ago (nominated by antonius) and received quite a lot of following from the participants. It got to Round 4 eliminating on its way albums by John Talabot, Kanye West (yes, you better believe it) and Chuck Berry, losing on the Round 4 to JJ Cale's "Naturally" for only 1 vote.

This was my comment on the West vs. Dupree match-up:
"From the gutter to the mansion. This match-up illustrates vividly the long (and successful) path African-American music travelled during the last decades. West made his own impeccably-produced break-up album (in the "Blood on the Tracks" or "Here My Dear" tradition) brilliantly but in my opinion it pales beside the authenticity of Dupree raw blues material, you can almost smell the smoke and the cheap alcohol. Come on, Jack, take me for a walk in the gutter."

No offense intended, Hymie, but it seems that some youngsters (and I'm not one of them, I'm one of the 6 AMers born in the sixties) actually appreciate some old albums and put them above an album from the most important artist of the 2010s.

[DaveC]

I remember the single "Groovin'", but that wasn't/isn't to my taste. Fortunately, I like most of the album better and actually find it quite varied even though it does suffer when compared with the many great albums released in 1967. With "How can I be sure", I have the David Cassidy version (which was such a huge hit a few years later) lodged in my mind. I have also heard the Dusty Springfield version and assumed it was her original. I never heard the real original before and the concertina is a nice touch - best song on the album. 2nd best song: "It's Love". On your scale Hymie I'll give the album a solid 6/10. "Blues from the Gutter" on the other hand is an 8/10 and made my top 500 albums list 3 year ago but just slipped off this year.

[Moonbeam]

The other problem for me in terms of what I "love," is that very little of what I love was even released on an album. Either the act never had an album, or, they only had albums that were collections, like greatest hits, or box sets, or retrospectives from decades later.

Albums just were not important to the genres I listen to in the 40s, 50s and early 60s.

I'm not at all opposed to nominations of compilations, retrospectives, etc. I've thought about nominating a compilation this round.

[Hymie]

"Blues from the Gutter" was featured on Moderately Acclaimed Albums 5 three years ago (nominated by antonius) and received quite a lot of following from the participants. It got to Round 4 eliminating on its way albums by John Talabot, Kanye West (yes, you better believe it) and Chuck Berry, losing on the Round 4 to JJ Cale's "Naturally" for only 1 vote.

This was my comment on the West vs. Dupree match-up:
"From the gutter to the mansion. This match-up illustrates vividly the long (and successful) path African-American music travelled during the last decades. West made his own impeccably-produced break-up album (in the "Blood on the Tracks" or "Here My Dear" tradition) brilliantly but in my opinion it pales beside the authenticity of Dupree raw blues material, you can almost smell the smoke and the cheap alcohol. Come on, Jack, take me for a walk in the gutter."

No offense intended, Hymie, but it seems that some youngsters (and I'm not one of them, I'm one of the 6 AMers born in the sixties) actually appreciate some old albums and put them above an album from the most important artist of the 2010s.

Okay, I stand corrected, but as I said, the real problem for me is that most of the stuff I like best was never on an album. For me, the best records that Jack Dupree ever made were not on an album. I like these MUCH better than I like the stuff on "Blues From The Gutter."

[Hymie]

I'm not at all opposed to nominations of compilations, retrospectives, etc. I've thought about nominating a compilation this round.

Okay, here's a favorite compilation:

[Moonbeam]

I'm not at all opposed to nominations of compilations, retrospectives, etc. I've thought about nominating a compilation this round.

Okay, here's a favorite compilation:

Once nominations for this round close (November 5th), you can nominate again for the next round if you like!

[jamieW]

I liked this album quite a bit (particularly "How Can I Be Sure" and "It's Love," which others have mentioned, as well as the rocker "You Better Run.") I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since I've always liked the Young Rascals (other favorites include "It's Wonderful" and my personal favorite of theirs, "A Beautiful Morning"). Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy their singles, I never sought out any of their albums, since I figured they were likely more of a singles-oriented band and their albums would be loaded with filler. Not the case here - the entire album has a smooth flow to it that made me long for summer. If all the albums are this strong, this is going to be a very rewarding project!

Album rating: A solid 7. (Using my personal scale, 7.14 to be exact.) Ironically, I do remember "Blues from the Gutter" from MAA, and I have it rated as 7.10 in my spreadsheet, so these two albums are razor close for me.

[Moonbeam]

Gave this another spin. I had "A Girl Like You" in my head afterward, which is a good sign of the song's catchiness, so I'll add it to to my list of favorites. The harmonies from "I Don't Love You Anymore" reminded me a bit of those in "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear. Overall, I enjoyed the album more than I thought, given that 60s pop/rock is not a favorite for me.

[bonnielaurel]

The title track sounds familiar, but I didn't know much about them. They're in the shadow of other rock bands in the same period, but what gives them an original twist are the vocal harmonies and the influence of soul and some Latin rhythms.