Rock & Roll: The First 50 Years/The Late '60s: 25 Top 10 Hits

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Cary E. Mansfield (Compilation); Steve Massie (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl. To most observers, the title of Varese's The Late '60s: 25 Top 10 Hits installment of their ongoing Rock & Roll: The First 50 Years series would suggest that the 2005 collection would be filled with trippy psychedelia and acid rock. After all, the late '60s were when rock got heavy and serious, both in sound and sentiment, so it would only make sense that a compilation chronicling that time would also be heavy and serious. However, the late '60s were also the time of light, swinging, cheerfully trippy sunshine pop, bubblegum, pop-soul, and folk-pop, and those are the sounds that hit the charts, so it makes sense that this disc concentrates on this area. The closest this comes to psychedelia is the Youngbloods' "Get Together," the Turtles' "Happy Together" and the Zombies' "Time of the Season," with most of this concentrating on mainstream pop from the likes of Tommy James, Bobby Darin, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bobby Sherman, and the Buckinghams. There's a surprisingly heavy dose of soul -- including Joe Tex's funky "Skinny Legs and All," the Soul Survivors' hard-hitting "Expressway to Your Heart," and Brenton Wood's "Gimme Little Sign," which is as perfect as music gets -- and is not only a welcome balance to the breezy sunshine pop and lite MOR here, but it helps draw a greater picture of the era. Most of the songs here are quite familiar and easy to find on other collections -- the exceptions are Mercy's "Love (Can Make You Happy)," which rarely shows up anywhere, and "Gimme Little Sign," which isn't on nearly as many comps as it should be -- but this is a well-selected, highly enjoyable set regardless. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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