Collections [Stereo/Mono]

Performer: The Young Rascals
Engineer: Tom Dowd; Bob Gallo; Bruce Tergesen
Distributor: Infinity Entertainment Gr

Notes: Personnel: Gene Cornish (vocals, guitar); Felix Cavaliere (vocals, piano, organ); Eddie Brigati (vocals, percussion); Dino Danelli (drums). Liner Note Author: Richie Unterberger. Recording information: Atlantic Studios; Talent Masters Studios. Photographer: George Rodriguez . The S on the end of the title should be a clue, but just in case: this is not a Rascals greatest-hits compilation. Released in 1967, COLLECTIONS is a studio album that finds the Young Rascals (they hadn't dropped the prefix yet) at the height of their blue-eyed soul era, bashing out smart funky covers of R&B hits and a small handful of meaty originals. Too sophisticated to be a garage band, the Young Rascals still had a rough edge to their sound--even on a version of the middle-of-the-road favorite "More (Theme from Mondo Cane)"--that gives the album its excitement. The boys are in full-on human jukebox mode, tossing off their interpretations of the Miracles' "Mickey's Monkey," the Marvellettes' "Too Many Fish in the Sea," and a version of "Land of 1000 Dances" owing more to Wilson Pickett than Cannibal and the Headhunters. Good sweaty R&B fun. The garage rock feel has been banished almost entirely from the group's second album, whose release followed a pair of disappointing singles ("What Is the Reason" and "Come On Up"). It also includes their first misjudgment on an album, Gene Cornish's too quiet, too introspective, and way-too-languid "No Love to Give," amid an otherwise wonderfully soulful body of music that picks up right where "In the Midnight Hour" from the prior album left off. Most of this record is among the most danceable white rock music of its period -- even the Eddie Brigati-sung cover of the then-current pop standard "More" has a certain rocking credibility. Their attempt at bluesy rock & roll, Cornish's "Nineteen Fifty-Six," a bit of a "Kansas City" rip-off, with a pair of crunchy guitar parts and Cornish singing lead, also comes off extremely well. They're even better with the more soulful tracks, however. "Land of 1000 Dances" was the best track on which to end this album, but it was Cavaliere and David Brigati's "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" that pointed to the future, showing the group moving toward the mix of sounds and sentiments behind "People Got to Be Free." [Collectors Choice's 2007 reissue includes mono and stereo versions of each of the original tracks.] ~ Bruce Eder

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