Stevie Van Zandt heaped a ton of praise on the Rascals when he inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. If you think he was being hyperbolic, you probably haven’t heard the group, which likely means you weren’t around in the mid- and late 1960s. That’s when this quartet’s work aired regularly on AM radio and delivered some of that medium’s brightest moments.
They first topped the charts in the spring of 1966 with the high-octane “Good Lovin’” and returned to the #1 spot twice more with 1967’s sublime “Groovin’” and 1968’s “People Got to Be Free.” Their numerous other essential Top 20 hits include “You Better Run,” “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “A Girl Like You,” “How Can I Be Sure,” “It’s Wonderful” and “A Beautiful Morning.”
The New Jersey-based band, initially known as the Young Rascals, first attracted attention for its musicianship, vocal work, and covers-heavy R&B/soul-flavored sets at a club in Long Island, New York’s Westhampton. Their debut album, 1966’s The Young Rascals, reflects this period with fine versions of hits such as the Beau Brummels’ “Just a Little,” Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and “In the Midnight Hour.”
Related: Interviews with all four original Rascals
But like such contemporaries as a certain quartet from Liverpool, Rascals keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, percussionist Eddie Brigati, drummer Dino Danelli and guitarist Gene Cornish evolved and matured rapidly. Original material, mostly by Cavaliere and Brigati, the group’s primary lead vocalists, began to dominate their albums, and they started to incorporate elements of jazz, rock, psychedelia and more. The result was some of the finest popular music of its time.
If you agree with that assessment, you’re probably a serious fan, in which case it’s time to trash your copy of the Rascals’ two-disc Anthology, which delivered a mere 35 tracks, or even Rhino Handmade’s six-CD collection of the group’s Atlantic recordings, which was called All I Really Need (after a line from “Good Lovin’”). What you really need is the gargantuan new It’s Wonderful: The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings.
The Rascals (l. to r.): Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Dino Danelli, Gene Cornish
Like the Rhino box, this one, released on May 31, 2024, collects the group’s LPs for Atlantic, the label that between 1965 and 1971 issued all their hit singles and most important long-players. But the new anthology, which contains 152 freshly remastered tracks and all the original album art, goes further. With a playing time of more than eight-and-a-half hours, it makes room for stereo and mono versions of the first four LPs plus single edits, alternate takes and foreign-language versions. Fourteen of the tracks are previously unissued, and the box comes with a well-illustrated 60-page booklet that features an appreciation by compiler Alec Palao, a copious band history by music writer Richie Unterberger and detailed discographic information.
Highlights abound in the set, which makes clear that there was much more to the Rascals than their well-known hits and other radio favorites. Listen, for example, to “Baby, Let’s Wait,” a seductive ballad from the first LP; Cornish’s lilting “I Don’t Love You Anymore,”; “It’s Love,” which features jazz flutist Hubert Laws; the beautifully produced “Easy Rollin’,” which sounds like a perfect companion to “Groovin’”; and the funky “I’d Like to Take You Home,” which seems reminiscent of Smiley Smile/Wild Honey-era Beach Boys.
This box’s title, which shares the name of a 1967 hit, accurately sums up its contents: it’s wonderful.
It’s available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationI got “Once Upon a Dream” as a cut-out in the 70s. Great psychedelic pop. And they probably beat the Temptations to psychedelic soul.