Favorite Best-Of Albums: The Righteous Brothers Anthology (1962-1974)

The act for whom the term blue-eyed soul was created got this comprehensive two-disk compilation, lovingly put together by Rhino Records. Unlike other collections, it covers the duo’s entire history, across four record labels. (Avoid, at all costs, any RB material from Curb Records, as these are inferior re-recorded versions.)

 

Baritone Bill Medley and tenor Bobby Hatfield got their start in the early 1960s on the Moonglow label. They had only modest success on the charts, although “Little Latin Lupe Lu” (later turned into a big hit by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels) became a garage-band favorite, and their live shows, many in largely Black Southern California clubs, were well-received. They also nabbed a regular slot on the popular, although short-lived, musical variety TV show Shindig!

 

The Brothers really broke through when legendary producer Phil Spector caught one of their shows in 1964 and quickly signed them to his Philles label. Their first single together, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”, topped the U.S. and U.K. charts and is regarded by many as one of the greatest singles ever recorded; Rolling Stone included it in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in 2015 it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. Their second single, “Just Once In My Life”, reached #9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the spring of 1965.

 

That summer, Philles released a third wall-of-sound classic, “Hung On You”. To Spector’s great annoyance, however, DJs preferred the B-side of the single, an album cut with a solo performance by Hatfield covering a ballad from 10 years earlier. “Unchained Melody”, of course, became a big hit in the summer of ‘65 and was later revived when it was featured in the 1990 movie Ghost. Spector had the duo record another old song, “Ebb Tide”, for their last Philles hit, but lost interest in the act and sold their contract to Verve records.

 

Medley and Hatfield struck immediate paydirt on their new label, duplicating Spector’s sound without Spector on the #1 hit “(You’re My) Soul And Inspiration”. While they put out some other great tracks on Verve over the next few years, none of them came close to the top 10, and Medley left to pursue a solo career in 1968.

 

The two reunited, for better or worse, in 1974, working with the songwriting/production team of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. I well remember my distaste for their comeback single, “Rock And Roll Heaven”, which Parke Puterbaugh’s excellent liner notes in this anthology characterize as “a rather saccharine ode to the deceased rock stars’ hall of fame.” (My English-major college roommate was kind enough to supply the word “contrived” to sum up my reaction.)

 

While the Brothers were justifiably best known for their singing, Medley’s other skills are often ignored. He wrote or co-wrote much of their material on Moonglow, including “Little Latin Lupe Lu”, as well as “Go Ahead And Cry” from the Verve era. He also produced their Moonglow records and most of their material on Verve, as well as their Philles albums, as Spector lived for hit singles and couldn’t be bothered with LPs.

 

Favorite Tracks:

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’

Ebb Tide

Hung On You

Melancholy Music Man

Go Ahead And Cry

 

Just Once In My Life

He

On This Side Of Good-Bye

Unchained Melody

Little Latin Lupe Lu

 

The White Cliffs Of Dover

(You’re My) Soul And Inspiration

Dream On

Justine

A Man Without A Dream