Catherine Rampell thorougly demolishes the current talking
point that “greedy corporations” are primarily responsible for our recent
inflationary spiral.
Friday, November 26, 2021
The greediest Thanksgiving ever (?)
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
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
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