THE VIBRATIONS "Great Soul Hits"

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It would require a full-length article to sort out the story of the Vibrations and their relationship to the Jayhawks, the Marathons, and the Olympics, but suffice it to say that this Los Angeles vocal group was at a nexus of musical activity in the '60s. After scoring a couple of early hits ("Peanut Butter" as the Marathons; "The Watusi" as the Vibrations), the group moved away from teen-oriented doo wop toward full-bodied soul. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one's tastes, Okeh Records had the group record entire albums of pop songs that didn't obviously mesh with the Vibrations' new artistic direction. The results are fresh interpretations of songs such as "Misty" and the Beatles' "And I Love Her," which yielded minor hits but didn't exactly establish the Vibrations as trendsetters. Great Soul Hits compiles 29 recordings taken mostly from mid- to late-'60s Okeh recordings, but with a smattering of earlier sides such as "The Watusi" and "Watusi Time." If the group had been given more forward-looking material during their Okeh period, it seems possible, if not likely, that they would have met with greater success. Nonetheless, it's interesting to hear a crack R&B vocal group adapt such unlikely material as Doris Day's "Secret Love" and the easy listening standard "Days of Wine and Roses." "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" is not the Patience and Prudence song, but borrows heavily from it, and "Canadian Sunset" is a vocal version of the instrumental tune (previously a hit for Andy Williams). Great Soul Hits has no liner notes or annotation and the sound quality is merely so-so, but it contains a number of tracks that are not available elsewhere. - by Greg Adams

trax:
01 Finding Out The Hard Way 02 Talking 'Bout Love 03 Watusi Time 04 Ain't Love That Way 05 Canadian Sunset 06 Secret Love 07 End Up Crying 08 Gonna Get Along Without You Now 09 Our Day Will Come 10 One Mint Julep 11 Everybody Loves A Lover 12 Soul A Go Go 13 Love In Them There Hills 14 Sloop Dance 15 Keep On Keeping On 16 Tonight 17 Stardust 18 Misty 19 What Kind Of Fool Am I 20 Days Of Wine And Roses 21 And I Love Her 22 Hello Happiness 23 Forgive And Forget 24 I Left My Heart In San Francisco 25 Remember The Rain 26 The Watusi 27 You're Mine 28 If You Only Knew 29 Shout/What I Say
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