| Freedom Suite | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 17, 1969 | |||
| Recorded | May 14 – December 18, 1968 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 64:17 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | The Rascals, Arif Mardin | |||
| The Rascals chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Freedom Suite | ||||
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Freedom Suite is the fifth studio album (a double album) by rock band The Rascals, released on March 17, 1969. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and also reached number 40 on the Billboard Black Albums chart, the last Rascals album to appear there.
Freedom Suite was an ambitious effort and something of a concept album. Packaging included a shiny silver gatefold album cover, with a photograph of the band pasted on the front, colored sleeves with the song lyrics printed on them, and illustrations drawn by members of the group. The latter varied from idealistic visions of trumpeting angels to Eastern-influenced sketchings to drummer Dino Danelli's faithful homage to El Greco's Christ. The inclusion of three instrumentals comprising one complete album of the two-record set—one polished track ("Adrian's Birthday," named in honor of recording engineer Adrian Barber), one jam session ("Cute"), and a Danelli drum solo ("Boom")—seemed to reviewer and critic Richie Unterberger as an effort by The Rascals to establish themselves as an "album" group rather than a "singles" group. [1]
The first LP of the set contained conventional songs, while the second contained the instrumentals. Various session musicians, including bassist Chuck Rainey and saxophonists King Curtis and David "Fathead" Newman, augmented the band's normal line-up on several selections.
The album's content was packaged differently based on format and territory. In North America, the full Freedom Suite album, including the instrumentals, was available in a double album package on LP and on reel-to-reel tape. Cassette and 8-track tape editions, however, were packaged as either one double-play album or as two single albums ("Freedom Suite" and "Music Music") and could be purchased independently. In Great Britain, only the first record of the double album was distributed, with the instrumentals and inserts omitted completely.
The album contained the Rascals' last #1 hit single "People Got To Be Free," which was released in advance of the album in mid-1968. "A Ray of Hope/Any Dance'll Do" (November 1968) and "Heaven/Baby I'm Blue" (February 1969) were also issued as singles.
The political climate of the time helped fuel the songwriting efforts for Freedom Suite; most notably, "People Got to Be Free" was inspired by the April 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and "A Ray of Hope" by the June 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (the latter song's figurative "ray of hope" is surviving Kennedy brother Ted Kennedy). Cavaliere was quoted in Billboard magazine, remarking "After King and Kennedy and what happened in Chicago (i.e., the demonstrations and resulting police actions at the 1968 Democratic National Convention), we just had to say something." [1] [2]
Prior to this album, the Rascals' primary vocalists Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati co-authored most of the band's original songs. On Freedom Suite, however, that trend began to change, with Cavaliere credited as sole author of four of the album's vocal tracks. Brigati's songwriting and vocal contributions would continue to decline on subsequent albums. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
The album was RIAA-certified as a gold record on April 21, 1969, rising to #17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. It also reached #40 on the Billboard Black Albums chart, the last Rascals album to appear there. In Canada, it reached #20. [4]
It was not especially well received; critic Lester Bangs would later write that Freedom Suite suffered from "excess," [5] while critic Dave Marsh would later write that it "sowed the seeds of the group's demise, [as it] reflected an attempt to join the psychedelic craze." [6]
Writing for Allmusic, critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album "if that outing [Once Upon a Dream] had been ambitious and even visionary, the double Freedom Suite, released in 1969 as the group's fifth album, was off the map. The band dug in and wrote a single LP's worth of solid tunes including a quartet of fine singles." [3]
US-Gold (500,000 copies sold). [7]
The Rascals are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965.
Felix Cavaliere is an American musician. He is best known for being the co-lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Young Rascals.
Fotomaker was a power pop group from Long Island, New York who released three albums between 1978 and 1979.
Peaceful World is the eighth studio album by rock band The Rascals, released on May 5, 1971. It peaked at number 122 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the album reached number 50. The single "Love Me" reached number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Groovin'" is a song written by the American singer songwriters Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, initially recorded by their group the Young Rascals in 1967. Cavaliere was inspired to compose the song by his girlfriend Adrienne Buccheri, whom he only got to meet every Sunday amidst heavy touring and recording. Musically, the song differs from most of band's previous output, leaving the garage rock genre for Latin American influences, such as baião. Lyrically, "Groovin'" tells the tale of a narrator spending time with his partner on a Sunday afternoon. The song was arranged and recorded at the Talentmasters Studios, New York City in March of 1967.
"It's Wonderful" is a popular song by The Young Rascals, and their last single under that name. Written by group members Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and with a dual lead vocal from them, it was included on the group's 1968 album Once Upon a Dream). It climbed as high as #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"People Got to Be Free" is a song released in 1968 by the Rascals, written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and featuring a lead vocal from Cavaliere.
Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album from the Rascals, released on June 24, 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart by September 1968. It also topped the Cash Box albums chart with a run in the Top 10 for 20 consecutive weeks
Once Upon a Dream is the fourth studio album by the rock band the Rascals, released February 19, 1968. The album rose to number 9 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and number 7 on the R&B chart.
David Brigati is an American singer. He is sometimes known as "the fifth Rascal".
The Young Rascals is the debut album by the American rock band the Young Rascals. The album was released on March 28, 1966, and rose to No. 15 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and No. 10 in Cashbox.
Collections is the second album by the rock band the Young Rascals. The album was released on January 9, 1967 and rose to #15 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, and to #8 in Canada.
Groovin' is the third album by the rock band the Young Rascals. The album was released on July 31, 1967 and rose to #5 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, number 7 on the R&B chart, and number 2 in Canada. Eight of the songs were released on singles with the title track reaching number 1 on the Pop chart in the U.S.
See is the sixth studio album by rock band The Rascals, released on December 15, 1969. It peaked at number 45 on the Billboard 200. In Canada, it reached number 11. Three singles were released from the album, although the third one was "I Believe" backed with "Hold On".
Search and Nearness is the seventh studio album by rock band the Rascals, released on March 1, 1971. It was the last album featuring Eddie Brigati and Gene Cornish as well as the group's last album released on Atlantic Records.
Dino Danelli was an American drummer. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group The Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated rock drummers in history". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 with The (Young) Rascals.
Gene Cornish is a Canadian-American musician. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band The Young Rascals. From 1965 to 1970, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen singles that reached Billboard's Top 40 chart. In 1997, as a founding member of The Rascals, Cornish was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
"I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" is a song written by Pam Sawyer and Laurie Burton in 1965. Originally envisioned to be recorded by a British Invasion artist, the song was extremely well liked by the American rock group the Young Rascals, and they subsequently recorded the song and released it as their debut single in November 1965 through Atlantic Records. Though only a marginal hit, reaching number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100, it largely established the band on the American music scene. It has since been included on several albums by the band, including their eponymous debut album, and several compilation albums, including Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits, on which it was the opening track.
The New Rascals are an American musical group featuring Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish from the original band The Rascals, with Bill Pascali of Vanilla Fudge 2001 and Charlie Souza formerly with Mudcrutch and White Witch.
The Very Best of The Rascals is a compilation album from the Rascals released on July 20, 1993 by Rhino/Atlantic. This compilation contains nearly all of their Atlantic singles, in chronological order, released from 1965 through 1970. The first nine singles are performed by the Young Rascals, while the last seven tracks are credited to the Rascals.
