Groovin' (The Young Rascals album)

Last updated
Groovin'
Groovin.jpg
Studio album by
the Young Rascals
ReleasedJuly 31, 1967
RecordedMay 9, 1966 – June 22, 1967
Genre Blue-eyed soul
Length34:34
Label Atlantic
Producer The Young Rascals
The Young Rascals chronology
Collections
(1967)		Groovin'
(1967)		 Once Upon a Dream
(1968)
Singles from Groovin'
  1. "Groovin' " / "Sueño"
    Released: April 10, 1967
  2. "A Girl Like You" / "It's Love"
    Released: July 3, 1967
  3. "How Can I Be Sure" / "I'm So Happy Now"
    Released: August 28, 1967

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. [1] Eight of the songs were released on singles with the title track reaching number 1 on the Pop chart in the U.S.

Contents

History

This was the last album on which the band was billed as The Young Rascals; their next album, Once Upon a Dream , would be credited to simply The Rascals. The album began the Rascals' first forays into the psychedelic genre that they would explore further on Once Upon a Dream. [2]

Eight of Groovin''s eleven songs were issued by Atlantic Records as single A- or B-sides. The three songs specific to the album are "Find Somebody", "I Don't Love You Anymore", and the Rascals' cover of "A Place in the Sun". "If You Knew", upon its initial release as the B-side of the single "I've Been Lonely Too Long", was jointly credited to all the Rascals' members; the writing credit was changed upon the album's release. Atlantic Records was at first reluctant to release the title song as a single, but its popularity was such that Italian and Spanish versions were released on different sides of a subsequent single. [2]

Flutist Hubert Laws is featured in a sessions role on the album's final track, "It's Love".

Booker T. & the MG's took a cover of "Groovin'" to the charts later in 1967 [2] and the song "You Better Run" was later covered by Pat Benatar and was a hit for her in 1980.

Cover design

The front cover design was conceived (but not illustrated) by the Young Rascals' drummer Dino Danelli. The illustration was a work of his friend, Lynn Rubin. [3] Affixed to the front cover was one of two stickers indicating: "THIS LP HAS THE BIG HIT", followed by either "How Can I Be Sure" (as shown in the cover photo on the right) or "A Girl Like You" as both tracks climbed into the Top 10.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]

Writing for Allmusic, critic Bruce Eder wrote the album moved into the psychedelic genre while retaining a "soulful core". He called the album "their best of their entire history... but 'Groovin'' was only one small strong point on the album of the same name." [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLead vocal(s)Length
1."A Girl Like You" Felix Cavaliere 2:51
2."Find Somebody" Eddie Brigati 3:48
3."I'm So Happy Now" (Gene Cornish)Cornish2:50
4."Sueño" (Cavaliere/Brigati, but attributed incorrectly to another writer on some labels [2] )Cavaliere2:48
5."How Can I Be Sure"Brigati2:56
Side two
No.TitleLead vocal(s)Length
1."Groovin'"Cavaliere2:33
2."If You Knew" (Brigati, Cavaliere, Cornish, Dino Danelli)Brigati with Cavaliere3:04
3."I Don't Love You Anymore" (Cornish)Cornish3:09
4."You Better Run"Cavaliere2:28
5."A Place in the Sun" (Ronald Miller, Brian Wells)Brigati4:52
6."It's Love"Cavaliere3:15

Certifications

US-Gold (500,000 copies sold). [5]

Personnel

The Rascals

Additional musicians

Singles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rascals</span> American rock/blue-eyed soul band

The Rascals were an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Cavaliere</span> American musician

Felix Cavaliere is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the co-lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Young Rascals.

<i>Freedom Suite</i> (The Rascals album) 1969 studio album by The Rascals

Freedom Suite is the fifth studio 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.

<i>Peaceful World</i> (album) 1971 studio album by The Rascals

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">How Can I Be Sure</span>

"How Can I Be Sure" is a popular song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, and originally recorded by the Young Rascals for their 1967 album Groovin' with a single release in August 1967 affording the group their fourth Top 10 hit peaking at #4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groovin'</span> 1967 single by The Rascals

"Groovin'" is a song written by 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People Got to Be Free</span> 1968 single by the Rascals

"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.

<i>Time Peace: The Rascals Greatest Hits</i> 1968 greatest hits album by the Rascals

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

<i>Once Upon a Dream</i> (The Rascals album) 1968 studio album by the Rascals

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".

<i>The Young Rascals</i> (album) 1966 studio album by the Young Rascals

The Young Rascals is the debut album by 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.

<i>Collections</i> (The Young Rascals album) 1967 studio album by the Young Rascals

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 #8 in Canada.

<i>See</i> (album) The Rascals album

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" b/w "Hold On".

<i>Search and Nearness</i> 1971 studio album by the Rascals

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dino Danelli</span> American drummer (1944–2022)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Cornish</span> Canadian-American musician

Gene Cornish is a Canadian-American guitarist and harmonica player. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore</span> 1965 single by The Young Rascals

"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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Rascals</span> Musical artist

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.

<i>The Very Best of The Rascals</i> 1993 greatest hits album by The Rascals

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.

"I've Been Lonely Too Long" is a song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and performed by the Young Rascals. Released as a single in 1967, it reached #7 in Canada, while in the U.S. it reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #17 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and #33 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. It was also featured on their 1967 album Collections, where the title is given as "Lonely Too Long".

References

  1. ↑ "RPM Top 25 LPs - October 2, 1967" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Unterberger, Richie. "Groovin' > Reissue liner notes". Richie Unterberger . Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  3. ↑ "The backstory of making the 'Groovin'' album by The Young Rascals". The Vinyl Dialogues Blog. 2019-05-12. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  4. 1 2 Eder, Bruce. "Groovin' > Review". Allmusic . Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.