SH Spotlight The Young Rascals, 1967, candid photos from the GROOVIN' recording sessions. Lost for 50 years!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Feb 5, 2019.

  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I saw them with TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS, ERIC AND THE ANIMALS at the Hollywood Bowl in 1968. They were fantastic.
     
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  2. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    Interesting. Are there any stories you’d care to share ?
    Was their relationship toxic back in that era also ?
     
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  3. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Is it possible that since the band was "contractually self produced" that they chose the studio for financial/artistic reasons?
    I just checked the Atlantic Sessionography. The band also recorded at Decca Studios, A & R , and of course Atlantic Studios.

    BTW - Here's all the lost unreleased tracks.

    Sept 16 1965 - "live" session that yielded "Like A Rolling Stone"
    You can't do that to me
    You'd better come home
    Nowhere to Run
    Lovin Feeling
    Slow Down
    It's not unusual
    Stop in the name of love
    Walkin in the rain
    Tell him no
    I'll always love you
    Once in my life
    Land of 1000
    Good lovin
    Mustang Sally
    Goodbye my love
    My babe
    I believe
    Memphis
    No reply
    Mickey's monkey
    Temptation bout to get me
    Since I fell for you
    Rag man
    We're doing fine
    Baby
    (I can't get no) satisfaction

    Other lost titles 1965-1969 proper sessions:
    You can't do that to me
    Lovin feeling
    Silly girl
    Good good thing
    We're doing fine
    Those tears away
    Share your love
    Sweet adeline
    Make me wanna dance with you
    Let freedom ring
    Where is love
    My love for you
    I'll stay with you
    What's the matter baby
    Original no1
    Untitled original
    Genes song
    You gotta try
    Hey bo
    Love song
    Dream
    No reply
    I'm weighing it
    We've got the marryin' kind of love

    Also found...Felix plays organ on the Solomon Burke sessions that resulted in:
    I don't want you no more
    Can't stop
    Baby Come On Home

    It's a bit depressing to see what was lost in the Atlantic records warehouse fire in the 1970s.
     
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  4. Ski Bum

    Ski Bum Happy Audiophile

    Location:
    Vail, CO
    Great pictures. The Young Rascals performed a concert in the gymnasium of Syosset High School (my school) in 1966 or 1967. They put on a rousing show.
     
  5. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    Wow.
     
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  6. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    The "live" session is probably representative of their club set before they got signed.

    Pretty cool!
     
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  7. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    As a huge fan of just about everything Atlantic from the 50s and 60s I'd rather not know! It's obviously a devastating loss, but also very lucky the album master tapes weren't in there.
     
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  8. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Yep...they really could have "cleaned up" money wise in the 1980s as oldies radio became a thing.

    Logistically they should have added a bass player and David Brigatti and the band would be all set to sound great.
     
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  9. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I have to say, I much prefer the mono "Groovin' " for the harmonica solo alone. It was not performed the same way twice, for those who are familiar with the stereo of that iconic number.

    Mr. Huston, incidentally, had the indignity of his surname being misspelt 'Houston' on Columbia pressings of their next single, "A Girl Like You," on the B side "It's Love" (which also misspelt flautist Hubert Laws' surname as 'Lawa').
     
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  10. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Wasn't the time The (Young) Rascals recorded at "other" studios the same period Atlantic's own studios were stuck with a certain type of recording tape that gave them loads of problems, as I've read on other posts in other threads on this forum?
     
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  11. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    You mean it's not you and me and lsd? :goodie:
     
  12. Churm Rincewind

    Churm Rincewind Well-Known Member

    I was the beneficiary of the long tail of this LP. Someone in the mid 70's, bless him, was racking out cut outs of US LP's in small shops and post offices throughout West Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire for
    less than half the price of a UK released LP. One of the ones I bought was this. Thanks mate.
     
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  13. varispeed

    varispeed what if?

    Location:
    Los Angeles Ca
    When the song "Groovin'" was charting in the spring of 67, I was intrigued by the little electric piano riff (that Arif came up for Felix to play) at the areas like "I can't imagine anything that's better". It didn't really sound like a wurlitzer and certainly not a rhodes. That top pic you post shows Eddie next to some sort of electric. Bet that's it, but I can't tell what brand it is/was.
     
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  14. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    I'm not sure if the sound you are describing is the instrument in question.

    The pic has a Baldwin Electric Harpsichord. It was played on "Because".

    I don't know if that instrument can produce "that sound".

     
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  15. looks like tony valentino[standells] and paul in the top picture
     
  16. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    Felix has lived here in Nashville for a long time. In the mid-90s I worked at Tower Books, where we reserved a copy of a certain songwriters magazine for him every month. Once when I was ringing up his purchase I said I assumed he didn't need any help from such a publication. He said "We all need all the help we can get."
     
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  17. One of my favorite albums. The mono version is the definitive version (although I grew up on the stereo, I had the mono single as a kid and marveled at the differing harmonica solos).
     
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  18. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    There was a fantastic Live version of Groovin that the Rascals did on the Ed Sullivan show. Wonderful sound with those overhead mics. Amazing how they played all the parts Live and have it sound so great. Unfortunately, on Youtube all of the videos have the studio version dubbed in for some reason.
     
  19. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Love old time capsules like these pics. Always makes me want to explore a band deeper as far as their history and such. Thanks!
     
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  20. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    You had a chance to make your own help, Felix And you chose to walk away. No pity from me.
    You gotta really go some to pizz off Steve Van Zandt who put himself out there to get you guys together.
     
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  21. tedg65

    tedg65 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Weymouth MA USA
    Great post!!!!.....great album!!!!!....Sueno!!!!!!.........

    What is left of the master tapes for this record?.....are the session tapes gone?

    Actually I think I may like the next one Once Upon A Dream even more than this one.....there have been a few photos recently floating around Facebook from that session as well.
     
  22. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    Quote: Huston says the console was “incredibly basic,” consisting of four Ampex MX-10 mixers, four Pultec EQP-1A Equalizers and four Fisher SpaceXpander spring reverbs. He built the patchbay when he first started working at Talentmasters. There were two 4-track machines: an Ampex 350 half-inch 4-track recorder and an Ampex half-inch 351 recorder, which they used to do 4-to-4 mixdowns to open up a couple of extra tracks. Then there was a single Ampex quarter-inch 350 mono machine.

    The monitor system consisted of a single Altec 604E powered by a 60-watt Dynaco Dynakit amplifier. As his memory serves, it was a Mark III model. He installed a Bogen P.A. amplifier to handle the headphones when he was working the patchbay, and recalls having only about six pair of headphones back then.



    So, then, it sure sounds like Talentmasters was not able to do a stereo mix. Since the "Groovin" LP came out in stereo, it must have been mixed at Atlantic.
     
  23. Steve Litos

    Steve Litos Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    The Atlantic master tapes are relatively fine.

    The majority of the Atlantic session tapes (1948-70?) were lost in a New Jersey warehouse fire in Feb 1978.
     
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  24. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    This is the first I recall hearing of such a problem. When was the period? Groovin' was recorded March 27, 1967. There were various sessions for Atlantic in March and April, although this listing usually doesn't indicate the studio, just that sessions were in NYC.

    Atlantic Records Discography: 1967

    Note that listing doesn't document sessions for non-Atlantic artists like Cream (May 8-19).

    It may have just been preference:

    No question it was done at Atlantic, since the harmonica had been overdubbed during the mono mix, and had to be re-recorded prior to making a stereo mix. Michael Weinstein played harmonica on the mono mix, while Gene Cornish played on the stereo.

    Long Branch, NJ. February 8, 1978.
     
  25. tedg65

    tedg65 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Weymouth MA USA
    Thanks lukpac!!
     

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