The Complete Liberty Singles

構成数 : 2枚
合計収録時間 : 01:43:49
Adapter: Leon Russell. Liner Note Author: Ed Osborne. Arranger: Leon Russell. Although they weren't particularly innovative, and nothing they recorded ever changed the course of rock or pop music one iota, Gary Lewis & the Playboys don't really deserve the marginalization they've gotten to the footnote side of rock & roll history. They were a 1960s singles band, pure and simple, and the perfect example of a "summer band," one that plays fun songs full of bright harmonies, specializing in melodic singalongs that made up for what they lacked in depth by being infectious and persistent. Yeah, drummer and singer Gary Lewis was the son of comedian and star Jerry Lewis, but that's just the footnote to a footnote. Lewis could sing, and he was skilled enough at it to do it while he was playing drums, so forget any notions that his recording career was due entirely to privilege. This two-disc set collects all of the group's singles -- both the A- and B-sides -- and a couple of unreleased songs, and since the Playboys were never really an album act, it makes a pretty accurate portrait of the band at its best. Well, sort of. Although Lewis toured with an actual version of the Playboys, in the studio it was usually the Wrecking Crew, a loose confederation of L.A.'s finest studio musicians (called the Wrecking Crew because they were so good that they "wrecked" the business for other session players) that included drummer Hal Blaine, pianist Leon Russell, and later, the rhythm section of Carl Radle and Jim Keltner, who handled the instrumental backing tracks. That means the Playboys' singles (and the sometimes fascinating B-sides) were impeccably played and arranged, and this set is very listenable because of that all the way through. Not surprisingly, the best tracks are the big hits "This Diamond Ring," "Count Me In," and "Everybody Loves a Clown," but there are other gems here as well, like "Girls in Love" and "New in Town," that sound like lost Beach Boys tunes. Again, none of these sides altered the history of rock music any, but with their bright, cheerful sound they reveal a group of musicians who sure knew how to make records, and Lewis, son of a celebrity or not, held up his end. Looking back like this set does, Lewis emerges as better than one remembers, and at his best, he was as at least as good as many of his more lauded contemporaries. ~ Steve Leggett