Thinking About the Good Times: The Complete Recordings 1964-1966

In the early 1960s, rock & roll was for the most part a boys club, and while there were female vocalists and instrumentalists on the scene, many regarded them as either window dressing or a novelty item a few steps up from a seal that could play music on bulb horns. This was the reality Goldie & the Gingerbreads had to deal with when they started playing out in 1963 -- they were a band composed of four women who could play tough, swaggering rock & roll with a strong R&B foundation while also pulling off solid girl group harmonies. They also had an outstanding lead vocalist in Goldie Zelkowitz (who later became a cult hero under the name Genya Ravan), who could emote from a whisper to a scream and never lose the listeners attention for a moment. There are plenty of bands of the era who have far stronger reputations based on a less impressive body of work than the handful of singles Goldie & the Gingerbreads issued during their brief yet memorable run as the first all-female band to land a major-label record deal. While the group never scored a big enough hit to merit making an album, Ace Records have finally collected most of their recorded legacy in the anthology Thinking About the Good Times: The Complete Recordings 1964-1966. Zelkowitzs lead vocals are the cornerstone of these 20 sides (with the exception of the instrumentals Margos Groove and 85 Westbourne Terrace), but the band is more than up to the task of supporting her -- Margo Lewis filtered rock and soul idioms though her Farfisa organ, guitarist Carol MacDonald boasted an elemental but incisive style that added flash and drama to the arrangements, and drummer Ginger Bianco kept the sound in line with her tight grooves and impressive timing. When Goldie & the Gingerbreads hit their stride, they suggested a fortunate cross between the Animals and the Shangri-Las, and while not every track on this compilation is quite up to that level, Think About The Good Times, What Kind of Man Are You, and Sporting Life are the sort of performances that would turn the head of anyone who digs 1960s garage rock or British Invasion-era stuff. (Significantly, Goldie & the Gingerbreads had greater success in the United Kingdom and Europe than in the United States, and were championed by no less than the Rolling Stones, who sang their praises to the press and brought them on tour as their opening act.) This set is missing the groups final single, 1967s outstanding Walking in Different Circles, but otherwise its a full representation of what they released in their lifetime, and its interesting to ponder what would have happened to the cause of Women in Rock if theyd had the hit they deserved. Even without hits, anyone who likes pre-psychedelic 60s rock & roll will find lots to love in Thinking About the Good Times. ~ Mark Deming