Customer Reviews

The Best of the Beau Brummels, 1964-1968

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Beau Brummels crafted two terrific pop songs: "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little," which went to No. 15 and No. 8 respectively during the first five months of 1965. [Historical footnote: Sly Stone produced "Laugh, Laugh."]

Though they formed in San Francisco, the band took its name from the English dandy George Bryan "Beau" Brummell, because the British Invasion virtually required American groups to present themselves as being somehow British to be accepted by an American audience infatuated with the Beatles, the Stones, etc.

The Brummels hit the Top 40 a third (and final) time in 1965 with "You Tell Me Why." The song had a very Byrds-like quality to it, but the song only went to No. 38 and dropped off the chart after a week. [Leo Kottke resurrected the song on his 1974 album Ice Water, claiming Sal Valentino was one of his favorite singers.]

Tracks like "They'll Make You Cry" and the failed single "Don't Talk to Strangers" continued in a folk-rock vein. An attempt at covering Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings" in 1966 went only to No. 95--the Brummels' last chart single.

In the wake of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, the Brummels recorded the experimental album Triangle. "Magic Hollow" and "Are You Happy" are from this album.

In 1968 they recorded in Nashville and released Bradley's Barn (represented on this collection by "Deep Water"), where they branched out into country-rock territory. Shortly after, the band split up. [Although they did reunite in 1975 to release The Beau Brummels before disbanding for good.]

All told, this is an enjoyable reminder of fun and experimentation of the mid-sixties. RECOMMENDED

The Beau Brummels may very well have been the best rock vocal quartet to find themselves in the right place at the wrong time. Their recording career spanned the years 1964 through 1968, a time when radio air play meant just about everything and groups that couldn't be conveniently classified as rock/folk/country/whatever had a difficult time getting played. Unfortunately, the country-flavored rock style of the Brummels was too smooth and too vocally sound for them to be portrayed as "revolutionary" or "Bad-boys", so this tremendously talented foursome slogged along with moderate commercial success and a very loyal, avid group of followers.

Laugh, Laugh and Just a Little are the big success stories featured on this album. Perhaps the best musical offering is the beautiful, melancholy "Sad Little Girl" with its haunting, intricate harmonies and enchanting guitar work. Another gem is the heart-broken, questioning ballad "You Tell Me Why."

Ultimately, the album, like the group, defies description or classification. Like many of the best evolving out of the response to the original "Mersey Sound" (the Brummels were from San Francisco, not Liverpool!), the Beau Brummels' musical style was theirs alone. This compilation is a fitting tribute to a group that was well ahead of its time.

One of the frustrating things about the sixties is that many of the finest bands of the era are now forgotten, while lesser bands enjoy far more attention than they deserved either then or now. The Beau Brummels can be something of a shock to a contemporary listener, not because they were a groundbreaking band or because they sound revolutionary, but because the excellence of their songs stand in such contrast to their relative anonymity.

For anyone who loves sixties music but doesn't know the Beau Brummels, this album is be something of a shock. They sometimes sound like other great sixties groups. Sometimes like the Byrds with rougher harmonies, sometimes like the Lovin' Spoonful in their harder rocking moments, and like all pop bands in the sixties sometimes like the Beatles. But they in the end sound like their own band more than the imitators of anyone else. This fine disc from Rhino is stuffed with great singles from their various albums. It is hard to imagine now that almost none of these songs were hits. "Laugh, Laugh" was their biggest one, and it is truly a great pop classic, with a great, catchy chorus and marvelous change-of-pace verses. But their only other song to chart was "You Tell Me Why," a slow, lilting number with several hooks that sound borrowed from the Byrds and Dylan. How such killer cuts like "Don't Talk to Strangers" or "Just a Little" failed is inexplicable. Along with the hits, or songs that should have been hits, is a bunch of fun and interesting numbers, like their superb cover of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings." In addition to the great songs, I really love the sixties feel to so many of the songs, the experimentation (following the Beatles) with different kinds of instruments on various songs, the willingness to try a lot of different guitar sounds (tremolo on one song, a Roger McGuinnish 12-string on another, gentle acoustic on another). The Beau Brummels might not have been quite on the level of the greatest pop bands ever, like the Beatles and Big Star and the Byrds, but they were clearly in the next tier. I can't imagine any fan of music being disappointed with this album.

Just a brief observation: In this boomer's opinion, the Beau Brummels were a great 60's group which, for a number of reasons, never reached their full potential, or got adequate recognition for the music they put out. The song-writing talents of Ron Elliott, the instrumental talents of the whole group, and Sal V.'s vocals, add up to a great listening experience. One of my favorites from the era of the British Invasion, the San Francisco group was really the first American group to successfully produce that sound, yet stay original. Buy the album and enjoy!

Like the Searchers? the 1st nuggets box? the 1st 2 byrds albums?
I do. and i love this too! From moptop pop to the beginnings of psychedelia and folk rock,this is a fine varied and classy collection with a good half dozen absolute stormers. Very listenable album, unlike a lot of single band albums from the era. For the price, it's a steal

The Beau Brummels deserve the credit for being the first folk-rock group; their debut album came out in 1965 before the Byrds (the obvious candidate) ever hit the charts and made a big splash. They were not an English group although their name sounded British, it really has to do with New York City (check out "The Gangs of New York"). One of the few groups to make any headway against the British invasion, the Beau Brummels featured the talents of guitarist/songwriter Ron Elliott and singer Sal Valentino, with a tip of the hat to Sly Stewart (a.k.a. Sly Stone) who produced their early work (Ron Meagher played bass guitar for the group). The best songs from that early period would be are "Laugh Laugh" (Top 20), "Still in Love With You Baby," "Just a Little" (Top 10), and "Don't Talk to Strangers," all of which offer catchy melodies and great harmonies. When they switched labels to Warner Bros. in the mid-Sixties they turned a bit more towards psychedelia, as best seen in "Magic Hollow," with its great use of the harpsichord. The group's final period went a bit more towards country-rock, represented by "Deep Water" off their exquisite "Bradley's Barn" album.

So you get all three major stages in the musical career of the Beau Brummels and in terms of offering "The Best of the Beau Brummels" this album is just about perfect (for my money it should also have "Turn Around" on it). My current argument is that the Beau Brummels are far and away the best "forgotten" group of the Sixties. I think they are better than the Byrds and even if you do not agree with that radical reinterpretation of the text I still think you are not going to be disappointed in picking up this collection. Make sure it is this one with 18 tracks and not one of the other hits collections with a lot less tracks.

The Beau Brummels mirror the changes in music from the mid to late sixties, starting with Beatles- like pop songs ("Laugh Laugh," "Just A Little") for which they are most remembered, folk rock, the Bob Dylan cover "One Too Many Mornings' and later more esoteric compositions. The hits are still the strongest material, while their folk songs' sound dated and weak. One bit of expirementation is "Gentle Wandering Ways " which I can best describe as what would have happened if Johnny Cash had decided to sing a folk rock song with a garage band attitude, a real jem.

On their latter materials the band decided to go in a melodic direction (no heavy lead guitar pyrothecniques here!), sometimes with a full orchestra. The songs sound like they predate the kinds of things that Loggins/Messina and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band would later more fully evolved. Its folk-based music with country rock overtones. "Magic Hollow" is a particular standout and gorgeous song.

This band was a contemporary of the Beatles, Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Love, and while they made similar music, their writing was not nearly as consistently strong as those bands. They also lack a harder edge to balance out their mellowness (or maybe they just didn't hire the right publicist to spread the word of their genius in the rock press) The Beau Brummels are not for the casual listener but for any afficanos of the late sixties, this album is a worthy addition to a collection.

OK, this is the best resprentation of the short history of the Beau Brummels and, in terms of content, merits 5 stars. The reason it gets 4 is because of what it DOESN'T include...a couple of great B-sides, a just representation of their two Warner Bros. albums, which were both jewels.

See, here's the deal - though they never again matched the brilliance of their first two singles, they became "album artists with their last two albums on WB. Any decent anthology should include at least four cuts from Triangle and three from Bradley's Barn. The fact that these albums did not sell in no way reflects their quality. They are without question the finest two albums to bear the Brummels' name.

Until a 44 song, double disc anthology appears (don't hold your breath), this is the essential Brummels. Just be aware that it really doesn't contain all their finest music.

I have heard the Beau Brummels before and loved them. I am so glad that I searched what they had out there 2004! This compilation is truly great, fun stuff! The songs are snappy then soul-full. Laugh Laugh is the best break up song ever. Sad Little Girl is so incredibly touching, Ron Elliott paints a beautiful picture here! I can't say enough about these guys music, except give this a listen and then cry for more!

You can imagine the beau's record company/manager saying something like ''look fella's you gotta pick up on this mersey sound thing its a happening scene... and it sells!!''
well in essence the earlier tracks on this splendid overview are indeed tinged with that liverpool flavour with a sprinkling of byrd's thrown in, but it did not detract from the fact that the BEAU BRUMMELS wrote and performed some truly dazzling material that deserves to be remembered and enjoyed.Included here is their smash single LAUGH LAUGH,with its glorious MAMA'S and PAPA'S style chorus and a real gem in the baroque/psychadelic
and slightly spooky MAGIC HOLLOW a track thats up there with
THE MONKEES 'PORPOISE SONG' and BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD'S 'IN THE HOUR OF NOT QUITE RAIN' in the flower power wierdness stakes.
Listen with affection.