The Best of the Beau Brummels: Golden Archive Series

Beau Brummels

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: January 1, 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000348X
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,179 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A notch or two above The Grass Roots and The Mamas and Papas, and more than a few steps below The Byrds, the early Beau Brummels took the indulgently blissful sound of '60s San Fancisco rock into a folkier, borderline country direction (and would in fact later play solid country rock). Led by guitarist/writer Ron Elliott, the Brummels made a virtue of innocence and joyful bounce, and benefited from Sly Stone's energetic production. Hits include "Laugh, Laugh," "Sad Little Girl," and a pleasant take on Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings." There may not be much substance or invention here, but 30 years later, the Brummels still sound catchy. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Overview from an Underrated Band, January 30, 2000

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An accurate musical depiction of a very atypical band, May 6, 2000

By	John A. Kuczma "RogueUlfric" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sadly ignored but nonetheless great sixties band, June 27, 2003

By	Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.