Customer Reviews

The Best of The Five Americans

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

 

 

After the British invaision of mid-60's it was time for American
groups to reassert themselves.One group to do so was a college band from Oklahoma called appropiately the 5 Americans-who had a small taste of success in 1966-1969. This collection captures the best of the band. Their first hit in 1966 was "I See The Light" a funky rocker that was a forerunner of psychedelic rock.
It is the highlight of this CD.
Most of songs on this Cd dont rock as hard ,but are the lighter more romantic pop rock of the era-featuring melodies & wonderful harmonies. Highlights include "Reality", Western Union-which was their biggest hit(top 10 in 1967);"The Train","Zip Code","Stop Light", "Evol not Love", "Sound of love" and the previosly unreleased "Letters,Pictures & Melodies"
Cd comes with informative booklet which details the history of the band,
This isn't a great Cd , but it is a good reminder of melodic 60's stlye pop rock.This was atime when pop rock was supposed to be fun and was!
Buy,listen, and enjoy!!

As with the vast majority of my reviews, I look at this one from the perspective of a collector of hit singles from the era in which the group performed. And from that viewpoint this is a 5-star collection.

I once read that, for every song that made the Billboard Top/Hot 100 in any given year, there were three that did not. So, purely from THAT perspective, anything that made the Top/Hot 100 was indeed a hit, those that made Top 40 were big hits, the ones that finished in the Top 20 were huge, and those that made Top 10 were generally regarded as "smash" hits.

The Five Americans, from Dallas, Texas [Michael Rabon - vocals, guitarist Norman Ezell, keyboardist John Durrill, James Grant on bass, and drummer James Wright] had one smash hit, Western Union, which hit the # 5 spot in the spring of 1967 on the Abnak label b/w Now That It's Over, and three big hits. Their first, coming on the HBR label, was I See The Light, and it made it to # 26 in March 1966 b/w The Outcast. Sound Of Love and Zip Code, both of which topped out at # 36 in June and September 1967 for Abnak, b/w Sympathy and Sweet Bird Of Youth respectively, were the other two.

Two others scored much lower, with Evol-Not Love reaching # 52 in May 1966 for HBR b/w Don't Blame Me, and their last charter, 7:30 Guided Tour, levelling off at # 96 in February 1968 b/w See-Saw-Man on Abnak.

All six of their hits are in this volume, along with four of the B-sides, and the sound quality is excellent. Rabon would have another # 45 hit [A Piece Of Paper] in 1972 as the lead singer with Gladstone.

Twenty-five track anthology of this under-rated Oklahoma five piece garage band. Many of you might vaguely remember this band for their catchy hit single "Western Union", but they had a second hit with 1966's "I See The Light". These cuts are from their 1965-69 existence. Most impressive tunes here are the previously mentioned "Western Union", the psychedelic gem "The Train", "Good Times", their ballad "Now That It's Over", the total jammin' "It's A Crying Shame" and "Don't Blame Me". Personnel: Mike Rabon and Norm Ezell-guitars&vocals, Jim Grant-bass&vocals, Johnny Durrill-keyboards and Jimmy Wright-drums. Might appeal to fans of the Easybeats, Nightcrawlers, The Seeds, Chesterfield Kings and the Monkees.

You really can't appreciate American Rock of the late '60's without acknowledging the important role of this band. From southeast Oklahoma, they stood little chance of mainstream acceptance, but one catchy tune - "Western Union" briefly filled the top Billboard spot. This collection underscores how much more potential was there. I knew, even played (with my own "garage band") a lot of these tunes when they were current, and it is an exciting piece of history. I am pleased to be able to hear them again now!

I tend to think of the FA's as a one-hit wonder -- which they were -- though I always liked that one hit: "Western Union" was a fine, fine pop song. This disc, however, brings to light the other, surprisingly enjoyable music that followed, as the band struggled to build on their commercial momentum. They shamelessly repeated the riffs and motifs of that song in follow-up singles ("Zip Code," for example), but they also delved into a rich lode of melodic pop, and this generously programmed, 25-song retrospective gives a nice, balanced view of their work from 1965-69. Of course they eventually shed their clean-cut image and got all druggie and psychedelic, and that's certainly half the fun. Recommended!

I got this for the songs I know .I saw the Light,Western Union,and Zip Code.The others I haven't heard.As far as I know these are there only hits.This may as well be the compilation collection,not the best of.

I used to hear Western Union on the radio and liked the sound. I found out that The Five Americans sang the song so I ordered this CD and was pleased. The other songs on the CD are very catchy 60's pop rock that fans of this genre will enjoy.