Customer Reviews

Dark Sides: The Best of the Shadows of Knight

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

From 1969 through 1972, Shadows singer Jim Sohns always introduced me as "Paul, the guy who sits behind me at work." Although uncredited, I'm the drummer on "I am the Hunter," the newest song (1970) on "Dark Sides."

The Shadows were not only unappreciated, but scorned locally because we didn't have horns, we weren't "funky" and we didn't have a technical virtuoso as a singer. But after listening to this compilation, you'll agree this was a breakthrough band, far ahead of it's time. In retrospect, Jim Sohns vocals were brilliant in their simplicity, humor, and energy. Listen to Light Bulb Blues and I am the Hunter for classic Sohns, the king of garage-punk vocals...never taking himself seriously. I'll bet he's the same hamburger-and-fries-with-ketchup and musclecar punk today at age 57 that he was back then.

I replaced Ken Turkin, who was the drummer when Woody Woodruff and John Fisher were in the band. Looking back, my hard punk-funk style may have pulled the band too much away from it's roots and into a harder, nastier, funk-psychedelic direction. "Hunter" is an indication of the band's direction in the '70s. The eventual hiring of ex-Edgar Winter bassist Jorge Gonzales and "Hawkeye" Daniels on guitar moved us into even more of an insane/acid/funk instrumental direction, with Jim Sohns screaming harder and harder, trying to fit. After thirty years, I can see we should have eschewed "creativity" and stayed with the formula of good blues-oriented rock 'n' roll with one of the greatest vocal stylists in the history of pop music. (Seriously, click on "Light Bulb Blues" and listen to a bit...)

There are a few clinkers on this CD, but most of the songs by the first Shadows are clean and distinctive, sounding like no one else. The fact that a one-hit-wonder band with a 1966 hit record could have a "best-of" CD that would sell for ten years after it's release in 1994 is an indication that The Shadows of Knight have survived the test of time as one of the greatest garage bands ever.

The Shadows of Knight were a blues based garage rock band best known for their Top Ten hit cover of Them's "Gloria". They were never able to duplicate the success of "Gloria", although they made some good attempts. The only other real hit they had was a cover of Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah", which barely managed to crack the Top 40. This CD features most of their singles (a-sides and b-sides) and some notable album tracks. The first seven tracks are from their first album, and they are blues based rock songs at their best. After that, they decided to experiment a bit more on their second album, with somewhat mixed results. There are six songs from their second album, plus three non-LP singles from about the same time period. After that the group broke up, but singer Jim Sohns hired some new musicians to continue the group name. This new Shadows (actually Sohns and some studio musicians) almost had a hit with the bubblegum song "Shake". That was followed up by another fine bubblegum song, "My Fire Department Needs a Fireman", which was a total flop. The "new" Shadows recorded the group's third album, which was a strange mishmash of blues based garage rock and bubblegum. Significantly, only one song from that album is included here. The Shadows of Knight struggled on and recorded one final single, the early 70s hard rock style "I am the Hunter". It flopped, and the band was never heard from again. Let's get outta here! I'm done now!

Rhino's "Dark Sides: The Best Of The Shadows Of Knight" compilation provides 20 tracks of prime Chicago garage punk. The majority of the disk (except for the last 4 tracks) comes from their excellent tenure on Dunwich Records. These cuts contain the recordings from the original band memebers. The set contains their biggest hits like covers of Them's "Gloria", Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah", the Wheels "Bad Little Women" and "I'm Gonna Make You Mine". However, the set also contains cuts like "Light Bulb Blues", and "I'll Make You Sorry" among others which are just as good. The music is raw and aggressive with a little blues/rock influence shown in covers like Muddy Waters' "I Got My Mojo Working" and another Bo Diddley cover "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover." The set also contains some rare non-lp single sides. The last four tracks were cut after Jim Sohns reformed the band with all new members. Cuts like "I Am A Hunter" illustrate the heavier direction the band was taking. The weakest cut in my opinion is the non-lp side "Willie Jean" which is uncharacteristic of their other work. The set could have perhaps benefitted from a few more of their great covers like Muddy Waters' "I Just Want To Make Love To You", Howlin' Wolf's "Spoonful" or the Leaves "Hey Joe". Suggestions aside this is an excellent introduction to the Chicago garage punk of Chicago's finest the Shadows Of Knight.

RAW! RAW! RAW!

Chicago attitude and crunchy guitar power translate into one aggressive record. I only knew them from their hit "Gloria," but hell, that's one of their weaker songs!

Reccomended for anyone with even a passing interest in '60's music.

as a teen in Wisconsin in the 1960s I liked the Early Shadows They still sound G-R-E-A-T after ALL these years. I used to dial in the request line at WOKY-AM requesting GLORIA. We used to call them "albums" Everyone should have this CD in their collection to see what they missed. Well worth it, you will not be disappointed. Clean lead, great bass and drums, Jimmy workin', Best of the blues rock garage bands. Oh Yea.

I grew up in the suburban Chicago Area in the mid-60's. My friends and I frequently went to a teen club called the New Place hoping to find girls and to see local acts threatening to break out on the national scene - The Cryan' Shames, the New Colony Six, and the Shadows of Night. Appropriately named, the Shadows really were the Dark Side, playing harder, raunchier songs than either of the other two well-scrubbed acts. I don't think I have ever had a CD bring a smile to my face more quickly than this one. The Shadows were bad, unpolished, and wild. They captured the essence of the times, and still have a punk, in-your-face sound. I'm Gonna Make You Mine is about as politically incorrect as you can get. This is a great disc.

Just picked up this disc on a whim and boy am I happy I did. I am heavily into a garage rock bag and this really fits the bill. I saw the S.O.K. a couple of years ago on a Little Steven sponsored tour with The Romantics. Both groups are still in excellent form. If the S.O.K. come thru your town, go see them! You wont be sorry. If you happen to run into singer Jim Sohns you'll find him to be a friendly sort who is happy to spend a few minutes chatting with a fan.

An excellent compilation,with a total of twenty tracks.Most fans should totally dig about every cut here.Tunes that draw you in are "Gloria","Dark Side",their minor hit "Oh,Yeah","Light Bulb Blues",Willie Dixon's "You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover","I'm Gonna Make You Mine" and "I'll Make You Sorry".The CD's last two cuts,"Alone" and "I Am The Hunter" among a few others I believe are from a later version of the band which the sole original member was vocalist Jim Sohns.There's no denying it,but 'Dark Sides:The Best Of...' can EASILY be said to define the '60's garage rock era.A must-have.

Every time I think of or even hear these guys name, one song immediately pops into my head, "Gospel Zone." It's not the first song I ever heard from them, but I find it to be their best. (and my personal SOK favorite) I have to admit, I don't have this disc but I have some of the tracks included here and have heard quite a few more. This is going to be my first Shadows of Knight CD purchase. I gave it 5 stars based on what songs I am familiar with because I'm seeing some really great ones here. This looks very, very good!
I have an incredibly clean mono copy of "Back Door Men" on Dunwich (found it used when I worked in a record store around '88) and was struck by the quality of the production when I first played it. "Gospel Zone" wrapped me around it's finger right away because of the guitar intro, the usual outstanding drumming, (these guys had a FANTASTIC drummer, possibly one of the best in rock's entire history) and the hand claps on the chorus. I'm a sucker for hand claps! And when they're compressed to the point where they sound like they explode they become irresistable. It reminds me of Mick Avory's drums on "It's Alright" by the Kinks. That track is also heavily compressed, (and that's not always a good thing, but sometimes it works). The production suited this song and it's arrangement perfectly. I love this track!

brilliant much better than i thought it would be some great covers