Customer Reviews

Euphoria 1964-69

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

 

 

The Youngbloods, along with The Lovin' Spoonful, and the now forgotten Cat Mother, represented the East coast wing of of the 60's folk-rock movement.They were a lot grittier than the Spoonful,and were fortunate to have two strong songwriters in Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt.This is an excellent sampler of their musical history, docked one star for some dated material and a couple of ill-advised attempts at playing the blues. Beyond that the songs just shine like little diamonds of a forgotten era. Everyone of a certain age rembers "Get Together", one of the more lasting peace and love anthems of our generation, but even better are "Darkness Darkness", "Sunlight"' the gorgeous "Foolin' Around", and "Ride The Wind". These are terrific songs in any context and served as the blueprint for Jesse Colin Young's subsequent solo carreer.This band, unlike many of their folkie brethren could really play their instruments and could rock doing it. Highly reccomended to fans of folk-rock, harmony singing,good pickin', peace love and understanding, and, most importantly, fun.

The problem with most CD Greatest Hit collections is that the musicians rarely had a collection of "greatest hits." More often than not, the CD is a grouping of a couple charted hits and a hodge podge of other songs which the producers thought was representative of the body of work of the group.

This CD is no exception, as the Youngbloods only had one solid charted hit, "Get Together". The other three tracks barely cracked the Hot 100. So if your looking for a selection of "hits", look elsewhere.

That being said, this is one of the few selections which contains the song "Ride the Wind" which at over 6 minutes long is a producers bain. But it is a terrific song which foreshadows Jesse Colin Young's earlier and later work.

The CD also has "Get Together" and "Darkness Darkness" which are also terrific songs. I love this CD, but it is far from a greatest hit CD, because they had so few. But it is genuine honest music, and if you are not familiar with the Youngbloods, is a good compilation.

Because the most complete anthology available (nowhere on the packaging are the words "greatest hits"), and because I'd been waiting for years to see their LPs on CD, I bought this. Then shortly thereafter the double CD with all three of their first three LPs complete was released -- which is what I wanted in the first place.

Though I'd prefer it just kick off with the terrific "Grizzly Bear," the tracks before that are at least in chronological order. (Please, rereleasers: put LPs and related singles on the CD -- but in order by release date!) Otherwise, perhaps it will take a few more listens to overcome the unfamiliarity of those tracks to find if they are worthy of inclusion.

My only other gripe is that it hadn't all three LPs, complete, in the first place. But I have no regrets in buying it; though it leaves out a few favorites, what it does include is among their best; and it's easier to handle a single CD than a double in mobile situations.

And the mastering is excellent.

Because of those few gripes I only give this 4 stars. But don't let that dissuade you, if you know them and want the extra tracks. Or simply go with the double with their first three complete.

I'll admit that I never knew much about the Youngbloods' music until Get Together came out while I was in Jr. High. At that time I never went backward to see what they had done before that but always looked forward to what was issued in the future. Recently, remembering how good Get Together was (and still is), I picked up this retrospective in hopes that I would find similar material to enjoy. Alas, what I found was a CD full of mostly mediocre and eminently forgettable songs. There are a few diamonds in the rough which were fleshed out on a great and regrettably currently unavailable later live album entitled Ride the Wind, but the vast majority show little of the future promise of bandleader Jesse Colin Young. In addition to Get Together, the standouts are Sugar Babe, Sunlight, and Ride the Wind. Beyond those, there is no compelling reason to own this album unless you are a rabid Youngbloods fan. You would be better off waiting for Ride the Wind to be issued on CD. Now THAT would be something to have.