Customer Reviews

Spanky & Our Gang - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SOME PROS: Finally, a digitally remastered Spanky collection! A mix of broadway-style and cover tunes not found on the 1988 "Greatest Hits" CD really flaunts the incredible diversity and talent of the band. An innovative cover of "Stardust" has a great segue into the eerie bridge of "Like to Get to Know You." And perhaps the best ever showcase of Spanky's vocal talent: A dramatic cover of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime." "Lazy Days" is as ridiculously giddy as ever with it's newly remastered clarity. Good liner notes round out the package (Did you know "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was first offered to the Mama's and the Papa's?). SOME CONS: The classic studio gab before and after "Sunday Mornin'" has been oddly nixed here. Such memorable tunes as "It's Not Necessarily Bird Avenue," "Three Ways from Tomorrow" and "Commerical" -- all on the last collection -- are missing here, in favor of at least one dud: The title says it all on "Without Rhyme or Reason." And the remastering is a bit inconsistent. "Give a Damn" is now clear as bell, but on other tracks, like "Sunday Mornin'" you won't be able to tell any difference in sound quality from prior versions. CONCLUSION: In the end, it probably should have been a double-CD. But we all know that would have been a tougher sell, and just having the classic tracks remastered with some new variations thrown in is well worth it. Spanky never sounded better. A must-have for any Spanky, Mama's, or 5th Dimension fan.

A nice introduction to one of the more under-rated vocal groups from the '60's. Like other reviewers, I'd like to have seen a 2-disc set, or maybe a box set (wishful thinking, right?)Check out the superior version of "Everybody's Talkin'", and the jazzy "Stardust", which, according to the liner notes, influenced the Manhattan Transfer. Sound quality is also very good. I do miss the very funny "Commercial" from the original greatest hits package, and the hysterical studio chatter on "Sunday Mornin" (The references to Richard Speck and codeine are priceless!)Still, this is well worth purchasing, and serves as a fine introduction to a sorely-missed "gang"

It is a major frustration for a Spanky and Our Gang fan to be forced to shell our [money] to get an import Cd that contains one of their very best songs, Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." Cohen, a great songwrier, and an acquired taste as a singer, wrote this veritable anthem for the sixties, and it produced at least three brilliant and totally different renditions. Judy Collins had the hit, a straightforward folkie version, perfectly suited for her voice and the general public's taste. Roberta Flack, with the ingenious production/arrangement skills of Deodato, put out a seven minute or so album cut that turns the song into a funky Gospel workout.
And then there was Spanky & Our Gang's version. Utterly different from the first mentioned styles, it had to be heard to be appreciated. Filled with rhythmic shifts, great harmonies, full orchestral backing, and Spanky's soaring, soulful voice, it gave me chills each time I heard it. With the grooves worn off my vinyl copy, I look forward to the day the original Spanky and Our gang's albums are re-released on CD.

The liner notes are very useful (interesting to learn that Schoolhouse Rock mastermind Bob Dorough shared the lead vocal on "Without Rhyme Or Reason,"), and the cover photos are great, but why is there a picture of the 1975 reunion band included inside! I have to agree that "Byrd Avenue" and "Three Ways From Tomorrow" are sorely missed - and how in the world can you omit "Commercial" from any Spanky and Our Gang CD compilation! It's nice to have "Stardust" and "Anything You Choose," but where are "5 Definitions Of Love," "My Bill," "Leopard Skin Phones," "Jane," and "Since You've Gone?" These (among others), I feel, would have been better choices than some of the other newly-included songs. I also agree that the remastering isn't that special. Perhaps the Japanese reissues of the original albums are the only way to go.

Though a bit on the meager side track count-wise (the 15 here could have easily been 18 or so), this new greatest hits compilation is a modest improvement over the previous collection. It does contain all nine of their top-100 charting singles along with a selection of album cuts. The choice of these additional tracks reflects an attempt to showcase diverse styles of music attempted by the group (mostly Spanky solo actually) with varying degrees of success and appeal.

Having been remastered may imply more sonic improvement than is actually realized but it does show, at least on some tracks. The liner notes include three pages of backround on the group and track details, however some carelessness is evident from a mistake repeated three times in the track listings regarding the b-side appearance of "Without Rhyme Or Reason" making one wonder how carefully the entire package was conceived.

Nevertheless, this is a competent collection of Spanky and Our Gang's hits but except for the more serious collector, not a critical replacement for the previous compilation CD should you already own that piece.

Featuring the gorgeous, powerful singing of Spanky McFarlane, (Why do women singers now sound so wimpy?) Spanky and Our Gang had a great sound and some great songs. Sunday Will Never Be The Same, Lazy Day, Sunday Mornin' and Like To Get To Know You are true gems from the sixties.

Given the fact that Spanky & Our Gang were probably influenced by The Mamas & the Papas, it's an easy conclusion to jump to. A good example was their first big hit "Sunday Will Never Be the Same". Easier yet after their breakup, when Elaine "Spanky" McFarland replaced the late Mama Cass Elliot in a regrouping of the better-known ensemble. But even over the course of their first album (not all that well represented here), they showed a determination not to be ripoffs. The latter-year hit "Give a Damn" is a more pointed social commentary than M & P ever did--good thing that one's here. This group had a much more diverse repertoire. One song here (Depression-era classic "Brother Can You Spare a Dime") is a solo by Spanky that's more reminiscent of Streisand in its passionate delivery than Mama Cass ever did. They also were a bit different in vocal harmonies--sometimes more jazzy a la Manhattan Transfer, as in "Like To Get To Know You". A better example of that--John Denver's "Leaving On a Jet Plane--isn't here (I see they offer the album it's on as an import). That first album also contains the song "Trouble", taken from "The Music Man"-- sung by either Oz, Nigel or Malcolm in a creditable Robert Preston imitation (I wish that one was here). The main point here (why I give this album so few stars) is that this title might make a decent sampler--given its concentration on their single hits--but it would take a box set to give you the full sense of this group which a lot of us unjustly thought of as "The Other Mamas & Papas"

I'm not sure what one reviewer is getting at when complaining about the omission of Suzanne from this compilation. The term "greatest hits" is meant to convey the best of an artist's hit singles - the sales that turned them into stars - and in this respect it delivers the goods.

At least as far as the A-sides are concerned, as all nine Billboard Hot 100 hits chalked up between 1967 and 1969 for this Chicago-based group are here. Named after the character in the old Little Rascals series, Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, along with guitarists Lefty Baker, Nigel Pickering, and Malcolm Hale, drummer John Seiter, and bassist Kenny Hodges, had their best hit come first when Sunday Will Never Be The Same reached # 9 in June 1967 for the Mercury label b/w Distance.

Their second offering that year, Making Every Minute Count, didn't fare nearly as well, although it did make the Top 40, settling in at # 31 that September b/w If You Could Only Be Me. Towards the end of the year they had their second-best hit when Lazy Day peaked at # 14 Hot 100 and # 24 Adult Contemporary (AC) b/w (It Ain't Necessarily) Byrd Avenue. This pattern continued in 1968 when Sunday Mornin' topped out at # 30 Hot 100/# 39 AC in February b/w Echoes, followed by a # 17 Hot 100/# 24 AC with Like To Get To Know You in June. b/wThree Ways From Tomorrow.

After that, they never had another Hot 100 Top 40, with the closest being Give A Damn which hit # 43 in September 1968 b/w The Swingin' Gate. That December Yesterday's Rain struggled to a # 94 b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason - which is a fitting description of the producer's decision to make this the only B-side included in a 15-track CD!

They didn't do much better in 1969, gaining just a # 86 with Anything You Choose that March b/w Mdcca Flat Blues, followed by their last charter, And She's Mine, which petered out at # 97 in June b/w Leopard Skin Phones. Elaine would get new life in the early 1980s as the new lead singer with the revamped Mamas & The Papas, although there would be no furher hit singles.

As for Suzanne, if Judy Collins had a hit single with the Leonard Cohen-penned tune, it must have been on some obscure chart as the ONLY hit version that I know of belonged to Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison. And it was a minor one at that, reaching # 56 Hot 100 late in 1967 on Reprise.

I can't find fault with this CD from the point of view of missing hits, nor is there to be any criticism of the sound quality, which is excellent. Even the liner notes and track information come as a surprise for a Polygram release [more often than not they give us nothing in that regard]. Where it falls to 3 stars, in my humble opinion, is in not going to more tracks with the inclusion of all the B-sides.

Saddled with one of the worst group names in music history, Spanky & Our Gang proved to be more than a flash in the pan after their initial hit "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" (which the Mamas and the Papas passed on!). A succession of gems followed, nearly all of which are included here (however my favorite Spanky song, "Distance" got left off; an album track and B-side, it's just as good as their radio hits). Most listeners in the mood for this kind of flight-of-fancy, slick, commercial pop might just skip Spanky for the Mamas and the Papas, but there's great enjoyment here, and a few genuine surprises (like the touching, groovy "And She's Mine"). B+

The liner notes are very useful (interesting to learn that Schoolhouse Rock mastermind Bob Dorough shared the lead vocal on "Without Rhyme Or Reason,"), and the cover photos are great, but why is there a picture of the 1975 reunion band included inside! I have to agree that "Byrd Avenue" and "Three Ways From Tomorrow" are sorely missed - and how in the world can you omit "Commercial" from any Spanky and Our Gang CD compilation! It's nice to have "Stardust" and "Anything You Choose," but where are "5 Definitions Of Love," "My Bill," "Leopard Skin Phones," "Jane," and "Since You've Gone?" These (among others), I feel, would have been better choices than some of the other newly-included songs. I also agree that the remastering isn't that special. Perhaps the Japanese reissues of the original albums are the only way to go.