Customer Reviews

The Very Best Of Tommy James & The Shondells (Rhino)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the brief four-year span when they were prominent, Tommy James and the Shondells seemed an anomaly in an era where the current music arose from what the Beatles wrought with Revolver and Sgt Pepper and what the psychedelics like Iron Butterfly and hard-rockers/blues groups like Steppenwolf produced. The Shondells' eclectic oeuvre covered many genres: garage rock, early sixties pop reminiscent of the Mersey Beat, bubblegum pop, party-rockers, a protest song, and even a shot at psychedelia.

Naturally, the compilation starts off with the song from Snap Records that was bootlegged and sold over a million copies, reaching #1. All together now: "My baby does the hanky panky!" Yes, his cover of the Raindrops' "Hanky Panky", with its crisp garage sound, hit big by the time Tommy James had broken up the Shondells.

A new Shondells was put together and they signed on to Roulette Records. "Say I Am (What I Am)" has a beat and sound similar to the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" until the rollicking racing guitar comes on, accompanied by "shake shake shake," until it returns to the original sound.

The upbeat "It's Only Love" features horns, maraccas, and a softly tooted flute; a nice number, but compared to their other Top Ten hits, it's understandable why this only hit #31.

Three of their big hits were resurrected in the 1980's, two of them hitting #1, one making the Top Ten in the US, all different styles. The catchy bubblegum pop of "I Think We're Alone Now" was an example of James bringing in the songwriting/producing team of Richie Cordell and Bo Gentry. Cordell co-wrote this song. The prominent bassline can be felt in the softly sung chorus and inbetween "running just as fast as we can" and "holding on to one another's hand." Crickets can be heard during the pause before the final chorus. Redheaded mall teen queen Tiffany took this to #1 in 1987, beating the original's #4 peak.

With those familiar opening drums, and James' rough "yeahs" and the responding "yeahs" from the other Shondells, "Mony Mony" belongs in the party-rock category like "Louie Louie" and "Hanky Panky". A #3 hit, Billy Idol's version hit #1, also in 1987, giving further royalties to James, Cordell, and Gentry. Ironically, Joan Jett and her producer were considering recording this song instead of "Louie Louie", but the latter prevailed.

And finally, James' only other #1, the lyrical "Crimson And Clover", which sold five million copies, with distorted guitars, and later even the words, yet with enough pop sensibilities to take something psychedelic to the top. Yes, "crimson and clover, over and over..." Joan Jett took this to the Top Ten in 1982.

Cordell also wrote "Mirage", a #10 hit which recalls an early Beatles sound and has a high-pitched whistle or keyboard, and the racing keyboards and clapping of the happily romantic "Gettin' Together."

The flower-power like "Out Of The Blue" mixes early Beatles with some doo-wop styled harmony. And this only got to #43???!

The pulsating anti-Vietnam and love song "Sweet Cherry Wine" is one of my favourites: "Yesterday my friends were marching out to war/oh yeah, listen we ain't a marchin' anymore/we ain't gonna fight/only God has the right/to decide who's to live and die." I'll have several bottles of it, please.

The leisurely languid ballad "Crystal Blue Persuasion" peaked at #2 during Woodstock week, and echoes the "love is the answer and that's all right" feel of the times.

Songs like "She" used strings and a more lovey-dovey 5th Dimension-type sound. Also included Tommy James' solo single "Draggin' The Line", incorporating a bluesy sound with a prominent pulsing bassline.

The songs are presented in chronological order, and as this is a Rhino compilation, presents the peak position of each single and the date released. A good intro for those wanting to know about the many sounds and singles of this mid to late 60's group.

Tommy James and the Shondells were one of the better groups of the 60s, yet do not seem to get the recognition they deserve. This group created a string of hits beginning with "Hanky Panky" through "Draggin' the Line," from 1966 to 1971, though Tommy James originally released "Hanky Panky" in 1963 and re-recorded it in 1966.

Several of the songs by this group that are among the most enduring are the psychedelic songs: "Crimson and Clover" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion"; black light music for sure. Both songs were big hits for the group, and remain among my favorite songs to this day. Some of the songs here do verge on bubblegum. But these songs also are creative and introduce effects that at the time were novel.

For those who are less familiar with Tommy James and the Shondells, the songs you might recognize if you heard them, in addition to those mentioned above, are "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," "Do Something to Me," and "Sweet Cherry Wine," which is also somewhat psychedelic. While the other songs on this CD were released either as an A or B side single, these songs received a lot of air play in the 60s. A few of these songs are somewhat forgettable, but better to have more than less.

Perhaps the biggest miss on this CD is "Crimson and Clover." The version for this CD is the single version, and not the much longer and better album version. The album version had an extended bridge with some of Tommy James and the Shondell's best guitar work. If you have an opportunity to hear the album version of "Crimson and Clover", or better yet, buying any album that contains the full-length version, it is worth it.

This CD is okay, but there is another CD that is better for Tommy James fans. "Anthology" was released earlier than this CD and contains 27 tracks to this CD's 16 tracks. While "Anthology" has a few weaker songs, it also has "Sugar on Sunday." You decide. You should also consider trying to find the album "Crimson and Clover" to have the extended version of that excellent song. Enjoy!

Tommy James and the Shondells was a vastly underrated band when they hit the charts in 1966 and 1967, and Tommy was one of the best song writers of the that era. Many music critics dismissed their music as insignificant and inconsequential, but they were actually innovative recording artists with a sophisticated sound, who were years ahead of their time. Hanky Panky is a classic rock song, but much of the early Tommy James sound is a blend of rock and beautiful melody such as my favorite track, the beautiful up-tempo Mirage, I Like The Way, Gettin' Together, and Out Of The Blue which are outstanding, underrated songs. The classic I Think We're Alone Now and It's Only Love are also excellent up-tempo songs that make you feel good.

The Tommy James Sound was a perfect match for psychedelic arrangements, and Crimson And Clover was a brilliant early psychedelic song which had a profound effect on the evolution of rock music for many years as did the beautiful Sweet Cherry Wine. His maturation and versatility was exhibited in Crystal Blue Persuasion and Draggin' The Line, a more sophisticated hard rock song than the earlier infectious, up beat Mony Mony.

This CD is an outstanding collection of songs by one of the great rock bands of the 1960's and 1970's. However, you should purchase the moderately priced Tommy James And The Shondells Anthology CD instead, if it is still available, because it contains 27 tracks, and is a more comprehensive collection.

Think about the fact that AM radio was the primary domain of Tommy James & The Shondells back in the '60s. Then think about how much lamer AM radio is nowadays (and FM for that matter). This is the best stuff from a really good group, back when radio was worth listening to and ever-more-amazing stuff was coming out practically weekly.

My only complaint, to repeat what other reviewers have said, is that the chopped version of Crimson and Clover is on this album. Fortunately, I still have a vinyl album that has the long version on it. But why, oh why didn't they include it on this CD? (Especially when CDs can hold 74 minutes of music.) Rhino, I usually love your compilations, but this is a rip-off!

This is one amazing band as far as their ability to reinvent themselves on every release of a single - kind of the way the Doors did on every song of their 'Strange Days' album, though of course in a very different way.

They started out with the lanky, strongly original proto-garage tune "Hanky Panky" - at about the same time the Young Rascals launched their smoky, similarly styled "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". [Gritty, intensely moving and sonically astounding as it was, the (Young) Rascals' song crashed and burned on the charts, though not in the minds of forward-looking listeners. But they tamed their sound a bit on "Good Lovin'", went straight to the top, and stayed there for several years.]

The Shondells' (as they were announced by DJs at the beginning of their equally long run) had a second hit with "Say I Am" - which didn't grab me during its short tenure on the charts (I later realized my mistake). This one is amazingly inventive in terms of melody and vocal delivery; and with those jazzy riffs/rhythms that accompany the lyrics, the song moves through its paces relentlessly, confidently buoyant throughout.

"I Think We're Alone now" was the obvious follow-up to the Turtles' "Happy Together". [This is especially true since the Turtles' own next effort "She'd Rather Be With Me", was such inferior product - a very bad-sounding song possessing none of the gorgeous guitar playing of their short-lived folk-rock phase - early in their career the Turtles were among the best in the world.]

"I Think We're Alone Now" tugged at the heartstrings and told a very familiar story in a novel musical fashion - its pop-rock sonic pallet was colorfully descriptive - its arrangement was rich but uncrowded. In "Mirage", their follow-up in a similar vein, Tommy's vocal (during verses, not choruses/bridges) added a twinge of the jazzy R &B influences the band was [secretly?] absorbing, eventually exploding full force into their music ("Crystal Blue Persuasion").

"Gettin' Together" I suppose was one of their rare mistakes (along with "I Like the Way"); in bowing to the likes of Tommy Roe, Garry Lewis and other proto-bugglegum artists, they temporarily displaced themselves from the main thrust of their ongoing musical experiment/evolution. Sentimentality can be a creative force, but these two songs are obvious instances of poor songwriting and stylistic meltdown.

"Mony Mony" I hated this song, convinced at the time the group was going in a really bad direction, but later changed my mind, and give it almost a 4 out of 5. Even today people get really happy dancing to this one.

"Crimson and Clover" was called 'psychedelic' by one reviewer. Ouch! Sure it was squarely in the midst of that era, and fit in very well, but the average groovy hippie freak (myself included, at the time) didn't pay it much mind. On the other hand, slow dancing in high school and beyond was never greater than when this was playing. Still solidly rock, but with a lot of soul - it was maybe a forecast of Bob Seger on the far horizon - who knows? But this richly energetic outburst owed more to the Kingsmen than to Jefferson Airplane - a severely/serenely updated version of the Kingsmen nonetheless, and like when they did their occasional ballad-like song.

"Sweet Cherry Wine" The way this begins in the middle of a phrase is formula-shattering (Motown was famous for launching into songs in this fashion, ditto Paul Revere and the Raiders). Gorgeous overall sound, gorgeous singing executed with extreme aplomb - even with such minimal melodic movement! Tommy sings his way into and all around the melodic contour - great lead singers know how to gently release and channel their overtones - he lets loose in a stunning manner here.

[Still decidedly "rock", but with some kind of almost unexpressed R &B flavor moving/flowing underneath/inside it.]

With the song "Crystal Blue Persuasion" Tommy James and the Shondells completed their temporary transition into the royal echelon of blue-eyed soul, taking their place amongst earlier-arrived luminaries such as the Righteous Brothers, the Rascals, and dare we say it - the Fifth Dimension. We hear horns - and a gloriously reedy, buttery combo organ for the first time - the musical arrangement is full to the brim, and tasty to the core. The songwriting is emotionally appealing, inventive to a fault - this song is both musically and poetically priceless!

Pop songs, appealing as so many seem to be, are rarely so powerful, memorable, enlivening, and even "healing" - as is this collection of gems.

More pretentious "message" musicians would sell their souls to make records as gorgeous sounding as these.
It's an encycopedia of styles, sounds and hooks. Beach Boys harmonies and with Phil Spector sound (Out of the Blue), psychedelic latin tinged beatnik jazz (Crystal Blue Persuasion) Herman's Hermit horny teen pop (Getting Together). Every moment is a hook, and there isn't a clinker in the bunch. The production and musicianship are as good as any music from that era. Slick? Yes, and that's a good thing. Commercial? Yup, it made lots of people happpy. Pure musical genius? That too. And totally addictive.

Fans of Tommy James should consider themselves lucky. He and his band have an anthology album that is more complete than those for most artists of their era (for example, just TRY and find a Manfred Mann anthology that includes BOTH "Do-Wah-Diddy" AND "Blinded by the Light"). All of James's bubblegum pop hits are here, as is his solo 1973 hit, "Draggin' the Line." James was a pure pop artist whose only sin was to continue in that vein even as more "serious" artists took the music in far more radical directions. James took a stab at psychadelia in the late 60s, but it never really suited him. So this album ain't "Sgt Pepper." So what? It's still great pop music from a much more innocent era.

The recent made-for-TV version of Barry Williams' autobiography "Growing Up Brady" features two significant scenes charting his quest for "Brady Bunch" co-star Maureen McCormick. As Williams sees his bikini-clad, would-be love enter his pool the first time, then as they share time in his room, Tommy James and the Shondells sing "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and "Crimson and Clover" in the background.

Wise song choices both. Tommy James and the Shondells' hits, gathered on this pop perfect Rhino reissue, were "bubblegum" in that discredited term's best sense. James and bandmates, hardly out of their teens, described adolescent angst ("Mirage"), concern ("Ball of Fire") and euphoria as intensely and skillfully within a pop song as any American rockers of the era. They influenced not only later teen stars like Tiffany but 80s rockers like Joan Jett,(who borrowed James producers Denny Cordell and Kenny Laguna for some of her own hits), Billy Idol and even Bon Jovi. (That group's "Livin' On A Prayer" seems now like an lyric update of James' "I Think We're Alone Now.")

Sometimes the songs meant nothing. "Hanky Panky" was a time-killer after an all-day Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich writing session (and sung that condescendingly by Neil Diamond on his horrid version); the party-rocker "Mony Mony" stemmed from a sign atop a financial skyscraper. But James and company bashed at them as earnestly as they did the faux-gospel "Sweet Cherry Wine" or, for that matter, as other artists did on more respected late 60s songs like "Gimme Some Lovin'" or "MacArthur Park." (James quotes from both on "Gettin' Together" and "She," respectively).

Tommy James and the Shondells did what few American 60s into-70s groups could (Three Dog Night and the Grass Roots most notably, but not the more respected Rascals); shade their sound to fit changing Top 40 times without losing their identity. Only teen-pop's Hanson, majors in 60s rock, appears able to achieve similar success; until then, this Shondells collection is a must for any 60s rock library.

For anyone who loves 60's music or Tommy James, this is a must have. If your the least bit afraid like I was that the tracks won't sound the same as you remember, don't be. These are the same as what you used to hear on the radio. I hope you enjoy as much as I have.

Phenomenal!! They're all here. And to those who aren't happy because the 45RPM version of "Crimson and Clover" is included instead of the longer rendition please remember: unlike other artists who've taken a long song and cut it down for the 45, Tommy was one of the only, if not THE only, who took a short song and made it longer for their album (also called "Crimson and Clover"). All of the songs on this CD are crisp and fresh. You'll surely be tapping away at "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mony Mony" and "Hanky Panky". The only thing better than this compilation is seeing Tommy "Live" in concert (which I did last month). WOW!!! The "Sold Out" crowd proved that GREAT music lasts forever and Tommy James, well what can I say, neither he or his music will ever grow old. Don't pass up on this CD. You'll probably want to buy "2", because one will surely get worn out from usage.