"Just A Little" "Laugh Laugh" with The Beau Brummels' "Greatest Hits"
Written: May 02 '05 (Updated Oct 07 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Top 40 hits:"Laugh Laugh," "Just A Little" and "You Tell Me Why."
Cons: One-page "CD booklet."
The Bottom Line: Nice introduction to an American band that sounded more British than American. Among the 13 tracks are the band's four highest-charting hits.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Greatest Hits by Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels were the first San Francisco band to chart in the wake of the musical tidal wave that was "The British Invasion" led by The Beatles in 1964 that virtually knocked all U. S. bands out of the pop charts in their own country.
They looked and sounded British, had long hair and were produced by Sylvester Stewart, who later became better known as singer Sly Stone.
According to band lore, the band's name was chosen as much for sounding British as it was for the fact that "Beau Brummels" would come right after "Beatles" in the record bins.
Their first single, "Laugh Laugh," began climbing the U. S. charts in late 1964, entering Billboard's Hot 100 on January 2, 1965 (four months before another Bay Area band, The Byrds, had their first chart hit with "Mr. Tambourine Man").
"Laugh Laugh," on the small local label that was Autumn Records, rose to # 15 in 1965. It was quickly followed that year by two more Top 40 hits in "Just A Little" (# 8) and "You Tell Me Why" (# 38). By year-end of 1965, the band had hit the Hot 100 with five singles.
Their Autumn Records album, "Introducing The Beau Brummels," reached # 24 in Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart in 1965 during its 21 weeks on the chart.
In 1966, the band switched record labels to Warner Brothers and had a minor hit single with "One Too Many Mornings," which peaked at # 95, becoming their sixth and last Hot 100 single.
On the album front, Warner's didn't do much for the group, with the album "Triangle" (produced by Lenny Waronker) in 1967 peaking at # 197.
By the end of the 1960s', the band was no more. Guitarist/songwriter Ron Elliott joined The Everly Brothers backup band and lead singer Sal Valentino went on to other projects.
The band reunited in 1974-75. In 1975, the reunion album "The Beau Brummels," also on Warner, failed to ignite on the long-player charts and peaked at # 180 during a 3-week chart run. The band split soon after.
Today, the band have become critics' darlings, and rightly so. The Beau Brummels have been cited as an influence by such modern acts as Toad The Wet Sprocket and Del Amitri.
You can even catch them in the teen '60s drive-in movie favorite "Village Of The Giants," an odd 1965 sci-fi film starring a young cast led by Beau Bridges, Johnny Crawford ("The Rifleman") and Ronny Howard ("The Andy Griffith Show").
This CD:
"Greatest Hits" by The Beau Brummels features 13 of the act's songs, including their four highest charting hits: "Laugh Laugh" (# 15, 1965), "Just A Little" (# 8, 1965), "You Tell Me Why" (# 38, 1965) and "Don't Talk To Strangers" (# 52, 1965; not to be confused with the Rick Springfield song of the same name).
The album has a running time of 32:58 minutes. The CD booklet is a 2-page cover sheet: a picture of the band on the cover and a blank side on page 2 --- no bio, no details and not what the band deserves.
The sound quality is crisp and clear on this 2002 release.
The 13 tracks:
"Laugh Laugh," "Ain't That Loving You," "Still In Love With You," "They'll Make You Cry," "Just A Little," "Sad Little Girl," "You Tell Me Why," "Don't Talk To Strangers," "In Good Time," "I Want More Loving," "I've Never Known," "Oh Lonesome Me" and "When It Comes To Your Love."
Recommendation:
Inexpensive introduction to the band's music (usually under $10 and often much less, so search around). Fans of The Beatles, The Kinks, Manfred Mann and The Searchers will enjoy this.
A nice addition to any classic rock collection.
Some of the songs:
"Laugh Laugh":
Easily one of the best songcrafters of the 1960s', guitarist Ron Elliott, who studied musical composition at San Francisco State College, wrote most of the band's songs. Combined with Sal Valentino's distinctive, almost Roy Orbison-ish lead vocal quality, this Elliott-penned tune still grabs one when it appears on classic rock radio stations.
Bright, uptempo melody with intelligent lyrics highlighted by some neat harmonica played over the expected guitar-bass-drums, with a memorable chorus:
"I hate to say it but I told you so / don't mind my preaching to you / I said 'don't trust him,' baby, now you know / you don't learn everything there is to know in school / wouldn't believe me when I gave advice / I said that he was a tease / if you want help you better ask me nice / so be sincere, convince me with a 'pretty please' / laugh laugh, I thought I'd die / it seemed so funny to me / laugh laugh, you met a guy / who taught you how it feels to be / lonely, oh so lonely..."
"Just A Little":
Written by Elliott and Robert Durand, "Just A Little" was the band's sole Top 10 single. A very soulful ballad with high harmonies and some haunting harmonica, the tune opens with an Animals-sounding blues intro before changing course into a Beatle-ish pop-rocker that reminds me of The Beatles circa "Rubber Soul," full of slashing guitars:
"I can't stay, yes I know / you know I hate to go / but goodbye, love was sweet / our worlds can never meet / so I'll cry just a little 'cause I love you so / and I'll die just a little 'cause I have to go / away..."
On the web:
Official site of The Beau Brummels and the band's lead singer Sal Valentino (with tour dates for Sal): http://www.beaubrummels.com
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