Various Artists - The Northwest Battle Of The Bands Volume 4 [Big Beat] (@320)

 

Various Artists - The Northwest Battle Of The Bands Volume 4 [Big Beat]

Review by Richie Unterberger.

By the time this fourth volume of 30 Northwest mid-'60s garage rock tracks (most very obscure, 17 previously unreleased) appeared, the suspicion was raised that the supply of such material might be never-ending. Quantity isn't synonymous with quality, however, and little of this would find a home on more selective garage comps that skimmed the cream off the cream. That's not to say that it's bad, just that it's extremely typical of the genre, with few outstanding songs and a good deal of semi-copycatting of bigger and better bands going on. There's some hangover from the "Louie Louie"/Kingsmen-style R&B-heavy rock that dominated the region just before the British Invasion, but there's also a fair amount of British Invasion and folk-rock influences, albeit usually translated through a raw filter. What might be worthy of your attention if, for example, you're whittling down a humongous '60s garage library to more selective home tapes and CDRs? Well, Don & the Goodtimes -- along with the Sonics, the only reasonably well-known group on the CD -- come off well on their single "You Did It Before" (which is like Paul Revere & the Raiders crossed with the Dave Clark Five) and the previously unissued home demo "Stop Telling Lies," which is superior folk-rock-garage with some unexpected key changes and Byrdsy descending guitar licks. The Dynastys' "Forever & a Day" is a decent mixture of British Invasion and folk-rock, and the Sonics' "I'm Going Home" is one of their better pounders, though it's hard to believe anyone who's interested enough in Northwest '60s garage to buy a comp like this doesn't already have that track somewhere else in their collection. As for the most (relatively) well-known other acts, the New Yorkers later evolved into the Hudson Brothers, and Merrilee & the Turnabouts were fronted by organist Merrilee Rush, though she actually doesn't sing lead on the 1966 outtake included here ("Would I").

Tracklist:

1. Woody Carr & The Entertainers - I Think I Love You (2:40)

2. The New Yorkers - Mr Kirby (2:20)

3. Thee Unusuals - I'm Walkin', Babe (3:03)

4. The Stags - You Know He Did (2:37)

5. The Raymarks - Feelin' No Good (2:24)

6. The Bumps - Hey Girl (2:21)

7. Merrilee & The Turnabouts - Would I (2:39)

8. Jack Horner & The Plums - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (3:03)

9. The Bandits - I Remember The Girl (2:35)

10. The Mercy Boys - The Way I Am (2:31)

11. The Ceptors - I Need Her (2:16)

12. The Beachcombers - Help Yourself Baby (2:19)

13. The Brave New World - Fire Girl (2:28)

14. The Express - Long Green (2:42)

15. The Rock-N-Souls - Got No Love (2:31)

16. The Counts - Come Now (2:09)

17. Rocky & The Riddlers - Batman (2:29)

18. Don & The Goodtimes - You Did It Before (2:50)

19. The Liberty Party - It's Not Too Late (3:17)

20. The Raymarks - I Believed (2:27)

21. The Live Five - Anyhow, Anyway, Anywhere (2:21)

22. Tom Thumb & The Casuals - The Draft (2:52)

23. The Emergency Exit - Happy Song (1:41)

24. The New Yorkers - She's Gone (2:02)

25. The Other Two - (I Have Found) Another Girl (2:53)

26. The Dynastys - Forever & A Day (2:49)

27. The Heirs - Don't You Love Me

28. Don & The Goodtimes - Stop Telling Lies

29. The Sonics - I'm Going Home

30. The Dynamics - High

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