Search - Various Artists :: A History of Garage & Frat Bands in Memphis 1960-1975, Vol. 1

A Great Collection of Rare Garage Tracks

Z. Stiegler | Iowa City, IA | 06/21/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Upon first spinning this compilation, listeners will be struck by the audio quality. Certainly, the raw, grainy tone of garage rock is to be embraced, but the quality of the actual production here is definitely not up to industry standards. It's clear that these selections come straight from vinyl sources, and not master recordings. But you have to put that aside for a variety of factors. For one, the overwhelming majority of these tunes are not available elsewhere on cd. Secondly, it is highly possible that the master tapes for these records have either been destroyed or lost over the last 30+ years. Keep in mind too that these hail from small local labels of the era. With all of that said, once the music is actually moving the molecules around in your room, you will easily overlook
the sonic shortcomings of the recordings presented here. Each track is a gem, and as a whole, the compilation presents fifteen unique, yet consistent-sounding songs spanning 15 years. A track by track analysis isn't necessary, although I will say that The Yo-Yo's take on Billy Joe Royal's "Leaning On You" is nothing short of a masterpiece. That track alone makes this a worthwhile purchase (and admittedly, was my personal motivation for seeking it out). My only real complaint is that, clocking in at 33 minutes, the second volume could have easily been placed on the same disc."