 Various Artists The second volume of Rhino's Brown Eyed Soul series is only marginally less interesting than the first, given a slightly greater proportion of 50s and early 60s material to 70s pop. Call me a snob, but I am hopelessly biased to 70s material if only because it just sounds better. That and the fact that I am nostalgic for the days when I proudly participated in Chicano Power rallies and led consciousness-raising workshops to enlighten my friends and coworkers to the situation of our Hispanic brothers. Man, I've told so many lies in these reviews I can't even remember who's the real me. At any rate, a few too many tracks on this volume are drenched in the canyon of studio reverb that characterizes virtually everything recorded before 1965, but even those tracks are generally good enough songs that the CD comes off as very enjoyable. The standouts on Vol. 2 are "Dreaming Casually" by Thee Midniters (almost sounds like a late-period Shangri-La's tune), "La La La La La" by The Blendells, Hank Jacobs's extremely groovy "East Side," and War's love-it-or-hate-it "Why Can't We Be Friends." Regarding that song: there are actually two keyboard mistakes in the intro of the song, which is unaccompanied electric piano. You'd think they'd get two seconds into the take and go "Wait, let's do that intro again." Just goes to show you can have a hit with holes in it. That's why I'm releasing an album entirely comprised of flubbed guitar solos and "hilarious" studio chatter, banking on the fact that I can rekindle the magic. Other cuts of interest are Ritchie Valens's "We Belong Together," recorded shortly after the tragic plane crash that killed Valens, Buddy Holly, and the American Pie (remember his hit "Helloooo Baby!"?), the soulful "Baby, Is There Something On Your Mind" by McKinley Travis, and The Gallahads' perfectly titled "I'm Without a Girl Friend." The song is wishy-washy, but the title alone is so entertaining that it averages out, and you feel like you love the song. Overall, this volume isn't quite as strong as the first, but anyone remotely interested in Latino musical pop culture will enjoy it immensely. I should add that the aim of these compilations is not to present "Latin pop" or "Latin rock," but rather the singles that made waves in East L.A. during its heyday as party music central and slow-dance capital of the world. So, Santana is thankfully not present.
Review by Tommy Chump |