 Various Artists Brown Eyed Soul Vol. 3 opens up with the ferocious soul of The Olympics' "Mine Exclusively," and doesn't drop the ball too much from there. It feels less definitive than Vol. 1, but is very strong in its own right. It concentrates mainly on 60s and 70's material, with most of the oldies having been gotten out of the way in Vol. 2. High points include El Chicano's "Tell Her She's Lovely" (sort of like "Ride, Ride, Ride (Space Machine)"-era Fania All-Stars), Bloodstone's "Natural High" (one of the many doo-wop flavored singles included in this series – a sound that characterizes much of the pop music favored by Chicano audiences, apparently), War's "Don't Let No One Get You Down" (another one of the War songs I love even though I probably wouldn't love the full album), and Thee Midniters' "Making Ends Meet." None of the tracks is a dud, but few could be called the bomb, either. A few of them just lose steam (Bo Diddley's ballad "I'm Sorry" … or perhaps I just get bored as soon as someone says "Bo Diddley"), but the overall feel is very pleasant, Sunday afternoon-type of music. The original "Land of 1000 Dances" (by Cannibal & the Headhunters) is included, which will appeal to the Ferris Buellers of the world but isn't a huge selling point for me. At least it's not Wilson Pickett's version. Actually, now that I think about it, I think the line "You got to know how to Pony" is a great first line, but I'd enjoy it more if the next line rhymed with "Sony" or even better, "Klaus Nomi." Brown Eyed Soul is not Rhino's best series of all time, but it's solid and unique, championing an underdog pop music market and showing the evidence to Dave Marsh's contrary. (Free floating hostility toward Dave Marsh can never be misplaced.) These CDs will be of most appeal to those that "were there" but that doesn't necessarily mean "you had ta be there." Depending on your affinity for doo-wop ballads and primal-but-smooth soul stompers, these will either be some of the best CDs you've ever found or simply enjoyable, at-times-a-bit-boring-but-mostly-wonderful discs. A nice companion to the more obvious Latin compilations out there that focus more on rock and jazz, these preserve the pop stuff that mattered back in the day, and are fully successful in accomplishing what they set out to do. Now pass the nachos! (A tacked on "humorous" ending, what a surprise.)
Review by Tommy Chump |