The Rascals

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For the English Indie rock band, see The Rascals (English band)
The Rascals (The Young Rascals)
Also known as The Young Rascals
Origin New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s) Soul
Rock
R&B Punk
Years active 1964–1972
Label(s) Atlantic, Columbia
Associated acts Joey Dee and the Starliters, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul

The Rascals (previously The Young Rascals) were an American soul and rock group of the 1960s.

Contents

[edit] History

Eddie Brigati (vocals), Felix Cavaliere (keyboard, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar) and Dino Danelli (drums) started the band in Brigati and Danelli's native state New Jersey. Their first public performance took place at the Choo Choo Club in Garfield on Saturday, February 27th, 1965. Three-quarters of the group - Brigati, Cavaliere and Cornish - had previously been members of Joey Dee and the Starliters. Eddie's brother, David Brigati, an original Starliter, helped arrange the vocal harmonies and sang backgrounds on many of the group's recordings (informally earning the designation as the Fifth Rascal). When Atlantic Records signed them, they discovered that another group (Borrah Minevitch's and Johnny Puleo's Harmonica Rascals) objected to the release of records under the name Rascals. To avoid conflict, manager Sid Bernstein decided to rename the group the Young Rascals.

The Young Rascals had a minor US hit with their first single, "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" (1965); the track was actually more successful in Canada where it reached #23. This modest hit was followed by the US/Canada #1 single "Good Lovin'" (1966, originally recorded by The Olympics in 1965).

Their first two singles were covers, but after that the band's songwriting team of Brigati and Cavaliere began providing most of their songs, and the hits kept coming for the next two years. Their immediate followups to "Good Lovin'", including "I've Been Lonely Too Long", "You Better Run", were only modest hits, but "Groovin'" (#1 US/Canada, 1967), returned them to the top of the charts. After that, the group reeled off a succession of US top 20 US hits, including "It's Wonderful", "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure?" and "A Beautiful Morning" (1968). Outside of the US, the band was exceptionally popular in Canada, where "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure?" and "A Beautiful Morning" all reached #1. However they struggled in the UK, where they only twice reached the top 75 in their entire career (both times in 1967) with "Groovin'" (#8), and "A Girl Like You" (#35)

In early 1968, the group dropped the "Young" from their name.

The Rascals' best work arguably came from their 1968 album Once Upon A Dream, which featured several leads each from Brigati and Cavaliere. Though the only success for a single on the album was "It's Wonderful" (#20 on the US charts, #7 in Canada), the album utilized frequent instrumentals, and peaked at #9 on the album charts. The album was praised by some critics for such songs as "Rainy Day", "My World" and the title track. Understandably, the song "My Hawaii" became a top of the charts hit in Hawaii.

Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits, released in mid-1968, topped the album chart and became the group's best-selling album. The same year, "People Got to Be Free", a horn-punctuated plea for racial tolerance (the band was known for refusing to tour on segregated bills) became their third and final U.S. #1 single, and their sixth and final Canadian #1. It was also their final US Top Ten hit, although they would remain a Canadian top 10 act for the next few years.

Singles "A Ray of Hope", "Heaven", "See" and "Carry Me Back" were all modest US hits during 1968/69 for The Rascals, all hitting the top 40, though none higher than #24. In Canada, however, the Rascals were still major stars -- all these songs went top ten, completing a run of of 11 straight Canadian top ten hits for The Rascals from 1967 to 1969.

December 1969's "Hold On" broke the run of top 40 US singles for the Rascals, stalling at #51, as well as the run of Canadian top tens, peaking at #22.

In 1970, Brigati left the group, followed by Cornish in 1971. The last album with them as active members was Search & Nearness (hitting #198 in the U.S.), which featured Brigati's last performances as a member singing lead on the Cornish-penned "You Don't Know", drummer Danelli's composition "Fortunes" and their cover of The Box Tops hit "The Letter". The only single release from the album was the spiritually-themed "Glory, Glory" (#58 US, #40 Canada), with backing vocals by The Sweet Inspirations.

Cavaliere shifted toward more jazz and gospel influenced writing; he and Danelli released two more albums on Columbia Records as The Rascals, Peaceful World (U.S. #122) and The Island Of Real (U.S. #180), using Robert Popwell and Buzzy Feiten on bass and guitar respectively, and a new singer named Annie Sutton. These albums didn't sell as well as their earlier work, the associated singles didn't chart any higher than #95 US, and the group finally disbanded in 1972.

Cavaliere released several solo albums throughout the 1970s. Brigati, with his brother David, released Lost in the Wilderness in 1976. Cornish and Danelli worked together in other groups, including Bulldog and Fotomaker. In 1982, Cavaliere and Danelli joined Steve Van Zandt in Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul for the group's first two albums.

After appearing at Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary Celebration on 5/14/88, The Rascals reunited (with Cavaliere, Cornish, and Danelli) for a brief reunion tour in 1988; Eddie Brigati opted not to participate in it. The reunion group featured an expanded lineup that also included Mel Owens(in Brigati's place) on vocals and percussion, Steve Mackey on bass, Ed Mattey on guitar, Dena Iverson on back up vocals and a horn section from Nashville to beef up the sound. The reunion did not last beyond the end of that year.

After that, Cavaliere returned to his solo career and in the 90s there were two factions touring: The New Rascals (featuring Cornish & Danelli) and Cavaliere, who sometimes called his grouping Felix Cavaliere's Rascals. The New Rascals lasted only a short time in the 90s but returned to the road once again in 2006 with two new members: Bill Pascali (formerly of Vanilla Fudge) on vocals & keyboards and Charlie Souza on bass and back up vocals.

The (Young) Rascals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6, 1997. Steve Van Zandt gave the induction speech and presented the award. For the first time in years, all four original members appeared together. For their "jam session" (including David Brigati), they performed "Good Lovin'", "Groovin'", "How Can I Be Sure", and "People Got To Be Free".

The Rascals were also inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.

The entire run of albums from Atlantic Records was re-released on August 28, 2007.

[edit] Membership

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Atlantic 8123-8148 as "The Young Rascals", Atlantic 8169 onward as "The Rascals"

Release Date Label/Catalog # Album Title Billboard Top 200 Cashbox
03/28/1966 Atlantic 8123 (mono) Atlantic SD-8123 (stereo) The Young Rascals
15
10
01/09/1967 Atlantic 8134 (mono) Atlantic SD-8134 (stereo) Collections
14
15
07/31/1967 Atlantic 8148 (mono) Atlantic SD-8148 (stereo) Groovin'
5
6
02/19/1968 Atlantic 8169 (mono) Atlantic SD-8169 (stereo) Once Upon A Dream
9
8
06/24/1968 Atlantic SD-8190 (stereo) Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits
1
1
03/17/1969 Atlantic SD 2-901 (stereo) Freedom Suite
17
16
12/15/1969 Atlantic SD-8246 (stereo) See
45
18
03/01/1971 Atlantic SD-8276 (stereo) Search and Nearness
198
Did not chart
 ??/??/1971 Columbia G30462 (stereo) Peaceful World
122
69
 ??/??/1972 Columbia KC 31103 (stereo) The Island of Real
180
Did not chart

[edit] Singles

Atlantic 2312-2463 as "The Young Rascals", Atlantic 2493 onward as "The Rascals"

Release Date Label/Catalog # Titles (A-side / B-side) U.S.
Billboard Top Singles		 U.S.
Cashbox		 Canada
RPM		 UK
11/22/1965 Atlantic 2312 I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore / Slow Down
52
63
23
--
02/21/1966 Atlantic 2321 Good Lovin' / Mustang Sally
1
1
1
--
05/30/1966 Atlantic 2338 You Better Run / Love Is A Beautiful Thing
20
23
22
--
09/12/1966 Atlantic 2353 Come On Up / What Is The Reason
43
51
63
--
01/16/1967 Atlantic 2377 I've Been Lonely Too Long / If You Knew
16
17
7
--
04/10/1967 Atlantic 2401 Groovin' / Sueño
1
1
1
8
07/03/1967 Atlantic 2424 A Girl Like You / It's Love
10
8
1
37
07/17/1967 Atlantic 2428 Groovin' (Spanish Version) / Groovin' (Italian Version)
--
--
--
--
08/28/1967 Atlantic 2438 How Can I Be Sure / I'm So Happy Now
4
2
1
--
11/27/1967 Atlantic 2463 It's Wonderful / Of Course
20
15
7
--
04/01/1968 Atlantic 2493 A Beautiful Morning / Rainy Day
3
3
1
--
07/01/1968 Atlantic 2537 People Got To Be Free / My World
1
1
1
--
11/18/1968 Atlantic 2584 A Ray of Hope / Any Dance'll Do
24
14
10
--
01/27/1969 Atlantic 2599 Heaven / Baby I'm Blue
39
17
4
--
05/05/1969 Atlantic 2634 See / Away Away
27
13
8
--
08/25/1969 Atlantic 2664 Carry Me Back / Real Thing
26
12
6
--
12/15/1969 Atlantic 2695 Hold On / I Believe
51
29
22
--
07/06/1970 Atlantic 2743 Glory Glory / You Don't Know
58
42
40
--
12/07/1970 Atlantic 2773 Right On / Almost Home
119
--
--
--
06/1971 Columbia 4-45400 Love Me / Happy Song
95
74
--
--
 ??/1971 Columbia 4-45491 Lucky Day / Love Letter
--
--
--
--
 ??/1971 Columbia 4-45568 Brother Tree / Saga of New York
--
--
--
 ??/1971 Columbia 4-45600 Hummin' Song / Echoes
--
--
--
--

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

The Rascals
Discography
The Young Rascals: The Young Rascals (1966) | Collections (1967) | Groovin' (1967)
The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream (1968) | Freedom Suite (1969) | See (1970) | Search and Nearness (1971) | Peaceful World (1971) | The Island of Real (1972)