Pros: THIS IS ONE GREAT CD WITH "ALL" OF THEIR BEST/GREATEST HITS ON IT!
Cons: NONE - THIS CD IS NOT MISSING ONE GOOD SONG FROM IT!
The Bottom Line: ONE OUTSTANDING CD & A MUST TO ADD TO ANY FAN’S COLLECTION. THIS GROUP SOUNDS LIKE A COMBINATION OF “GARY PUCKETT & THE UNION GAP” AND THE “CLASSICS IV”.
JAGUARDOG's Full Review: The Best Of The Box Tops: Soul Deep by The Box Top...
No this review is not about the Tops of Cereal Boxes. This review concerns the group known as the “BOX TOPS” who formed in March 1967 in Memphis, TN and the CD ‘THE BEST OF THE BOX TOPS”.
The group starts out under the name of “Ronnie & The Devilles” with “Ronnie Jordan” on keyboards, “Alex Chilton” on guitar and vocals, “John Evans” on keyboard, “Russ Caccamisi” on bass, “Richard Malone” on lead guitar and “Danny Smythe” on drums. They had recorded a few singles on a small independent label “Youngstown” records but none even made the charts and Ronnie who was the original founder of the group leaves. They are offered a song titled “The Letter” which they decide to record. Russ leaves and is replaced on bass by John and they recruit “Bill Cunningham” to replace John on keyboards and he also plays bass. Richard has to move to San Diego with his parents when his father who is in the Air Force gets reassigned there and “Gary Talley” replaces him. Their new manager “Dan Penn” who got them the song to record also gets them a contract with a new company called “Bell” records and they officially change their name to the Box Tops.
Bell releases “The Letter” on their label “Mala” records in July 1967 and it becomes the shortest in length single ever to reach #1 on the charts. In September it hits #1 on the singles charts and stays there four weeks and peaks at #5 in the UK in October. Also in October they appear as an opening act for the “Beach Boys” during their tour. John quits the group and is replaced by “Rick Allen” on bass. In December Danny leaves the group and is replaced by “Thomas Boggs” on drums. In May 1969 Rick leaves and Bill returns to play bass. Gary leaves and is replaced by “Jerry Riley” and Thomas leaves to be replaced by “Bobby Gudiotti”. In November Bill leaves and is replaced by “Swain Scharfer”. In March 1970 they decide to disband the group. Some of the members decide to form a new band called “Big Star” and sign a contract with “Ardent” records and they release the singles titled “#1 Record” and “Radio City” in 1974 but they break up in 1975.
In July 1978 Alex releases a solo album that never makes any movement on the charts. A member of the now disbanded group “Big Star” by the name of “Chris Bell” is killed on 28 December 1978 in a Motorcycle accident. In July 1995 “Ardent” releases an album of recorded songs by Alex in 1969 that had been originally lost. In September 1996 the original members reunite to record an album. In April 1997 they appear together for the first time since 1989 at a show in Los Angeles, CA at the “House Of Blues”. They decide to tour again and release an album in France only called “Tear Off” which is mostly R & B cover songs. They continue to this day to tour off and on around the world with different “Oldies Rock ‘N Roll” shows. The members that are touring are “Alex Chilton”, “Gary Talley”, “John Evans”, “Bill Cunningham” and “Danny Smythe”.
The CD I am reviewing today is titled “ The Best Of The Box Tops: Soul Deep” that was originally released on “Arista” records in 1996. The songs are listed below in the order as they appear on the CD followed by my rating of each and my overall rating of this CD:
1. THE LETTER – 5*
2. NEON RAINBOW – 5*
3. HAPPY TIMES - 3
4. CRY LIKE A BABY – 5*
5. FIELDS OF CLOVER – 3
6. CHOO CHOO TRAIN – 5
7. SHE SHOT A HOLE IN MY SOUL – 5
8. PEOPLE GONNA TALK – 2
9. I MET HER IN CHURCH – 5
10. SWEET CREAM LADIES FORWARD MARCH – 5
11. TOGETHER – 3
12. I MUST BE THE DEVIL – 2
13. SOUL DEEP – 5
14. I SHALL BE RELEASED – 5
15. (THE) HAPPY SONG – 2
16. TURN ON A DREAM – 5
17. I SEE ONLY SUNSHINE – 2
18. YOU KEEP TIGHTENING UP ON ME – 5
TOTAL POINTS: 72 DIVIDED BY 18 = 4 STARS
RATING KEY:
5 – GREAT
4 – VERY GOOD
3 – GOOD
2 – FAIR
1 – POOR
0 – THIS SONG DOESN’T BELONG HERE!
1. THE LETTER – SEP. 1967 #1 US/OCT. 1967 #5 UK
2. NEON RAINBOW – DEC. 1967 #24 US
3. THE LETTER/NEON RAINBOW (ALBUM) – FEB. 1968 #87
4. CRY LIKE A BABY – APR. 1968 #2 US/#15 UK
5. CHOO CHOO TRAIN – JUN. 1968 #26 US
6. CRY LIKE A BABY (ALBUM) – JUN. 1968 #59 US
7. I MET HER CHURCH – OCT. 1968 #37
8. SWEET CREAM LADIES – FEB. 1969 #28 US
9. THE BOX TOPS SUPER HITS (ALBUM) – FEB. 1969 #45 US
10. I SHALL BE RELEASED – MAY 1969 #67 US
11. SOUL DEEP – AUG. 1969 #18 US/#22 UK
12. DIMENSIONS (ALBUM) – SEP. 1969 #77 US
13. TURN ON A DREAM – NOV. 1969 #58 US
14. YOU KEEP TIGHTENING UP ON ME – MAR. 1970 #92 US
JAG’S FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Box Tops were found on the Pop, Rock and Pop Rock categories. Their sound was wistful, gleeful, confident, clean, cheerful, trippy, happy, exuberant and carefree. They had a kind of sound that was bluesy and hip that was kind of like a soul sound. I owed every single by this group at one time and they were are in my Top 10 of All Time Favorite groups. Their music was not only clean but never mentioned drugs, sex, violence, guns or any kind of swearing or vulgar language. This CD and all their music as far as everything I have ever heard by them is rated “G” for General audiences and for Great Fun. Differently music I never get tired of hearing over and over again. I recommend this CD to anyone and everyone of all ages as an outstanding purchase for your collection. My favorite songs by them are marked with a (*) after the rating number on the CD song listing. I want to thank everyone for dropping by today and wish you all a Wonderful Day and God Bless You, Ron.
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