The Outsiders
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The Outsiders launched themselves on the world with a killer single ("Time Won't Let Me") and an accompanying album that was one of the best debuts ever to come out of Capitol Records, at least from a U.S. band. The acid test was this, their second album which, as it turns out, was only marginally less impressive than their debut. The secret behind this band was their ability to combine a British Invasion-style guitar attack with blue-eyed soul-style singing, mixing horns convincingly as well, for a hybrid of three dominant sounds of the period. That's all over this record, which only suffers from a few less inventive covers such as "(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet" and "Hanky Panky," amid many moments of brilliance, which include a handful of originals co-authored by guitarist/singer Tom King. The weakest moment among the latter is an attempt to re-create "Time Won't Let Me," on "Lost in My World" -- an effort doomed to failure but so enjoyable in the doing that the track is still worthwhile hearing. But the glorious moments around that one instance of composer/producer temptation are what really count -- the group turns in killer, soaring renditions of "Since I Lost My Baby" and "Oh How It Hurts," and one amazing original, "I Will Love You," which could be a minor soul classic in its own right. Those three tracks on side one are worth the price of admission; add to that the presence of the hit single "Respectable," one of the best Isley Brothers covers by a white act that you'll ever hear, and this would be a winning album in anyone's estimation, if not quite the imposing classic that its predecessor was (and incidentally, Jim Bonfanti of the Choir and, later, the Raspberries, says in an interview in Phonograph Record Magazine that he was playing drums on "Respectable"). Side two is a little less focused than side one, but still holds up, with some respectable -- no pun intended -- playing and singing, and numbers such as "Backward, Upside Down" that must have worked magnificently on-stage. This album peaked at number 90 on the U.S. charts, which isn't half as well as it ought to have done, based on the music it contained. And astonishingly, like its predecessor (and much of the rest of the group's LP library), it hasn't been reissued on CD as of 2009. Bruce Eder, All Music Guide Releases:
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