The Rascals

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The Rascals (known initially as The Young Rascals) were an American soul and rock musical team of the 1960s.

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. 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 contracted with them, they discovered that another group (Borrah Minnevitch's and Johnny Puleo's Harmonica Rascals) objected to the vending of records under the name Rascals. To avoid conflict, manager Sid Bernstein decided to rename the group the Young Rascals.

Their first television performance was on the program "Hullabaloo" on February 27, 1965, where they performed their debut single, "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". The track was actually more successful in Canada where it scored #23. This modest success was followed by the US/Canada #1 single album "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 Eddie Brigati and Cavaliere began providing most of their songs, and the successes kept happening for the next two years. Their immediate followups to "Good Lovin'", including "You Better Run" (1966, famously covered in 1980 by Pat Benatar) and "(I've Been) Lonely Too Long" (1967), were only modest successes, but "Groovin'" (#1 US/Canada, 1967) scored at the top of the charts. After that, the group performed a succession of US top 20 US successes, including "A Girl Like You" (1967), "How Can I Be Sure?" (1967), "It's Wonderful" (1968), and "A Beautiful Morning" (1968). 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 in the UK they only twice scored the top 75 (both times in 1967), with "Groovin'" (#8) and "A Girl Like You" (#35). The band would bill themselves as the Young Rascals for the last time with the single release of "It's Wonderful"; they would be known henceforth as simply "The Rascals."

Bruce Eder, writing for allmusic.com, rates the band's 1967 album Groovin' as their best, noting the record's soulful core and innovative use of jazz and Latin instrumental arrangements. However, 1968's Once Upon A Dream was the first Rascals album designed from conception as an album, rather than as a vehicle to package their singles (eight of Groovin''s eleven songs were released as single A- or B-sides in advance of the album). Once Upon a Dream, which reached #9 on the album charts, contained the single "It's Wonderful" plus many other strong songs, including "Easy Rollin'," "Rainy Day," "My World," and the title track. Perhaps understandably, the album's song "My Hawaii" became a #1 chart success in Hawaii.

Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits, released in mid-1968, scored #1 on the album chart and became the team'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 success. It was also their final U.S. Top Ten success, although they remained a Canadian top 10 act for the next few years.

"A Ray of Hope," "Heaven," "See" and "Carry Me Back" were all modest U.S. singles for the band during late 1968 and 1969; all entered the top 40, but none acheiving higher than #24. In Canada, however, the Rascals were still major successes – all these songs scored top ten, completing a run of 11 straight Canadian top ten successes for The Rascals from 1967 to 1969.

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

During their period of greatest celebrity, the band's influence on aspiring Rhythm & Blues -style caucasian acts was without equal, especially in the northeastern U.S. Notable bands that incorporated (sometimes to the extent of parody) the Rascals' stage demeanor and energy included the Vagrants (featuring Leslie West, later of Mountain), the Rich Kids and the Vanilla Fudge.

Brigati left the group in 1970, followed by Cornish in 1971. Their last Rascals album was Search and Nearness (#198 U.S.), which featured Brigati's lead vocals on the Cornish-penned "You Don't Know" and a cover of The Box Tops' hit "The Letter," and drummer Danelli's composition "Fortunes." The only single release from the album was the spiritually-themed "Glory, Glory" (#58 U.S., #40 Canada), with backing vocals by The Sweet Inspirations. Search and Nearness would be the Rascals' last album for Atlantic Records, with Cavaliere and Danelli taking the band to Columbia Records in mid-1971.

Cavaliere shifted towards more jazz- and gospel-influenced writing for the Rascals' next two albums, 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 new singer Annie Sutton. These albums didn't sell as well as their earlier work, with none of their associated singles reaching higher than #95 on the U.S. chart. Danny Weis (previously with Rhinoceros and Iron Butterfly) then joined as guitarist for the band's final album Rascals.

Cavaliere released several solo albums during the 1970s. Brigati, with his brother David, released Lost in the Wilderness during 1976. Cornish and Danelli worked together in other groups, including Bulldog and Fotomaker. During 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 with it. The reunion group featured an expanded lineup that included Mel Owens (in Brigati's place) on vocals and percussion, Steve Mackey on bass, Ed Mattey on guitar, Dena Iverson on backup vocals and a horn section from Nashville to increase the sound. The reunion did not last beyond the end of the year.

After that, Cavaliere returned to his solo career and during the 1990s 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 brief time during the 1990s but toured again during 2006 with two new members: Bill Pascali (formerly of Vanilla Fudge) on vocals and keyboards and Charlie Souza on bass and 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 series of albums from Atlantic Records was re-released on August 28, 2007.

Membership

• Eddie Brigati (born Edward Brigati Jr., 22 October 1945, Garfield, New Jersey) - vocals, percussion
• Felix Cavaliere (born 29 November 1942, Pelham, New York) - vocals, keyboards
• Gene Cornish (born 14 May 1946, Ottawa, Ontario-Canada) - guitar, vocals
• Dino Danelli (born 23 July 1944, Jersey City, New Jersey) - drums
• David Brigati (born 29 October 1940, Garfield, New Jersey) - background vocals
• Robert Popwell (born 29 December 1950, Daytona Beach, Florida) - bass
• Danny Weis (Huntington Park, California) - guitar

Discography

Albums

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

Cashbox charts not standard.

Singles

Atlantic 2312-2463 (1965-1967) as "The Young Rascals", Atlantic 2493 onward (1968-1971) as "The Rascals"

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

External links

• Rolling Stone: The Rascals - Rolling Stone articles
• Allmusic: The Rascals - Allmusic articles
• Rascals Reference Page - Steve Knowlton's high-quality fan site
• New Rascals
• "Felix Cavaliere's Rascals"
• "The Rascals' Struggle for Change," Pop Matters; 2007, by Tony Sclafani