Righteous Brothers Albums (14)
'Night with the Righteous Brothers Live'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 12
Label Rychus
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What The Critics Say
This was the follow-up to the Righteous Brothers' comeback album, Give It to the People, and is largely indistinguishable from its predecessor. Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield still link their voices magnificently, in perfectly credible pop-soul settings that are absolutely radiant, even if there's no hit here to command AM radio attention in the manner of their 1974 nostalgia-laden hit, "Rock and Roll Heaven." Actually, they open up with a surprisingly gritty-sounding rendition of the '50s standard "Young Blood," which is a lot more enduring in the mind. The music is all a perfect extension of the duo's classic work from the 1960s, as though they'd never split up the act or skipped a beat, and counts as much more than a cash-in on the nostalgia boom. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The big comeback album for Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley spawned three hits eight years after their last chart success. Of the three, it was the Alan O'Day co-write with J. Stevenson, "Rock & Roll Heaven," which -- though a novelty -- came to be one of their best known titles. The passing of Bobby Hatfield in November of 2003 gave the song even more of a boost on oldies stations, as the singer became part of the subject matter by leaving this world. Producers Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter put together a thin but effective sound for their string of hits with various artists in this time period, the formula utilized here fitting Glen Campbell well a year later. Despite the three shots of commercial success there was something too Vegas and glitzy about the Give It to the People album, the title track going Top 20 four months after "Rock & Roll Heaven"'s chart penetration. The tune "Give It to the People" was written by the production team of Lambert and Potter, as was the third single, the Top 35 "Dream On" with its catchy melody. Coming a year after Aerosmithcharted in New England with a similar title but a different song, there was little confusion over the two "Dream On"s, as the melodies were so different. There was one other similarity, though, Aerosmith returned to the charts in 1976 with their composition just as The Righteous Brothers did with the Top 40 activity of "Unchained Melody." Old friends Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are represented with two enjoyable titles, "You Turn Me Around" and "Together Again," perhaps the best-written and most effective of the album tracks. But it is the Alan O'Day fantasy of Janis Joplin jamming with Jimi Hendrix that sweeps in and gets the award for most memorable number. "Rock & Roll Heaven" might have been trite, but it is irresistible. The Righteous Brothers were a singles act, and it is the singles which stand out across their career, the LP production good for the time, but not as timeless as their work with Phil Spector. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Go Ahead and Cry came out amid the early part of the Righteous Brothers' stay on Verve. But they stuck to their guns, generating solid, eminently listenable blue-eyed soul even in the midst of the folk-rock boom of 1966. They might have been a bit too tame by then, with covers of "I Believe," "Let It Be Me," and -- in a sudden embrace of calypso music -- "Island in the Sun," but they were trying. The results vary somewhat with the quality of the material, "I Believe" coming off as a slightly sappy piece of self-indulgence, while "Something You Got" is first-rate soul in anyone's book. The album does deserve a hearing, and it's amazing that neither this nor any of the other original LPs by the duo has ever turned up intact on CD. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''
Release Date 1/1/1965
Tracks 22
Label Philles
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