Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: That Did It!
Company: Mother
Catalog: MRS-73
Year: 1968
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: still in shrink wrap
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4174
Price: $100.00
Cost: $35.00
We'll admit to having bought this LP strictly for the 1960s timeframe cover art ...
Interestingly, when we started to do some research on this outfit we quickly discovered there isn't a great deal of information out there. We know the band hailed from Los Angeles and their line up consisted of guitarist Bob Archer, bassist Ed Benson, drummer Chip Moore and keyboardist Terry Tibbetts. Apparently discovered by H.B. Barnum, they were signed to Barnum's newly formed Mother Records label. We also know that most references give their 1968 Barnum-produced album "That Did It" lukewarm reviews. That's unfortunate since to our ears the set's actually surprisingly good. Admittedly, this isn't exactly the year's most original outing, but by the same token tracks such as "Almost There", "Glass House" and "Pink Wallpaper" offer up a nice blend of pop melodies and heavier rock moves. Full of tight vocals and tasty fuzz guitars ("Love"), this was nothing less than a pleasant surprise. To be honest, the only real missteps here were the cloying ballad "Age of Innocence", a rote cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and a needless (and rather tuneless) cover of Otis Redding's "Sitting On the Dock of a Bay". Anyone out there care to know that Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote the stupid liner notes?
"That Did It!" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Almost There (Bob Archer - Chip Moore - Ed Benson) -
2.) Love (Lee Michaels) -
3.) Age of Innocence (D. Monda - P. Robin) -
4.) Glass House (Bob Archer - Chip Moore - Ed Benson) -
5.) Sitting On the Dock of a Bay (Otis Redding - Steve Cropper) -
6.) Pink Wallpaper (Bob Archer - Chip Moore - Ed Benson - Terry Tibbets) -
(side 2)
1.) Sunshine of Your Love (Cream) -
2.) Tomorrow's Yesterday (Bob Archer - Ed Benson - Terry Tibbets) -
3.) Only You (Bob Archer - Chip Moore - Ed Benson - Terry Tibbets) -
4.) Can't Ya See It (Bob Archer - Ed Benson) -
5.) Time To Show Her (Bob Archer - Chip Moore - Ed Benson - Terry Tibbets) -
For fanatics, there's also a 1968 single - "Almost There" b/w "Sunshine of Your Love" (Mothers catalog number 1313).