Like a tide at its ebb, I'm at peace in the web of your arms...

Without the Righteous Brothers, there would be no room for white guys to be seen as legitimately soulful singers. In the age where artists like Pat Boone and the like made sterile the best of the soul acts of the fifties and early sixties, Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley brought the true soul goods. A true 2-lead-singer duo, with each as distinct from each other as Lennon and McCartney, in a very short time generated a handful of classics still lauded as among the best singles in the rock era. However, that candle burned brightly but quickly; the pair's best work was within a year and a half's time. After that, scattered collections attempted to collect portions of their work, with only the recent Gold album truly capturing the best of the groups early and revival periods. I picked up a couple older CD's recently by them, one that was once the definitive hits set, the other a toss-off of their 70s material.

The Very Best Of The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody is a short but sweet collection of their 65-66 period, with all of their top-40 hits of that time on here. Four of the most memorable are produced by the legendary (and now insane) Phil Spector, and also appear on his classic compilation Back To Mono, however here they appear in the stereo mix apparently instead of the original versions. They include the pinnacle of their career, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", which isn't just the highlight of their work, but is one of the cornerstones of popular music, period. The interplay between Medley and Hatfield flows so seemlessly you forget that it's two men singing (possibly to another woman, the same woman, each other?). And the different patterns in the song (which I feel greatfully influenced Brian Wilson's best Beach Boy work) make the song seem endless, as well as timeless. "Unchained Melody" unexpectedly eclipsed the former song in notoriety because of it's inclusion in the movie Ghost, however removed from the overexposure that film provided in 1990, it soars above any pop ballad of that time. With only a few lyrics and no mention of the title anywhere in the song, "Unchained" trascends the "slow dance" song with Hatfield commanding a building crescendo of longing and hope. "You're My Soul And Inspiration", the best-known non-Spector single, still is obviously inspired by his production, building on the "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" pattern, though bringing the goods in the hook and feelin' department, and for once has a believeable spoken-word interlude. These three songs provide the 1-2-3 knockout punch which start off the collection. The ability for the group to not conform to the normal pop-song pattern are evident in intricate numbers like "Ebb Tide", with its oblique chord-changes and poetic lyrics, and "For Once In My Life", which shows their power in blending their voices for a more dramatic effect. The "Brothers" also proved they can tackle a standard with their version of "White Cliffs Of Dover", a minor hit in England, without getting stale. The second half of the set has their lesser hits, with "He" and "Hung On You" just as good as the top-10 material. "Little Latin Lupe Lu", while being more fluffy, does belong here as their kickoff single, and "See That Girl" is an interesting album cut, though that could've been replaced by one of their other minor hits of the time (you can get almost all their hits now on the Gold collection). The other two songs, "Go Ahead And Cry" and "On This Side Of Goodbye", are good straightforward pop exercises. In being short but (bitter)sweet, The Very Best Of The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody provides the best brief introduction to the band in terms of song selection. To the audiophile, the stereo mixes are just a small notch down from the intended mono mixes, but that's up to you to decide.

Grade: A-
Best Cuts: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "Unchained Melody", "(You're My) Soul & Inspiration", "Ebb Tide", "Just Once In My Life", "The White Cliffs Of Dover", "He", "Hung On You"
Weakest Link: "See That Girl"

(The original 1990 22-song version of Greatest Hits on Verve on 1990 made it to #31 on the Pop Albums Chart.)
The Very Best Of The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody hit #14 on the Pop Catalog Albums Chart and #11 in the UK.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" made #1 pop singles for 2 weeks, #3 R&B, and hit #1 in 1965, #10 in 1969, #42 in 1977, and #3 in 1990 in the UK.
"Unchained Melody" made #4 pop in 1965 and #13 pop in 1990, #6 R&B in 1965, #1 adult contemporary in 1990, and both #14 in 1965 and #1 in 1990 in the UK.
"(You're My) Soul & Inspiration" hit #1 for 3 weeks pop, #13 R&B, and #15 in the UK.
"Ebb Tide" made #5 pop, #13 R&B, and in England hit #48 in 1965 and #3 in 1990 as the flipside of "You've Lost..."
"Just Once In My Life" hit #9 pop and #26 R&B.
"The White Cliffs Of Dover" made #21 in the UK.
"He" hit #18 pop.
"Hung On You" made #47 pop.
"Little Latin Lupe Lu" hit #49 pop.
"Go Ahead And Cry" made #30 pop singles.
"On This Side Of Goodbye" hit #47 pop.

You can pick up a copy of The Very Best Of The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody at websites like here and here.

While The Very Best Of... distills the cream of the RB's mid-60s material, the duo experienced a minor comeback in the mid-70s, placing three songs in the top-40 pop chart in 1974, and a #27 album as well. Rock And Roll Heaven (CEMA-1991) gathers together 10 songs from 2 albums and a couple stray tracks. Four of those are from the forementionned hit Give It To The People album, even using the cover picture, though inexplicably not including the title song, which made it all the way into the top-20, and definitely takes the need for the set down a notch. The nostalgic reunion track "Rock And Roll Heaven" and the album highlight "Dream On" are here though, and "I Just Wanna Be Me" is also an OK listen. The set also picks four from the followup Sons Of Mrs. Righteous, with a couple keepers, like "Never Say I Love You" and "Nobody But You" which are definitely trying to be more contemporary, though their soulful vocals still amaze. Even the discofied "Hold On To What You've Got" is kinda kitschy-cute in a Donny-and-Marie-show-special-guest sort of way. The rest is really fluff, but not for their lack of trying. Rock And Roll Heaven definitely isn't as satisfying as the earlier collection, but is an interesting period-piece as it is, and an example of a rare comeback for a past-prime group. Since then the three singles are now included in the Gold collection as well, but this set have a few more album cuts for those digging deeper.

Grade: C
Best Cuts: "Dream On"
Weakest Links: "Together Again", "Young Blood", "Let Me Make The Music", "Is It So Wrong"

"Rock And Roll Heaven" made #3 pop singles.
"Dream On" hit #32 pop and #6 adult contemporary.

You can pick up a copy of Rock And Roll Heaven at websites like here and here.

For a deeper look at the duo, the two-disc Gold set is indispensible. You can pick in up in places like here and here.

And to listen to the disco track "Hold On To What You've Got", click here to download (rightclick to bring up another window).

And here's a couple videos for ya...first the classic "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"



then the late great Bobby Hatfield alone on "Unchained Melody"