The complete, untangled history of San Jose garage legends
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 07/14/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ace compilation producer Alec Palao has done a heroic job of untangling the convoluted history of one of garagedom's most revered bands. In doing so, he rewrites their not-quite-a-one-hit-wonderness into a compelling story of a great garage band that was completely undone by their producer, label and themselves. Fermented in the same San Jose, CA scene that produced The Count Five and Syndicate of Sound, the Watchband never managed a national chart breakthrough, and their signature recording, "Let's Talk About Girls," isn't wholly a product of the group. Their albums are at turns even more distant, featuring whole tracks recorded by other groups!
The entire history of the band - and more importantly the releases dropped under the name "The Chocolate Watchband" - is essayed here in excellent detail. Palao sorts through the various versions of the group, identifies the tracks that were altered by their producers (with substitute lead vocals from non-group members dubbed onto finished tracks), and highlights cuts recorded by completely separate bands and released under the Watchband's moniker. Interviews with the band's members help flesh out the various machinations involved in constructing these recordings, including the group's albums, all three of which were released after the Watchband disbanded.
What stands out most strongly is how good the results were - original, dubbed, and recorded by others. And even more surprising, how homogenous it seems. Even with the discography in hand, it's hard to internalize the crazy circumstances involved in waxing these sides. The best example is the band's signature cover of The Tongues of Truth's "Let's Talk About Girls." Watchband vocalist Dave Aguilar's original lead was scrubbed and replaced by non-band member Don Bennett's, who, in fact, was instructed to imitate Aguilar's original. This "original" Bennett version - the one most listeners are familiar with - is included alongside a version with a new Aguilar vocal dubbed in place. A similar pairing is included for the band's cover of "Medication." The newly cut vocals are truly more than a gimmick - they sound great and give a good idea of the band's original visions for these tracks.
Big Beat's double CD has it all - the albums, the singles, the oh-so-tangled story in words and pictures and poster reproductions. The discs also include bits of extra studio chatter, which are mildly interesting once and (due to the lack of separate CD index marks) intensely annoying on repeated plays. Worse, the chatter for a particular song is attached the end of the preceding track, necessitating manual editing (Goldwave, anyone?) of any rips that you make. This is a nit in the context of such a fine compilation, but one that Big Beat should think about for future releases."
Chocolate Watchband-'Melts In Your Brain,Not On Your Wrist:T
Mike Reed | USA | 02/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A 2-CD, 43 track complete coverage (not compilation), but reportedly a complete repetoire of Chocolate Watchband's recordings. Cuts from their three 'proper' albums, 'No Way Out' ('67), 'The Inner Mystique' ('68) and 'One Step Beyond' ('69). See my reviews of all three. Plus,there are several exclusive cuts here that I've never seen available anywhere before. Like a couple of nicely done covers, Ray Davie's "Til The End Of The Day" and Don Everly's "Since You Broke My Heart".Plenty of other must-hear Watchband tunes here,like "Let's Talk About Girls","Don't Need Your Loving","Misty Lane","In The Midnight Hour",the jammin' "Milk Cow Blues", "Psychedelic Trip" and heavy-tripping "Voyage Of The Trieste" (seriously,if this cut doesn't get your toes tapping,you should seek professional help). Recently caught their club performance in an old movie 'Riot On Sunset Strip' (sort of like a movie version of the old Dragnet TV show). So highly recommended,it hurts."
Lots of filler here//
peace train | richmond va | 09/29/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There are some good reviews here but I think a word to the naive is in order ..many of the tracks on this 'collection' are not the CWB at all and possibly the worst stuff Ive heard from a major label...[er..Capitol] ..Rest assured, this is a great garage band when they are actually on the records...ACE has done a great job of putting together absolutely everything under the groups banner, but some of these tracks, especially on disc 2, do a disservice to the band. As the excellent bio here explains, the producers decided to record about one-third of these tunes while the band was OUT OF TOWN///...SOME OF THE COVERS ARE SO WEAK THAT EVEN THE NOVICE CWB COLLECTOR WILL SMELL A RAT/.. I still recommend this package because its the only place you can get ALL the good stuff in one swoop...however, you might wanna keep that thumb near the 'skip track' button there, especially on disc 2/ .... britman
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Track Listings (20) - Disc #1