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QUILL Records: Chicago Rock of the Garage & Psych 1960s!!!

04/14/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation of singles recorded for Chicago's Quill Records between 1965-67 correctly bills itself as "The Best Of Chicago Garage Bands." But this collection does preserve some essential Windy City nuggets, which generally alternate between raw rave-ups and harmony-soaked crooning. For example, the Exterminators' "Voo-Doo" bashes out a nasty trash-rock rumble, while the Skunks' "Don't Ask Why" wobbles with a memorable case of psychedelia. The Riddles' "It's One Thing to Say," is an infectious organ-guitar shuffle that cries out for covering by the Lyres. Chicago rock historians should note that a number of the bands represented here (Ronnie Rice & the Gents, the Night Flight) eventually contributed members and tunes to the New Colony Six, while the Exceptions boasted future Chicago bassist Peter Cetera."In 1776 our land had been over-run by a tyrant. And in this time of need the country was saved by the Minutemen. Now, in the year 1965, our land has again been over-run by the same tyrant. But this time it will be saved by the Exterminators!"Peter Cetera, on the other hand, was apparently a young man who could tell which way the wind blew. Before he helped found the band Chicago, he sang and played bass in the Exceptions, a band that graces the cover of this collection of 25 songs by 15 Midwestern bands that, from 1965 to 1967, released singles on the long-defunct Quill label in Chicago.Imagine four Beatle Bobs staring at you from hooded lids, their blank faces matched by the gleam of their zippered boots. Imagine a whole club of these dandies, then sink back to the joys of "The Quill Records Story."Ronnie Rice & The Gents serve up some blue-eyed soul with "Warm Baby," and Jimmy Watson & The Original Royals burn it down with the R&B of "I Wanna Do It." The otherwise superb liner notes describe the Delights as "Chicago's answer to the Zombies," and the aforementioned Exterminators are hilariously punk on "Voo-Doo."This compilation specializes in songs that didn't register on a pop chart."The Quill Records Story (The Best of the Chicago Garage Bands)" assembles forgotten pop, folk-rock and pre-punk recordings from 1965 to '69 that were released on Chicago's now-defunct Quill indie label. The Exterminators start the album with two rollicking, tongue-in-cheek songs: "Voo-Doo" and "Declaration of Independence '65." The Rooks, through three songs, nod favorably toward psychedelic influences without sacrificing melody; their album-closing song, "Free Sunday Paper," rocks with more assurance than does any other track on the set.A couple of familiar musicians pop up in unfamiliar places on "The Quill Records Story. " A young, pre-Chicago Peter Cetera was a member of The Exceptions, who contribute two tracks, and Iowa's own Ellery Temple (a former member of the Blue Band) plays on two tracks with the Night Flight.Music collectors, serious archivists and Chi-town fanatics take note: "The Quill Records Story" doesn't escape its historical context. Thank God."