Search - Young-Holt Unlimited :: Best of Young-Holt Unlimited: Ten Best Series

You bet Unlimited!

chris holden | 05/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Did the price of gold go down or what? Here's a no fat collection of some hits and killer rare grooves by one of the greatest pop/soul/funk bands of all time. Their two greatest hits are here, some of their most heavily sampled tracks are here and some of the baddest stuff you could ever hear is here. And all this at a budget price? Get your hands on this now!"

Sometimes These "10 Best Of" CDs Are Real Finds

08/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This series from EMI-Capitol constantly surprises with their judicial selection of tracks, and when the artist in question had less than 10 hits to begin with they more often than not give you all of them.



This is, unfortunately, not one of those occasions. The instrumental group Young-Holt Unlimited only had five charted hits (R&B, Billboard Pop Hot 100, and Adult Contemporary (AC)) and just three are here. In addition, they do not include one of the flipsides nor are there any liner notes.



Drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eidee Young were original members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio [and before that the 1950s group The Clefs, along with Ramsey] with whom they had but one minor hit, 1964's Something You Got [# 63]. After they left to form the Young Holt Trio, Ramsey's new group would go on to chalk up some 18 hits, while for Holt, Young, snd pianist Don Walker the pickings became much slimmer.



Their first charter with Brunswick, in fact, didn't come until 1967 when Wack Wack rose to # 12 R&B/# 35 AC/# 40 Hot 100 that January b/w This Little Light Of Mine, tunes that were very much in the same vein as the material being produced by The Ramsey Lewis Trio - the group they left ostensibly to pursue a "different sound." It appears that, after their different sound wasn't paying the bills they reverted to the tried-and-true.



Then, perhaps stubbornly pursuing that new sound, they were off the charts for almost two years, during which time Walker was replaced by Canadian Ken Cragen and the name was changed to Young-Holt Unlimited. Just in time for their smash hit, Soulful Strut, which shot to # 2 AC/# 3 Hot 100 and R&B in January 1969 b/w Country Slicker Joe. An oddity here is that this exact same hit melody would be used by Barbara Acklin as the instrumental behind Am I The Same Girl, # 33 R&B/# 79 Hot 100 later that year, also on Brunswick.



In late spring 1969 Who's Making Love topped out at # 57 Hot 100 b/w Just Ain't No Love, but both sides were shut out on the R&B charts. The reverse happened in June when their fourth hit, Just A Melody, peaked at # 49 R&B b/w Young And Holtful, but failed on both the Hot 100 and AC charts. That would, however, be their last R&B hit.



The flip-flopping continued in September 1969 when Straight Ahead made it to # 32 AC and # 110 Hot 100 "bubble under" b/w California Montage. Their last then came over a year later, now with the Cotillion label, when Mellow Dreaming rose to # 18 AC and # 106 Hot 100 "bubble under" in October 1970 b/w Black And White. Neither of those last two hits are here.



Young and Holt were graduates of the Chicago Conservatory of Music and, with both Lewis and their own gathering, they introduced some unique touches to the soul sound in Young's acoustic bass and the use of a cello on some cuts. But their success was limited.



Search around for a better 20- to 25-track compilation which contains all their hits.



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