''From Rats to Riches'' is an album by the American rock band

Good Rats The Good Rats are an American rock band from Long Island, New York. Their music mixes elements of rock with blues and pop. They are best known on their native Long Island, although they had some success nationally and internationally. Histo ...

, released in 1978. It was produced by

Flo & Eddie Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman (Flo, short for Phlorescent Leech) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie). The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 mid-to late 1960s rock and pop group The Turtles. After the Turtl ...

. Joe Franco's drumming was influenced primarily by Tony Williams and

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( , born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's ...

Critical reception

The ''

Poughkeepsie Journal The ''Poughkeepsie Journal'' is a newspaper based in Poughkeepsie, New York, and owned by Gannett, which bought the paper in 1977. Founded in 1785 (though not a daily newspaper until 1860), the ''Journal'' is the oldest paper in New York state, a ...

'' deemed ''From Rats to Riches'' "East Coast urban rock," writing that "underlying all of these darkly decadent circumstances is a determination to get out from under the crowd." '' The Morning News'' labeled it "solid, blues-based hard rock from a Zappa-like group."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "strong but overlooked."

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with ''The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first nati ...

, in ''Terminated for Reasons of Taste'', wrote: "Heavier than I would have guessed, and more lyrically and structurally eccentric ... than I figured from supposed bar-band hacks, with sonic influences running the gamut from doo-wop to prog to maybe even punk." Noting a 1993 reissue, ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' deemed Good Rats "the tri-state area's greatest bar band." ''

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Know ...

'' considered it Good Rats' best album.

Track listing

# "Taking It to Detroit" – 3:36 # "Just Found Me a Lady" – 2:50 # "Mr. Mechanic" – 3:39 # "Dear Sir" – 3:12 # "Let Me" – 4:45 # "Victory in Space" – 3:06 # "Coo Coo Coo Blues" – 4:37 # "Don't Hate the Ones Who Bring You Rock & Roll" – 3:18 # "Could Be Tonight" – 2:54 # "Local Zero" – 5:08

Personnel

*Mickey Marchello - Guitar and Vocals * Joe Franco - Drums *Peppi Marchello - Lead Vocals, Songwriting *John "The Cat" Gatto - Guitar and Keyboards *Lenny Kotke - Bass and Vocals

References

{{Authority control The Good Rats albums 1978 albums Radar Records albums Harvest Records albums Mercury Records albums