''The Remains'' is the debut album by the American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band the Remains, and was released on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in September 1966. Though the album was largely overlooked at the time of its original release, ''The Remains'' has since received recognition as one of the more cohesive efforts of the era.

Background

The Remains formed in 1964, quickly establishing themselves as a popular attraction across

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, and performing in sold-out venues to a loyal fanbase. By 1965, the group's popularity reached an apex, with the Remains earning four regional hits on

, and appearing on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...

''. Prior to recording their debut album the band's manager John Kurland arranged an audition with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

on May 26, 1966. According to

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Barry Tashian Barry and Holly Tashian are an American country, folk and bluegrass duo. They are both singer-songwriters and musicians. They have performed and recorded together since 1972. The Tashians have recorded seven albums since 1989, and they have be ...

, the group was interested in switching

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s because, "At Epic, our unhappiness stemmed from the fact that, promotion-wise, we felt like we were the poor cousins to

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

Ed Ames Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick; July 9, 1927), who also recorded as Eddie Ames, is an American singer and actor. He is known for playing Mingo in the television series ''Daniel Boone'', and for his pop hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including " ...

, and

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

, Epic's biggest selling artists at the time." Though the session did not result in a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

, the recordings, which except for "Why Do I Cry?" were

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s, later manifested themselves on the

Sundazed Records Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...

release, ''A Session with the Remains''. Recording sessions commenced in mid-1966 as the Remains prepared for their tour alongside

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. The recording time in the studio saw the group explore different musical textures, including a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

raveup on the opening track "Heart",

Jagger Jagger is an English surname. Someone who owned and/or managed a team of packhorses was known as a "jagger", so this surname probably originates from that occupation. More rarely, the name is used as a given name. Notable people with the surnam ...

-like sneer in "Lonely Weekend", and the band's early R&B influenced regional hits "Why Do I Cry?" and "

Diddy Wah Diddy "Diddy Wah Diddy" is a song written by Willie Dixon and Ellas McDaniel, known as Bo Diddley, and recorded by the latter in 1956. The song shares only its title with Blind Blake's song "Diddie Wah Diddie" recorded in 1929. Over the years, the Bo D ...

". Tashian states the reason the Remains covered a fair number of songs was to look "for a big national hit, and since we didn't seem to be connecting with the original songs we decided to put out some covers and see if maybe that would do the trick." Arguably, the band's most accomplished piece on ''The Remains'' is " Don't Look Back", the tune's regional popularity apparent by The Rising Storm's own rendition of the song in 1968. The hard-edged rocker later resurfaced on '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968''. ''The Remains'' was released on Epic Records on September 1966; however, the group had disbanded just before its distribution. As a result, the record label did not promote the album and it was largely forgotten, even among the Remains' following. Since its initial release, the album has been reissued, first with

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Bruce Patch's distribution of ''The Remains'' on his

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Spoonfed Records in 1978. The album received a more commercial release in 1991 on Epic Records, with bonus tracks from the group's non-album singles. It was also distributed on

in 2009. Music critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

, writing for the

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 ...

website, said that the Remains' effort "had a lot of professional finesse to their straight-ahead attack and sharp songwriting, sometimes sounding like a fusion of the Beatles and

the Zombies The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...

with their energetic harmonies and guitar-electric keyboard blend." Critic

Mark Kemp Mark Kemp (born April 10, 1960) is an American music journalist and author. A graduate of East Carolina University, he has served as music editor for ''Rolling Stone'' and vice president of music editorial for MTV Networks. In 1997 he received ...

gives a glowing review in ''Paste'' magazine saying, "Had these

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

bad boys stuck it out beyond their 1966 debut, we might today be calling them—and not the Stones—the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band. As it is, The Remains most certainly are America's greatest lost band". Peter Wolf of

the J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic ...

commented that "The Remains were the band that led the way for Rock n' Rollers in Boston."

Track listing

Original release

Side one #"Heart" (Georges Aber, Tony Hatch) 2:36 #"Lonely Weekend" (Charlie Rich) 3:20 #" Don't Look Back" (Billy Vera) 2:35 #"Why Do I Cry?" (Barry Tashian) 2:45 #"

" (Ellas McDaniel, Willy Dixon) 2:32 Side two #"You Got a Hard Time Coming" (Tashian, Vern Miller) 2:04 #"Once Before" (Miller, Chip Damiani) 2:07 #"Thank You" (Tashian) 3:14 #"Time of Day" (Tashian) 2:16 #"Say You're Sorry" (Bill Briggs) 2:17

2007 reissue

Sides ones and two were combined as tracks 1–10 and followed by bonus tracks: #

" Mercy, Mercy" (Don Covay) 2:38 #"I Can't Get Away from You" (Miller) 2:36 #"But I Ain't Got You" (Miller) 2:11 #"Me Right Now" (Tashian) 2:28 #"

My Babe "My Babe" is a Chicago blues song and a blues standard written by Willie Dixon for Little Walter. Released in 1955 on Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records, the song was the only Dixon composition ever to become a number one R&B single ...

" (Dixon) 2:10 #"I'm Talking About You" (Chuck Berry) 2:13 #"Ain't That Her" (Tashian) 2:11 #"Baby, I Believe in You" (Tashian) 2:35 #"When I Want to Know" (Tashian) 2:11 #"All Good Things" (Miller) 2:14

Personnel

According to

Mark Deming Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

of AllMusic and Tashian and Jeff Jarema's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

to the 2007 CD reissue: The Remains *

vocals, guitar * Vern Miller bass * Bill Briggs

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Chip Damiani drums Production * Ted Cooper producer * Robin McBridge producer * Bob Morgan producer *

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gl ...

producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remains 1966 debut albums The Remains (band) albums Epic Records albums