Don And The Goodtimes The Original Northwest Sound Of Don & The Goodtimes (CD)

(Sundazed Music) 25 tracks,  gatefold digisleeve

Rave up & turn on! Fueled by a stylish, highfalutin image and hot instrumental licks courtesy of old R&B and Northwest stars the Kingsmen, Wailers and Sonics, this collection showcases their always excellent material ranging from '60s punk to sunshine pop. Includes their debut single!

In many ways, they were one of the quintessential bands of the North West. Their credentials were impeccable - bandleader Don Gallucci was a classically trained pianist who played keyboards for the Kingsmen as a young teenager on “Louie, Louie”. Early guitarist Pete Oulette had been with the Raiders, and his replacement Jim Valley had formed the hot Seattle band Viceroys. When Valley got the call to become “Harpo,” his spot was filled by Charlie Coe, who had played with the Raiders and Jack Ely and the Courtmen. And the last Goodtime guitarist was Joey Newman, who had made a name for himself with the Enchanters and Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts.

Their only hit single, “I Could Be So Good to You,” a song by Jack Nitzsche, was their only national hit (#56) in the spring of 1967. Their Epic album So Good, produced by Nitzsche, was a strange mix of Overman originals and British Invasion covers.

Their earlier sound is much rougher - “You Were Just a Child” could have been a national hit. The dynamics and bridge in this track are great, as is the pulverizing fuzz bass. “I'm Real” is perhaps the punkiest song Don and the Goodtimes have produced; note the cool reference to LA disc jockey “The Real” Don Steele. Other tracks like “Make It” are as Northwest as it gets. This hot instrumental was the B-side to their first single, raw and dirty.