Group Therapy

Listen/Download – Group Therapy – Really Together MP3

Greetings all.

Today’s selection appears courtesy of one of my increasingly rare trips to one of my old digging stomping grounds (rare because the pickings they are slim, and I’m disinclined to haul my ass 45 minutes out of the way on the off chance that they aren’t on any given day).

That said, I’d never heard of Group Therapy (at least this one) before, but the presence on the album of a bunch of interesting covers (many of them soul songs) cemented the deal and I tossed it on my “keeper” stack.

As it turns out, Group Therapy were a NYC-based act that put out two albums on RCA in 1967 and 1968.

The occupy the same amped-up take on the Rascals sound as Vanilla Fudge ( a considerably more subtle take), i.e. a rock band that loved soul music.

My premier reason for buying this record, though, was the presence of a truly unusual cover version.

Billy Vera and Judy Clay’s ‘Really Together’ (the 1967 flipside of ‘Storybook Children’, which really only features Vera) is a longtime favorite of mine. An absolutely storming bit of soul, clocking in at well under two minutes.

I had no idea that it had ever been covered, so I had to hear the Group Therapy version.

While it’s not quite as blazing as the OG, the version by Group Therapy is quite good, with some throbbing bass, Hammond organ and a great lead vocal.

The rest of the album is a mixed bag of psychedelic workouts like ‘Morning Dew’ and ‘Foxy Lady’ and soul covers (including another, very early cover of ‘Expressway To Your Heart’).

It’s not terribly expensive, so if this is a sound you dig, go out and grab yourself a copy.

I hope you dig it.

See you next week.

Also, make sure to follow Funky16Corners on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

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