By Ken Paulson
— Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys’ The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away (Real Gone Music) is a surprisingly fresh-sounding 1969 release with two claims to distinction: It was produced by Jimi Hendrix and spawned a Top 40 hit in “Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a medley of “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Chantilly Lace,” Long Tall Sally,” “Party Doll,” “Sweet Little Sixteen” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” These covers came just little more than a decade after the original recordings (like covering 3 Doors Down or the Dixie Chicks today), but seemed eons ago at the time.
The Hendrix influence isn’t particularly apparent, but you have to believe the band raised its game for these recordings. It’s an ambitious amalgam of rock, folk and jazz.
Most interesting is “How I Spent My Summer,” a pop protest song about police brutality and oppression, tied to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Melodic and harmony-laden, it’s the Association with attitude.
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