Editing The Rascals (section)

==History==
=== Origins ===
[[File:The young rascals 1966.jpg|thumb|The Young Rascals featured in February 12, 1966 issue of [[KRLA Beat]]. Left to right: Cornish, Danelli, Brigati, Cavaliere]]
[[Felix Cavaliere]] was already trained in [[Classical music|classical]] piano by his mother when he founded a [[doo-wop]] group, the Escorts (not [[The Escorts (New Jersey vocal group)|the R&B group with the same name]]), while enrolled at [[Syracuse University]] in [[Syracuse, New York]] east of [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Rascals |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/rascals|access-date=2021-03-29|website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> In 1964, Cavaliere took a job with Joey Dee's backing band, [[Joey Dee and the Starliters|the Starliters]] of "[[Peppermint Twist]]" fame, where he met Starliter [[David Brigati]]. When the group played the Choo Choo Club in [[Garfield, New Jersey|Garfield]], Cavaliere met Brigati's younger brother, [[Eddie Brigati|Eddie]], who wanted to follow in his brother's footsteps. Cavaliere, in an interview with journalist Don Paulson, spoke about when he first met the younger Brigati:

{{Blockquote|text=I saw a little kid walk into the place. He didn't look old enough to go out of his house alone. He used to walk into the [Choo Choo] club and no matter who was singing, get on the stage, and bury them with his voice. We made an impression on each other. He used to come around every once in a while, and I loved to play behind his singing. I told him that someday we were going to get together.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=About The Rascals |url= https://www.therascalsarchives.com/history/essay.htm|access-date=2021-03-29| website= billyamato.com | publisher= }}</ref>}}

[[Music of Canada|Canadian]] guitarist [[Gene Cornish]] left his group, The Unbeatables, for which he acted as frontman, to join the Starliters, in early 1965.<ref name=":0" /> After meeting Cornish, Cavaliere's interest in forming a band of his own led him to convince both Cornish and (Eddie) Brigati to depart from Dee's backing band to start a new one with an old acquaintance of his, [[jazz]] drummer [[Dino Danelli]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2017-05-12|title=Felix Cavaliere Interview - Writing The Rascals Classic Hits |url= http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/felix-cavaliere-rascals-2017.htm|access-date=2021-03-29|website=Songwriter Universe |language=en-US}}</ref> The group came up with the name "Rascals" while at the Choo Choo Club. Prior to the Rascals name they were using another group name "Them". Because there was another group, which included Van Morrison, using the name "[[Them (band)|Them]]" in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] they dropped that name and came up with The Rascals name through the help of TV comedy star [[Soupy Sales]] whom they met through manager Billy (Amato) Smith. The Rascals were Sales' back up band touring local colleges in the early months of 1965.

Initially, the Rascals began rehearsing at Cavaliere's house in [[Pelham Manor, New York]] east of [[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]] and then the Choo Choo Club, mostly because it was close to Brigati's home and they needed a showcase.<ref name=":0" /> Later in May 1965, under the direction of their management Billy (Amato) Smith, they were hired to do a summer engagement at the debut of The Barge, a floating club by Dune Road in [[Westhampton Beach, New York]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.27east.com/arts/felix-cavaliere-and-his-rascals-perform-in-westhampton-beach-august-28-1338711/|title=Felix Cavaliere And His Rascals Perform In Westhampton Beach August 28|newspaper=27 East|date=2016-08-23|access-date=2021-06-16}}</ref> They settled at the club in eastern Long Island<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://backstageauctions.blogspot.com/2010/08/rascals-summer-of-65.html|title=All Access: The Rascals: Summer of '65|website=Backstageauctions.blogspot.com|access-date=2021-06-16}}</ref> and there developed their mixed [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]]-[[soul music|soul]] sound based on Cavaliere's organ and soulful vocals, mostly filled with traditional R&B covers. The quartet did not have any official [[Bassist|bass player]], because of Brigati's inability to play musical instruments, other than percussion (even when the band bought him a [[Fender Mustang Bass]] in 1967) and the Rascals' wish of staying in the [[formula]] of [[Band (rock and pop)|four members]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Elliot Stephen|title=The Rascals' Gene Cornish | website= VintageGuitar.com |date=26 April 2019 |url= https://www.vintageguitar.com/32697/the-rascals-gene-cornish/|access-date=2021-03-29|language=en-US}}</ref> Cavaliere's [[Pedal keyboard|organ pedals]] (and later, session bassists like [[Chuck Rainey]], in studio recordings) filled the bass parts.

At the Barge club in August 1965, manager Billy (Amato) Smith, who discovered them at the beginning of their music career as the Rascals, introduced the group to [[Sid Bernstein (impresario)|Sid Bernstein]], an impresario known at the time for helping to promote the [[British Invasion]], bringing famous UK bands like [[the Beatles]] and [[the Rolling Stones]] to [[United States|America]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Rascals |url=http://www.waybackattack.com/rascals.html |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Waybackattack.com}}</ref> Promoting the band, Bernstein and Smith came up with the publicity stunt of posting the phrase "The Rascals are coming!" at the [[Shea Stadium]]'s scoreboard, at the same time that [[The Beatles|the Fab Four]] were doing the opening of their [[The Beatles' 1965 USA Tour|1965 North American tour]]. Beatles manager [[Brian Epstein]] ordered the post to be removed before his band arrived on the stage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2009-03-13|title=Sid Bernstein Facts| website= elviswade.com| url=http://elviswade.com/quotable/faqs.asp|access-date= 2021-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313042749/http://elviswade.com/quotable/faqs.asp|archive-date=2009-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mills|first=Fred| title= Getting into the Groovin' Again: The Rascals |url=https://blurtonline.com/feature/getting-into-the-groovin-again-the-rascals/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Blurt Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=A lot of people who hadn't seen pictures of them thought they [the Rascals] were a R&B group. I sensed something big about them with the thanks to Billy (Amato) Smith.|author=Sid Bernstein}}

This event helped the group to get a $15,000 contract with [[Atlantic Records]], a label which mainly had black artists, becoming the first white-only act to be signed at Atlantic.<ref name=":0" /> Bernstein managed them for the next five years with Billy (Amato) Smith as their publicist and promotion advisor.<ref name=":3" /> The contract also stipulated that the band could self-produce their records. But problems arose when they discovered that another group, [[Borrah Minnevitch|Borrah Minnevitch's]] and [[Johnny Puleo|Johnny Puleo's]] 'Harmonica Rascals', objected to their release of records under the name 'The Rascals'. To avoid conflict, Bernstein decided to rename the group 'The Young Rascals', possibly because all the members were under 25.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-07-27|title=August 17, 1968: Rascals 'People Got to Be Free' Hits #1|url=https://bestclassicbands.com/rascals-biggest-hits-8-17-155/|access-date=2021-03-29|website=Best Classic Bands|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2012-12-06|title=Soul Serenade: The Young Rascals, "Groovin'"|url=https://popdose.com/soul-serenade-the-young-rascals-groovin/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Popdose.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Commercial success and songwriting development ===
The line-up of Brigati on lead vocals, Cavaliere on organ, Cornish on guitar and Danelli on drums was present in the Young Rascals' debut single, the [[Pam Sawyer]]/[[Lori Burton]] "[[I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore]]", which was performed in their first television performance on the program ''[[Hullabaloo (TV series)|Hullabaloo]]'' on February 24, 1966. But the track reached only #23 in [[Canada]] and did not reach the Top 40 of the [[Billboard charts|US charts]]. After the modest success of "Eat Out My Heart Anymore", Cavaliere assumed the lead vocals on their subsequent records, starting with its follow-up "[[Good Lovin']]", originally recorded by [[Limmie Snell|Lemme B. Good]] and [[The Olympics (band)|The Olympics]] in 1965, with the same arrangement and different lyrics from the original. Ironically, David Brigati had been the lead singer of the Starliters, but never had any hits; once Joey Dee had a hit with "The Peppermint Twist" he took over the lead vocals. History repeated itself when Felix replaced Eddie as the Rascals' lead singer. They performed "Good Lovin'" on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Young Rascals 'Good Lovin'{{'}} on The Ed Sullivan Show| date=2 October 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUNJbVFW5Pw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/OUNJbVFW5Pw| publisher= YouTube | archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status= live |language= en|access-date=2021-03-30}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Young Rascals version became their first Canada/USA #1.<ref name="Larkin" /><ref name=":2" /> Shortly after, their [[The Young Rascals (album)|eponymous debut album]] was released, mostly composed of [[garage rock]] renditions of [[folk rock]] ("[[Just a Little (The Beau Brummels song)|Just a Little]]" and "[[Like a Rolling Stone]]"), and [[Soul music|soul]] tunes ("[[Mustang Sally (song)|Mustang Sally]]" and "[[In the Midnight Hour]]"), with only one original, the Cavaliere/Cornish penned "Do You Feel It". ''The Young Rascals'' reached #15 on the [[Billboard 200|Billboard Top LPs chart]] and #10 in ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]''. The album was certified [[Music recording certification|Gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA.]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-11-13| title= Cratedigger: The Young Rascals, "The Young Rascals"|url=https://popdose.com/cratedigger-the-young-rascals-the-young-rascals/|access-date=2021-04-09 |website=Popdose.com |publisher= |language=en-US}}</ref>

From there the songwriting partnership between Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati began to flourish. Cavaliere wrote the music and themes, and Brigati, the verses with the former's help.<ref name=":1" /> Their second album, [[Collections (The Young Rascals album)|''Collections'']], had four Cavaliere/Brigati songs and two Cornish originals in its eleven tracks. Follow-ups to their number one record, "[[You Better Run]]"–later covered by [[Pat Benatar]] in 1980 – and "Come On Up", did not do as well as their predecessor (peaking at #20 and #43, respectively).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The band made their [[United Kingdom|UK]] debut on December{{nbsp}}1, 1966, at [[The Scotch of St. James]] club in London. [[Paul McCartney]] attended the concert and was so excited by the band that he also attended their show the following night, held at the Blaises Club.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Barry |author1-link=Barry Miles |title=The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years |date=2001 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7119-8308-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trRB-lo4qR8C |page=248}}</ref>

In the meantime, Cavaliere began dating high school student  Adrienne Bechurri. Their relationship inspired him to write several songs in 1967, including Top 20 "[[I've Been Lonely Too Long]]" and Top 10's "[[How Can I Be Sure]]", and "[[Groovin']]", their second #1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wordtrope.com/blog/2013/07/07/a-groovin-reunion-with-a-rascal-and-a-hero-boston-globe-july-10-2003/|title=A Groovin' Reunion With A Rascal - And A Hero| first= Joyce |last= Pellino Crane|work=The Boston Globe|date=2003-06-10|access-date=2015-05-15}}</ref> "Groovin'", having its laid-back sound and an [[Afro-Cuban music|Afro-Cuban]] groove, found some resistance with Atlantic's head [[Jerry Wexler]];<ref name=":4" /> "I've Been Lonely Too Long" and the [[jazz]]-influenced "A Girl Like You" talked about the advantages of a relationship against loneliness, but the  introspective "How Can I Be Sure", with Brigati's lead vocals, expressed the doubts about love, like Cavaliere's conflicting feelings about Bechurri.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-12|title=The backstory of making the 'Groovin'{{'}} album by The Young Rascals| url= https://vinyldialogues.com/VinylDialoguesBlog/the-backstory-of-making-the-groovin-album-by-the-young-rascals/|access-date=2021-03-30|website=The Vinyl Dialogues Blog|language=en-US}}</ref> All these songs were included at the ''[[Groovin' (The Young Rascals album)|Groovin'<nowiki/>]]'' album, which had the majority of the tracks penned by Cavaliere/Brigati. Bruce Eder, writing for [[AllMusic]], rates ''[[Groovin' (The Young Rascals album)|Groovin'<nowiki/>]]'' as the Rascals' best, noting the record's soulful core and innovative use of jazz and Latin instrumental arrangements.<ref>{{Citation|title=Groovin' - The Young Rascals {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits | website= AllMusic |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/groovin-mw0000202187|language=en|access-date=2021-04-09}}</ref>

''Groovin''' marked the first time that the Young Rascals used outside musicians, bringing some important collaborators like [[Chuck Rainey]], [[Hubert Laws]], and David Brigati to augment their sound. Particularly, David Brigati also helped his brother's band in arranging [[Vocal harmony|vocal harmonies]] and [[Backing vocalist|singing background]] on many Rascals records. The band, especially Cavaliere, wanted to depart from their "singles act" label to be more like an "albums act", something that would become common to more artists at the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Rascals {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-rascals-mn0000493122/biography|access-date=2021-03-30|website=AllMusic|language=en}}</ref> The album [[Once Upon a Dream (The Rascals album)|''Once Upon a Dream'']], released at 1968, is an example of this change, because it was the first Rascals album designed from conception as an album, rather than as a vehicle to package their singles (eight of ''Groovin<nowiki>''</nowiki>''s eleven songs had been released as single A or B sides, most in advance of the album). ''Once Upon a Dream'' also incorporated [[Music of India|Indian music]] in its sound, adding Eastern instruments like [[sitar]], [[Tambouras|tamboura]], and [[tabla]]. David Brigati made a special appearance on the album, singing lead on the title track. The psychedelic "[[It's Wonderful]]" was released before the album, but its different style, in comparison with their earlier singles, hindered its sales and the single only reached the #20. The album's song "My Hawaii" became a top of the charts hit in Hawaii.

The band billed themselves as the Young Rascals for the last time with the single release of "It's Wonderful"; from that point on they were known as simply 'The Rascals'.<ref name="Larkin" /> Their first official single release as "the Rascals" was the optimistic 1968's "[[A Beautiful Morning]]", which reached #3. Internationally, the band was exceptionally popular in Canada where "A Girl Like You", "How Can I Be Sure?" and "A Beautiful Morning" all reached #1. But they struggled in the UK, where they only twice reached the top 75, with "Groovin'" (#8) and "A Girl Like You" (#35).

''[[Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits]]'', released in mid-1968, topped the [[Billboard 200|U.S. album chart]] and became the group's best-selling album. In the same year, "[[People Got to Be Free]]", a horn-punctuated plea for racial tolerance (the band was known for refusing to tour on [[racial segregation|segregated]] bills)<ref>Egan, Sean, ed. (2007). ''Defining Moments in Music'', Cassell, {{ISBN|1-84403-606-5}}, p. 360.</ref> just months after the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] and of [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|Robert F. Kennedy]], became their third and final U.S. #1 single,<ref name="Larkin" /> and their sixth and final Canadian #1. It was also their final U.S. Top Ten hit, although they remained a Canadian top 10 act for the next few years.

In 1969, the Rascals released the [[double album]] ''[[Freedom Suite (The Rascals album)|Freedom Suite]]''. An album with one [[LP record|LP]] dedicated to "conventional" songs and another to [[instrumental]]s, it should have been the band's definitive change to produce more ambitious albums, according to [[Richie Unterberger]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Liner Notes for CD Reissue of the Rascals' 'Once Upon a Dream'|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/rascals5.html|access-date=2021-03-30|website=Richieunterberger.com}}</ref> But ''Freedom Suite'' was their last Top 40 album, peaking at #17. Brigati's songwriting contributions were diminished on this album, in favor of Cavaliere's solo compositions, as well his vocals, singing lead only on two songs on ''Freedom Suite''. Brigati's participation declined even more in later albums.

=== Commercial waning and demise (1969–1972) ===
"A Ray of Hope", "Heaven", "See", and "Carry Me Back" followed and were all modest U.S. hits for the band during late 1968 and 1969; they entered the top 40, but none rose higher than #24. In [[Canada]], however, the Rascals were still major stars; all these songs went top ten, completing a run of 11 straight Canadian top ten hits for the Rascals from 1967 to 1969. December 1969's "Hold On" broke the run of top 40 US singles for the Rascals, stalling at #51, as well as the run of Canadian top tens, peaking at #22.

Brigati left the group in 1970, followed by Cornish in 1971.<ref name="Larkin" /> Their last Rascals album was ''[[Search and Nearness]]'' (#198 U.S.), which featured Brigati's lead vocals on the Cornish-penned "You Don't Know", a cover of [[the Box Tops]]' hit "[[The Letter (Box Tops song)|The Letter]]", and drummer Danelli's composition "Fortunes". The only single release from the album to chart was the spiritually themed "Glory, Glory" (#58 U.S., #40 Canada), with backing vocals by [[The Sweet Inspirations]]. ''Search and Nearness'' was the Rascals' last album for Atlantic Records, with Cavaliere and Danelli taking the band to [[Columbia Records]] in mid-1971.

Cavaliere shifted towards more jazz- and gospel-influenced writing for the Rascals' next two albums, the double disc ''[[Peaceful World (album)|Peaceful World]]'' (U.S. #122) and ''[[The Island of Real|The Island Of Real]]'' (U.S. #180), using [[Robert Popwell]] and [[Buzzy Feiten]] on bass and guitar respectively, and new singers Annie Sutton and Molly Holt.<ref name="Larkin" /> These albums did not sell as well as their earlier work, with none of their associated singles reaching higher than #95 on the U.S. chart. Towards the end of 1970 [[Danny Weis]] joined as a replacement for Feiten on guitar. Feiten then again replaced Weis before the group disbanded.