Applejacks [Cherry Red]

Personnel: Al Jackson (vocals); Martin Baggott, Phil Cash (guitar); Don Gould (keyboards); Gerry Freeman (drums).
If in 1964 you had tried to create a Generic Merseybeat Combo, they probably would have sounded a lot like the Applejacks, despite the fact the group hailed from the less-fabled locale of Solihull, Warwickshire in the West Midlands. That's not to say the Applejacks weren't talented or they didn't make good records, as their sole LP for Decca, released in 1964, is a thoroughly pleasing set with tight, well-executed arrangements and lively vocals from Al Jackson (not to be confused with the Booker T. & the MG's drummer). The Applejacks were also one of the few co-ed beat groups of the day, with Megan Davies laying down a solid bottom end on the bass guitar. But given the fact the Applejacks didn't have a songwriter in their ranks, they tended to cover a lot of American R&B material, and their versions of "Kansas City," "What'd I Say," and "Too Much Monkey Business" sound a bit too well-scrubbed compared to the raw sounds the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds were bringing to the table at the time, as well as work from contemporary outside songwriters. In fact, the Applejacks are best known (at least in the United States) for their luck in attracting quality material from other groups -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney were kind enough to donate "As Dreamers Do" to the group, and they recorded Ray Davies' "I Go to Sleep" years before the Kinks' recording of the tune finally emerged. While those songs failed to appear on the Applejacks' first and only album, Cherry Red has included them on their CD reissue of the LP, along with eight other non-LP sides, making this a complete collection of the band's Decca recordings (though some later singles for Columbia still wait to be reissued). There isn't much here that anyone would consider revelatory, but this is also consistently entertaining and well-crafted British beat, and the remastering is great, while John Reed and John Tracy's liner notes are informative and good reading, as well as including some reminiscences from Megan Davies. ~ Mark Deming