In Black and White, In Beat and Sweet

The Lords' first album laid out the essentials of both what made them one of Germany's most distinctive '60s bands, and what made them seem antiquated in some respects. Unlike almost any other group from around the Western world, much of their repertoire was devoted to folk songs that had been popularized by Lonnie Donegan, with some rock & roll oldies covers thrown in. That's what you get almost without exception on this debut LP, though these covers are so eccentric, done as they are with heavy German accents and a hepped-up Merseybeat-like rhythm, that it's a lot better and more interesting than most such cover-dominated albums of the time. Straying a little more afield, they also throw in a cover of Bacharach/David's "Wishin' and Hopin'," as well as a pretty good early British Invasion-styled original, "Hey Baby, Lass Den Andern," which had been their first single in 1964 (and is the only track sung in their native German). ~ Richie Unterberger