As a white trio from Memphis who owed more to the pop girl group sound than soul music,
the Goodees were oddities on
Stax's roster in the late 1960s. They did manage to make number 46 on the pop charts in early 1969 with "Condition Red," an obvious update of
the Shangri-Las' classic "Leader of the Pack." This 22-track CD has every morsel
the Goodees recorded, including their 1969 album
Candy Coated..Goodees; four songs from 1967-1969 non-LP singles; and seven previously unreleased cuts. It's likable but a little underwhelming, the threesome usually opting for a fairly gentle, slightly soul-influenced pop/rock sound, rather than the more explicit mid-'60s girl group homage of "Condition Red." Some of the material they were supplied (often written by
Candy Coated Goodees producers
Don Davis and
Freddie Briggs) was quality, wistful late-'60s orchestrated pop with echoes of soul and girl group music from a few years previous to their recording. "Sad Song for Harry" sounds a bit like a white
Supremes, for instance, though it's outclassed by the languorous ballad "A Little Bit of You." Other songs are less memorable, however, including the strange "Condition Red" follow-up "Jilted" (about a bride abandoned at the altar), and the album was filled out with too many covers of '60s hits. The non-LP singles include a 1967 45 produced and written by
Stax stalwarts
David Porter and
Isaac Hayes that's in a slightly more overt soul style, as well as a 1969 track written and produced by the noted Southern soul team of
Dan Penn and
Spooner Oldham.
Porter-
Hayes and
Penn-
Oldham were also involved in most of the seven previously unissued items (one of which is an alternate version of a song from their LP, "Didn't Know Love Was so Good"), though none of the material ranks among those producer-writers' better work. But if it's not exactly lost treasure,
the Goodees' output is perfectly respectable, sung with an engaging, somewhat shy touch that was unusual for its era. The packaging is exemplary, with lengthy liner notes featuring plenty of vintage illustrations and memories from
Goodee Sandra Jackson. ~ Richie Unterberger
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