The Little Black Egg [Big Beat]

by The Nightcrawlers

Overview

At a glance it might be assumed that this is the definitive Nightcrawlers retrospective; after all, it has 24 tracks, by a band that only did a few singles and an album. It does contain everything from their sole LP (also called The Little Black Egg, from 1967) and a few non-LP singles and unreleased cuts. However, there are curious imperfections that prevent this from being a definitive retrospective. The B-side of their first 45, "Marie," isn't here, and more problematically, their 1967 single "My Butterfly"/"Today I'm Happy" is not included, either. Nor does it include the two singles by spin-off band Conlon & the Crawlers. Yes, the back sleeve does note that this has "all the recordings by the original band," which presumably means there was a deliberate decision to exclude all material that did not feature that lineup. The problem is, "My Butterfly" -- an incredibly accurate early Who imitation complete with high harmonies, ringing guitar, and airplane take-off instrumental breaks -- is their best song other than "The Little Black Egg." Both sides of the "My Butterfly" single, and both sides of both Conlon & the Crawlers singles, were included on the Eva LP compilation The Little Black Egg, which had much poorer sound and barely any liner notes (the Big Beat compilation, on the other hand, has a copious group history). The optimum approach would have been to add the 1967 Kapp single and the Conlon & the Crawlers singles in place of the handful of previously unreleased British Invasion/R&B covers that conclude the Big Beat CD. As it is, neither the Eva nor the Big Beat anthologies represent the group's output to collectors' utmost satisfaction, although comments in the liner notes to the Big Beat compilation propose that the missing material is not worthy of comparison to what's heard on this disc. As for what is here, it's mostly pretty thin and forgettable, though periodically engaging, moody garage-folk-rock. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	02/13/2001
Label:	Big Beat Records
UPC:	0029667420327
Rank:	76526

Tracks

1. The Little Black Egg
2. A Basket of Flowers
3. Sally in Our Alley
4. Who Knows
5. Me for Me
6. If You Want My Love
7. I Don't Remember
8. If I Were You
9. The Last Ship
10. Show Me the Way
11. What Time Is It
12. You're Running Wild
13. Washboard
14. Sticks and Stones
15. He Shouldn't Hurt You
16. Cry
17. Route 66
18. All Day and All of the Night
19. Grown up Wrong
20. Oh! Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin')
21. Sea of Love
22. It's All Over Now
23. Washboard (Early Version)
24. Heart of Stone

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Nightcrawlers   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Sylvan Wells   Composer
Lee Hazen   Producer
Bobby Troup   Composer
Ray Davies   Composer
Nick Robbins   Mastering
Brad Shapiro   Producer
Alec Palao   Liner Notes,Memorabilia,Photography
George Khoury   Composer
Keith Richards   Composer
Mick Jagger   Composer
Chris Popham   Package Design
Mike Stone   Memorabilia,Photography
Phillip Baptiste   Composer
Chuck Conlon   Composer
Shirley Jean Womack   Composer
Bobby Womack   Composer