OK, first I have to admit, my story is a little different from Charlie O.'s. While he was letting Gants albums pass him by in his youth, I actually did enjoy listening to a Gary Lewis album or two. But certainly, everybody knows that Gary Lewis isn't cool enough by a long shot, hence his inclusion in this series.
As the son of Jerry Lewis, you would expect this guy to have absolutely no rock and roll credentials* -- and in terms of rock passion, he doesn't let you down. He has none. Still, like the Monkees, somehow between his normal-guy delivery, the songs he chose (or were chosen for him), the kitchen-sink arrangements (some by a young Leon Russell), and just the sound of records at the time, a lot of his stuff really works. For me. When I was 14. But even now. And that's a wonderful thing.
I started with More Golden Greats, his second greatest hits album, which I taped off of take5_d. Songs like "Jill" and "Ice Melts in the Sun" were heavenly to me. Geeky yes, but how cool are we when we are that age anyway? The tympani and harpsichord work (respectively) both add a lot. "Girls in Love" and especially "My Heart's Symphony" were breathtaking productions. And his version of "Lies" totally works for me. It's not harsh, but it's driving. Maybe it's just Charlie O.' syndrome: it's a great song, so why should one expect that any version is going to bad?
Later, I got a couple of his normal (non-hits) records. Listen! was particularly interesting to me, as it was I guess meant to be sort of his Revolver. The songs get stranger, and hearing normal Gary singing them both makes him seem more normal and the songs seem even stranger. "Bring the Whole Family" (a song about a family that obsessively gambles together) is somehow totally wrong for him, but all the weirder for it. It sounds like something Sharon Tate would have listened to. And yet, Lewis excels at wistful teenage stuff like "Young and Carefree", one of his many Beach Boys-type tunes.
I don't know. I don't know if I can keep making the case like Charlie O. did. I just like Gary Lewis. A couple years ago, I picked up some Hullabaloo videos and seeing him host one of the shows proved to me that he (like Peter Noone but unlike say Roger McGuinn) was just a likable guy. He inherited a natural ability to entertain from his father and his upbringing. He does not have a great voice, but for teenage stuff, it's perfect. I find a lot of it more affecting than Pet Sounds, and I love that. I think it's because of this vulnerable, normal-kid quality of his voice, and the fact that he's trying his best and yet somehow isn't trying too hard. And there are a handful of really fabulous singles: "Girls in Love", "Jill", "Save Your Heart for Me", "Green Grass", "My Heart's Symphony", "Tina", and even "This Diamond Ring" and "She's Just My Style". (A word of warning: Hold off on his Kellogg's commercial, "Doin' the Flake", until you're a diehard fan.)
A greatest hits (say, Liberty's Legendary Masters Series Gary Lewis and the Playboys, CDP-7-93449-2) will probably do you, but then you'd miss out on "Young and Carefree" and "Bring the Whole Family" and some others. All I can say is, just keep your mind open and your heart young and Gary Lewis might end up in your record collection. Relax, its OK.
* Soupy Sales's sons, Tony and Hunt, however were able to truly rock, and I'm not sure what the difference was, except that they were players (bass and drums, respectively) and were coming of age in the Seventies, while Gary was a bit older and trying to be a singing star in the Sixties.
