Having
Ovations lead singer and
Sam Cooke-soundalike
Louis Williams sing an actual
Sam Cooke hit seemed like a strategy that was not only obvious, but borderline exploitative. As blunt as it was, however, it was successful, with
the Ovations' "Having a Party" (which also wove in snippets of other
Cooke songs) becoming the group's biggest hit, reaching the Top Ten of the R&B charts. Though not universally known at the time, it was actually a
Williams solo recording, making it unsurprising that the LP that followed, also called
Having a Party, was billed to "
the Ovations featuring
Louis Williams." Unsurprisingly, it's a little different in tone than both its predecessor (1972's
Hooked on a Feeling) and the group's 1960's output, and not only because it spotlights
Williams. While
Hooked on a Feeling's sweet soul still bore traces of the group's Memphis origins,
Having a Party was a little more diverse, a little more polished, and a little more anonymous at the same time, and certainly less earthy. There were even pseudo-Caribbean sounds in "Under the Banana Tree," as well as some strange party-like effects on a few cuts, a cover of
the Temptations' "Don't Look Back," and more attempts to riff on the
Cooke-
Williams connection with covers of
Cooke's "You Send Me" and "A Change Is Gonna Come." It still didn't add up to such a good album, as
Williams wasn't a notable interpreter, the non-
Cooke songs weren't so good, and the production was a little crass.