When
Bette Midler put the
Jerry Ragovoy/
Larry Weiss song "Stay With Me" in her film The Rose, it was a sly tribute to the genius of
Genya Ravan and her innovative ensemble
Ten Wheel Drive. The former Goldie Zelkowitz hit big in Europe with "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," which
Peter Noone has said Zelkowitz/
Ravan's manager nicked off producer
Mickey Most's desk.
Most and
Noone, of course, hit in America with "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" on a
Herman's Hermits release. Zelkowitz emerged from her pioneering girl group (later producing
Ronnie Spector's first solo disc) to front an adventurous and highly experimental unit known as
Ten Wheel Drive.
With elements of
Blood, Sweat & Tears meeting
Big Brother & the Holding Company somewhere in the middle,
Ten Wheel Drive covered the gamut of pop styles. The band's three albums with
Ravan, and a fourth without her on Capitol, only hinted at
Ten Wheel Drive's potential. Polygram's
Bill Levenson has done another commendable job putting together a solid collection featuring six tracks each from the first two discs and four from the third. A track from the Capitol disc co-written by
Schefrin/Zager/
Ravan and entitled "Why Am I So Easy to Leave" would have made this perfect but, clocking in at 79:05, this disc is generous indeed.
"Come Live With Me" has
Ravan's exotic vocals slinking up and down the scale alongside bass and guitar, and "Brief Replies" is reminiscent of
Mae West singing in the film Myra Breckinridge, but it is
Ravan's screaming-from-the-cosmos wail in her astonishing performance of "Stay With Me" that is the album's zenith. Pearl producer Paul A. Rothschild was enlisted to recreate
Ravan's performance somehow and
Bette Midler did a wonderful tribute to her, as well as to
Joplin and to songwriter Ragovoy (who also co-wrote
Joplin's signature tune "Piece of My Heart."
Make no mistake, both
Joplin and
Midler have owed a debt to the work of
Genya Ravan. Just listen to "Last of the Line," with its experimental pop that
Big Brother & the Holding Company flirted with so often, or the dreamy "Shootin' the Breeze," which sounds like a
Jackie DeShannon/
Burt Bacharach reunion. It is second only to "Stay With Me" as the showpiece of the disc. Any group that goes out on so many limbs to cover pop, jazz fusion, hard rock, country, blues, and any other musical format whether in vogue or not, deserved the opportunity to generate more sound. This "best-of" is a unique snapshot of talents who have yet to receive their due. ~ Joe Viglione