For anyone ever interested in the '60s pop vocal trio
the Sandpipers, this remastered collection of their greatest hits is a must. Jim Brady, Mike Piano, and Richard Shoff (backed by female vocalist Pamela Ramcier on records and in concert) were suburban Los Angelinos who were signed by
Herb Alpert to his A&M imprint, and proceeded to score a number of Top 20 hits. "Guantanamera"and "Come Saturday Morning," the theme song from the film The Sterile Cuckoo were among their biggest. Their breezy, effortless soft harmonies and gentle arrangements -- provided by either Héctor Acosta or
Harry Belafonte -- became staples of the mid-'60s to early-'70s easy listening audience's record collections. What's really wild are the spaced-out, druggy-sounding readings of rock & roll cuts like "Louie Louie," or the slippery, folk-jazz version of
Carole King's "It's Too Late," or even the nearly coffeehouse take on
the Bee Gees "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" That said, the whispering pianos and Hammond B-3s , the nearly spoken relaxation in the voices, and the subtle strings that texture nearly everything here are like something from outer space. Recommended. ~ Thom Jurek