Bennett, Cliff -& His Band-/the Rebel Rousers
His Band '68 & The Rebel Rousers
In the early to mid-sixties British youth made two big discoveries: Groups and Rhythm & Blues. Groups weren't actually that new and weren't exotic (unless they were from Liverpool). Rhythm & Blues, or R&B as people soon called it, was exotic and it was new or seemed to be. In no time, people in the UK were attempting to emulate this exciting 'new' music from over the water and the best of the emulators, was Cliff Bennett. His first band, the Rebel Rousers had Brian Epstein as manager, and scored three UK hits between 1964 and 1966: the Beatles' 'Got To Get You Into My Life' and the Drifters' 'One Way Love' and 'I'll Take You Home'. This album, consisting of numbers recorded in 1967 and 1968 for BBC Radio shows, straddles the switch between the Rebel Rousers backing Cliff and their replacement by the Cliff Bennett Band. To seasoned Bennett fans, you won't miss the Rebel Rousers, their replacements do a superb job. Cliff Bennett may not have achieved the wider success he so richly deserved but he left us a marvellous legacy to which this record is a most welcome addition.