From Rats to Riches is an album by the American rock band Good Rats, released in 1978.[2][3] It was produced by Flo & Eddie.[4] Joe Franco's drumming was influenced primarily by Tony Williams and Carmine Appice.[5]
| From Rats to Riches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1978 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Passport (original US & Canadian release)[1] Radar Records (UK) Harvest (Germany & Australia) Mercury (Greece) | |||
| Producer | Flo & Eddie | |||
| Good Rats chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
| The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [8] |
The Poughkeepsie Journal deemed From Rats to Riches "East Coast urban rock," writing that "underlying all of these darkly decadent circumstances is a determination to get out from under the crowd."[9] The Morning News labeled it "solid, blues-based hard rock from a Zappa-like group."[10]
AllMusic called the album "strong but overlooked."[3] Chuck Eddy, in Terminated for Reasons of Taste, wrote: "Heavier than I would have guessed, and more lyrically and structurally eccentric ... than I figured from supposed bar-band hacks, with sonic influences running the gamut from doo-wop to prog to maybe even punk."[11] Noting a 1993 reissue, Newsday deemed Good Rats "the tri-state area's greatest bar band."[12] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music considered it Good Rats' best album.[7]
Track listing
edit- "Taking It to Detroit" – 3:36
- "Just Found Me a Lady" – 2:50
- "Mr. Mechanic" – 3:39
- "Dear Sir" – 3:12
- "Let Me" – 4:45
- "Victory in Space" – 3:06
- "Coo Coo Coo Blues" – 4:37
- "Don't Hate the Ones Who Bring You Rock & Roll" – 3:18
- "Could Be Tonight" – 2:54
- "Local Zero" – 5:08
Personnel
edit- Mickey Marchello - Guitar and Vocals
- Joe Franco - Drums
- Peppi Marchello - Lead Vocals, Songwriting
- John "The Cat" Gatto - Guitar and Keyboards
- Lenny Kotke - Bass and Vocals
References
edit- ^ "Home". Good Rats.
- ^ Ames, Lynne (7 May 1978). "'The Cradle for a Certain Kind of Rock Scene': The 'Farm Leagues' of Rock". The New York Times. p. LI31.
- ^ a b "The Good Rats Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ Robins, Wayne (3 Feb 1978). "Blunt sound of 'Rats'". Newsday. p. 17A.
- ^ D'Amore, Jon (7 Apr 1978). "The Music Scence". Herald News. North Jersey. p. D11.
- ^ "Rats to Riches". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 815.
- ^ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 202.
- ^ Sleight, Peter (10 Feb 1978). "'Good Rats' tucked away in a storm". Poughkeepsie Journal. p. 2.
- ^ Mullinax, Gary (26 Mar 1978). "Good Rats: solid". The Morning News. p. D2.
- ^ Eddy, Chuck (August 25, 2016). Terminated for Reasons of Taste: Other Ways to Hear Essential and Inessential Music. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822373896 – via Google Books.
- ^ Robins, Wayne (12 Dec 1993). "The '70's from A to Z: Good Rats". Fanfare. Newsday. p. 10.