Released in 1969 - love me some Rascals!

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Freedom Suite is a double album by rock band The Rascals, released in March 1969 (Atlantic #2-901). The first LP of the set contained conventional songs, while the second contained instrumentals. Various session musicians, including bassist Chuck Rainey and saxophonists King Curtis and David "Fathead" Newman, augmented the band's normal line-up on several selections.

Freedom Suite was an ambitious effort and something of a concept album, as musicians were wont to produce at the time. Packaging included a shiny silver gatefold album cover, colored sleeves with the song lyrics printed on them, and illustrations drawn by members of the group. The latter varied from idealistic visions of trumpeting angels to Eastern-influenced sketchings to drummer Dino Danelli's faithful homage to El Greco's Christ. The inclusion of the instrumentals - one polished track ("Adrian's Birthday"), one jam session ("Cute"), and a Danelli drum solo ("Boom") - seemed an effort by The Rascals to establish themselves as an "album" group rather than a "singles" group. It was not especially well received; critic Lester Bangs would later write that Freedom Suite suffered from "excess," while critic Dave Marsh would later write that it "sowed the seeds of the group's demise, [as it] reflected an attempt to join the psychedelic craze."

The album contained the Rascals' last #1 hit single "People Got To Be Free," which was released in advance of the album in mid-1968. "Any Dance'll Do" and "Heaven" were also issued as singles.

The album was RIAA-certified as a gold record on April 21, 1969, rising to #17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. It also reached #40 on the Billboard Black Albums chart, the last Rascals album to appear there.

Prior to this album, the Rascals' primary vocalists Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati co-authored most of the band's original songs. On Freedom Suite, however, that trend began to change, with Cavaliere credited as sole author of four of the album's vocal tracks. Brigati's songwriting and vocal contributions would continue to decline on subsequent albums.

Record One: Freedom Suite

Side One

1. "America the Beautiful" (Felix Cavaliere) - 2:50

2. "Me and My Friends" (Gene Cornish) - 2:42

3. "Any Dance'll Do" (Cavaliere) - 2:19

4. "Look Around" (Eddie Brigati, Cavaliere) - 3:03

5. "A Ray of Hope" (Brigati, Cavaliere) - 3:40

Side Two

1. "Island of Love" (Brigati, Cavaliere) - 2:22

2. "Of Course" (Brigati, Cavaliere) - 2:40

3. "Love Was So Easy to Give" (Cornish) - 2:42

4. "People Got to Be Free" (Brigati, Cavaliere) - 2:57

5. "Baby I'm Blue" (Cavaliere) - 2:47

6. "Heaven" (Cavaliere) - 3:22

Record Two: Music Music

Side Three

1. "Adrian's Birthday" (Cavaliere, Cornish, Dino Danelli) - 4:46

2. "Boom" (Danelli) - 13:34

Side Four

1. "Cute" (Brigati, Cavaliere, Cornish, Danelli) - 15:10

Personnel

The Rascals

* Felix Cavaliere - organ, piano, lead vocals on most songs, backing vocals

* Eddie Brigati - conga drums and tambourine on "Cute", lead vocals on "Any Dance'll Do" and "Island of Love", backing vocals

* Gene Cornish - guitar, lead vocals on "Me & My Friends" and "Love Was So Easy to Give", backing vocals?

* Dino Danelli - drums

Additional musicians

* Chuck Rainey, Richard Davis, Gerald Jemmott - bass guitar

* David Brigati - backing vocals

* King Curtis - tenor sax solo on "Of Course"

* David Newman - tenor sax solo on "Adrian's Birthday"

Production

* Arif Mardin, Charles Morrow - arrangements

* Adrian Barber, Tom Dowd, Don Casale - recording engineers