The Letter / Neon Rainbow is the debut studio album of the American blue-eyed soul band The Box Tops , released in 1967. Following the success of the single “ The Letter ”, which reached the top lines of the charts [1] , The Letter / Neon Rainbow was quickly dubbed for an early release. In 1968, the album reached 87th place on the Billboard Pop Albums chart [2] .
| The letter / neon rainbow | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album The Box Tops | ||||
| Date of issue | November 1967 | |||
| Recorded by | American Sound Studio, Memphis , Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Blue-eyed soul , rock | |||
| Duration | 34:56 (LP) 45:33 (CD reissue) | |||
| Producer | Dan pann | |||
| Label | Bell (6011-S) | |||
| Timeline The Box Tops | ||||
| ||||
Content
About the album
Session musicians took part in the recording of most of the tracks, while the original group was noted only in the track “The Letter”. Perhaps the session makers were: guitarists Reggie Young and Bobby Womack , bassist Tommy Cogbill , pianist / organist Bobby Emmons and drummer Gene Chrisman [3] [4] .
Although the vocalist Alex Chilton wrote several songs for the album (at that time 16), but in the end not one of them was released. Perhaps this was due to the then lack of experience in writing songs for Alex. Chilton later played an important role in writing songs for the band Big Star , and after its breakup, he continued his career as a solo artist.
In 2000, The Letter / Neon Rainbow was reissued by Sundazed (catalog number SC 6158) with four bonus tracks: mono versions of the songs “The Letter” and “Neon Rainbow”, the 1969 single “Turn On A Dream” and the previously unreleased Georgia Farm Boy track.
Criticism Reviews
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Critics' ratings | |
| A source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [four] |
Allmusic Reviewer Richie Antberberger noted Chilton’s strong vocals, but called the album “a leaky trough, which immediately shows the rush to create because of the pursuit of the success of“ The Letter “” [4] .
List of Songs
- The Letter ( Wayne Carson Thompson, ) - 1:55
- “She Knows How” (Thompson) - 3:08
- “Trains and Boats and Planes” ( Burt Bakarak , Hal David ) - 3:48
- “Break My Mind” ( John Dee Loudmilk ) - 2:29
- “ A Whiter Shade of Pale ” ( Gary Brucker , Keith Raid ) - 4:34
- “Everything I Am” ( Spooner Oldham , Dan Pann ) - 2:20
- Neon Rainbow (Thompson) - 3:04
- People Make the World ( Bobby Womack ) - 2:31
- “I'm Your Puppet” (Oldham, Pann) - 2:54
- Happy Times (Oldham, Pann) - 1:46
- Gonna Find Somebody (Womack) - 3:02
- “I Pray for Rain” (Oldham, Pann) - 2:26
Bonus Tracks on CD Reissues
- “Turn on a Dream” ( Mark James ) - 2:50
- The Letter (Thompson) - 1:58
- Neon Rainbow (Thompson) - 3:00
- Georgia Farm Boy (Newbury) - 3:48
Record Members
- Alex Chilton - vocals, guitar
- Bill Cunningham - Bass
- John Evans - Keyboards
- Danny Smith - Drums
- Gary Telly - guitar, backing vocals
- Dan Pann - backing vocals
- Unknown session musicians - see above.
Production staff
- Producer - Dan Pann
- Sound Engineer - Chips Moman
- Remastered by Bob Irving at Irwin at Sundazed Studios, Coxsackie, NY
- Original cover photo - Frank Lerner
- Cover Concept - Rich Russell
- Cover Design - Steven Craig Productions
- Notes - Jude Coast and Hal Smith (original and reprint)
- Reprint Photos and Graphics - Bill Cunningham, Danny Smith, Clark and Steve Bech, Rick Zannitto and the Sundazed Archive
Notes
- ↑ The Box Tops - Chart history | Billboard
- ↑ Murrells, Joseph. The Book of Golden Discs. - 2nd. - London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd, 1978. - P. 216–217 & 236. - ISBN 0-214-20512-6 .
- ↑ Box Tops official web site FAQs.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Unterberger, Richie The Letter / Neon Rainbow > Review . Allmusic . Date of treatment September 1, 2011.