Monkey Hips and Rice: The "5" Royales Anthology is a compilation album by the American musical group the "5" Royales, released in 1994.[2][3] It collects songs from the group's King and Apollo years.[4] The only two-disc title in Rhino Records' King Master Series, it was released the same year that group members Eugene Tanner and Obadiah Carter died.[5][6][7]
| Monkey Hips and Rice: The "5" Royales Anthology | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, rock and roll | |||
| Label | Rhino[1] | |||
| Producer | Gary Stewart, James Austin | |||
| The "5" Royales chronology | ||||
| ||||
Robert Palmer, while working on the 1995 WGBH/BBC Rock & Roll television series, listed the compilation as one of ten essential documents of "Classic Rock & Roll".[8]
Production
editThe compilation was produced by Gary Stewart and James Austin.[6] The album liner notes were penned by Ed Ward.[4] Monkey Hips and Rice includes a track from the Royal Suns Quintet, an earlier lineup of the group.[9]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [10] |
| Robert Christgau | A[11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [12] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [1] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [13] |
Robert Christgau wrote that "Lowman Pauling's hard-touring sextet did it all, laughs included, and although Pauling's thought-through songwriting and groundbreaking guitar made him the auteur, singer Johnny Tanner deserves more grafs than he'll ever get in the prehistory of soul."[11] The Los Angeles Times thought that "there is some less-than immortal novelty fare among the album's 41 songs—such as the forced double-entendre 'Laundromat Blues'—but most are real gems."[14] The Washington Post noted that Pauling "pioneered the use of single-note, distorted guitar fills and helped fuse gospel and blues into soul."[15]
AllMusic called the collection "impeccable," writing that the group "take off toward the end of the first disc, stretching through the second disc, with a stretch of invigorating music that is among the greatest R&B ever recorded."[10] (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide deemed the compilation's selections "brilliantly chosen," and lamented that it was out of print.[13] Peter Guralnick labeled it "a stone classic."[16]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let Nothing Separate Me" | |
| 2. | "Courage to Love" | |
| 3. | "Baby Don't Do It" | |
| 4. | "Help Me Somebody" | |
| 5. | "Crazy, Crazy, Crazy" | |
| 6. | "Laundromat Blues" | |
| 7. | "Too Much Lovin'" | |
| 8. | "All Righty!" | |
| 9. | "I Do" | |
| 10. | "I Like It Like That" | |
| 11. | "Let Me Come Back Home" | |
| 12. | "Monkey Hips and Rice" | |
| 13. | "School Girl" | |
| 14. | "Mohawk Squaw" | |
| 15. | "When I Get Like This" | |
| 16. | "Women About to Make Me Go Crazy" | |
| 17. | "Someone Made You for Me" | |
| 18. | "Right Around the Corner" | |
| 19. | "When You Walked Through the Door" | |
| 20. | "Come On and Save Me" | |
| 21. | "Get Something Out of It" |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Just as I Am" | |
| 2. | "Thirty Second Lover" | |
| 3. | "Tears of Joy" | |
| 4. | "Think" | |
| 5. | "I'd Better Make a Move" | |
| 6. | "Say It" | |
| 7. | "Messin' Up" | |
| 8. | "Don't Be Ashamed" | |
| 9. | "Dedicated to the One I Love" | |
| 10. | "Do the Cha Cha Cherry" | |
| 11. | "Double or Nothing" | |
| 12. | "Tell the Truth" | |
| 13. | "The Slummer the Slum" | |
| 14. | "The Real Thing" | |
| 15. | "I Know It's Hard but It's Fair" | |
| 16. | "Miracle of Love" | |
| 17. | "Wonder Where Your Love Has Gone" | |
| 18. | "Tell Me You Care" | |
| 19. | "My Sugar Sugar" | |
| 20. | "Help Me Somebody" |
References
edit- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 426.
- ^ Gettelman, Parry (26 Aug 1994). "CDs Rescue Obscure Music". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 9.
- ^ Marcus, Greil (November 29, 2018). "Seven Records". Rock'n'Roll 39-59.
- ^ a b Palmer, Robert (September 6, 2011). Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer. Simon and Schuster.
- ^ Rosen, Steven (March 10, 1994). "Pop-music gem comes to light: Reissued discs honor King Records". The Denver Post. p. E3.
- ^ a b "Album reviews — Monkey Hips and Rice: The "5" Royales Anthology by The "5" Royales". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 12. Mar 19, 1994. p. 62.
- ^ Menconi, David (September 22, 2020). Step It Up and Go: The Story of North Carolina Popular Music, from Blind Boy Fuller and Doc Watson to Nina Simone and Superchunk. UNC Press Books.
- ^ "Robert Palmer's Top 10 lists". The Boston Globe. 24 Sep 1995. p. B29.
- ^ Menconi, David (March 18, 1994). "The Royale treatment". What's Up. The News & Observer. p. 13.
- ^ a b "Monkey Hips and Rice: The "5" Royales Anthology". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "The '5' Royales". Robert Christgau.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 480.
- ^ a b (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 299.
- ^ Washburn, Jim (31 Mar 1994). "The '5' Royales: 'Monkey Hips and Rice', (Anthology)". OC Live. Los Angeles Times. p. 5.
- ^ "RB Royalty on King Reissues". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
- ^ Guralnick, Peter (2014). Sweet Soul Music (Enhanced Edition): Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. Little, Brown.