by Cub Koda
This 20-track compilation gathers together the best of Johnston's and Melcher's best sides for Columbia under the B&T moniker. That's important, because this collection could just as easily have been double the length if they had amassed all the tracks that Bruce & Terry had recorded under other names like the Rip Chords, etc. including the hit &Hey Little Cobra.& Because Bruce & Terry were a virtual vocal overdubbing machine, some of the tracks on here (&Custom Machine,& &Don't Run Away,& &I Love You Model T,& &Come Love,& &Raining In My Heart&) appear in mono-only formats. This becomes the only way to hear the final product as it was etched into black phonograph records, as B&T would overdub right directly onto the final single track mix. It also gives the sound of these tracks an edgy, mid-rangey &squashed& kind of compression to them, making them leap out of the speakers. As a musical satellite orbiting around the Brian Wilson/Jan & Dean/Wrecking Crew axis, the music here reflects that time and sound beautifully. These are the beginnings of two long-standing careers in the record business and the records they literally cut their teeth on.