Search - Mar-Keys :: Last Night / Do the Pop-Eye

Two great LPs of Stax instrumentals on one disc

John Davis | Montreal | 05/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fantastic disc of early sixties instrumental soul music. Musicians include members of Booker T and The MGs and the Memphis Horns. Perfect for an "Animal House" type 60's frat party. The music is dated but well played and very cool. The price is great considering what the original LPs must be worth. Alot of fun."

Worth 4 stars for the good stuff

Sambson | North Carolina | 04/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a big Mar-Keys fan, and love the solid stuff.. but I have issues with some of this material.



"Morning After" is already a well-deserved and established classic. "Diana " however isn't...either thing. Without the soulful sax solo, this annoying organ tune would be a complete waste. "Alright, Okay, You Win" is a snappy Jazz number that has a great rhythm, layered with some unconvincing organ, but some great horn parts in the middle. The end however, is back to the same annoyingly repeated phrase at the start. "Sticks And Stones" is a swinging little Go-Go number. "Misty" is the soulful saxophone and middlin' organ ballad you'd expect; nothing remarkable other than a ridiculous bombastic ending (yawn). "Night Before" is one of the many follow-ups to "Last Night" and is quite fine at that; and though the title to "About Noon" is pretty far reaching, the tune is just fine. "One Degree North" is a good idea driven to the brink of a bad one, in that the opening 16th note pattern is unwisely repeated to the brink of insanity. With a simple edit, this one's great. "Sack O' Woe" is one of the tastier morsels of this set! "Hold It!" is a passable tune that ain't winning any acclaim, (except for the beautiful sax) but still a keeper. "Ebb Tide" (even more than "Misty"), is a serious misfire, in that someone thought the sound of a fish tank (or perhaps someone's ass in the tub) would be a great effect to add into the meandering crappy version they turn out. If not for the gorgeous trumpet (usually overpowered by the 'bubbles') this would just be a piece of s**t on a shingle! "Last Night" doesn't even require comment. Stone cold classic.



At this point, this disc heads into an album that lacks the great horn arrangements and solos of other efforts. "Pop-Eye Stroll" is a circus farfisa tune that's soooo strange; eventually adding a sax that just doesn't make it any better. "Wimp-Burger" continues along the wacky-little-number continuum, and though it could possibly be better than the title track; doesn't cut the mustard. "Straight From The Can" starts with a promising Blues riff, that shifts into a shuffle, that still sports the farfisa but stays on a more rational course. (Truth be told, it could actually be pretty lame, but after the last two it seems like a freaking hit.) "Cause I Love You" has an odd 'oriental' rhythm (born out by the underlying piano), that... just never develops into anything catchy or even memorable. "Squint-Eye" doesn't stray and doesn't inspire; with a formula that must be wearing thin for the group by now (hence the desperate attempts at 'Circus' and 'Chinese' music). "Pop-Eye Rider" is more floundering pablum at a maudlin tempo. "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" suddenly departs from this funeral (though not any faster than the other tunes) with an unusual guitar intro and a rare bass sax; however it feels like this 33rpm record should be on 45! So dreary, it could be from the saddest 60s Anne Margret movie ever made. "Sit Still" finally picks up the f***ing pace and at least puts a beat down. "Too Pooped To Pop-eye" is quite humorous, and ironically describes how pooped the majority of this record plays. "Sweet-P Crawl" is better arranged than most of this set, but who the heck needs another 'crawl' at this point?! Not funny, and not catchy. "Muscles A-Comin' Home" is another peace of junk that's making obvious references, but just doesn't deliver. How sad. "Sailor Man Waltz" finally goes just far enough outside the formula, but close enough to the right rhythm to make something good. If not for the 4 decent tunes this album would be a waste of space, and does burn up valuable moments of your life if you unwisely decide to have a listening party. Even stoners would crawl off the couch to change the channel.



As a CD, this two album set is actually worth getting, mainly for the first one, but also because if you paid good money to track down the second, you might turn Kozinsky and send someone a letter bomb. If anything it bears out just how hard it is to write a fantastic instrumental; of which there are precious few (Telstar, Last Night, Jack The Ripper, etc).





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