The Rascals were widely regarded as the finest blue-eyed soul group of the 1960s, a statement that's accurate without fully defining their importance or the breadth of their abilities. At their best, the Rascals fused the soulful passion of R&B, the tough, swaggering sound of garage rock, the chops of a top-notch show band, and a sense of musical adventure that borrowed from pop, jazz, funk, gospel, and world music. Beginning as the Young Rascals, they were a band of brash upstarts from the East Coast who on their debut album merged rock and soul with a skill and feel that was revolutionary, and with 1967's Groovin', they expanded their range to embrace psychedelia and arty pop. As the '60s gave way to the '70s and keyboard player Felix Cavaliere's leadership of the group became stronger, they advanced from ambitious, genre-spanning sets like 1969's Freedom Suite to the jazzy explorations of 1971's Peaceful World and the funk accents of 1972's The Island of Real. Throughout it all, their music was street smart, impassioned, and brilliantly crafted, the work of artists who desire to entertain was as strong as their creative wanderlust, and it was documented in an epic scale box set, 2024's It's Wonderful: The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings.
Keyboard player and singer Felix Cavaliere had been trained in classical piano when he developed a passion for rock and R&B sounds, joining a doo wop group while he was a student at Syracuse University. In 1964, Cavaliere landed a gig playing with Joey Dee and the Starliters, who were still reaping the rewards of the 1961 hit "Peppermint Twist." One of Cavaliere's bandmates in the Starliters was David Brigati, who introduced Felix to his younger brother, an energetic young singer named Eddie Brigati. In 1965, Canadian-born guitarist Gene Cornish joined the Starliters, and soon he and Cavaliere were comparing notes about what sort of music they wanted to play. Before long, Cavaliere decided to strike out on his own and form a new group; he persuaded Cornish to join him, and recruited a longtime friend, jazz musician Dino Danelli, to play drums. With the addition of Eddie Brigati on vocals, the new group's lineup was in place; they initially called themselves Them, but when they discovered there was already an act using the name (the Irish blues and rock band led by Van Morrison), they adopted a new moniker, the Rascals. The band began rehearsing intensively, while playing engagements at clubs like the Choo Choo in Garfield, New York and the Barge in Westhampton, New York. They honed their sound, rooted in R&B and East Coast rock, and they landed a gig backing TV star Soupy Sales at live engagements, mostly on college campuses.
The Rascals were brought to the attention of Sid Bernstein, a manager and promoter best remembered for bringing the Beatles to New York's Shea Stadium. Bernstein gave the band an important plug when, during the Fab Four's Shea Stadium concert, he put the words "The Rascals are Coming!" on the ballpark's scoreboard during the show. The stunt created enough buzz that the Rascals were signed to Atlantic Records, making them one of the first white bands to appear on the legendary R&B label. After signing with Atlantic, a group called the Harmonica Rascals demanded the new group change their name to avoid any confusion, and Bernstein changed their billing to the Young Rascals, over the objections of the group. Their first single, "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore," was issued in November 1965 and was a modest success, but it was their second, an exciting reworking of "Good Lovin'" arriving in February 1966, that established them as stars, going all the way to number one. Their debut album, 1966's The Young Rascals, was dominated by covers, but the second, 1967's Collections, made room for more group originals, and one of them, "(I've Been) Lonely Too Long," was another chart hit. Six months later, the third Young Rascals album, Groovin', was released, which found the group exploring more mature pop and psychedelic sounds, producing three more singles, the title cut, the accordion-accented "How Can I Be Sure", and "A Girl Like You". It also saw the Young Rascals adding new colors to their arrangements with guest musicians including bassist Chuck Rainey and flutist Hubert Laws. As the group's music became more mature and exploratory, the name the Young Rascals became a thorn in their side, and in April 1968, they issued the single "A Beautiful Morning," an artfully arranged exercise in soulful pop that was their first record credited to the Rascals, which would be their moniker from then on. From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-rascals-mn0000493122#biography
