JAGUARDOG's Full Review: The Very Best of the Classics IV by The Classics I...
If you have been reading my previous music Artist reviews you might have figured out by now I am slowly trying to do my own Rock ‘N Roll Music History theme. This review concerns the group know as “Dennis Yost & The Classics IV” and the CD by them titled “The Very Best Of the Classics IV”.
This group hits home with me as they were formed in 1965 in Jacksonville, Fl. where I have called my new home since getting out of the Army in 1984. The original members were “James R. Cobb”, “Wally Eaton”, and “Joe Wilson” all on guitars and “Kim Venable” on drums. The group’s producer was “Buddy Buie”. Eaton was the only original member from Jacksonville. Wilson was only with the group for a very short time and was quickly replaced with “Dean Daughtry”. The original members were all studio musicians that backed up on recordings for “Tommy Roe”, “Billy Joe Royal” and the group “The Tams”. All the artists mentioned were discovered by the same man “Bill Lowery” who also helped form the Classics IV. The group decided they needed a good solid lead singer and found “Dennis Yost” who was an usher in a local Jacksonville Theater. He had begun his musical career playing the drums for a group of his friends from high school in a small band called “The Echoes”. He had a strange and different style than most drummers as he played the drums standing up.
The group first started performing under the name of “The Classics”. They released a song titled “Pollyanna” written by “Joe South” that was a mild local hit. They changed the group name to “The Four Classics” and released “Till Then” that also was a mild local hit. Bill got all four members together they decided to move to Atlanta, Ga. They changed their name once again this time to “The Classics IV” and they signed a recording contract with “Imperial” records the same year. They released their first single written and arranged by Cobb titled “Spooky” in 1967. This was a new arrangement of a regional instrumental hit by “Mike Sharpe” who was a saxophone player. The song was first picked up by a small local radio station in Louisville, KY and started to get more and more airplay. It slowly traveled across the country and in 1968 it finished #5 on the singles charts.
They decided to change their name again and started performing and recording under the name of “The Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost”. Their next single was written by Cobb and Buie together titled “Soul Train”. The song was released in 1968 but was a very minor hit only reaching #90 on the singles charts. They released two singles in 1969 “Stormy” and “Traces” that both reached the Top 5. Their next single “Every Day With You Girl” released late in 1969 peaked at #19 in 1970. Cobb and Daughtry left the group in 1970 to form a new group “The Atlanta Rhythm Section” with “Roy Orbison” and his band.
The group decided to change their name one last time to “Dennis Yost and The Classics IV”. In 1972 their contract with “Imperial” records expired and they signed a new contract with “MGM” records. They released their final Top 40 single “What Am I Crying For?” in 1972 that peaked at #39. Two more singles were released “Rosanna” that peaked at #95 in 1973 and “My First Day Without Her” that peaked at #94 in 1975. The group soon disbanded and went their separate ways. Dennis Yost has been touring by himself with a revolving back-up band for the last few years. He has been on the club circuit as well as appearing on some Rock ‘N Roll Oldie tour shows. He has also performed with “Chuck Berry”, “Gary Lewis and the Playboys”, “The Drifters”, “The Coasters”, “The Turtles”, “”Eric Clapton” and one of my all time favorite groups “Paul Revere and the Raiders”.
In 1993 “Dennis Yost and The Classics IV” were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. The CD I am reviewing today is “The Very Best Of The Classics IV” and was originally released in 1988 on “EMI” records. There is a total of 10 songs on this CD and they are listed in the order as they appear followed by my rating of each, the songs peak position on the singles chart and the overall CD rating:
1. SPOOKY – 5 (Peaked at #3)
2. MARY, MARY ROW YOUR BOAT – 2
3. EVERY DAY WITH YOU GIRL – 5 (Peaked at #19)
4. CHANGE OF HEART – 4 (Peaked at #49)
5. TRACES – 5 (Peaked at #2)
6. STORMY – 5 (Peaked at #5)
7. 24 HOURS OF LONLINESS – 3 (Spelled wrong on this CD)
8. SOMETHING I’LL REMEMBER – 2
9. SOUL TRAIN – 5 (Peaked at #90)
10. SUNNY – (Very Good cover of a Bobby Hebb hit) - 4
TOTAL POINTS: 40 DIVIDED BY 10 = 4 OR 4 STARS
RATING KEY:
5 – GREAT
4 – VERY GOOD
3 – GOOD
2 – FAIR
1 – POOR
0 – THIS SONG DOESN’T BELONG HERE!
JAG’S FINAL THOUGHTS:
This group is another group that really can’t be considered Rock ‘N Roll as they were in the Pop, Pop Rock and Sunshine Pop categories but I stretched the meaning here. Their sound or style was mellow, laid back, easy going, soft, innocent, romantic, sentimental, earnest and always seem to tell some kind of love story. A lot of their music sounded very much alike. Spooky, Stormy, Traces and a few others all had the same beat and sometimes you had a hard time telling them apart if you only heard a small portion of the song. Two other groups were a lot like the Classics IV in recording the same type of sound over and over “Gary Puckett & The Union Gap” and “The Box Tops”. Regardless of their songs always sounding so much alike I loved all three groups equally and purchased every single by all of them. The Classics IV had a clean, fresh, clear sound, no drugs, no booze, no sex, no violence and they never strayed from the soft easy sounding music. This group and their Music is rated “G” for all ages and great fun as well as music to fall asleep by. If you heard their type of music these days you would probably call it “Elevator Music”.
I really don't expect too many hits/reads on this review because it was not a well known popular group and that's cool by me. It's just one I really wanted to post since I personally liked them so much and still enjoy hearing their music to this day. Once again, thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon?
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