The Royalettes - The Elegant Sound of The Royalettes (1966) [Remastered 1995]

Their 2nd effort released in 1966 feels like all the Tracks (with exception to “When Summer’s Gone“) were recorded within the same time frame and were meant for this LP ( even top flight groups of the Era like The Supremes did not, with the execption of their Rodgers & Hart LP, have albums based on one set of sessions. Their “I Hear A Symphony” LP includes tracks recorded in New York and Detroit, and a number of it’s selections were intended for a standards LP). In This sense “Elegant Sounds of the Royalettes” is similar to “Dusty In Memphis” because you can tell producer Teddy Randazzo was working to make a complete album statement not just a few hit singles ( which after 1965, unfortunately, The Royalettes did not have) and “Filler.”

The arrangements are more advanced than what the Royalettes previously employed by this album. “Baby, Are you Putting me on?” seems to out BurtBacharach with all the time signature changes , and as a whole the LP keeps up the uptown soul feel continues through the Lp. The settings are lush, sometimes overly dramatic ( ‘Don’t Throw Me Away” is equally every bit as Dramatic as The Supremes “Love is Here and Now You’re Gone”…but better with a more imaginative arrangement) and the strutting “It’s a Big Mistake” are big highlights. “It’s Better not to Know” and “I don’t want to be the One” were more typical Randazzo productions (like Going Out of My Head, It’s Gonna Take a Miracle) but are no less thrilling ( Like listening to Holland Dozier Holland variations for various artists around this same time frame) and The Royalettes sound was the most accurate framework for what 1970’s soul music especially the work of Gamble& Huff, and Philadelphia International as a whole drew from. Historic and criminally underrated music.