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In Thee Midnite Hour!!!!

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Thee Midnighters

 
In Thee Midnite Hour!!!!
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Avg: 4.5 (11 ratings)

One of 1960s LA's best and most raucous rock and roll bands.

  • We Say...

    Review by Hua Hsu

    "Whittier Boulevard," a 1965 single by East Los Angeles' Chicano rockers Thee Midniters, welcomes one and all: "Let's take a trip down Whittier Boulevard!!!" the band shouts in unison, to catcalls of "Arriba! Arriba!" and screeches of ecstasy. These are the song's only words: the remaining two-minute tour swells with blaring horns, skittering guitars, nervous tambourines, an adventurous bass line and mind-clearing blasts of organ. Basically, Whittier Boulevard sounds like the greatest street ever.

    Thee Midniters have many claims to history: they were one of the first Chicano rock groups to score in the American charts; they were early adopters of the horn as a rock-and-roll instrument; and they were vanguards in the singing of Cesar Chavez and Chicano Power in the late 1960s, as well as in adding the extra "e" to "The" (see: Thee Headcoats and Thee Hypnotics). But beyond all this they were simply one of Los Angeles' best bands of the 1960s, capable of moving comfortably from British Invasion rock to stomp-along R 'n' B to make-out session ballads. Their covers of "Money" and "Gloria" are among the most raucous ever, and check out the freaky "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" or the neck-snapping soul of "Hey Little Girl."

  • They Say...

    Review by Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide

    Thee Midniters are generally acknowledged to be the most fearsomely rockin' Chicano band to come out of the fabled East L.A. scene of the mid-'60s. Although their chart success was limited to their version of "Land of a Thousand Dances" (an extended live take of which is among the tracks included here) and they were beaten to the punch on that one by fellow scenesters Cannibal & the Headhunters -- the latter's version charted a month earlier and rose higher -- the rest of Thee Midniters' output leaves no doubt that they were the more ferocious band. A few fine collections of the group's limited output on such labels as Whittier and Chattahoochee have previously found their way to market, but Norton typically ups the ante with the most comprehensive set yet, accompanied by exhaustive liner notes by Domenic Priore and a slew of great vintage photos. Although Thee Midniters were known primarily for their sizzling covers of then-current rock & roll and R&B hits, the majority of the tracks here are originals, written by various combinations of bandmembers. The originals (especially "Whittier Blvd." and its cousin, "Down Whittier Blvd.") and covers both show a heavy allegiance to funky soul of the Stax and Motown varieties (great covers of the Contours' "Do You Love Me" and Barrett Strong's "Money"), as well as happening bands like the Rolling Stones ("Empty Heart") and Them ("Gloria"). On both "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Stones via Solomon Burke) and their insane blast-out on the Mitch Ryder medley of "Devil with a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly," Thee Midniters are simply on fire. On occasion, the group showed a tendency to veer off into what would soon morph into psychedelia, but most of these 19 tracks, cranked to the max with blessed distortion, are unscathed, gritty rock & roll.

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