Rewind / Realization

I had a worn out copy of Realization on vinyl, and I always loved that album. When I saw that I could buy Realization and Rewind which was the previous album together on a single disc, I knew that I had to have it.Rewind has many Jimmy Webb songs on it. It is a great album also. Both albums sound fantastic with fine performances from Johnny Rivers and members of the Wrecking Crew backing him up.The wife and I play this disc all the time and it seems to put a smile on our faces as we sing along.Great stuff.

I love Johnny's style and all kinds of songs by different writers and making them his own. When a really good singer does a song, it doesn't matter who the writer was. These are albums that sound like they were studio done after he did several live recordings. He was possibly discouraged from changing his style but he made a wise decision. Who doesn't like his two Motown remakes which are AS GOOD AS the Four Tops and Smokey Robinson/Miracles. Plus the Jim Webb songs which I have on the 5th Dimension albums. Johnny was a genius to discover and sign the 5th Dimension. Love all of his stuff. There are several slow songs on these but they are really good--fast or slow, he is the best!

Strange combination. Rewind was a banal 1967 release of 3 earlier hit covers with a bunch of filler. Realization was a 68 release brilliantly covering early psychedelic sounds. Buy it for Realization, hunt out the other hits on better recordings.

Two of the best albums of the 60’s. Johnny deserves credit not only for the brilliance of his music, but for his role in bringing Jimmy Webb’s songwriting genius to the attention of the masses and for having the Fifth Dimension popularizing his music on their first two albums. Fifty years later too many people have forgotten Johnny’s impact on rock in the 60’s & 70’s.

i got this for "realization" but the two together go well. the rap against Johnny Rivers is that he did covers. this is such a bogus argument for dissing this great artist. if you hear a beautiful song beautifully performed why should it matter who wrote it? there are a lot of artists doing their own original music who should never be allowed to perform in public. Mr. Rivers does such an incredible job of turning wonderful songs into truly great pieces of music. his style brings out the best in the song, his back up instrumental artists turn one of my most favorite pieces "whiter shade of pale" into an ethereal wonder transcending my other most favorite version performed by Procol Harum. both versions are to be enjoyed for what they are - interpretations of the creative lyrical genius of keith reid. the same is true of his interpretation of "positively 4th street". i could listen to Dylan's version all day long only coming up for air and to listen to Johnny Rivers' version. enjoy this music for what it is now: a snapshot of an era that was both a time of great turmoil and creative genius in the music written and sung. i highly recommend it to be added to any collection from this era. it is also relective of the changes that were occurring in our society at the time - a maturity of the soul as we began the inner search into our individual and collective souls after the excesses of experimentation. there was definitely more of that to come for some but others found the lead from Mr. Rivers in his selection of songs here to move along the path. check out "going back to big sur", "look to your soul", "the way we live" "brother, where are you" and "something strange" are examples of thought provoking tunes found here. enjoy each gem found within this collection.

Rewind was his best LP loaded with Jimmy Webb songs and two big smash hits Baby I Need Your Lovin' and The Tracks of My Tears. Realization was a lofty experiment that sort of failed to be relevant. But They are two great records on one cd.

Great value for two complete albums; one of which is difficult to find at a reasonable price.

Realization is the best Johnny Rivers album, ever! His sound and style totally changed. This is the greatest version of the song "Hey Joe" you will ever hear. The other songs of this album are very good, also.

Despite selling 20 million records in the USA, financing the Monterey Pop festival, discovering songwriter Jimmy Webb and producing Al Wilson's 'The Snake' (possibly the pinnacle of Freudian northern soul), Johnny Rivers has never meant anything in the UK, although strangely enough, BGO's welcome re-issue is straight from the rock & roll heart of Suffolk: Bury St Edmunds.1967's 'Rewind' is a transitional LP and shows Rivers starting to break free from his commercial straitjacket; the bulk of the tracks were written by the then-unknown Webb, together with a brace of Motown covers (which were Rivers' last big hits) and others by Tim Hardin and Simon & Garfunkel, although I still find the album a little on the bland side.Things started to get interesting with 'Realization' in 1968: Rivers had grown a Charlie Manson beard and had clearly expanded his mind. The LP opens with a bizarre lounge/psychedelic cover of 'Hey Joe' and then skips through a series of folk-rock originals by Rivers and/or collaborator James Hendricks, which loosely chart his spiritual awakening, although the pick of the bunch are epic, lushly-orchestrated versions of 'Whiter Shade of Pale' and Dylan's 'Positively 4th Street'. All in all, a bit of a curate's egg but 'Realization' is worth the price for the last mentioned tracks alone.

Great

Item exactly as described.

Bella operazione dal costo contenuto,due dischi su un solo supporto di Johnny Rivers,cantante,autore e produttore di rock,specializzato anche in covers di brani altrui.Rivers aveva di base una duttilità tutta sua,poteva affrontare molti generi,i suoi dischi erano solitamente composti da covers,brani rock n'roll,blues,folk,r & b,tutti filtrati attraverso il suo particolare stile.Il CD contiene due album del periodo di maggiore successo di Rivers,Rewind del 1967 e Realization del 1968.In Rewind,Rivers è affiancato dall'allora giovanissimo Jimmy Webb,che si occupa dell'organizzazione e dell'addattamento di molti dei brani,alcuni composti da lui stesso,tutti improntati nello stile di Van Morrisom,il blue-eyed soul misto al rock,ottima risucita di brani tipicamente Motown come The track of my tears e Baby I need your loving,influenze tipicamente southern in Rosecrans Boulevard con delle ottime vocal harmonies,The eleventh song anche,ha una ottima riuscita,molto personale la cover di Simon,For Emily whenever I may find her.Realization,vede una limitata partecipazione di Webb,l'album è impostato su una psichedelia dolce,in alcune sue esternazioni piuttosto cupa,ha lo stile di un album concept dell'era hippie,una musica a volte ironica nella rivisitazione di brani che hanno segnato l'epoca della seconda metà dei '60,che spazia dall'hard alla ballata,anche la copertina è di gusto tipicamente psichedelico.I brani iniziano e terminano tra rumori di onde,di tuoni,di pioggia,che li legano l'uno all'altro.Grande partenza con Hey Joe con il suo inizio di banda paesana,che lascia poi spazio al brano stesso bello ed inquietante con la voce filtrata e riverberata,il brano termina tra rumore di tuoni ed il ritorno della banda,bellissima la ballata Summer rain introdotta dal rumore della pioggia,una stravolgente riedizione della hit dei Procol Harum,A whiter shade of pale(fantastica,con un feeling tutto particolare),che inizia su note di acustica ed un piano che suona quasi come un clavicembalo,l'r & b lento e psichedelico The way we live,la soul ballad Brother where are you di J.Brown,la ballatona hippie dedicata a Big Sur,Going back to Big Sur,la cover del brano di Dylan Positively 47th Street in versione jingle-jangle tipica del flower power con tanto di interventi di archi.Realization alla sua pubblicazione ebbe un notevole successo.Piuttosto buona la resa sonora del CD.

Il dischetto all'interno della custodia è "strambo" poiché non ha riferimenti. E' completamente bianco. Non so se è editato in questo modo o se invece si tratta di altro. Voglio sperare che sia l'edizione così e non voglio certo fare polemica, ma mi appare strana, perché di solito ci sono riferimenti, se non hai brani almeno all'autore. Qui nulla, se non due cifre ai bordi molto piccole. Per il resto si sente bene.