The Box Tops
The Letter / Neon Rainbow - Bell 1967 Comments:The Box Tops are especially known for two things; the classic 1967 single "The Letter" and as the group where legendary Alex Chilton started his career. In spite of his young age (16 at the time) vocally Chilton in no way sounds like the youngster he was and he adds significally to this slightly unhomogenic debut album with his great vocals. The young band also receive some help from experienced studio musicians.
In addition to the breakthrough single "The Letter", written by Wayne Carson Thompson", the album also contains the following single" Neon Rainbow ", which also became a smaller hit and also written by Thompson, too.
Other highlights are two Oldham / Penn compositions, the catchy "I'm Your Puppet" and the soul ballad "Everything In Am". Chilton also challenges himself with Procol Harum’s classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and actually does this pretty well.
The rest of the album is decent, without being really exciting.
Some versions of "The Letter / Neon Rainbow" contain nice bonus tracks, such as the somewhat different ( in Box Tops connection) country song "Georgia Farm Boy", greatly delivered by Chilton; also the upbeat "Turn on a Dream" is a welcome addition.
Some releases even contain highlights from the three other albums by the band; really great songs like "Cry Like a Baby", "Soul Deep", "Together", "The Happy Song" and "I'll Hold Your Hand"
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