Though they weren’t really a “one hit wonder”, the first, and in most cases probably the only song that the name of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap brings to mind is the orchestrated soft blue eyed soul confection of Young Girl, a formula used on most of the band’s recorded output, which, combined with Gary’s baritone croon and Jerry Fuller’s melodramatic production, seemed like a perfect blend for the late ‘60s charts.
The other one that is still likely to be heard on any average oldies radio station, is another one of Fuller’s similar products, this time with a Bacharachian touch to it, called Over You, which opens the band’s third album.
The first two LPs were both rushed covers-based efforts, in order to cash-in on the debut single Woman Woman (included here as a bonus track) and the mentioned Young Girl, while it’s the third one (with Over You) where the band gets some of the so called artistic freedom, using it to deliver a couple of interesting stylistic departures.
Such as the mellow fuzzy popsike of Can You Tell or the CSN-styled harmony fueled country of Take Your Pleasure, proving that there was a bit more to them, than just plain executing Fuller’s ideas.
[Released by Gott Discs 2004]
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