The Bonne Villes: Bringing It Home (US, 1966)

Another Justice rarity is dusted off by Collectables to reveal a sextet from Salisbury, North Carolina. Not completely obscured by time in this case, since their Naughty Girl graced the eighties Tarheel compilation Tobacco A Go Go Vol.II - a slice of garagey frat-rock punctuated throughout by honking sax. Like many of the other Justice LPs, it is predominantly covers of soul, R&B, blues and ballads (Stand By Me, Monkey Time, My Girl, Midnight Hour, Under The Boardwalk) in a competent but uninspiring club style with no real bite and little variation - even their cover of 96 Tears is rather flat although they do try to belt it with a more raucous vocal style on Bring It On Home To Me. Once more with this series, curiosity is satisfied but the buzz factor is absent.

The Bonne Villes were one of the better white R&B-based acts to record for the Winston-Salem-based Justice label. A sextet consisting of Donald W. Cartner (drums), Curtis "Buzzy" Cobb (sax, organ), Butch "Carl F." Steele (bass), Nelson M. Bradshaw (lead guitar), James Alan Lovette (lead vocals), and Gary Howe (vocals), they made their way across frat parties and local clubs from their native Salisbury on out, playing early- to mid-'60s R&B; mostly covers of songs by the Drifters, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, etc., spiced with occasional originals in a similar vein by Jim Lovette. They had a fairly sophisticated vocal attack, and their instrumental skills were up to the repertory they chose; witness Steele's attack on the bass on their cover of "96 Tears."

ALBUM REVIEW

Not a bad representation of the band's strengths, a collection of 11 tracks, mostly covers of R&B and rock & roll standards. The singing isn't up to the task of the most sophisticated material, including "Bring It on Home to Me," but the group does have a cohesive sound. Their originals simply don't hold up, however, and lackluster numbers like "Helping Hand" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" pale next to "My Girl," "Under the Boardwalk," or "96 Tears."

BONNE VILLES