As a self-contained African-American soul-rock band from the Bay Area that began releasing records when they were high schoolers still in their mid-teens,
the Two Things in One
were a remarkable story. This CD combines both sides of three rare 1971-1973 singles on the
Music City
label with ten previously unissued tracks from the same era, essentially adding up to the lost album they never got to issue while they were active. Their tale -- explained at great colorful length via extended quotes from group members in the 24-page booklet, which also has fine vintage photos and memorabilia -- is more compelling than their music, which is longer on promise than top-rank originality. It's still interesting and unusual stuff apart from the novel circumstances, in part because it's not as heavily influenced by soul stars like
Sly Stone
as many such bands were, though those ingredients are there. Instead, it's a lively stew of soul, funk, and rock that can at times sound more like soul-influenced rock than rock-influenced soul. Indeed, sometimes it's quite a bit like
Traffic
(particularly courtesy of the heavy organ, which made
the Allman Brothers
' "Dreams" a natural to cover) or even
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
(whose "Ohio" is also covered) at their hardest-rocking. Quite a bit of early-'70s
Stevie Wonder
comes through as well in the singing and sophisticated arrangements. Sometimes it's like hearing a mixture of varying doses of all those names at once, though more pronounced R&B leanings are heard in cuts like "Snag Nasty," an instrumental in the
Meters
vein. What they didn't have were songs on the level of the material by these reference points -- an understandable shortfall given their tender ages, but one that's present nonetheless. Too, the hook in one of their singles, "Together Forever," was highly reminiscent of the theme to the movie Midnight Cowboy, which one of the members acknowledges in the liners. The level of musicianship is such, however, that it's regretful the group didn't get to record more and get developed by a more sympathetic label, as detailed in the notes. ~ Richie Unterberger