TheCellarTapes

The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
(1968)



Tracks



Hailing from Youngstown, The Human Beingz (formerly known as The Premiers) were an Ohio four piece established in 1964. After releasing a couple of singles on minor labels in the area throughout 1966, they quickly earned a reputation locally for some excellent onstage performances, so much so that they caught the attentions of major label Capitol, who indeed signed them up in 1967. In September of 1967, the band due to a contract error dropped the “G” from their name, and released their national debut 45; The Isley Brothers’ song Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz even now remains a significant release, arguably bigger than the band itself, reaching number 8 in the US.

Following the success of this release, an album of the same name was sanctioned and recorded. Despite being on cloud nine after the success of the single, Nobody But Me the LP by The Human Beinz has to this day remained overshadowed by the title track, but in my opinion the album has a few more gems lurking beneath the surface which makes the album as a whole certainly well worth a look.

Let us start at the beginning, the title track has become somewhat of a monster, a smash hit back in 1968, revived on the Nuggets reissue of 98, and in modern times making celebrated appearances in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. To be fair it is as close to Garage perfection that you can get, from the opening dose of controlled feedback, right through to the catchiness and the foot tappiness of the whole thing, all things considered this is probably the one song from Nuggets which has reached the furthest with the general public.



With the mightiness of the opener, it is understandably difficult to match this opening achievement, but there are other moments of goodness on offer with this LP. Track 4 is a very understated but brilliant song; Flower Grave goes in a different direction from the opening track, it is closer placed to Psychedelia than it is to Garage. That said the fifth song on this LP, Dance on Through, is a lovely and thoughtful song, sounding a lot closer to Garage counterparts The Standells or The Seeds, but with a touch more sensitivity, certainly one for doting couples.

More Garage doses occur with track six; Turn On Your Light was actually The Human Beinz second single with Capitol. It is safe to say that this release was a slight disappointment, not quite reaching the heights of the previous release. It was however a surprising hit in Japan, a country who remain rather fond of this group. The album ends with a bit of Baroque n Roll with the gorgeous Serenade to Sarah, which borders on Scott Walker meets Sopwith Camel, not too bad a mix in all honesty.

What The Human Beinz were looking for with this release was a variety of sounds, not completely breaking away from the formula that gave them their mega hit record, but at the same time making the effort to try and create a marvellous and diverse collection of songs, something which I reckon they have indeed achieved here. Rightfully a must for collectors, I think this album should be looked at again with a clearer mind now the dust has nearly settled from their debut 45 from 1967, a quite surprising record.