Why Pick On Me (mono vinyl LP)

For their second Tower album, Why Pick On Me, the Standells received a significant sonic boost with the move to American Recording Company. Legendary engineer Richie Podolor cut the best sounding records of the era; from the Standells, Chocolate Watchband, and Electric Prunes to Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night. The drum tracks on this album are simply not to be believed, the bass drum sound possibly registering on the Richter scale. Here the Standells build on their strengths with tough originals from producer Ed Cobb, equally-hard driving outside material (“Black Hearted Woman,” “Mainline”), and notably, the emergence of Larry Tamblyn as a songwriter (his “Mr. Nobody” arguably the album’s highlight). Plus extra cuts all pulled from the original Tower Records mono reels.