line up 1 (1962-71)

- Big John Bradley -- vocals, guitar

- Karl Hausman -- vocals, keyboards, harmonica

- Kit Carson Stewart -- vocals, drums, percussion

- Ronnie Shane (aka Ron Cichonski) -- bass

- New Hope

- The Pablo Ponce' Four

- The Tak Tiks

Genre: pop

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Title: Do Their Thing Live

Company: Jamie

Catalog: LPS 3032
Year: 1969

Country/State: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: back panel signed by Kit Stewart "To our swinging people Paul + Judy - we love ya The Kit Kats Kat Stewart"

Available: 1

Catalog ID: --

Price: $12.00

Featuring singer/guitarist Big John Bradley, keyboardist Karl Hausman, drummer Kit Carson Stewart and bassist Ronnie Shane, for a brief period in the mid-'60s Philadelphia's The Kit Kats were one of the city's biggest acts. Playing their own instruments and occasionally writing their own material, in other circumstances they might have been as well known as The Association, or The Four Seasons.  Unfortunately, but the time this 1969 live collection was released, public tastes had moved on leaving these guys relegated to playing small local clubs like the Philadelphia's T-Bar Lounge.  The liner notes erroneously said the bar was located in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania.

Even for an end-of-career live set this one was strange.  To start, the album didn't include a single track from their 1967 studio album "It's Just a Matter of Tim ..."    Over their eight year recording history they also recorded at least twelve single, enjoying several regional hits such as "That's the Way" and "Let's Get Lost on a Country Road". Only one of those sides; 1967's "Distance" was included on the album. Produced by keyboardist Stewart the sound wasn't bad for what was clearly a "quickie" project.  The performances were professional, though with the exception of "Distance" seldom impressive.  What ultimately sank the album was the poor song selection.  Their repertoire reflected a mindless mixture of older (Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie" and Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire" and  then-popular pop and rock hits like Mary Hopkins' "Those Were the Day" and The Animals "We Gotta Get Out of this Place".  Their decision to cover a couple of hits sung by females (Mary Hopkin's hit and the Cass Elliott sung Mamas and the Papas'  hit "Words of Love") also found lead singer Bradley struggling to cope with the higher registry arrangements. The other problem stemmed from Stewart's production.  The sound was frequently shrill and tinny, almost as if it had been released direct from the mikes without any in-studio post-production clean-up.

"Doing Their Thing Live" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Barry Mann - Cynthia Weil) - 2:58  rating: *** stars

God only knows how many covers of this Mann-Weil classic have been recorded.  Regardless of how you feel about Eric Burdon, the fact of the matter is The Animals' version remains the benchmark.  Against that baseline this version isn't half bad - energetic enough, but ultimately they didn't add anything of note to the song.

2.) Words Of Love (John Phillips) - 2:04  rating: ** stars 

"Words of Love" served as The Mamas and the Papas sixth single. With Cass Elliott handling lead vocals, their version was a top-10 hit.  The Kit Kats didn't stray from the original melody or arrangement but they don't seem to have grasped having Bradley try to sing in in a high register was going to come off as odd.  He sounded quite uncomfortable.  It got even worse when they covered Mary Hopkins.

3.) Littlie Queenie (Chuck Berry) - 3:31 rating: ** stars 

No  '60s cover band worth their salt would go onstage with at least one Chuck Berry song in their repertoire.  All I can tell you is their cover of "Little Queenie" was neither the best, nor the worst version I've encountered. 

4.) Those Were The Days (Boris Fomin - Konstantin Podrevsky - Eugene Raskin) - 5:12 rating: ** stars

Most folks will recognize this tune as a Paul McCartney produced hit for Mary Hopkins.  She enjoyed the hit in 1968 so I can see why the band included it in their live repertoire.  Musically they stuck with the original melody.  And that was a problem since Bradley sounded very uncomfortable struggling to handle the song's high register.  The poor guy sounded like he had his hand stuck in a car door.  Painful.

5.) Bumble Boogie (instrumental) (Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov) - 2:16 rating: *** stars

The instrumental "Bumble Boogie" served as a spotlight for Hausman's rollicking keyboards.  Their "rocked up" version of B. Bumble and the Stingers' adaptation of Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" was actually mildly entertaining.

(side 2)
1.) Distance (Raymond Gilmore - Joe Renzetti) - 2:46 rating: **** stars

The Kit-Kats had previously released "Distance" as a non-LP single.  Sounding like a mash-up of The Association, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Turtles, it was a surprisingly enjoyable performance.  Powered by Hausman's harpsichord, the song  showcased they could play pop-rock and they could replicate the single's sweet harmonies.  Curiously the inner label credited the song as an original tune written by Hausman and Stewart.

- 1967's "Distance" b/w "Find Someone" (Jamie catalog number 1345)

2.) One Of Those Songs (G. Calvi) - 2:22 rating: 1 star

As good as "Distance" was, the old timey "One of Those Songs" demonstrated how pandering and crappy these guys could be.  Simply horrible "barbershop quartet" crap.

3.) Candy Man (Fred Neil - B. Ross) - 2:11 rating: *** stars

Fred Neil wrote "Candy Man' fro Roy Orbison (Neil also recorded the song).  The Kit Kats version was apparently their stab at a blues number.  Another modest surprise, it wasn't nearly as awful as I was expecting.  

4.) Great Balls Of Fire (Otis Blackwell - Jack Hammer) - 2:11 rating: ** stars

Another standard bar band cover.  Hardly an essential cover though keyboardist Hausman was good and drummer Kit Carson Stewart was even better.

5.) Draft Dodger Rag (Phil Ochs) - 2:18 rating: ** stars

If you remember this was recorded in 1969 then their cover of the famous Phil Ochs anti-war true makes sense.  Yeah, the lyrics are still relevant, but their folk arrangement must have sounded old-fashioned even back in 1969.

T

he album sold poorly and proved to be The Kit Kats final release.  They quickly morphed into The New Hope, releasing a 1969 album "New Hope" for Jamie (Jamie catalog number 1385).

 © Scott R. Blackerby January 2026