Genre: pop
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: The Mauds Hold On
Company: Mercury
Catalog: MG
21135
Year: 1967
Country/State: Chicago, Illinois
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: mono pressing; promo stamp on back cover
Available: 1
Catalog ID: 5433
Price: $80.00
Compared to other mid-1960s Chicago-based outfits like The American Breed, The New Colony Six, Rotary Connection, Shadows of the Knight, etc., The Mauds have simply gotten lost in the shuffle. Part of it may have been due to the fact these guys pursued a fairly commercial brand of pop/blue-eyed soul which didn't sit all that well with critics. Who knows ...
Originally formed in 1965 singer/frontman Jimy Rogers, The Mauds started out as a covers band, playing parties, dances and Chicago clubs. Following a series of personnel changes, by 1966 the line up consisted of Rogers, rhythm guitarist Timmy Coniglio, lead guitarist Robert Fuzzy Fuscaldo, bassist Billy Winter, and drummer Phil Weinberg. Initially signed to Bill Traut's Chicago based-Dunwich label, the band debuted with the 1967 single 'Hold On' b/w 'C'mon and Move' (Dunwich catalog number 160). The single generated considerable local attention with Mercury Records subsequently purchasing national distribution rights. Reissued under Mercury catalog number 72694 and backed by Mercury's promotional power, the reissued single hit # 114 on the pop charts. The single was followed by 'When Something Is Wrong (with My Baby' b/w 'You Make Me Feel So Bad' (Mercury catalog number 72720).
As was standard marketing policy, Mercury subsequently released a supporting album. Produced by George Badonsky and Bill Traut, 1967's "The Mauds Hold On" offered up a mix of the earlier singles, pop and soul covers, and a pair of Fuscaldo-penned originals. Exemplified by tracks like 'Harlem Shuffle', 'Knock On Wood' and 'You Must Believe Me' to my ears the results were energetic, if frequently less than awe-inspiring. With the band normally sticking close to the original arrangements anyone familiar with the original versions was left to wonder why they bothered ... Even worse, a couple of their song choices were just plain bad. Propelled by a fey performance from Rogers 'When Something Is Wrong (with My Baby)' was a clunker through and through; they managed to reduce 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' to cocktail jazz, and they somehow managed to turn Isaac Hayes and David Porter's 'Hold On' into something dull and forgettable.. On the other hand Rogers had a likeable voice; the band's playing was decent (though the horn arrangements were occasionally quite clunky), and the originals were actually quite good. 'C'mon and Move' may have been the funkiest track on the album, while 'You Made Me Feel So Bad' was the best rocker. Initially a major disappointment, though it's grown on me the more I've played it.
"The
Mauds Hold On" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Harlem Shuffle (R. Relf - E. Nelson) - 2:55
2.) Knock On Wood (Eddie Floyd - Steve Cropper) - 2:25
3.) When Something Is Wrong (with My Baby) (Isaac Hayes - David Porter) - 2:35
4.) Look At Granny Run Run (Mort Shuman - J. Ragovay) - 2:25
5.) Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (J. Zawinul) - 5:17
(side
2)
1.) Hold On (Isaac Hayes - David Porter) - 2:23
2.) You Must Believe Me (Curtis Mayfield) - 2:43
3.) You Don't Know Like I Know (Isaac Hayes - David Porter) - 2:34
4.) C'mon and Move (Fuzzy Fuscaldo - Jimmy Rogers) - 2:03
5.) Ha Ha Ha (Otis Redding) - 2:20
6.) You Made Me Feel So Bad (Fuzzy Fuscaldo - Denny Horan) - 2:05
The band continued to release a string of singles over the next three years:
- 1967's 'He Will break Your Heart' b/w 'and 'You Must Believe Me' (Mercury catalog number 72760)
- 1968's 'Soul Dripping' b/w 'Forever Gone' (Mercury catalog number 72832)
- 1968's 'Only Love Can Save You Now' b/w 'Sgt Sunshine' (Mercury catalog number 72877)
- 1969's 'Satisfy My Love' b/w 'Brother Chickee' (Mercury catalog number 72919)
- 1970's 'Man without a Dream' b/w 'Forget It, I've Got It' (RCA Victor 47-0377)
Rogers has formed various updated versions of the band and has a small website at:
Fuscaldo's an interesting guy. Following The Mauds he served as lead guitarist for Curtis Mayfield and was then a member of Baby Huey & the Babysitters (though he didn't appear on the band's sole LP). Following Baby Huey's death, he was a member of Captain Beefheart's backing band (the so-called Tragic band). Fuscaldo apparently died in December 2007, though I haven't been able to locate an obituary.
Suffering from liver cancer, Jimy Rogers passed away in December 2010.