From Rats to Riches is an album by the American rock band Good Rats, released in 1978.[2][3] It was produced by Flo & Eddie.[4] Joe Franco's drumming was influenced primarily by Tony Williams and Carmine Appice.[5]

From Rats to Riches
Studio album by
Released1978
GenreRock
LabelPassport (original US & Canadian release)[1]
Radar Records (UK)
Harvest (Germany & Australia)
Mercury (Greece)
ProducerFlo & Eddie
Good Rats chronology
Ratcity in Blue
(1976)
From Rats to Riches
(1978)
Rats, The Way You Like 'Em
(1979)

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [7]
The New Rolling Stone Record Guide     [8]

The Poughkeepsie Journal deemed From Rats to Riches "East Coast urban rock," writing that "underlying all of these darkly decadent circumstances is a determination to get out from under the crowd."[9] The Morning News labeled it "solid, blues-based hard rock from a Zappa-like group."[10]

AllMusic called the album "strong but overlooked."[3] Chuck Eddy, in Terminated for Reasons of Taste, wrote: "Heavier than I would have guessed, and more lyrically and structurally eccentric ... than I figured from supposed bar-band hacks, with sonic influences running the gamut from doo-wop to prog to maybe even punk."[11] Noting a 1993 reissue, Newsday deemed Good Rats "the tri-state area's greatest bar band."[12] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music considered it Good Rats' best album.[7]

Track listing

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  1. "Taking It to Detroit" – 3:36
  2. "Just Found Me a Lady" – 2:50
  3. "Mr. Mechanic" – 3:39
  4. "Dear Sir" – 3:12
  5. "Let Me" – 4:45
  6. "Victory in Space" – 3:06
  7. "Coo Coo Coo Blues" – 4:37
  8. "Don't Hate the Ones Who Bring You Rock & Roll" – 3:18
  9. "Could Be Tonight" – 2:54
  10. "Local Zero" – 5:08

Personnel

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  • Mickey Marchello - Guitar and Vocals
  • Joe Franco - Drums
  • Peppi Marchello - Lead Vocals, Songwriting
  • John "The Cat" Gatto - Guitar and Keyboards
  • Lenny Kotke - Bass and Vocals

References

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  1. ^ "Home". Good Rats.
  2. ^ Ames, Lynne (7 May 1978). "'The Cradle for a Certain Kind of Rock Scene': The 'Farm Leagues' of Rock". The New York Times. p. LI31.
  3. ^ a b "The Good Rats Biography & History". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Robins, Wayne (3 Feb 1978). "Blunt sound of 'Rats'". Newsday. p. 17A.
  5. ^ D'Amore, Jon (7 Apr 1978). "The Music Scence". Herald News. North Jersey. p. D11.
  6. ^ "Rats to Riches". AllMusic.
  7. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 815.
  8. ^ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1983. p. 202.
  9. ^ Sleight, Peter (10 Feb 1978). "'Good Rats' tucked away in a storm". Poughkeepsie Journal. p. 2.
  10. ^ Mullinax, Gary (26 Mar 1978). "Good Rats: solid". The Morning News. p. D2.
  11. ^ Eddy, Chuck (August 25, 2016). Terminated for Reasons of Taste: Other Ways to Hear Essential and Inessential Music. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822373896 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ Robins, Wayne (12 Dec 1993). "The '70's from A to Z: Good Rats". Fanfare. Newsday. p. 10.