[.ca] Are Happening! Best Of The

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?:
Best known for their definitive garage-punk version of Hey Joe (apologies to Jimi), this release collects together the whole of their first album along with the usual bonuses one expects in a package of this type. The Leaves were a raw, almost Stonesy contrast to the cooler Byrds, the more eccentric Love & the slicker Turtles. You'll really like "Dr. Stone," "Too Many People" & their version of "Words" (this ain't the Monkees). I like the Leaves' take on "He Was a Friend of Mine." Their "Love Minus Zero" is more Dylanesque than the better-known Turtles rendition. The Capitol LP, All the Good that's Happening, generally gets a bad rap, but it includes ace covers of "The One in the Middle" & Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Codeine," plus a few good originals & is deserving of reissue. Bob Rixon, WFMU

Heavy West Coast Folk Rock:
I bought this CD based solely upon hearing the Leaves versions of "Hey Joe" (a classic) and "Too Many People" on the Nuggets compilation and was not disappointed in my purchase of "The Leaves...Are Happening." Other reviewers have made reference to a Byrds/Rolling Stones influence and I agree, but there's more to it than that. The songs have an early punk flavor that gives them a harder edge than many Byrds tunes, yet they're more melodic and harmony laden than most early Stones records. Compare the Leaves version of "He Was A Friend Of Mine" to the Byrds and you'll see what I mean. If you enjoy mid-sixties folk/garage/punk rock than you'll certainly be rewarded for checking out a band that deserves to be remembered for more than just being the group that was able to turn "Hey Joe" into a hit.

hummm, hey joe,,,no es para tanto!!!!!!!!:
Conocidos por su versión de Hey joe!, intentan desgarrar la típica actitud "byrds" con sonido garagero, pero la verdad que no es gran cosa! Sucesión de temas crudos, armónica y folk rabioso, carente de dirección...me quedo mil veces con la versión de Love del tema de dino valente...lo que es excelente como siempre que se trate de sundazed es el booklet y todo lo que es la gráfica del cd. En definitiva no es más que un típico cd "garage" sin muchas pretenciones.

At Least They Spelled Their Name Right:
There's one thing to be said for true One-Hit Wonders - when a CD is released of their music, usualy that lone hit is among the selections offered. That's the case here as both Hey Joe and its flipside, Funny Little World, are included. Other than that, this is yet one more band from that era which receives way too much attention from the more sanctimonious musical historians of the type which permeate outfits like Rolling Stone Magazine. It seems these people can never quite comprehend why the masses didn't \oand don't now\c fall all over artists and groups that THEY seem to worship out of all proportion to their accomplishments. Such as Frank Zappa, Parliament/Funkadelic, The Velvet Underground - and The Leaves, whose screaming vocals and fuzz guitar sounds are somehow required listening. At least the Mira label was persistent. They first released the song in 1965 as Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go? but it went nowhere. Only after its second try did it make it to # 31 in June 1966. After that, nothing. Nor did their albums exactly burn up the charts. Their first for Mira, containing the requisite mid-1960s protest songs, Bob Dylan tunes, and two versions of Hey Joe, enjoyed only mediocre success. Not even a larger label such as Capitol, who signed them in 1967 and put out another LP, could nudge them back onto the charts. When they broke up in 1967 vocalist Robert Arlin formed a new band called The Hook, but they enjoyed even less success with their two LPs on the Uni label. Only bassist Jim Pons enjoyed further success while briefly serving as a member of The Turtles. No doubt they had a following, especially in their native California, and for those fans still around this is probably considered a find. For chart completist collectors, however, it's only suitable for the one hit and its flipside. At least they didn't perpetuate a spelling mistake - like Toronto's NHL team - by referring to themselves as The Leafs.

• Dr. Stone
• Just a Memory
• Get Out of My Life Woman
• Girl from the East
• He Was a Friend of Mine
• Hey Joe
• Words
• Back on the Avenue
• War of Distortion
• Tobacco Road
• Goodbye My Love
• Too Many People
• Hey Joe \oSingle Version\c
• Funny Little World
• You Better Move On
• That's a Different Story
• Love Minus Zero/No Limit
• Be With You
• Too Many People \oSingle Version\c
• Hey Joe \oPromo Single Version\c