Hailing from East Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, Thee Midniters have long been championed as the best Latino rock band of their era. Their artistic triumphs are broader than that — they’re one of the best rock bands of the era, period. Modifying the accolade with their familial and cultural origins is simply a way of explaining away the limited reach of their commercial success at the time.
The twenty songs on this aptly titled collection step easily between garage rock, doo-wop, soul, balladry, and even psychedelia. The band had keen instincts for powerful radio fare as well, though few outside southern California ever heard them back then. They recorded “Land Of A Thousand Dances” but lost out in the hit parade to Cannibal & the Headhunters, who had the benefit of a label with more powerful national distribution.
Featuring soulful numbers such as “Dreaming Casually” and “I Need Someone” alongside proto-Nuggets “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” and “Never Knew I Had It So Bad”, Greatest is the first legitimate CD collection of Thee Midniters. It’s an essential portrait of a great band from an American era when embracing numerous genres was rightly considered healthy.