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The Rooks – A Girl Like You [Chicago, IL, USA ; Garage Rock] (1966)
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View Reddit by tormdra – View Source
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The Rooks – A Girl Like You [Chicago, IL, USA ; Garage Rock] (1966)
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View Reddit by tormdra – View Source
˝For all its ’60s pop chart contributors (Buckinghams, New Colony Six, American Breed, et all), the city of Chicago and its outlying suburbs also produced an arguably way more interesting legion of long-hair, three-chord rebels from the commercial wrong side of the tracks. While The Shadows Of Knight were the one blues-infused unkempt act to rise to national prominence, the Windy City boasted plenty of other musical malcontents like The Knaves, Little Boy Blues and Dirty Wurds, to name only a few.˝
˝Until now, one of the most mysterious of these garage-punk hybrids was The Rooks, who cut the amazing two-sider, “A Girl Like You” backed with a killer cover of the Stones’ “Empty Heart,” in late ’66.˝
˝The band, who hailed from such Chi-town ‘hoods/’burbs as Berwyn, Justice, Elmhurst, Melrose Park and La Grange, were comprised of Tony Petrini (lead vocals), Jeff Pranno (lead guitar), Steve McGreer (rhythm guitar), Billy Haack (bass) and Loren Raphael (drums). Pranno and Raphael, the co-writers of “A Girl Like You,” were cousins and, truth be told, “Raphael” merely the nom de plume of one Charles Pranno.˝
˝If it’s possible to separate the Chicago groups of the mid-sixties into two main camps, pop-oriented pros vs. unruly punks, a quick inspection of The Rooks’ promo photos informs us of exactly where they fit. Look no further than their influences, as offered up by Jeff Pranno: *”We were doing Them, Kinks, Yardbirds and Rolling Stones. We did stuff that we liked off of the albums; not necessarily the most popular records on the radio. We did ‘Rosalyn’ and ‘Big City’ which were Pretty Things songs. And Them, of course we did ‘Mystic Eyes’ and ‘Gloria'”*˝
˝These boys were popular enough to score opening spots for an Animals/Herman’s Hermits bill at the Chicago Amphitheatre, as well as a 4th of July Dave Clark Five date at the Wisconsin Fairgrounds.˝
˝The Them influence bled heavily into their own classic “A Girl Like You” — hands down the best-ever “I Can Only Give You Everything”-cop on the brutal intro, with kudos to the Panno cousins for upping the tempo with pounding drums topped with plenty of cool guitar (including a potential second break heating-up just at the song’s abrupt face. %$#@ it). Pranno recalls, *”That was the song we opened with at the Amphitheatre. From what I recall, we played it about twice as fast as it should be!”*˝
˝While forgotten for too long, in their day, The Rooks were in-demands in the Chicagoland area ‘n’ beyond. *”We used the play The Hut, The Wild Goose, The Cellar, Surf’s Up, Gospel Zone (!!!)… there were so many,”* says Pranno.˝
—Jeff Jarema
(source: backside of the sleeve: https://www.discogs.com/The-Rooks-A-Girl-Like-You/release/15512491 )