Between 1965 and 1968, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels scored a series of hits on producer-impresario Bob Crewe's DynoVoice and New Voice labels.  With the prolific Crewe at the helm, Ryder's records featured a fiery blend of blue-eyed soul and pure, high-adrenaline rock-and-roll. Mitch Ryder (real name: William Levise, Jr.) set the stage for Michigan rockers from Bob Seger to Grand Funk Railroad to conquer the charts. For one of its final releases, Cherry Red's RPM imprint has celebrated the Ryder oeuvre with a comprehensive new collection due tomorrow February 21 (and in North America on February 28). Sockin' It to You: The Complete DynoVoice/New Voice Recordings has 65 tracks on 3 CDs comprising the complete albums Take a Ride, Breakout...!!!, Sock It to Me!, Mitch Ryder Sings the Hits, and What Now My Love plus single mixes and a one-off track.

Inspired by the incendiary onstage antics of James Brown and the electrifying music coming out of Motown's Hitsville USA in Ryder's own backyard, the Michigan native formed a band.  Billy Lee and the Rivieras (originally with Jim McCarty on guitar, Earl Elliott on bass and Johnny Badanjek on drums) became local favorites, and before long, a demo tape made its way to Crewe in New York.  Ever prescient, Crewe sensed the band's potential and signed them.  As a producer, he was able to channel their fast-and-furious onstage style into the recording studio, and while the group had perfected the art of the medley in concert, it was Crewe who famously paired "C.C. Rider" with Little Richard's "Jenny, Jenny" to create "Jenny Take a Ride."  The single by the rechristened Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels shot to No. 10 on the Hot 100 and established the medley formula for many of the band's later successes. It's featured on the album that opens Disc One of this set, Take a Ride, alongside other covers like Holland-Dozier-Holland's Supremes smash "Come See About Me," three James Brown covers, Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me," and the Crewe originals "I Hope" and "Baby Jane (Mo, Mo, Jane)."

For The Detroit Wheels, Crewe unleashed a harder-edged, garage-influenced style which was far-removed from his gritty yet gossamer Four Seasons productions.  A revival of The Righteous Brothers' "Little Latin Lupe Lu" (No. 17, 1966) followed on the Breakout...!!! album on which Ryder also revitalized familiar tunes from Rufus Thomas ("Walking the Dog"), Wilson Pickett ("In the Midnight Hour"), Marvin Gaye ("Stubborn Kind of Fellow"), and Chuck Jackson (Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard's "Any Day Now"). But the biggest success on the LP was future Bruce Springsteen favorite "Devil with a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly" (No. 4, 1966). Crewe again supplied a clutch of his own songs including two (the singles "I Had It Made" and "I Need Help") arranged by frequent Four Seasons collaborator Charles Calello.

Crewe and L. Russell Brown's gutsy, urgent "Sock It to Me Baby" (No. 6, 1966) gave Ryder another big radio hit. The accompanying Sock It to Me! LP (opening Disc Two of this set) had more original songs than ever: nine out of ten tracks, only interrupted by a (fine) cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's slinky "Walk on By." A greatest-hits album was next assembled from which "Too Many Fish in the Sea/Three Little Fishes" (No. 24, 1967) has been culled. Sock It to Me! marked the end of an era, however. Crewe began to envision Mitch Ryder as less of a rock-and-roller and more of a cabaret/nightclub entertainer. He dismissed the band and pursued the new direction with a solo Ryder. After the Crewe-penned "Joy" - a respectable stomper with more than a trace of Ryder's patented R&B - barely missed the top 40, he turned to a tried-and-true standard: "What Now My Love."

It was included on the most controversial LP in the Ryder discography: 1967's What Now My Love, opening Disc Three of this set. It was DynoVoice's bid to place the artist in the adult contemporary market. Ryder tried his best with selections like a baroque-tinged "Let It Be Me," a cover of the Crewe/Gaudio "I Make a Fool of Myself" (a 1967 A-side for the solo Frankie Valli), and a psychedelic freakout take on Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen's "If You Go Away," all creatively arranged and produced by Crewe. But the transformation of Ryder seemed half-hearted; hence, the inclusion of raucous Detroit Wheels-esque rave-ups like "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man." What Now My Love makes its CD debut in this package.

One more album followed in 1968. The solo-billed Mitch Ryder Sings the Hits album was a bit of an oddity as it relied heavily upon songs already recorded by Ryder with The Detroit Wheels: remixed, overdubbed, or re-recorded to smooth out the rough edges of the original (and superior) productions. It's on Disc Two of this set for timing reasons. The collection concludes with seven non-LP single sides and a radio promo, many of which are making their CD premieres. Many of these singles certainly qualify as hidden gems, from Crewe and Calello's moody "Blessing in Disguise" and Crewe and Larry Weiss' evocative "The Lights of Night" to another Motown cover, "Baby I Need Your Loving." Subtitled "Theme for Mitch," the singer reinvents the Holland-Dozier-Holland standard in uptempo, in-your-face fashion (with crowd applause and noise added).

Sockin' It to You: The Complete DynoVoice/New Voice Recordings, housed in an eight-panel digipak, includes a 20-page booklet with detailed liner notes by the collection's compiler, Bob Fisher. Simon Murphy has remastered everything. It's the kind of release that will make the RPM imprint, set to shutter later this year, so very missed. Goodtime rock and soul doesn't get much more exciting than on Sockin' It to You. Though the relationship between Mitch Ryder and Bob Crewe unfortunately ended in acrimony, the music they created together remains some of the 1960s' most powerful.

Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Sockin' It to You: The Complete DynoVoice/New Voice Recordings (Cherry Red/RPM QRPMT549, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Take a Ride (New Voice S-2000, 1966)

1. SHAKE A TAIL FEATHER
2. COME SEE ABOUT ME
3. LET YOUR LOVELIGHT SHINE /TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT
4. JUST A LITTLE BIT
5. I HOPE
6. JENNY TAKE A RIDE
7. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
8. I'LL GO CRAZY
9. I GOT YOU (I FEEL GOOD)
10. STICKS AND STONES
11. BRING IT ON HOME TO ME
12. BABY JANE (MO, MO JANE)

Breakout...!!! (New Voice S-2002, 1966)

13. DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS ON -GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY
14. WALKING THE DOG
15. I HAD IT MADE
16. IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
17. OO POO PAH DOO
18. I LIKE IT LIKE THAT
19. LITTLE LATIN LUPE LU
20. YOU GET YOUR KICKS
21. SHAKIN' WITH LINDA
22. STUBBORN KIND OF FELLOW
23. ANY DAY NOW
24. I NEED HELP
25. BREAKOUT

CD 2

Sock It to Me! (New Voice S-2003, 1967)

1. SOCK IT TO ME BABY
2. I CAN'T HIDE IT
3. TAKIN' ALL I CAN GET
4. SLOW FIZZ (INSTRUMENTAL)
5. WALK ON BY
6. I NEVER HAD IT BETTER
7. SHAKEDOWN
8. A FACE IN THE CROWD
9. I'D RATHER GO TO JAIL
10. WILD CHILD
11. TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA/THREE LITTLE FISHES (Bonus Track) (from All Mitch Ryder Hits, New Voice S-2004, 1967)

Mitch Ryder Sings the Hits (New Voice S-2005, 1968)

12. LET YOUR LOVELIGHT SHINE/TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT
13. WALKING THE DOG
14. STICKS AND STONES
15. I LIKE IT LIKE THAT
16. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
17. RUBY BABY / PEACHES ON A CHERRY TREE
18. COME SEE ABOUT ME
19. WALK ON BY
20. STUBBORN KIND OF FELLOW
21. YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
22. I GOT YOU

CD 3

What Now My Love (DynoVoice DY31901, 1967)

1. LET IT BE ME
2. I MAKE A FOOL OF MYSELF
3. BORN TO LOSE
4. IF YOU GO AWAY (NE ME QUITTE PAS)
5. WHAT NOW MY LOVE
6. WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN' ON
7. SALLY GO 'ROUND THE ROSES
8. BROWN EYED HANDSOME MAN
9. I NEED LOVIN' YOU
10. THAT'S IT I QUIT, I'M MOVIN' ON

Bonus Singles

11. BLESSING IN DISGUISE (DynoVoice 901, 1967)
12. ONE GRAIN OF SAND (New Voice 822, 1967)
13. JOY (New Voice 824, 1967)
14. (YOU'VE GOT) PERSONALITY/CHANTILLY LACE (DynoVoice 905, 1967)
15. THE LIGHTS OF NIGHT (DynoVoice 916, 1968)
16. BABY I NEED YOUR LOVING - THEME FOR MITCH (DynoVoice 934, 1969)
17. RING YOUR BELL (DynoVoice 934, 1969)
18. RADIO PROMO (previously issued on Detroit Breakout!, An Ultimate Anthology, Westside CD WESD 202, 1997)