The Rascals

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The Rascals (originally promoted and known as The Young Rascals) were an American blue-eyed soul and rock music group of the 1960s. Felix Cavaliere (keyboard, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar), Dino Danelli (drums) and Eddie Brigati (vocals) formed the band in New York City. Three-quarters of the group - Felix, Gene, and Eddie - had previously been members of Joey Dee and The Starliters. Eddie's brother, David Brigati, another former Starliter, arranged the vocal harmonies and sang backgrounds on many of the group's recordings, informally earning the designation as the Fifth Rascal.

Their first minor hit was "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" (1965), followed by the #1 single "Good Lovin'" (1966, originally by the Olympics). Soon, the band began to mature as songwriters and released other hit songs written themselves, including "Groovin'" (recorded in 1967, it's one of their best-known hits), "It's Wonderful", "How Can I Be Sure?" and "Beautiful Morning" (1968).

Their best-remembered song was "People Got to Be Free" (1968), a passionate plea for racial tolerance; unusually for their time, the Rascals refused to tour on unintegrated bills. After "People Got to Be Free", the Rascals never regained their former fame or had as large a hit, partially because of the loss of Brigati in 1970, followed by Cornish in 1971. During this period, they recorded hits as "Carry Me Back" (1969) and "Glory, Glory" (1970).

They finally disbanded in 1972.

In 1982, Cavaliere and Danelli joined Steve Van Zandt in "Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul", Van Zant's project between his stints with the E Street Band.

The (Young) Rascals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

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