The Wildweeds - No Good To Cry: The Best Of The Wildweeds (2002)

Before a teenaged Al Anderson began his 22-year run with the well-loved and prolific NRBQ, he had The Wildweeds. Big Al, as he is known, wrote most of this collection of scorching rock and soul-influenced songs. This definitive lineup of The Wildweeds never put out an LP. Thus these tracks - many never released - form a great "lost" album of the 1960s.

For Confidential Recordings' in-depth package, Big Al not only lent his full cooperation, but also provided access to his personal collection of photographs and memorabilia. In addition, Wildweeds historian Richard Brukner interviewed other original band members and scores of family, friends and fans. His resulting sixteen pages of liner notes tell the complete story of The Wildweeds.

That story is also told by the music. At the collection's core are the eight songs that comprise the entirety of The Weeds' four single records released on Chess' Cadet label. Six previously unreleased tracks round out the set, including a searing cover of The Soul Sisters classic "I Can't Stand It" and "Fuzzy Wuzzy," a red-hot, fuzzed-out original instrumental. This compilation also debuts "No Good To Cry" in stereo and instrumental versions re-mixed and re-mastered from the original multi-track tapes by original producer Thomas "Doc" Cavalier.