The only single release from the album was the spiritually-themed Glory, Glory(#57 in the US), with backing vocals by The Sweet Inspirations. The last album with them as active members was Search & Nearness, which featured Eddie singing lead on the Cornish-penned You Don't Know and their cover of The Box Tops hit The Letter. In 1970, Eddie Brigati left the group, followed by Cornish in 1971. After "People Got to Be Free", the Rascals never regained their former fame or had as large a hit. Unusual for their time, the Rascals refused to tour on segregrated bills. Their best-remembered song was "People Got to Be Free" (1968), a passionate plea for racial tolerance. Soon the band began to mature as songwriters and released other hit songs written themselves, including the hit "Groovin'" (1967), "It's Wonderful", "How Can I Be Sure" (which got to #1 in the UK when covered by David Cassidy), and "A Beautiful Morning" (1968). 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). They decided to rename the group the Young Rascals. When Atlantic Records signed them, they discovered that they already had another obscure group named the Rascals on the payroll. 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). Three-quarters of the group - Felix, Gene, and Eddie - had previously been members of Joey Dee and the Starliters. The Young Rascals aka The Rascals (the group dropped the "Young" from their name in early 1968 while continuing their streak of hits) were an American soul and rock group of the 1960s.įelix Cavaliere (keyboard, vocals), Gene Cornish (guitar), Dino Danelli (drums) and Eddie Brigati (vocals) formed the band in New York City.