The Portraits

The era of Jersey Boys had barely faded when The Portraits made their debut. The Milwaukee singers and players were steeped in the vocal harmonies of the Four Seasons, Jay & the Americans and other '60s pop acts whose roots can be traced to the elaborate doo-wop singing of '50s R&B. Although most of the material gathered on this CD was never issued at the time, all of it was crafted with the hope of crashing the Top 40. The sterling singing and tuneful melodies would have stuck to the ear had they found their way to AM radio. Occasional outbursts of hard, distorted guitar give rise to the suspicion that at least one of The Portraits wanted to be Dave Davies, not Frankie Valli. David Luhrssen