Ohio Express - Beg, Borrow And Steal - [STEREO]

[Flex52able]

The 1st 45 rpm I bought. Still got it.

[pgh45rpms]

I'd call this is a garage band track. The b-side of B-B-&S on 45 is "Maybe" -- a terrific instrumental version of the lp track "And It's True". The last cut on side 2, bubblegummy "It's Too Groovy" shows where the band was heading. 

This Ohio Express Cameo album was distributed by MGM at a time when the Philadelphia label was dissolving; most of the bands under Came-Parkway were picked up by the newly formed Buddah label in 1968.

[POPAVIDEO]

garage track

merci beaucoup

fantastique !

[acecisco123v]

I agree, was bubblegum, although this is a little different than some of the other hits. But i can see the distinction. I'm like the person that said lets not lose the identity. A lot of people don't know what the term means anymore.

[HighMomentum1]

Love this song...Ohio Express better known for Yummy, yummy and Chewy, but this song is really good, even though it came out long before those other two. Thanks for posting. I don't know what made me think of this song today, but I searched for it, and there it was. Made my day!

[eowyn1964]

Oh, I'd call it garage rock. Yeah, I remember this song, but didn't connect it with Ohio Express. I'm listening to a lot of "bubblegum" music tonight on YouTube, because I'm reading a book called "Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth', found at my local library. Lots of great tidbits on the sillier side of pop music!

[727JeffN]

Awesome! I've never heard the stereo mix of this song before!

[Justfill25]

louie louie

[AbiTheSceneGirl]

Have this on 8 track, play it in my 66 galaxie 500 convertible as loud as i can

[XMIR10C]

Hey Mucic Mike my friend - Why are you now calling this "garage"? Its not garage now nor was it then. Its 60's bubblegum music. Dont you remember? Lets not lose our identities now Mike. I understand the new generation wanted a "new tag". Cheers Mike.

[MusicMike2]

@XMIR10C ---- Granted, the Ohio Express was primarily a bubble gum group....but, "Beg, Borrow And Steal" is more garage rock/pop to me. I've interview members of the Ohio Express several times over the years and they all expressed the same feeling. In addition, the lyrics don't sound like a bubble gum song...they have a little more "grit" to them....unlike in "Yummy Yummy", or "Chewy Chewy". But hey, call it whatcha like. It's a great song any way you slice it.

[johnnydelrey]

@MusicMike2 bubble gum era came later. This is as garage as it gets! I heard this on Louisville KY radio, it took me YEARS to find this album in NJ. When I found it at a small flea market for fifty cents, I could hardly contain myself until the transaction was complete. I almost screamed at the guy" Iv'e been looking for this since 1967! It's rare!". Maybe it's only rare outside of Ohio. And on the subject of bubble gum, would any bubble gum band drive a van painted that way? Lost classic!

[eoj2495]

@johnnydelrey I too have loved this song since 1967. The radio stations almost never play it. I finally got the stereo version on a sampler CD, with an oddball assortment of old Cameo-Parkway hits. I saw the LP a few years ago $4.00 at a used record store. It was in cherry condition too. Had to pass it up since my record collection and stereo gear are long gone!

[johnnydelrey]

@eoj2495 sorry to hear about your records and gear. My records have been in storage for 10 years. I started putting some on CD, but I only got about 20 finished when someone pointed out to me that CDs were almost obsolete. It's mp3s now. I got a 300 disc player that could be stacked to 3. I figured 900 CDs would hold most of my favorite LPs. Now my plans are to buy an external hard drive, pull the boxes out one at a time and digitalize! Then maybe an internet radio station or podcast. Dream on!

[bpark222]

@MusicMike2  This is included (as the rare breed) on the nuggets box set, so the garage label is quite appropriagte

[Debutantealways]

@XMIR10C I agree with you, Music Mike..this has the garage band feel all the way...and I never thought of them as bubble gum when I first heard this way back then....as I did with Yummy, Yummy or Chewy Chewy. In fact, I wish they would have stayed with this kind of music.....they rocked it!

[MrTiptoes1]

The Bass player should have tuned up before the recording session instead of trying to tune his bass during the recording. Sharp as chit

[pause10two4]

so, MusicMike, do you think that is Joe Walsh pictured on the album cover? Supposedly, he briefly played with the band and left after this album was recorded.

[thecountofbasie]

Cool label...never heard this one in stereo...still great after all these years...thanks Mike

[LousFool]

sooo good......

[jsbach15]

I remember this song! 

[begborrowandsteal]

Actually we recorded this song while we were The Conquests. It was later released under the names The Rare Breed and then The Ohio Express. In reality, those two groups went on to record other songs, but we recorded Beg Borrow and Steal. So people could see this is true, we recorded it again a couple of years ago and put it on YouTube. Thanks for posting it.

[eoj2495]

@begborrowandsteal And a great song it is!!!!

Still sounds so good after all these years... Thanks !!

[GeoSilverAway]

The train effects are only on the LP.

Katz and Kasenatz got the rights to the recording without the Rare Breed getting anything.

Ohio Express was just a name they used for their productions, whoever sang it for them.

[jekiwe]

MM.....ditto on the comment from "nomiclas"

it's your insight into the music we remember and a fresh telling of the story that makes you who you are

thanks again for all the memories

[Jackamoo1]

BEG BORROW AND STEAL _RARE BREED

These are two of the original band who recorded Beg Borrow and Steal. It was released under names Rare Breed and Ohio Express. This is NOT a cover. People who recorded this record were: John Freno,...

These are two of the original band who recorded Beg Borrow and Steal. It was released under names Rare Breed and Ohio Express. This is NOT a cover.

[nomiclas]

i always like music mikes intro's sooooo come on mike,give us the whole story.are you getting shy or something?i have a nice copy of this but it's just not the same w/o the M/M intro.

[MusicMike2]

Lol...Guess I thought this one didn't need much of an introduction....my bad. But, as the story goes, this is actually an original recording by the Rare Breed....reissued and marketed as the Ohio Express. The Ohio Express became the touring band for this tune and many others. They did record many songs on their own, but future big hit recordings featured studio lead singer Joey Levine. Nonetheless, The "Ohio Express" are legends in Mansfield and Lexington, Ohio.

[pizzzzza1]

@MusicMike2 Hey Mike!

Good tune - but I have a question:

How did they do this legally? You said they "reissued and marketed as the Ohio Express".

So the Ohio Express is basically taking credit for this recording on their album, although the Rare Breed recorded the song.

I always got confused between the Rare Breed, the American Breed and Ohio Express when I was younger, and it's still not clear now that i'm older! LOL

[MusicMike2]

Well, I'm not a legal expert....but, I believe both groups were connected with the same record people...who basically owned the rights to all of it and therefore could release the song in any way they wanted. This was quite common years ago in the music business. Many groups had very little control over their music and how it was marketed. Many saw little or no money from it either.

[pizzzzza1]

That's really too bad about what you say about there being little money to the actual people who sang the song - doesn't seem right, but this isn't the first time I've heard something like this about groups from the 60s and 70s.

[lonemirage2seeme]

@MusicMike2 This sounds pretty typical. In fact the two people who wrote the song were never credited for writing it either - they sold the rights to the same record people, and they then copyrighted it under their name instead.

[Kell0526]

@MusicMike2

Mike, I think both the Rare Breed and The Ohio Express were with Katz-Kasenetz, the guys who produced their big hits. I had this 45 in 1967 and I think their names were on the label.

Bill K (Chicago)

[rslitman]

Also, is it possible for you to do a longer segment with this one in which you introduce the song and then let us know if the versions by the Rare Breed and the Ohio Express are the same recording (with or without the special effects, or SFX, if that's what SFX means) or if they just sound so much alike? Thanks.

[Gerryinthewoods]

MIke...you do it again. Great memories of my days in Tiffin and Westlake, Ohio as a kid.

[ArniepII]

Always played this riff on guitar but never knew where it originated! Great tune by a bunch of great guys. Thanks Mike

[rslitman]

@ArniepII Actually, the riff goes back longer than that. When I first heard this song as a 13- or 14-year-old, I recognized the chords from "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen. And I soon learned that these are the basic three chords played in many simple songs. Other songs from 1966 that featured them were "Wild Thing" by the Troggs (which I nicknamed the "Out of tune 'Louie Louie") and "Cherry Cherry" by Neil Diamond.

[ArniepII]

Totally forgot the Louie Louie riff as being the same but not sure which came first. Thanks for the callout on this rslitman! Arnie

[thecountofbasie]

@ArniepII The Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie" came out in late 1963

[RaymondTVinyl]

Love this album and group! Thanks MusicMike!

[scooey]

Great Cameo label,. is this pre "Buddah"?

[MusicMike2]

Yes it is...by about 7 months.

[killcraz]

very clean disc!! nic turntable i have a sony ,m.c.s. & pioneer