The Human Beinz from Youngstown, Ohio, were a late-’60s one-hit wonder thanks to this rocked-up rendition of an all-but-forgotten Isley Brothers track.
Originally the Premiers, the band changed its name to the Human Beingz, but Capitol Records dropped the g, reputedly to capitalize on the “be-in” movement of 1967, when the band’s first album was released. The single, which peaked at No. 8 in early 1968, is a garage-rock classic. Handclaps and the guitar keep the beat, freeing Mel Pachuta’s bass (later featured in an exhibit on Ohio rock at the RnR HoF) to dominate the track — along with all those noes, 31 at a time, a record that still stands (Bill Withers only says “I know” 24 times in “Ain’t No Sunshine.”) Technically, the band had
The original recording by the Isley Brothers in 1962 failed to chart, even on the R&B charts. Their version sounds like it was going for Little Richard-style wild abandon that the Isleys didn’t quite pull off.
