"I Hope We Get To Love In Time" by MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS, JR – August 1976 US Debut Album on ABC Records (July 2014 UK Big Break Records (BBR) 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Two Hearts Beating Out Loud…"

Both ex THE 5th DIMENSION – Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. had already clocked up six Grammy wins by the time they trumped first prize again at the 1977 Awards for Best R&B Vocal performance on "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)". And along comes this excellent CD reissue to remind us of that song and duo debut album…

UK released July 2014 – "I Hope We Get To Love On Time" by MARILYN McCOO and BILLY DAVIS. JR on Big Break Records CDBBR 0276 (Barcode 5013929057630) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (42:42 minutes): 

1. You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show) [Side 1]
2. Your Love
3. I Still Will Be With You 
4. Never Gonna Let You Go
5. Nothing Can Stop Me
6. You Can't Change My Heart [Side 2]
7. I Hope We Can Get To Love In Time
8. My Love For You (Will Always Be The Same)
9. Easy Way Out 
10. We've Got To Get It On Again
Tracks 1 to 10 are their Debut Album "I Hope We Get To Love On Time" – released August 1976 in the USA on ABC Records ABCD-952 and July 1976 in the UK on ABC Records ABCL 5210. 

BONUS TRACKS: 
11. I'm So Glad I Found You (Outtake, Non-LP B-side of "I Hope We Get To Love on Time")
12. You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show) (Single Version)

The 16-page booklet is the usual classy job from BBR with photos of the duo live and on TV, rare 7" single picture sleeves and liner notes by NYC-based Music journalist Christian John Wikane that includes new interviews with the singers. Big Break's resident tape wizard WAYNE A. DICKSON has handled the remaster and it sounds fantastic – full of detail and bounce. 

This is mid Seventies Soft Soul – very Stylistics with a little Disco thrown in – with the ballads like "Nothing Can Stop Me" allowing their voices to shine and the melody rise above the heavy string-arrangements. "Easy Way Out" is a lovely smoocher while the B-side outtake "I'm So Glad I Found You" is a mid-tempo stepper. It's easy to hear why the catchy Pop-Soul of "Your Love" was released as a single in May 1977 (ABC Records AB-12262) - it not only prolonged the life of the parent album on the US Billboard R&B charts but also came with the LP cut "My Love For You Will Always Be The Same" on the flipside - another reason to get the album from when the hits were coming. 

A quality reissue by BBR and a must own for fans...

"Lost Without You: The Best Of Kent Ballads 2" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (30 October 2015 UK Ace Kent-Soul CD Compilation - 1963 to 1974 Tracks - Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review By Mark Barry...

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"...Don't Let Her Make You Cry..."

The first Volume in this series "Deep Shadows: The Best Of Kent Ballads" hit the streets of Soul-Mad Blighty in August 2010 – and lovers of (largely) unreleased torch-sung ballads have been dribbling in pools of talcum powder ever since. Never one to keep their eager punters waiting – Ace only took a piffling five years to come up with Volume 2 – "Lost Without You". 

It's most definitely not as immediate as its illustrious predecessor I'd have to say right off the bat - but after repeated plays – Volume 2 is a more than worthy follow-up. Here are the sob-stories...

UK released Friday, 30 October 2015 (November 2015 in the USA) – "Lost With You: The Best Of Kent Ballads 2" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 439 (Barcode 029667243926) breaks down as follows (74:45 minutes):

1. Stay Away – THE TURN AROUNDS (a Fraternity Recording from 1966 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
2. I Don't Need Nobody – JERRY WASHINGTON (an Excello Recording from 1974 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
3. I Love You More – LEE WILLIAMS & THE CYMBALS (a Joe Evans Production, 1966 USA 7" single on Carnival 521, A)
4. Lost Without You – LORRAINE CHANDLER (first appeared on the 2015 Various Artists CD compilation "Pied Piper: Follow Your Soul" on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 429)
5. Don't Let Her Make You Cry – J.J. JACKSON & THE JACKAELS (a Brent Recording from 1962 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
6. After He Breaks Your Heart – THE WANDERERS (1963 USA 7" single on United Artists 570, A)
7. Lonely Girl – JULIUS WRIGHT (a Brent Recording from 1967 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
8. Nobody But You – THE EXOTICS (an Excello Recording from 1968 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
9. Apartment No. 9 – LITTLE JOHNNY HAMILTON (a Watts Way Recording from 1969 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
10. I Can Fix That For You – DORI GRAYSON (1968 USA 7” single on Murco 1045, A)
11. Everybody Knows – PEGGY GAINES (a Bob Holmes Production from 1965 – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
12. I Give A Damn – JOHNNY WATSON ('not' Johnny 'Guitar' Watson - a 1970s recording first issued in 1999 on a 45 - Valise 6915, A)
13. Crying Clown – EDDIE PARKER (1968 USA 7" single on Awake 502, A)
14. Messing Up A Good Thing – JOHN EDWARDS (1974 USA 7" single on Aware AW-037, A)
15. Sure Thing – JIMMY SCOTT (a 1984 Dave Hamilton Recording – Previously Unreleased, 2015)
16. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight – TY KARIM (James Taylor cover version - a 1973 USA 7" single on Romark 73-104, A)
17. Heaven's Will (Must Be Obeyed) – ALICE CLARK (A 1969 USA 7" Promo Single on Warner Brothers 7270, B-side of "You Hit Me (Right Where It Hurt Me)" and also on the Various Artists 1971 LP "Soul Black & Beautiful Vol.1" on GWP Records ST 2037)
18. How's Things With You – JOE MAYFIELD (a 1964 USA 7” single on Excello 2256, A – Jay Miller Production)
19. King For A Day – DANNY WHITE (a 1969 USA 7" single on Kashe 443, A – written by Eddie Singleton)
20. The Last One To Be Loved – LOU JOHNSON (a Bacharach/David song – a 1964 USA 7" single on Big Hill 553, A)
21. Give This Fool Another Chance – EDDIE WHITEHEAD (a 1967 USA 7" single on Black Jack 711, A)
22. Lonely Man – THE SOUL BROTHERS (a 1967 USA 7" single on Sho-Biz 401, A)
23. Take Another Look – THE TURQUINETTES (a Previously Unreleased A.F.O. Records Recording, 2015)
24. The Price – MARY LOVE-COMER (from the 1988 US LP "His Servant Am I" on CoLove Records 1001)
[NOTES: Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15 and 23 are Previously Unreleased, 2015 
Tracks 2, 3, 14 15, 16, 17 and 24 are STEREO - all other Tracks are MONO]

The 16-page booklet has track-by-track assessments by Soul Authority and Lifelong Genre Lover ADY CROASDELL (compiler too) – a name that has graced countless quality CD compilations for Ace and Edsel. In-between text is photos of those rare American 45s on long-forgotten labels like Carnival, Kashe, Murco, Awake, Aware and Sho-Biz, label publicity photos and even a snap of Croasdell with Nashville Producer Bob Holmes. DUNCAN COWELL has mastered the tracks from original analogue recordings and the audio quality is typically fabulous – even when some of the sources are obviously less than audiophile.

"Lost Without You" on paper seems like another classy outing from Ace's Kent-Soul wing (a compilation of ballads spanning 1962 to 1988) – but in truth – I found a lot of it simply refused to fly at first. Nine of the 24 cuts are Previously Unreleased and although some are very good – you can 'hear' why they stayed in the can. Musically songs like "Stay Away" by The Turn Arounds and "I Don't Need Nobody" by Jerry Washington fit all the criteria for torch tunes – but they never really grab you by the throat because they’re trying but not really succeeding. The first time I felt the feeling was the compilation’s title song "Lost Without You" by Lorraine Chandler – but that's already showed on a previous Kent-Soul CD I got this year – "Pied Piper" (see review). Of the unreleased stuff - "Nobody But You" by The Exotics is one of the nuggets on here as is J.J. Jackson's vocal-group melodrama of "Don't Let Her Make You Cry". Both "Everybody Knows" by Peggy Gaines and Jimmy Scott's alternate take of "Take A Chance On Love" from 1984 called "Sure Thing" is excellent.

Ty Karim's cover of James Taylor's love song "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" somehow unintentionally strips the song of its Rock sweetness and stuff like the positively awkward "Take Another Look" by The Turquinettes and the funereal "How's Things With You" by Joe Mayfield are ruined by inappropriate instruments intruding on the tune. Far better is "Apartment No. 9" by Little Johnny Hamilton, the simple Soul of "King For A Day" by Danny White and the truly sublime rarely-heard Gospel B-side "Heaven's Will (Must Be Obeyed)" by Alice Clark – a stunning vocal and as Soulful as you're ever likely to hear a singer get (the A-side is a monster Northern Soul side). Speaking of the Lord – Mary Love-Comer gets all 80ts Soulful on "The Price" – a nice tune – but it partially works and is a weird and unsatisfying way to end this CD compilation.

To sum up - I've had to listen to "Lost Without You: The Best Of Kent Ballads 2" more than a few times to get used to it and enjoy its depths – and I'll admit it grows on me more and more. Just don't expect the usual first-time fireworks you normally get with Kent-Soul CD compilations of this kind...

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"The Chess Collection" by LAURA LEE - US Singles from 1967 to 1969 and a 1972 US LP "Love More Than Pride" on Chess Records (June 2006 UK Universal/Chess CD Compilation with Gary Moore Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Treat Her With A Little Respect…"

Cheap, cheerful and chockfull of goodies - at under a five spot brand new - this CD is the way I like 'em.

Perhaps better known for her sexy and sassy Hot Wax 7" single stingers with ex-Motown heavyweights Holland-Dozier-Holland - Laura Lee's sides on Chess Records (recorded at Rick Hall's Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama with Bobby Miller and Billy Davis) offer up a lighter but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable brew. Soul dancers, ballads and social comment tunes - Detroit's Laura Lee took them all on. And as this brilliant little CD compilation proves - nailed the damn lot with ease. Here are the good lady's particulars...

UK released June 2006 - "The Chess Collection" by LAURA LEE is on Universal/Chess 983 229-4 (Barcode 602498322949) and is housed in a gatefold card digipak (53:01 minutes):

1. Mama's Got A Good Thing
2. Another Man's Woman
3. It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It)
4. It's All Wrong, But It's All Right
5. I Need To Belong To Someone
6. Dirty Man
7. But You Know I Love
8. That's How It Is
9. It's How You Make It Good
10. Love More Than Pride
11. Are You Doing Me Wrong
12. As Long I Got You
13. She Don't Love You [Curtis Mayfield's "He Will Break Your Heart"]
14. A Man With Some Backbone
15. Wanted: Lover, No Experience Necessary
16. Hang It Up
17. It's Mighty Hard
18. Up Tight Good Man
19. You Need Me (As Much As I Need You)
20. Stop Giving Your Man Away

This CD compilation will allow fans to sequence her American 7" singles and lone album for the label as follows:

SINGLES
1. Stop Giving Your Man Away [20] b/w You Need Me (as Much As I Need You) [19]
Released USA January 1967 on Chess 1989
2. Dirty Man [6] b/w It's Mighty Hard [17]
Released USA July 1967 on Chess 2013
3. Wanted: Lover, No Experience Necessary [15] b/w Up Tight Good Man [18]
Released USA November 1967 on Chess 2030
4. As Long As I Got You [12] b/w A Man With Some Backbone [14]
Released USA March 1968 on Chess 2041
5. Need To Belong [5] b/w He Will Break Your Heart [13]
Released USA July 1968 on Chess 2052
6. Hang It Up b/w [16] It's How You Make It Good [9]
Released USA November 1968 on Chess 2062
7. Love More Than Pride [10] b/w Mama's Got A Good Thing [1]
Released USA April 1969 on Chess 2068

ALBUM
"Love More Than Pride" - released 1972 on Chess Records CH 50031
Side 1:
1. Mama's Got A Good Thing [1]
2. Another Man's Woman [2]
3. It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It) [3]
4. She Don't Love You ["He Will Break Your Heart" by Curtis Mayfield - 13]
5. It's All Wrong, But It's All Right [4]
6. I Need To Belong To Someone [5]
Side 2:
1. Dirty Old Man [6]
2. But You Know I Love You [7]
3. That's How It Is [8]
4. It's How You Make It Good [9]
5. Love More Than Pride [10]

Compiled and annotated by LOIS WILSON (then of Mojo Magazine) - the 8-page oversized inlay provides a short but detailed history of her stay at Chess and onwards. GARY MOORE from Universal carried out the remasters and they're kicking.

With a voice as gritty and pain-soaked as Etta James and a delivery akin to the deep down inside passion of Aretha Franklin at her fiery Atlantic Records best - Laura Lee's 11-track lone album "Love More Than Pride" seems like a Sixties classic that got shamefully lost (it was eventually a mixture of Sixties and 1972 cuts). Recorded at Rick Hall's Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama with Hall's great band - it was finally issued in 1972 with some new tracks - but years after the event (she had seven singles in the late Sixties, three of which did well on the American Billboard R&B charts). Yet you can't help but think that had it been given an outing in 1967 or 1968 - it would have rivalled Etta's "Tell Mama" or Aretha's monumental "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" as a classic of the period.

Her voice on the hurt-fest ballad "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" is fantastic - a song penned by two Muscle Shoals heroes - Eddie Hinton and Marlin Greene. Her passion also shines through on her cover of Curtis Mayfield's "I Need To Belong To Someone". When she sings "I want to be missed on a cold and lonely night..." - you know she means it. "Dirty Man" became her signature tune (unfortunately I would say) but better is the mid-tempo brass class of "That's How It Is" or the 1969 belter "Love More Than Pride".

Cheap as chips and as cool as a Chess Records label bag - this is a fabulous little CD by Laura Lee - that like the album it contains from 1972 - is criminally ignored. Dig in right away and enjoy... 

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"Pressure Cookin'" by LABELLE – August 1973 US Fourth Studio Album on RCA Victor Records (May 1975 in the UK) - Featuring Patti Labelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash (August 2014 UK Soul Music Records CD Reissue - Alan Wilson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Open Up Your Minds To Me And Let Me In..."

A friend of mine lent me this album on a 2010 Reel Music CD remaster (Bill Lacey) that I forgot to buy. It subsequently garnished a bit of a price tag. 

Well along comes Soul Music Records of the UK with a spangly new remaster in 2014 issued at mid-price - and a proper corker it is too. Here are the Dancin' Diva details…

UK released August 2014 – "Pressure Cookin'" by LABELLE on Soul Music Records SMCR 5123 (Barcode 5013929082335) is a straightforward Remaster and Transfer of the 9-track 1973 LP and plays out as follows (40:45 minutes):

1. Pressure Cookin' [Side 1]
2. Medley: (a) Something In The Air (b) The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 
3. Sunshine Woke Me Up This Morning
4. Can I Speak To You Before You Go To Hollywood?
5. Mr. Music Man [Side 2]
6. Goin' On Holiday 
7. Let Me See You In The Light
8. Open Up Your Heart
9. Last Dance
Tracks 1 to 9 are the LP "Pressure Cookin'" – released August 1973 in the USA and UK on RCA Records APL1-0205 (reissued UK May 1975 on RCA LSA 3223). 

The 16-page booklet has superlative liner notes by A. SCOTT GALLOWAY peppered with pictures of the three ladies dressed in distinctive stage gear, repros of the American Dynaflex LP labels and detailed recording info. But the big news is a stunning ALAN WILSON Remaster – gorgeous clarity on all the tracks. This CD sounds 'so' good – exemplary stuff. 

Shortening their name from Patti Labelle and The Blue Belles in 1971 to LABELLE (Patti Labelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash) - and hot from their success and prominent duel-credit placing on Laura Nyro's LP gem "Gonna Take A Miracle" of that same year (see separate review) – Labelle found themselves opening for such acts as The Who and gaining appreciative audiences everywhere they went. When they signed to RCA Records for this lone album with the label hopes were high – but as history tells us Radio didn't get it and the album didn't chart despite efforts by all involved. That's not to say there isn't Soulful Funky magic here…there really is…

It opens with a frantic "Pressure Cookin'" showcasing the amazingly funky backing band MAXAYN (named after singer Maxayn Lewis) and is followed by a highlight – a double-whammy of contemporary cover versions. "Something In the Air" was a Number British single for Thunderclap Newman (on Track Records) and Patti cleverly segues it into Gil Scott-Heron's legendary social-comment song "The Revolution Will Not Be Television". It meshes the upbeat feel of Thunderclap Newman's come together message with the street realism of Heron's razor-sharp observations on poor America.  

The Nona Hendryx stunner "Sunshine (Woke Me Up This Morning)" is fabulous Funk Soul and should have been the leadoff single – but that privilege went to the more catchy "Open Up Your Heart" - US issued May 1973 on RCA 74-0965 backed with "Goin' On A Holiday" (lyrics from "Open Up Your Heart" title this review). Another Hendryx nugget is the lovely and pleading "(Can I Speak To You Before You Go To) Hollywood" where Patti holds back on the screaming funk and delivers a beautifully measured and hurting performance. When you get to the equally pretty "Last Dance" – you get the feeling you're in the presence of a lost classic. 

Chart success would elude them until the "Nightbirds" LP in 1975 (on the back of the irrepressible kitchy-kitchy-ya-ya "Lady Marmalade" single on Epic). But this is where to start your LABELLE rediscovery. A fantastic reissue – and kudos to all involved for getting this great music out there again…

"You're Gonna Get Next To Me: The Complete Claridge Recordings" by BO KIRKLAND and RUTH DAVIS - Including the December 1976 US Debut Album "Bo & Ruth" on Claridge Records and more (December 2014 UK Ace/Kent-Soul CD Compilation and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Keep On Doing What You're Doing..."

I can recall when this rather dull-looking Soul/Disco album used to sit in secondhand racks around the UK and go nowhere. It was precisely the kind of average-looking Soul LP you used to get in the late Seventies that promised little other than filler fleshing out a single hit. 

But then DJs and Soul Lovers began to look under the hood (away from the obvious winner of the hugely popular club classic "You're Gonna Get Next To Me") - and found a quality Soul album with almost all of the tunes penned bv the smiling Californian singers on the cover - BO KIRKLAND and RUTH DAVIS. Here are next to you details...

UK released December 2014 - "You're Gonna Get Next To Me: The Complete Claridge Recordings" by BO KIRKLAND and RUTH DAVIS on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 425 (Barcode 029667242523) contains one LP and six Bonus Single Sides and pans out as follows (64:30 minutes):

1. I Feel The Love In This Room Tonight

2. To Make You Love Me

3. Train of Desire

4. You're Gonna Get Next To Me

5. We Got The Recipe [Side 2]

6. Easy Loving

7. Sure Got A Thing For You - BO KIRKLAND

8. Can You Feel It

9. Grandfather Clock - BO KIRKLAND

10. Stay Out Of My Kitchen

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Bo & Ruth" by BO KIRKLAND and RUTH DAVIS - released December 1976 in the USA on Claridge 1002 and June 1977 in the UK on EMI International INS 3007

11. Loving Arms (1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 427, B-side of "That's The Way The Wind Blows")

12. That's The Way The Wind Blows (1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 427, A)

13. That's A Bet (1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 432, B-side of "Stay By My Side")

14. Stay By My Side (1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 432, A)

15. Heartbreaker - RUTH DAVIS (1978 USA 7" single on Claridge 434, B-side of "Love In A Love Zone")

16. Lost In A Love Zone - RUTH DAVIS (1978 USA 7" single on Claridge 434, A)

This CD will allow fans to sequence the following US and UK 45's as follows:

1. Grandfather Clock [9] b/w Sure Got A Thing For You [7] - BO KIRKLAND

(1975 USA 7" single on Claridge 409)

2. Easy Loving [6] b/w We Got The Recipe [5]

(1976 USA 7" single on Claridge 414)

3. I Feel Love In This Room Tonight [1] b/w To Make You Love Me [2]

(1976 USA 7' single on Claridge 421)

4. You're Gonna Next To Me b/w Stay Out Of My Kitchen (If You Can't Stand The Heat) [10]

(1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 424)

[Note: the 3:05 minutes single edit isn't on this CD, hence no track no provided]

5. That's The Way The Wind Blows [12] b//w Loving Arms [11]

(1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 427)

6. Stay By My Side [14] b/w That's A Bet [13]

(1977 USA 7" single on Claridge 432)

7. Easy Loving [6] b/w Can You Feel It [8]

(August 1977 UK 7" single on EMI International INT 536)

8. Lost In A Love Zone [16] b/w Heartbreaker [15] - RUTH DAVIS

(1978 USA 7" single on Claridge 434)

As you can see from the lists above - you get the 10-track album with six non-album single sides added on as bonuses - all of it remastered onto CD for the first time. The 12-page booklet is festooned with those American Claridge label 45s as well as repro-ing the rare Promo-Only Picture Sleeve to the UK release of "Easy Loving" (Page 3) and an EMI International Press Sheet from June 1977 on the release of the UK platter. And while the NICK ROBBINS remaster is truly fabulous (great audio on every track) - it isn't going to take fans long to work out that there's a major omission here - the 7" edit of the album monster hit "You'll Get Next To Me". It seems like a major mistake to leave it off. Don't get me wrong - the extended album cut at 7:19 minutes is a DJ's dream really - but most folks are familiar with the shorter cut. Worth mentioning...

The album openers with the lovely mid-tempo "I Feel Love In The Room Tonight" and is followed by a stepper "To Make You Love Me". We go full-on smoocher with the strings and sway of "Train Of Desire" where their voices sound sweet. But the opening three are thoroughly trumped by the Side A finisher - the full album version of "You're Gonna Get Next To Me". Even now it's such a winner with that impish chant throughout and its good to hear the tune stretch out too.

The Bo Kirkland solo cut "Sure Got A Thing For You" is fabulously slick and slinky Seventies Soul  - very Marvin Gaye "Here, My Dear!" territory. It gets into a groove and shuffle that just won't quit and the remaster brings this out to the full with lyrics "Tried to think of something cute to say...but all that came out of my mouth was Hi..." Of the singles "Stay By My Side" is a more sophisticated Disco tune than the market of the time was used to (it's equally chipper B-side is good too). Her solo 45 "Lost In A Love Zone" is the funkiest of the lot.

It's not all genius by any means and that missing edit of the huge hit is a bit of an oversight - but with the great presentation and especially the upgraded audio quality - fans should dive in and enjoy...

"Tightrope/The Blue Man/Arrows" by STEVE KHAN – Three Albums from 1978 and 1979 on Columbia Records featuring Mike Brecker, Bob James, David Sanborn, Steve Gadd and Ralph McDonald (April 2015 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation – 3LPs onto 2CDs with Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Candles..."

Jazz-Fusion virtuoso Guitarist STEVE KHAN sees his first three Solo albums from the late Seventies reissued by Beats Goes On (BGO) of the UK in proper style. If you're a Jazz-Funk fan like me – there's a lot on here to get your knickers in a knot about (despite a shaky start). Here are the elastic expanded details...

UK released 20 April 2015 (delayed from March 2015) – "Tightrope/The Blue Man/Arrows" by STEVE KHAN on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1178 (Barcode 5017261211781) is a Compilation that features 3LPs Remastered on 2CDs and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (37:57 minutes):
1. Some Punk Funk [Side 1]
2. Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love) 
3. Tightrope (For Folon)
4. The Big Ones [Side 2]
5. Star Chamber 
6. Soft Summer Breeze 
7. Where Shadows Meet 
Tracks 1 to 7 are his Debut LP "Tightrope" – released January 1978 in the USA on Columbia/Tappan Zee Records JC 34857 and April 1978 in the UK on CBS Records 82230 

Disc 2 (75:52 minutes):
1. Daily Bulls [Side 1]
2. The Blue Man 
3. Some Down Time 
4. The Little Ones [Side 2]
5. Daily Valley
6. An Eye Over Autumn – For Folon 
Tracks 1 to 6 are his 2nd album "The Blue Man" – released 1978 in the USA on Columbia Records JC 35539 and in the UK on CBS Records S CBS 83146 

7. City Suite – Part 1: City Monsters/Part II: Dream City [Side 1] 
8. Candles 
9. Daily Village [Side 2]
10. Some Arrows 
11. Calling 
Tracks 7 to 11 are his 3rd album "Arrows" – released 1979 in the USA on Columbia Records JC 36129 (No UK release)

The packed 24-page booklet repro's all artwork and track-by-track musician credits along with in-depth liner notes from noted Musicologist CHARLES WARING (a regular contributor to Mojo). The outer card wrap that now accompanies all BGO CD releases gives the whole shebang a classy feel and there's 2015 remasters by ANDREW THOMPSON that let all that musical expertise shine through. Both CDs sound lovely. 

Brought to Columbia Records by the Blood, Sweat & Tears Drummer Bobby Colomby and Keyboard Wizard Bob James (James Produces and provides the liner notes for his debut album) – "Tightrope" features four Steve Khan originals augmented by three covers – the Gamble & Huff O'Jays hit "Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)", Randy Brecker's "The Big Ones" and an old Eddie Heywood favourite called "Soft Summer Breeze". The debut album features a stellar cast – Mike Brecker on Tenor Saxophone, Bob James on Keyboards, Steve Gadd and Ralph McDonald on Drums and Percussion respectively - while session all-stars like David Sanborn plays the Alto Sax solo on "The Big Ones". Khan provides Lead Guitar of course with back up from class players like Jeff Mironov and David Spinozza. All songs are Jazz Fusion instrumentals firmly in the groove of Funky – stuff like "Soft Summer Breeze" feels like George Benson's "Love Ballad" from his superb 2LP set "Livin' Inside Your Love" minus the vocals with a few more Rock Fusion breaks thrown in for good measure. The worst you can say about this album is that despite all that world-class musicianship and technical flash - too many of the tunes fail to ignite into anything genuinely special. They’re busy and beautifully produced and all – but only on stuff 

For his 2nd effort "The Blue Man" - Khan took over Production and provided five of the six tracks with "The Little Ones" being a Randy Brecker contribution. And what a difference! "The Blue Man" LP feels far more grown-up than its predecessor with the title track in particular impressing - a wonderful swirling fusion instrumental with Don Grolnick providing Fender Rhodes and ARP Pro solos to gorgeous effect while Khan finishes off the six-minute piece with some of his most fluid playing. Things take a slappy-bass Funk turn with "Some Down Time" where the band clearly goes after that 12” dancefloor market. With it’s Brecker and Sanborn Trumpet and Saxophone breaks and slinky guitar flicks and driving groove – it feels like Steely Dan circa "Aja" going for the Funk for 5:28 minutes (its superb). David Sanborn provides the Alto Saxophone solo in "The Little Ones" which is again wickedly funky in ways the first album never got near (Khan playing a blinding Solo half way through both Becker and Fagen would have said yes to). And on it goes to the near nine-minute finisher "An Eye Over Autumn" which actually goes “Aja” in a big way allowing both Michael Brecker and Steve Gadd solo spots on the Tenor Sax and Drums (respectively) – a great way to end a great album. 

Album Number 3 "Arrows" features liner notes from none other than Donald Fagen of some Seventies Group I worship (can't remember their steam-powered dildo name - STEELY DAN!). It opens with the two-part twelve-minute "City Suite" which comes on like Todd Rundgren's Utopia just finding their Funky Nirvana on the bedside table beside their copy of the Kama Sutra. It Funks and chunks and twists around guitars and Saxophones until about five and half minutes in – the tune goes into a Piano/Drums battle that is followed by a groovy guitar passage. We get laid back with the pretty "Candles" which sports cleverly echoed Lead Guitar and Saxophones. Despite being surprisingly hissy in the transfer – his playing is superb on it and probably Khan's best work across the three albums. Michael Brecker provides Soprano Saxophone on the slinky "Daily Village" where Don Grolnick's work on the ARP and Fender Rhodes gives the tune a West Coast funky polish. But my fave on the album is the beautifully crafted finisher "Calling" – a mid-tempo shuffler where Errol 'Crusher' Bennett gives it some fabulous Percussion throughout (also features Sax Solo by David Sanborn). 

This 3-onto-2 compilation is not all genius for sure - and I can't help feel that even with those nuggets on "Arrows" and the debut "Tightrope" - "The Blue Man" album is the cream of the crop here. Fans will love the presentation and audio - and should dive right in...

"The Mack – Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture" by WILLIE HUTCH – Film Soundtrack Album From April 1973 (USA) on Motown and August 1973 (UK) on Tamla Motown Records – Featuring Wilton Felder of The Crusaders, Dean Parks, David T. Walker, Louie Shaldon, Bobbye Hall, Clarence McDonald and Edward Green with Julia Tillman and Lorna Willard (March 1996 USA Motown Master Series CD Reissue – Jos Gastwirt Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry…

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"...Brother's Gonna Work It Out..."

Not quite as magisterial as Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" from late 1972 for sure but Willie Hutch's stab at the Blaxploitation original soundtrack "The Mack" in the spring of 1973 is nonetheless an unfairly forgotten nugget in Motown's Seventies arsenal. Time to rectify that oversight…

US released 19 March 1996 – "The Mack – Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture" by WILLIE HUTCH on Motown (Master Series) 31453-0389-2 (Barcode 73145303892) breaks down as follows (37:14 minutes):

1. Vampin' [Side 1]

2. Theme Of The Mack

3. I Choose You

4. Mack's Stroll / The Getaway (Chase Scene)

5. Slick [Side 2]

6. Mack Man (Got To Get Over)

7. Mother's Theme (Mama)

8. Now That It's All Over

9. Brother's Gonna Work It Out

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "The Mack – Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture" by WILLE HUTCH - released April 1973 in the USA on Motown M 766L and August 1973 in the UK on Tamla Motown STMA 8009

Two 45s were issued off the album:

1. Brother's Gonna Work It Out b/w I Choose You

14 Feb 1973 US 7" single on Motown M 1222F

10 August 1973 UK 7" single in the UK on Tamla Motown TMG 862

2. Slick b/w Mother's Theme (Mama)

21 Jun 1973 US 7" single in the USA on Motown M 1252F

(No UK release)

JOE GASTWIRT has remastered the album from original tapes at Ocean View Digital – and it's a typically fabulous job. There's a huge presence in these transfers – warm and full of genuine Soulfulness.

The gatefold inlay gives the recording basics (no liner notes) – listing super session musicians like Wilton Felder of The Crusaders on Bass, Dean Parks, David T. Walker and Louie Shaldon on Guitars, Bobbye Hall on Congas, Clarence McDonald on Keyboards, Edward Green on Drums – while Willie Hutch handled the Lead Guitar and Vocals. There was also a fairly large horn section with Julia Tillman and Lorna Willard as backing singers.

The track everyone loves is "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" with its sampled movie dialogue and great smooching groove – always gets the lion's share of attention when it comes to this overlooked soundtrack LP. But there's tremendous Soul/Funk in the double-barrelled "Mack's Stroll /The Getaway (Chase Scene)" – all loverman strings and guitar at first then that rapid high-hat and wah-wah finish – great stuff. 

"Slick" was also a very cool single – easily as good as say Mayfield's "Superfly" - while the hard-edged Guitar Boogie of "Mack Man (Got To Get Over)" could be Betty Davis sung by a man. "Mother's Theme (Mama)" is very Marvin Gaye even if it is a bit sappy lyric-wise and "Now That It's All Over" is just plain pretty. I also love his vocal work in tandem with the girls on "I Choose You" which could have been a Philly hit.

A wee bit of a gem I've always thought – and even though that gatefold inlay hardly inspires excitement in the trouser area – this CD of "The Mack…" by Willie Hutch has the mutts and nuts where it matters – fabulous remastered sound quality. 'Master Series' is right...

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