"Atlantic Blues {1949-1970}" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (September 2007 US Rhino Handmade 4CD LP-Sized Box Set - Billy Vera Compiled - Limited Numbered Edition of 3000 Copies Only - Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Stealing Through My Heart Again…" 

There seems to be mystery in some circles surrounding this excellent but slightly elusive box set. Let's dissipate that discography fog right away...

"Atlantic Blues {1949-1970}" by VARIOUS ARTISTS was released in the USA in September 2007 on Rhino Handmade RHM2 7737 (Barcode 603497773725). 

4CDs in 5" picture card sleeves are housed in die-cut hollows in a 12" x 12" Silk Screen Printed Box Set with a 36-page full-sized booklet. It's numbered to 3000 (on the booklet's last page) and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1, 20 tracks, LEADBELLY pictured, 62:24 minutes:

1. Drinking' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee - STICK McGHEE (1949, Atlantic 873, A)

2. Drank Up All The Wine Last Night - STICK McGHEE (1949, Atlantic 898, A)

3. The Razor Ball - BARRELHOUSE SAMMY (first appeared on the 1972 BLIND WILLY McTELL US LP "Atlanta Twelve String" on Atlantic SD 7224)

4. Last Dime Blues - BARRELHOUSE SAMMY (as per 3)

5. Mardi Gras In Orleans - ROY "Baldhead" BYRD [Professor Longhair] (1949, Atlantic 897, A)

6. Hey Now Baby - PROFESSOR LONGHAIR (1972 US LP "New Orleans Piano" on Atlantic SD 7225)

7. She Walks Right In - PROFESSOR LONGHAIR (as per 6)

8. Tee Nah Nah - VAN "Piano Man" WALLS and his AFTER HOUR SESSION BOYS [Vocal by SPIDER SAM] (1950, Atlantic 904, A)

9. Let's Do It - STICK McGHEE and His Buddies (1950, Atlantic 912, A)

10. House Warmin' Boogie - STICK McGHEE (1950, Atlantic 926, A)

11. Dallas Bebop Blues - LAWYER HOUSTON (1950, Atlantic 916, A)

12. In The Army Since 1941 - SOLDIER BOY HOUSTON (this is the same song as 11 by the same artist but with different lyrics - first appeared on the 1971 Various Artists LP "Texas Guitar: From Dallas To L.A." on Atlantic SD 7226 in the USA)

13. Goodnight Irene - LEADBELLY (1950, Atlantic 917, A)

14. Vicksburg Blues '51 - LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY (1972 US LP by JIMMY & MAMA YANCEY called "Chicago Piano Volume 1 - Blues Originals Vol.6" on Atlantic SD 7229)

15. Talkin' Boogie - LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY (as per 14 - note 14 is an instrumental whilst 15 has talking vocals throughout)

16. Yancey Special - JIMMY YANCEY (1951 US LP "Yancey Special" on Atlantic 130)

17. Santa Fe Blues - JIMMY & MAMA YANCEY (as per 16)

18. Monkey Woman Blues - JIMMY & MAMA YANCEY (as per 16 - note 16 is a piano instrumental while 17 and 18 have vocals by Mama Yancey)

19. Worried Life Blues - RAY CHARLES (1953 US LP "The Genius Sings The Blues" on Atlantic 8052)

20. All Night Lover Blues - JIMMY "Baby Face" LEWIS and His Band (1949, Atlantic 884, A)

Disc 2, 20 Tracks, RAY CHARLES pictured, 56:46 minutes:

1. Jump Everybody Jump - JOE MORRIS and His Orchestra (1951, Atlantic 931, A, Joe Morris Vocals)

2. Anytime, Any Place, Anywhere - JOE MORRIS and His Orchestra Featuring LAURIE TATE (1951, Atlantic 914, A, Vocals Laurie Tate)

3. I'm So Good To You (Pretty Baby) - JIMMY "Baby Face" LEWIS and his Band (1949, Atlantic 901, A)

4. Rock Me Daddy - JOE MORRIS and His Orchestra featuring LAURIE TATE (1950, Atlantic 965, A)

5. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! - JOE MORRIS and His Orchestra (B-side of 1, is a Louis Prima cover version)

6. Chains Of Love - JOE TURNER with Van 'Piano Man' Walls Orchestra (1951, Atlantic 939, A)

7. Bump Miss Susie - JOE TURNER with Van 'Piano Man' Walls Orchestra (1951, Atlantic 949, A)

8. Let's Get Together And Make Some Love - JIMMY LEWIS and his Band (1951, Atlantic 943, A)

9. Every Time - LIL GREEN with Howard Biggs Orchestra (1951, Atlantic 951, A)

10. I've Got That Feeling - LIL GREEN with Howard Biggs Orchestra (B-side of 9)

11. Sweet Sixteen - JOE TURNER with Van 'Piano Man' Walls Orchestra (1952, Atlantic 960, A)

12. Alarm Clock Boogie - ODELLE TURNER with Jesse Stone & His Orchestra (1952, Atlantic 964, A)

13. Messin' Up - CHUCK NORRIS (1953, Atlantic 994, A)

14. Losing Hand - RAY CHARLES (1953, Atlantic 1037, A)

15. Feelin' Sad - RAY CHARLES (1954, Atlantic 1008, A)

16. TV Mama - JOE TURNER (1953, Atlantic 1016, A, features ELMORE JAMES on Slide Guitar

17. Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop - JOE TURNER (B-side of 16)

18. Last Call For Whiskey - CHOKER CAMPBELL [Vocals Harold Young] (1953, Atlantic 1014, A)

19. Tipitina - PROFESSOR LONGHAIR 91953, Atlantic 1020, A)

20. Who's Been Fooling You - PROFESSOR LONGHAIR & his Blues Scholars (B-side of 19)

Disc 3, 20 Tracks, T-BONE WALKER pictured, 64:04 minutes:

1. Big Foot May - HAL PAIGE and his Blues Boys (1953, Atlantic 1032, A)

2. In The Evening - JOE TURNER (1954 Atlantic EP 565)

3. Roll Baby Roll - FLOYD DIXON and His Band (1954, Cat 106, A)

4. Wait Baby - LITTLE JOHNNY JONES (1972 Various Artists US LP "Blues Piano: Chicago Plus" on Atlantic SD 7227)

5. Hoy Hoy - LITTLE JOHNNY JONES  (1953, Atlantic 1045, A)

6. Chicago Blues - LITTLE JOHNNY JONES (as per 4)

7. Hey Bartender - FLOYD DIXON (1954, Cat 114, A)

8. When I Get Lucky - FLOYD DIXON (as per 4)

9. Floyd's Blues - FLOYD DIXON (as per 4)

10. Papa Ain't Salty - T-BONE WALKER (1955, Atlantic 1065, A)

11. Play On Little Girl - T-BONE WALKER (1955, Atlantic 1074, A)

12. T-Bone Blues Special - T-BONE WALKER (as per 12 on Disc 1)

13. Roll `Em Pete - JOE TURNER (1956 US LP "Boss Of The Blues" on Atlantic 1234)

14. Piney Brown Blues - JOE TURNER (as per 13)

15. Down Through The Years - GUITAR SLIM (1956, Atco 6072, A)

16. It's Too Late - CHUCK WILLIS (1956, Atlantic 1098, A)

17. Ain't Nobody's Business - JIMMY WITHERSPOON with Wilber De Paris "New" New Orleans Band (1956 LP "New Orleans Blues" on Atlantic 1266 - credited to Wilber De Paris Plays Jimmy Witherspoon Sings)

18. How Long Blues - JIMMY WITHERSPOON (as per 17)

19. T-Bone Blues - T-BONE WALKER (1958 LP "T-Bone's Blues" on Atlantic 8020)

20. Call It Stormy Monday - T-BONE WALKER (as per 19)

Disc 4, 20 Tracks, FREDDIE KING pictured, 68:02 minutes:

1. After The Lights Go Down Low - AL HIBBLER (1956 US LP "After The Lights Go Down Low" on Atlantic 1251)

2. Empty Bed Blues - LaVERN BAKER (1958 US LP "LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith" on Atlantic 1281)

3. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - LaVERN BAKER (as per 2)

4. Preaching The Blues - LaVERN BAKER (as per 2)

5. Nasty Boogie - CHAMPION JACK DUPREE (1958 US LP "Blues From the Gutter" on Atlantic 8019)

6. Junker's Blues - CHAMPION JACK DUPREE (as per 5)

7. Along About Midnight - GUITAR SLIM (1971 US Various Artists LP "Texas Guitar: From Dallas To L.A." on Atlantic SD 7226)

8. My Time Is Expensive - GUITAR SLIM (1996 US CD "Atco Sessions" Atlantic 81760)

9. Trouble In Mind - JIMMY RICKS (1964, Atlantic 2246, A)

10. Romance In The Dark - JIMMY RICKS (B-side of 9)

11. Two Years Of Torture - RAY CHARLES (1959 US LP "The Genius Of Ray Charles" on Atlantic 1312)

12. I'm Getting' Long Alright - ESTHER PHILLIPS (1966 US LP "Confessin' The Blues" on Atlantic 1680)

13. Confessin' The Blues - ESTHER PHILLIPS (as per 12)

14. Cherry Red - ESTHER PHILLIPS (as per 12)

15. Going Down Slow - ARETHA FRANKLIN (1967, Atlantic 2427, A)

16. Today I Sing The Blues - ARETHA FRANKLIN (1969 US LP "Soul '69" on Atlantic 8212)

17. River's Invitation - ARETHA FRANKLIN (as per 16)

18. Play It Cool - FREDDIE KING (1970 US LP "Freddie King Is A Blues Master" on Cotillion SD 9004)

19. I Don't Know - FREDDIE KING (1970 US LP "My Feeling For The Blues" on Atlantic SD 9016)

20. My Love For You Will Never Die - OTIS RUSH (1969 US LP "Mourning In The Morning" on Cotillion SD 9006)

PRESENTATION:

Compiled by the peerless BILLY VERA (assisted by MASON WILLIAMS) - initially I was disappointed by the size and content of the booklet - only 36 pages and a lot of that filled with track lists that don't even list musicians (but have catalogue numbers). But the more I delved - the more I began to dig it. First of all I love the way it looks and feels - all of the photos and text are given this sepia tint that feels like you're riffling through an old newspaper that's aged with decades. The BILLY VERA liner notes are great fun and informative of course and the plethora of Cash Box and other US music magazine adverts peppering the text looks fabulous - as do the full page photos given over to artists who never get real recognition - Chocker Campbell, Jimmy Yancey, Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker and Guitar Slim. But musically is where the real action is - cool choices and a dip into the murky lesser-heard Blues past of Atlantic Records and its subsiduaries...

CONTENT/SOUND: Long-standing tape engineers BILL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH have done a wonderful job with the remastering. As you can imagine - given their age - 'some' of the tracks on Disc 1 can sound rough ("All Night Lover Blues" by Jimmy "Baby Face" Lewis has bad tape disintegration) but actually 95% don't - beautifully transferred - full of life and lovely clarity. The bulk of the 4 CDs concentrate on the rarer Forties and Fifties sides with only Disc 4 reaching The Sixties and Seventies half way through its playing time. In fact the eagle-eyed collectors amongst you will notice from the disc-by-disc breakdown above that some of those superb "Blues Originals" LPs that came out of the States in their lovely textured gatefold sleeves in 1972 (Atlantic SD 7224, 7225, 7226 and 7229) are being given CD reissue here for the first time in many cases. And of course on top of that there's those rare early 78's and 45's on Atlantic, Atco and Cat to savour...

Fantastic discoveries include the pure acoustic blues of "Dallas Bebop Blues" by Lawyer Houston that sounds just incredible given its vintage - while Leadbelly's classic "Goodnight Irene" sounds like it was recorded in a shack adjacent to cotton fields (basic and atmospheric). The piano instrumental "Vicksburg Blues '51" by Little Brother Montgomery has incredible atmosphere and there's a classy sepia photo of him taking up the whole of Page 19.

Disc 2 ups the pace considerably by introducing Jump Blues in the shape of Joe Morris and Jimmy Lewis...and there's gorgeous slow blues from Lil Green on "I Got That Feeling" (lyrics from it title this review). She gets a full-page photograph on 21 whilst my personal hero Big Joe Turner gets Page 22 - a superb photo of him standing by Atlantic bosses Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun and piled-high boxes of the "Corrine Corrina" 45 - all three burly men smiling as wads of centerless singles are shipped out to eager punters. Just as rocking is Odelle Turner who tears it with "Alarm Clock Blues". But "Messin' Up" by Chuck Norris is clearly dubbed off a bad 45 and is included for rarity value. Genius choice goes to the lesser-heard Ray Charles masterpiece of Blues "Losing Hand". And I don't care how knackered the 45 of "Last Call For Whiskey" is - it's the most fun and a wonderful inclusion ("drunk with your elbows on the bar..."). Discs 3 and 4 see genius like "Roll 'Em Pete" by Joe Turner updating his Forties hit with superb brass backing while the Jimmy Witherspoon and Wilber De Paris sides are a brilliant inclusion. T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Ricks, Champion Jack Dupree and the irrepressible LaVern Baker ("Empty Bed" is so good) all impress.

To sum up - although it may seem too 'slight' at first - over time I've grown to adore this box - it's a lovely thing to listen to and behold. And I know the playing times are too short and in some respects it's a bit of a 'missed opportunity' as other reviewers have quite rightly pointed out. But living with what I've got - I play "Atlantic Blues" more than other box sets with twice as much under the hood. In fact I liked it so much - I had to get my grubby paws on the other 12" x 12" entries in this short-lived Rhino series. So for me - recommended like a tin of rejuvenating spinach...

RHINO Handmade Series of Themed Atlantic Records Box Sets

Numbered Limited Editions of 3000 Copies

Compiled by BILLY VERA – DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT Remasters

1. "Atlantic Blues {1949-1970}" - September 2007 USA on Rhino Handmade RHM2 7737 (Barcode 603497773725) - it contains 4CDs/80-Tracks in 5" picture card sleeves housed in die-cut hollows in a 12" x 12" Silk Screen Printed Box Set. Inside is a 36-page full-sized booklet, numbered to 3000 on the last page.

2. "Atlantic Soul {1959-1975}" – October 2007 USA on Rhino Handmade RHM2 7739 (Barcode 603497773923) – it contains 4CDs/82-Tracks in 5" picture card sleeves housed in die-cut hollows in a 12" x 12" Silk Screen Printed Box Set. Inside is a 36-page full-sized booklet, numbered to 3000 on the last page.

3. "Atlantic Vocal Groups {1951-1963}" - June 2008 USA on Rhino Handmade RHM2 7738 (Barcode 603497773824) – it contains 4CDs/82-Tracks in 5" picture card sleeves are housed in hollows inside a 12" x 12" Silk Screen Printed Box Set. Inside is a 32-page full-sized booklet, numbered to 3000 on the last page.

"The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990" by ZZ TOP (2013 Warner Brothers 10CD Clamshell Box Set Of Remasters with MINI LP Repro Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Yar!..."

A bit of ZZ History is needed on this one... Back in the mists of early CD reissues and especially 'remasters' - 1987's "Six Pack' by ZZ TOP was considered to be the height of desirability. It contained Discs 1 to 5 and 7 listed below - so it naturally 'looked like' a great remaster deal. That is until you listened to it. In order to cash in on the huge success of 1983's "Eliminator" and its 1985 follow up "Afterburner" - 1980's type percussion was 'remixed' into the first five LPs in the set (excluding "El Loco") and the results were awful. By way of finally placating fans - 2006 saw proper CD remasters of "Tres Hombres" and "Fandango!" that even contained bonus tracks (not included in these reissues unfortunately). "Eliminator" also saw a Deluxe Edition 2CD proper remaster in September 2008 - but the other albums have only seen sporadic tracks crop up in remastered form on Anthologies and the 2003 "Chrome, Smoke & BBQ" 4CD Retro.

Which brings us to this fab little box set - "The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990" on Warner Brothers 8122796519 released June 2013. It features 10 albums, 100 tracks and all using the original mixes - and for the first time in the case of "ZZ Top's First Album", "Rio Grande Mud" and "Tejas" - proper remasters. And they're in lovely 5" card repro sleeves with "Tres Hombres" and "Tejas" sporting their original gatefolds (a tri for "Tejas"). Here is a disc-by-disc breakdown of the wide-brimmed hats and ladies with lengthy limbs...

Disc 1 (35:37 minutes):

1. (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree

2. Brown Sugar

3. Squank

4. Goin’ Down To Mexico

5. Old Man

6. Neighbor, Neighbor

7. Certified Blues

8. Bedroom Thang

9. Just Got Back From Baby’s

10. Backdoor Love Affair

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut LP “ZZ Top's First Album” – released January 1971 in the USA on London PS 584 (no UK release at the time)

Disc 2 (39:01 minutes):

1. Francine

2. Just Got Paid

3. Mushmouth Shoutin’

4. Ko Ko Blue

5. Chevrolet

6. Apologies To Pearly

7. Bar-B-Q

8. Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell

9. Whiskey’n Mama

10. Down Brownie

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Rio Grande Mud” – released April 1972 LP on London PS 612 in the USA and July 1972 LP on London SH-U 8433 in the UK

Disc 3 (33:30 minutes):

1. Waitin’ For The Bus

2. Jesus Just Left Chicago

3. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers

4. Master Of Sparks

5. Hot, Blue & Righteous

6. Move Me On Down The Line

7. Precious And Grace

8. La Grange

9. Shiek

10. Have You Heard?

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Tres Hombres” – released August 1973 LP in the USA on London PS 631 and November 1973 LP in the UK on London SH-U 8459

Disc 4 (33:51 minutes):

1. Thunderbird [Live]

2. Jailhouse Rock [Live]

3. Backdoor Medley: Backdoor Love Affair/Mellow Down Easy/Backdoor Love Affair No.2/Long Distance Boogie [Live]

4. Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings [Live]

5. Blue Jean Blues [Side 2]

6. Balinese

7. Mexican Blackbird

8. Heard It On The X

9. Tush

Tracks 1 to 9 are the LP “Fandango!” – released May 1975 in the USA on London PS 656 and June 1975 in the UK on London SH-U 8482 (Side 1 is Live, Side 2 is Studio Tracks)

Disc 5 (34:52 minutes):

1. It’s Only Love

2. Arrested For Driving While Blind

3. El Diablo

4. Snappy Kakkie

5. Enjoy And Get It On

6. Ten Dollar Man

7. Pan Am Highway Blues

8. Avalon Hideaway

9. She’s A Heartbreaker

10. Asleep In the Desert

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Tejas” – released January 1977 in the USA on London PS 680 and February 1977 in the UK on London LDU 1

Disc 6 (34:18 minutes):

1. I Thank You

2. She Loves My Automobile

3. I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide

4. A Fool For Your Stockings

5. Manic Mechanic

6. Dust My Broom

7. Lowdown On The Street

8. Hi Fi Mama

9. Cheap Sunglasses

10. Esther Be The One

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Deguello” – released November 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers HS 3361 and December 1977 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56701

Disc 7 (37:23 minutes):

1. Tube Snake Boogie

2. I Wanna Drive You Home

3. Ten Foot Pole

4. Leila

5. Don’t Tease Me

6. It’s So Hard

7. Pearl Necklace

8. Groovy Little Hippie Pad

9. Heaven, Hell Or Houston

10. Party On The Patio

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “El Loco” – released July 1981 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3593 and Warner Brothers K 56929 in the UK

Disc 8 (45:28 minutes):

1. Gimme All Your Lovin’

2. Got Me Under Pressure

3. Sharp Dressed Man

4. I Need You Tonight

5. I Got The Six

6. Legs

7. Thug

8. TV Dinners

9. Dirty Dog

10. If I Could Only Flag Her Down

11. Bad Girl

Tracks 1 to 11 are the LP “Eliminator” – released April 1983 in the USA on Warner Brothers 23774-1 and Warner Brothers W 3774 in the UK

Disc 9 (37:34 minutes):

1. Sleeping Bag

2. Stages

3. Woke Up With Wood

4. Rough Boy

5. Can’t Stop Rockin’

6. Planet Of Women

7. I Got The Message

8. Velcro Fly

9. Dipping Low (In The Lap Of Luxury)

10. Delirious

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Afterburner” – released November 1985 in the USA on Warner Brothers 25342-1 and Warner Brothers WX 27 in the UK

Disc 10 (39:55 minutes):

1. Concrete And Steel

2. Lovething

3. Penthouse Eyes

4. Tell It

5. My Head’s In Mississippi

6. Decision Or Collision

7. Give It Up

8. 2000 Blues

9. Burger Man

10. Doubleback

Tracks 1 to 10 are the LP “Recycler” – released October 1990 in the USA on Warner Brothers 26265-1 and Warner Brothers WX 390 in the UK

Bitty bad news first - as it appears to be with all these Warners mini boxes (see reviews for Ry Cooder, Little Feat and Joni Mitchell) - there's no booklet - when such a thing would have been just oh so sweet. That aside what you do get is blindingly great Blues Boogie and ZZ's brand of Swamp Rock that doesn't let up for the duration (even if the later Eighties LP are patchy in places). And the sound is fantastic - clear, warm and full of ballsy clarity - and best of all - untampered.

Musically how good is it to finally hear the "First Album" and especially "Rio Grande Mud" sound this kicking - a few seconds into slinky "Bedroom Thang", the harmonica boogie of "Mushmouth Shoutin'" and the rip of "Ko Ko Blue" and I'm in Rocking Nirvana. The aching seven and half minute Blues "Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell" is surely one of their great forgotten classics.

All the hits are here "La Grange", "Tush", "Jesus Just Left Chicago" and "Arrested For Driving While Blind" from the Seventies to the Eighties monsters "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs", "TV Dinners", ""Sleeping Bag", "Rough Boy", "2000 Blues" and the stunning boogie slayer - "My Head's In Mississippi". But half the fun is rediscovering those album gems you'd forgotten about - Fandango's "Blue Jean Blues", Tejas's "El Diablo" and Deguello's "A Fool For Your Stockings" and their slide cover of the Elmore James classic “Dust My Broom” - now with the audio clarity they've always deserved. What a blast...and at just over two quid a disc - this is pretty much a no-brainer. 

Buy it, start boogieing across the ceiling and grow that beard long baby...YAR!

"The Original British Hit Singles" by LITTLE RICHARD - A Review Of The 1999 Ace CD Remastersby Mark Barry...

“…A Whole Lot Of What They Call The Most…” 

It's almost absurd in the hindsight and distance of 2015 to think of "Tutti Frutti" as a B-Side - yet that's exactly what it was in the UK on initial release. 

Wow! Speaking of the same... I can assure you that there's very little about this astonishing run of 26 boppin' Rock 'n' Roll sides that would be considered B-Class material. And in a sea of lesser sounding budget compilations - it's nice to know that this mid-price CD nugget still stands tall on the audio front - remastered to blasting glory from original tapes by one of the UK's premier reissue labels.

Released by the mighty Ace Records of the UK on Ace CDCHM 729 in August 1999 (use Barcode 029667172929 in the Amazon search bar to get the right issue) - here are the wild-man piano-pounding details for each of his 13 British 45s (As and Bs)...

1. Rip It Up b/w Ready Teddy (November 1956, London HLO 8336)

2. Long Tall Sally b/w Tutti Frutti (January 1957, London HLO 8366)

3. The Girl Can't Help It b/w She's Got It (March 1957, London HLO 8382)

4. Lucille b/w Send Me Some Lovin' (June 1957, London HLO 8446)

5. Jenny, Jenny b/w Miss Ann (August 1957, London HLO 8470)

6. Keep A Knockin' b/w Can't Believe You Wanna Leave (November 1957, London HLO 8509)

7. Good Golly Miss Molly b/w Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Goin' Back To Birmingham) (February 1958, London HLO 8560)

8. Ooh' My Soul b/w True Fine Mama (June 1958, London HLO 8647)

9. Baby Face b/w Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo (I'll Never Let You Go) (December 1958, London HLO 8770)

10. By The Light Of The Silvery Moon b/w Early One Morning (March 1959, London HLO 8831)

11. Kansas City b/w She Knows How To Rock (May 1959, London HOL 8868)

12. Baby b/w I Got It (February 1960, London HLO 9065)

13. Bama Lama Bama Loo b/w Annie Is Back (May 1964, London HLO 9896)

It opens with "Well it's Saturday night and I just got paid...I'm gonna rip it up..." and Richard Penniman of Macon, Georgia does just that. He doesn't actually cool the pace down until the lovely "Send Me Some Lovin'" (Track 8) and slower stuff like "Can't Believe You Wanna Leave" are hidden gems amongst all the mayhem. Even now when "Good Golly Miss Molly" kicks in - you're floored - how earthshattering it must have been as a kid in 1958 to hear this joy come out of a radio.

"Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo..." sounds like great Fats Domino Rhythm `n' Blues. But "By The Light Of The Silvery Moon" it sounds like he's running out of steam. Far better is its forgotten B-side - the Chuck Berry-ish "Early One Morning". Richard gets his mojo back with the rocking duo of "Kansas City" and "She Knows How To Rock" and more undiscovered greatness lies in "Baby" with its superb Sax solo and its raucous "I Got It" flipside (surely one of his most underrated 45s). It ends four years after his initial splurge in 1964 with the retro "Bama Lama Bama Loo" and the excellent "Annie Is Back' - but by this time few were listening.

In 2015 Little Richard is 82 and one of the last surviving original wild men of Rock 'n' Roll. His songs for Specialty Records of the USA (released by London in the UK) are the stuff of legend - full of naughtiness, rebellion and sex. And if you want to know why he's held in such affection - then this is a fabulous place to start...

"Platinum Hook" by PLATINUM HOOK (2014 Big Break Records (BBR) 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

SOUL, FUNK and JAZZ FUSION - Exception CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

“…It’s Time To Come Together…”

This is a smart reissue of a long-forgotten Soul/Funk Motown LP and typically Big Break Records of the UK (BBR) have done a bang-up job.

UK released August 2014 - Big Break Records CDBBRX 0196 (Barcode 5013929049635) breaks down as follows (52:37 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 8 are their self-titled debut album "Platinum Hook" - released April 1978 in the USA on Motown M7-899R1 and June 1978 in the UK on Tamla Motown STML 12086.
Tracks 9, 10 and 11 are Bonuses - 7" single versions of "Hooked For Life", "Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On)" and "Gotta Find A Woman".

The 12-page booklet has detailed liner notes by Hi-Fi Magazine author J. MATTHEW COBB that features new interviews with band founder and songwriter GREG WRIGHT as well as photos of American and UK Motown singles, pictures of the band and discography info etc. But the big news as ever is the superlative new remaster by WAYNE A. DICKSON (from work originally carried out by another top engineer KEVIN REEVES at Universal). The clarity and quality is huge and reflects the world-class production values given the album. This is a fantastic sounding CD.

"Platinum Hook" was the first of three albums they did at Motown between 1978 and 1983 and apart from the cover of Funkadelic's classic "Standing On The Verge (Of Getting It On)" - the other 7 songs on their debut are largely GREG WRIGHT and ROBERT DOUGLAS originals. The band also used two great lead vocalists to alternate between tunes - TINA RENEE STANFORD and STEPHEN DANIELS.

It opens with a gorgeous 45-second instrumental passage ala Soulful Earth, Wind And Fire before "Bittersweet" launches into the club Funk of 1978. Better is the uptempo message Soul of "Hotline" (lyrics above). Mid tempo Disco/Soul Numbers "Hooked For Life" and "Gotta Find A Woman" sound like Heatwave with a female vocalist fronting the brass and catchy melodies. Having heard the 3:49 minute 7" single edit of "Gotta Find A Woman" in particular for years now - what a blast it is to hear the full album version stretch out at 6:06 minutes - and in such stunning sound. It's the kind of great Stepper Soul tune that shouldn't be forgotten - brilliant stuff. The album ends on the high tempo piano Soul of "City Life" - bound to fill a dancefloor somewhere.

Another winner from BBR - quality presentation and superb sound - fans need to own this...