"So Who The Hell Is STACK WADDY? The Complete Works 1970-1972" by STACK WADDY (November 2017 UK Cherry Red 3CD Reissue with 2007 Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...The Meat Pies Are Here..."

Talk about yer British underdog unknowns. I was the Rarities Manager at Reckless Records in Soho for nearly 20 years and Stack Waddy albums on John Peel's Dandelion Records we're not as they say in used-record parlance - growing on the ample side of your Aunty Godzilla's posterior.

Listed in the 2018 Edition of the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide at £175 each - these grotty slices of early Seventies boogie hedonism must have sold absolute jack at the time (with some diddly squat thrown in for good measure). In fact I’d say I've seen actual physical copies of their February 1971 and October 1972 LPs maybe three times over four decades of collecting and listening. I suppose the egg 'n' greasy chips Ten Years After boogie of Manchester's Stack Waddy just didn't blend in with 1971 and 1972 - years dominated by sensitive singer-songwriters, horizon-expanding Prog Rock and eventually the speckled face-glitter, lip-gloss and boa-scarf prancing of androgynous Glam Rockers.

It didn't help either that with only two original songs on the debut and three on the follow-up (all others were R&B and Blues standards) and their almost deliberate grimy, lo-fi production values courtesy of big fan British DJ John Peel - Stack Waddy felt like little more than a glorified covers band. On the plus side – lead singer, harmonica player and whistling shouter John Knail had a voice that was literally channelling Captain Beefheart's vocal growl on every song - whilst guitarist Mick Stott went Bo Diddley on his undoubtedly physically traumatised guitar. Not a bad combo says you - and you'd be right - at times these low down, dirty, gutbucket versions are like Budgie's no-nonsense aural assault - get in, do the gritty business and leave. But then at other times they simply sound derivative – uninspired and if they extend three-minute wonders to something more drawn out - overstay their welcome entirely. The overall listen is a bit of both, truth be told. To specifics…

This is not the first time for Cherry Red Records and Stack Waddy – CR reissued both albums onto Remastered 'Expanded Edition' CDs back in July 2007 with 9 Bonus Tracks on the debut and 5 on the second. All 14 of those then Previously Unreleased versions have been gathered onto Disc 3 here in 2017. So although there’s technically nothing new here - Cherry Red's slimly packaged triple-disc card pack does offer up a very cool reminder – once more making available genuinely desirable 70ts platters whilst throwing Rarities, Out-Takes and BBC Concert Recordings into the sozzled bargain. Here are the Repossession Blues and Milk Cow Booze...

UK released 17 November 2017 - "So Who The Hell Is STACK WADDY? The Complete Works 1970-1972" by STACK WADDY on Cherry Red Records CDTRED 713 (Barcode 5013929171336) is a 3CD retrospective featuring their two studio albums "Stack Waddy" (1971) and "Bugger Off" (1972) along with Bonus Rarities and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Stack Waddy" (35:49 minutes):

1. Road Runner [Side 1]

2. Bring It To Jerome

3. Mothballs

4. Sure 'Nuff 'N' Yes I Do

5. Love Story

6. Susie Q [Side 2]

7. Country Line Special

8. Rollin' Stone

9. Mystic Eyes

10. Kentucky

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Stack Waddy" - released February 1971 in the UK on Dandelion Records DAN 8003 (no US issue). Produced by JOHN and SHEILA PEEL (credited at Eddie Lee Beppeaux and Miss Pig) - it didn't chart. All tracks are cover versions except "Mothballs" and "Kentucky" which are band compositions

Disc 2 "Bugger Off" (44:04 minutes):

1. Rosalyn [Side 1]

2. Willie The Pimp

3. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man

4. It's All Over Now

5. Several Yards (Foxtrot)

6. You Really Got Me

7. I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter [Side 2]

8. Meat Pies 'Ave Come But The Band's Not Here Yet!

9. It Ain't Easy

10. Long Tall Sally (Mainly)

11. Repossession Boogie

12. The Girl From Ipanema

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second and last studio album "Bugger Off" ("Bugger Off! on the artwork, "Bugger Off" on the label) - released October 1972 in the UK on Dandelion Records 2310 231 (no US issue).

Disc 3 "Hunt The Stag - Outtakes, Live and Rarities" (62:39 minutes):

1. With One Leap Dan Was By Her Side, 'Muriel' He Breathed

2. Ginny Jo

3. Hunt The Stag

4. Mystic Eyes (Alternative Version)

5. (Almost) Milk Cow Booze

6. Leavin' Here

7. I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter

8. Here Comes The Glimmer Man

9. Nadine

Tracks 1 to 9 first appeared as Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks on the July 2007 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue of "Stack Waddy" on Cherry Red CD MRED 318 (Barcode 5013929131828). Tracks 1 and 2 above recorded November 1970 at the Marquee Studios for an aborted 2nd album - Tracks 3 to 10 recorded May 1971 for the same

10. Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut (Live At The BBC, 1971)

11. Repossession Blues (Live At The BBC, 1971)

12. Lawdy Miss Clawdy...Meets Sooty 'N Sweep (Live At The BBC, 1971)

13. Jack & Jill Meet Blind Pugh On The Spot (Live At The BBC, 1971)

14. Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut

Tracks 10 to 14 first appeared as Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks on the July 2007 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue of "Bugger Off" on Cherry Red CD MRED 331 (Barcode 5013929133129). Tracks 10 to 13 recorded liv at The Paris Theatre, 22 July 1971 and broadcast 12 September 1971 by the BBC. Track 14 is a studio version of "Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut" that first appeared as an exclusive track on the 1972 Dandelion Records Sampler LP "There Is Some Fun Going Forward" on Dandelion 2485 021

STACK WADDY was:

JOHN KNAIL – Lead Vocals, Shouts, Whistles and Harmonica

MICK STOTT – Guitars

STUART BANHAM – Bass

STEVE REVELL - Drums on "Stack Waddy"

JOHN GROOM – Drums on "Bugger Off"

The slim outer card slipcase houses three singular card repro sleeves (as listed above) and a well laid-out, expertly annotated 20-page booklet with new September 2017 liner notes from NIGEL CROSS. Each of the single card sleeves (no gatefold for the debut unfortunately) contains a CD with the three variants of the Dandelion Records label - the two CBS-distributed colours and the Polydor-distributed variant for the 3rd. The booklet's a feast of memorabilia photos - colour snaps of the four-piece in (drunken) full flow, UK label repo's of the rare 45s for "Road Runner" and "You Really Got Me" along with a unique Euro pic sleeve on Polydor for "You Really Got Me" featuring the cover of Zappa's "Willie The Pimp" on the flipside. 

There's Dandelion Records headed letters announcing the debut 45 of "Road Runner" for July 1970 with the album supposed to arrive in September 1970 (it was delayed until February 1971) and even a poster of the 'Progressive Blues Festival' at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, Derby where DJ shaker and maker John Peel saw, loved and signed the band. Peel’s liner notes for the second LP are here as is John Tobler’s article for the underground Zig Zag magazine reviewing the 2nd album in October 1972. The band’s Bassist Stuart Banham also contributes reminiscences.

There is no mention anywhere of mastering so I'm presuming these are the 2007 versions (no engineers named). These LPs were always lo-fi and that's reflected in the Remaster - but the recordings are still punchy and well done with Disc 3 offering up a tantalising prospect of what Stack Waddy might have been had they had more time to crack the markets or perhaps even just used live shows as their released LPs.

Overall - you can't help thinking that much like Humble Pie who would have to wait until November 1971’s "Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore" to unleash their explosive brew on a stunned world (a full four studio albums since 1969 behind them on two different labels) - Stack Waddy must have been an awesome thing on a good night in the live environment. But even die-hard fans of Blues Boogie and Hard Rock would have to admit that both LPs seem ever so slightly muted in terms of sheer excitement – something lost in translation.

The self-titled debut opens with the album's one and only single "Road Runner" - a cover of the Bo Diddley (Eugene McDaniels) classic paired with "Kentucky" on the B-side - one of only two band originals on the album (penned by all four). Dandelion S 5119 was UK issued 24 July 1970 but received little airplay and reputedly had distribution problems because of a change over from CBS to Warner Brothers. Up next came another Diddley Daddy connection - the Jerome Green song "Bring It To Jerome" which had been covered by Diddley on his 1958 Chess Records debut album "Bo Diddley". What strikes you about the opening duel salvo is two things - Knail's rasping almost hysterical Beefheart kind of voice and the raw nature of the band's performance as loosely captured by Peel. 

Stack Waddy reminded you of booze and bars and bands playing with cheap equipment rammed up too loud. Their cover of Jethro Tull's "Love Story" is a clever take on a familiar song, the same for the Cyril Davis shuffler "Country Line Special" - but their decidedly ordinary version of "Susie Q" was done better by Creedence over on Liberty Records (originally a hit for Dale Hawkins). And in a song that should have been bread and butter to the band - their Muddy Waters "Rolling Stone" version is oddly unappetising for such a bulletproof standard. The day is saved by Van Morrison's Them and their "Mystic Eyes" - here turned into a six-minute droning guitar-blaster the Belfast band would have been utterly bemused by. Stack Waddy's debut album ends on "Mothballs" – the album's other original - a sort of second rate Chuck Berry knockoff that's good rather than great and has some really naff production.

While the debut could lay claim to a sheer passion that still reverberates to this day – the band should have seen the writing on the wall. Without their own tunes and an audience for that crash-bang-wallop Stack Waddy sound – LP number two would be the end of them – and it was. Peel rejected the aborted ‘Marquee Studio’ sessions for the second platter as 'too polished' and we can hear them on Disc 3 (he actually had a point). But despite its derivative and slightly desperate title ("Bugger Off! for God's sake) – their second slice of re-booted covers and three originals is far better in my mind that the debut.

For sure a band doing "The Girl From Ipanema" or "Long Tall Sally" in 1972 was already very old hat - Sha Na Na territory – even if Stack Waddy make a convincing and original-sounding stab at both. But the covers of Zappa's "Willie The Pimp" and The Kinks incendiary "You Really Got Me" shine here as does the incredibly Punky opener "Rosalyn" where Stack Waddy feel like The Stooges had a baby with The New York Dolls. There's a wonderful down-home boogie to the Bobby Womack standard "It's All Over Now" (made more famous by The Stones and Rod Stewart) and I can't help thinking it could have been a shoe-in for a second single but by the album’s release Dandelion Records had run out of money and the band run out of love and stamina. Not that it shows on the LP. Their own "Several Yards (Foxtrot)" is pure dirty Rock - grungy guitar over on the left - wailing Harmonica on the right with Knail giving it some "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby" growls. A fantastic screw-it-all boogie and chug takes "Meat Pies..." close to Ten Years After at their dirty best (another good original from the band). The vocals are all over the place on "It Ain't Easy" (like Lee Brilleaux of the Feelgoods doing a rough demo) - another messy little boogie beast that feels like fun even now (think Status Quo circa "In My Chair" with Harmonicas). Five and half minutes of their own "Repossession Boogie" shows just how 'Ten Years After' Stack Waddy were – a fantastic little rocker that mixes in Bluesy let-that-boy-boogie-woogie lyrics with huge power chords and frantic Harp – the band on fire as they my-mama-told-me that sucker.

The first nine tracks of Disc 3 are the guts of the aborted second LP and as good as the 'when did you blow in' "Ginny Jo" is - both it (a Ten Years After vibe), the pained "(Almost) Milk Cow Booze" and the stodgy "Hunt The Stag" (a sort of poor man's Black Sabbath) are weak - so it was a smart decision to go with what was released. Their 3:45 minute take on Chuck Berry's "Nadine" sounds like Stack Waddy have just become an embryonic Dr. Feelgood - great fun. Another welcome inclusion for heavy-heavy 70ts nuts is the very grungy studio version of "Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut" that turned up as an exclusive on the Dandelion Records LP sampler "There Is Some Fun In Going Forward" - the kind of snarling beast that would get some bands bottled.

STACK WADDY will not be for everyone and that's for damn sure - but those who love their Rock with a nasty, lowdown snarl should look no further...