"...Prayer
Meeting..."
'The Alexis Korner
Collection – The Godfather Of British Blues Remastered' series of digital
reissues put out by Castle Music of the UK in 2006 and 2007 numbered nine
expanded albums alone - roughly covering his first decade of music from 1962 to
1972. There was also one all-eras double-CD compilation called
"Kornerstoned" in 2006 to round off that huge haul up to ten (I loved
that set - the last song on Disc 2 here "Rosie (Alternate Version)"
was an exclusive to that 2CD compilation). But all are now deleted and in many
cases very expensive to acquire on the used market. There have also been wads
of other CD reissues (before and since) touching on the same territory.
So with so many albums and
off-cuts to his credit spread across too many disparate compilations - how good is it to see this gorgeous 2018
Box Set from current day reissue kings Grapefruit Records of the UK finally
gather together a huge chuck of his primo 60ts output and associations into one
sweetly presented place and at a good price too (Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin
and Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser from Free are here amongst other luminaries).
And even if there isn't technically a wad of newbee Previously Unreleased
material (which is a bit of a disappointment) – the jam-packed playing times of
each remastered disc more than makes up for it. And I for one am digging the
sheer scope of what's on offer too. First, a potted breakdown...
Across 66-Tracks,
"Every Day I Have The Blues..." includes songs from the nine albums
"R&B From The Marquee" (November 1962, 9 of 12 tracks), "Red
Hot From Alex" (June 1964, 5 Tracks), "Rhythm & Blues"
(October 1964, 1 Track), "At The Cavern" (October 1964, 6 Tracks),
"Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated" (June 1965, 5 Tracks), "Sky
High" (April 1966, 9 Tracks of 15), "A New Generation Of Blues"
(July 1968, 8 Tracks of 11 in Stereo), "Both Sides" (May 1970, 6
Tracks from a Dutch LP) and "Bootleg Him!" – an August 1972 2LP compilation
of 60ts and 70ts outtakes (9 Tracks). There
is also a rare acoustic-guitar song from an early British EP with Davy Graham,
single and flexi sides, CD compilation exclusives and much more. Here are the
intricate details...
UK released 22 November 2018
- "Every Day I Have The Blues: The Sixties Anthology" by ALEXIS
KORNER on Grapefruit Records CRSEGBOX048 (Barcode 5013929184800) is a 3CD
Retrospective in a Clamshell Box with Mini LP Sleeves and Booklet. It plays out
as follows:
Disc One "Night Time In
The Right Time" (77:40 minutes):
1. 3/4 A.D. - ALEXIS KORNER
with DAVY GRAHAM
2. She Fooled Me - BLUES
INCORPORATED
3. Gotta Move
4. Rain Is Such A Lonesome
Sound
5. I Got My Brand On You
6. Keep Your Hands Off
7. I Wanna Put A Tiger In
Your Tank
8. I Got My Mojo Working
9. Down Town
10. How Long, How Long Blues
11. I Thought I Heard That
Train Whistle Blow
12. I'm Built For Comfort
(Aka Everything She Needs)
13. Up-Town
14. Rockin'
15. Night Time Is The Right
Time
16. See See Rider
17. Blue Mink
18. Rainy Tuesday
19. Yogi
20. Sappho
21. Preachin' The Blues
22. Taboo Man
23. Whoa Babe
24. Every Day I Have The
Blues
25. Well All Right, O.K.,
You Win
Disc Two "Wednesday
Night Prayer Meeting" (79:28 minutes):
1. Little Bitty Gal Blues
2. Hoochie Coochie Man
3. Kansas City
4. Woke Up This Morning
5. Stormy Monday
6. Cabbage Greens
7. Chicken Shack
8. Haitian Fight Song
9. I Need Your Loving
10. Please Please Please
11. Little Baby
12. Roberta (Single Version)
13. I Got A Woman
14. Oh Lord, Don't Let Them
Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me
15. Long Black Train
16. Rock Me
17. I'm So Glad
18. Wednesday Night Prayer
Meeting
19. Oo-Wee Baby
20. River's Invitation
21. Money Honey
22. Louise
23. Floating
24. Rosie (Alternative
Version)
Disc Three "What's That
Sound I Hear" (79:35 minutes):
1. Yellow Dog Blues
2. The Love You Save
3. Corina, Corina
4. Mary Open The Door
5. Little Bitty Girl
6. Go Down Sunshine
7. The Same For You
8. I'm Tore Down
9. In The Evening
10. Somethin' You Got
11. What's That Sound I Hear
12. I Wonder Who?
(Alternative Version)
13. Operator
14. Steal Away
15. Mighty Mighty (Spade And
Whitey)
16. Funky
17. Wild Injun Woman
18. To Whom It May Concern
19. I See It
20. You Don't Miss Your
Water
Each of the themed-CDs has a
period photo - Blues Incorporated for Disc One with Cyril Davies and Dick
Heckstall-Smith, Alexis alone in the recording studio on a chair for Disc Two
and for Disc Three – Alexis with his trademark rounded hipster black glasses
and an acoustic guitar at a gig microphone. The 22-page booklet features new
liner notes from noted writer DAVID WELLS and has all the Ace of Clubs, Decca
and Liberty album sleeves, loads of trade adverts from NME, Evening Standard,
Melody Maker and Jazz News, those rare Blues Incorporated Parlophone singles, a
flyer for a Champion Jack Dupree gig with Al Sykes and Alexis on the same
December bill (six schillings at the door!) and even a picture of Herbie Goins
during the recording of the "Red Hot From Alex" LP. It's very tastefully
done.
There is no mastering credit
so it’s got to be the Sanctuary/Castle Music remasters done in 2006 and 2007
and they reflect the recording standards of the time – a lot of the
basically-recorded Mono on Disc 1 is good to ok, while Discs 2 and 3 get better
and 3 in particularly (largely Stereo) sounds amazing (the late Sixties
outtakes on the cool "Bootleg Him!" double are hair-raising).
It opens with a very cool
and wonderfully recorded acoustic duet instrumental "3/4 A.D."
recorded April 1961 and released March 1962 on the uber-rare British
"Alexis Korner/Davy Graham EP" on Topic Records TOP 70 - a tune
that's more John Renbourn Folk than Blues. It's followed by the first of the
"Bootleg Him!" outtakes - a cover of Billy Boyd Arnold's "She Fooled
Me" as done by Blues Incorporated. The lavishly presented 20-track
"Bootleg Him!" double-album first appeared August 1972 in the UK on
Mickie Most's RAK Records SRAKSP 51 and "She Fooled Me" is one of the
earliest cuts on that trawl-haul, recorded January 1962. Even then Alexis's
voice had that cool to it - and if you can forgive the terribly sexist lyrics,
you can enjoy Cyril Davies warbling so effectively on the Harp.
"Gotta Move" is a
good Korner original - a boogie instrumental from the groundbreaking November
1962 British LP "R&B At The Marquee" on Decca's budget label Ace
Of Hearts ACL 1130 (credited to Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated). Better is
the fantastically evocative vocals of the dapper Long John Baldry fronting a
cover of Jimmy Witherspoon's "Rain Is Such A Lonesome Sound" as Cyril
lays into the Harmonica in between verses - another winner from the
"Marquee" LP. Speaking of Cyril Davies, he finally steps up to the
microphone on the Willie Dixon-penned Muddy Waters song "I've Got My Brand
On You" and while he was never Baldry or Korner in terms of sheer
expressiveness - I've always thought Cyril's vocals just as good as say John
Mayall (he also fronts "I Wanna To Put A Tiger In Your Tank" and
"Got My Mojo Working" on the same LP). Baldry returns two more times
to great effect on "How Long, How Long Blues" (a Leroy Carr cover)
and his own composition "I Thought I Heard That Train Whistle Blow"
which nicks lyrics from the Carr song.
The audio takes a leap
upwards for the five tunes featured from the June 1965 LP "Alexis Korner’s
Blues Incorporated" originally on Ace Of Clubs ACL 1187. All are
instrumentals – four Alexis originals and a cover of the Son House classic
"Preachin’ The Blues". Top audio or not, I wish I could say I’ve
always enjoyed them but they’ve always felt plodding to me – strangely dull.
Better is the greasy and dirty live recording of "Whao Babe" from the
October 1964 UK LP "At The Cavern" originally on Oriole PS 40058 – an
AK original that at least has heart amidst a manic letting rip. Herbie Goins
does lead vocals on the second and third "At The Cavern" inclusions –
the set’s title tune "Every Day I Have The Blues" and "Well All
Right, O.K., You Win" – Alexis announcing him as “...someone you can
sing...” while Dave Castle plays a blinder on Saxophone behind a clearly
inebriated band (Malcolm Saul on Organ).
Disc 2 offers three more
"At The Cavern" instalments – a cracking groove for Big Joe Turner's
"Little Bitty Gal Blues" – once again Dave Castle complimenting an Alexis'
vocal with superb Saxophone fills. The other two are the Willie Dixon Chess
Records classic "Hoochie Coochie Man" (made famous by Muddy Waters)
and Lieber/Stoller's Wilbert Harrison rocker "Kansas City" sung by
Herbie Goins. Upping the audio again - Goins adds some of that vocal class to
five from the superb "Red Hot From Alex" set, a June 1964 UK LP on
Transatlantic Records TRA 117. The band features Danny Thompson of Pentangle
fame on Double Bass while Dave Castle gets to drag out the flute for a cool
version of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday" - a gorgeous groove. Dick
Heckstall-Smith also returns for Saxophone on "Chicken Shack" along
with fellow horn player Art Thelmen. But my faves on Disc 2 are two quiet
Acoustic and Harmonica shuffles from the lesser-seen June 1966 UK LP "Sky
High" on Spot JW 551 - a Johnny Temple cover of "Louise" and his
own "Floating" - just Acoustic and naught else. Nice...
Disc 3 has the sensational
"Steal Away" recorded September 1968 before Robert Plant had joined
Page's motley crew as Led Zeppelin's front man. It's pure 'Zep I' territory,
Plant wailing in that fantastic Bluesy voice while Korner answers in mumbles.
It could even double as a debut outtake. Zeppelin famously included a nod to
"Steal Away" by incorporating a snippet of it in "How Many More
Times" - the song that ends Side 2 of their explosive January 1969 debut
on Atlantic Records. Another forgotten gem is the "Both Sides" album
from May 1970 issued in Germany on Metronome Records and in the Netherlands on
Phillips 6413 008 (its this version they use). Andy Fraser of Free plays Bass
on the album while the subtly distinctive vocals of Paul Rodgers can also be
heard duetting with Korner on "To Whom It May Concern" - while Avant
Garde artist Lol Coxhill lends his saxophone warbles to Korner's cover of
Free's "Wild Indian Woman" (mysteriously respelled as "Wild
Injun Woman"). Korner's love of Soul Music is very prominent on the
"Both Sides" album too – he covers The Staples Singers "Soul
Folk In Action" LP cut "I See It", William Bell's classic
"You Don't Miss Your Water" (how I cry) and Curtis Mayfield's call
for racial social justice in "Mighty Mighty (Spade And Whitey)" –
Paul Rodgers of Free joining him on the backing vocals. Very tasty...
If ever an artist/catalyst
deserved reverence and remembrance, then the part-Greek, part-Turk,
part-Austrian and yet somehow all-English Alexis Korner is that guy. Along with
Cyril Davies and John Mayall - Korner is often referred to as 'the Godfather of
British Blues' and these three themed-CDs show why. A great reminder of a great
artist (with a whole lotta help from others)...
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