"The Letter-Neon Rainbow/Cry Like A Baby/Non Stop/Dimensions/Bonus Tracks" by THE BOX TOPS - Four Albums from 1967, 1968 (2) and 1969 on Bell Records (USA) in Stereo with 1970 Non-Album Singles in Mono - Featuring Alex Chilton [later of Big Star], Donnie Fritts, Eddie Hinton, Spooner Oldham with Dan Penn, Mickey Newbury, Chip Taylor, Glen Spreen and more (28 February 2020 UK Beat Goes On Reissue - 4LPs Onto 2CDs with Seven Bonus Tracks - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and Over 400 More Like It

Are Available In My E-Book 

NO NEED TO BE 
NERVOUS! 
THE GROOVIEST 1960s MUSIC ON CD 

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional Reissues and Remasters 

"...Lay Your Shine On Me..."

This fantastic-sounding February 2020 double-header CD set from the hirsute bods prowling the corridors of England’s Beat Goes On offers up four studio albums THE BOX TOPS did in the USA between 1967 and 1969 with some dips into 1970. All were released in the UK too, albeit one LP with an additional track and another with two extras (the full compliment is provided here in this release – see notes below the track lists for sequencing).

Bolstering the quartet are seven more bonuses - three album outtakes (from the first 3 LPs) and four non-album single sides - with the bulk of it being in glorious Stereophonic marvelousness. It be a wee bit of a jellybean jar and that’s for darn gosh sure (as they say in enlightened parts of Alabama).

All this and a young Alex Chilton of Big Star (only 16 going on 17) stretching his Eric Burdon via Jim Morrison voice and newly acquired songwriting chops, Rock-Soul tunes with a Countrified air from those good ole Southern Soul gentlemen and all-round beloved dapper dudes – Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn (Penn produced the first three LPs) - with other melodies penned by Donnie Fritts and Eddie Hinton (guitar too). Hell The Tops even do a nine-minute cover of a B.B. King Blues classic at the end of album four that would give Jimmy Page a possible envy streak (and that’s not at the size of Robbie Williams' nearby and neighbourly water appendage). And 1968’s "Non Stop" (their one studio set that didn't make the top 200) may be obscure in 2020, but its an unfairly forgotten classic in my book and ripe for rediscovery. All this and these are the longest two BGO CDs I've ever seen in their near 40 years of digital reissue – both 81-minutes-plus. Very cool and not in the least bit square (if you know what I mean). Here are the unboxed details...

UK released Friday, 28 February 2020 - "The Letter-Neon Rainbow/Cry Like A Baby/Non Stop/Dimensions/Bonus Tracks" by THE BOX TOPS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1400 (Barcode 5017261214003) offers 4LPs Remastered Onto 2CDs with Seven Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

CD1 (81:40 minutes):

1. The Letter [Side 1]

2. She Knows How

3. Trains & Boats & Planes 

4. Break My Mind

5. Whiter Shade Of Pale

6. Everything I Am

7. Neon Rainbow [Side 2]

8. People Make The World

9. I'm Your Puppet

10. Happy Times

11. Gonna Find Somebody

12. I Pray For Rain

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "The Letter/Neon Rainbow" – released November 1967 in the USA on Bell Records 6011 in Stereo-only and January 1968 in the UK on Stateside SSL 10128 in Stereo-only - the STEREO MIX is used

13. Cry Like A Baby [Side 1]

14. Deep In Kentucky

15. I'm The One For You

16. Weeping Analeah

17. Every Time

18. Fields Of Clover

19. The Letter [see Notes below]

20. Trouble With Sam [Side 2]

21. Lost

22. Good Morning Dear

23. 727

24. You Keep Me Hanging On

25. The Door You Closed To Me [see Notes below]

Tracks 13 to 25 are their second studio album "Cry Like A Baby" – released April 1968 in the USA on Bell Records 6017 in Stereo-only as an 11-track LP. The US variant is sequenced 13 to 18 for Side 1 and 20 to 24 for Side 2. The songs at the end of each side ("The Letter" and "The Door You Closed To Me") were two bonuses only on the June 1968 UK 13-track LP on Bell Records MBLL 105 (Mono) and SBLL 105 (Stereo). The song "The Door You Closed To Me" was also a non-album track in the USA and appeared as the B-side of the "Cry Like A Baby" 45 single in February 1988 on Mala Records 593. The STEREO MIX is used for CD.

BONUS TRACKS:

26. Georgia Farm Boy (album outtake first issued March 2000 in the USA on Sundazed SC 6158 - the Expanded Edition CD reissue of the "The Letter-Neon Rainbow" LP)

27. Take Me To Your Heart (album outtake first issued March 2000 in the USA on Sundazed SC 6159 - the Expanded Edition CD reissue of the "Cry Like A Baby" LP)

28. Come On Honey (non-album track, March 1970 US 7" single on Bell 865, B - CD reissue as per 27)

29. You Keep Tightening Up On Me (non-album track, March 1970 US 7" single on Bell 865, A - CD reissue as per 27)

CD2 (81:43 minutes):

1. Choo Choo Train [Side 1]

2. I'm Movin' On

3. Sandman

4. She Shot A Hole In My Soul

5. People Gonna Talk

6. I Met Her in Church [Side 2]

7. Rock Me Baby

8. Rollin' In My Sleep

9. I Can Dig It

10. Yesterday Where's My Head

11. If I Had Let You In 

Tracks 1 to 11 are their third studio album "Non Stop" – released October 1968 in the USA on Bell Records 6023 in Stereo-only and November 1968 in the UK on Bell Records MBLL 108 (Mono) and SBLL 108 (Stereo) - the STEREO MIX is used

12. Soul Deep [Side 1]

13. I Shall Be Released

14. Midnight Angel

15. Together

16. I'll Hold Out My Hand

17. I Must Be The Devil

18. Sweet Cream Ladies (Forward March) [Side 2]

19. (The) Happy Song

20. Ain't No Way

21. I See Only Sunshine

22. Rock Me Baby (Version 2)

Tracks 12 to 22 are their fourth album "Dimensions" – released September 1969 in the USA on Bell Records 6032 in Stereo-only as a 10-Track LP without the song "I See Only Sunshine" on Side 2 and November 1969 in the UK on Bell Records MBLL 120 (Mono) and SBLL 120 (Stereo) as an 11-track LP with the song "I See Only Sunshine" slotted in as above on Side 2 – the STEREO MIX is used

BONUS TRACKS:

23. King's Highway (non-album track, March 1971 US 7" single on Bell 981, A - CD as per 25)

24. Since I Been Gone (non-album track, March 1971 US 7" single on Bell 981, B - CD appearance is March 2000 in the USA on Sundazed SC 6160 - the Expanded Edition CD reissue of the "Non Stop" LP)

25. Lay Your Shine On Me (album outtake first issued March 2000 in the USA on Sundazed SC 6161 - the Expanded Edition CD reissue of the "Dimensions" LP)

The outer slipcase card wrap, 24-page booklet and foldout double-CD jewel case all lend this reissue a typical air of class. Longstanding writer for BGO – Mojo and Record Collector’s CHARLES WARING - provides superbly detailed and researched liner notes that cover the recording and release of the first four albums, the singles surrounding them, Producers Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Tommy Cogbill and Chips Moman, line-up changes and even quotes from singer-songwriter Alex Chilton and original drummer Danny Smythe on their punishing and sometimes disillusioning schedules. The booklet also features all original artwork (hokey liner notes from 1967 and 1968 by Hal Smith and Mark Lindsay) and well as the usual 2020 Remaster reissue credits. Even the inner back inlay beneath the CD trays has a shot of the "Dimensions" album sleeve (nice touch).

ANDREW THOMPSON did the Remasters at Sound Performance in London and I have to say that these albums are sparkling. Although most are in full STEREO, I can’t help thinking (and to my ears) that certain cuts are in MONO – like the single "The Letter" on the debut (repeated on the British LP for "Cry Like A Baby"). The audio on deeply cool album cuts like "She Knows How",  "People Make The World", "Choo Choo Train" and "She Shot A Hole In My Soul" is wonderful – a genuine pleasure to hear in all their 60ts cool-aid grooviness. To the records...

Arising out of a Memphis Beat group called The Devilles, the embryonic 1966 Box Tops hooked up with Soul-steeped producers Chips Moman and Dan Penn. Then with the aid of an uppercoming Missouri songwriter called Wayne Carson Thompson (usually credited on the labels as Carson Thompson) – they found a total world-beating winner in one of his three demo songs called "The Letter" (ticket for an aeroplane, anyone). Thompson also penned the album’s other moniker "Neon Rainbow" which would become the group’s second single and a dual title on the debut album. His third contribution to the covers-heavy first LP outing was "She Knows How" – another wickedly hooky tune.

Young Soul buck Bobby Womack provided two - "People Make The World" and "Gonna Find Somebody" – neither of which would turn up on his two stunning albums for Imperial "Fly Me To The Moon" and "My Prescription" in 1968 and 1970. We get a purely functional version of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", a wimpy cover of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David Dionne Warwick vehicle "Trains & Boats & Planes" and a slightly better take on John D. Loudermilk's "Break My Mind". But what really interests me about the debut (apart from how mature Chilton sounded as a 16-year old giving it some 60ts R&B) is the four Rock-Soul songs from the pens of two of my absolute fave-rave writers – Memphis boys Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn (accompanied by ace arranger Mike Leech). They give us "Everything I Am", the James and Bobby Purify classic "I'm Your Puppet", "Happy Times" and "I Pray For Rain". It's been eons since I played these period slices of Southern hospitality and gosh darn their burning-churning groovy bits but they've stood up well – especially as they come from a year that saw the dynamic duo write "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" for Aretha Franklin and "The Dark End Of The Street" for James Carr. Yum yum...

The second LP "Cry Like A Baby" once again saw Dan Penn at the Production controls – the US copy offering 11 cuts whilst the UK issue slapped on a further two songs – one at the end of either side. The team of Oldham and Penn stumped up the fantastic hit "Cry Like A Baby" and five more - "Every Time", "Fields Of Clover", "Trouble With Sam" (Penn only), "727" and the bonus cut on the British LP "The Door You Closed On Me". The band gets yeah-man psych on their cover of The Supremes Holland-Dozier-Holland classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On", goes all Peppers Sitar on "I'm The One For You", whilst the album is also notable for the inclusion of two from cult Country Rocker Mickey Newbury - "Good Morning Dear" and a waltz co-write with Dan Folger on "Weeping Analeah". 

A quietly unnoticed hero of mine called Glen Spreen arranged the strings on "Lost" (a co-write of his with Mark James) – Spreen would enjoy a huge working career as LP arranger for the much-missed Dan Fogelberg on Dan's albums "Home Free", "Captured Angel", "Phoenix", "The Innocent Age" and more (he even arranged for Presley). And amidst the four bonuses tail-ending CD1 is Alex Chilton's first songwriting-credit for the band on "Come On Honey", Carson Thompson once again throwing up a non-LP groover in "You Keep Tightening Up On Me" and another Mickey Newbury cover in the album outtake - "Georgia Farm Boy" - that I believe Sundazed first unearthed to the world in 2000 on their expanded CD reissue of the debut album "The Letter-Neon Rainbow".

Which brings us to album number three "Non Stop" from October 1968 opening CD2 with the LP's lead off single – the Donnie Fritts and Eddie Hinton penned "Choo Choo Train". Mala Records had in fact debuted the 45 Stateside in May 1968 (Mala 12,005) with "Fields Of Clover" from the second album on the flipside – but even then the writing seemed to be on the wall for this non-charting LP. "Cry Like A Baby" had gone all the hit way to an impressive No. 2 on the American singles chart in March 1968 – but in June 1968 (only months later) when "Choo Choo Train" hit the Billboard listings – it only managed a peak of only No. 26. And despite the songwriting strength of the album's second 45 "I Met Her In Church" on Mala 12.017 - an Oldham/Penn original backed with their equally cool "People Gonna Talk" song on the flipside - it too only rose to No. 37 and this time only managed one week on the chart. Hardly surprising then that in November 1968, a slightly panicking Bell Records tried to cash in on what must have appeared to be an already fading band by putting out the LP "The Box Tops Super Hits" as a mop-up exercise. At least it charted and rose to No. 45 – reminding people of how much they loved those hooky Rock-Soul numbers.

As well as the clever rework of Hank Snow's country groover "I'm Movin' On" on Side 1 (John Kay of Steppenwolf may have nicked his arrangement of the cover from the Box Tops for his "Forgotten Songs & Unsung Heroes" LP in 1972) – the "Non Stop" album also has an enlightened cover version choice on Side 2 in the B.B. King classic "Rock Me Baby". A Bluesy little gem running to 3:49 minutes, I mention the tune because when The Box Tops returned with their fourth "Dimensions" album in 1969, clearly recognizing that they'd stumbled on a sound and Rock-Soul-orientated groove Chilton really liked - they went at it again, only this time extending its fantastic Blues-Rock-Soul vibe to nearly nine minutes. Wayne Carson Thompson provided "Sandman" which I think is good rather than great – Fritts and Hinton put up contribution number two in the shape of the US Side 2 finisher "If I Had Let You In" (sweet) and keyboardist Paul Davis of The Reivers provided the excellent "Rollin' In My Sleep". As I said earlier, why the public ignored this rather cool and sexy little LP is anyone's guess – but I'd say it's time to go back and re-look.

The final album "Dimensions" opens with the absolute winner that is "Soul Deep" - a Wayne Carson Thompson masterpiece. But then you're hit with a genuine surprise. Even in 1968, Dylan cover versions had become a seriously overdone thing. And yet The Box Tops managed in their version of "I Shall Be Released" to capture the song's beauty and spirituality and even (some would say) take it further. Their take is gorgeous and in April 1969 Mala previewed the album by putting "I Shall Be Released" on a US 45 A-side (Mala 12,038) with Chilton's equally superb Blues number "I Must Be The Devil" on the flip. 23 May 1969 saw this combo issued by Bell Records in Blighty (Bell BLL 1063) and for me is one of the great forgotten combos of that amazing year (love me two times). Can't say I like the cover of Neil Diamond's "Ain't No Way" much, but the Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor song "I'll Hold Out My Hand" is a goody. And the three bonus cuts ending CD2 has Chilton's rare single-only track "Since I Been Gone". The only minor gripe is that the stand-alone September 1969 single "Turn On A Dream" (a Mark James song) with Chilton's "Together" on the flipside is not here, but that perhaps is being too greedy.

Beat Goes On has gotten good at these sort of releases and this is another feather in their long-standing fluffy hat. Great audio, great content and quality presentation – my love is Soul Deep boys for sure...

"Home" by DELANEY & BONNIE [BRAMLETT] - Second US LP from October 1969 on Stax Records STS-2026 and March 1970 UK LP on Stax Records SXATS 1029 (both in Stereo) – featuring Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. of Booker T & The MG's with Isaac Hayes, Wayne Jackson, William Bell, Leon Russell and more and Songs From David Porter, Eddie Floyd and Homer Banks (23 May 2006 US on Universal/Stax (13 July 2006 in the UK) Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Six Bonus Tracks and Rejiggered Playing Order – Stephen Hart Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and Over 400 More Like It

Are Available In My E-Book 

THE TOWN HAS 
NO NEED TO BE 
NERVOUS! 
THE GROOVIEST 1960s MUSIC ON CD 

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional Reissues and Remasters 

"...My Baby Specializes..."

Ohio's Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett's second album "Home" hit the shops on Stax Records in late October 1969 in the USA (delayed until March 1970 in the UK) and featured their much-loved brand of Rock-Soul - a bit of Stax meets Atlantic meets two great vocalists who pioneered the genre and could pen a tune or two into the bargain.

As you see from the musician list provided below, the album also featured an impressive roster of Stax talent and players – all of Booker T & The MGs with Isaac Hayes and William Bell too and guests like Leon Russell (the Production was handled by Donald "Duck" Dunn of The MG's with funky troubadour Don Nix as his partner in crime). A true crossover record, it's no wonder the 10-track LP is viewed with such affection even in 2020.

But its CD history (especially this rejiggered and slightly buggered-up CD reissue which is actually in MONO instead of STEREO) needs a bit of an encyclopedia to fully understand, so to the details my groovy 60ts pals...

UK released 13 July 2006 (23 May 2006 in the USA) - "Home" by DELANEY & BONNIE on Universal/Concord/Stax 0025218862622 (Barcode 025218862622) offers a Remaster of the 10-Track October 1969 US LP Plus Six Bonus Tracks (in a rejiggered formation) and plays out as follows (46:34 minutes):

1. A Long Road Ahead

2. My Baby Specializes

3. Things Get Better

4. We Can Love

5. All We Really Want To Do

6. It's Been A Long Time Coming

7. Just Plain Beautiful

8. Everybody Loves A Winner

9. Look What We Have Found

10. Piece Of My Heart

11. A Right Now Love

12. I've Just Been Feeling Bad

13. Dirty Old Man

14. Get Ourselves Together

15. Pour Your Love On Me

16. Hard To Say Goodbye

The CD is configured as above with 1, 2, 9, 12, 13 and 14 listed as BONUS TRACKS. As well as rejiggering the original playing order of the album, it also states the CD is remastered in STEREO when in fact it was mastered and released in MONO in error and as of February 2020 this mistake remains unfixed. The original 1969 (Mono) LP can be sequenced using the following CD tracks:

Side 1:

1. It's Been A Long Time Coming [Track 5]

2. A Right Now Love [Track 11]

3. We Can Love [Track 4]

4. My Baby Specializes [Track 2]

5. Everybody Loves A Winner [Track 83]

Side 2:

1. Things Get Better [Track 3]

2. Just Plain Beautiful [Track 7]

3. Hard To Say Goodbye

4. Pour Your Love On Me [Track 15]

5. Piece Of My Heart [Track 10]

Tracks 1 to 10 above are their second album "Home" - released late October 1969 in the USA on Stax Records STS 2026 in Stereo and March 1970 in the UK on Stax Records SXATS 1029 in Stereo. Produced by DONALD "Duck" DUNN and DON NIX - it didn't chart in either country.

Musicians:

DELANEY BRAMLETT – Lead Vocals and Guitar

BONNIE BRAMLETT – Lead Vocals

BOOKER T. JONES and ISAAC HAYES – Keyboards

STEVE CROPPER – Guitar

DONALD "Duck" DUNN and CARL RADLE – Bass

AL JACKSON, Jr. – Drums

WAYNE JACKSON and BEN CAULEY – Trumpets

JAY PRUITT, DICK STEFF and JOHN DAVIS - Trumpets

ANDREW LOVE, ED LOGAN, JOE ARNOLD and JIM TERRY – Saxophones

WILLIAM BELL and PHIL FORREST – Backing Vocals

LEON RUSSELL – Keyboards

JIMMY KARSTEIN – Percussion

The six-leaf three-way foldout inlay offers a potted history of the trailblazing crossover duo and their second LP by MICHAEL POINT with recording and reissue credits on the last leafs (written in 2002). Point claims their entry in the annals of Rock Music is woefully underappreciated and Michael would be right. Steeped in Soul Music and Stax Records whilst able to put up similar fare with tunes like their own "It's Been A Long Time Coming", they co-wrote "Pour Your Love On Me" and "A Right Now Love" with deep Soul hero HOMER BANKS and "Hard To Say Goodbye" with bassist CARL RADLE. A quick glance through the credits for the outtakes that were left off the album (included here as bonus tracks) and again you can see the co-writes with Radle on "A Long Road Ahead" and "Get Ourselves Together". And even though you can so hear why some of the extras were left off the LP (weakness) – its still a very nice vaults trawl for fans (their rejects don't sound so bad now).

The audio is provided by STEPHEN HART and as already mentioned, is mistakenly mastered into MONO despite the CD and rear labeling it as Stereo. But bizarrely enough it kicks like a mule. The listen feels like an extended singles list from 1968 and 1969 and is a vast improvement on a Stereo CD I had by Ace/Stax from the late 80ts that was both weedy and dull in comparison. As you can see from the total playing time of 46:34 minutes for 16 cuts, the bonuses can be dropped for a future reissue and both Mono and Stereo versions of the LP easily fitted onto 1CD – but alas we must wait and see...

Begun in 27 February 1968 sessions, recordings and overdubs continued into August, September and November 1968 right through until two final studio spurges on the 1st and 2nd of July 1969. The CD listen opens on a Bonus - "A Long Road Ahead" initially laid down in November 1968 with Leon Russell, Carl Radle and Jimmy Karstein playing, then returned to in July 1969 with Booker T on further Keyboards and Phil Forrest on Backing Vocals. It's a goodie and sets the Rock-Soul tone nicely. Next up is the first song from the original LP - "My Baby Specializes" - an Isaac Hayes/David Porter composition that William Bell and Judy Clay made a duet hit 45 in December 1968 on Stax STA-0017. With the bulk of Booker T & The MG's as the backing band, it was laid down at the 27 Feb 1968 session with none other than William Bell singing backing vocals (no doubt he spotted the potential hit even then for him and Judy).

From the same February 1968 recording date and written by Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper and Al Jackson - "Things Get Better" fills your speakers with Stax Funk – a very Blues Brothers moment as those horns jerk and jab while Delaney and Bonnie declare that they have no doubts – duality makes things better baby. Cropper and Eddie Floyd penned "We Can Love" – a truly joyous baby-I've-been-lovin'-you Rock-Soul dancer. Written by Bobby Crutcher with Steve Cropper – Stax UK tried a 45 A-side with the brass-swinging duet-vocals of "Just Plain Beautiful". Released a few months before the album appeared in Blighty (March 1970) – the early January 1970 British single on Stax STAX 139 had the LP cut "Hard To Say Goodbye" as its B-side. But despite the strength of both cuts, it didn't take.

Homer Banks and Bonnie Bramlett penned the lovely "A Right Now Love" - a without your lovin' arms pleader where starving hearts need some lurve stat. The album ends of a storming brass/vocals cover of Erma Franklin's "Piece Of My Heart" that by the end feels like Bonnie is a channeling her inner Janis Joplin screams (lovely organ work from Booker T and we never do find out who is providing those girly backing vocals). Of the bonus cuts - "Look What We Have Found" feels like a discovery worth making even if Concord Music don't know who wrote it to forward those royalties to.

Prior to "Home" - the dynamic duo had issued "Accept No Substitute" on Elektra in July 1969 and after "Home" three more on Atco - "Delaney & Bonnie and Friends On Tour With Eric Clapton" (April 1970), "To Bonnie From Delaney" (October 1970), "Motel Shot" (April 1971). With a label change to Columbia Records, "D & B Together" came in March 1972 (see review) after which the partnership dissolved into divorce and further solo releases.

I can't help thinking that someone like Esoteric Recordings should do a 6LP/6CD Box Set of DELANEY & BONNIE and their 1969 to 1972 output - get all their stuff out there in one cool remastered place - hopefully sometime in the future. In the meantime, Mono or no, give this cheap but rather cool little CD reissue a spin...

"Freak Out!" by THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION [featuring FRANK ZAPPA] – 27 June 1966 DEBUT US 2LP set on Verve Records in Stereo – featuring Frank Zappa, Roy Estrada, Elliot Ingber, Ray Collins, Jim Black and many guests (30 July 2012 Universal/Zappa Records CD Reissue – Transfer in 2011 by JOE TRAVERS based on the FZ-Approved "1987 1630 Digital Source") - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and Over 400 More Like It

Are Available In My E-Book 

NO NEED TO BE 
NERVOUS! 
THE GROOVIEST 1960s MUSIC ON CD 

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional Reissues and Remasters 

"...Wowie Zowie..."

In the sheer pandemic hysteria that is February 2020 - looking back on "Freak Out!" in all its June 1966 double-album Avant Garde glory (with a healthy dose of parody thrown in too) - it still feels staggeringly ahead of its time, indulgent, crap and darn it – just plain weird. 

"Freak Out!" feels like "2001: A Space Odyssey" did in 1968 or "Never Mind The Bollox..." in 1977 – outstanding in a field of its own – snarling at the world and it decriers like some demented banshee most sane-minded folks would want to go away. A heady mix of 60ts Psych, Symphonic Rock, Vocal Groups, R'n'B, Experimental and other nutty soundscapes (all of it wrapped around attacking dude lyrics few had heard before) – for sure "Freak Out!" is not for everyone, and yet Zappa's band debut still feels like a game changer…

It's digital history however is one of multiple-version nightmare - we got the American Rykodisc reissue in 1985, followed by Zappa Records in 1987, back to Rykodisc in 1995, another reissue from Ryko in 2002 only to arrive at his catalogue finally passing on to the Universal Music Group in 2012.

Bizarrely though and after all these decades in the digital domain, even now the 2012 CD reissue is still based on the '1987 1630 Digital Source' as per Zappa's instructions. Using the 1987 artwork that now credits the album as by 'Frank Zappa/The Mothers Of Invention' when of course it was originally just 'The Mothers Of Invention' – we do however get a new 2011 transfer by Audio Engineer Joe Travers. 

So without further riot gear intervention - let's get to Monster Magnet, Wowie Zowie, Suzy Creamcheese and The Brain Police...

UK released 30 July 2012 - "Freak Out! by THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION on Universal/Zappa Records 0238342 (Barcode 824302383421) offers the original 1966 double-album in full remastered onto 1 CD (No. 1 in a Series of Official ZAPPA Records releases) that plays out as follows (60:33 minutes):

1. Hungry Freaks, Daddy [Side 1]

2. I Ain't Got No Heart

3. Who Are The Brain Police?

4. Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder

5. Motherly Love

6. How Could I Be Such A Fool

7. Wowie Zowie [Side 2]

8. You Didn't Try To Call Me

9. Any Way The Wind Blows

10. I'm Not Satisfied

11. You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here

12. Trouble Every Day [Side 3]

13. Help, I'm A Rock

14. It Can't Happen Here

15. The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet [Side 4]

Tracks 1 to 15 are the double-album "Freak Out!" by THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - released 27 June 1966 in the USA on Verve Records V6-5005-2 in Stereo Only and March 1967 in the UK as a single LP in Mono and Stereo on Verve Records VLP 9154 (Mono) and SVLP 9154 (Stereo) - finally issued as a double-album in the UK December 1971 on Verve Records 2683 004. It has the distinction of being Rock's second 2LP set after Bob Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" which was released one week earlier, 20 June 1966.

NOTES:

When originally released Side 3 had two tracks - "Trouble Every Day" at 6:10 minutes and "Help, I'm A Rock (Suite In Three Movements)" at 8:10 minutes. "Help, I'm A Rock..." was in fact divided into three parts or movements - 1st Movement: Okay To Tap Dance, 2nd Movement: In Memoriam, Edgar Varese and 3rd Movement: It Can't Happen Here. At 12:16 minutes, Side 4 was credited as "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet In Two Tableaus)" which had two parts (i) Ritual Dance Of The Child Killers and (ii) Nullis Pretii (No Commercial Potential). These have been edited, renamed and re-arranged by Zappa for the CD reissue as per the 1-15 track list above.

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION were:

FRANK ZAPPA – Guitar, Vocals (Wrote All Songs, Arranged & Conducted)

ELLIOT INGBER – Lead And Rhythm Guitars

RAY COLLINS – Lead Vocals, Harmonica, Tambourine, Finger Cymbals

RAY ESTRADA – Bass, Guitarron and Vocals

JIM BLACK – Drums and Vocals

Guests included:

David Wells on Trombone, Art Maebe on Horns, Kim Fowley on Hypophone

The double-sided four-leaf foldout inlay reproduces the original double-album’s zany and provocative liner notes and the short mainly technical notes on the 1987 Digital Remix by FZ. But the key element this time is ‘Transfers in 2011 by JOE TRAVERS’ which feel way better than before. I know it's a mid-price CD and all that value-for-money shtick - but it's a damn share that the inlay hasn't been upgraded with some discography history - and its always struck me as odd that this important release hasn’t been given a 2CD Deluxe Edition treatment along the way (FZ probably wanted it that way).

The bass thumps convincingly on the opener "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" as it jumps out of your speakers - lyrics having a go at "Mister America" and his blinkered great society - those guitars still distant though. No angels singing up above in the very Cream-sounding "I Ain't Got No Heart" - a lover's declarations of undying fealty falling on deaf ears and a pig-oinking vocal ending. With guitars properly freaking out half way through, things get even weirder with "Who Are The Brain Police?" - a song that set up that 'Zappa' sound for decades to come.

To the vocal group oohs and aahs of his 50ts youth, "Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder" is filled with the opposite of romance - our Saturday Night At The Movies hero a bit more grown up and perhaps a little embittered despite the nicety of the tune. Both "Motherly Love" and "How Could I Be Such A Fool" contain that strange mixture of anger and genuine hurt abutting each other while those horn players swoon in the background. Frank doesn't care if "Wowie Zowie" doesn't brush her teeth or even shave her legs - he stills wants to visit in the afternoon and again that night. Working on his car (fixing the seat and front fender) and even though they've been going steady for six weeks – another untrue girl gets a lyrical drubbing in "You Didn't Try To Call Me".

The 2LP set gets its most commercial in the decidedly poppy "Any Way The Wind Blows" while Frank bemoans the fact that no one wants him - life abusing him in "I'm Not Satisfied" (and who would care if he was gone). More pop but this time with a tongue firmly planted in its cheek as Frank wonders why he and his band are with the hip gang – "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" taking no prisoners in its vicious attack. Far better for me is the guitar and harmonica wail of "Trouble Every Day" - a five and half-minute bluesy romp with a fantastic driving hook and truly great multitudinous lyrics about riots on the streets and colours of skin that don't appeal to everyone and coverage of the same on establishment TV.

The homeward stretch comes in the grunting/different language groove of "Help, I'm A Rock" - a very Captain Beefheart slice of entertainment. Frank checked it out a couple of times so he reassures his baby in Kansas, Minnesota (and the rest of the world for that matter) that thankfully "It Can't Happen Here". The album dips over the edge completely for the final near 13-minutes of "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" - a romp too far for me frankly.

"Freak Out!" regularly receives five-stars from its many adorers and ridicule from the rest - a Bovril double. Musically it's a bit of both for me. "Suzy Creamcheese, what's got into you?" The Mothers Of Invention sang on that last mad stretch on Side 4. I doubt they knew in 1966 and in 2020, I'm personally none the wiser. But would I have it any other way!

"Voyage" by DAVID CROSBY (November 2006 Rhino/Atlantic 3 x HDCD Book Set Career Retrospective - Graham Nash and John Nowland Remasters) - Featuring The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Members of The Grateful Dead, Santana and Jefferson Airplane - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 170 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

SOMETHING'S HAPPENING HERE Volume 1...
1960's and 1970's MUSIC ON CD - Exceptional 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)

"...Home Through The Haze..."

I thought so when I bought it (and even after the Stephen Stills box arrived in 2013) - the 2006 David Crosby "Voyage" Box Set for my money is the best of the three retrospectives coming out of the CROSBY, STILLS and NASH camp of three (and that's saying a lot given the talent involved). There's a whole heap of goodness on here so let's down and hazy right away...

Released November 2006 in the USA - "Voyage" by DAVID CROSBY on Rhino Atlantic R2 77628 (Barcode 081227762827) [UK is Rhino/Atlantic 8122-77628-2] is a 3 x HDCD Remasters Box Set and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (76:12 minutes):

1. Eight Mile High - THE BYRDS (on the album "5th Dimension" released August 1966 in the USA on Columbia 9349 (Stereo))

2. Renaissance Fair - THE BYRDS

3. Everybody's Been Burned - THE BYRDS (tracks 2 and 3 on the album "Younger Than Yesterday" - released March 1967 in the USA on Columbia CS 9442 (Stereo))

4. Wooden Ships - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH

5. Guinnevere - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH

6. Long Time Gone - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (tracks 4 to 6 are from the album "Crosby, Stills & Nash" released June 1969 in the USA on Atlantic SD 8229 and in the UK on Atlantic 588 189)

7. Déjà Vu - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

8. Almost Cut My Hair - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG (tracks 7 and 8 are from the album "Déjà Vu" released March 1970 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7200 and in the UK on Atlantic 2401 001)

9. Tampalas High (At About 3) - DAVID CROSBY

10. Laughing - DAVID CROSBY

11. Music Is Love - DAVID CROSBY

12. Song With No Words (Trees With No Leaves) - DAVID CROSBY

13. What Are Their Names - DAVID CROSBY

14. I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here - DAVID CROSBY (tracks 9 to 14 are from his first solo LP "If I Could Only Remember My Name" released February 1971 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7203 and in the UK on Atlantic 2401 005)

15. Where Will I Be - CROSBY, NASH

16. Page 43 - CROSBY, NASH (tracks 15 and 16 from the album "Graham Nash / David Crosby" released April 1972 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7220 and May 1972 in the UK on Atlantic K 50011)

17. Critical Mass - CROSBY, NASH

18. Carry Me - CROSBY, NASH

19. Bittersweet - CROSBY, NASH

20. Naked In The Rain - CROSBY, NASH (tracks 17 to 20 are from the album "Wind On The Water" released October 1975 in the USA on ABC Records ABCD-902 and January 1976 in the UK on Polydor 2310 428)

21. Dancer - CROSBY, NASH (on the album "Whistling Down The Wire" released July 1976 in the USA on ABC Records ABCD-956 and in the UK on Polydor 2310 468)

Disc 2 (74:20 minutes):

1. Shadow Captain - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH

2. In My Dreams - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (tracks 1 and 2 are from the album "CSN" released June 1977 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19104 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50369)

3. Delta - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (on the album "Daylight Again" released July 1982 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19360 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50896)

4. Compass - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG (on the album "American Dream" released November 1988 in the USA on Atlantic 7 81888-1 and in the UK on Atlantic WX 233)

5. Tracks In The Dust - DAVID CROSBY (on the album "Oh Yes I Can" released February 1989 in the USA on A&M Records 395232-1 and in the UK on A&M Records AMA 5232)

6. Arrows [Live] - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH (on the album "Live It Up" released June 1990 on LP in the UK and USA on Atlantic 7567 82101-1)

7. Hero - DAVID CROSBY

8. Yvette In English - DAVID CROSBY (tracks 7 and 8 are on the album "Thousand Roads" released on CD June 1993 in both the USA and UK on Atlantic 7567 82484-2)

9. Rusty And Blue - CPR

10. Somehow She Knew - CPR [David Crosby, Jeff Pevar & James Raymond] (tracks 9 and 10 are from the album "CPR" released 1998 on Samson Music CD0145 on CD)

11. Breathless - CPR

12. Map To Buried Treasure - CPR (tracks 11 and 12 are from the album "Just Like Gravity" released 2001 in the USA on Gold Circle GC 20002-2)

13. At The Edge - CPR (on the 2CD album "Live At The Wiltern" released 1998 in the USA on Samson Records GC 0148)

14. Through Here Quite Often - CROSBY & NASH

15. My Country `Tis Of Thee - DAVID CROSBY (tracks 14 and 15 are on the 2CD set "Crosby Nash" released 2004 on Sanctuary 06076-84683-2 in the USA and Sanctuary SANDD293 in the UK and Europe)

Disc 3 PREVIOUSLY UNRELASED (76:28 minutes):

1. Long Time Gone [Demo Version] - CROSBY & STILLS

2. Guinnevere [Alternate Mix/Take] - DAVID CROSBY

3. Almost Cut My Hair [Demo Version] - DAVID CROSBY

4. Games [Demo Version] - DAVID CROSBY

5. Déjà Vu [Demo Version] - CROSBY & NASH

6. Triad [Demo Version] - DAVID CROSBY

7. Cowboy Movie [Studio Version] - DAVID CROSBY (features Neil Young and JERRY GARCIA, PHIL LESH and MICKEY HART of THE GRATEFUL DEAD)

8. Kids And Dogs - DAVID CROSBY ["If I Could Only Remember My Name" outtake recorded September 1970)

9. Have You Seen The Stars Tonite? - PAUL KANTNER and JEFFERSON STARSHIP

10. The Lea Shore - CROSBY & NASH (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 30 September 1971)

11. Traction In The Rain (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 30 September 1971) - CROSBY & NASH

12. King Of The Mountain [Demo Version] - DAVID CROSBY

13. Homeward Through The Haze [Alternate Take/Mix] - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

14. Samurai (1980 Previously Unreleased Studio Version] - DAVID CROSBY

15. Climber (1999 Previously Unreleased Studio Version) - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

16. Dream For Him (Live at the Nationwide Arena, Columbia, Ohio, December 2005) - CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

The first thing that strikes you (apart from the fab HDCD remasters) is the quality of the booklet that accompanies the stippled effect die-cut hardback book shell - it's beautifully and carefully laid out and a properly amazing read. Produced by Graham Nash and Joel Bernstein and spanning 1966 to 2006 - you get page after page of Henry Diltz colour photos, deeply personal reminiscences on the songs by Crosby and his musical buddies Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell (to name but a few contributors) and most impressive of all - an entire third disc of previously unreleased songs - that in my book may be the best ever put out anywhere - ever! The HDCD remasters handled by Graham Nash and JOHN NOWLAND (was involved with Neil Young's reissues) are simply amazing - right across the board.

Why is this box set so good? When you separate out David Crosby's songs from the contributions he made to the supergroups he was in (BYRDS, CSNY, Solo Crosby, Nash & Crosby etc) and line them up alongside each other - the effect is quite magical. His tunes are 'so' melodious and dare we say it - more ‘trippy’ than the heavier Stills and Young material. And all of his songs are imbibed with a sense of the naked-personal - vying with political outrage at what was happening in the USA and the World at the time. As the Byrds' "Everyone's Been Burned" slides into "Wooden Ships" and the guitar funk of "Long Time Gone" by CSN and then into the ethereal beauty of "Tampalas High (At About 3)" - it makes you wonder why the others in the group seemed to constantly grab the limelight from under his artistic feet. By the time I get to the sublime Joni Mitchell vocal harmony passage swirling with the guitars on "Laughing"- I'm gone man - I'm cooked - this guy is a frigging genius (and a career-spanning retro like this has been long overdue).

But what clinches the deal for me is Disc 3 - it's unbelievably good. How could all of this primo unreleased stuff have stayed in their various cans all this time? It opens with a ramshackle but cool take on "Long Time Gone" but then we get genuine beauty in an Alternate Take of "Guinnevere" - the remaster making it glisten like melodic gold. He lets it rip vocally on a more acoustic take of the "Déjà Vu" classic "Almost Cut My Hair". The "Triad" demo is fantastic and so well recorded. "Cowboy Movie" features Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on Guitar with Neil Young trying to steal the show by rocking it out too much (Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart of the Dead are there too). It's eleven minutes of Crosby and Young magic. When I bought and reviewed the Rhino CD remaster of his stunning solo 1971 album "If I Could Only Remember My Name" I remember being disappointed at their only being one bonus track - the previously unreleased outtake "Kids And Dogs". That is until I played it - wow! For its seven minutes of acoustic strumming think Nick Drake trying out a new song then adding CSYN vocals (just harmonizing without words) and you're there - it's fabulous stuff (apparently it too features Jerry Garcia on guitar). Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship turn up on the gorgeous "Have You Seen The Stars Tonite?" with devastating harmonies vocals. The two live tracks from September 1971 are lovely - especially "Traction In The Rain" - surely one of his prettiest melodies. And on it goes to a 2005 live version of the child-song "Dream For Him" with Neil Young and Stephen Stills - ending the set on a musical and conscience-provoking note.

"The blind leading the blind...I'm amazed how they stumble...home through the haze..." Crosby sings on the stunning "Homeward Through The Haze".

Often pitched at under thirty quid - don't stumble - take a punt on this wonderful and classy CD retrospective...it's worth every penny...