"Some Time In New York City" by JOHN LENNON and YOKO ONO - Credited as JOHN & YOKO / PLASTIC ONO BAND with ELEPHANT’S MEMORY and INVISIBLE STRINGS – June 1972 US and September 1972 UK 2LP Set on Apple Records – includes all of the band Elephant's Memory on the studio LP with many featured guests on the live LP including Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman, Aynsley Dunbar, Bobby Keyes and Jim Price and more (October 2010 UK Apple Reissue – John Lennon Signature Collection Series (2LPs onto 2CDs in Card Repro Artwork) – Paul Hicks, Sean Magee and Simon Gibson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Political Prisoners..." 

I'm 62 and can vividly remember the tirade of 1972 bile that accompanied the release of the Lennon/Ono double-album "Some Time In New York City" - especially after the LP crowd pleaser of "Imagine" from the year prior. 

By the end of 1971, most of the world was in love with John Lennon's songs of social-change vs. personal highs and lows. But all that good will and affection went right out the window with the truly terrible crud that appeared on this pretentious dog. Well meaning no doubt in his political convictions, Lennon seemed to not understand either the sheer ire that Yoko Ono's dreadful songs and voice elicited amongst listeners. Not even elaborate gatefold packaging with inners and inserts galore saved it (more in the USA than in the UK) – while the lyrics on the front sleeve to the notorious "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" song only made it more unpalatable and cringing. 

The album might have been appraised better too had it stood alone as a single LP. But the inclusion of a truly dire Live Jam album as a supposed Free Extra where only famous names and a gritty version of "Cold Turkey" saved the day - the rest of it firmly nailed him as confrontational for the sake of it – and worse – a pretentious out-of-touch git. Yoko's scream-fest on "Don't Worry Kyoko" probably did more damage than any ripe-for-ridicule hippie bed-in while the world watched – near seventeen minutes of absolute tosh - with The Mothers of Invention noise stuff on Side 4 even more unlistenable and downright antagonistic. 

Maybe if he’d included the non-album December 1971 US 45 for "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in its picture sleeve with the "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" flipside as an extra instead of the Live Jam LP, reactions might have been more sedate or even positive. Both would have fitted in with the humanitarianism themes on the studio album and the War Is Over If You Want It wording scribbled (along with every other credit) on the Live LP inner sleeve. 

But I think despite its rep as a terrible instalment in a patchy solo career – there are tunes here to be reassessed. Let's get to the details...

UK released October 2010 - "Some Time In New York City" by JOHN & YOKO / PLASTIC ONO BAND with ELEPHANT'S MEMORY and INVISIBLE STRINGS on Apple 5099990650727 (Barcode 5099990650727) is part of the John Lennon Signature Collection Series - a straightforward reissue/remaster of the 1972 2LP set onto 2CDs that plays out as follows: 

CD1 "Some Time In New York City" STUDIO Album (42:23 minutes):

1. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World [Side 1]

2. Sisters, O Sisters 

3. Attica State 

4. Born In A Prison 

5. New York City 

6. Sunday Bloody Sunday [Side 2]

7. The Luck Of The Irish 

8. John Sinclair 

9. Angela 

10. We're All Water 

CD2 "Live Jam" LIVE Album (43:24 minutes):

1. Cold Turkey (Live) [Side 3]

2. Don't Worry Kyoko (Live) 

3. Well (Baby Please Don't Go) (Live) [Side 4]

4. Jamrag (Live)

5. Scumbag

6. Au (Live) 

CD1 and CD2 are the double-album "Some Time In New York City" - released 12 June 1972 in the USA on Apple SVBB 3392 and 15 September 1972 in the UK on Apple PCSP 716. Produced by JOHN LENNON, YOKO ONO and PHIL SPECTOR - it peaked at No. 48 in the USA and No. 11 in the UK. 

The glossy gatefold card sleeve with its 12-page booklet feels strangely flimsy and unworthy - but the Remaster handled by a trio of Audio Engineers associated with The Beatles reissues - SEAN MAGEE, PAUL HICKS and SIMON GIBSON – feels like a real improvement. The slide guitar of "John Sinclair" is great while the lush strings of "Angela" finally feel powerful. I can't say I notice anything about the rubbish live set other than the two vaguely listenable tunes "Cold Turkey" and "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)" (an old cavern R&B fave) have great power even if Lennon's vocals on the second disappear into the ether (how it was recorded). 

I don't care how brave the opening "Woman Is..." song may appear to some or the Yoko sung "Sisters, O Sisters" - the first is a painful and patronising Lennon listen while the second has her lead vocal ruining everything. The first tune for me of any real interest is "Attica State" (Track 3) which along with the Yoko sung "Born In A Prison" and John's riffing "New York City" rescue Side 1 for what is already becoming a very testing album. 

As an Irishman, I loathed both "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish" on Side 2. Both felt pointed in all the wrong directions even if Lennon was legitimately trying to make the British government accountable for actions that caused the loss of life and arguably another three decades of six-county tit-for-tat misery. The album's other two great cuts are the bluesy and beautifully remastered "John Sinclair" (about unjust internment) and the lovely string-swell of "Angela" where Yoko Ono finally sounds like she's nailed both the lyrics and an actually decent song to go with them. 

The 'live jam' set has always made my blood boil - all that "Scumbag" and "Jamrag" noise crescendo feeling like an aural insult to the audience rather than a gig meant to stimulate. Second LP guests included Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman, Aynsley Dunbar, Bobby Keyes and Jim Price of Rolling Stones fame and more – not that you can actually identify any of them through their playing.

Lennon would return with "Mind Games" in 1973 that was again another only-ok LP (the dullard artwork didn’t help much either) and it wouldn't be until the re-energised "Walls And Bridges" in 1974 that I'd start listening again with any real heart. 

Even after nearly 50 years of trying to actually like this release, I cringe whenever I look at this double-bubble vinyl splurge from 1972. But this 2010 Signature Collection 2CD Reissue has made me think it wasn't all lefty preaching while his wife wailed on like a banshee regardless of the cost. 

The better four or five cuts out of the principal ten make "Some Time In New York City" worth returning to. And you have to admire the star-crossed lovers and their sheer wear-it-on-your-sleeve belief that love and knowledge would cure the ills of the masses even when those masses riled against them. 

Apple of my eye or badly basted turkey – take your pick. In the end I just wish that all that emotional hutzpah had been backed up with better tunes which you have to say is probably what dismayed most listeners and fans more than anything...

"Argus" by WISHBONE ASH – April 1972 Third UK Studio Album on MCA Records (June 1972 USA on Decca) featuring Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Steve Upton and Ted Turner with Guest John Tout (March 2002 UK Universal/MCA/Decca CD Reissue – Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited Single-Disc Version with Three Bonus Tracks – Martin Turner, Eric Kvortec and Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Time Was..."

After two solid LP account openers in "Wishbone Ash" (December 1970) and "Pilgrimage" (September 1971) - England's twin-guitar assault kings WISHBONE ASH finally hit Classic Rock paydirt with their much-loved third studio album "Argus" - it's gatefold Hipgnosis artwork the mainstay of many a hairy galoot's LP collection in the Seventies. 

Universal may have inexplicably lost the sneakily placed flying saucer that graced the rear sleeve artwork of both the British and American sleeves (used to love seeing that when you turned the cover over) - but other than that history rewriting Photoshop mistake - this March 2002 Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited single CD reissue is the top banana.

With truly fabulous audio that straddles the air between clarity and loudness wars (a team of three worked on it including the band’s own lead guitarist Martin Turner) and often selling for less than a battered cod in Margate – this 1CD variant of "Argus" also comes with three truly great bonus live cuts from the 1972 period when the band's four-piece dynamic was clearly cooking. To the details...

UK released March 2002 - "Argus" by WISHBONE ASH on Universal/MCA/Decca 088 112 816-2 (Barcode 008811281625) is an Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (77:05 minutes):

1. Time Was [Side 1]
2. Sometime World 
3. Blowin' Free 
4. The King Will Come [Side 2]
5. Leaf And Stream
6. Warrior 
7. Throw Down The Sword 
Tracks 1 to 7 are their third studio album "Argus" - released 27 April 1972 in the UK on MCA Records MDKS 8006 and June 1972 in the USA on Decca DL 75437, both in gatefold sleeves. Produced by DEREK LAWRENCE and Engineered by MARTIN BIRCH - it peaked at No. 8 in the UK charts and No. 159 in the USA.

WISHBONE ASH was:
ANDY POWELL - Lead, Rhythm Guitars and Vocals 
Lead Guitar on Tracks 2, 3 (Second Passage), 4, 6 and 7  
TED TURNER - Lead, Rhythm, Acoustic Guitars and Vocals 
Lead Guitar on Tracks 2 (first passage), 3 (quiet passage and Slide guitar), 4, 6 and Bonus Tracks 9 and 10 
MARTIN TURNER - Bass on all 
STEVE UPTON - Drums and Percussion on all 
Guest:
John Tout played organ on "Throw Down The Sword"

BONUS TRACKS: 
8. Jail Bait (Live, 4:48 minutes) [Side 1]
9. The Pilgrim (Live, 11:34 minutes) 
10. Phoenix (Live, 17:00 minutes) [Side 2]
Tracks 8 to 10 were recorded 21 August in the studios of the WMC-FM Radio Station in Memphis, Tennessee 1972 (while on tour in the USA). The show was broadcast live and then pressed up on a Promotional-only 3-Track album (no general public release) and distributed to American Radio Stations as "Live From Memphis" on Decca Records DL 7-1922. The artwork for this US rarity is pictured on one of the foldout flaps beneath the "Argus" credits.

The eight-leaf foldout inlay is pretty enough with enthusiastic new liner notes from LEON TSILIS. It reproduces the four photos of the band that came with the inner gatefolds of the original 1972 LPs, original session and reissue credits and the see-through inlay has more of the Hipgnosis artwork beneath it. The spine identifies this 1CD reissue as Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited. 

However, while fans will love the full 3-track US Promotional LP acting as Bonuses in all their long playing glory, they might ask why the non-album 45 A-side "No Easy Road" wasn't cheekily squeezed in as Bonus Track No. 4? It was issued as a UK stand-alone seven-inch single on 18 August 1972 with the album cut "Blowin' Free" on the flipside (10 out 10 single) and I can't help thinking that the A of MCA Records MKS 5097 could have been fitted in without audio compromise. If you want that track and more unreleased BBC live stuff of the period - Universal UK reissued "Argus" again in November 2007 as part of their prestigious '2CD Deluxe Edition' Series on Universal/Island 9849624 (Barcode 602498496244 will bring you to that issue). 

A crew of three handled the Audio - "Argus" remixed by band member MARTIN TURNER, digitally remastered by ERIC KVORTEK with final Digital Assembly by ERICK LABSON of Universal – a man with well over 1000 mastering credits to his name including vast swathes of the Chess, Checker, Cadet, MCA, Decca and other catalogues to his name. The power on this CD can be experienced in less than 15-seconds, as the acoustic guitars that open "Time Was" will prove. When the band kicks in – your jaw may indeed join forces with the kitchen linoleum. Like most fans, I've had this record nigh on 50 years and the sheer sonic whack off of this 2002 singular CD is fantastic – and that audio clarity doesn't let up for the whole of the record either. To the tunes...

When Universal decided to choose a title for the May 2010 2CD Anthology of Wishbone Ash - they used Side 1's "Sometime World" from "Argus" as its title (use Barcode 600753261316 as a cut and paste to see my review of it). Along with the brilliant "Time Was" and the chugging crowd-pleaser of "Blowin' Free" - all three twin-guitar juggernauts made up a perfect slice of Side one Classic 70ts Rock with some Prog elements thrown into the mix. There's a guitar passage just before the end of "Time Was" where the bent notes feel like the lead guitars are singing (I'm sure fans know exactly what moment that is). Like Thin Lizzy's fabulous "Jailbreak" album - "Argus" virtually defined the Wishbone Ash sound. 

A marching rhythm of wah-wah guitar soling leads in the Side 2 opener "The King Will Come" – Martin and Andy Turner sharing the fire, sky falling and judgment day lyrics – the Bass and Drums are so clear as the boys make both axes sing in unison. Walked this path for many years, Martin sings of where the earth and sky meet while the melody floats around your room. That delicate solo is now so sweet to hear underpinned by complimentary rhythm guitar and that sly Bass soloing. "Warrior" begins like its going to Rock home for the whole of its duration – but then the guitars give way to leaving lyrics and softer passages – notes and string bends wailing in the echoed distance like 1969 Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green at the helm. Six minutes of "Throw Down The Sword" finish the record – another dual guitar fade-in that eventually bursts into a sort of Fairport Convention Folk-Rock groove. 

The three live "Pilgrimage" tracks are surprisingly well recorded – Wishbone Ash sounding like a Kiln House period Fleetwood Mac as they tear through "Jail Bait" with fantastic aplomb – like they have something to prove. There is Rock and Roll here – a bit of Prog Rock – and a whole lot of tight geetar impressiveness. You can hear the amps humming on "The Pilgrim" – the live setting allowing those slow picking-notes passages at the beginning to sink in and again almost feel like vintage Peter Green. "Phoenix" goes the whole complicated Rock nine yards with its seventeen minutes. But again – amazingly well recorded - strong vocals and those shimmering guitars throughout - the band's power entirely in tact (and some might say never bettered). 

Just what is that Argus helmet man/sentry looking at and just how pointy is that spear of his – we may never know. But make no mistake – this is one hell of a misty morning Classic Rock LP and this CD variant has done that winner proud. Time was, and on the evidence presented here, still is...

"Lord Offaly/The Beggar And The Priest/Livin's Just A State Of Mind Plus Bonuses" by DAVID McWILLIAMS – July 1972, April 1973 and May 1974 UK Albums on Dawn Records featuring Guitarists Ray Fenwick of The Spencer David Group, Fancy and many more, BJ Cole of Cochise, Mike Moran of Roger Glover’s Band, Garth Watt-Roy of East Of Eden and Fuzzy Duck, Keyboardist Tommy Eyre of Alex Harvey’s Band, Violinists Joe O’Donnell of East Of Eden and Mushroom and Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra, Bassists Roger Sutton of Blue Whale and Jody Grind, John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan with Drummers Barry De Souza and Bruce Rowland (August 2020 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 3LPs onto 2CDs with Three Bonus Tracks – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Daddy Lonesome..."

By the time Belfast-man David McWilliams had reached the lovely "Lord Offaly" LP in 1972 - he'd already clocked up three other Folk-Rock LPs on Major Minor of the UK and Kapp Records of the USA between 1967 and 1968 - "Days Of Pearly Spencer" probably being his most famous song which finally charted in 1992 only when Soft Cell's Marc Almond covered it. 

Then our lonesome Folky Ulsterman signed to England's Dawn Records for three more musically expansive albums - 1972, 1973 and 1974 ballad-driven big boys with flashy mottled gatefold sleeves, extensive wordy inners and Country Rock Pedal Steel Guitars a whining like gooduns. And that's where this superb August 2020 2CD BGO reissue comes storming in - offering up again those three vinyl obscurities plus three more Bonus Tracks (two single sides and an album outtake only available on a deleted 2002 CD compilation). 

It's not all genius by any means and his neither-here-nor-there vocals are often akin to lightweight versions of Ronnie Lane or Mickey Newbury, but there is much that is pretty and lyrically memorable too. Let's get to the beggars, the clergy and the singer in the one-man band...

UK released Friday, 14 August 2020 - "Lord Offaly/The Beggar And The Priest/Livin's Just A State Of Mind" by DAVID McWILLIAMS on Beat Goes On BGOCD1425 (Barcode 5017261214256) offers 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs with Three Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

CD1 (63:06 minutes):

1. Go On Back To Momma (From The Film "Gold") [Side 1]

2. She Was A Lady

3. I Will Always Be Your Friend

4. Heart Of The Roll

5. I Would Be Confessed

6. Spanish Hope [Side 2]

7. Blind Men’s Stepping Stones

8. Lord Offaly

9. The Prisoner

10. The Gypsy

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 4th studio album "Lord Offaly" – released July 1972 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3039 and 1973 in the USA on Pye Records PYE 3302 (distributed by Bell Records). Produced by DAVID McWILLIAMS and DAVE HUNT with all songs written by McWilliams – the LP didn't chart in either country.

11. Cross The Line [Side 1]

12. Na-Na 

13. Down By The Dockyard (An Epitaph For Belfast) 

14. Bells Of Time 

15. Lady Margaret 

Tracks 11 to 15 are Side 1 of his fifth studio album "The Beggar And The Priest" - released April 1973 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3047. Produced by RAY FENWICK - it didn't chart 

CD2 (72:21 minutes):

1. Daddy Lonesome [Side 2]

2. Morning That Looks Like Rain 

3. The Pharisee 

4. The Horseman 

5. Leave The Bottles On The Floor 

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of his fifth studio album "The Beggar And The Priest" - released April 1973 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3047. Produced by RAY FENWICK - it didn't chart 

6. Singer In The Band [Side 1]

7. You Wear it Like A Crown 

8. Twenty Golden Years Ago 

9. Sad Dark Eyes 

10. As I Used To Know Her 

11. You've Only Been A Stranger [Side 2]

12. Please Come Home 

13. Sweet Lil'

14. Livin's Just A State Of Mind 

15. Epitaph 

Tracks 6 to 15 are his sixth studio album "Livin's A State Of Mind" - released May 1974 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3059. Produced by KEN BURGESS - it didn't chart 

BONUS TRACKS:

16. Ships In The Night – April 1974 UK non-album B-side to the 45-single for "You've Only Been A Stranger" on Dawn Records DNS 1064

17. I Only Know You As A Stranger – first appeared as an album outtake on the September 2002 UK 2CD compilation "Days At Dawn" on Castle Music CMDDD452  

18. Love Like A Lady – October 1973 UK non-album A-side 45-single on Dawn Records DNS 1044 with "Down By The Dockyard" from the "The Beggar And The Priest" LP as its B-side

Featured Musicians: Guitarists Ray Fenwick of The Spencer David Group, Fancy and many more, BJ Cole of Cochise, Mike Moran of Roger Glover’s Band, Garth Watt-Roy of East Of Eden and Fuzzy Duck, Keyboardist Tommy Eyre of Alex Harvey’s Band, Violinists Joe O’Donnell of East Of Eden and Mushroom, Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra, Bassists Roger Sutton of Blue Whale and Jody Grind, John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan with Drummers Barry De Souza and Bruce Rowland. David McWilliams sang all vocals and played guitars.

As ever with these BGO releases, the outer card slipcase lends the reissue a look of class and the last time all of this material was available digitally was in 2002 and that "Days At Dawn" is long deleted. The original three vinyl LPs each had a gatefold sleeve and copious amounts of session/song explanation details - so the chunky 24-page booklet that reproduces all of it doesn't actually start its new April 2020 JOHN O'REGAN liner notes until Page 15. But typical of his excellence as these things, he goes album-to-album and almost track-to-track in his appraisals - so there is a lot to read and properly informative it is too. 

The High-Def Remasters are from BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON and are warm, expressive and full of accomplished session-players filling your speakers as they embellish almost every song (I'll name them next as we go along). To the music...

In July 2016 Esoteric Recordings of the UK put out a straightforward Reissue and Remaster of "Lord Offaly" which I reviewed - Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2559 (Barcode 5013929465947).

The opening track to the "Lord Offaly" LP is from a 60ts movie depicting far out hippy life and 'free love' to a musical backdrop of MC5 whilst 'the man' establishment tries to oppress all of the aforementioned rumpy-pumpy and good times. The film "Gold" was finally released in 1972 (filmed in 1968) - opening with "Go On Back To Mamma" - its theme song supplied by David McWilliams and the Side 1 opener here. It immediately feels 'American' in its Emitt Rhodes structures - a better produced Elton John. It turned up as the B-side to the March 1973 UK 7" single to "Gold" on Mother Records MOT 101. Quite why Dawn didn't use one of the album tracks like "Heart Of The Roll" or even "Go On Back To Momma" as a lead-off single is a mystery - the album could have benefitted from such a plug. The pretty "She Was A Lady" feels very Phillip Goodhand-Tate or even Colin Blunstone - sweet piano and vocals from McWilliams. His philosophy of love and comradeship flows out of the overly busy "I Will Always Be Your Friend" while "Heart Of The Roll" is undoubtedly one of the LP's highlights. It feels like Help Yourself or even McGuinness Flint - McWilliams' vocals like the Eggs Over Easy debut album. Beautiful remaster quality on the Side 1 finisher "I Would Be Confessed" - a 'wondering days are through' confessional which sees David delivery a warm song with sincerity.

My personal fave is the beautiful instrumental "Spanish Hope" which opens the more-overtly Folky Side 2 - a ballad where Acoustic Guitars strums are soon joined by a wailing penny-whistle lament - as deeply Celtic as Simple Minds and just as reminiscent. That same Folk Jaunt follows with "Blind Men's Stepping Stones" where the historical chap Emon Lynott 'curses his fate' as he mandolins his way over the stones of Co. Mayo's Duvowen River (forced by rebel Welsh militia to do so). Sounds like a Bouzouki at the opening of "Lord Offaly" - another undoubted highlight on the LP - a very warm melody from McWilliams that chronicles the distrust of England's King Henry by locals in Ireland's Maynooth. Even at 6:33 minutes - it doesn't overstay its welcome and feels like great Fairport Convention or even Sandy Denny. It ends on more history lessons in the plaintive and hurting "The Prisoner" and "The Gypsy" - tales of hungry ordinary folk paying the price for stealing bread and wine and thereafter transformed into rebels at the hands of their heartless landlords...

A very aural and permanent musical seed-change takes place with "The Beggar And The Priest" and the "Livin's A State Of Mind" LPs in that both feature the distinctive Pedal Steel guitar of BJ Cole from Cochise. In short they veer into Country Rock big time and at times feel like anaemic McGuinness Flint. The songs are strong in many cases, but there is no doubt that the instruments and top-heavy drama production can make it all feel a tad dated. "Cross The Line" opens Side 1 of the "Beggar..." album with a politically charged tale of brothers crossing a picket line – hammers in hand and heads down low. "Na-Na" goes back to Acoustic Folk Rock but throws in an alarming Salsa rhythm as mischievous lovers hurl rocks at other lovers canoodling on the train tracks below until they in turn can take no more and kick back with an equally irritating barrage of brick-love missiles. The hardship ogre of unemployment crops up again in "Down By The Dockyard" – the water in Belfast shipyards, like the cranes, lying still – big boat work no longer coming to a once proud town famous for such a heritage. Unfortunately syrupy strings make it somewhat saccharine and the Pedal Steel of "Bells Of Time" makes that tune feel dated also. 

I love the Blues shuffle of "Daddy Lonesome" over on Side 2 while Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra plays violin on the cautionary tale of frisky preachers targeting easy-to-prey-on women "The Pharisee". McWilliams channels his inner Bob Dylan and "John Wesley Harding" Country Rock whine in "The Horseman" – the guitar work of Mike Moran and Ray Fenwick feeling like Robbie Robertson of The Band has joined the fray. But the best track is the epic "Lady Margaret" – where our hero walks out in the May Morning green fields in search of the mysterious Mags and her equally lithesome Lady Evelainne – BJ Cole and loads others building the song with layers of instruments. John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan lends his Bass to tracks on the album also. 

1974's "Livin's A State Of Mind" LP opens with even higher Production values but the see-your-name-in-lights "Singer In The Band" feels corny and not touching. Way better is "You Wear It Like A Crown" – a pretty song about worshipping his lady through words even if they’ve all been used before (Joe O'Donnell of Mushroom and East of Eden fame lends his electric violin). "Twenty Golden Years Ago" is a coffee-shop song – thoughts of supping froth for hours on end at a Formica table back when life was simpler. Lovely warm Production on the black hair shining of "Sad Dark Eyes" – piano rolling out sweet notes as we learn that the object of his heart is betrothed by a wealthy father to someone less worthy (one day she will be mine). But my other fave on a somewhat patchy album is another sweet tune called "Please Come Home" – an Acoustic picker with piano joining the melody half way through its long opening instrumental passage. 

I would swear the B-side "Ships In The Night" is a vinyl dub because of the suspicious loss in fidelity – but shockingly the other two Bonus cuts are fabulous – "Love Like A Lady" is a very strong song that would have bolstered up the album considerably - while an alternate version of the "Livin's Just A State Of Mind" LP track "You've Only Been A Stranger" is presented as and embryonic "I Only Know You As A Stranger" – and it feels like a powerful Donovan ballad stripped of all the instrument clutter the album version employs to impress (gorgeous audio too). 

David McWilliams is forgotten now and with his overwrought tunes and slightly unimpressive vocal range – is easy to hear why the albums just didn't elicit interest at the time. But put together like this (3LPs onto 2CDs) and with two of those three Bonus cuts being genuinely worthy of the moniker – BGO has weaved together a very strong package indeed to celebrate his unfairly forgotten songwriter's legacy. Recommended...

"Doremi Fasol Latido" by HAWKWIND – November 1972 UK Third Studio Album on United Artists (December 1972 in the USA) – featuring Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Del Dettmar, Lemmy (later with Motorhead) and Simon King (March 1996 UK EMI Premier Expanded Edition CD Original with Four Bonus Tracks in A Foldout Card Digipak - Followed by an August 2001 UK EMI Records Expanded Edition CD Reissue of the 1996 Variant in a Jewel Case – Paul Cobbold, Peter Mew and Kevin Reeve Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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TUMBLING DICE - 1972

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional 

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Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s...

All Detailed Reviews Taken From The Discs Themselves 

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"...Greetings From Space Mother..."

Following on from the breakthrough of October 1971's "X In Search Of Space" LP and June 1972's 45-single "Silver Machine" (a worldwide hit) was always going to be difficult for a band as uncompromising as London's Space Rockers HAWKWIND. But our favourite flavoursome five reprobates delivered a worthy successor in the November 1972 sonic mayhem that was and is "Doremi Fasol Latido" – even if countries outside of Blighty didn't seem to notice much.

But if I'm truthful - "Doremi Fasol Latido" is a four-star Hawkwind album - all sonically drunk and Production disorderly and falling over itself on the way to an undoubtedly rank toilet. It's a wee beastie for sure (probably why I like it so much). But this March 1996 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster elevates that four-star scamp into a five-star rocking thoroughbred, especially given four bonuses actually worthy of the name. 

So, let's go forth my Thorasin Blood Brothers because our Space Mother is calling her Hawklord offspring into the sorcerer’s cauldron for a bit of a brainstorm (if you catch my stellar drift)...

UK released 20 August 2001 - "Doremi Fasol Latido" by HAWKWIND on EMI Records 530 0312 / 7243 5 30031 2 8 (Barcode 724353003128) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (59:06 minutes):

1. Brainstorm [Side 1]

2. Space is Deep 

3. One Change 

4. Lord Of Light [Side 2]

5. Down Through The Night 

6. Time We Left This World Today 

7. The Watcher 

Tracks 1 to 7 are their third studio album "Doremi Fasol Latido" - released November 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29364 and December 1972 in the USA on United Artists UA-LA001-F. Produced by DAVE BROCK and DEL DETTMAR - it peaked at No. 14 in the UK (didn't chart USA). 

BONUS TRACKS: 

8. Urban Guerrilla

9. Brainbox Pollution 

Tracks 8 and 9 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 22 June 1973 UK 45-single on United Artists UP 35566

10. Lord of Light (Single Version Edit) 

Track 10 was not a 45 in the UK; however, Amon Duul's Peter Kramper and Stefan Michel remixed it January 1973 in a Munich studio for the German market, reducing the LP cut of 6:59 minutes to 3:59 minutes. United Artists UA 35 492 was issued around about March 1973 in a picture sleeve with a remixed and edited version of "Born To Go" from "The Greasy Truckers Party" double-album on the B-side. 

11. Ejection (Previously Unreleased Version) - Written by Dave Brock, Produced by Roy Baker 

There are two variants of this release – the first appeared 22 March 1996 in a multi-flap card digipak on EMI Premier HAWKS 3 / 7243 8 37554 2 4 (Barcode 724383755424). If you want that version, you will need to seek it out in a separate entry. That was in turn replaced with this more common 20 August 2001 reissue that comes in a standard jewel case (EMI Records 530 0312 is easily available for about a fiver or less – new or used). 

Fan nerds will know that the original Barney Bubbles-designed LP famously came with a silver foil on black card design and a space art inner sleeve. The gobbledygook commentary printed on the back sleeve which starts with “Blood greetings O brother, from our great space mother...” is reproduced in the 1996 foldout card digipak version, as is the inner sleeve. But so also is the rare ‘Street Rats’ poster that only came with some original vinyl LPs in England. I mention this poster because although the 2001 reissue has exactly the same liner notes and credit details as before (same 1996 Remaster too) – someone forgot to display the poster in the 12-page booklet of the 2001 reissue. It’s a small mishap, but one worth mentioning. 

The 1996 Audio Remaster (carried over into the 2001 reissue) is care of long-time Abbey Road associate PETER MEW aided by PAUL COBBOLD and a name many will know from Universal Remasters – KEVIN REEVE. Those expecting Supertramp or Dark Side Of The Moon will need to look elsewhere. This is sloppy, grungy, heads down Space Rock with a grandiose dollop of Rock Psych thrown in. At times the band seems to be fighting to be heard in the heady mix – lead vocals distant, backing vocals in another room altogether. But this Remaster delivers the power and the muscle. And then just when you think you have Hawkwind pigeonholed to a wall of sound and volume – they whomp you with Acoustic beauty like Dave Brock’s "Space Is Deep" or Lemmy’s ethereal and eerie "The Watcher". Suddenly it feels beautifully produced even if the later half of the song might again descend into that drum vs. guitar drone. The transfer is grubby and dirty when it needs to be and soft as a baby's bum-bum when restraint is called for. I love it.

The dirtiest grittiest guitar ever greets the listener as Side 1 begins with "Brainstorm" - standing on the runway for 11:32 minutes of heads down Space Rock. The vocals are still lost but the gutbucket wallop of it is undeniable and a hoot. After the sheer eardrum assault of "Brainstorm" - the six-minutes of Dave Brock's "Space Is Deep" comes across as pretty - like an Acoustic Yes session mated with an exploratory Uriah Head whig-out, leaving both exhausted but proud Hawklord parents beaming down at their new gangly offspring. "Into the void we have to travel..." – he sings. Fairly sure I’m not alone in saying that "Space Is Deep" is my fave track on the album - a great vibe and now a fabulous remaster that fills the room as the crescendo builds. Fifty seconds of "One Change" ends Side 1 - a very cool piano instrumental that feels like it should be featured on the soundtrack to "Baby Driver 2: Second Gear" – the babe drives again – etc.

Side 2 opens with "Lord Of Light", a seven-minute Dave Brock guitar-shimmer accompanied by panned cymbals. It soon melts into a guitar riff similar in some ways to the might "Silver Machine" - probably why it was remixed in Germany in early 1973 and issued as a 7" single there. And again with another surprising acoustic opening to "Down Through The Night" - space vibes with echoed Nik Turner flute moments. Surely another fan crave is "Time We Left This World Today" - 8:43 minutes of pure Hawkwind grind. With other room vocals and whacking drums anchoring the wall of guitars, synths and flute warbling - you can just so see that 'strapping cohort Stacia' (as she is described in the commentary) giving it some bounce for the boys on stage as he singer chants 'today' like a mantra. Future Motorhead legend and Bass player Lemmy gets his moment as he finishes the album with the surprisingly restrained "The Watcher". 

But the extras have me jumping up and down in the living room with a Spalding tennis racquet - my missus with yet another worried look and the Nurse Ratched cast on speed-dial. I've always liked "Urban Guerrilla" but my poison is the fantastic 5:42 minutes of its B-side "Brainbox Pollution" - a track that I'm certain should have been the "Silver Machine" follow-up. What a tune. Throw in two great extras in the tighter single edit for "Lord Of Light" and a cool unreleased Rock tune in "Ejection" - and it’s a groovy listen overall. 

There will be those who listen to "Doremi Fasol Latido" and wonder did Daddy and Mummy take too many magic mushrooms in 1972 when they assure their already alarmed sprogs in 2020 that Hawkwind is the dogs bollox. I miss them and the sheer couldn't give a cobblers freedom of it all. Enjoy, you children of Nik Turner, Dave Brock, Del Dettmar, Simon King and the mighty Kilmister Kid...

"David Clayton-Thomas/Tequila Sunrise/David Clayton-Thomas" by DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS [of Blood, Sweat & Tears] – April 1972, October 1972 and June 1973 US Albums on Columbia and RCA Victor Records – featuring David Cohen, Hugh McCracken, Paul Griffin, Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, Kenny Marco, William "Smitty" Smith, Chuck Rainey, Dominic Troiano of The James Gang, Bobby Colomby of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Steve Cropper of Booker T. & The MGs with Backing Singers Clydie King, Venetta Fields and The Tom Bahler Quartet (August 2020 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 3LPs onto 2CDs with One Bonus Track – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Tell The Truth Boy!"

If I'm completely honest and forthright with my adoring/besotted readers (and it goes against my religion to be so) - these three albums aren't all yesteryear masterpieces of knee-trembling genius. In fact the third self-titled platter here hasn't seen the digital light of day ever and even with a fabulous remaster on offer here (and it does rock) - it's unfortunately easy to hear why no one has bothered. 

But (and as they say in Kim Kardashian's house, this is a big but) - I've loved all things Blood, Sweat & Tears to distraction for over 50 years and that American band's gargles-gravel-for-breakfast lead singer David Clayton-Thomas can do no wrong by me. The good stuff on these platters far outweighs the ordinary (three tracks on album number three are corkers) and the big man could bring his lungs and passion to other people's tunes to such an extent that he often made them his own (check out C-T's version of Chris Ethridge and Gram Parson's gorgeous "She" on the Columbia debut LP for instance). 

So when I heard that England's Beat Goes On (BGO as they prefer to be called these days) we're lumping together his two solo albums from 1972 on Columbia Records and the one that followed in 1973 on RCA Victor and throwing in a 1983 Bonus Track for good measure – all of it resplendent on two Remastered CDs with sexy-pants presentation - I had to read a Brussels explanation of BREXIT to bore me sufficiently rigid, thereby stopping my blood pressure from blowing a gasket. Like the John Kay of Steppenwolf solo albums of 1972 and 1973 on ABC/Dunhill Records (Probe in the UK) which Beat Goes On have also done (see separate review) – I love these DCT records - and any upgrade in Audio gets me excited. 

We'll I'm glad to say that the Mad Dogs and Englishmen over at BGO have done it again - a great sounding reissue offering many albums I actually want and for less than the cost of a session with Joe Biden's speech therapist. We're all meat from the same bone, as the great Canadian says. Here are the juicy details...

UK released Friday, 28 August 2020 - "David Clayton-Thomas/Tequila Sunrise/David Clayton-Thomas" by DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS (of Blood, Sweat & Tears) on Beat Goes On BGOCD1424 (Barcode 5017261214249) offers 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs with One Bonus Track and plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:11 minutes):

1. Magnificent Sanctuary Band [Side 1]

2. We're All Meat From The Same Bone

3. Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord 

4. Dying To Live 

5. Sing A Song 

6. She [Side 2]

7. Don't Let It Bring You Down 

8. Once Burned 

9. North Beach Racetrack 

10. Caress Me Pretty Music

Tracks 1 to 10 are his second studio solo album "David Clayton-Thomas" (first for Columbia) - released April 1972 on Columbia KC 31000 in the USA and on CBS Records S 64755 in the UK. Co-produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears buddies BOBBY COLOMBY and JOEL SILL – it peaked at No. 184 on the US LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).

11. I Could Just Boogie All Night (Intro) [Side 1]

12. Yesterday's Music

13. Friday The 13th Child 

14. The Face Of Man 

15. One More Time Around 

16. Down Bound Train 

17. Nobody Calls Me Prophet [Side 2] 

18. Last Time That She Cried 

19. Fallin' By Degrees

20. My Song (For Geanenne) 

21. Bread 'N Butter Boogie

22. I Could Just Boogie All Night (Reprise)

Tracks 11 to 22 are his third studio album "Tequila Sunrise" - released October 1972 in the USA on Columbia records KC 31700 (no UK equivalent, but Dutch copies on CBS Records S 65237 were imported into Britain and sold). Produced by MIKE POST - it didn't chart (bubbled under at No. 202 in early November 1972). 

CD2 (37:06 minutes):

1. Harmony Junction [Side 1]

2. Workin' On The Railroad

3. Alimony 

4. Harbor Lady 

5. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby 

6. Hernando's Hideaway [Side 2]

7. Sweet Fantasy 

8. Small Family 

9. Can't Buy Me Love

10. Professor Longhair 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his fourth solo album "David Clayton-Thomas" – released June 1973 in the USA on RCA Victor APL1-0173 and October 1973 in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8381. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER – it didn't chart in either country. This August 2020 BGO 2CD set is its first digital reissue. 

BONUS TRACK:

11. Some Hearts Get All The Breaks – 1983 US 45 on Epic 34-03792, A-side

The outer card slipcase is always classy looking and the chunky 20-page booklet with new appreciations from Mojo and Record Collector contributor CHARLES WARING is a very enjoyable affair. This is not one of those releases where the liner notes go on about the artists’ history and then proffer a few lines to the actual music being reissued - Waring almost goes track for track and on all three albums - and he loads on the musician details and song histories. The session’s details and artwork from all gatefold LPs are here too (photos etc) - but the big news is a quality Remaster from BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. Like most fans, I've had (and reviewed) the March 2006 Repertoire CD remaster for 1972's "David Clayton-Thomas" (Repertoire RES 2300 - Barcode 400910230022) but these new versions are fantastic. With Production values from Bobby Colomby (of B, S &T), future TV tunes man Mike Post and finally Gabriel Mekler - the sound on these albums in great - with number three noticeably leaping up the scales into almost Audiophile standards. Let's get to the tunes...

Co-produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears buddies BOBBY COLOMBY and JOEL SILL - his "David Clayton-Thomas" debut for Columbia Records had been recorded in September to November 1971 sessions but because of B,S&T commitments would have to wait until April 1972 for US release. Its ten tracks offered nine cover versions and one original - the junkie song "North Beach Racecourse". Top heavy with sessionmen - players included David Cohen, Hugh McCracken, Mike Deasy, Sal DiTroia, Paul Cannon and Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MG's on Guitars, Frank Owens on Piano with Bobby Colomby of Blood, Sweat & Tears on Drums and Production and super session ladies Clydie King and Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals. 

Highlights are Edgar Winter's post-Woodstock anti-war anthem "Dying To Live" which is given a powerful rendition with strings that strengthen the melody and message rather than drown it. The "After The Gold Rush" classic of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Neil Young is also treated to a strange solitary French horn opening that really works – it takes a good song and moves it to somewhere different – very cool. But the real peach here is his gorgeous vocal to Gram Parson and Chris Ethridge's much-covered "She". Clayton-Thomas does it more than justice – he almost makes it his own. His lone self-penned contribution about his favourite haunt "North Beach Racetrack" is a 'daddy was a junky' song with a funky guitar romp while he roars a trademark B, S & T mannerism "…tell the truth boy!" It's excellent and features slick guitar work from all three - Paul Cannon, Steve Cropper and Thomas himself. And the sound is superb throughout the entire album - Gary Wright's Spooky Tooth tune "Sing A Song" punchy and vibrant - "Caress Me Pretty Music" by Anita O'Day and the born-again multitudes of people 1970 Dorsey Burnette cover "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" both featuring noticeably warm Bass - all good. There is hiss on some of the quieter songs like the Todd Rundgren cover "Once Burned" but it's not too much to detract. And up there with "She" is another clever choice - CT's funky and righteous cover of Paul Kelly’s "Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord" - a minor hit for its Soul Man originator in 1970 on Happy Tiger Records. 

Deciding to forgo so many 'other people's songs' for his second on Columbia - "Tequila Sunrise" saw Clayton-Thomas hook up big time with Keyboardist, Singer and 'Musical Director' William "Smithy" Smith. Almost all of the songs are originals - co-writes with Smith. On "Tequila Sunrise's" plus side - ace guitarist and long-time associate with James Taylor's backing band Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar comes on board with Kenny Marco as the two principal guitarists and their Steely Dan-esque solos pepper many of the tunes. On the downside, because the "David Clayton-Thomas" LP sounded so much like a BS&T solo record with all those contributors and especially the frequent brass fills - it was decided to strip back "Tequila Sunrise" of Horn Arrangements - a sound trademark associated with Blood, Sweat & Tears. In hindsight, that was a mistake. Although originals like the angry yet still sexy "Nobody Calls Me Prophet" or the fantastic piano-funk and guitar grove of "Last Time She Cried" - you can't help but think that actually a wee bit of brass would have lifted them into the stratosphere. 

It's not all good - the frantic "Bread 'N Butter Boogie" is wildly forced and the Blues Acoustic Intro and Outro of "I Could Just Boogie All Night" that tail ends both sides of the LP feels gimmicky when it would have been better to just give it full reign. Lyrically "Friday The 13th Child" (he was both 13 September) is very strong and Bobby 'Blue' Bland covered its hurting message on his stunning 1973 ABC Records LP "His California Album". I also can't understand why Columbia who apparently did little or no press for the LP didn't tap into the fab grit-and-groove Rock-Funk of his Chuck Berry cover "Down Bound Train". It literally sounds like a Blood, Sweat & Tears neck-jerker waiting to be a 45 hit. They chose the soppier "Yesterday’s Music" b/w "Fallin' By Degrees" as the album's only 7" single in both the USA and UK even though the LP itself never received a released in Blighty (all copies were Dutch imports on the famous orange CBS Records label). Still, it's a good album and the audio feels right. 

By the time we get to platter number three from 1973 - another self-titled LP - Clayton-Thomas has signed to RCA Victor and the Production qualities have gone through the roof. As far as I know, "David Clayton-Thomas" has never been on CD and its inclusion here is most welcome (fans have often called the record "Harmony Junction" after Side 1's opening song - another superb co-write with Smithy). Side 1 has the best stuff - a killer cover of Tommy Tucker's "Alimony" where Kootch, Kenny Marco and future James Gang guitarist Dominic Troiano provide very cool slide guitars. There is a rile at the Statue of Liberty in the hard-hitting "Harbor Lady" - Clayton-Thomas asserting that she isn't a symbol of hope - the reality being that someone's "...wife and son are buried in the dirt of a semi-slum". But the LP loses all momentum with a dire Side 2 where he covers "Hernando's Hideaway" from the 1954 musical "The Pajama Game" for God's sake and it all goes downhill from there to a pointless and uncharacteristically anaemic cover of The Beatles "Can't Buy Me Love". The Bonus Track single "Some Hearts Get All The Breaks" is romantic schlock from 1983 on Epic Records that apparently went to Promo-only stage. It's bad movie music and unworthy of him - the kind of twaddle that makes you want to hurry back to his fantastic rendition of Sam & Dave's torch ballad "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" that ends Side 1 of the third LP. 

In summary - this three-LPs-onto-two-CDs is a mixed bag for sure and you can't help but think that a man so obviously steeped in the Blues, R&B and Soul should have tapped those rich genre veins way more often. These LPs needed material to give his extraordinary set of pipes some real meat. But when Dave found that song (bopper or ballad) – man was DCT good. 

Fans will love the new Audio, the classy presentation, the genuinely informative liner notes and those interested in Funky 70ts Rock on a Soulful tip will find loads to enjoy once they get past some occasional clunkers. 

"...Tell The Truth Boy!" – big Dave shouts in one of his famous vocal ad-libs. Amen baby and I'm off now to board that "Down Bound Train" so I can whack the Devil on the head with a crowbar as he tries to take a drunk from the barroom floor onto his thunder-crash, fire and brimstone, steam-engine (sneaky bleeder). Keep rocking peeps...

"Broken Barricades" by PROCOL HARUM – May 1971 US LP on A&M Records and June 1971 UK LP on Chrysalis Records – featuring Robin Trower, Gary Brooker, Chris Copping, BJ Wilson and lyricist Keith Reid (28 June 2019 UK Esoteric Recordings 3CD Expanded And Re-Mastered Edition with 36 Bonus Tracks (32 of which are Previously Unreleased) in a Large Card Digipak with Booklet and A Foldout Poster – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 352 Others Is Available In My

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"...Cellar Full Of Diamonds..."

 

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Desperate not to be pigeonholed by the Mellotron melodrama of May 1967's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (a huge worldwide hit) - Procol Harum were always trying to move forward musically from that crowd-pleasing 45 straightjacket with their albums proper - onwards and upwards and damn the genre torpedoes. But truth be told, their dense often Prog-like Rock of the late 60ts and early 70ts has always been something of an acquired taste and their fifth studio LP "Broken Barricades" from 1971 was and is no different. 

The last platter to feature ace lead guitarist Robin Trower who quit a month after its release to pursue a solo career (his hard rocking Hendrix-like debut "Twice Removed From Yesterday" appeared in March 1973 also on Chrysalis Records) - BB has divided the faithful for years - some loving it - some loathing it - most sensibly plopped in-between. 

"Broken Barricades" was issued first week of May 1971 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4294 and second week of June 1971 in Blighty on Chrysalis Records ILPS 9158 (Chrysalis still using the Island catalogue number numerical hence the ILPS code). But which reissue to buy on CD? There are three principal ones to choose from with both 'content' and 'price' a factor, and I'd like to explore what's what and why?

First up was Germany's Repertoire Records; their EROC remastered "Broken Barricades" appearing in August 2002 on Repertoire REP 4980 (Barcode 4009910498026). That single-CD variant came in a card digipak with three bonus tracks - "Broken Barricades" (Single Edit)", "Power Failure (Single Edit)" and "Simple Sister (Mono Version)". I mention this because despite the huge 36 Bonus Tracks offered on this latest June 2019 triple-CD set from Esoteric Recordings of the UK (32 of which are Previously Unreleased) – that threesome is 'not' featured here and when you look at the 66-minute playing time on Disc 3, there was room. The 7" single edits of "Broken Barricades" b/w "Power Failure" were issued Stateside in July 1971 on A&M Records 1264 with no UK equivalent – so have always been British 45 collector's items for years. It feels like a bit of a silly oversight to have left them off. 

The second CD outing for "Broken Barricades" came with Salvo of the UK in August 2009 as part of their 'Procol Harum 40 Years' reissue series. Salvo Records SALVOCD022 (Barcode 698458812223) offered Four New Bonus Tracks – all Previously Unreleased at the time. At least these four are repeated on this 2019 Esoteric Records 3CD variant (the titles are Tracks 10, 9, 17 and 15 on CD A as listed below). Coming in a gatefold card sleeve, Nick Robbins of Ace Records fame was the Remaster Engineer on that Salvo version and most fans rate this variant as tops. The Repertoire and Salvo issues are still under a tenner new and can often be found for less on auction sites.

Which brings us to this new 3CD beast clocking in at over twenty quid depending on where you buy it and offering some genuine rarities fans have been craving on digital for over three decades. Let's get to the technicalities...

UK released 28 June 2019 (delayed from May 2019) - "Broken Barricades: Expanded And Re-Mastered Edition" by PROCOL HARUM on Esoteric Records ECLEC 32673 (Barcode 5013929477346) is a 3CD Three-Flap Card Digipak Reissue with 44-Tracks (36 Bonus Tracks, 32 of which are Previously Unreleased) that plays out as follows:

CD A (72:53 minutes):

1. Simple Sister [Side 1]

2. Broken Barricades 

3. Memorial Drive 

4. Luskus Delph 

5. Power Failure [Side 2]

6. Song For A Dreamer 

7. Playmate Of The Mouth 

8. Poor Mohammed 

Tracks 1 to 8 are their fifth studio album "Broken Barricades" - released May 1971 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4294 and June 1971 in the UK on Chrysalis ILPS 9158. Produced by CHRIS THOMAS - it peaked at No. 32 in the USA and No. 44 in the UK. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid - Tracks 3, 6 and 8 written by Robin Trower and Keith Reid 

BONUS TRACKS: 

9. Simple Sister (Raw Track) *

10. Broken Barricades (Long Fade) *

11. Memorial Drive (Early Mix) 

12. Memorial Jam 

13. Luskus Delpi (Early Version)   

14. Power Failure (No Applause) 

15. Song For A Dreamer (King Jimi) (Backing Track) * 

16. Playmate Of The Mouth (The Boyard's Ball) (Raw Track, Heavy Bass Mix) 

17. Poor Mohammed (Backing Track) *

* First appeared August 2009 on the Salvo Records 40th Anniversary CD Reissue - all others PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD B - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (71:54 minutes):

Live - WPLJ, New York City, 12 April 1971 

1. Memorial Drive

2. Still There'll Be More 

3. Nothing That I Didn't Know 

4. Simple Sister

5. Luskus Delph 

6. Shine on Brightly

7. Whaling Stories 

8. Broken Barricades 

9. Juicy John Pink 

10. A Salty Dog 

11. Whisky Train 

12. Power Failure  

Tracks 1 to 12 were originally issued in the USA on a white label unofficial compilation called "The Elusive Procol Harum" (catalogue number 718 A/B). This is the first official release of this Mono material. 

BBC Radio One - 'Sounds Of The 70s' - recorded 6 October 1971

13. Simple Sister 

14. Quite Rightly So 

15. Broken Barricades 

16. Power Failure  

CD C - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (66:41 minutes):

Live - Sverige Radio, Folkets Hus, Stockholm, 16 October 1971

* Not featured in the Sverige Radio Broadcast 

1. In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence *

2. Still There'll Be More 

3. All This And More 

4. Quite Rightly So 

5. Power Failure 

6. Pilgrims Progress 

7. Simple Sister 

8. Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)

9. A Salty Dog 

10. Repent Walpurgis * 

11. In The Autumn Of My Madness / Look To Your Soul / Grand Finale 

The original 1971 LP (on both sides of the pond) was a gatefold sleeve with die-cut shapes in the card on the front-flap to see the band faces on the inner flap beneath. As another reviewer has pointed out, this three-way foldout digipak doesn't have such elaborate packaging and worse - it feels clunky and awkward with what it does have. One flap of the digipak has a six-leaf foldout poster of the cover art (Esoteric Recordings catalogue number on it) while the 28-page booklet is certainly substantial with new liner notes from ROLAND CLARE. The lyrics are on the digipak flaps but there is naught beneath the see-through CD trays. 

The booklet is very in-depth and features input from the band’s leading player Gary Brooker and archive material. You get rare 45s from Europe of "Poor Mohammed" and the hard-to-find titled US sleeve for "Simple Sister", period pictures of the band, an A&M trade advert for the US album, even a full-page shot of a 1970 master-reel from the "Broken Barricades" sessions. The booklet also shows a photo of the four-piece featured on the cover - Robin Trower on Guitar, Gary Brooker on Keyboards and Vocals, Chris Copping on Bass and Hammond Organ while BJ Wilson played the Drums and Percussion. The unsung fifth member of the band was lyricist Keith Reid described as providing 'words' pictured in silhouette on the rear. I can't help thinking that this is really one of those occasions where it would have been better to have a 3CD Clamshell Box Set – three mini LP repro artwork sleeves on the inside, the 1971 bootleg art (which exists) and a new cover for Disc 3's Swedish Radio Broadcast. 

The Audio is a 24-Bit Remaster from original tapes by PASCHAL BYRNE at Audio Archiving and it really is a tale of two source cities. Some have said the album is too bright – I don't think so. I've had the Salvo issue for years and it's the nuts – but here there is more power in those keyboard flourishes – the vocals too – and the guitar feels like its about to bust a gut but not in a bad way. But I agree with detractors that feel the live recordings are just about acceptable – while the BBC stuff is disappointingly gruff and actually rather crappy (I can so hear why this session stayed in the can). Still, to have this much unreleased-material in one place will be a huge draw to fans (especially that US famous white label). And Trower was still with the group too managing three songs on the record while Gary put up the rest (I dig that Brooker/Trower dynamic). To the tunes...

I never could work out whether lyricist Keith Reid was with the whooping cough kid in "Simple Sister" (pointing out her horrible social stigma) or against her - the lyrics reeking ever so slightly of snide. No such confusion however with the Trower riffage - Side 1's opening track smacking of "Whisky Train" revisited - that fantastic Rock chugger on the band's preceding album "Home" from 1970 on Regal Zonophone Records. That fuzzed-up Sabbath-like guitar is quickly joined by piano-funk. I never did like the vocal on this – feels like it's detached and too far back in the mix – and unfortunately I'm not sure this Remaster helps. The simpler title track "Broken Barricades" with its catchy synth runs was an obvious US single – all bright jewels and glittering sand – the sound is great. We're back to riffing with the excellent "Memorial Drive" – the band sounding like a Rocking outfit – cool piano soloing too. Side 1 ends with "Luskus Delph" – a tune I always liked musically (even those string passages) but those lyrics feel forced and pretentious. 

The Side 2 opener "Power Failure" is my favourite cut on the record – a heady mix of Trower guitar – great Brooker vocals and a set of keyboard arrangements that make the whole chunky tune swing. A&M in America tried the full version of "Simple Sister" as a second 45 from the album in September 1971 with the equally long five-minutes-plus of "Song For A Dreamer" on the flipside (A&M 1287). But I think they should have resurrected the shorter Rock-catchy "Power Failure" which they'd used as the B to "Broken Barricades" in July and tried that as an A in September 1971. The Remaster of "Power Failure" is excellent and I've been playing it like a loon – siding it into playlists alongside the fantastic March 1971 "Dragonfly" B-side "The Purple Dancer" by Fleetwood Mac (see my review for the 2020 box set "Fleetwood Mac: 1969 to 1974"). Speaking of which, the album's other redeemer is the Fleetwood Mac "Albatross"/Jimi Hendrix "Little Wing" floating beauty of "Song For A Dreamer" – a Trower tune that precursors the ballad sound he would get on say "Bridge Of Sighs" from 1974. With a really great remaster - "Song For A Dreamer" is shimmering Rock that sounds like its lyrics – oblique words sung about meeting you on the other side of the moon – lying in the ocean – scheming at the bottom of the sea. The album finishes with two tunes that divide - the slyly worded nasty that is "Playmate Of The Mouth" (month/mouth pun intended) followed by the equally acrid "Poor Mohammed" - both somehow reading as sympathetic and damning at one and the same time. 

Of the Alternates - the drums and slide guitar of "Power Failure" is a real funky find as is the 'King Jimi' mix of "Song For A Dreamer" - a stunning 'vibe' tribute to the recently lost master axeman. The being at 'The Boyard's Ball' version of "Playmate Of The Mouth" does feel like a work-in-progress albeit a not very interesting one. Better is a tad hissy "Memorial Jam" - riffage galore - working it out - well worth the entrance fee and a must for Robin Trower devotees. 

"So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado..." the announcer introduces the band and off goes Trower and Brooker - silver dollar across the sea. The "Home" album track "Still There'll Be More" follows and although the sound is very 1971 - it isn't disastrous by any means - power in the performance. The 'slow Scottish lament' of "Nothing I Didn't Know" is introduced with humour and both piano and vocals are well transferred. Trower nearly blows the room out with "Simple Sister" but I went instead to the Ten Years After boogie of "Juicy John Pink" and the set's final winning double of "Whisky Train" and "Power Failure" - both akin to early ZZ Top - if that makes sense. The four from the BBC are practically unlistenable and really should have been replaced with those single edits. I have to admit to that I struggled too through the Sverige set not because of the performance but the sound - Brooker's vocals too distant to be genuinely engaging or enjoyable.

So despite the splurge of Previously Unreleased and combined with the fatso packaging that feels clunky instead of classy - I'd give this bulging attempt at "Broken Barricades" four stars instead of five for a 'different' remaster of the album, those unreleased outakes worthy of the moniker Bonus and that excellent-sounding US gig. The rest feels unnecessary, but of course, fans will have to own it. A 'cellar full of diamonds' then, well almost...