"Andrew Gold + What's Wrong With This Picture + All This And Heaven Too + Whirlwind + Bonuses" by ANDREW GOLD – Four US Albums from November 1975 (June 1976 in the UK), May 1976 (January 1977 in the UK), February 1978 and April 1980 on Asylum Records - Plus 20 Bonuses Including Outtakes and Rarities – Guests include Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes, Waddy Watchel, Danny Kootch Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russell Kunkel, Kenny Edwards, Peter Asher, Dan Dugmore, Don Grolnick, J.D. Souther, Ernie Watts, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Brock Walsh (September 2013 UK Edsel/Rhino Anthology - 4LPs and 20 Bonus Tracks Remastered onto 3CDs using 2005 US Rhino Transfers) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Looking For My Love..."

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When Californian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Gold passed in June 2011, he was only approaching his 60th birthday – taken way too soon.

Forever associated with the Yacht Rock sound of the West Coast, Gold had clocked up four moderately successful albums on David Geffen's Asylum Records between 1975 and 1980 and two absolutely huge 45-singles in "Lonely Boy" and "Never Let Her Slip Away". Neither of these FM-friendly winners nor his other hit "Thank You Being My Friend" (adapted later for the hugely popular "Golden Girls" US TV programme) has been off Radio Station playlists for pushing on 45 years now. 

And yet Andrew Gold remains something of an unknown and the rest of his great work largely-forgotten - a topflight sessionman whose name turns up on the inner sleeve credits of albums by James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, J.D. Souther, Carly Simon, Jackson Browne and was even feted by 10cc in the 80ts to join their ranks (he would team up with Graham Gouldman in Wax). Or that guy who put an album sleeve in 1976 with 38 deliberate mistakes on it – one where on initial release you could get a mail-order gift if you could correctly locate and name all of them (I think I once got to about 20 on the appropriately titled "What's Wrong With This Picture?" album).  

And that's where this superlative value-for-money 3CD chunky monkey comes bopping in. Licensed from Rhino of the USA, Edsel of the UK do for Andrew Gold what they did for The Doobie Brothers - pour on the numbers, the extras and the remastered sound. All This And Heaven Too - let's get to the details...

UK released 9 September 2013 - "Andrew Gold + What's Wrong With This Picture + All This And Heaven Too + Whirlwind + Bonuses" by ANDREW GOLD on Edsel/Rhino EDSX 3016 (Barcode 740155301637) offers 4LPs Remastered Onto CDs 1 and 2 with a Further 20 Bonus Tracks on CD3. It's housed in a four-way foldout card digipak, has a 26-page booklet, uses Rhino's Remasters on all songs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (76:20 minutes):

1. That's Why I Love You [Side 1]

2. Heartaches In Heartaches 

3. Love Hurts 

4. A Note From You 

5. Resting In Your Arms  

6. I'm A Gambler 

7. Endless Flight 

8. Hang My Picture Straight 

9. Ten Years Behind Me

10. I'm Coming Home 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut album "Andrew Gold" - released November 1975 in the USA on Asylum 7E-1045 and June 1976 in the UK on Asylum K 53020. Produced by CHARLES PLOTKIN - it peaked at No. 190 in the USA (didn't chart UK). Guests included Backing Vocals from Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Edwards and Gene Garfin (who also co-wrote "That's Why I Love You", all others AG originals). 

11. Hope You Feel Good [Side 1]

12. Passing Thing 

13. Do Wah Diddy 

14. Learning The Game 

15. Angel Woman 

16. Must Be Crazy 

17. Lonely Boy [Side 2]

18. Firefly 

19. Stay 

20. Go Back Home Again 

21. One Of Them Is Me 

Tracks 11 to 21 are his second studio album "What's Wrong With This Picture?" - released May 1976 in the USA on Asylum 7E-1086 and January 1977 in the UK on Asylum K 53052.

CD2 (78:52 minutes):

1. How Can This Be Love? [Side 1]

2. Oh Urania (Take Me Away)

3. Still You Linger On

4. Never Let Her Slip Away 

5. Always For You 

6. Thank You For Being My Friend [Side 2]

7. Looking For My Love 

8. Genevieve 

9. I'm On My Way 

10. You're Free 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his third studio album "All This And Heaven Too" – released February 1978 in the USA on Asylum 6E-116 and March 1978 in the UK on Asylum K 53072. Produced by ANDREW GOLD and BROCK WALSH - guests include Waddy Watchel on Guitars, Ernie Watts on Saxophone, Kenny Edwards on Bass, with Brock Walsh, J.D. Souther and Jennifer Warnes on Backing Vocals

11. Kiss This One Goodbye [Side 1]

12. Whirlwind 

13. Sooner Or Later 

14. Leave Her Alone 

15. Little Company  

16. Brand New Face [Side 2]

17. Nine To Five 

18. Stranded On The Edge

19. Make Up Your Mind

Tracks 11 to 19 are his fourth studio album "Whirlwind" – released April 1980 in the USA on Asylum 6E-264 and May 1980 in the UK on Asylum K 52219. Produced by ANDREW GOLD - guests include Bryan Garofalo on Bass, Waddy Watchel on Guitar, Don Grolnick on Piano and Brock Walsh on Backing Vocals

CD3 (73:40 minutes) - all tracks Previously Unreleased at the time:

1. Within A Word 

2. Sometime When A Man's On His Own

3. Broken Pin Ball Machine 

4. To Be Someone 

5. Ten Years Behind Me (Demo)

6. Hang My Picture Straight (Live At The Santa Monica Auditorium, 1975)

Tracks 1 to 6 first appeared as Six Bonus Tracks on the 2005 US CD reissue of "Andrew Gold" on Collector's Choice Music CCM-527 (Barcode 617742052725)

7. Lonely Boy (Original Version)

8. Firefly (Early Unfinished Version)

9. Gorilla jam 

10. Feel It 

11. Hope You Feel Good (Live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, 1976)

Tracks 7 to 11 first appeared as Five Bonus Tracks on the 2005 US CD reissue of "What's Wrong With This Picture?" on Collector's Choice Music CCM-528 (Barcode 617742052824)

12. Gambler (Version No. 1)

13. Thank You For Being A Friend (Outtake)

14. Dr. Robert (Live, Beatles cover)

15. Genevieve (Original Version)

16. Still You Linger On (Alternate Take)

Tracks 12 to 16 first appeared as Five Bonus Tracks on the 2005 US CD reissue of "All This And Heaven Too" on Collector's Choice Music CCM-529 (Barcode 617742052923)

17. Gambler (Version No. 2)

18. Endless Flight (Live At The Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida, 1978)

19. The 'In' Crowd 

20. Traffic Jam 

Tracks 12 to 16 first appeared as Four Bonus Tracks on the 2005 US CD reissue of "All This And Heaven Too" on Collector's Choice Music CCM-530 (Barcode 617742053029)

As you can see from the track lists provided above, CD3 essentially gathers up all 20 of the Previously Unreleased tracks that appeared across the four 2005 Collector's Choice Music CD reissues and lumps them onto one disc. The multiple-flap digipak houses a very pretty and informative 28-page booklet that fleshes out the new ALAN ROBINSON liner notes (June 2013) with track-by-track musician credits. Each album is pictured, the Elektra labels for Side 1 and 2, rare 45-single foreign picture sleeves for "Lonely Boy", "How Can This Be Love", "Never Let Her Slip Away" and "Kiss This One Goodbye" and each album front sleeve given a whole page each to shine. 

The original Remasters date from 2005 (Rhino via Collector's Choice Music) with the 3CD 2013 reissue mastered in the UK by Edsel’s longstanding Audio Engineer – PHIL KINRADE of Alchemy Mastering. This set sounds fab – the huge synth chords of "Never Let Her Slip Away" punching out of yours speakers with lovely clarity. You also notice with tracks like "That's Why I Love You" on the self-titled debut how almost every instrument is him - but as the LPs moved on – Gold regularly called on James Taylor/Jackson Browne sessionmen like Waddy Watchel, Danny Kootch Kortchmar, Leland Sklar and Russell Kunkel to beef up proceedings with expert fills. When the wall of voices hits you – it has power too – big names like Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes and sometime co-Producer and writer Brock Walsh. 

The thing about an Anthology like this is that it allows to dig deeper than the stuff the Radio schedulers only ever want to play – songs like "Stay" with Linda Ronstadt yet again adding beautifully subtle backing vocals - "I'm On My Way" with Jeff Porcaro of Toto whacking the kit - "Learning The Game" with Dan Dugmore playing Steel Guitar (long time member of James Taylor’s backing back) – the beautiful simplicity and almost hymnal "Looking For My Love" so reminiscent of Stephen "On And On" Bishop as Andrew (all on his own as a single man) plays every instrument for lonely hearts everywhere - "Little Company" on the "Whirlwind" album where Jazzer Don Grolnick of the fusion outfit Dreams plays gorgeous piano – the acoustic loveliness of the I miss you "Still You Linger On" - and on it goes. Some of the bonuses are short and feel superfluous to requirements and the lone cover of the Revolver belter "Dr. Robert" shows his rockier side in a rare slice of live Seventies. 

If you want deeper still, Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) issued a Clamshell Box Set in July 2020 not surprisingly called "Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years" and its 7CDs offers even more. 

I look on this singer-songwriter with huge affection and remember being in lurve with some dark-haired wild-eyed Irish beauty when the March 1978 UK 45 for "Never Let Her Slip Away" was released (with the Yacht Rock salsa rhythms of "Genevieve" on the flipside). 

Asylum K 13112 took British and Irish airwaves by quiet storm – jumping all the way up to No. 5 in the UK singles chart and putting its parent album "All This And Heaven Too" into the Top 40 (No. 31 in April 1978). Its wildly soppy only-met-her-a-week-ago romantic shuffle and those Ernie Watts Saxophone runs tugged on those heartstrings then and still does now - it moved me. Remember him like this and enjoy...