"Four Albums Plus A+B Sides And E.P. Tracks On Three Discs" by GENO WASHINGTON & THE RAM JAM BAND – Featuring Four UK Mono Albums "Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt... Live!" (December 1966 Live Set), "Shake A Tail Feather" (June 1967 Studio LP), "Hipsters, Flipsters, Finer-Poppin' Daddies!" (September 1967 Live LP), "Running Wild" (November 1968 Live Set on Pye and Final LP) Plus Singles, EP Tracks and Unreleased Recordings Encompassing 1966 to 1972, all on Piccadilly and Pye Records (November 2020 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) 3CD 81-Track Compilation of New 2020 Remasters – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"... Uptight (Everything's Alright)..."

In October 2016, Edsel of the UK reissued the entirety of Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band's recorded output across two three-Disc Sets - "Geno! The Piccadilly & Pye Studio Recordings" on Edsel EDSK 7114 (Barcode 740155711436) with 47 tracks - and “Geno – Live!!!” on Edsel EDSX 3032 (Barcode 740155303235) with 36 tracks – 83 songs in total. 

Those 2016 issues were in fact exact reissues of MONO remasters that dated back to 1998 when Sanctuary of the UK had put out the British Soul band's output on two Sequel Records compilations - "My Bombers My Dexy's My Highs: The Sixties Studio Sessions" on Sequel NEMCD 973 (Barcode 5023224097323) including at that time - eight previously unreleased outtakes being heard for the first time - and "Geno! Geno! Geno! Live In The Sixties" on Sequel NXTCD 295 (Barcode 5023224329523). 

What you get here in late November 2020 (during a pandemic no less) is a like-for-like Beat Goes On (BGO) reissue of the whole shebang in a one-stop package; its range covering Piccadilly and Pye recordings from 1966 to 1972 newly remastered for this release. So across 3CDs with huge laying times (see below), you will be able to sequence one full studio album, three full live sets, the A&B-sides of twelve 45-singles (three of which are GW solo offerings), two four-track EPs and even the unreleased eight that Sequel uncovered in 1998. Eighty-One Soul and R&B blasts from the past in all. There is a huge amount of "Geno!" to shake a tail feather at, so let’s get foot stompin' with the details...

UK released Friday, 27 November 2020 (delayed from September 2020) - "Four Albums Plus A+B Sides And E.P. Tracks On Three Discs" by GENO WASHINGTON & THE RAM JAM BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD1433 (Barcode 5017261214331) offers 81-Tracks across 3CDs newly remastered in 2020 and plays out as follows: 

Disc One (80:55 minutes): 

1. Philly Dog 

2. Ride Your Pony 

3. Uptight (Everything's Alright)

4. (I'm A) Road Runner 

5. Hold On, I'm Comin'

6. Don't Fight It 

7. Land Of A Thousand Dances (Part 1) / (Part 2) 

Note: Part 2 of Land opened [Side 2] of the original LP

8. Respect

9. Willy Nilly 

10. Get Down With It 

11. Michael (The Lover) 

12. Que Sera Sera 

13. You Don't Know (Like I Do)

Tracks 1 to 13 are their debut album, a live set called "Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt...LIVE!" - released December 1966 in the UK on Piccadilly NPL 38026 (Mono) and NSPL 38026 (Stereo) – the Mono Mix is used. The Mono mix peaked at No. 5 on the UK LP charts 

14. Raise Your Hand [Side 1]

15. You Got Me Hummin' 

16. Three Time Loser 

17. Tell It Like It Is 

18. Use Me 

19. Understanding 

20. Knock On Wood [Side 2]

21. Bonie Maronie

22. Never Like This Before 

23. I'm Your Puppet 

24. Who's Foolin' Who 

25. (I Gotta) Hold On To Your Love

Tracks 14 to 25 are their only studio album "Shake A Tail Feather" - released June 1967 in the UK on Piccadilly NPL 38029 (Mono) and NSPL 38029 (Stereo) – the Mono Mix is used here (didn't chart). 

BONUS TRACKS (A&B-sides):

26. Water 

Track 26 is a 29 April 1966 UK 45-single on Piccadilly 7N 35312, A-side - B-side was the album track "Understanding" (Track 19, Disc One)

27. Hi! Hi! Hazel 

28. Beach Bash 

Tracks 27 and 28 are the A&B-sides of a 15 July 1966 UK 45-single on Piccadilly 7N 35329

Disc Two (79:03 minutes):

1. Herk's Works [Side 1]

2. Day Tripper/I Can't Turn You Loose 

3. You Left The Water Running 

4. In The Midnight Hour 

5. Hi-Heel Sneakers 

6. Shotgun 

7. Raise Your Hand [Side 2]

8. Who's Foolin' Who 

9. Things Get Better 

10. It's A Wonder 

11. She Shot A Hole In My Soul 

12. Wild Thing

Tracks 1 to 12 are their third album, their second live set "Hipsters, Flipsters, Finger-Poppin' Daddies!" - released September 1967 in the UK on Piccadilly NPL 38032 (Mono) and NSPL 38032 (Stereo) - the Mono Mix is used. The Stereo variant peaked at No. 8 in the UK LP charts. 

13. I Take What I Want [Side 1]

14. Knock On Wood 

15. Gimme A Little Sign/Raise Your Hand 

16. Michael (The Lover) 

17. Que Sera Sera 

18. Rock Me Baby (Part 1) / Rock Me Baby (Part 2) 

[Part 2 of Rock Me Baby is where Side 2 of the original LP began]

19. Hi-Heel Sneakers/Mary Ann 

20. I Get So Excited 

21. Holdin' On With Both Hands 

22. Jumpin' Jack Flash 

23. I Got You Babe 

Tracks 13 to 23 are their fourth and last album, a live set called "Running Wild" - released November 1968 in the UK on Pye NPL 18219 (Mono) and NSPL 18219 (Stereo) - the Mono Mix is used (didn't chart)

BONUS TRACKS (A&B-sides):

24. Que Sera Sera 

25. All I Need 

Tracks 24 and 25 are the A&B-sides of a 30 September 1967 UK 45-single on Piccadilly 7N 35346

Disc Three - BONUS TRACKS, A&B-Sides and E.P. Tracks (79:13 minutes):

1. If You Knew 

2. Always 

Tracks 1 and 2 were exclusive to the 4-Track January 1967 "Hi!" EP on Piccadilly NEP 34054, the other two tracks were the A-sides of their first two British 45s - "Hi Hi Hazel" and "Water" (Tracks 26 and 27 on Disc One)

3. Michael

4. (I Gotta) Hold On To My Love 

Tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of a 24 January 1967 UK 45-single on Piccadilly 7N 35359

5. I've Been Hurt By Love 

Track 5 is the non-album B-side of "She Shot A Hole In My Soul", released June 1967 in the UK on Piccadilly 7N 35392 – A-side is Track 11 on Disc 2

6. Tell It Like It Is 

7. Girl I Want To Marry You 

Tracks 6 and 7 are the A&B-sides of a 1 September 1967 UK 45-single on Piccadilly 7N 35403

8. Different Strokes 

9. I'm Your Puppet 

Tracks 8 and 9 are exclusive to the December 1967 UK 4-Track EP "Different Strokes" on Pye NEP 24293 - the other two studio songs are "You Got Me Humming" and "Use Me" - Tracks 15 and 18 on Disc One 

10. I Can't Quit Her 

11. Put Out The Fire 

Tracks 10 and 11 are the non-album A&B-sides of a June 1968 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 17570

12. Bring It To Me Baby 

13. I Can't Let You Go 

Tracks 12 and 13 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 15 November 1968 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 17649

14. My Little Chickadee 

15. Seven Eleven 

Tracks 14 and 15 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 6 June 1969 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 17745

16. Alison Please 

17. Each And Every Part Of Me 

Tracks 16 and 17 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 15 January 1971 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45019 - solo single credited to Geno Washington only

18. Feeling So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.D.O.O.)

Track 18 is the A-side of a 23 July 1971 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45085 - B-side was "My Little Chickadee" (Track 14 on Disc Three) - as Geno Washington

19. Dirty Dirty 

20. Give 'Em A Hand 

Tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of a 11 February 1972 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45121 - as Geno Washington

21. If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)

22. Going Back 

23. Listen To My Love Song That Ain't Got A Rhyme 

24. Careful Not To Break The Spell 

25. I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman 

26. Boomerang 

27. She's All I Got 

28. Summer Fever 

Tracks 21 to 28 are outtakes first issued 1998 on the UK CD compilation "My Bombers My Dexy's My Highs: The Sixties Studio Sessions" on Sequel NEMCD 973 (Barcode 5023224097323)

PS: in December 1968, Pye Records issued a second 4-track EP called "Small Package Of Hipsters" on Pye NEP 24302 that consisted of four tracks from the debut live album (Three on Side 1 and the last on Side 2). They can be sequenced using Tracks 1,2, 3 and 8 on Disc One.

The chunky four-way foldout card digipak feels clunky compared to BGO's generic card slipcase with a 2CD jewel case inside - a stylish presentation that makes their reissues look distinguished. So I can't say I'm a fan of this packaging that I find is too easy to tear if you don't handle it ultra-carefully. In its favour - as you can see from the photos I've provided, BGO has used full-colour plates of the cover art on the two inner flaps while the 24-page booklet features new liner notes from one of Mojo's and Record Collector's top Sol and Jazz contributors CHARLES WARING. The first eight or so pages reproduce the original artwork and original LP liner notes from the 60ts and there is a rudimentary discography that I've expanded above. Waring does his usual thorough and affectionate job - filling you in on the considerable and somewhat unacknowledged contribution Indiana's Geno Washington made in the UK between those halcyon years of 1966 to 1968. A black American with a set of lungs and equally huge personality to match fronting five or six white English Mod boys – all of which dug American R&B and Soul the most. 

In the absence of actual US stars like Otis and Aretha and Marvin and so on – Geno Washington and the incendiary live shows of The Ram Jam Band (took their name from a pub called The Ram Jam Inn in Rutland, East Midlands, ten travelled down to London) provided the nearest thing ravenous British fans could get to their Soul and R&B heroes. In some ways it explains why the live debut caused such a sensation – hammering a No. 5 slot on the British LP chart at Christmas 1966 (the year of "Revolver") – but the studio follow-up in 1967 that should have smashed it - didn't bother the UK Top 50 chart at all. Geno Washington and his sweaty-betty band were all about the excitement of the stage and anything else just felt tepid.  

But while all that sounds fine in context, the danger here in 2021 for newcomers and revisiting fans alike is that what was so hip and happening then can today feel like some glorified covers band. And in truth by the time you get to the third live set "Running Wild" trying desperately to ape the No. 5 UK LP placing of their live debut "Hand Clappin... " – it does begin to wear thin. 

But don't let that put you off. When Kevin Rowland's Dexy's Midnight Runners immortalised the frontman singer in their name-checking "Geno" single of March 1980 on Late Night Feelings/Parlophone R 6033 – its infectious beat reminded fans of Washington's glorious past and contributions. It's Rock-Soulful feel and arrangements also caught the public mood – storming up to No. 1 (it was produced by ex Jellybread singer and keyboardist Pete Wingfield, of "Eighteen With A Bullet" fame). The Remastered Audio here is care of ANDREW THOMPSON, but it excludes Stereo in favour of what BGO licensed from Sanctuary - all material in MONO (the Edsel represses were also all Mono). They sound great and I'm sure will have many who loved the originals digging the new breed clarity. And I had forgotten about those sevens and that very cool "Hi!" EP from January 1967. 

Not all genius for sure, but man what memories and with the Edsel and Sanctuary sets long deleted and subsequently costing - this is a smart and timely reminder by England’s BGO of an American man ensconced in Blighty with his boys own Mod-tastic crew – the whole lot of whom broke down the genre barriers and let the joy of music in...