"The Pointer Sisters/That's A Plenty" by THE POINTER SISTERS – Debut and Second Studio Albums from May 1973 and February 1974 on Blue Thumb Records USA and Island Records UK (September 2021 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation – 2LPs Remastered Onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Yes We Can Can..."

 

A very clever 2CD reissue from one of England's premier reissue labels - Beat Goes On Records - or BGO as they also go by in 2021.

 

Both The Pointer Sisters debut and second studio platters issued May 1973 and February 1974 on Blue Thumb Records in the USA (Island Records in the UK) have been popular Jazz Scat albums for years (albeit hardly valuable). Funk and Soul fans too have noticed the odd pearl on each as well.

 

But the CD variants - the first reissued by MCA in 2001 and the second by Universal's mail-order branch Hip-O Select in 2006 - have been deleted remasters for decades now and pricey into the bargain. At last UK and US fans (and anyone else for that matter) gets access to them for a reasonable outlay and both thankfully boasting exceptional Remastered Audio care of BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON who did the original tapes in 2021. Here are the 'yes we can' details...

 

UK released Friday, 3 September 2021 - "The Pointer Sisters/That's A Plenty" by THE POINTER SISTERS on Beat Goes On BGOCD1466 (Barcode 5017261214669) offers 2LPs Remastered in full onto 2CDs (no extras) and plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (43:33 minutes):

1. Yes We Can Can (Full Album Version, 6:01 minutes) - Side 1

2. Cloudburst

3. Jada

4. River Boulevard

5. Old Songs

6. That's How I Feel - Side 2

7. Sugar

8. Pains And Tears

9. Naked Foot

10. Wang Dang Doodle

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "The Pointer Sisters" - released May 1973 in the USA on Blue Thumb Records BTS 48 and Island ILPS 9243 in the UK. Produced by DAVID RUBINSON (& Friends) - it peaked at No. 13 on the US Rock LP charts and No. 3 on the R&B listings (didn't chart UK).

 

CD2 (46:31 minutes):

1. Bangin' On The Pipes/Steam Heat - Side 1

2. Salt Peanuts

3. Grinning in Your Face

4. Shaky Flat Blues

5. That's A Plenty/Surfeit, U.S.A.

6. Little Pony - Side 2

7. Fairytale 

8. Black Coffee

9. Love In Them There Hills

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second studio album "That's A Plenty" - released February 1974 in the USA on Blue Thumb Records BTS 6009 and Island ILPS 9276 in the UK. Produced by DAVID RUBINSON (& Friends) - it peaked at No. 88 on the Rock LP charts and No. 33 on R&B (didn't chart UK).

 

The outer card slipcase and the 20-page booklet give these Beat Goes On CD reissues a smack of class and the CHARLES WARING liner notes feature typically knowledgeable and sensible insights alongside all that original gatefold artwork. The Audio is gorgeous throughout, spectacular even, tracks like the shuffling double-bass cover version of the classic "Black Coffee" making your ears prick up as the room fills with glorious sound.

 

Firmly in Jazz Vocal Scat mode (with hints of 70ts Sisters Funk and Soul every now and then) – those expecting the Slow Hand period Pointer Sisters of the early 80ts need to look away right now. These album-plays are more than a tad dated with all that do-be-do vocal gymnastics on testing cuts like "Old Songs", "Pains And Tears" and "Salt Peanuts". The Pointers update that Andrew Sisters 'beep beep' shuffle with cuts like "Shaky Fat Blues" and Dixie ragtime with "That's A Plenty/Surfeit, U.S.A."

 

But my heart has always been with the full version of the Allen Toussaint masterclass in Funk "Yes We Can Can" in all its 6:01 minute glory is a wonder to behold and that sexy Soul-Funk cover of Willie Dixon’s Chess Classic "Wang Dang Doodle" is another forgotten 70ts kick-ass nugget (The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils wigging out on fuzz guitar, piano and 'all night long' Saxophone). The bluesy guitar-funk Playing For Change social-awareness of "Grinning In Your Face" on platter No. 2 is fantastic stuff (why not a 45?) – the piano-slink of the Gamble-Huff-Chambers finisher "Love in Them There Hills" is fab too – and Seventies Soul/Funk fans may wish the whole albums were full of such retro wonder, but sadly they are not.

 

So, stunning audio, top-class presentation as always from Beat Goes On and rarities that deserve a second go round. They would move on from these Jazz Scat beginnings to a more sexy commercial Disco Dancefloor sound later on and huge global success. But this is where it all started. Just don't expect a "Yes You Can Can" Funk-a-thon every few track...