"This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Compilation Featuring Artists on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records Label including Gil Scott-Heron, Leon Thomas, Bob Thiele Emergency, Cesar, Esther Marrow, Lonnie Liston Smith, Gato Barbieri, Ornette Coleman, Oliver Nelson, Harold Alexander, Bernard Pretty Purdie and Steve Allen – Guest Musicians include Brian Jackson, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Pee Wee Ellis, Little Rock, Joe Farrell, Tom Scott, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Willie Bobo and more (31 March 2023 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public (BGP) 16-Track Compilation with Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Expansions..."

 

Delayed from February 2023 to the last day in March 2023 – you only have to look at the track list to "This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975" as a 16-song compilation and you can understand why Ace of the UK have also released it as a 2LP BLACK VINYL set (Ace/Beat Goes Public BGP2 314 - Barcode 029667013611).

 

Link to the VINYL Version

 

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This is the kind of Jazz, Fusion, Latin, Jazz Funk and Political Soul mash up covering 1969 to 1975 that chappies of my expanded vintage love. The names alone - Gil Scott-Heron, Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ornette Coleman and Gato Barbieri – with guests like guitarist Brian Jackson, Saxophonists Tom Scott and Pee Wee Ellis, Hubert Laws and Joe Farrell on Flute, Ron Carter on Bass and loads more. There is mucho to discuss, so let us go flying and make it Dutch. Here are the details...

 

UK released Friday, 31 March 2023 (delayed from 24 February 2023) - "This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 314 (Barcode 029667103329) is a 16-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (72:51 minutes):

 

1. The Revolution Wil Not Be Televised – GIL SCOTT-HERON (from the December 1971 US Album "Pieces Of A Man" on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10143)

2. Just In Time To See The Sun – LEON THOMAS (from the December 1973 US Album "Full Circle" on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10167)

3. Head Start – BOB THIELE EMERGENCY (from the 1969 US 2LP-set "Head Start" on Flying Dutchman Records FDS-104 in Stereo)

4. See Saw Affair – CESAR (from the November 1975 US Album "Cesar 830" on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-0830)

5. Peaceful Man – ESTHER MARROW (from the 1969 US Album "Newport News, Virginia" on Flying Dutchman Records FDS-113 in Stereo)

6. Expansions – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (from the May 1975 US Album "Expansions" on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-0934)

7. Bolivia – GATO BARBIERI (from the 1974 album "Bolivia" on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10158)

8. Friends And Neighbours – ORNETTE COLEMAN (from the 1970 US Album "Friends And Neighbours" on Flying Dutchman FDS 123 in Stereo)

9. 125^th St & 7^th Ave – OLIVER NELSON (from the 1975 US Album "Skull Session" on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-0825)

10. Mama Soul – HAROLD ALEXANDER (from the 1971 US Album "Sunshine Man" on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10145)

11. Heavy Soul Slinger – PRETTY PURDIE (from the 1972 US Album "Soul Is..." on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10154)

12. Soulful Strut – STEVE ALLEN (from the 1969 US Album "Soul Brass No.2" on Flying Dutchman FDS 101 in Stereo)

13. Whitey On The Moon – GIL SCOTT HERON (from the 1970 US Album "Small Talk At 125^th And Lenox" on Flying Dutchman FDS 131)

14. Lament For John Coltrane (Take 1) – BOB THIELE EMERGENCY (Previously Unreleased outtake recorded 29 April 1969 during the album sessions for the "Head Start" 2LP set released in 1969. Take 1 first issued on the April 2013 UK CD Compilation "Liberation Music: Spiritual Jazz And The Art Of Protest on Flying Dutchman Records 1969-1974" on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 259 – Barcode 029667525923)

15. Peaceful Ones – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (from the 1974 US Album "Cosmic Funk" on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-0591)

16. Echoes – LEON THOMAS (from the 1969 US Album "Spirits Known And Unknown" on Flying Dutchman Records FDS-115)

 

The 20-page colour booklet has new liner notes from Genre-Lover and long-time associate with Ace Records – DEAN RUDLAND – and he (quite rightly) sings the praises of Jazz Musician and Producer BOB THIELE who formed Flying Dutchman Records – a label he hoped would expand the Jazz Genre into all manner of different areas. With artists like Gil Scott-Heron and Lonnie Liston Smith – two heroes for many lovers of music that entwines Soul and Jazz into something new yet still accessible – you could call a lot of the FD output as Spiritual Jazz, Protest Soul with a few dollops of spoken word and Be-Bop Poetry thrown in.

 

Rudland tackles his notes by giving you the profile on each artist and the couple of tunes the compilation affords them. Black and White publicity photos, live period shots and album covers abound. A very clever discography touch is that each track lists all the musicians when it could have taken the lazy way out – guest names included too. So we see that a virtual who's-who went through the FD studios doors - including guitarists Brian Jackson, Burt Jones and John Abercrombie, Bassists Richard Davis and Charlie Haden, flautists Hubert Laws and Joe Farrell, Soprano Saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, Tenor Saxophonist Little Rock, Alto Saxophonist Tom Scott, Bass and Keyboards Stanley Clarke, Drummers Roy Haines, Ed Blackwell and Airto Moreira, Willie Bobo on Percussion and loads more.

 

NICK ROBBINS – one of the resident Audio Engineers Ace Records uses regularly – has handled the transfers - and the sound is never less than great and in some cases all shiny brilliant and uplifting. Also for a Jazz-infused compilation spanning six years of experimentation with the genre – the uniformity of excellent sound is a pleasure to listen to. To the music...

 

Leon Thomas was one of the first signings to Flying Dutchman Records and between 1969 and 1973 made five albums for the label under his own name and appeared with Johnny Hodges and H Rap Brown on two others. This compilation features two tracks – "Echoes" is from the famous 1969 debut album "Spirits Known And Unknown" and his fifth and last record for Bob Thiele "Full Circle" from late 1973 that features his cover of the 1972 Santana Caravanserai LP song "Just In Time To See The Sun".

 

I must admit I have never had the time (or a copy) of the Bob Thiele double-album "Head Start" – but what a blast the Saxophone and Horn led the instrumental title track is – all Blood, Sweat & Tears funky – and in stunning neck-jerking audio. That is followed by the treated echoed guitar of "See Saw Affair" – a very Sly & The Family Stone funky dancer circa 1971 made by the Bolivian piano-player Cesar in 1975. Cesar Ascarrunz employs the talents of Jim Vincent, Joe Jammer and Stephen Busfield who play the amazing guitar parts, Merle Saunders on Piano with impassioned vocals about finding a solution from Linda Tillery and a background-punching Horn Section of Six.

 

She later became a Gospel Singer after a stalled career, but for her 1969 outing with FD Records, Esther Marrow gives her deep voice and obvious passion to the message song "Peaceful Man" – hoping he will bring it to her land. There will not be many Seventies kids who will not get a little tingle in the arm-hairs as the tinkering beginning of "Expansions" slides in – then the drums and keys – and we are off. Lonnie Liston Smith’s clarion call for all of us to live in peace (Love to all mankind) was a weekly playlist in Reckless Records in London’s Berwick Street shop and always had punters demanding to be pointed in the direction of this Jazz Funk/Humanist Soul gem. And you get the full album cut of 6:05 minutes.

 

One of the pleasures of a compilation like this is discoveries – and if you haven’t heard the Terry Callier-slinky Santana-shimmering rhythms of "Bolivia" by Tenor Saxophonist Gato Barbieri – then you are in for a 7:46 minute instrumental treat. He is ably abetted in the tune’s trance-like sonic sins by a seriously great crew – Lonnie Listen Smith on Piano, John Abercrombie on Acoustic Guitar, Stanley Clarke on Bass, Airto Moreira on Drums with James Mtume on Congas – all names that would go on to have huge careers in Jazz Funk, Soul and New Age Music.

 

Can’t say I am a huge fan of the Ornette Coleman track "Friends And Neighbours" – her free-form Jazz, Horns and Drums will either be music to your ears or a sort of indulgence guiltily born on a Saturday morning. Things lift up immediately into a 6:20 minute Piano Funky groover from Oliver Nelson – the seriously cool Mission Impossible Ocean’s Eleven instrumental "125^th St & 7^th Ave" – yeah baby –and in spectacular audio too. The New York Streets and Avenues track also employs a massive 15-or-so Horn players including Bud Shank on Tenor Saxophone alongside the ever-lurking Lonnie Liston Smith on Keyboards. Things get scat-crazy with Saxophonist and Flautist Harold Alexander going vocally ape on "Mama Soul" during Flute notes – the tight and funky rhythm section of Richard Davis on Bass and Bernard Pretty Purdie on Drums keeping it in check.

 

Beautiful Production values on "Heavy Soul Slinger" where ace session player Bernard Pretty Purdie is dreaming of Steely Dan and "Aja" in 1977 as he whacks his kit - Harold Ott getting seriously Donny Hathaway funky on his electric piano (chune!). Although good in its very 60ts elevator music way, the instrumental of Young Holts "Soul Strutt" (as used in so many movies) is a little too brass heavy and probably the least representative track of FD Records (still expect to hear it in some cool flick soon). But that rare blip moment is properly whomped by the ethereal Flute, Bass and Drums only "Lament For John Coltrane". This astonishing Bob Thiele Emergency "Take 1" instrumental of 5:19 minutes first surfaced on the 2013 Ace/Beat Goes Public CD Reissue and Remaster as a Bonus Track. It’s gorgeous stuff and seriously well produced too - Joe Farrell sifting over the warm mood with Flute, Wilbur Little playing bass with Elvin Jones shuffling those drums and high-hats.

 

The "This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975" 16-Track CD and 2LP compilation comes to a joyful/mellow finish with two smooth gems - "Peaceful Ones" by Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes featuring Donald Smith on Lead Vocals – a 1974 Jazz sweetheart track beloved by Seventies fans. The mellow beautiful things vibe continues with yeah-e yeah-e-o vocals of Leon Thomas getting seriously creative with his voice on "Echoes".

 

"This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975" is a winner and a fabulous way to access music that has always been fringe and hard to find – music that has seeped its way back into kids of the Naughties and onwards. Check it out...and the VINYL 2LP set looks like a proper winner to me...

 

Titles in the 'Flying Dutchman Jazz Classics' Series of CD Reissues 

by Ace/Beat Goes Public of the UK include

 

1. Fenix - GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 268)

2. The Third World - GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 272)

3. El Pampero – GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 283)

4. Cesar 830 – CESAR (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 261)

5. Friends And Neighbors: Ornette Live At Prince Street – ORNETTE COLEMAN (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 266)

6. Afrique – COUNT BASIE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 271)

7. Barefoot Boy - LARRY CORYELL (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 269)

8. George Russell Presents… - THE ESOTERIC CIRCLE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 284)

9. Small Talk At 125th & Lenox - GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 290) - see REVIEW

10. Pieces Of A Man – GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 274)

11. Free Will – GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 281)

12. Astral Traveling – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 273)

13. Cosmic Funk - LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 278)

14. Expansions – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 263 – Barcode 029667526326)

15. Visions Of A New World – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 294)

16. Reflections Of A Golden Dream – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 296)

17. Cosmic Funk And Spiritual Sounds; The Best Of The Flying Dutchman Years – LONNIE LISTON SMITH (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 254)

18. Newport News, Virginia – ESTHER MARROW (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 264)

19. Swiss Suite: Recorded Live At The Montreaux Jazz Festival - OLIVER NELSON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 279)

20. Soul Is… - (Bernard) PRETTY PURDIE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 282)

21. Head Start – BOB THIELE EMERGENCY (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 265)

22. Spirits Known And Unknown – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 262)

23. The Leon Thomas Album - LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 270)

24. Blues And The Soulful Truth – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 277)

25. The Creator: The Best Of The Flying Dutchman Masters – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPD 257)

"LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts MUSIC ON CD" - Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters (2023 Version) - A SOUNDS GOOD MUSIC BOOK by Mark Barry...

 

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E-Book Available Now on AMAZON Sites

Part of the SOUNDS GOOD MUSIC BOOK Series

32 Different Titles

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,885 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

* Over 1,885 E-pages of information, CD reissues from all genres - September 2023 Version
* 230 in-depth entries featuring 1980s Albums and Rare Singles by a wide range of artists
* Details, track lists etc from the discs themselves, no cut and paste crap
* Best Independent Reissue Labels highlighted... – Ace, Audio Fidelity, Bear Family, Beats Goes On, Big Break Records (BBR), Cherry Red, Earth, Edsel, Esoteric Recordings, Grapefruit, Hip-O Select, Lemon, Light In The Attic, Mobile Fidelity, Raven, Repertoire, Rev-Ola, Rhino, Salvo, Soul Music Records, Sundazed, Trojan and Panegyric
* Major Label Box Set Retrospectives from – EMI, Sony/Legacy, Universal and WEA
* Technical data (total playing times and more)
* Release Date, Catalogue No and Barcode to locate the correct issue
* CD Track lists and Details on Bonus material (if any)
* Formats included - CD, SACD [Super Audio CD], HDCD [High Density Compatible Digital], Japan SHM-CD and Japan Platinum SHM-CD  [Super High Materials]
* VINYL Discographies referencing CD Box sets (track numbers to sequence singles and albums from the discs – huge number of record labels covered
* UK and US catalogue numbers and release dates for original vinyl albums, 7” singles and EPs within each review
* Remaster/Tape Transfer Engineers highlighted
* Packaging descriptions, size of booklets, what’s contained within, who wrote the liner notes, repro artwork explained
* Reference to the Audio Quality of the CD - analysis of songs
* Guest Musicians highlighted – Cover Versions noted

Having worked for RECKLESS RECORDS in London for over 20 years as one of their principal Vinyl and CD buyers (one of the best secondhand record shops in the West End) and having in excess of 4,180 posts on Amazon (CDs, DVDs, BLU RAYs - Hall Of Fame Reviewer six times etc) - as you can imagine I come across a huge number of reissues - some far more worthy than others.

To that end I've collated together these SOUNDS GOOD books as guides to Exceptional CD Remasters offering up in-depth reviews on a wide range of titles. And it doesn’t have to cost the earth to Sound Good either – you just need to know which CD is the right issue to buy. Many entries in this large and unique book cost less than £10 while others are under a fiver. And even if some Box Sets/Deletions have acquired a price tag - because they're the best I've included them along with artists/titles that deserve your attention…

Enjoy the reads - MARK BARRY (2023)

 

 

 

Other Titles in the SOUNDS GOOD MUSIC SERIES include 

YEAR Volumes

VOODOO CHILE – 1968

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE – 1969

ALL THINGS MUST PASS – 1970

GET IT ON – 1971

TUMBLING DICE – 1972

US AND THEM – 1973

PICK UP THE PIECES – 1974

CAPT. FANTASTIC – 1975

MORE THAN A FEELING – 1976

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT – 1977 to 1979

 

DECADE Volumes

GIMME SHELTER! - Classic 1960s Rock & Pop

 

ALL RIGHT NOW – Classic Rock & Pop 1970 – 1974 – A to L

 

REASON TO BELIEVE – Classic Rock & Pop 1970 to 1974 – M to Z

 

GENRE Volumes

CADENCE / CASCADE – Progressive Rock (Prog), Psych, Avant Garde and more (1966 to 1976)

 

SOUL GALORE! – 60ts Soul, 60ts R&B, Northern, Mod, New Breed, Rare Groove

 

HIGHER GROUND – 70ts Soul, Funk and Jazz Fusion

 

BOTH SIDES NOW – 1960s and 1970s Folk & Country Music & Rock Thereabouts

 

MANNISH BOY – Blues, Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, Vocal Groups, Doo Wop & Rockabilly

 

THEMED Volumes

I SAW THE LIGHT – Overlooked Albums 1955 to 1979 (480-plus titles)

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 – Debut Albums 1956 to 1986 Vol. 1 – A to L

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 – Debut Albums 1956 to 1986 Vol. 2 – M to Z

URGE TO SPLURGE – The First Ten Years Of Double-Albums 1966 to 1976

SOMETHING’S HAPPENING HERE Volumes 1 to 7 – 1960’s & 1970s (7 Books)

GOODY TWO SHOES – 2CD Deluxe Editions and Compilations 50s to 00s

OH MY GIDDY AUNT! - Best CD Box Sets - All Genres

"The Secret Of Association" by PAUL YOUNG – March 1985 Second Studio Album on CBS Records (UK) featuring Ian Kewley, John Turnbull, Steve Bolton, Matt Irving, Pino Palladino, Mark Pinder with guests Paul Nieman of Centipede, Nick Payn of Q-Tips, B.J. Cole of Cochise, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Mark Feltham of Nine Below Zero and more (September 2007 UK Edsel Records 'Deluxe 2CD Edition' with Eight Bonus Tracks and Alchemy Studio Mastering) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

Available on AMAZON 

LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Every Time You Go Away..."

 

Ex Q-Tips Vocalist Paul Young made the kind of impact Sade, Terence Trent D'Arby and Seal did in the Eighties and Nineties - signed to a prestigious label known for these kind of discoveries - these Rock-Soulful singers scored instantly with an adoring public and sold big too. 

 

"The Secret Of Association" was Paul Young's second album after his solo debut "No Parlez" in July 1983 - a UK No.1 with sales of almost one and half million copies. Prepped by three killer singles before LP, Cassette and CD release late March 1985 - "Secret..." repeated the No.1 slot. In October 1984 (six months before the album's release), CBS Records UK put out Young's cover version of "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" - a song made famous by Ann Peebles in the Seventies on Hi Records USA, London Records UK (reflecting his love of R&B and Soul Music). That was followed in November 1984 with his own "Everything Must Change" and then a month before the LP's release 25 March 1985, February 1985 saw CBS Records hit the buying public with a classic "Every Time You Go Away" - a gorgeous Daryl Hall song from the Hall & Oates LP "Voices" of August 1980 on RCA.

 

Like Rod Stewart or Paul Carrack - Paul Young once again showed a great knack for choice of someone else's songs - the obscure "Wherever I Lay My Hat..." B-side by Marvin Gaye that PY put on "No Parlez" (practically launched him), the "Swordfishtrombones" Tom Waits cover "Soldier's Things" he does on "The Secret Of Association" - the Billy Bragg bonus track "The Man In The Iron Mask" that turned up on only the Cassette and CD variants of original 1985 issues.

 

And that's where this 2007 'Deluxe 2CD Edition' from England's Edsel comes licensing in. Here are the details...

 

UK released September 2007 - "The Secret Of Association" by PAUL YOUNG on Edsel EDSD 2006 (Barcode 740155200633) is a 'Deluxe 2CD Edition' with the LP variant of 11-tracks remastered on CD1 and CD2 carrying 8 Bonuses - 12" Mixes and Single B-sides. They play out as follows...

 

CD1 The Secret Of Association (52:26 minutes):

1. Bit The Hand That Feeds [Side 1]

2. Every Time You Go Away 

3. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

4. Standing On The Edge

5. Soldier's Things 

6. Everything Must Change [Side 2]

7. Tomb Of Memories 

8. One Step Forward

9. Hot Fun 

10. This Means Anything

11. I Was In Chains 

Tracks 1 to 11 are the Vinyl LP Version of "The Secret Of Association" - released 25 March 1985 in the UK on CBS Records CBS 26234 and Columbia FC 39957 in the USA. Produced by LAURIE LATHAM - it peaked at No.1 in the UK and No.19 in the USA. 

 

NOTE: The UK cassette and CD variants both had a Bonus Track called "The Man In The Iron Mask" (a Billy Bragg cover) which has been moved over to CD2. The cassette version of the album in the UK had 12-tracks - Track 6 being the Bonus song "The Man In The Iron Mask". But the MC also substituted four LP cuts with Extended 12" Mixes - only two are on CD2 - "Every Time You Go Away" and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" - the two missing are "Hot Fun (Extended Mix)" and "I Was In Chains (Extended Mix)".

 

"Bite The Hand That Feeds Me" written by Billy Livsey and Graham Lyle (of Gallagher & Lyle), "Every Time You Go Away" written by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" by Earl Randle (covered by Ann Peebles), "Standing On The Edge" written by Andrew Barfield, "Soldier's Things" written by Tom Waits and "I Was In Chains" written by Gavin Sutherland of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. All others by Paul Young and Ian Kewley.

 

CD2 The 12" Mixes and Single B-sides (43:20 minutes):

1. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down (Special Extended Mix) - 9:20 minutes

2. Everything Must Change (12" Mix) - 8:27 minutes

3. Give Me My Freedom - 3:26 minutes 

4. Every Time You Go Away (7" Mix) - 4:17 minutes 

5. Tomb Of Memories (12" Mix) - 5:46 minutes

6. The Man In The Iron Mask - 3:13 minutes

7. Bite The Hand That Feeds [Live at The Hammersmith Odeon] - 4:14 minutes

8. No Parlez [Live at The Hammersmith Odeon] - 4:35 minutes  

 

The 12-page booklet sports new liner notes by ALAN ROBINSON done in July 2007 - the text spattered with 12" CBS Records labels, the inner artwork, merchandise sheet, picture sleeves and two pages of song credits. Good muscular mastering comes care of Alchemy, but it's kind of unforgivable for CD2 to have not included those two 12" Versions on the cassette original issue ("Hot Fun" and "I Was In Chains") when there was room. Other than that, the Val Jennings correlated project looks and sounds good. To the chunes...

 

I love Paul Nieman's tiny Trombone contribution to "Soldier's Things" - the Tom Waits cover that ends Side 1 - all strings and funeral mooch - another great choice and a moody brute I return to way more than the bombastic "Bite The Hand That Feeds". You can hear the Pedal Steel guitar flourishes B.J. Cole of Seventies Country-Rock band Cochise makes to "Everything Must Change" - a Young/Kewley composition that rivals Daryl Hall's "Every Time You Go Away" (a tall order any day of the week).  

 

Deliberately aping the 60ts Northern Soul sound with its drums and chimes - the Soul Dancer vibe of "Tomb Of Memories" saw CBS Records make it the fourth and final single off the album. Although their contribution is more subtle than obvious, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze add Backing Vocals whilst former band-mate Nicky Payne of the Q-Tips adds Saxophone. The twelve-inch variant of this track is a beast over on CD weighing in at 5:46 minutes. Young takes chances with "One Step Forward" - the bitterness a human heart can show - his pawn in the Government's game lyrics offset by a huge string arrangement that makes you sit up and take notice. 

 

"Hot Fun" is drowned in 80ts studio trickery - wailing guitars, slap-slide-bass notes, weedy drum machines and synth punches - but it's the track that has most dated. Far better is one of the album's hidden jewels - "This Means Anything" - a genuinely great Young/Kewley songwriter collaboration. "The Secret Of Association" ends with another clever cover version - "I Was In Chains". The song was originally penned by Gavin Sutherland of Seventies Soft-Rock British band Sutherland Brothers and Quiver - first appearing on their 1972 debut album on Island Records "The Sutherland Brothers Band". Giving it an Irish air, session-men Graham Preskett plays lovely Violin while Mark Feltham of Nine Below Zero distorts his Harmonica into an almost Australian didgeridoo sound - its 5:43 minute duration brought to a standstill by backwards taped guitars - modern meets old traditional. It's a fantastic way to end a really good album. 

 

For sure, some of it's very Eighties Production sheen has done for certain tracks - too much noise - and in hindsight - not enough soul (odd for a singer who exudes so much of it). But those other goodies in-between excesses, the Remaster muscle and a smattering of the Bonuses all add up to a very satisfying twofer indeed (even despite those missing mixes).

 

And until something better comes a lollygagging along for "The Secret Of Association" and its 2007 'Deluxe 2CD Edition' from England's Edsel - here in late March 2023 - I don’t mind being chained to this reissue at all...

"Sign "O" The Times" by PRINCE – March 1987 Ninth Album on Paisley Park/Warner Brothers Records (2LP set) featuring Susannah, Sheila E, Lisa Coleman, Carole Davis, Claire Fischer, Wendy Melvoin, Dr. Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, The Revolution and UK Vocalist Sheena Easton (September 2020 UK Warner Records/NPG/Rhino 3CD Deluxe Edition Reissue with Bernie Grundman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...U Sho 'Nuff Do Be Cookin' In My Book..."

 

After the release of his third Global-Funkathon shut-up-already opus in a row (damn) - I can recall all of Prince's Fluff n' Funk detractors being silenced by the title track "Sign "O" The Times" - surely the same moment of vindication The Beatles felt when "Yesterday" closed down even their snootiest critics.

 

The 1987 song about a big disease with a little name and 17-year old gun-totting crack-smoking hoodies getting off on machine guns across every major American city was a musical and lyrical kick in the ribs. And Prince managed to wrap it all up in Pinched Notes Funk that few have ever replicated - copied for sure - but never got near. And then to think there was a whole double-album of that - wow! But his ninth platter for Warner Brothers has been a digital disappointment for decades...

 

Well - at last - and Remastered for the first time - September 2020 has throw up the archive goodies big time. I know most diehards will have to own the 'Super Deluxe' variant with even more outtakes. But for us in the trenches with gas bills too frightening to look at for fear of cardiac irregularities - let's get starfish and coffee with the piddly '3CD Deluxe Edition'. Here are the hot things...

 

UK released 25 September 2020 - "Sign "O" The Times" by PRINCE on Warner Brothers/NPG/Rhino R2 643352 / 603497846566 (Barcode 603497846566) is a 'Three CD Deluxe Edition Set' with 17 Bonus Tracks and New Remasters. CD1 and CD2 are the original double-album, CD3 is Bonuses; they play out as follows:

 

CD1 (40:17 minutes):

1. Sign "O" The Times (4:57 minutes) [Side 1]

2. Play In The Sunshine (5:05 minutes)

3. Housequake (4:39 minutes)

4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (4:03 minutes)

5. It (5:10 minutes) [Side 2]

6. Starfish And Coffee (2:50 minutes)

7. Slow Love (4:22 minutes)

8. Hot Thing (5:39 minutes)

9. Forever in My Life (3:32 minutes)

 

CD2 (39:44 minutes):

1. U Got The Look (3:46 minutes) [Side 3]

2. If I Was Your Girlfriend (5:03 minutes)

3. Strange Relationship (4:01 minutes)

4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (6:29 minutes)

5. The Cross (4:48 minutes) [Side 4]

6. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night (9:02 minutes)

7. Adore (6:35 minutes)

Both CDs above are his ninth studio album "Sign "O" The Times" - released March 1987 in the USA on Paisley Park 9 25777-1 as a 2LP Set and Paisley Park/Warner Brothers WX 88 in the UK. Arranged, Composed, Played and Produced by PRINCE - it peaked at No.6 in the USA and No.4 in the UK. British Vocalist, Sheena Easton, duets with Prince on "U Got The Look".

 

CD3 "Single Mixes & Edits Remastered" (71:19 minutes):

1. Sign "O" The Times (Edit, 3:41 minutes)

2. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Edit, 3:22 minutes)

3. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive, 10:47 minutes)

4. If I Was Your Girlfriend (Edit, 3:47 minutes)

5. Shockadelica (3:31 minutes)

6. Shockadelica (12" Long Version, 6:13 minutes)

7. U Got The Look (Long Look, 6:41 minutes)

8. Housequake (Edit, 3:32 minutes)

9. Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake, 7:12 minutes)

10. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade, 3:39 minutes)

11. Hot Thing (Edit, 3:41 minutes)

12. Hot Thing (Extended Remix, 8:32 minutes)

13. Hot Thing (Dub Version, 6:53 minutes)

 

The four-panel foldout card sleeves houses a CD in three too-tight card pouches and the 16-page colour booklet in the fourth (be careful pulling them out). You get the lyrics (essentially what was on the two inner sleeves), LP photos and updated reissue credits including CD3, but little else – no new liner notes, place in history – which is shame. But the BERNIE GRUNDMAN Remasters make up for critique most Prince fans don't need to read anyway. I LOVE the audio on this reissue – muscular but not overdone – it has been a pleasure to revisit every single song and CD3 is very, very tasty icing on an already buff birthday cake.

 

Musically - despite his 'all praise & glory 2 God' credit on the inner sleeves, this is still a Prince album, so naughtiness a-la-mode is not just present, it's mandatory. But what was and still is thrilling is the serious upping of his observations - lyrically "Sign "O" The Times" was the album that saw Prince never more socially accurate and on the money. To the tunes...

 

You still have to give the volume control a big of welly for "Play In The Sunshine" - sign up on the dotted line - dance until the early hours - love all the enemies. Serious shut-up-already (damn) Funk kicks in with "Housequake" - the kind of jam he seemed to gargle for breakfast - the Audio finally giving this big fat baby mama some ooh yeah. Taking a bubble bath with his pants on for "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" - Prince captures a Blond Waitress' life on the Promenade - all excitement and sometimes with a little too much after-party violence. And call me an old softy, but how good is the smooch in "Slow Love" - surely played in one too many inner city bedrooms by chaps needing to make their squeezes feel the love, while she only wanted to get home for "21 Jump Street" and a comfort cushion. His larynx altering screams in "Hot Thing" are a hoot and that great Saxophone from Fred Leeds in the background - so damn good (check out the Remixes of this track that tail end CD3).

 

Eurovision star and UK vocalist Sheena Easton gets her jammin'-slammin' moment with Side 3's opener "U Got The Look" - a fantastic groove and an obvious single. But “If I Was Your Girlfriend” outdoes even that where Prince goes full-bore imagination mode when describing what his dishy dame of the moment would look like with less apparel on if he was... It's the kind of naughty but fabulous Prince hook that even now in 2023 sounds so damn contemporary when so many truly sexist tunes have gone by the wayside. As if to confirm the album's greatness, he finds yet another winner in "Strange Relationship" - surely a huge fan fave and a song that wouldn't have out of place on 1982's "1999". And again - just so right - another single in "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" - a drum-bopping tale of a woman not so easily enticed by Prince but honest enough to say that she was trapped in a relationship by a partner even more unscrupulous. The single edit of 3:47 minutes removes that extended guitar/drums funk battle towards the end of the full album version at 6:29 minutes - I dig both equally because they are actually different beasts by the slice/non-slice. 

 

Many Prince fans will probably play "The Cross" and cry - a stripped-down song about his faith that even though its short - this sweet air of salvation has always floored me. We go the nine-minutes of "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" - a Funk marathon played Live in front of a Parisian audience - and man can u see the bodies digging it - the band tight - Prince working the crowd into a clapping rhythm - saxophone solo taking it home - James Brown and The JB's smiling - great stuff. And CD3 offers more of the same - love that slightly Prog Rock guitar battle 'Fade' as the Edit for "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and the "Shockadelica" and "La La..." outtakes that turned up as B-sides - those extended "Hot Thing" versions too. 

"Sign "O" The Times" was probably the last time Prince fans were united in their hero's undeniable greatness - devoid of all the slave on my face shit that so marred the later years. But this - and its bigger brother/sister version - has to be a reissue of the year for 2020. And although in March 2023, I'm a little late to the righteous party myself - I'm so glad I made the effort to put my dancing shoes on and buy this heart-shaped stickered piece of glorious Eighties goodness. N-joy...