"Now Yearbook '79" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Eighty-Five Single and Album Tracks by Queen, The Police, The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie, ABBA, Gerry Rafferty, Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, Gary Moore & Phil Lynott, The Knack, Chic, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Gaynor, ELO, Pretenders, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, The Clash, The Skids, Kool & The Gang, Dynasty, The Sugarhill Gang, Tubeway Army, The Crusaders, Donna Summer, BA Robertson, Sex Pistols, XTC, The Cure, The B-52s, The Jam, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Wings, The Real Thing, Sad Café, Flying Lizards, M and more (September 2022 UK Sony Music/EMI 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Varying Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOW-Yearbook-1979-Various-Artists/dp/B0B95VQL7B?crid=ZMWRWOJPX8AO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w8fdKCroFJxfJgyrKjd6kg.DFaVdMoCVfoT7o2SAXmL3W6GJSsNNP5rbVA7RjU-sHs&dib_tag=se&keywords=196587150228&qid=1709225423&sprefix=196587150228%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=ebb24328a3fe77a990405c0f6a12ef70&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

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RATING: Content *** to ***** / Audio **** to *****

 

"…One Step Beyond…"

I found the 4CD Now Yearbook compilation for 1978 to be something of a disappointment. What a difference a year makes because 1979 is so much better even if (like 1978) – Discs 3 and 4 contain some serious dogs. 

Most (not all) of these 4CD sets are later accompanied by a further Yearbook Extra release of 3CDs - bringing the year haul to well over 130 songs. And for 1979 and its 4CD Yearbook big-daddy you get a damn cool haul - Eighty-Five Single and Album Tracks by the likes of Queen, The Police, The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie, ABBA, Gerry Rafferty, Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, Gary Moore & Phil Lynott, The Knack, Chic, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Gaynor, ELO, Pretenders, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, The Clash, The Skids, Kool & The Gang, Lene Lovich, The Sugarhill Gang, Tubeway Army, The Crusaders, Donna Summer, BA Robertson, Sex Pistols, XTC, The Cure, The B-52s, The Jam, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Wings, The Real Thing, Sad Café, The Tourists, Flying Lizards, M, Billy Joel and many more. It is a diverse list and even if you have Boney M and The Buggles on CD4 (abominations ahoy) – there is more good than bad. 

The fold-out four-panel card sleeve is barely functional as packaging – giving some info but not a lot else. Upsides – because these sets are Sony Music/EMI – the audio is uniformly top notch (most are in fact highlighted as Remasters from the 2000s onwards in the small print inside). And now that 2022 is receding into two years ago in 2024 – this set is normally reduced to six or seven quid including P&P - which frankly represents serious value for money. You may not be getting anything packaging-wise, but at least 40 to 50% of the choices will please and the audio is crackerlackin'. Here be the details for the have-a-good-time seventy-nine…

UK released 9 September 2022 - "Now Yearbook '79" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBNOW79 / 0196587150228 (Barcode 196587150228) is a 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Eighty-Five Single Edits, Album Versions and Various Remasters that play out as follows:

CD1 (79:17 minutes):
1. Don't Stop Me Now (2011 Remaster) – QUEEN
2. Walking On The Moon – THE POLICE
3. I Don't Like Mondays (Album Version) – THE BOOMTOWN RATS
4. Wow – KATE BUSH
5. Hit Me With A Rhythm Stick – IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS
6. Heart Of Glass (Original Single Version) – BLONDIE
7. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) – ABBA
8. Good Times (7" Edit, 2018 Remaster) – CHIC
9. We Are Family (Single Version) – SISTER SLEDGE
10. September – EARTH WIND & FIRE
11. I Will Survive (Single Version) – GLORIA GAYNOR
12. YMCA – VILLAGE PEOPLE
13. Hot Stuff (Single Version) – DONNA SUMMER
14. Beat The Clock – SPARKS
15. Cars – GARY NUMAN
16. Money (Edit) – THE FLYING LIZARDS
17. Stob Your Sobbing – PRETENDERS
18. Girls Talk – DAVE EDMUNDS
19. Night Owl (Edit) – GERRY RAFFERTY
20. My Life – BILLY JOEL
21. Dance Away (Single Version, 2012 Remaster) – ROXY MUSIC

CD2 (76:28 minutes): 
1. One Step Beyond (7" Single Version) – MADNESS
2. On My Radio – THE SELECTER
3. Gangsters – THE SPECIALS
4. Silly Games – JANET KAY
5. Parisienne Walkways – GARY MOORE & PHIL LYNOTT
6. Bat Out Of Hell (Single Edit, 4:44 minutes) - MEATLOAF
7. Don't Bring Me Down – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
8. Since You Been Gone – RAINBOW
9.  The Devil Went Down To Georgia – THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND
10. My Sharona – THE KNACK
11. I Only Want To Be With You – THE TOURISTS
12. Cool For Cats (Single Edit) – SQUEEZE
13. Into The Valley - SKIDS
14. Something Else (2012 Remaster) – SEX PISTOLS
15. I Fought The Law – THE CLASH
16. The Eton Rifles (Single Edit) – THE JAM
17. Accidents Will Happen (2020 Remaster) – ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS
18. Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
19. Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Album Version) – JOE JACKSON
20. Boys Don't Cry – THE CURE
21. The Staircase (Mystery) – SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES
22. Lucky Number – LENE LOVICH
23. Rock Lobster – THE B-52's

CD3 (77:52 minutes): 
1. Chiquitata – ABBA 
2. Bright Eyes – ART GARFUNKLE
3. Song For Guy (Single Edit, 2017 Remaster) – ELTON JOHN
4. Every Day Hurts – SAD CAFE
5. One Way Ticket - ERUPTION
6. Knock On Wood (7" Edit) – AMII STEWART
7. I Want Your Love (7" Edit, 2018 Remaster) - CHIC
8. He's The Greatest Dancer (Edit Version) – SISTER SLEDGE
9. Bad Girls – DONNA SUMMER
10. Street Life (Edit) – THE CRUSADERS
11. Boogie Wonderland – EARTH WIND & FIRE with THE EMOTIONS
12. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (Single Version) – McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD
13. Ladies Night (Edit) – KOOL & THE GANG
14. Can You Feel The Force – THE REAL THING
15. Contact (UK 7" Single Version) – EDWIN STARR
16. I Was Made For Dancin' – LEE GARRETT
17. Wanted – THE DOOLEYS
18. Strutt Your Funky Stuff (Single Version) – FRANTIQUE
19. I Don't Want To Be A Freak (But I Can't Help Myself) (Radio Version) – DYNASTY
20. Rapper's Delight – THE SUGARHILL GANG

CD4 (78:23 minutes): 
1. We Don't Talk Anymore – CLIFF RICHARD
2. Forever In Blue Jeans (Single Version) – NEIL DIAMOND
3. Goodnight Tonight (2016 Remaster, 4:20 minutes) – WINGS (Paul McCartney)
4. Shine A Little Love – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
5. A Little More Love – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
6. Dreaming – BLONDIE
7. She's In Love With You (2017 Remaster) – SUZI QUATRO
8. When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman – DR. HOOK
9. If I Had You – THE KORGIS
10. Love's Gotta Hold On Me - DOLLAR
11. Hallelujah – MILK & HONEY
12. Woman In Love – THE THREE DEGREES
13. Reunited (Single Version) – PEACHES & HERB
14. Still (Single Version) - COMMODORES
15. Lay Your Love On Me – RACEY
16. Bang Bang – B.A. ROBERTSON
17. In The Navy – VILLAGE PEOPLE
18. Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday (7" Version) – BONEY M.
19. Pop Muzik - M
20. Are 'Friends' Electric – TUBEWAY ARMY
21. Video Killed The Radio Star (Single Version) – THE BUGGLES

The basic edition has a four-panel foldout card sleeve with each CD in a printed-info pouch on the inside (see photos). There is a Limited Edition Hardback DigiBook version that has 28-pages of liner notes on all the songs – Sony Music/EMI CDYBXNOW79 (Barcode 196587150327) – and even a truncated 3LP VINYL variant on Sony Music/EMI LPYBNOW79 (Barcode  0196587150419) in ORANGE VINYL – both also released 9 September 2022.

The fun of these sets is the rediscoveries – the strangely contagious Pop-Funk of McCartney giving it some "Goodnight Tonight" – the last great hurrah from his band Wings – the infectious dancefloor groove of "Rapper's Delight" from The Sugarhill Gang and the irresistible sexiness of Debbie Harry doing some restaurant "Dreaming" (if ever there was hit machine surely it was Blondie). The neck-jerker XTC getting all University knowing with their fab "Making Plans For Nigel" while American Frat Boys The Knack get it up for the kick-ass Power Pop of "My Sharona". And across CDs 1 and 2 especially comes the shadow of 2-Tone, Go Feet, Chrysalis and Stiff – stunning singles like "Gangsters" from The Specials, the heavy-heavy monster sound of Madness wanting to go "One Step Beyond" with a Saxophone and a Porkpie Hat. 

Not to be outdone the Funk and Soul machines that were Chic, Earth Wind & Fire and Sister Sledge still thrill the old bottom-wiggler in me and Popsters like Roxy Music and Queen show how to write a hit single - while British New Wave acts like The Cure, Siouxsie and The Banshees and Joe Jackson still sound so young to me. And then of course is The Clash absolutely smashing it their cover of The Bobby Fuller Four 60ts song "I Fought The Law" followed rather cleverly by The Jam getting angry on "Eton Rifles" (what great bands they were). But you also forget The Skids doing "Into The Valley" while The Pistols took on Eddie Cochran rebel yells in "Something Else". And you gotta love quirky – Lene Lovich, Sparks and The B52's. 

CD3 is overtly Soul, Funk and Disco with dancefloor faves like "Can You Feel The Force" and Donna getting down with the "Bad Girls". Earth Wind & Fire on Columbia Records and McFadden & White on Philadelphia International still impress too. But as you move over to the last disc, you will undoubtedly want to give a wide berth to the truly garish Dr. Hook song "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" while The Korgis tune is so deliberately saccharine it might well drip sugar. Disco schlock like The Three Degrees is not a whole lot better, but I dig the "Pop Musik" of M and it will be a hard heart indeed that resists old Lionel giving it some "Still" when he was fronting the Commodores. Fun Wham-like Pop comes in the form of Racey doing "Lay Your Love On Me" followed by the smarmy yet clever Houdini lyrics of BA Robertson doing "Bang Bang". Heavy synth still gives Gary Numan and his Electric Friends a huge wallop - but the rest of CD4 is second rate Pop Soul like Village People and Boney M – awful. 

Better than 1978 - the 4CD compilation "Now Yearbook '79" offers the same deal - a whole lotta hotcha fun-listens and remembrances at a cheap stack-em-high price - but with the caveat that you taper those expectations once you get in deep...

"The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Lonnie Donegan, Davy Graham, Alexis Korner, The Watersons, The Dubliners, The Ian Campbell Folk Group, Martin Carthy, The Incredible String Band, The Young Tradition, Dave Swarbrick, Anne Briggs, Sweeney's Men, Pentangle, John Renbourn, Shirley and Dolly Collins, Robin and Barry Dransfield, Lal and Mike Waterson, Richard Thompson, The Bothy Band, Dick Gaughan, Ralph McTell, Nic Jones, Steve Ashley, Dervish, Silly Sisters, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span, Bill Caddick, Roy Harris, Eliza Carthy, Andrew Cronshaw, Mary Black, Kate Rusby and many more (July 2002 UK Topic Records 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering Single and Album Tracks from 1957 to 2000 (Some Unreleased) with a 56-Page Long Booklet With David Suff Liner Notes and Denis Blackham Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Folk-Box-Various-Artists/dp/B00005Y49D?crid=1LOO9UUGK4PMK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZvLPb0KfOmngPJ3hIbMy4Q.g9MTjl03G4AwFyv90KG5xWPTGT0jNGp4445tSPSnqDA&dib_tag=se&keywords=714822400121&qid=1709161315&sprefix=714822400121%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=39758208b8e70eb599da1f18a94bf318&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATING: Content **** to ***** Audio *****

"…Let No Man Steal Your Thyme…"

When I worked the counters at Reckless Records (a busy Soho used record store) – this 2002 Box Set from Topic Records had an alarming track record for turning up in the I-want-to-sell-these-for-cold-hard-mullah piles. "Acoustic Folk Box" never did go for money, but those willing to audition a listen and not turn it down outright because it says the word Folk on it found a lesser-heard history of fabulous songs sounding all spiv-a-rooney and lovely-jubbly twain.

Although it calls itself an Acoustic Folk set, the genres are disparate and you will be rubbing shoulders with Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties to Twenties Folk, Folk-Rock, Protest Songs, Polkas, Mouth Music, Traditional Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh History Songs, Jigs, Reels and Chamber Music to name but a few. These are lusty don't-spare-the-blush tale-songs of ye old English squires, galliards, dirges, crafty Welsh maidens, comely Scottish wenches, impoverished Irish workers, emigration countering starvation, Geordie in trouble with the hangman, drunken sailors, tramps and hawkers chancing their arm, even more inebriated lads eyeing the lassies (shawls and cradles) and finally arriving at eligible but young and naïve townsfolk duped by the Blue Coats wielding the King's schilling. There are Acapella moments, regional voices, pipes and fiddles and banjos and gut-string guitars a-plucking and a-swirling. 

What sets Acoustic Folk Box apart is not just the range of material but the gorgeous DENIS BLACKHAM Remasters done at Skye Studios. The audio on the acoustic instrumental "3 / 4 AD" for instance is just fabulous – a hugely important song that introduced tunings that influenced Rock Giants later – least not of all Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. There is a 1967 Incredible String Band recording of "First Girl I Loved" – a story song with almost-skin-cringing truth in it that did not see the light of day until 1997 on a rare comp ("The Chelsea Sessions"). So pretty - and ISB looser and full of song – I love it. There are lots like that. Let's get to the fairs she of the flaxen hair and dancing eyes moved through…

UK released 30 July 2002 - "The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Topic TSFCD4001 (Barcode 714822400121) is a 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering 1957 to 2000 with a 56-Page Booklet and Denis Blackham Remasters. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:41 minutes):
1. Jack O' Diamonds – LONNIE DONEGAN And His Skiffle Group (December 1957 UK 45-Single on Pye Nixa 7N 15116, A-side)
2. 3 / 4 AD – DAVY GRAHAM and ALEXIS KORNER (1962 UK 3-Track Extended Play EP "3 / 4 AD" on Topic TOP 70)
3. MacPherson's Rant – THE GALLIARDS featuring Jimmy Hall and Jammie MacGregor (1960 UK 4-Track Extended Play EP "The Galliards" on Beltona SEP 90 in Mono)
4. Twa Corbies – RAY and ARCHIE FISHER (1961 UK Extended Play EP "Far Over The Forth" on Topic TOP 67)
5. Tramps And Hawkers – BOB DAVENPORT Accompanied by The Rakes (1962 UK Extended Play EP "Wor Geordie" on Topic TOP 83)
6. The Rocky Road To Dublin – THE DUBLINERS (1964 UK Debut LP "The Dubliners" on Transatlantic TRA 116)
7. Song Of The Iron Road – EWAN MacCOLL and Peggy Seeger (1964 UK LP "Steam Whistle Ballads" on Topic Records 12T 104)
8. She Moved Thro' The Fair – ANNE BRIGGS (December 1963 UK Various Artists LP "Edinburgh Folk Festival Volume 1" on Decca LK 4546 in Mono)
9. They Times They Are A-Changin' – THE IAN CAMPBELL GROUP (March 1965 UK 45-Single on Transatlantic TRA SP 5, A-side)
10. Across The Hills – THE THREE CITY FOUR (1965 UK LP "The Three City Four" on Decca LK 4705 in Mono)
11. Joy Of My Heart – THE FISHER FAMILY (1965 UK LP "Traditional & New Songs From Scotland" on Topic Records 12T 137)
12. Angi – BERT JANSCH (April 1965 UK LP "Bert Jansch" on Transatlantic TRA 125)
13. Reynardine – SHIRLEY COLLINS and DAVY GRAHAM (February 1965 UK LP "Folk Roots, New Routes" on Decca LK 4652 in Mono)
14. Geordie – JULIE FELIX (September 1966 UK LP "Changes" on Fontana STL 5368 in Stereo)
15. Dido Bendigo – THE WATERSONS (1966 UK LP "The Watersons" on Topic Records 12T142)
16. The Two Magicians – A. L. LLOYD – Albert Lancaster Lloyd (1966 UK LP "The Bird In The Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)" on Topic Records 12T135)
17. The Moving On Song – THE EXILES (1966 UK LP on "Freedom, Come All Ye" on Topic Records 12T143)
18. Sovay – MARTIN CARTHY (November 1965 UK LP "Martin Carthy" on Fontana STL 5269 in Stereo)
19. First Girl I Loved – THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (1967 Recording First issued 1997 UK in the CD compilation "The Chelsea Sessions 1967" on Pig's Whisker Music PWMD5003)
20. Lyke Wake Dirge – THE YOUNG TRADITION (1966 UK LP "The Young Tradition" on Transatlantic TRA 142)
21. Transfusion – JOHN RENBOURN (June 1968 UK LP "Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng & Ye Grene Knyghte" on Transatlantic TRA 167)
22. You Never Wanted Me – SANDY DENNY (1967 UK LP "Sandy Denny" on Saga EROS 8153)
23. The Cuckoo's Nest – DAVE SWARBRICK (1967 UK LP "Rags Reels And Airs" on Bounty BY 6050)
24. The House Carpenter - SWEENEY'S MEN (1968 UK LP "Sweeney's Men" on Transatlantic TRA 170)
25. Spiral Staircase – RALPH McTELL (January 1969 UK LP "Spiral Staircase" on Transatlantic TRA 177)

CD2 (68:35 minutes):
1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme – PENTANGLE (May 1968 UK Debut LP "The Pentangle" on Transatlantic TRA 162)
2. Bonnie Boy – SHIRLEY COLLINS (January 1968 UK LP "The Power Of The True Love Knot" on Polydor 583 025 in Stereo)
3. The Rout Of The Blues – BARRY and ROBIN DRANSFIELD (1970 UK LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer LER 2011)
4. Bright Phoebus – LAL and MIKE WATERSON (September 1972 UK LP "Bright Phoebus" on Trailer LES 2076)
5. Sorry The Day I Was Married – TIM HART and MADDY PRIOR (1971 UK LP "Summer Solstice" on B&C Records CAS 1035)
6. Scan's Polka – OAK (1971 UK LP "Welcome To The Fair" on Topic Records 12TS212)
7. Rattlin' Roarin' Willie / The Friar's Britches – DICK GAUGHAN (1972 UK LP "No More Forever" on Trailer LER 2072)
8. The Crafty Maid's Policy – FRANKIE ARMSTRONG (1972 UK LP "Lovely On The Water" on Topic Records 12TS216)
9. Billy Don't You Weep For Me – NIC JONES (1974, Recorded Live, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. The Rose Of Britain's Isle / Glorishears – JOHN KIRKPATRICK and SUE HARRIS (1974 UK LP "The Rose Of Britain's Isle" on Topic Records 12TS 247)
11. Hard Times Of Old England – THE ETCHINGHAM STEAM BAND (Recorded 1975, First UK Issued 1995 on CD on Fledg'ling Records FLED 3002)
12. The Kesh Jig / Give Us A Drink Of Water / The Flower Of The Flock /Famous Ballymore – THE BOTHY BAND (March 1976 UK Debut LP "The Bothy Band" on Polydor 2383 379, Mulligan Records in Ireland)
13. The Ant & The Grasshopper – LEON ROSSELSON and ROY BAILEY (1975 UK LP "That's Not The Way It's Gotta Be" on Acorn Records CF 251)
14. The Methody Parson – ROY HARRIS (1975 UK LP "Champions Of Folly" on Topic Records 12TS256)
15. John O' Dreams – BILL CADDICK (1976 UK LP "Rough Music" on Park Records SHP 102)
16. The Rose Of Allandale – BANDOGGS (1978 UK LP "Bandoggs" on Leader Records LTRA 504)
17. The Shepherd Of The Downs – PETER BELLAMY (1979 UK LP "Both Sides Then" on Topic Records 12TS 400)
18. Brighton Camp / The March Past – JOHN KIRKPATRICK & CHUMS (1976 UK LP "Plain Capers" on Free Reed FRR 10)
19. Harper's Frolick / Bonny Kate – NEW VICTORY BAND (1978 UK LP "One More Dance And Then" on Topic Records 12TS 382)
20. Once In A While – STEVE ASHLEY (Recorded 1979, 1982 UK LP "The Family Album" on Woodworm WR 002)

CD3 (69:38 minutes):
1. Miss Drummond Of Perth / Fiddler's Joy / Traditional Reel / The Shetland Fiddler – BATTLEFIELD BAND (1979 UK LP "Stand Easy" on Topic Records 12TS 404)
2. Farewell Welfare – RORY McLEOD – (1980 UK LP "Angry Love" on Forward Sounds LP 004)
3. Erin-Go-Bragh – DICK GAUGHAN (1981 UK LP "Handful Of Earth" on Topic Records 12TS 419)
4. Rockin' In Rhythm – RICHARD THOMPSON (1981 UK LP "Strict Tempo" on Elixir Records LP 1)
5. Stephan Baldwin's Schottisches Nos.1 & 2 / The kennet Jig – OLD SWAN BAND (1981 UK LP "Gamesters, Pickpockets And Harlots" on Dingles DIN 322)
6. In Trim / Mount Hooley / Lemington Bank – ALISTAIR ANDERSON (1982 UK LP "Steel Skies" on Topic Records 12TS 427)
7. Lay This Body Down – JUNE TABOR (1983 UK LP "Abyssinians" on Topic Records 12TS 432)
8. The First Cut Is The Deepest – MARTIN SIMPSON (1983 UK LP "Grinning in Your Face" on Topic Records 12TS 430)
9. Handsome, Johnny – THE ENGLISH COUNTRY BLUES BAND (1982 UK LP "No Rules" on Dingles DIN 223)
10. If – VIN GARBUTT (1983 UK LP "Little Innocents" on Topic Records 12TS 428)
11. The Maid & The Palmer – BRASS MONKEY (1983 UK LP "Brass Monkey" on Topic Records 12TS 431)
12. Shave The Monkey / Boys Of The Mill – BLOWZABELLA (1984 UK LP "Bobbityshooty" on Plant Life PLR 064)
13. A B Hornpipe / Mrs. Bolowski's – KATHRYN TICKELL (1988 UK LP "Great Moments Of Vinyl History" on Special Delivery SPM 1009)
14. Another Train – PETER MORTON (1988 UK LP "One Big Joke" on Harbourtown HAR 004)
15. Coal Not Dole – SWAN ARCADE (1990 UK Various Artists CD Charity Compilation "Circle Dance" on Hokey Pokey ConeD)
16. Blood & Gold / Mohacs – SILLY SISTERS (1988 UK LP "No More To The Dance")
17. Patrick Street / The Carraroe Jig – PATRICK STREET (1988 UK CD "Patrick Street" on Green Linnet GLCD 1071)
18. Wasps In The Woodpile – ANDREW CRONSHAW (1988 UK LP "Til The Beasts Returning" on Topic Records 12TS 447)
19. A Bhean Udai Thall – ALTAN (1989 UK CD "A Horse With A Heart" on Green Linnet GLCD 1095)
20. Fraoch A Ronaigh – MOUTH MUSIC (1990 UK CD "Mouth Music" on Triple Earth TRECD 109)

CD4 (78:51 minutes):
1. The Grey Funnel Line – EMMYLOU HARRIS, DOLORES KEANE and MARY BLACK (1991 UK 3LP/2CD Set "Bringing It All Back Home (Music From The BBC TV Series" on BBC Records CD 844)
2. A Call For The North Country – JEZ LOWE & THE BAD PENNIES (1993 UK CD "Bede Weeps" on Fellside FECD 94)
3. Reconciliation – RON KAVANA (1991 UK CD "Home Fire" on Special delivery SPDCD 1043)
4. Pharaoh – THE HOUSE BAND (1993 UK CD "The World Is A Wonderful Place" on Hokey Pokey 2002.2)
5. Out Come The Freaks – CHRIS WOOD (1992 UK CD "Lisa" on Ruf Records RUFCD 002)
6. Moving The Goalposts – BILLY BRAGG (1991 UK CD "Don't Try This At Home" on Go-Discs 828 279-2)
7. When First I Came To California – WATERSON: CARTHY (1994 UK CD "Waterson: Carthy" on Topic TSCD 475)
8. Beeswing (Live) – RICHARD THOMPSON (1996 UK 2CD Set "Two Letter Words" on Flypaper FLYCD 006)
9. Molly & Johnny – DERVISH (1995 UK CD "Playing With Fire" on Whirling WHRL 002)
10. Venus In Tweeds – SHOGGLENIFTY (1994 UK CD "Venus In Tweeds" on Greentrax CDTRAX 076)
11. The Graf Spey / The Boys Of Balisodare – MARTIN HAYES (1995 UK CD "Under The Moon" on Green Linnet GLCD 155)
12. Jerusalem Revisited – COOPE, BOYES & SIMPSON [Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson] (1996 UK CD "What We Sing" on No Masters NMCD 4)
13. How Can I Leave – LAL WATERSON & OLIVER KNIGHT (1996 UK CD "Once In A Blue Moon" on Topic TSCD 478)
14. A Place Called England – JUNE TABOR (1999 UK CD "A Quiet Eye" on Topic TSCD 510)
15. Reel Du Pendu – NANCY KERR & JAMES FAGAN (1999 UK CD "Steely Water" on Fellside FECD 145)
16. Twankydillo – MADDY PRIOR (1999 UK CD "Ravenchild" on Park PRKCD 49)
17. Llatai – FERNHILL (1998 UK CD "Llatai" on Beautiful Jo BEJOCD 23)
18. The Cobbler's Daughter – KATE RUSBY (1999 UK CD "Sleepless" on Pure PRCD 06)
19. From Where I Lie / Sheepcounting – JOHN TAMS (2000 UK CD "Unity" on Topic TSCD 508)
20. 10,000 Miles – ELIZA CARTHY (1998 UK CD "Red Rice" on Topic TSDCD 2001)

The long 56-page booklet is extremely comprehensive – DAVID SUFF of Fledg'ling Records giving track by track breakdowns – musicians – original issue details – later CD reissues and so forth. There are reproductions of the rare Galliards, Sea Shanties, and Wor Geordie EPs (not growing on trees I can tell you). Alongside those you do get fanzines like Folk Review, Folk News, Pulse, The Living Tradition, Topic Records catalogues from the Sixties and Seventies especially, a ZigZag magazine cover with the luminous Sandy Denny, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs – you get the picture. Inside the text pages there are photos of the new generations carrying on an old tradition (New Victory Band, Eliza Carthy and The Watersons, Kate Rusby) and paragraphs on the likes of Ralph McTell and other genre heroes like Ewan MacColl and Jansch and Renbourn and Richard Thompson. 

But there are weird anomalies in the collages of photos that base the Track List pages to the rear. For instance, Pages 50 and 51 picture the fabulous instrumental "Timedance" 12" Single Planxty did on WEA Ireland in 1981 with an awesome version of "Nancy Spain" on the flipside and a photo of The Chieftains Breakfast Early Tour of 1980 when neither artist is included in the box! And they get a few album titles wrong like Ray & Archie Fisher (Track 4) and The Fisher Family (Track 11) on CD1 and dates like 1964 for the Jansch debut when it was April 1965, the catalogue number for the Dransfield LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer Records as TER 2026 when it was TER 2011 and release date as 1971 when it was 1970 – all of which I have checked and corrected in the text above.

But my go-to reference here is the AUDIO which has been done with such care and precision by DENIS BLACKHAM of Skye Mastering. I have raved about his transfers before – the first Horslips LP from 1973 and the Mick Greenwood debut album from 1971 that features much of Fotheringay. The old stuff on CD1 especially belies its age and is in tremendous shape – but the Seventies stuff is a thrill for me because that’s where I picked up on Folk big time – both in Ireland and England. Many discovers to discuss – to the tunes…

CD1: The Box Set opens with a string of rare Topic Records EP tracks and the occasional Skiffle single thrown in. On the A-side of the scene-changing 3-track EP "3 / 4 AD" issued in 1962 by Davy Graham and Alexis Korner was "Angi" which Bert Jansch returns to in 1964 for his self-titled debut album – it's a clever inclusion (Track 12) and harks back to the sound Graham got on "3 / 4 AD" (Track 2) that influenced so many guitar players and not just those in the strict realms of Folk and Traditionals. I would admit that it might be hard going for the unsympathetic ear to wade through brae Lasses and twa Corbies as the songs flirt around poverty and drink and emigration and the ruling class always keeping the workers down. But there is no denying the beauty of an Acapella Anne Briggs wrapping her deeply expressive pipes around "She Moves Through The Fair" – a Traditional so emotive it is likely to well up even the hardest of hearts.

The legendary characters and vocalists Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly of The Dubliners rollick through "The Rocky Road To Dublin" – not something I ever liked truth be told (too many drunken sots). Things get sweeter with Peggy Seeger on Guitar accompanying Ewan MacColl on the lovely and lonely "Song of The Iron Road", Producer Bill Leader letting their steeped-in-the-history-of-it-all talents shine. I have never seen the 1964 album "Steam Whistle Ballads" from whence the song comes – rarity ahoy. But everything truly moves up a notch with Bob Dylan – The Ian Campbell Folk Group doing for Bob what the Byrds did in the USA – stamping his generation-appealing lyrics on their cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin'". This is not a tired anthem in 1964 – you can feel that they believe in it and his hopes for a better world let alone America – dream or no. The Three City Four group had two great songwriters – Leon Rosselson (Vocals and Banjo) and Martin Carthy (Guitar) and again is an album I have never seen.

Julie Felix becomes the first Stereo track on CD1 with "Geordie" from her September 1966 "Changes" LP on Fontana – the kind of platter that was common in collections when I was buying back in the day (Martin Carthy on Guitar with a pre Fairports Dave Swarbrick on Fiddle). Things get fruity (when have they ever) when Albert Lancaster Lloyd (A.L. Lloyd to you) brings us "The Two Magicians" – a witty sexpot of a tune. The unheard-of Bandoggs had Nic Jones on Lead Vocals and Guitar while once again the long shadow on Martin Carthy shows up for the Leon Rosselson and Roy Bailey song "The Ant And The Grasshopper" (he plays guitar). And on CD2 goes to New Folk types like Steve Ashley and the kitchen-sink ensemble New Victory Band giving it some Melodeon, Hammer Dulcimer, Tuba, Whistle and Banjo on their cover of a Traditional. 

CD3 and CD4 are my faves and go-to plays: CD3 starts in 1979 but is dominated by the Eighties when both Folk and World Music were undergoing resurgences even before Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon made them hip. Traditional Scottish Pipes care of Duncan MacGillivray give the Battlefield Band track a welcome feel as its glorious sound is soon backed up by fiddles and gentle underlining Dulcimer rhythms (and in glorious audio too). Richard Thompson has a go at Duke Ellington for his brilliant acoustic guitar instrumental cover of "Rockin' In Rhythm", June Tabor gets all graveyard dramatic in her impressive Acapella "Abyssinians" album track "Lay This Body Down", Vin Garbutt does the Rudyard Kipling song "If" in an Acapella Ye Olde Englande hop-trip voice, while Martin Simpson reaches back to the 60ts Pop of Cat Stevens for his instrumental cover of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" – a truly lovely slide version done on steel guitars that I return too again and again (stunning production). Lightening the mood after the virtuoso slide steel playing of Simpson, "Handsome Johnny" is a jolly tune about a lad who has won a maid and her heart if only she could her sailor to settle down and leave the sea alone. 

Genuine jiggery-pokery lyrical brilliance comes from Rory McLeod as he goes through more brilliant observational rhymes than five Bob Dylan albums – his assessment of politicians and governments doing us in – on the money as he rips up the Harmonica too. Dick Gaughan and his fantastic vocals and guitar playing impresses no end on "Erin-Go-Bragh" which roughly translates into Beautiful or Good Ireland (Brian McNeill on Fiddle and Phil Cunningham on Whistle). Button Accordion anchors the pretty-fair-maid jaunt that is "The Maid & The Palmer" – the kind of dancing Folk that is forgotten but shouldn’t be (bourn the man nine children). You gotta love a group that calls their album "Bobbityshooty" and then gives you a cacophony of Hurdy-Gurdy, Bassoon and Melodeon with some mad Pipes thrown in for to make the hangover worse. Proper bellows return with the Northumberland Small Pipes of "A B Hornpipe…" from a clearly enamoured Kathryn Tickell (gorgeous audio). Plaintive acoustic guitar softens things with "Another Train" – Pete Morton trying to cheer up a person who feels their chance is past, but there is always another set of rolling stocks to take you on to somewhere better. 

Both Swan Arcade and The Silly Sisters put in two powerful Acapella performances – the first to do with the Miner Strikes from a seldom-seen Charity CD Compilation while Maddy Prior and June tabor of Silly Sisters are joined by several musicians on the beautifully recorded "Blood & Gold / Mohacs". CD3 romps home – Andy Irvine of Planxty and Paul Brady fame heads up Patrick Street singing about Patrick Street of Newry Town with other Irish Folk legends bringing up the rear – Kevin Burke of The Bothy Band on Fiddle, Arty McGlynn on Guitar and Jackie Daly on Accordion. A mastering error places Patrick Street at Track 17 and Andrew Cronshaw at Track 18 (I have reflected this in the list above). Andrew Cronshaw mixes Lead Guitars and Whistles and Fiddles with Donal Lunny tapping a Bass Bodhran in a song that sounds like Ry Cooder has decided to electrify Irish Traditionals and American Swamp chants (Martin Simpson is the one with the Cooder axe). Altan are cool but they are outdone by a gorgeous Mouth Music song where lead vocalist Talitha Mackenzie gives it some Lisa Gerrard and Gladiator soundtrack via Kate Bush Handsome Cabin Boy channelling with floating soundscapes for the ethereal "Fraoch A Ronaigh" – ending CD3 on a total high.

Opening CD4 is the most beautiful ballad – American Emmylou Harris, Brit Dolores Keane and Irish lady Mary Black floating in three-voice beauty over the Cyril Tawney song "The Grey Funnel Line". Produced by Bothy Band luminary and Irish Folk legend Donal Lunny – it turned up on the 1991 Irish immigration project "Bringing It All Back Home". Irish musician Declan Sinnott plays all instruments but most of it is low hum in the background that produces an almost filmic melancholy. A lonely worker pining for his gal so far away – it benefits from pinprick gorgeous production. Following that is the upbeat Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies and his own World Music song "A Call For The North Country". Another plaintive ballad comes with "Reconciliation" – Ron Kavana sounding not unlike Liam Ó Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers fame – a lovely tune with Terry Woods of The Woods Band on Concertina. 

Living in Egypt Land, The House Band sees Ged Foley and Chris Parkinson harmonize fabulous vocals on "Pharoah" – all working for the big chief in his chair of gold. Woodwork squeaks and "Out Come The Freaks" – Chris Wood strumming his fiddle like it’s a mandolin on a five-minute tale of a Vietnam vet struggling to cope while his girl becomes a stripper (gorgeous audio). Billy Bragg gives us a prettier than usual "Moving The Goalposts". The softness continues but moves back to Traditionals when Norma Waterson takes lead vocals on "When I First Came To California" – Eliza Carthy providing Fiddle while Martin Carthy picks an expert acoustic guitar – such a lovely sound and sentiment – the lyrics aching for love and home (paper from Pennsylvania and ink from Cali-forn-nigh-ay). Fiddle player Angus Grant of the wonderfully named Shogglenifty is obviously channeling his inner Velvet Underground when he changes Venus In Furs into "Venus In Tweeds" – the instrumental shuffling along like a Corrs whig-out - sweet. 

Hogging a stage together, Pete Zorn plays Flute beside Richard Thompson as he does a live Acoustic Guitar rendition of "Beeswing". The tale of a lost young love that got away because of drink and tempers may be live, but it's elevated because of it – the lyrics and story and flute solos crammed with urgency and beauty. A typically brilliant performance by the Fairport Convention mainman – a rare thing indeed as the lyrics go. Dervish are huge in Ireland – Cathy Jordan on Lead Vocals for the Traditional "Molly & Johnny". Backed up by four quality musicians and toppermost Production – there's is very much an updated-Bothy Band feel – stories wrapped around hop-skip tunes. Ian Carr plays guitar on the Kate Rusby tune "The Cobbler's Daughter" while Eliza Carthy brings it all home with a lovely "10,000 Miles" – the Scottish Traditional that Mary Chapin Carpenter did so effectively for the "Fly Away Home" movie.

To sum up - I know that much of the early Sixties material on CD1 will not appeal to many over the age of 30 – too Traditional – too finger-in-ear perhaps. But anyone willing to give this set a chance will find so much more to discover and love. The Folk Tradition and Folk-Rock offshoots have produced incredible talent – male and female – and that's what leaps off the lovely 4CD crapshoot that is "The Acoustic Folk Box". 

Maybe make a date with The Cobbler's Daughter – you might be surprised how well that ancient-to-now shoe will fit…

PS: see also my review of the 7CD Book Set "Three Score & Ten: A Voice To The People – 70 Years Of The Oldest Independent Record Label In Great Britain – Topic Records" from October 2009 – another bountiful and surprising vaults haul…

"Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" by VARIOUS ARTISTS [featuring Drummer Earl Young] – Featuring 45-Single and Album Tracks from 1965 to 1977 by Archie Bell & The Drells, The Trammps, The Ambassadors, Dusty Springfield, The Delfonics, Clyde McPhatter, The O'Jays, The Spinners, B.B. King, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Charles Mann, Billy Paul, The Whispers, William DeVaughn, The Modulations, Double Exposure, Loleatta Holloway, Eddie Holman and more (February 2024 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING: Content *** to *****

Audio *** to ****

"…Hit And Miss…"

Born in a prison and raised in three different foster homes – the legendary Philly Groove Drummer Earl Jones lined phonebooks up on chairs as a child to practice his beats (didn't want to play no bugle in a local Marching Band). And man oh break-free man – did it pay off.

To have your musician-name on sessions that produced the iconic sounds of tunes like "Backstabbers" by O'Jays, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn is a Soul Music accolade many would throttle a close relative for. But a look down through this list of twenty-three R 'n' B singles and album tracks covering 1965 to 1977 on a variety of labels (with a major lean on Seventies Philly Grooves - Gamble & Huff material etc) and you see there is so much more (it has a near eighty-minute total-playing-time).

I'll readily admit that I don't like all of it and as summit of a die-hard Philadelphia International fan/collector – I already have way too many of these entries. But as a one-stop – as a helluva tester to one man's relentlessly sexy backbeat - "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" gets my Thom Bell going any day of the week. More hit than miss – to the details…

UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 1629 (Barcode 029667109925) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of Remasters covering 1965 to 1977 that plays out as follows (79:15 minutes):

1. Penguin At The Big Apple/Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart (Medley) – THE TRAMMPS (from the August 1975 US LP "The Legendary Zing Album" on Buddah Records BDS 5641, credited as The Fabulous Trammps)

2. Storm Warning – THE VOLCANOS (May 1965 US 45-Single, Arctic 106, A-side)

3. Do The Hand Jive – ARCHIE BELL & THE DELLS (May 1969 US 45-Single, Atlantic 2644, B-side of "Girl You're Too Young")

4. Ain't Got The Love Of One Girl (On My Mind) – THE AMBASSADORS (March 1969 US 45-Single, Arctic 150, A-side)

5. Silly, Silly Fool – DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (January 1970 US 45-Single, Atlantic 45-2705, A-side)

6. Trying To Make A Fool Of Me – THE DELFONICS (May 1970 US 45-Single, Philly Groove PG 162, A-side)

7. Please Give Me One More Chance – CLYDE McPHATTER (from the August 1970 US LP "Welcome Home" on Decca DL 75231)

8. Backstabbers – O'JAYS (May 1972 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International ZS7 3517, A-side)

9. Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind - THE SPINNERS (from the April 1973 US LP "Spinners" on Atlantic SD 7256)

10. I Like To Live The Love – B.B. KING (November 1973 US 45-Single, ABC Records ABC-11406, A-side)

11. The Love I Lost (Part 1) - HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES (August 1973 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International Z7S 3533, A-side)

12. Do It Again – CHARLES MANN (from the 1973 US LP "Say You Love Me Too" on ABC Records ABCX-786)

13. TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) – THE THREE DEGREES (from the June 1975 US LP "International" on Philadelphia International KZ 33162, credited as "Take Good Care Of Yourself" in the UK, released April 1975 on Philadelphia International PIR 69137)

14. Be Truthful To Me – BILLY PAUL (September 1974 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International ZS8 3551, A-side)

15. I'm Doin' Fine Now – NEW YORK CITY (from the March 1973 US LP "I'm Doin' Fine Now" on Chelsea Records BCL1-0198)

16. I Just Can't Say Goodbye – PHILLY DEVOTIONS (December 1974 US 45-Single, Columbia 3-10076, A-side – February 1975 UK 45-Single on CBS Records CBS 3042, A-side)

17. A Mother For My Children – THE WHISPERS (December 1973 US 45-Single, Janus J-231, A-side)

18. Be Thankful For What You Got – WILLIAM DeVAUGHN (March 1974 US 45-Single, Roxbury BRBO-0236, A-side)

19. I Can't Fight Your Love – THE MODULATIONS (1974 US 45-Single, Buddah BDA 418, A-side, September 1974 UK 45 on Buddah BDS 406 – also on the 1975 US LP "It's Rough Out Here" on Buddah BDS 5638)

20. Touch And Go (12" Single) – ECSTASY, PASSION & PAIN featuring BARBARA ROY (April 1976 US-Only Promo-Only 12" Single, Roulette R-7182DJ, A-side)

21. My Love Is Free – DOUBLE EXPOSURE (January 1977 US 45-Single, Salsoul SZ 2012, B-side of "Just Can't Say Hello")

22. Hit And Run – LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY (March 1977 US 45-Single, Gold Mind GM-4001, April 1978 UK 45-Single on Salsoul SSOL 108, A-side)

23. Time Will Tell – EDDIE HOLMAN (April 1977 US and UK 45-Single on Salsoul SZ 2026 (same catalogue number for both countries), the B-side of "This Will Be A Night To Remember" in both countries)

NOTES:
Tracks 2, 15 and 19 are MONO; all others STEREO

Every booklet Ace has produced for compilations like this always shows real effort – loads of definitive details and period-appropriate photos. But here in February 2024, we not only get treated to all that song-by-song analysis by the hugely knowledgeable TONY ROUNCE - but also a fantastic recently conducted interview by Record Collector's IAN SHIRLEY with an 83-year-old Earl Young complete with photos of the great man behind his kit wearing a Philadelphia International Records tee-shirt! Starting at Page 20 and working its way across a Q&A until it finishes on Page 30 – Young gets down and dirty about first breaks – sessions with Stevie Wonder and other legendary performers – how he got his signature sound at Sigma Studios and so on. 

At 32-pages - this is a substantial effort put in by Kent-Soul on the booklet honouring the man's legacy – something Sony Music/EMI are never going to do on any Now Yearbook comp. The labels are all pictured – Salsoul, Arctic (from the early years), Buddah and Atlantic and Probe Records out of the UK that carried much of the ABC stuff. There are rare picture sleeves, demo labels, sheet music, record label black and white promo photos, trade adverts – the usual thorough plethora of lesser-seen period goodies. And long-time Ace Records accomplice in all things Audio-Excellence NICK ROBBINS has done the Remasters that I swear give a more prominent edge to the Drums on tunes you have heard hundreds of times. It sounds fab. To the listen…

With its flange guitar working across your speakers and his tight-in-the-pocket drums keeping a groove with the strings – the classic mid Seventies TSOP soundscape is set up by The Trammps. I will admit I am not a fan of the two-part medley per say – feels a tad cheesy to me. Better is the dancer Northern Soul boys love, The Volcanos suffering black clouds over their heads with "Storm Warning" from 1965 on a seriously sought-after Arctic Records 45 – so cool. The ping-pinging vibes pick up pace with Archie Bell telling us that one of The Drells can't dance because of his two left feet, but luckily, he can "Do The Hand Jive". The audio takes a bit of a dive with the homemade Vocal-Soul of The Ambassadors – another find-em-fool-em sought-after rough and ready Soul-shuffler on Arctic. 

Two familiars show in the shape of Dusty Springfield and The Delfonics - The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) and Philly Groove starting to dominate the listen. In fact, some collectors might baulk because they will have much of these famous tunes already. The Gamble & Huff song "Silly, Silly Fool" was issued as a US 45 for Dusty Springfield 30 January 1970 – a short but poppy Soul Dancer cut off the album "A Brand New Me" (Atlantic SD 8249) released a couple of weeks prior to the single. Her light-as-air vocals work for it too. Lovely surprise comes in a late-in-his-career Clyde McPhatter dancer in "Please Give Me One More Chance" – great Bass and Earl keeping it tight as the former Drifters Lead Vocalist gets down on his knees and makes what you would imagine is one more in a long line of pleas. 

The rumbling piano and then Earl Jones just nailing it with that rhythm intro – then the strings and brass as we launch into the fantastic "Backstabbers" – the O'Jays changing the Soul template forever. I may be 66 this year, but I can remember 1972 when this socially smart piece of musical joy hammered charts everywhere. Suddenly it seemed that everyone was noticing this emerging Seventies Soul Sound. Smiling faces sometimes – low down and dirty indeed. As if to endorse the changes, The Spinners (known as The Detroit Spinners in the UK) come in with their smooth "Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" – a lovely inclusion and a smart choice. Onto a lesser trodden path with B.B. King proving himself still in touch with his ABC Records 45 "I Like To Live The Love" – his positivity and the tune's groove reminding me of The Staple Singers over on Stax. 

Another huge moment and recognizable Philly smash opens with electric piano and then Earl laying into the high-hats and pedal-drums thump (a US R&B No.1). Teddy Pendergrass gives his vocal a lived-it urgency as "The Love I Lost…" put Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes on the map. The CD then throws up its first clunker although I know there are some who like this cover version of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" by Charles Mann. In 1973 (only a year after their debut album "Can't Buy A Thrill" was released) Mann was at least first out of the gate at covering a Donald Fagen and Walter Becker-penned classic – I just find it too busy and his vocal not that convincing. But as I say, there are others who love this little wild one (all the time she's smiling - you know you'll be on your knees tomorrow). 

TSOP by The Three Degrees is overplayed for me – and the Pop Soul of Billy Paul doesn't cut it either. Better is the very-Philly-vibe in "I'm Doin' Fine Now" by New York City. Production values leap for The Philly Devotions – a so Seventies high-vocal strings-dancer with Earl laying it down over on the left. And on it goes to genius like William DeVaughn (digging the scene with a gangster lean) and the rare Promo-only twelve-inch of "Touch And Go" where Disco is beginning to muddy the Philly waters. 

"Groove Machine…" makes it point very nicely indeed. Could have been five stars, but it isn't all genius - so not quite the full enchilada. 

But "…The Earl Young Drum Sessions" is a timely reminder of background heroes who deserve the spotlight after all these keepin' it uptight decades…

"Now Yearbook '78" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Eighty-Five Single and Album Tracks by ELO, Kate Bush, Wings, ABBA, Gerry Rafferty, 10cc, Chic, Rose Royce, Chaka Khan, Odyssey, Boney M, Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Undertones, Buzzcocks, The Who, The Motors, The Clash, Blondie, Joe Walsh, Blue Oyster Cult, Billy Joel, The Cars, Patti Smith, Donna Summer, Dan Hartman, Earth, Wind & Fire, Heatwave, Renaissance, Darts, Bill Withers, Elkie Brooks, Foreigner and more (April 2023 UK Sony Music/EMI 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Varying Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CONTENT RATING: *** to ****

AUDIO: **** to *****

"…Ever Fallen In Love (with Someone You Shouldn't've)…"

I have about ten of these 4CD Now Yearbook compilations – most (not all) of which are accompanied by a further Yearbook Extra release of 3CDs - bringing the year haul to well over 130 songs. So a compilation covering a pivotal year in my youth 1978 appealed to me greatly (I bought the 1979 4CD issue as well). 

But the same problem to my listening ears occurs here as it does with all the 80ts titles – you are suckered by quantity (85 Tracks in the case of 1978). Because when you start to play them - especially when you get to CD3 and CD4 – the solid wall of cack Pop and Disco and poor man's Synth R 'n' B soon starts to mount up.

I cannot tell you how unbearable it is to hear Boney M., Dollar, Father Abraham, David Soul, Baccara or Brian and Michael doing Matchstick Men! But then you get The Clash, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, The Police, Kate Bush, The Cars, E.L.O., Gerry Rafferty, Joe Walsh, Blue Öyster Cult, The Who, The Undertones, Boomtown Rats and genuinely great Soul-Funk in Chic, Hot Chocolate, Crown Heights Affair, Earth Wind & Fire, Heatwave, Chaka Khan, Bill Withers, Commodores, and Rose Royce – to name but a few. 

Maybe my addled, aging and woke-infested noggin is unable to process memories properly anymore – but I do not recall 1978 as being so overtly awful chart-wise. Agreed - when you play CD1 and CD2 – it must be said the tunes are abundant - and given that these sets are Sony Music/EMI – the audio is uniformly top notch (most are in fact highlighted as Remasters from the 2000s onwards in the small print inside). 

But the tendency with these Now sets is to go down the less-trodden Pop Path - to get out there, songs that haven't been on compilations before. So, when you get to most of CD3 and CD4 – the listen in my book takes a nosedive. The flaw with this 'let's do Top 5 to Top 40-only' is that there was so much you want to forget, and of course other gems they could have chosen but have been left off. It's always a pick 'n' mix I know – Hitsville UK – rash-inducing or no. 

In their favour, however, these 4CD sets start out at about ten quid, but after a few months are quickly reduced to six or seven quid which frankly represents serious value for money. You may not be getting anything packaging-wise, but at least 40 to 50% of the choices will please and the audio is crackerlackin'. Here be the details for the late great seventy-eight…

UK released 28 April 2023 - "Now Yearbook '78" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBNOW78 / 0196587830922 (Barcode 196587830922) is a 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Single Edits, Album Versions and Various Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 (78:36 minutes):
1. Mr. Blue Sky – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA 
2. Baker Street (Single Edit, 4:06 minutes) – GERRY RAFFERTY
3. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? – ROD STEWART 
4. Take A Chance On Me - ABBA
5. Rivers Of Babylon – BONEY M.
6. Dreadlock Holiday – 10cc
7. Uptown Top Ranking – ALTHEA and DONNA
8. MacArthur Park – DONNA SUMMER (Single Edit)
9. I'm Every Woman – CHAKA KHAN
10. If I Can't Have You – YVONNE ELLIMAN
11. Everybody Dance – CHIC (Single Edit)
12. Native New Yorker - ODYSSEY
13. Wishing On A Star – ROSE ROYCE
14. Three Times A Lady – COMMODORES (featuring Lionel Richie)
15. Dancing In The City – MARSHALL HAIN
16. Substitute – CLOUT
17. It's A Heartache – BONNIE TYLER
18. If You Can't Give Me Love – SUZIE QUATRO
19. With A Little Luck – WINGS
20. The Man With The Child In His Eyes – KATE BUSH

CD2 (78:13 minutes): 
1. Rat Trap – THE BOOMTOWN RATS
2. Teenage Kicks – THE UNDERTONES
3. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) - BUZZCOCKS
4. Hong Kong Garden – SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
5. Top Of The Pops – THE REZILLOS
6. Hanging On The Telephone - BLONDIE
7. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea – ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS
8. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais – THE CLASH
9.  Down In The Tube Station At Midnight – THE JAM
10. What A Waste – IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS
11. Because The Night – PATTI SMITH (Bruce Springsteen cover, exclusive)
12. My Best Friend's Girl – THE CARS
13. Airport – THE MOTORS
14. 5.7.0.5. – CITY BOY
15. Love Is Like Oxygen – SWEET
16. Part-Time Love – ELTON JOHN
17. Movin' Out (Anthony’s Song) – BILLY JOEL
18. Who Are You – THE WHO
19. Cold As Ice – FOREIGNER
20. Life's Been Good (Single Edit, 4:37 minutes) – JOE WALSH
21. (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Single Edit, 3:40 minutes) – BLUE ÖYSTER CULT
22. Forever Autumn – JUSTIN HAYWARD [of The Moody Blues]

CD3 (77:31 minutes): 
1. Le Freak - CHIC
2. Boogie Oogie Oogie – A TASTE OF HONEY
3. More Than A Woman - TAVARES
4. I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round) – ALICIA BRIDGES
5. Instant Replay – DAN HARTMAN
6. Let's All Chant – MICHAEL ZAGER BAND
7. Do It Do It Again (A Far L'Amore Comincia Tu) – RAFFAELLA CARRÁ
8. Sorry, I'm A Lady – BACCARA
9. Singin' In The Rain – SHEILA and B. DEVOTION
10. From East To West – VOYAGE
11. I Love You – DONNA SUMMER
12. Givin' Up Givin' In – THE THREE DEGREES
13. I Can't Stand The Rain – ERUPTION
14. Automatic Lover – DEE D. JACKSON
15. I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper – SARAH BRIGHTMAN and HOT GOSSIP
16. Galaxy Of Love – CROWN HEIGHTS AFFAIR
17. Come Back And Finish What You Started – GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS
18. Every 1's A Winner – HOT CHOCOLATE
19. Fantasy – EARTH, WIND & FIRE
20. Always And Forever – HEATWAVE
21. Love Don't Live Here Anymore – ROSE ROYCE

CD4 (76:30 minutes): 
1. Denis – BLONDIE
2. Hopelessly Devoted To You – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
3. Sandy – JOHN TRAVOLTA
4. The Boy From New York City – DARTS
5. Lovely Day – BILL WITHERS
6. Love Is In The Air – JOHN PAUL YOUNG
7. Copacabana – BARRY MANILOW
8. Northern Lights – RENAISSANCE
9. If I Had Words – SCOTT FITZGERALD and YVONNE KEELEY
10. Brown Girl In The Ring – BONEY M.
11. Figaro – BROTHERHOOD OF MAN
12. Bad Old Days – CO-CO
13. Shooting Star – DOLLAR
14. Never Let Her Slip Away – ANDREW GOLD
15. Lucky Stars – DEAN FRIEDMAN with DENISE MARSA
16. Walk In Love – THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER
17. Let's Have A Quiet Night In – DAVID SOUL
18. Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue – CRYSTAL GAYLE
19. Don't Cry Out Loud – ELKIE BROOKS
20. Oh What A Circus - DAVID ESSEX
21. Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs – BRIAN and MICHAEL
22. Smurf Song – FATHER ABRAHAM

The basic edition has a four-panel foldout card sleeve with each CD in a printed-info pouch on the inside (see photos). There is a Limited Edition Hardback DigiBook version that has liner notes on all the songs – Sony Music/EMI CDYBXNOW78 (Barcode 196587831028) – and even a truncated 3LP VINYL variant on Sony Music/EMI LPYBNOW78 (Barcode  0196587830816) in PINK VINYL – both also released 23 April 2023.

Some anomalies first that aren't apparent from the packaging either rear or inside. Although it isn't stated as such, the Gerry Rafferty "Baker Street" track is the seldom seen Single Edit at 4:06 minutes when most compilations use the full album version at 6:11. I have the 2CD Collector's Edition of the album "City To City" from September 2011 and even that does not have the single mix. I think I know why. There has always been something off about it - like the sound is wrong – cannot quite work out why – but the remastered album version done by Denis Blackham for the 2011 twofer CD is great – here the sound on the Single Mix waffles in and out. It's good, but not great. 

The Blue Oyster Cult song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is again a single mix without saying so (3:40 minutes). I mention this because the song was first issued as a 45-single in the USA and UK in July 1976 (two years before the date of this compilation) but it bombed in Blighty. After the studio set "Spectres" garnered interest in the American Rock Band in the UK in 1977, CBS UK went at breaking the band again by using the studio cut of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" in May 1978 on a reissued 45 (hence the song's inclusion here). But this time CBS used the full album version at 5:05 minutes. So by all rights you should be getting that 5:05 minute variant here – but I suspect because of time limitations on CD2 – Sony/EMI have used the shorter mix (technically from two years earlier).

Still enjoy "Uptown Top Ranking" by Althea and Donna (they inhabit a rare club of No 1. one-hit wonders) and the Rod Stewart, Abba and 10cc ultra-commercial moments sound amazing in remastered quality. The Chic Organization stuff is single mixes too and how fab is it – their material coming on fifty-years soon and still sounding fresh. The smoochers "Wishing On A Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Three Times A Lady" sound beautiful and pack a wallop to this day. The energy on CD2 is dazzling – The Rats, The Undertones, Buzzcocks, Siouxsie, The Rezillos, The Jam, The Cars and Patti Smith doing Bruce's exclusive "Because The Night" all the way to the single mixes of Joe Walsh, The Who and BOC – it feels like a superb one-stop listen. And you are still taken aback by Kate Bush and "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" or even the edginess in Elvis Costello's "(I Don't Want To Go) Chelsea" and the street smarts of The Cars worrying about "My Best Friend's Girl" over on CD1. Discoveries and familiars...

But CD3 with its overtly Disco and Soul run loses the plot in too many places – A Taste of Honey and Tavares being great shape-throwing fun – but other gick like Sarah Brightman, John Travolta, Raffaella Carra and Barry Manilow is awful. There are a few great rediscovery moments like Blondie, Andrew Gold, Bill Withers, Renaissance, and Crystal Gayle making our eyes blue and watery on CD4, but the rest are a wasteland.

The 4CD compilation "Now Yearbook '78" offers a whole lotta hotcha fun-listens and wavey remembrances at a cheap stack-em-high price - but with the caveat that you taper those expectations once you get in deep. 

Yes sir, I can boogie oogie…I maybe every woman but I am just not sure I want to do a Donna in the Summer ever again, never mind now…

"I Am A Lineman For The County: Glen Campbell Sings Jimmy Webb" by GLEN CAMPBELL and JIMMY WEBB – Twenty-Three Stereo Tracks Written by Jimmy Webb and Sung by Glen Campbell – 45-Single and Album Releases 1967 and 1982 on Capitol Records Including All But One Song Of The 1974 Album "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" (February 2024 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Lineman-County-Campbell-Sings/dp/B0CSG9S44W?crid=310TNNVFWRKMT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SU-X47rQN3BVr1My-KAGAQ.hVFhnhusLh2CuC2kAcBqzeTELRvEvPR4H_HCfpfr4dw&dib_tag=se&keywords=029667109321&qid=1708453866&sprefix=029667109321%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=c77af06a1ddad0e22e6a38c01016d3f6&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATING: ****

"…Wishing I Could Be With You Again…."

A clever compilation this from Ace Records of the UK - part of their Songwriters Series (see my rear inlay photo which has an advert for four other releases in this series). 

Twenty-Three 45-Single and Album tracks in Stereo from that famously suitable pairing of songwriter Jimmy Webb and Country/Country Rock singer Glen Campbell (release dates stretch from 1967 to 1982, all but the last song on Capitol Records). 

Their superb collaboration album "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" from October 1974 (not released until 1975 in the UK) may not have troubled too many chart listings back in the day, but in the subsequent four decades "Reunion" has gained an almost mythical reputation among melody seeking collectors as one of those great platters that slipped through way too many nets.

But - knowing that the 2001 Reissue Remastered CD of that album on Capitol Records is deleted and expensive on open market sites - makes it almost inexplicable that Ace of the UK have left off 'one track' from the album when at 72:29 minutes there was surely room on this CD compilation for its inclusion? That 2001 CD of "Reunion" also had "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman" as bonus tracks - but they at least are here. 

The explanation almost certainly lies in the fact that "Roll Me Easy" (the missing tune that opened Side 1 of "Reunion") was a Lowell George song and a Little Feat cover. I think it should have been put on here as Track 24 – a singled-out 'bonus' – so fans could sequence the entire "Reunion" from this new CD (but alas). 

Still - with melody gems like "Wishing Now", "Ocean In His Eyes" (written by Jimmy's sister Susan Webb) and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" – what is on offer in lovely Remastered quality is sweet. To the playground details…

UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "I Am A Lineman For The County: Glen Campbell Sings Jimmy Webb" by GLEN CAMPBELL and JIMMY WEBB on Ace Records CDTOP 1641 (Barcode 029667109321) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (72:29 minutes):

1. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
2. Wichita Lineman
3. Galveston
4. Where's The Playground Susie
5. Didn't We
6. Honey Come Back
7. Just Another Piece Of Paper
8. Macarthur Park
9. Just This One Time 
10. You Might As Well Smile
11. Wishing Now
12. Ocean In His Eyes
13. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress
14. I Keep It Hid
15. Adoration
16. It's A Sin When You Love Somebody
17. Christiaan No
18. This Is Sarah's Song
19. Early Morning Song
20. Highwayman
21. Love Song 
22. In Cars
23. I Was Too Busy Loving You
NOTES (All Tracks in STEREO, all songs by JIMMY WEBB):
Track 1 is an October 1967 US 45-single on Capitol 2015, A-side
Track 2 is an October 1968 US 45-single on Capitol 2302, A-side
Track 3 is a February 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2428, A-side
Track 4 is an April 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2494, A-side
Track 5 from the August 1969 US LP "Live" on Capitol STBO-268, January 1970 UK LP on Capitol ST 21444
Track 6 is a January 1970 US 45-single on Capitol 2718, A-side
Tracks 7 and 8 from the September 1970 US LP "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album" on Capitol SW-493, December 1970 in the UK as "The Glen Campbell Album" on Capitol ST 22493
Tracks 9 to 16 from the October 1974 US LP "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" on Capitol SW-11336, April 1975 UK LP on Capitol E-SW 11336
Track 17 from the April 1976 US LP "Bloodline" on Capitol SW-11516, May 1976 UK LP on Capitol E-SW 11516
Tracks 18 and 19 from the February 1977 US LP "Southern Nights" on Capitol SO-11601, April 1977 UK LP on Capitol E-ST 11601
Tracks 20 and 21 from the October 1979 US LP "Highwayman" on Capitol SOO 12008, November 1979 UK LP on Capitol E-ST 12008
Track 22 from the January 1981 US LP "It's The World Gone Crazy" on Capitol SOO-12124, February 1981 UK LP on Capitol EST 12124
Track 23 from the September 1982 US LP "Old Home Town" on Atlantic 90016-1 and UK LP on Atlantic 790016-1

The 20-page booklet is the usual Ace Records classy vaults-trawl. BOB STANLEY does the new liner notes (August 2023) and gives a track-by-track breakdown. Sheet Music for "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", Trade Adverts, a still from the 'Norwood' film, Capitol cartoon advert that depicts Campbell and Webb in a car on 'their way again' to the charts with the hit "Galveston" - Capitol Records building used as a backdrop to an 'any takers?' advert for "Where's The Playground Susie" while Page 14 not surprisingly gives the "Reunion..." album sleeve a whole page. 

The others albums up to "Old Home Town" on Atlantic Records in 1982 are pictured too albeit in smaller squares. There are probably one too many shots of GC with that square-drip-hair-do of his, but once you play the opening salvo of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman" in their glorious Stereo, you won't be calling either his singing or Webb's writing anything but captivating. The Remasters are by long-standing Audio Engineer to Ace Records DUNCAN COWELL and they are great. The superb acoustic guitar runs Campbell does in "Wishing Now" is a highlight on the whole CD - a fantastic song. 

After 1969's sing-a-long "Galveston" comes the lesser "Where's The Playground Susie" - a song I never really liked. Unfortunately, they are followed by two terrible cheeseball tunes in the shape of a live rendition of "Didn't We" - the hick he-talks-before-he-sings-with-strings "Honey Come Back" even worse. Two 1970 singles are o.k., but it's not until we get to the "Reunion..." album proper at Track 9 that things really start to cook. As I said earlier - the triple whammy comes with melody winners "Wishing Now", "Ocean In His Eyes" (written by Jimmy's sister Susan Webb) and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress". Harsh Mistress has been covered by loads of folks and its just the kind of Webb lyric and vibe that burrows its way into your brain and you'll find its reluctant to leave. Webb is pining through the 'break-up' album and none more so than in "I Keep It Hid" when he professes to be sporting a series of trophies for best 'I don't care about you anymore' lies in every room of his house.  

The later Seventies albums pour on the Production values - gorgeous and lush is what you would call "This Is Sarah's Song" even if it's in danger of drowning in an ocean of strings. "Early Morning Song" continues the piano ballad mode - a woman waiting all night long for Jimmy - his wife Susan Barg (and I suspect Harry Nilsson) who gets name-checked in the lyrics. Campbell keeps it calm and classy and just about contains the power-ballad temptation. The simply acoustic and banjo intro to "Highwayman" comes as a gentle surprise after all that overpowered previously. It's soon filled with keyboards and strings and lyrics about sailing and yardstalls and dam-building and a man wandering from job-to-job. Better is "Love Song" - a tender ballad about words he longs to say - preferring to let his loving eyes do the talking. The very 80ts production of "In Cars" sounds like poorman's Stephen Bishop - nice but not a whole lot else. The compilation smooches home with 1982's "I Was Too Busy Loving You" where our GC sounds a little like a less growling Willie Nelson - too blind to see her slipping away. It's a lovely song and a nice inclusion.

Campbell fans will love this CD compilation and Webb admirers will have to own it. "I Am A Lineman For The County..." isn't a 5-star masterpiece (too many saccharin moments early on) - but it is a beautifully packaged reminder of class of a different hue. Roll Me Easy indeed...