"Right Now!/That's What Friends Are For/Closing The Gap" by GEORGIE FAME – April 1979, October 1979 and September 1980 UK Albums on Pye and Piccadilly Records – Guest Musicians included Alan Parker, Bernie Holland, Jim Mullen and Terry Smith on Guitars, Ray Warleigh, Bernie Holland, Steve Gregory, Malcolm Griffiths, Dick Morrissey and Henry Lowther on Horns, Brian Odgers on Bass with Barry Morgan and Henry Spinetti on Drums – Collaboration with Elvis Costello on the Title Song of 'That's What Friends Are For' and Jamaican Reggae Legend Lloyd Charmers on the 1980 album 'Closing The Gap' (September 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 3LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

As you can see from the above BGO website photo

It appears Beat Goes On made an earlier cover which mistakenly places the

'That's What Friends Are For' LP as the first with the 'Right Now!' LP as 2nd

But the Release Date Order of these albums is the other way around 

The physical copy I have shows the correct comp title and running order

See photos below

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thats-What-Friends-Right-Closing/dp/B0D9C3ZD74?crid=1S5EGEJJP30X8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8ozSMfS2Q59k0C64ZSYMpA.QSWtjOOzJ6YCU5hVeIrBo9vALazUJ7ckqTfOIyaRQyg&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261215338&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733336170&sprefix=5017261215338%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=07553fbaa6ae2d2cc220829fc63361e7&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS: 

Music: ***

Audio **** to *****

Presentation *****

"…Warm And Soft As Sin…"

At 82 years of age in 2024 – the mighty Georgie Fame is a five-to-six decades survivor and purveyor of Pop, R&B, Latin, Jazz, Samba, Soul, Funk, Reggae and a few hundred other music genres in-between.

But what you get here in September 2024 is three forgotten LP platters originally on Pye and Piccadilly Records – two from 1979 (April and October) and one from September 1980. Forgotten now (and in some cases for good reason) - you would have to go a very long distance down the biggest dictionary to describe any of them as classic. However, excepting limited and expensive Japanese imports in the 2000s – this trio has been off the British digital radar for almost as many decades as George has been around.

So along comes England's Beat Goes On Records (BGO to you and I) and they have lumped all three into one handy 2CD compilation bundle – remastered the lot to superb results and presented the garish clump to us hipsters in their usual stylish card slipcase and value-for-money manner. To the sins of the past, warm and soft…

UK released Friday, 12 September 2024 - "Right Now!/That's What Friends Are For/Closing The Gap" by GEORGIE FAME on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1533 (Barcode 5017261215338) is a Compilation with 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs (April 1979, October 1979 and September 1980). It plays out as follows:

CD1 (80:23 minutes):
1. A Different Dream [Side 1]
2. Funny How Time Slips Away
3. Little Samba
4. I'm In Love With Ya Baby
5. Ollie's Party
6. Eros Hotel 
7. 'Cross A Lazy Afternoon [Side 2]
8. Country Girl
9. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
10. Too Shy To Say
11. Zulu
12. Last Song
Tracks 1 to 12 are his 14th Album "Right Now!" – released April 1979 in the UK on Pye Records NSPH 18600 (no US issue). Produced by JAMES PARSONS and KARL JENKINS – it didn't chart.

13. Maybe Tomorrow [Side 1]
14. Lovely Day
15. L. In L.A.
16. You
17. I Don't Care Who I Dance With
18. That's What Friends Are For [Side 2]
19. Don't Hit When I'm Down
20. Sitting In The Park
21. If I Didn't Mean You Well
22. Cat's Eyes
Tracks 13 to 22 are his 15th Album "That's What Friends Are For" – released October 1979 on Pye Records N 119. Produced by GEORGIE FAME and TERRY EVENNETT - didn't chart. Title track written by Elvis Costello, Tracks 14 and 21 are Bill Withers cover versions, Track 20 is a Billy Stewart cover. 

CD2 (43:13 minutes):
1. Give A Little More [Side 1]
2. Run Away With Me
3. I Love Jamaica
4. Eros Hotel
5. Everything I Own [Side 2]
6. Lean On Me
7. Uptight (Everything Is Alright)
8. Bring Back My Love
9. Give A Little More (Dub Version)
Tracks 1 to 9 are his 16th Album "Closing The Gap" – released September 1980 in the UK on Piccadilly N 137 (no US issue). Collaboration with Jamaican Reggae Legend Lloyd Charmers who Produced, Arranged and Conducted across the whole LP. 

The card slipcase for BGOCD1533 is a classy looking item (as all these Beat Goes On reissues are) and houses a 16-page booklet with new CHARLES WARING liner notes on this 'comeback' period in Fame's career. The front and rear artwork is there as are the musician credits - Guest Musicians like Alan Parker, Bernie Holland, Jim Mullen and Terry Smith on Guitars, Ray Warleigh, Bernie Holland, Steve Gregory, Malcolm Griffiths, Dick Morrissey and Henry Lowther on Horns, Brian Odgers on Bass with Barry Morgan and Henry Spinetti on Drums. 

There's a collaboration with Elvis Costello on the Title Song of 'That's What Friends Are For' (Fame commissioned him specifically to do so - the first artist to ask Costello to do this) and Jamaican Reggae Legend Lloyd Charmers Arranged, Produced and Conducted the 1980 album 'Closing The Gap'. Waring does a brief prenup on Fame's illustrious Sixties to early Seventies musical career (up to the 'Georgie Fame' album for Island in 1975 and the aborted 1976 LP 'Daylight') before going into a deep dive on all three LPs. Long-time Beat Goes On Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON has done the Remasters from original tapes and the transfers are uniformly brilliant even when the material is seriously dated and letting the side down. 

Released into a Disco and Soul and Punk and New Wave world in April 1979 - Georgie Fame's "Right Now!" feels out-of-place to the landscape - even if a good few tunes are how own compositions. The Willie Nelson ballad classic "Funny How Time Slips Away" and two Stevie Wonder Motown Funks - "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" and "Too Shy To Say" - get Famed but not in any particularly great way. The side 1 ender is probably the best offering here - "Eros Hotel" - a six-minute strings and melody London-love epic that feels adventurous and accomplished - Fame doing the music to the poetry of Fran Landesman. 

The second 1979 platter 'That's What Friends Are For' LP opens with an attempt at hitsville - "Maybe Tomorrow" trying hard but again feeling like Gilbert O'Sullivan going Pop - just not in a good way. And like every other songster on the late Seventies scene - Georgie was digging Bill Withers big-time. Bill's gorgeous "Lovely Day" and the softer "If I Didn't Mean You Well" both getting excellent GF makeovers that don't very too far from the Soulful originals. Another highlight is Fame's cover of the 60ts Billy Stewart R&B classic "Sitting In The Park". But overall, you end the LP listen with too few thrills and too many fills. 

All CD2 takes up the third offering - a Georgie Fame nine-track collaborative album with Jamaican Reggae Legend Lloyd Charmers on the September 1980 LP "Closing The Gap". Right from the Chalmers opener "Give A Little More" you are aware of the Aswad-sounding Reggae Pop vibe - high production values on the brass, girly answer vocals and in-the-pocket rhythm. But George's vocal trying to ape Bob Marley grates a little and has not dated well at all. Songwriter Charmers also contributed "Run Away With Me", "I Love Jamaica" and "Bring Back My Love". Cover versions include Bread and Ken Booth's "Everything I Own", Bill Withers ballad "Lean On Me" and Stevie Wonder's 60ts Motown hit "Uptight (Everything Is Alright)". Don't know if I like the reggae-fied version of "Eros Hotel" (appeared to great effect on the "Right Now!" LP. The production values are gorgeous - but this is not The Clash doing Reggae and Georgie doesn't cut it. 

In the end it's all too easy to hear why none of these forgotten albums charted and why they are forgotten. Fans will love this September 2024 Georgie Fame 2CD compilation "Right On!/That's What Friends Are For/Closing The Gap" it - great presentation and top-quality audio - but anyone else needs a listen first...

"Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – A 40-Track Themed 2CD Compilation Spanning 1951 Recordings Through to 2021 - Encompassing Acoustic and Electric Blues, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Old-Time String Band Music, Acapella Gospel, Traditional and Old Timey Jazz, Spoken Word, Sung Historical Recordings, Cajun, Louisiana and more (February 2023 EU-UK Craft Recordings 2CD Compilation of Paul Blakemore Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birthright-Black-Roots-Music-Compendium/dp/B0BF45ZCN6?crid=EDVM9GIJGQDV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TGk0p0HZ-wGrHvWMsawIww.TjLG0wJDq3vRK7_Q05UVAMVNaLNKzxDo10PSCip9_sA&dib_tag=se&keywords=888072424869&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733237956&sprefix=888072424869%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=b5dd982e3a711bf2b139aaf64b2b25e5&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Overall ****

Presentation *** to ****

Audio *****

"…Hard Time Killing Floor Blues…"

Tapping into the vast Rounder Records Roots Catalogue (40 songs across 2CDs straddling 1951 through to 2021) – "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" gives you visits to famous collectable labels like Bluesville, Vanguard, Riverside, Smithsonian Folkways, Arhoolie and even Flying Fish Records with the occasional stop off at Specialty and Ron Records along the way. It is roughly a 50/50 split between old and new – the listen encompassing Acoustic and Electric Blues, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Old-Time String Band Music, A Capella Gospel, Traditional and Old Timey Jazz, Spoken Word, Sung Historical Recordings, Cajun, Louisiana and more.

As you can imagine, the chunky 48-page booklet is a feast of discography info complimented by period photos (from the Concord Archive) and great essays/track-by-track comments from Producer Ted Olsen. This booklet took time and effort – admirable passion invested. 

But with such a huge range of artists and periods represented (compilers SCOTT BILLINGTON and TED OLSEN have spread the genre-net wide) – you might think the Audio is great one moment then seriously comprised the next – no – the whole shooting match is beautifully transferred and shockingly clear. These are PAUL BLAKEMORE Remasters and honestly with my love of the Blues et al and his name attached to the project – I was always going to buy "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium". I have found his Audio Engineer work exemplary every time.

Downsides - personally, I think it only half works – too many styles and the truly bland cover art and crappy card digipak also do the huge compendium effort a bad one. But (at four stars instead of five) – I am still digging it. Much to sledgehammer – much to lay down and fly – to the details…

EU released 17 February 2023 - "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Craft Recordings 00888072424869 (Barcode 888072424869) is a 40-Track 2CD Compilation (USA issue is Craft Recordings CR00497) encompassing Acoustic and Electric Blues, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Old-Time String Band Music, A Capella Gospel, Traditional and Old Timey Jazz, Spoken Word, Sung Historical Recordings, Cajun, Louisiana and more. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (72:19 minutes): 
1. Bourbon Street Parade – PRESEVATION HALL JAZZ BAND (2012 CD "St. Peter And 57th St." on Rounder Records)

2. Station Blues – COREY HARRIS and SHARDÉ THOMAS (2003 CD Album "Mississippi To Mali" on Rounder Records)

3. 61 Highway – MISSISSIPPI FRED McDOWELL (1962 Recording first issue 1995 on the CD "Mississippi Fred McDowell" on Rounder Records)

4. Georgie Buck – CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS featuring JOE THOMPSON (Previously Unreleased October 2006 Recording)

5. Ranky Tanky – RANKY TANKY (2017 CD "Ranky Tanky" on Resilience Music)

6. One Dime Blues – ETTA BAKER (1991 CD "One Dime Blues" on Rounder Records)

7. Eunice Two Step – BOIS SEC ARDOIN and CANRAY FONTENOT (1960s Cajun Recording first issued 1976 on the US LP "Louisianna Cajun Music From The South West Prairies Volume 2" on Rounder Records)

8. Automobile Blues - LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS (1961 US LP "Lightnin'" on Bluesville Records)

9. Grizzly Bear – BENNIE RICHARDSON (1965-1966 Texas chain-gang recording first issued 1975 on the US LP "Wake Up Dead Man: Black Convict Work Songs From Texas Prisons" on Rounder Records)

10. Motherless Children – THE STAPLE SINGERS (1963 US LP "This Land" on Riverside Records)

11. Blues Before Sunrise – BROWNIE McGHEE and SONNY TERRY (161 US LP "Blues And Folk" on Riverside Records)

12. Fox Chase – DINK ROBERTS (1998 CD "Black Banjo Songsters Of North Carolina And Virginia" on Smithsonian Folkways Records)

13. Sweet Georgia Brown – MARTIN, BOGAN and ARMSTRONG [Carl Martin, Ted Bogan and L.C. Armstrong] (1972 US LP "The Barnyard Dance" on Rounder Records)

14. Little Liza Jane – GOLDEN EAGLES (1956 US LP "Jazz In The Classic New Orleans Tradition" on Riverside Records)

15. Ay-Tete Fee – CLIFTON CHENIER And His Band (1955 US 45-Single on Specialty SP-522-45, A-side)

16. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues – SKIP JAMES (1966 US LP "Today!" on Vanguard Records)

17. Weary Blues – GEORGE LEWIS NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND (1951 Recording first issued 1956 on the US LP "Jazz In The Classic New Orleans Tradition" on Riverside Records)

18. Yonder Come Day – BESSIE JONES (1973 recording issued 1975 on the US LP "So Glad I'm Here" on Rounder Records)

19. We Will Understand It Better By And By – JOSEPH SPENCE (1978-1980 recording first issued 1991 on the US CD "Glory" on Rounder Records)

20. Best Of All – DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND (2012 US CD "Twenty Dozen" on Savoy Jazz Records)_

NOTES ON CD1:
Tracks 4 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD2 (68:31 minutes): 
1. Step In – CEDRIC BURNSIDE (2021 US CD "I Be Trying" on Single Lock Records)

2. Pretty Polly – AMYTHYST KIAH (2017 US CD "Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition" on Great Smokey Mountains Tradition)

3. St. Louis Blues – LONNIE JOHNSON and ELMER SNOWDEN (1960 US LP "Blues And Ballads" on Bluesville Records)

4. Money Is King – LEYLA McCALLA (2018 US CD "The Capitalist Blues" on Jazz Village)

5. Polly Put The Kettle On – DOM FLEMONS (Originally 2015 US CD "Prospect Hill" on Music Maker Records, Reissued 2020 on "Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus" on Omnivore Recordings)

6. Diving Duck Blues – TAJ MAHAL and KEB' MO' (2017 US CD "TajMo" on Concord Records)

7. Crying Blues – BOOZOO CHEVIS (2001 US CD "Down On Dog Hill" on Rounder Records)

8. Morning Trail – CAMPBELL BROTHERS (1997 US CD "Pass Me Not" on Arhoolie Records)

9. When I Lay My Burden Down – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Unreleased 1950s Recording first issued 2017 on the Craft Recordings 5CD Book Set "King Of The Boogie")

10. Titanic – LESLEY RIDDLE (1993 US CD "Step By Step: Lesley Riddle Meets The Carter Family" on Rounder Records)

11. Go To The Mardi Gras – PROFESSOR LONGHAIR (December 1959 US 45-single on Ron Records 329, A-side)

12. Candy Man – MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT (1966 US LP "Today!" on Vanguard Records)

13. San Francisco Bay Blues – JESSE FULLER (1963 US LP "San Francisco Bay Blues" on Good Time Jazz Records)

14. Special Delivery Blues – ODETTA (accompanied by Bill Lee on Double Bass) (1963 US LP "One Grain Of Sand" on Rounder Records)

15. Step It Up And Go – JACK JOHNSON (1979 US LP "Step It Up And Go" on Rounder Records)

16. Arkansas Blues – TUTS WASHINGTON (1984 US LP "New Orleans Piano Professor" on Rounder Records)

17. Lo, I Will Be With You – REV. GARY DAVIS (1960 US LP "Harlem Street Singer" on Bluesville Records)

18. Ups On The Farm – INMATE Named PETER (1976 US LP "Get Your Ass In The Water And Swim Like Me" on Rounder Records – Spoken Poems by Texas Inmates)

19. John Henry – CEPHAS & WIGGINS (1986 US LP "Dog Days Of August" on Flying Fish Records)

20. Study War No More – HONEY IN THE ROCK (1986 US LP "We All…Everyone Of Us" on Flying Fish Records)

Setting the Historical scene – CD1 opens with Preservation Hall Jazz Band giving a bit of "Bourbon Street Parade"  – a ragtime originally released 2012 in the USA. But I must say it is not my idea of live bliss let alone a good starter. On to something only marginally better – a modern-day Roots duet – Shardé Thomas and Corey Harris doing a 2002 version of a 1930 Mississippi Sheiks 78" classic "Sitting On Top Of The World". Good but again not great. But then it happens – the magic you had hoped for – an astonishing Mississippi Fred McDowell 1962 one-man-and-his-slide-acoustic-guitar recording of "61 Highway" that had remained in the can until it was issued in 1995 on Rounder Records. Complete with foot taps and the occasional cough and recorded at McDowell's home – Blakemore has Remastered the relaxed but mighty Blues Man and his strutting lowdown shuffle into your living room. "61 Highway" made me find every Acoustic Blues (or thereabouts) on CD1 and program/sequence it as such – Tracks 3, 8, 6, 10, 11, 16 and 19. What a listen!

The next half-decent track is Etta Baker plucking her acoustic on the self-penned "One Dime Blues" – another gorgeous recording done in 1990. But again, even that is whomped by the real deal – influential Bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in 1960 – his fantastic voice and menacing shuffle bemoaning the fact that his former lover is now driving around town with her handsome at the wheel. The fabulous "Automobile Blues" literally shuffles around your Stereo with a barely contained jealous rage whilst emoting the kind of cool white guys with guitars would kill for. Way down in Louisiana Bennie Richardson is leading the Chain Gang as they sing to pick-axe rhythms – seriously eerie stuff to hear. Nice then to catch the familiar healing sound of The Staple Singers – Pops and his distinctive shimmering guitar song while the ladies double-up on the vocal responses (hush now baby, don't you cry). Long-time heroes of the Blues Duet format – Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry sound so damn good on their Harmonica and Acoustic Guitar "Blues Before Sunrise" – and such fabulously clean audio that lets it breathe. Other goodies include a rapido Banjo plucking Dink Roberts trying in vain to "Fox Chase" – Accordion Bop with Clifton Chenier on Specialty Records and a truly amazing Skip James oozing pain on "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" with a Guitar and Voice (how many white Rock Bands dug this and turned it into Led Zeppelin and Cream type Rock-Blues). 

CD2 opens with a 2021 muscle-recording barnstormer – Cedric Burnside laying into a ZZ Top-ish slide guitar boogie – a child crying at night asking the Lord to his "Step In". Back to roots-basics with the grim-hardship tale of "Pretty Polly" - Amythyst Kiah and his banjo recalling in gruesome detail the story of a young girl leaving her family and loved ones behind forced by a bad man to endure an abusive pig who eventually kills her (literally a knife in her heart) – but her ghost gets revenge of sorts. Lonnie Johnson gleefully informs that he's got 99-women and only needs one more in his philanthropic "St. Louis Blues"  (we know what you feel Lon – stay strong brother). Leyla McCalls lays out the rules of life in her unnervingly jolly "Money Is King" – if a man has money today – he can commit murder and get off free – her roots band plucking Violas, Banjos and Trumpets adding a menace to the lyrics. The Traditional "Polly Put The Kettle On" gets a Vocals and Harmonica going over by Dom Flemons and his band of Roots players. Better and beautifully recorded – Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' give it some National Steel and Acoustic guitar on a 2017 croaking vocal duet of the Sleepy John Estes Blues Classic "Diving Duck Blues" (Taj is going to love his baby until the Moo Cows come home). 

Incorporating Creole and Cajun lyrics/rhythms – I can't understand a word the wonderfully-named Boozoo Chavis is saying throughout the near six-minutes of "Crying Blues" - but the music is joyous and genuinely uplifting in a Van Morrison at-his-best type of way and destined for a mix tape (a highlight on CD2 for me). Time for some shouting Gospel-type Vocals alongside wild Pedal Steel Guitar – Campbell Brothers giving us an energetic 1997 rendition of the Traditional "Morning Train". John Lee Hooker is gonna wear Holy Slippers when he reaches the Golden Land – all his troubles over "When I Lay My Burden Down" – a fabulous late 50ts unreleased Guitar and Vocals recording first issued on the 2017 Craft Recordings 5CD Book Set "King Of The Boogie". Husbands, Wives and Children all lost their lives in the cold abyss – put in the inescapable belly of the poorly riveted 1912 cruise liner – Lesley Riddle and his lone slide acoustic guitar recounting the maiden-voyage tragedy of the "Titanic". 

Old-timers Mississippi John Hurt and Jesse Fuller impress with their slinky 60ts tunes "Candy Man" and "San Francisco Bay Blues" - but are seriously outgunned by a full-throated Odetta as she her guitar and the Double-Bass of Bill Lee (both are pictured on Page 39 of the booklet) beat "Special Delivery Blues" into submission. The hugely personable John Jackson attacks his Acoustic Guitar for "Step It Up And Go" – a 1979 jolly-Blues foot-tapper from 1979 on Rounder Records. Other old-timey winners include Rev. Gary Davis getting serious about his beliefs with "Lo, I Will Be With You Always" and a fantastic cut from Cephas & Wiggins doing the Traditional "John Henry". And on it goes to Sweet Honey In The Rock overdoing it a bit on the Holy Roller front - it has to be said. 

On the inside flap of CD2 is a 2021 quote from modern Bluesman Corey Harris filling us in on what this sonic 2CD compendium is chronicling – "…where we've been and where we are headed…". I have no doubt about that – but the sheer number of genre hops makes for a disjointed and ragged listen and the dull-as-dishwater artwork on the outside does a major disservice to the audio magic contained within.

I have seen this Craft Recordings twofer for as much as £30 or more – not worth that. But if you see "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" for below a ten-spot – dive in and enjoy those gorgeous remasters – especially on the Vanguard and Riverside Records 50ts and 60ts originals. And frankly anything that Paul Blakemore masters – I need to own it...