"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 a sprightly 81-years of age in December 2024 (26 June was his birthday) – 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. He's been around hit tunes and GF's chart history can prove it.

But what you get here in this September 2024 UK-issued 2CD compilation 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 in the world 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 an impressively healthy number of the tunes are his 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 80s 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 drift 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 this LP listen with too-few-thrills and far-to-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...

"Spooky/Mamas And Papas-Soul Train/Traces/Song" by CLASSICS IV – March 1968 US Debut Album, December 1968 US Second Album, April 1969 US Third Album and August 1970 US Fourth Album – All On Imperial Records And In Stereo – Featuring Dennis Yost, James R. Cobb, Buddy Buie, Emory Gordy, Lari Goss, Don Tweedy and more (November 2018 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spooky-Mamas-Papas-Train-Traces/dp/B07HGR7GY5?crid=AZF44948KDFA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WK-YPyrTjFi7mu9i6h5Y5Q.gEZ1sUyq4ez-YO__jflzs4CZWdG_WoXutIXiQ34PdX8&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261213679&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1729521397&sprefix=5017261213679%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=f7fe014bd8a684b4abaa991446a8ff45&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Material ***

Presentation and Audio **** to *****

"…Love Is Kinda Crazy…"

Formed as far back as 1965 and hailing out of Jacksonville, Florida – the all-American Pop & Beat Band CLASSICS IV hit career pay-dirt with their re-arrangement of a 1966 song called "Spooky" and its release on 45 in late September 1967. Imperial 66259 caught the sensual cool of the Summer of Love perfectly and would soon race up to No.3 on the US Billboard charts in early 1968. It even made inroads in good old Blighty who liked it - but were less excited – so "Spooky" made a reasonable but slightly underwhelming No.46 there when released February 1968 on Liberty Records LBF 15051 (none of their four LP platters got an album release in the UK).

The US Imperial Records album of the same name inevitably followed in March 1968 - as did a slew of hipster cover versions stretching forward at least two years – not least of all by our own chanteuse of the airwaves Dusty Springfield. Her September 1970 45-Single on Philips 6006 045 (although relegated to a B-side of "How Can I Be Sure") almost matched the shimmering silk vibe of the original. A double-whammy combo of sides if there was one. 

And that is where our intrepid but spooked reissue heroes over at Beat Goes On Records in Ing-ger-land come a shimmying in. Here are the kinda crazy details…

UK released Friday, 9 November 2018 (December 2018 in the USA) - "Spooky/Mamas And Papas-Soul Train/Traces/Song" by CLASSICS IV on Beat Goes On BGOCD1367 (Barcode 5017261213679) is a Compilation that offers Four Albums Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (52:49 minutes):
1. Daydream Believer [Side 1]
2. You Are My Sunshine
3. The Letter
4. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
5. Goin' Out Of My Mind
6. Mary, Mary Row Your Boat [side 2]
7. Bus Stop
8. Just Between You And Me
9. Poor People
10. Book A Trip 
11. Spooky
Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Spooky" – released March 1968 in the USA on Imperial LP-12371 (Stereo) – no UK release

12. Soul Train [Side 1]
13. Bed Of Roses
14. Strange Changes
15. Ladies Man
16. Waves
17. Stormy [Side 2]
18. Mama's And Papa's
19. Pity The Fool
20. It Ain't Necessarily So
21. 24 Hours Of Loneliness
22. The Girl From Ipanema (Garota De Ipanema)
Tracks 12 to 22 are their second studio album "Mamas And Papas/Soul Train" – released December 1968 in the USA on Imperial LP-12407 (Stereo) – no UK release

CD2 (61:36 minutes):
1. Everyday With You Girl [Side 1]
2. Mr. Blue
3. Sunny
4. Free
5. Traces
6. Something I'll Remember
7. Our Day Will Come [Side 2]
8. Rainy Day
9. Traffic Jam
10. Sentimental Lady
11. Nobody Loves You But Me
Tracks 1 to 11 are their third studio album "Song" – released April 1969 in the USA on Imperial LP-12429 (Stereo) – no UK release

12. Where Did All The Good Times Go [Side 1]
13. The Comic
14. Cherryhill Park
15. Pick Up The Pieces
16. We Miss You
17. God Knows I Loved Her
18. Midnight [Side 2]
19. Most Of All
20. Ain't It The Truth
21. The Funniest Thing
22. Nobody Loves You But Me
Tracks 12 to 22 are their fourth studio album "Song" (credited to Dennis Yost & The Classics IV) – released August 1970 in the USA on Imperial LST-11033 (Stereo) – no UK release

The 22-page booklet within the outer card slipcase offers all front and rear artwork repro'd across the first eleven pages – that memory-fest followed by in-depth CHARLES WARING liner notes (contributor for Mojo) where he valiantly tries to get us to believe that their music was good – most if it was not. But it also involves interviews – internet references – and great ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters that really make these well-produced albums shine. To the tunes…

Their "Spooky" debut album opens on a weedy moment - a cover of the popular Monkees hit "Daydream Believer" but is soon redeemed by a Funky Groove meets Garage Swagger & Lip remodel of an old 1930s standard "You Are My Sunshine" - Dennis Yost channelling his inner James Brown in stage-exiting pain (yow!). Next up is another well produced cover - "The Letter" by The Box Tops. And for sure by now, you have noticed that there are too many covers and therein lies the danger. This is compounded by an awful deep-voiced stab at the Jimmy Webb classic made famous by Glen Campbell "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" - but they slightly redeem themselves with a Frankie Valli type vocal on the Little Anthony & The Imperials soft-Soul gem "Goin' Out Of My Head". At last we get an original song - "Mary, Mary Row Your Boat" closing out Side 1. Written by J.R. Cobb it sounds similar to the "Spooky" groove but with a more upbeat feel. 

Side 2 opens with a stab at The Hollies' 1966 pop hit "Bus Stop" - Classics IV going all Jam 'Start' with their jerky-rhythm interpretation. More originals with "Just Between You And me" and "Poor People" but they are both average - the first plodding - the second la-la-la dippy silly. Love with a pill is their destination in "Book A Trip" - a good tune - and of course the album finishes with the spectacular "Spooky" - here in glorious Stereo and shimmering in all the right kinda-groovy places (let's go to a movie with a spooky little girl like you). 

The second album from 1968 goes a little more Rhythm 'n' Blues - the boys trying to ride that Train to Groovesville. Both "Bed Of Roses" and the opener "Soul Train" try hard to make their brass and strings-charts mark but the Dwayne Eddy guitar twang of "Strange Changes" is better. "Ladies Man" goes on about cheaters and again the Buie/Cobb written "Waves" sounds too much like poor-man's 5th Dimension. The ever-so-slightly-soundalike "Stormy" to "Spooky" was a successful 'you are the sunshine baby' 45. Imperial 63328 paired it with "24 Hours Of Loneliness"  from Side 2 of the album. But the rest of the LP - beautifully produced or no - feels like Lounge Music - and not in a good way. 

Come 1969 and album number three "Traces" the love-you-more-and-more-and-more saccharine is poured on with regrettable tunes like "Everyday With You Girl" and "Mr. Blue" and an elevator-ready "Our Day Will Come". They go back to that-winning 'Spooky' feel by going at "Sunny" - that saxophone solo giving it some serious muscle. Two of the third's albums better tracks follow - the out-of-jail "Free" (chains and sorrow, a thing of the past) and the acoustic-driven title track "Traces" - a soft-soap faded-photographs ballad - the sort of ribbons-from-her-hair gloop that might have ended the credits of a movie that's trying to hard to be sincere. And on it goes - a weedy and avoidable LP. 

By the time we get to album number four - they are now credited as Dennis Yost & The Classic IV and the Production values are full-on professional. Guitarist James R. Cobb and Producer/Arranger Buddy Buie penned most of the "Song" LP - but again it's too many overcooked Donny Osmond 'Puppy Love' type tunes with syrupy lyrics and walls of violins. By the time you get to "God Knows I Loved Her" - you've had enough of the second-rate Frankie Valli soundalikes. 

They of the one-word hit-song wonders ("Spooky", "Stormy" and "Traces") were an American chart phenomenon and yet these albums are available for under a pound on well-known auction sites. Unfortunately when you have to wade through them - you can so understand why. Dennis Host would go on to form and nail more Radio-Friendly success with Atlanta Rhythm Section (no less than seven BGO releases of their catalogue are featured on the rear inlay advert insert - see photos). 

"Spooky/Mamas And Papas-Soul Train/Traces/Song" by CLASSICS IV isn't genius for damn sure - and for my palette - too much of this admittedly beautifully recorded stuff is ordinary and dismissible (very three-star stuff). But fans will need to own it and you must give the nod to BGO who have once again fed our Transatlantic fixation with another quality presentation. Just go easy on that 'they'll all be like the cool and sassy Spooky' thought process...

"Leaving It All Behind/Move Along/Alotta' Mileage Plus Bonus Tracks" by THE GRASS ROOTS – Featuring Their Fifth, Sixth and Seventh US LPs from 1969 (1970 UK), 1972 and 1973 on ABC Dunhill Records in the USA and Stateside and Probe Records in the UK - Plus Bonus Tracks – Fifteen Non-LP 45-Single Sides from 1966 to 1973 (November 2023 UK Beat Goes on (BGO) Compilation – 3LPs Plus Fourteen 45-Single-Sides onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leaving-Behind-Along-Alotta-Mileage/dp/B0CHPQP724?crid=1SAXOA9Z1L925&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uI245PCKZt1ibNdQaKZ2gw.VjMMtkBeTD0r3Zu1ZpdedzTpb9ptKt9cA9UoWR3HBAw&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261215109&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1729363091&sprefix=5017261215109%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=0088a60a3941e2554326d9342ba3409a&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Material *** to ****

Audio **** to *****

Presentation: *****

"…Leaving It All Behind…"

Back in April 2022, reissue specialists Beat Goes On Records (BGO) of the UK put out the first four American albums by popular Billboard chart-act The Grass Roots. The 1966 debut was "Where Were You When I Needed You" followed by "Let's Live For Today" in 1967 - "Feelings" came in 1968 and "Lovin' Things" in early 1969. With 4 whole LPs Remastered onto 2CDs – BGOCD1478 (Barcode 5017261214782) representing serious value for money (and still does – see separate review).

Well, here in November 2023, BGO continues that exploration with another foursome compilation onto two discs – their fifth, sixth and seventh studio platters plus a whopping Fourteen 45-single sides (Non-LP A & B-sides) as Bonuses - all but making up a fourth album. Leaving it all behind indeed.

As with so much of their material, there are reasons why their vinyl does not go for money some 50-plus-years after the events. It is not all genus for damn sure, not by a long shot to my ears, but genre fans will love it and period curious hunters of Pop, Garage and Rock nuggets have much to rediscover. And those rare single-sides are a brilliant move by BGO. Lot to get through, so onwards to the moving along…

UK released 3 November 2023 - "Leaving It All Behind/Move Along/Alotta' Mileage Plus Bonus Tracks" by THE GRASS ROOTS on Beat Goes on BGOCD1510 (Barcode 5017261215109) is a Compilation of 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs Plus 15 Bonus 45-Single A&B Sides (on CD2) that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (68:12 minutes):
1. I'm Livin' For You Girl [Side 1]
2. Back To Dreamin' Again
3. Out Of This World
4. Melinda Love
5. Don’t Remind Me
6. Take Him While You Can
7. Heaven Knows [Side 2]
8. Walking Through The Country
9. Something's Comin' Over Me
10. Truck Drivin' Man
11. Wait A Million Years
Tracks 1 to 11 are their fifth album "Leaving It All Behind" – released December 1969 in the USA on ABC/Dunhill DS 50067 and March 1970 in the UK on Stateside SSL 5012 in Stereo. Produced by STEVE BARRI (Engineered by Roger Nichols, Strings by Jimmie Haskell) – the band featured Warren Entner on Vocals and Guitar, Rob Grill on Bass and Vocals with Guitarist Terry Furlong, Keyboardist Dennis Provisor and Drummer Rick Coonce.

12. The Runway [Side 1]
13. Monday Love
14. Anyway The Wind Blows
15. Runnin' Just To Get Her Home Again
16. Two Divided By Love
17. Someone To Love
18. Face The Music [Side 2]
19. Move Along
20. One Word 
21. Only One
22. Glory Bound
Tracks 12 to 22 are their sixth album "Move Along" – released June 1972 in the USA on Dunhill/ABC Records DSX-50112 – ABC SW-94786 and August 1972 in the UK on Probe SPB 1058. Produced by STEVE BARRI (Engineers Roger Nichols and Phil Kaye, String Arrangements Jimmie Haskell) - the band featured Warren Entner on Vocals and Guitar, "Uncle" Virgil Webber on Keyboards, Reed Kailing on Guitar, Rob Grill on Bass and Vocals with Joel Larson on Drums. 

CD2 (75:59 minutes):
1. Where There's Smoke There's Fire [Side 1]
2. Pick Up Your Feet
3. You've Got To Bend With The Breeze
4. Just A Little Tear
5. Ain't No Way To Go Home
6. Claudia
7. Love Is What You Make It [Side 2]
8. Look But Don't Touch
9. Ballad Of Billy Joe
10. We Almost Made It Together
11. Little Bit Of Love
Tracks 1 to 11 are their seventh album "Alotta' Mileage" – released May 1973 in the USA on Dunhill DSX-50137 (no UK issue). Produced by STEVE BARRI - the band featured Warren Entner on Vocals and Guitar, "Uncle" Virgil Webber on Keyboards, Reed Kailing on Guitar, Rob Grill on Bass and Vocals with Joel Larson on Drums. 

BONUS TRACKS (Exclusive 45-Single Sides): 
12. You're A Lonely Girl – September 1965 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4013, Non-LP B-side to "Mr. Jones (Ballad Of A Thin Man)"

13. (These Are) Bad Times – April 1966 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4029, Non-LP B-side to "Where Were You When I Needed You"

14. Depressed Feeling – April 1967 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4048, Non-LP B-side of "Let's Live For Today"

15. Midnight Confessions – June 1968 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4144, A-side

16. Bella Linda – November 1968 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4162, A-side

17. I'd Wait A Million Years – June 1969 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4198, A

18. Baby Hold On
19. Get It Together – Tracks 18 and 19 are the A&B-sides of an April 1970 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4237

20. Come On And Say It – September 1970 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4249, A-side ("Something's Comin' Over Me" from the "Leaving It All Behind" album is the B-side)

21. Temptation Eyes
22. Keepin' Me Down – Tracks 21 and 22 are the A&B-sides of a December 1970 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4263

23. Sooner Or Later
24. I Can Turn Off The Rain – Tracks 23 and 24 are the A&B-sides of a May 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4279

25. We Can't Dance To Your Music – September 1973 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4371, A-side ("Look But Don't Touch" from the "Alotta' Mileage" album is the B-side)

As with all these Beat Goes On 2CD compilations – the outer card slipcase looks classy while the 20-page booklet is a properly chunky affair – repro artwork at the start – all those rare US and Euro picture sleeves forming a montage on the back page – and all of it centred by liner notes from Mojo contributor CHARLES WARING that goes deep into the history. UK fans will probably look at these album covers and squint because The Grass Roots were never anything in Blighty – but they charted in the USA. Waring documents 45-by-45, chart positions, the albums, the band personnel that stuck together album-after-album.

Our compilation opens with their second album in a busy 1969 - "Leaving It All Behind". Many months prior, Dunhill took a shorter cut of the LP track "Wait A Million Years" (called "I'd Wait A Million Years" on the initial 45) and coupled it with a song that finished Side 2 of the previous album "Lovin' Things" (March 1969) called "Fly Me To Havana". It did well, rising to No.15 on the Billboard charts. A couple of months before the album hit the shops in December – Dunhill tested the US market again but this time with two from the new LP - "Heaven Knows" b/w "Don't Remind Me". It made No.24. 

You could call these Rob Grill-voiced stabs at Motownesque dancefloor sensibility almost White Boys Soul. To that end, Dunhill staff-writer Kenny Nolan (soon to have a career of his own) composed "Back To Dreamin' Again" for The Grass Roots – but his real ear for Soulfulness would show as co-author of two mid-Seventies classics - "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle and "My Eyes Adored You" for Frankie Valli. Another tasty period morsel on the "Leaving It All Behind" album is the Beatle-ish harmonies of "Melinda Love" – a co-write between singer Entner and Producer Barri. Overall - I would call "Leaving..." a 3-star album (Steely Dan nerds might want to note the Roger Nichols credit as Engineer - whilst Arrangement hounds will immediately know the name Jimmie Haskell).

Album number six "Move Along" from June 1972 (number two in the collection) saw the line-up drop Guitarist Terry Furlong, Keyboardist Dennis Provisor and Drummer Rick Coonce - replaced with Reed Kailing (Guitars), 'Uncle' Virgil Webber (Keyboards) with new Drummer Joel Larson (an early member of the band back in 1965-1966). "Move Along" opens with the big and brassy Soul-Rock stomp that is "The Runway" - an airport runway being the only way to get back to his baby. Both Entner and Grill sharing lead vocals. The well-produced Soulified-feel continues with the I'm-in-love "Monday Love" - the whole thing sounding like an updated Sixties vibe with the other foot in the early 70ts. As far back as October 1971, Dunhill paired the Motownesque "Two Divided By Love" with "Let It Go" on Dunhill D-4289 and that managed a respectable No. 15 on the Billboard Pop charts. 

Before the "Move Along" LP appeared in shops in June 1972, two from it were paired - the piano-pounding dancer "Glory Bound" b/w the syrupy ballad "Only One" in January 1972 - but that 45 didn't do as well as its predecessor as it stalled at No.34. As if to hammer home the album as an event - Dunhill took stab number three linking the catchy opener "The Runway" with the LP's title track "Move Along" in June 1972 (Dunhill D-4316) but despite 'Runway' having excellent grooves and radio-friendly vibes - it too failed to meet expectations by falling at No.39. Tracks like "One Word" too are very obvious hit-searchers - the whole shebang ending on the upbeat five-o'clock in the morning but its a sunny day bop of "Glory Bound".

"Alotta' Mileage" used the same line-up as "Move Along" but replaced Veteran Arranger Jimmie Haskell with wunder-kid Michael Omartian - a name many liner-note hounds will know turned up on serious albums in the mid-to-late Seventies - stuff like Billy Joel's "Piano Man", Christopher Cross's debut "Christopher Cross" and mighty-of-mighties - Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic and "Aja". In fact his class act chops have amassed a staggering 2000-plus credits to date. But as a band that previously shifted product, their number seemed up. "Alotta' Mileage" was just another album in 1973 and didn't break Billboard's top 200. Which is a shame - you can immediately hear the Production and Arrangement values have increased - the jaunty "Where's There's Smoke There's Fire" being a perfectly danceable 45 for '73.

But the supposed vocal sincerity and positivity-lyrics in "Pick Up Your Feet" feel forced and reaching despite the riffing and laidback harmonies. Before the album hit the shops, Dunhill paired "Love Is What You Make It" with "Someone To Love" from the previous LP "Move Along" but again the single failed to break. The album is also notable for some clever cover version choices - the Mann/Weil penned "Just A Little Tear" turned into Pop and Charlie Rich's "Ballad Of Billy Joe" given a very Eagles strummed Acoustic Guitars take. But best of all is the only moment The Grass Roots seem to rock out - their cover of Free's "Little Bit of Love" ending a patch album on a very definite high point. It isn't Free for damn sure (no band gets close to them really) - but it's a great stab at a great song that maintains the riffage and upbeat vibe in Paul Rodgers' lyrics (I do believe Rodger). Crank its fantastic production values and enthusiastic axe chiming and you might just be there (surely a contender for a movie insertion any day now). 

The fourteen single-sides are a ragbag good-and-bad bunch ranging (release date wise) from 1966 to 1973 - a huge number on Non-LP sides. Garage fans will love the fuzzed up broken-heart frenzy of "You're A Lonely Girl" - clear and punching guitar. Cool and Bluesy 60ts comes chopping in with the fab quarrel song "(These Are) Bad Times" - again another film inclusion beckons methinks. The Grass Roots sound starts to emerge with "Depressed Feelings" - another state-of-confusion Garage bopper that hurries along at a frantic pace will distorted guitars express the angst (at ease boys). Production values leap upwards with "Midnight Confessions" - an excellent Pop tune that could easily have been an A. Of the remainder I like the Guitar chugging Funk and Punk of "Get It Together" - everybody in the land reaching out to their fellow man - happy and alive - oh yeah baby. And on it goes...

Grass Roots albums are not what you would call collectable – often available for a pound or less on auction sites – if you can sell them at all. As I recall when I worked at Reckless in Islington and Soho – they were a no-no in terms of sales. 

And yet, there was reasons why they consistently charted in their native America. And a huge slab of them are on offer here. 

"Leaving It All Behind/Move Along/Alotta' Mileage Plus Bonus Tracks" by The Grass Roots is another stellar compilation in all areas from Beat Goes On…

"The World Of Charlie McCoy/The Nashville Hit Man/Charlie My Boy!/Harpin' The Blues" by CHARLIE McCOY – June 1968 US Debut Album Plus His Seventh (September 1974), Ninth (May 1975) and Tenth Studio Albums (February 1976) all on Monument Records - featuring Members of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry plus sessionmen Mac Gayden, Bobbie Emmons, Reggie Young and more (October 2024 UK Beat Goes On Compilation – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Charlie-McCoy-Nashville-Harpin/dp/B0D1TPHKTZ?crid=2KBXMGCXU7WP2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xLU6WDy3bmmqjKMKf12jJg.FrhKYghfh5H2kQ_N8uHfQgjwgBVnFMqXiLqL02XfD3c&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261215277&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1728493031&sprefix=5017261215277%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=354228f55247175f138e58fdbc31da1f&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

"…The Nashville Man…"

Award-winning Harmonica virtuoso Charlie McCoy has 50-plus years of Nashville sessions to his name and West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Awards up to the wazoo - let alone his stints with fondly remembered US Country-Rock acts like Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. Charlie was also quietly enamoured to listeners in Blighty long before they knew his name – the Area Code 615 Harmonica-driven instrumental "Stone Fox Chase" being the theme music to The Old Grey Whistle Test Rock TV programme on BBC hosted of course by Whispering Bob Harris. Every week his chugging harp hit our living rooms – and we did not know him. 

Back to the matter at hand - this is only the second outing in the UK for his American Monument Records studio albums under his own name (May 2018 saw another BGO twofer compilation). 

What you get here is four – the first dating from 1968 (his US Debut not issued in the UK), then his Seventh from 1974 with two from 1975 - his Ninth (not issued in the UK) and Tenth studio sets. In short - buy this and you acquire a quartet of Country Rock, Harmonica Instrumentals and Sung Tunes albums expertly remastered by Andrew Thompson onto two discs - all of it wrapped in a tasty card slipcase with a chunky 20-page booklet inside. Beat Goes On supplies black and white page repros of the front and rear artwork (pre-ambling the text) - followed by new May 2024 liner notes from BGO's resident Folk and Country scribe – JOHN O'REGAN. 

The 2CD Charlie McCoy compilation Beat Goes On BGOCD1527 is a substantial haul – it really is. If only most of it was actually worth listening to. Here's Harpin'…

UK released Friday, 4 October 2024 (delayed from May and September - released 27 September 2024 in the USA) - "The World Of/The Nashville Hit Man/Charlie My Boy!/Harpin' The Blues" by CHARLIE McCOY on Beat Goes On BGOCD1527 (Barcode 5017261215277) is a Compilation that remasters Four Albums onto Two CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (64:53 minutes):
1. Jump Back Baby [Side 1]
2. Gimme Some Lovin'
3. Hey Baby
4. Candy Man
5. (Turn On Your) Love Light
6. Harpoon Man
7. Fingertips [Side 2]
8. Up Tight
9. Ode To Billie Joe
10. Shotgun
11. Juke
12. Good Vibrations
Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut album "The World Of Charlie McCoy" – release June 1968 in the USA on Monument SLP-18097 in Stereo (no UK issue). Produced by Fred Foster.

13. Silver Threads And Golden Needles [Side 1]
14. Help Me
15. Fire Ball Mail
16. The Way We Were
17. Keep On Harpin'
18. You Win Again
19. Boogie Woogie (A/K/A.T.D.'s Boogie Woogie) [Side 2]
20. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)
21. Heart Over Mind
22. Ruby
23. Let Me Be There
Tracks 13 to 23 are his seventh studio album "The Nashville Hit Man" – released September 1974 in the USA on Monument KZ 32922 and August 1975 in the UK on Monument MNT 80115

CD2 62:52 minutes): 

1. Old Joe Clark [Side 1]

2. The Twelfth Of Never
3. City Lights
4. I Honestly Love You
5. New River Gorge
6. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
7. Everybody Stand Up And Holler For The Union [Side 2]
8. Making Believe
9. Back Home in Indiana
10. Sweet Memories
11. Juke
Tracks 1 to 12 are his ninth studio album "Charlie My Boy!" – released May 1975 in the USA on Monument KZ 33384 (no UK issue)

12. After Hours [Side 1]
13. Lovesick Blues
14. (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
15. Basin Street Blues
16. A Tribute To Little Walter
17. Columbus Stockade Blues
18. Blue Yodel No.1 (T For Texas) [Side 2]
19. Blues Stay Away From Me
20. St. Louis Blues
21. Night Life
22. Working Man's Blues
Tracks 12 to 22 are his tenth studio album "Harpin' The Blues" – released February 1976 in the USA on Monument KZ 33802 and May 1976 in the UK/Europe on Monument MNT 69204

The pre-Summer 1968 debut was not about originality – almost every song an R&B or 60ts Soul cover version with the occasional nod to Pop Charts popularity  – Rufus Thomas for "Jump Back Baby", England vs. US R&B by The Spencer David Group for "Gimme Some Lovin'", Bobby Bland for "(Turn On You) Love Light", Bruce Chanell and his "Hey Babe", Roy Orbison and Fred Neil for the licking stick of "Candy Man", Stevie Wonder hitting those high Harmonica notes on "Fingertips" and "Up Tight", Bobbie Gentry slink with "Ode to Billie Joe", the summer love of The Beach Boys feeling 1968 "Good Vibrations" – you get the picture. 

McCoy puts in a half-decent effort as principal vocalist (Bergen White and Mac Gayden are the Backing singers) while his up-and-down the scales Harmonica fills anchor every frantic dancefloor-orientated stab at 60ts hip. It is genuinely hard to call the languid acoustic guitar and harmonica wails of "Ode to Billie Joe" a sexy-cool instrumental – but the great audio and speaker-to-speaker production at least give it more than a fighting chance (probably the best cut on the LP, expect to hear it in a Movie or TV show any day soon). But stuff like his rearranged go's at the Jr. Walker And The All-Stars neck-jerking hit "Shotgun" and The Beach Boys intricate "Good Vibrations" will only make you want to run back to the January 1965 Motown original and the October 1966 Capitol 45-masterpiece no matter how hard either of these McCoy pretenders try. The Little Walter Chess classic "Juke" is another tasty moment as is the Mac Gayden, Wayne Moss, Wilburn original song co-write "Harpoon Man".

But while the debut is tolerable – by the time we get to platter number two on offer here - we have reached 1974 – huge production values – massive sessionman list – but everything is saccharine poured on syrup – faux Country-Pop of almost insufferable dimensions. The weepy Barbra Streisand vehicle "The Way We Were" is awful but at least his cover of the Hank Williams classic "You Win Again" gets a slide guitar, piano honky-tonk, harmonica shuffle that works in its own cheesy way. But even the presence of his band Barefoot Jerry cannot save "Boogie Woogie" – a wimp instrumental that opens Side 2. Fiddles, strings and pedal-steel give a barn-dance shuffle to the Mel Tillis song "Heart Over Mind" – but it all ends on a bad vocals version of "Let Me Be There" – cheeseball that is hard to bare in 2024.

Big production values again for the Banjo and Harp romp that is "Old Joe Clark" – a Traditional McCoy goes on Flying Burrito Bros on. But then its back to schlock with "The Twelfth Of Never" compounded by bippity-boppity fay Country takes "City Lights" immediately followed by more chart wallow in "I Honestly Love You" (Osmonds and Olivia Newton-John for God sake). The only moments of respite are instrumental covers of the Kris Kristofferson song "Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends" and a Mickey Newbury ballad "Sweet Memories" – but again they are overdone with strings and pedal-steel. McCoy revisits Little Walter for the LP closer "Juke" – but this time with a Rockabilly Stray Cats bop that just about crucifies an R&B classic.

The "Harpin' The Blues" album opens with a spoken-word passage on the Blues – oh dear oh dear – and again song after song Countryfies classics with Harmonica and Pedal Steel and overdone Strings and Girl Singers oohing-and-aahing as if they are sincere. Here in 2024, there is a terrible lingering hick-nature to these 70ts LPs. New Orleans gets done too – Rag Time – making for odd bedfellows with the razor-sharp production on the finger-clicking "Columbus Stockade Blues". Again, he talks intros to Little Walter and Jimmie Rogers covers and there is no doubting the Dobro playing expertise on "Blue Yodel…" but his words feel intrusive in the middle of songs rather than enlightening or even entertaining. 

If you are a Charlie McCoy fan then the fantastic audio and presentation will make BGOCD 1527 an essential purchase – but for everyone else, I urge a listen first…

"If You Saw Thro' My Eyes/Tigers Will Survive + Bonus Track" by IAN MATTHEWS – May 1971 UK Debut Solo Album, March 1972 UK Second Solo Album both on Vertigo Plus a May 1973 UK Stand-Alone 45-Single A-side with a B-side from his 1972 Second Album – featuring Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention on Guitars, Sandy Denny, Andy Roberts, Tim Renwick, Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway of Fotheringay, Keith Tippett (Keyboards), Del Newman (String Arrangements) with Backing Vocalists Doris Troy, Liza Strike and Nanette Workman (July 2024 UK Beat Goes On Compilation – 2LPs Plus One Bonus Track Onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thro-Tigers-Survive-bonus-track/dp/B0D1T38MR7?crid=J8S72DAVW98N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.290g56cXICGnrYp26yJ2Nw.ZIgCH2ZP0YCpnl_Is_XO52QZxJ82PfCXRuyeuQdQpd0&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261215260&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1728218666&sprefix=5017261215260%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=24f430af334f6d180ed211ce3f4c29ff&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

*** Music

***** Presentation

***** Audio

"…No Kind Of Rest…"

Ex-Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort – Ian Matthews was a five-album veteran by the time he signed to Vertigo Records in 1971 to start his voluminous solo career that continues to this day and on into a new tour for 2025. 

Here in the 53-year-and-counting future of July 2024 - England's Beat Goes On Records turn their classy reissue eyes onto his first two platters and typically they have done a stellar job even if the material tappers off a lot on LP number two which consists mostly of cover versions that feel incongruous and out-of-place. 

But both albums were beautifully produced and with new BGO remasters and tasty presentation – fans are getting the full whack. To the Eyes of the Tigers…

UK released Friday, 5 July 2024 - "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes/Tigers Will Survive + Bonus Track" by IAN MATTHEWS on Beat Goes On BGOCD1526 (Barcode 5017261215260) is a Compilation featuring his May 1971 Solo Debut, Feb 1972 Second Studio LP (both on Vertigo Records) Plus One Bonus Track – A Stand Along Single Side from 1973 with a 1972 2nd Album B-side (on Philips Records) - Remastered onto 1CD that plays out as follows (80:43 minutes):

1. Desert Inn [Side 1]
2. Hearts
3. Never Ending
4. Reno Nevada
5. Little Known
6. Hinge (Part 1)
7. Hinge (Part 2) [Side 2]
8. Southern Wind
9. It Came Without Warning
10. You Couldn't Lose
11. Morgan The Pirate
12. Thro' My Eyes
Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut solo album (after two with Fairport Convention and three with Matthews Southern Comfort) "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes" – released May 1971 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 034 and Vertigo VEL-1002 in the USA. Produced by IAN MATTHEWS – Guest Musicians included Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Andy Roberts, Tim Renwick, Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway of Fotheringay, Keith Tippett (Keyboards), Del Newman (String Arrangements) with Backing Vocalists Doris Troy, Liza Strike and Nanette Workman. All songs Ian Matthews originals except "Little Known" and "Morgan The Pirate" by Richard Farina and "It Came Without Warning" written by Allan Jake Jacobs and Jerry Burnham of Jake And The Family Jewels – first issued on the self-titled debut LP in 1970 on Polydor 24-4029; Jerry Burnham was also in The Fifth Avenue Band on Reprise Records (1970) and The Quinaimes Band on Elektra Records (1971)

13. Never Again [Side 1]
14. Close The Door Lightly When You Go
15. Unamerican Activity Dream
16. Morning Show
17. The Only Dancer
18. Tigers Will Survive [Side 2]
19. Midnight On The Water
20. Right Before My Eyes
21. Da Doo Ron Ron
22. Hope You Know
23. Please Be My Friend
Tracks 13 to 23 are his second studio album "Tigers Will Survive" – released March 1972 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 056 and Vertigo VEL-1010 in the USA.
Note: although the US LP sported the same gatefold artwork as the UK issue, the sides were reversed. To sequence the US-LP use the following tracks:
Side 1: Tracks 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23
Side 2: Tracks 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17

BONUS TRACK:
24. Devil In Disguise (a Flying Burrito Brothers cover version, see 45s below)

This 2024 CD compilation will allow fans to sequence his first four UK 45-singles:
"Hearts" b/w "Little Known", April 1971 UK Debut 45 on Vertigo 6059 041
Both tracks from the debut album "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes" (Tracks 2 and 5)

"Reno Nevada" b/w "Desert Inn", September 1971 UK 2nd 45 on Vertigo 6059 048
Both tracks from the debut album "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes" (Tracks 4 and 1)

"Da Doo Ron Ron" b/w "Never Again", February 1972, UK 3rd 45 on Philips 6006 197. Both tracks from his second studio album "Tigers Will Survive" (Tracks 21 and 13) 

"Devil In Disguise" b/w "Thro' My Eyes", May 1973, UK 4th 45 on Vertigo 6059 081. A-side was a stand-alone British release (track 24) with the B-side "Thro' My Eyes" being a song from his debut album "If You Saw Thro' My Eyes" (Track 12)

The card slipcase (wraparound) gives these BGO reissues a classy look and feel and the 16-page booklet reproduces both the gatefold sleeves and their artwork throughout its pages - JOHN O'REGAN doing his usual stellar job of setting the background in the liner-notes - then continuing into the now (he touches on relationships with musicians like Andy Roberts in the 70s (Plainsong) - on to his Iain change of name). But the real fireworks comes in the crystal clear Audio courtesy of another ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster to savour. Even when I feel there is a certain samy dullness to his songs - the Audio here is a huge draw. To the tunes...

Arguably the prettiest songs on the debut are those involving his fellow muckers in Fairport Convention – Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny and members of the one-album Folk-Rock supergroup Fotheringay. Richard picks beautiful Acoustic Guitar on the plucked-string ballad "You Couldn't Lose" but that is soundly trampled by the genuine beauty of the album's final cut "Thro' My Eyes". It has  Matthews and Sandy Denny duetting on Vocals with Tim Renwick of Quiver on echoed-background Electric Guitar while Sandy tinkers on the piano. Even it only lasts 2:34 minutes – it ends his debut on a beautiful plaintive high. You can't help thinking that Vertigo missed a trick in not issuing it as duet 45-single instead of condemning it to the B-side of a forgotten stand-alone song in May 1973 ("Devil In Disguise", the compilations Bonus Track). 

The debut's "Reno Nevada" and "Morgan The Pirate" are both cover versions of Richard Farina songs while "It Came Without Warning" is an Allan Jacobs and Jeremiah Burnham song they did for Jake And The Family Jewels in 1970. The LP was well-produced and you can 'so' hear that in the transfers of "Hinge", "Never Ending" and the plucky opener "Desert Inn" - Matthews establishing that soft Folk-Rock sound he gets - Plainsong meets Fotheringay - a gorgeous combo of sounds and styles in my book. 

I recall hearing the second album probably a year after it had released back in 1973 and thinking the covers-overload didn't work. Eric Anderson gets done on "Close The Door Lightly When You Go" - another Richard Farina entry comes in the shape of "Unamerican Activity Dream" - Peter Carr has his "The Only Dancer" given a Folky going over while easily the bizarrest and most out of place song is an Acapella cover of Spector's "Da Doo Ron Ron" which Vertigo clearly thought might catch the Rock 'n' Roll Revival marketplace but it didn't. I liked "Midnight On The Water" and the title track "Tigers Will Survive" but I can so understand why these Vertigo Spiral label albums don't go for the big bucks others do. 

Everything about this reissue is classy – two rare albums on Vertigo (Spiral) from 1971 and 1972 plus a Stand-Alone 45 from 1973 (none other than a Flying Burrito Brothers cover backing by a gem) – and all of it sounding truly fantastic and accompanied by quality packaging. But the listen feels laboured at times and ever so slightly uninspired. There are reasons why Ian Matthews albums go for such little dosh on one of the most desirable of British labels more than five decades later – they were good without ever really rising above that – nice but without exciting you (like say a John Martyn album on Island Records would). 

But for those who love the guy and his plaintive Americana Folk-Rock sound, this is a non-brainer purchase and highly recommended...

"It's Alive" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS – September 1978 US and UK Sixth Album, First Live Double Album on A&M Records featuring John Dillon, Steve Cash, Larry Lee, Mike Granda. Steve Canaday, Ruell Chappell and Rune Walla (February 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Reissue – 2LPs onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-Alive-Ozark-Mountain-Daredevils/dp/B0CQ4MX4J6?crid=1XNXH9PAMXUJN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M0uWozpZW5ZivIitBS0H6g.0J94IQ0_TdYefAu7RFZOl7sCdTDnDDLbDSdi5sQ99qo&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261215116&qid=1715354609&sprefix=5017261215116%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=5ea4b68c5a954ed76a4d99c2ced75e81&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

This Review Along With 260 Others Is Available In My

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RATING:

Material: ***

Audio: *** to ****

Presentation: **** to *****

"…Fly Away Home…"

The live double-album in the Seventies was always an event – a way for a band to take those great studio efforts before it and explode them on stage. Artists usually threw in a few tasty cover versions maybe, a new song or two perhaps to satiate loyal fans while individual musicianship had the room not just to spread out - but seriously impress. So it is with a heavy heart that I inform my beloved readers that after five studio sets with their natural home – A&M Records – The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' first live double from September 1978 (finishing their tenure with A&M) was a downer-ending to their Country Rock journey - and as I recall at the time for devotees like me - a major damp squid.

Complete with retro B-movie style artwork front and rear "It's Alive" was also rather dated and at just over sixty-minutes – not particularly generous either. While the self-titled studio debut from 1973 and its even better 1974 follow-up "It'll Shine When It Shines" felt fresh, melodic, and delivered serious fun (5 of the 16 come from those albums) – by the time you cut to four and five years later – a malaise had crept into their weaker songs and a harder musical landscape made The Ozarks sound lame even silly. Worse – I believe "It's Alive" was recorded on tour with Fleetwood Mac (April 1978) who were "Rumours" monstrous at the time so could only play stadiums. So, instead of intimacy which would have served their homegrown acoustic instruments and yee-haw sound well – you get that horrible huge crowd noise – an in the distance vibe - where the sound is smothered by miles of dead air and any lack of real punch.

The new Remaster here carried out by the experienced Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON of England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) tries its best with what is on offer – but only some songs feel fuller while others just sound slightly better and strangely (please forgive the pun) un-alive. I think it was the venues because although the singers try repartee with the audience – it feels like they are in another state. At least the 2024 presentation is top notch – card slipcase – 16-page booklet with new JOHN O'REGAN liner notes – the inner gatefold artwork reproduced etc. Let's get to the Chicken Trains…

UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "It's Alive" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS on Beat Goes On Records (BGO) BGOCD1511 (Barcode 5017261215116) is a straightforward reissue and remaster of a Double Live Album from 1978 onto 1CD and plays out as follows (60:09 minutes):

1. Walkin' Down The Road [Side 1]
2. Black Sky
3. You Know Like I Know
4. River To The Sun
5. Satisfied Mind [Side 2]
6. Fly Away Home
7. Horse Trader
8. Followin' The Way That I Feel
9. Chicken Train [Side 3]
10. Ooh Boys (It's Hot)
11. Homemade Wine
12. Commercial Success
13. Jackie Blue [Side 4]
14. Noah
15. If You Wanna Get To Heaven
16. It's All Over Now
Tracks 1 to 16 are their sixth album (and first live) "It's Alive" – a Live Double-Album released September 1978 in the USA on A&M Records SP-6006 and September 1978 in the UK on A&M Records AMLM 66006. Produced by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS - it peaked at No.176 on the US Billboard album charts (didn't chart UK)

THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS were:
LARRY LEE – Drums, Piano, Guitar
JOHN DILLON -Guitars, piano, Fiddle and Mouthbow
MIKE GRANDA – Bass and Guitar
STEVE CASH – Harmonica
RUNE WALLA – Guitar and Banjo
STEVE CANADAY – Guitar, Bass and Drums
RUELL CHAPPELL – Keyboards
JERRY MILLS - Mandolin

The outer card slipcase and glossy 16-page booklet lend the release a classy look and come resplendent with new liner notes from JOHN O'REGAN (dated December 2023). O'Regan is good at these releases and gives a detailed overview not just of the five studio efforts that preceded "It's Alive" - but the Live Double itself, their departure from A&M Records to Columbia Records in 1980 and beyond into the present day and failed/successful solo efforts and even personal loses. The inner gatefold artwork is reproduced in the centre page spread and the valiant Remaster is care of ANDREW THOMPSON which to my ears has improved most of it and even made a fist of that distance that deadend the original issue. To the music…

Of the sixteen-track set – five were new – three originals and two covers. The cover versions consisted of an almost Acapella go at "Satisfied Mind" – the 1963 Porter Wagoner song from his RCA Camden LP "A Satisfied Mind". Written by Guitarist Jack Rhodes and Fiddle Player Red Hayes – it has become something of a Country standard ever since first touched upon by Glen Campbell in 1968 on Capitol Records. While the other fifteen songs are Live – their cover version of "Satisfied Mind" was recorded at "…the men’s shower, McDonald Arena, Springfield, Missouri…" so it (funny enough) feels like a studio outtake and is a bit of a hoot and reminder of their collective vocal power. Far better is the 2LP finisher – the other cover version – a take on the Bobby Womack classic "It's All Over Now" (also made famous by The Rolling Stones) where the electric guitar side of the band gets to Rock out and have some long-needed fun. The three newbies are a Steve Canady song called "Horse Trader" alongside "Commercial Success" (Steve Cash) and "Ooh Boys (It's Hot)" by Mike Granda. They are good-ish but never rise to great - the not-so subtle jab at the record industry in "Commercial Success" addressing A&M constantly begging them for another "Jackie Blue" radio-friendly jangle hit and the band not reciprocating (their drunken performance on a TV show the month of the live double's release seen by a Company man led to their contract not being renewed). 

The self-titled December 1973 debut is represented by three – the get in the Country Mood sway of "Black Sky" and the clucking and mouthbow-ing "Chicken Train" (both by Steve Cash) and the more melodic ballad "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" – a co-write between Cash and John Dillon. Platter number two "It'll Shine When It Shines" from December 1974 strangely only gets two – the big hit that truly put them and their Country Rock sound on the map "Jackie Blue" and the double-album's opener "Walkin' Down The Road". I would have liked 2nd LP nuggets like "E.E. Lawson", "You Make It Right" or even "Look Away". Their third studio set "The Car Over The Lake Album" from September 1975 is ignored entirely but the fourth "Men From Earth" from September 1976 is flush with four - "Fly Away Home" and "Noah" (John Dillon songs) with "You Know Like I Know" and "Homemade Wine" (Larry Lee songs). The final studio set "Don't Look Down" from October 1977 gets a couplet – the Larry Lee penned "Followin' The Way That I Feel" and the Dillon/Cash co-written "River To The Sun".

Ozark Mountain Daredevil fans will love the fact that "It's Alive" is at last out there on CD again and in proper style, but all others should go back to their sexier and more melodic studio basics – BGOCD648 that has the self-titled debut and "It'll Shine When It Shines" on 1CD - while BGOCD737 gives you three and four "The Car Over The Lake Album" and "Men From Earth" also on 1CD – both sets with great Audio. 

Maybe in the future England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) will reissue the lone catalogue hole from the A&M years - "Don't Look Down" with some of those rare B-sides from the early years or any other straggler goodies. We shall Fly Away Home then…