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"…I'm Gonna Miss You…"
As every Small Faces and Faces fan knows – Ronnie Lane's
primo and sought-after solo career on GM and Island Records in the mid to late
Seventies has had a ludicrously convoluted history on CD. It's involved obscure
re-issue labels, followed by quick deletion and extortion setting in on the
price front almost immediately. And most of these discs have had OK to
occasionally better sound quality.
Well – at last – all of that ends with
Universal’s big label 2CD reissue "Ooh La La: An Island Harvest".
It's not perfect for sure – but damn close. Here are the tins and tambourines…
UK released Monday 10 March 2014 (25 March 2014 in the USA) - "Ooh La La: An Island Harvest" by RONNIE LANE and SLIM CHANCE on Universal-Island 5345422
(Barcode 600753454220) is a 2CD Label Anthology that breaks down
as follows:
Disc 1 (74:41 minutes):
Tracks 1, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 15 are all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
- "Ooh La La (Alternate Studio Take – Take 4)", "Buddy Can Spare
A Dime (Alternate Studio Take – Take 5)", "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down
(And Write Myself A Letter) (Alternate Studio Take)", "You Never Can
Tell (Take 1)", "Back Street
Boy (Jam Session)", "Country Boy (Alternate Take)"
Tracks 8, 14, 17 and 18 are from the 1975 UK album
"Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance" (see sequence below)
Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12 and 13 are from the 1976 UK album
"One For The Road" LP (see sequence below)
Track 16 is "What Went Down (That Night With You)"
– the A-side of a non-album UK 7” single issued February 1975 on Island WIP
6216
Disc 2 (75:26 minutes):
Tracks 1 and 14 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - "The
Poacher (Take 2)" and "Anniversary (Alternate Mix)"
Tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 are from the 1975 UK album
"Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance" (see sequence below)
Tracks 3 and 5 are from the 1976 UK album "One For The
Road" LP (see sequence below)
Track 8 is "Lovely (Single Version)" – the
Non-Album B-side of Track 16 on Disc 1
Tracks 12 to 19 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LIVE tracks from a
BBC Concert 23 April 1974 - "Last Orders Please", "Done This One
Before", "Flags And Banners", "Tell Everyone",
"How Come", "I Believe In You", "Debris" and
"Ooh La La".
You can sequence 'most' of both Island LPs as follows (1/18)
= Disc 1, Track 18 etc.:
"Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance" (July 1975 2nd UK LP on Island ILPS 9321)
Side 1:
1. Little Piece Of
Nothing (1/18)
2. Stone (2/4)
3. A Bottle Of
Brandy (2/6)
4. Street Gang (2/2)
5. Anniversary
(1/14)
6. I'm Gonna Sit
Down And Write Myself A Letter
7. I'm A Country Boy
Side 2:
1. Ain't No Lady
(2/9)
2. Blue Monday
(2/10)
3. Give Me A Penny
(1/8)
4. You Never Can
Tell
5. Tin And
Tambourine (1/17)
6. Single Saddle
(2/7)
"One For The Road" (July 1976 3rd UK LP on Island ILPS 9366)
Side 1:
1. Don't Try 'N'
Change My Mind (1/2)
2. 32nd Street (1/7)
3. Snake (1/12)
4. Burnin' Summer
(1/13)
5. One For The Road
(1/3)
Side 2:
1. Steppin' An'
Reelin' (The Wedding) 1/5)
2. Harvest Home
(1/6)
3. Nobody's
Listening (2/3)
4. G'morning (2/5)
The 2CDs are housed in a three-way foldout card sleeve
that’s admittedly flimsy with CD1 on the left, CD2 on the right and the 16-page
booklet in the centre (and again no inner bags for protection – be careful
extracting the discs). A nice touch however is that CD1 repros the Pink-Rim
Island Label - while CD2 repros the one after it – the Blue and Orange mid to
late Seventies label. There are hugely affectionate liner notes by renowned
music writer PAOLO HEWITT who also compiled the set with JOHNNY CHANDLER. We
get mini photos of the two album sleeves and UK Island singles, master tape
boxes, concert tickets, gig posters and reissue credits. But of course the big
news is the sound – remastered from original tapes by ALEX WHARTON at Abbey Road
Studios – we finally get to hear these tracks breath and sound wonderful.
The sonic wallop is immediate when you get to Track 2 – a
rare UK 7" single "Don't Try To Change My Mind". Last I heard it
was on a Neon CD from 2000 (see review) and its sound quality was good rather
than great. Now it’s a revelation. The accordion and mandolins are so clear –
lovely tune. And it seems like I’ve waited 40 years to hear "Tin And
Tambourine" sound this good – what a blast. And when the band goes into that
harmonica jaunt half way through – I’m bawling like a sappy fool. God I miss
this guy…
As fans will have noticed from the LP lists above there's
bad news and niggles – three tracks from "Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance" are AWOL - replaced with
Alternates. However in the case of "Country Boy" – the Alternate Mix
is shockingly good – as pretty as Lane could be – it's going to be an absolute
highlight for many. Another downer is serious distortion and crackle on "Burnin' Summer" - perhaps it's a corrupted tape because it's unbelievably bad.
But in compensation the BBC In Concert stuff on Disc 2 comes
over as a FACES gig done live-in-the-studio in a ramshackle Ronnie Lane &
Slim Chance style (and don’t get me started on the gorgeous "Debris" – we’ll be
here for years). The finisher "Ooh La La" is joyous stuff. There are
one or two of the Takes with small amounts of studio banter (the Chuck Berry
cover "You Never Can Tell") and Plonk’s infectious laugh that will
put a smile on many a weary kisser. Fans of "The Poacher" will also
flip for the "Two, Three, Four…" count in on Take 2 where I swear
he’s changed the words but all the magical ingredients are there – just
slightly different. Another gem for many will be the sonic upgrade on the
lovely "Anniversary" (lyrics above) – it’s featured in both album and
alternate form.
As a long time Amazon Reviewer (over 1000 posts) – I
regularly heap praise on UK independent labels that keep the flame alive for so
many of us (especially on CD). But in 2014 someone somewhere seems to have lit
a large torch under the stodgy bottom of Universal – because like the brilliant
Eric Clapton 2CD set “Give Me Strength” – for me this is yet another 2014
Reissue of the Year from a major record
company. What is going on!?
Paolo Hewitt writes of Ronnie Lane, "He had stars in
his eyes and he had love in his smile…"
Well after a mere four even five decades after the event and
his sad passing – fans of Ronnie 'Plonk' Lane finally have something worth
getting weepy about. I raise a Pint of Guinness to him and to all involved in
this superb reissue.
Cheers to you all...
