"Monkey Man/From The Roots" by THE MAYTALS – May 1970 Third Album and April 1973 Albums on Trojan Records UK featuring Toots Hibbert and Production by Leslie Kong (July 2018 UK Doctor Bird Records Compilation – 2LPs Plus 3 Bonus Tracks onto 1CD – Andy Pearce Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

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"…All Over The World…Share Out The Gold And Silver…"

 

Jamaican born Frederick "Toots" Hibbert was just 18 when he formed the earliest version of The Maytals in 1961 with his two friends Nathaniel "Jerry" Mathias and Henry "Raleigh" Gordon (the three are pictured on the cover on both original vinyl LPs).

 

A couple of albums later (and a Sixties jail-sentence for their leader) and you jump forward to a February 1970 British 45-single for "Monkey Man" on Trojan Records TR-7711 with "Night And Day" on the B-side. British DJs quickly pick up on the super-catchy nature of the Jamaican Reggae A-side and it soon charts on 27 April 1970 – albeit lowly at first. It will spend weeks rising through May to a humble No. 47, but it is a triumph for Trojan and The Maytals – their first (and only) hit in the Reggae-mad UK market being fueled by budget compilations like "Tighten Up" and "Tighten Up Volume 2" from January and November 1969. Trojan Records then rush-release the "Monkey Man" LP in May 1970 on their budget TBL line to make it tempting to punters (TBL 107) – and a legend is born.

 

And that's where this twofer-plus comes a shuffling in – throwing in the belated 1973 follow-up LP "From The Roots" culled from 1969 and 1970 material and adding on three more Bonus Tracks – two of which were a Island Records 45-single in 2013 with Previously Unissued Versions and are new on CD here - and the third from a long deleted December 2003 CD on Sanctuary Records. Good value - here is the Revival Reggae and the One Eye Enos...

 

UK issued July 2018 – "Monkey Man/From The Roots" by THE MAYTALS on Doctor Bird Records DBCD-017 (Barcode 5013929271739) is a compilation that offers 2LPs from 1970 and 1973 Remastered onto 1CD with Three Bonus Tracks (25 in total). It plays out as follows (74:58 minutes):

 

1. Peeping Tom (1970 Version) [Side 1]

2. Revival Reggae

3. Give Peace A Chance

4. Gold And Silver

5. The Preacher

6. Bla Bla Bla

7. African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester) [Side 2]

8. Monkey Man

9. Sun Moon And Star

10. Pressure Drop

11. She's My Scorcher

12. I Shall Be Free

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Monkey Man" – released May 1970 in the UK on Trojan Records TBL 107 (reissued June 1976 with same catalogue number). Produced by LESLIE KONG.

 

13. Pee Pee Cluck Cluck

14. Loving Spirit

15. Koo Koo

16. Thy Kingdom Come

17. One Eye Enos (1970 Version)

18. A Time To Love

19. 9 O'Clock

20. Know Me Good

21. Got To Feel (It)

22. Feel So Good

NOTE:

The original 1973 UK LP "From The Roots" issued in spring 1973 on Trojan TRLS 65 (Produced by Leslie Kong) had 14-tracks (7 per side). The above numbers 13 to 22 list only 10 tracks; this is presumably because four were duplicated from the "Monkey Man" LP (some with slightly different names). To sequence the 1973 UK album as released, use the following tracks:

 

"From The Roots" 1973 UK LP

Side 1:

Pee Pee Cluck Cluck [13]/Loving Spirit [14]/Doctor Lester [7]/Gola Silver [4]/Koo Koo [15]/Revival Reggae [2]/Thy Kingdom Come [16]

Side 2:

One Eye Enos [17]/A Time To Love [18]/9 O'Clock [19]/Know Me Good [20]/Got To Feel (It) [21]/Feel So Good [22]/Give Peace A Chance [3]

 

BONUS TRACKS:

23. Monkey Man (Alternate Version)

24. She's My Scorcher (Alternate Version)

Tracks 23 and 24 first issued August 2013 as the A&B-sides of a UK 45-single on Island WI-3162; both sides new to this CD in July 2018

 

25. African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester) (Alternate Version) – First appeared as a Previously Unissued Version on the December 2003 UK CD Reissue of "From The Roots" on Sanctuary TJCCD091 (Barcode 5050159909124)

 

The albums were produced by the legendary but short-lived LESLIE KONG (he died in 1971 aged only 37) - a young Chinese immigrant who was instrumental in the recording and acceptance of Jamaican music in its formative years (he did Bob Marley's 1st single in 1962). The 12-page booklet has affectionate liner notes by TONY ROUNCE – a man who has had a hand in probably hundreds of CD reissues for great names like Ace, Edsel and Universal - while the whole project was coordinated and compiled by LAURENCE CANE-HONEYSETT – who has extensive writing and compiling experience across a huge range of Trojan releases (he did the paperback Young, Gifted & Black: The Story Of Trojan Records which I have also reviewed). The text is peppered with loads of UK and Jamaican 45-labels, the LP labels, period photos and repros of memorabilia. It sure packs a lot into its tiny space.

 

And best of all – this CD features ANDY PEARCE Remasters – a name I actively seek out (AP has done huge names in the Rock World – Free, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Budgie, Spooky Tooth, Wishbone Ash, ELP and loads more – but also Treasure Isle stuff for Sony/BMG and Trojan material for Doctor Bird. Given the vintage, the material is clean and punchy, especially the second LP. To the chunes...

 

As was the tradition with Trojan LPs (a tradition that goes back to the Fifties and Atlantic Records) – usually the LP was an amalgam of many 45-single sides and their flips – so six of the "Monkey Man" LP tracks were British singles. First up came "Pressure Drop" from 1969 on Pyramid PYR 6074 (it is pictured on Page 6 amidst a collage of other labels), then the infamous "Monkey Man" released 20 February 1970 on Trojan TR 7711 in the UK - its rare company logo Trojan Records Hot Shot titled 45-single sleeve is pictured on Page 4 alongside a German picture sleeve on Fontana 6046 019. Up next is "Bla Bla Bla" issued as an A-side on Trojan TR 7741 in April 1970, then "She's A Scorcher" issued as a B-side to "Water Melon" on Trojan TR 7757 in May 1970. The final two of the six singles are "Dr. Lester" (aka African Doctor) b/w "Sun, Moon And Star" on Trojan TR 7786 issued September 1970. The remaining 6 tracks were exclusive to the "Monkey Man" LP on Trojan TBL 107 (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 12 on this CD). Note: there was a 45-single version of "Peeping Tom" put out in early 1970 on Summit SUM 8510, but the "Monkey Man" LP version is a 1970 Version and is different.

 

The second LP on here "From The Roots" sounds way better than the first. Excepting the cover of John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance", all tracks are Hibbert originals - and given the less-than-stellar audio of the 1969/1970 original recordings (reggae is notoriously non-audiophile), the sound quality on these Andy Pearce remasters is superb - muscular and clear. Personal favourites include the sharing-out-our-wealth song "Gold And Silver" (lyrics above, aka Gola Silver) and the superb "Loving Spirit" which is imbibed with Hibbert's strong belief in love channeled through God and music ("Thy Kingdom Come" too which Trojan tried as a 45). Note: the "One Eye Enos" song was issued April 1971 on a UK 45-single on Summit SUM 8520, but the "From The Roots" LP cut is known as the 1970 Version.

 

The extras are ace too – two genuinely excellent 'Alternate Takes' of both "Monkey Man" and "She's My Scorcher" – just as good if not better than the released album versions - while of the eight CD Bonus Tracks on the 2003 version of "From The Roots" – compiler Laurence Cane-Honeysett has chosen the alternate version of the popular "African Doctor (aka Doctor Lester)" as the keeper for his DB compilation - a wicked little groover and a clever choice.

 

"Monkey Man" and "From The Roots" LPs were reissued in 1976 by Trojan on vinyl, then in 1983 (I think) and probably several undocumented times since – but originals from 1970 and 1973 are increasingly rare and Record Collector Price Guide expensive as the decades march past 50 years and more in 2023.

 

For a lot less, looking good and sounding as chipper as one could hope for, you can now easily get this Doctor Bird CD twofer-plus instead. It's a journey you should take...and well done to all the good people involved in keeping this particular reggae flame alive…

"Ten Years After" by TEN YEARS AFTER - October 1967 UK Debut Album on Deram Records in MONO and STEREO featuring Alvin Lee on Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals, Chick Churchill on Keyboards, Leo Lyons on Bass and Ric Lee on Drums with Producer Mike Vernon of Blue Horizon Records and Audio Engineer Gus Dudgeon (June 2015 UK Universal/Deram 'Expanded Edition 2CD Reissue and Remaster' Offering Both Mono and Stereo Mixes of the Album on CD1 and Eleven Bonuses on CD2 with Andy Pearce Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review And Many More Like It 

Available In my Kindle e-Book (June 2022 Version)

 

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 

Volume 2 of 2 - M to Z...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

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For Music from 1956 to 1986

Over 1,760 E-Pages of In-Depth Information
240 Reviews From The Discs Themselves

No Cut and Paste Crap...

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"...Blues Guitar Of..." 

On page 7 of the tastefully annotated 16-page booklet that accompanies this cool digital twofer is an advert for the 1st of December 1967 for TEN YEARS AFTER at the Manor House Club in London '...featuring the wonderful Blues Guitar of Alvin Lee...'

 

Yeah baby! Hell, if you popped along on the following Friday, the 8th of December 1967, you could also see some brats called John Mayall's Blues Breakers who might be kinda fun too. The clear downside was the extortionate entrance fee of three schillings and six pence (capitalist swine). 

 

I loves me a release like this - a 2CD Newly Expanded Edition chock full of goodies and sounding fan-tab-a-dooblay courtesy of Audio Engineer ANDY PEARCE and his frankly under-insured knob-twiddling fingers. Much to discuss, so let's get to Ten Years After over 55 years ago and their Blues Rock Debut righteously reissued here in 2015 by Universal on their DERAM Records label imprint as was the original LP: 

 

UK released 22 June 2015 - "Ten Years After/1st Album" by TEN YEARS AFTER on Universal/Deram 472 643-8 (Barcode 0602547264381) is an Expanded Edition 2CD Reissue and Remaster offering both the MONO and STEREO Mixes of the album on CD1 with Eleven Bonus Tracks on CD 2 (Two in Mono and 9 in Stereo). It plays out as follows: 

 

CD1 "Ten Years After" Debut Album in MONO and STEREO (73:27 minutes):

1. I Want To Know [Side 1]

2. I Can't Keep From Cying, Sometimes 

3. Adventures Of A Young Organ 

4. Spoonful 

5. Losing The Dogs [Side 2]

6. Feel It For Me 

7. Love Until I Die 

8. Don't Want You Woman 

9. Help Me 

Tracks 1 to 9 is the MONO MIX 

Tracks 10 to 18 is the STEREO MIX (same tracks)

"Ten Years After" was released October 1967 in the UK on Deram DML 1015 in Mono and Deram SML 1015 in Stereo and London/Deram DE 16009 in Mono and London/Deram DES 16009 in Stereo. Produced by MIKE VERNON (Engineered by GUS DUDGEON) - it didn't chart in either country. 

CD2 Bonus Tracks - All STEREO except Tracks 2 and 4 (41:43 minutes): 

1. Portable People (2:12 minutes)

2. Portable People (2:15 minutes) (MONO)

3. The Sounds (4:10 minutes)

4. The Sounds (4:27 minutes) (MONO)

5. Rock Your Mama (2:58 minutes)

6. Spider In My Web (7:15 minutes)

7. Hold Me Tight (2:16 minutes)

8. (At The) Woodchopper's Ball (7:44 minutes)

9. Love Until I Die - Live At The BBC (2:20 minutes)

10. Don't Want You Woman - Live At The BBC (2:18 minutes)

11. The Sounds - Live At The BBC (3:24 minutes) 

 

NOTES CD2: 

Tracks 1, 3 and 7 first issued in March 1972 on the UK Stereo LP "Alvin Lee And Company" on Deram SML 109

 

Tracks 2 and 4 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of their debut UK 45-single released 16 February 1968 on Deram DM 176 and March 1968 in the USA on Deram 45-85027 in Mono (first CD issue 2002) 

 

Tracks 5 and 6 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a May 1968 Export-Only Stereo 45-single on Deram DM 191 (first CD issue 2002) 

 

Track 8 recorded January 1968 and first released on the 2002 Deram Expanded Edition 1CD Reissue of "Ten Years After" on Deram 8828972 

 

Tracks 9 to 11 recorded live for the BBC "Top Gear" Radio Program in 1967 and are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

TEN YEARS AFTER was:

ALVIN LEE - Lead Guitar and Vocals 

CHICK CHURCHILL - Keyboards 

LEON LYONS - Bass 

RIC LEE - Drums

 

The booklet has 16-pages with new liner notes from noted writer MALCOLM DOME. His text is accompanied with the usual plethora of 60ts memorabilia repro'd across the pages to great effect - the American 1968 advert for their debut 45 "Portable People" where the groovy ad tells us that the British band's LP in breaking everywhere and the debut 7" single has something for the underground in its flipside "The Sounds". There's suitable cool black and whites of our fearsome foursome and even a snap of Alvin Lee, Leo Lyons and Ric Lee as The Jaybirds - their incarnation before 1967. The colour shot of the harder-edged Blues Rock band that was Ten Years After on Page 14 is particularly striking - a fourpiece Cream in the making. And there's a suitably trippy shot of the band on the rear inlay much like the fuzzy album cover photo. 

 

But for me the big news is ANDY PEARCE Remasters from original tapes - clean, precise and full of room to breathe. Andy Pearce and his Audio Engineer partner Matt Wortham have been at many Universal projects of note - Budgie, Rory Gallagher, Free, Mott The Hoople, Wishbone Ash and many more - and I actively seek out his work. The Stereo version of the nine-minute cover version of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" that ends the debut is so good. For sure the separation is a tad too harsh on some other tracks - but the audio is beautifully clear - Mike Vernon letting the band stretch out but still keeping it produced.And that Al Kooper cover "I Can't Keep From crying, Sometimes" is little short of gorgeous.

 

It's kind of weird to hear "Portable People" in STEREO - seriously separated vocals in the left and right - but man what a Remaster - Churchill's organ and Lee's so delicate guitar picking clear as if he's in front of you. Actually, when you listen to "Portable People" and its underground flip-side "The Sounds" - you wonder if it might have been a smarter move to throw the wild guitar-playing of "The Sounds" over to the A and give it a DJ-whirl. "The Sounds" is so fuzzed and in my head out there - it might have taken with the arm-swaying faithful. A bit fuzzier but no less boogie-tastic is "Rock Your Mama" - a stay in bed all day guitar and organ bopper that is followed by the superb slow blues of "Spider In My Web" - Lee showing his feel for the genre. 

 

"Hold Me Tight" with its boogie-woogie barrelhouse piano is just such a blast - England's Canned Heat echoing those vocals - you half expect Jerry Lee Lewis to put out of the speakers any moment. TYA goes Late Night Lounge Jazz Bop with "Woodchopper's Ball" - a guitar workout that confuses and feels wildly out of place even if his playing is impressive. A real downside is the three unreleased BBC cuts which the notes say are 'historical' - which means of course they are hissy and virtually bootleg. But man are they playing like wild men - harmonica - guitar - piano - all of it. He goes Slide Acoustic for "Don't Want You Woman" and again Lee and his boys play up a blinder. What a shame this "Top Gear" session isn't in better shape.

 

In May 2022, their 1967 debut "Ten Years After" is dated for sure in places and forgotten too to the dusty murk of a long-ago past. But I urge you to get your lugs around their beginnings (five of the cuts are superb Alvin Lee originals), because in my house, it's the equal of the Beano "Blues Breakers" LP from 1966 and a reminder of days when Brilliant Blues roamed the land cheap and cheerful. 

 

Despite the niggles about the less-than-stellar BBC recordings (obviously unreleased until now for good reason), make no mistake - this is a top job done and I'm stilling feeling it...

"...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble" in the UK and "Uriah Heep" in the USA by URIAH HEEP – June 1970 UK Debut Album on Vertigo Records (June 1970 USA on Mercury Records as "Uriah Heep" with Different Artwork and One Different Track) - featuring David Byron, Ken Hensley, Mick Box, Colin Wood and Paul Newton with Nigel Olsson and Alex Napier (September 2016 UK BMG/Sanctuary 2CD Deluxe Edition Reissue with Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Remasters – The 12-Track CD2 Is An Alternate Version of the Whole 8-Track Album, The "Bird Of Prey" US-only LP Track and Three More Mixes with All Tracks Previously Unreleased) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review And Many More Like It 

Available In my Kindle e-Book (June 2022 Version)

 

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 

Volume 2 of 2 - M to Z...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 
For Music from 1956 to 1986

Over 1,760 E-Pages of In-Depth Information
240 Reviews From The Discs Themselves

No Cut and Paste Crap...

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"...Real Turned On... "

 

Fans have been to this 1970 debut album for URIAH HEEP just one too many times (Hensley remembers that the band took their name from a character in the Dickens novel David Copperfield - more specifically from a TV program album-producer Gerry Bron had seen on the BBC who were celebrating the great author's 100th year in passing). Back to Joe Public in the 2020's - so they and their erstwhile but ravaged wallets may view yet another digital go round Of "...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble" as a wee-wee take too many. 

 

But this is the best version of old scary cobweb face ever and the one that they Olivia Newton-John want (oh oh oh). Time to get 'umble with the details men of rotund waistlines and sunken eye-sockets (we'll get to the guitars later)...

 

UK released 16 September 2016 - "...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble" by URIAH HEEP on BMG/Sanctuary BMGCAT2CD55 (Barcode 4050538187205) is a 2CD Deluxe Edition Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows: 

 

CD1 The Original LP Re-Mastered (40:25 minutes): 

1. Gypsy (6:27 minutes) [Side 1]

2. Walking In Your Shadow (4:30 minutes)

3. Come Away Melinda (3:46 minutes)

4. Lucy Blues (5:10 minutes)

5. Dreammare (4:37 minutes) [Side 2]

6. Real Turned On (3:37 minutes)

7. I'll Keep On Trying (5:25 minutes)

8. Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (6:22 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 8 are their UK debut album "...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble" - released June 1970 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 006 (Reissued March 1971 in the UK on Bronze ILPS 9142). Produced by GERRY BRON - it didn't chart. 

Note: The August 1970 American LP (which peaked at No. 186 on the Billboard Rock charts) was called "Uriah Heep" on Mercury Records SR-61294 with entirely different artwork on the outer gate-fold (reproduced across two pages at the back of the 20-page booklet). The LP also replaced the song "Lucy Blues" on the end of Side 1 with the heavier "Bird Of Prey" in exactly the same place. "Bird Of Prey (U.S. Alternate Mix)" is available as Track 12 on CD2 and will allow fans to sequence the US variant of their debut. 

CD2 An Alternate ...Very 'Eavy...Very 'Umble (64:45 minutes):

1. Gypsy (Extended V3.4 Mix, 7:00 minutes)

2. Real Turned On (V3.5 Mix, 3:46 minutes)

3. Dreammare (V3.5 Mix, 5:12 minutes)

4. Come Away Melinda (V3.7 Mix, 4:01 minutes)

5. Born In A Trunk (V3.3 Mix, 4:55 minutes) *

6. Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (V3.4 Mix, 6:55 minutes)

7. I'll Keep On Trying (V3.4 Mix, 5:32 minutes)

8. Walking In Your Shadow (V3.5 Mix, 5:09 minutes)

9. Lucy Blues (V3.7 Mix, 5:20 minutes)

10. Born In A Trunk (Instrumental V3.6 Mix, 4:47 minutes) *

11. Magic Lantern (V3.3 Mix, 7:57 minutes) *

12. Bird Of Prey (U.S. Alternate Mix) (V3.1, 4:08 minutes)

NOTES: 

* = Recorded as SPICE mid 1969 - doesn't feature Ken Hensley

 V3, V5, V7 etc references reflect the Mix or Version done between 1989 and 2005 

URIAH HEEP was: 

DAVID BYRON - Lead Vocals 

KEN HENSLEY - Vocals, Slide Guitar and Keyboards 

MICK BOX - Vocals, Lead Guitar 

PAUL NEWTON - Bass

ALEX NAPIER - Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 on CD1)

NIGEL OLSSON - Drums (Tracks 4 and 5 on CD1)

Uriah Heep's Classic Hard Rock 70ts catalogue (including their explosive 1970 debut LP) has been properly plundered for CD reissue more times than fans care to comfortably remember (Bronze in 1987, Mercury USA in 1989, Castle Classics in 1990, Essential in 1996, Castle Music in 2001 to name but a few). So what makes this 2016 double worth the purchase? 

First is the new ANDY PEARCE and MATT WORTHAM Remaster from original tapes and second is a CD2 that offers fans 12 Previously Unreleased Mixes from their 1969 and 1970 Hard Rock vs. Prog Rock beginnings actually worth hearing. 

 

As a 62-year who remembers Heep and a long-time reviewer of reissue CD packages - I actively seek out Pearce/Wortham Remasters because they are always the business - invariably better than everyone else's. They've had their names wrapped around some seriously illustrious Rock catalogues - Budgie, Rory Gallagher, ELP, Wishbone Ash, Mott The Hoople, Free and even Reggae titles for the superb Doctor Bird label (part of Cherry Red's list of labels - DB deals mostly with Trojan Records and its multitudinous label offshoots). In short - you haven't heard this Rock meets Prog debut until you've clapped ears on this BMG twofer.  

The three-way foldout card Digi-pak is aesthetically pretty enough touching on obvious fan-pleasing points like the different US artwork (apparently the UK sleeve was just too scary for them). While the 20-page booklet gives us rare Italian, French and Spanish 45-single picture sleeves, the British Vertigo LP's inner gatefold sleeve live shot, a Marquee Gig Poster for May 1970 (with Audience, Spirit Of John Morgan and Vertigo's Gracious), Klooks At The Lyceum in July 1970 (with Yes and Black Sabbath), Portsmouth Stadium in July 1970 with Keef Hartley, Gentle Giant and Affinity, East of Eden (and more), an 8-track cartridge and even a master-tape box. There are new interviews conducted by JOEL McIVER with principal band members Mick Box and Ken Hensley. 

 

ROBERT M. CORICH gives us a potted history on The Lansdowne Tapes and uber-fan and archivist Warren Eady who kept fans supplied with alternate mixes across multiple releases and the Time Of Revelation - 25 Years On 4CD Box Set from 1996. There are three from the later period Spice sessions prior to Hensley joining the fold while the rest were recorded late 1969 into early 1970 prior to the debut's release in June 1970 (Lansdowne refers to the Studio of the same name in London's Holland Park where Uriah Heep recorded). They've left off two Spice tracks - "In Love" and "What About The Music" - when there was room. But let's deal with and celebrate what we do have...

 

Riffage ahoy with the Box/Byron-penned "Gypsy" - a six and a half-minute rawk monster the band is still playing to this day - fantastic chugging guitars alongside Hensley's manic Jon Lord of Deep Purple-esque keyboard soloing. Although Vertigo UK oddly didn't pick up on its aaaah potential - the Rock-mad German market did - where "Gypsy" with the then Non-LP "Bird Of Prey" on the B-side of Vertigo 6059 020 did the business (the "Bird Of Prey" mix used here is radically different to one that eventually turned up on their second album "Salisbury" in January 1971). Up next comes riding on the golden wave of "Walking In Your Shadow" - a Newton/Byron rocker in the same vein as "Gypsy" (the Remaster picking out those guitars in each speaker). 

Things Mellotron slow down with "Come Away Melinda" - Colin Woods guesting on the notoriously difficult to control keyboard - come away and close the door. The Fred Hellerman and Fran Minkoff penned "Come Away Melinda" had already been done by a pre-Mamas and Papas The Big Three in the USA in 1963 on FM Records, while England's Wendy Huber and Barry St. John put in their cover versions oars on Philips and Columbia in November 1965. Cat's Eyes had a go too in 1970 on MCA. So by the time Heep had its turn - the song had been well traveled tune about Mom and Pops. But I must admit I skip it quickly for the far better slow Blues Rock of the Side 1 finisher "Lucy Blues" - a genuinely cool Box/Byron moment on an otherwise very heavy LP. 

 

Side 2 opens with the 'la-la-la' of another Rock barnstormer - the Newton-penned "Dreammare". Juicy Lucy type slide guitar dominates the excellent rocker "Real Turned On" - surely one of these deep LP cuts fans love. Maybe too much melodrama for me in the doubled-up voices of "I'll Keep On Trying" - but I know Heepsters love those riffing guitars. It ends on another Box/Byron stand up for your rights romper - the drums and guitars clean and clear in the Remaster.

For lifelong lovers of Heep's original guitar-battling-the-organ sound - CD2 is a wet dream of tunes they know remixed and remastered to offer alternate soundscapes. For sure the two Spice cuts of "Born In A Trunk" are not exactly Supertramp audiophile - but they offer a band ready to Rock - a palatable excitement as they play. "Magic Lantern" with its deliberately quiet-to-louder lead-in offers Acoustic-to-Rock Uriah Heep on perhaps too much of a Pop trip. But that's quickly whomped by the heavy "Bird Of Prey" US Alternate Mix and another version of my Slow Blues poison "Lucy Blues" is alright by me. 

 

For sure the uninitiated might listen to Uriah Heep in 2022 and think it too close to Spinal Tap with Byron's signature high note style. But I've a soft spot for their rude and crude debut. And I'm sure that fans should set their sights on the Audio and Unreleased Extras of this 2016 BMG 2CD version - best the album's ever sounded...

"Lou Reed" by LOU REED – June 1972 US Debut Album on RCA Victor Records (July 1972 UK) – Guests Include Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe of Yes on Keyboards and Guitar, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band on Guitars, Bassists Les Hurdle of The Mohawks wth Brian Odgers of Sweet Thursday and Drummer Clem Cattini of Ugly Custard (February 2000 UK BMG/Camden Deluxe CD Reissue and Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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Lou Reed's Debut LP "Lou Reed" from June 1972 (July 1972 UK) 

Receives a Fabulous CD Remaster in 2000 by Andy Pearce

 

"...Living In A Garbage Pale... "

 

I can't actually imagine another debut album in the early Seventies that loomed with such intense expectation and on initial sales/critical response - died such a genuinely horrible death. "Lou Reed" barely scraped No. 189 on the Billboard Rock LP charts and didn't dent the UK lists at all.

 

The next two Lou Reed solo LPs post Velvet Underground "Transformer" and "Berlin" are blistering solo works and quite rightly met with near biblical adoration – especially the Perfect Day and Walk On The Wild Side languid magic of "Transformer" with David Bowie and Mick Ronson as part of the crew. But poor old eight of the tracks are old VU hand-me-downs "Lou Reed" has always been that runt in the corner – an ignominious fart-start that should have been a flame-thrower.

 

But time, calmer more appreciative heads and legend have followed. a fantastically clear and fresh new Andy Pearce Remaster (well if you call January 2000 new) has dusted down the wild child once more and asked us mere mortals to listen anew. Give that London-recorded upstart a new soother – peel it slowly and see – well, in June 2022 Lou's self-titled half-assed "Lou Reed" debut album is celebrating a 50th Anniversary and I'm up for it. Here is what Lisa and Mark says...

 

UK released 21 February 2000 - "Lou Reed" by LOU REED on BMG/Camden Deluxe 74321 727122 (Barcode 743217271220) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his 1972 Debut Album that plays out as follows (38:44 minutes):

 

1. I Can't Stand It [Side 1]

2. Going Down 

3. Walk And Talk It 

4. Lisa Says 

5. Berlin 

6. I Love You [Side 2]

7. Wild Child 

8. Love Makes You Feel 

9. Ride Into The Sun 

10. Ocean 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut album "Lou Reed" - released 21 June 1972 in the USA on RCA Victor Records LSP-4701 and July 1972 in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8281. Produced RICHARD ROBINSON and LOU REED - all songs written by Lou Reed.  

LOU REED - Guitar and Lead Vocals

CALEB QUAYE (of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band) - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Piano 

STEVE HOWE (of Yes) - Electric Guitar 

PAUL KEOGH - Electric Guitar 

RICK WAKEMAN (ex Strawbs, with Yes) - Piano 

LES HURDLE (of The Mohawks) - Bass Guitar 

BRIAN ODGERS (of Sweet Thursday) - Bass Guitar 

CLEM CATTINI (of Ugly Custard) - Drums and Percussion

KAY GARNER and HELENE FRANCOIS - Vocal Harmonies on Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9

 

I know some copies of this CD were issued in a card wrap, most aren't now. The 12-page booklet features illuminating and in-depth liner notes from noted writer and reviewer DAVID FRICKE done in New York, January 2000. Alongside period photos, Fricke includes Lou's own comments in 1972 interviews as to why the LP met with such a lukewarm response. The final pages give you original album and CD reissue credits. For me, part of the excitement of this release is an ANDY PEARCE Remaster from original tapes - and what a stunning job he's done. There is such clarity here and even if the playing still feels like they're an outsider's band and not Lou's backing group, the AUDIO is really great. 

 

The guest list for his debut LP was impressive - Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe of Yes on Keyboards and Guitar, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band on Guitars and Piano, Bassists Les Hurdle of The Mohawks with Brian Odgers of Sweet Thursday and Drummer Clem Cattini of Ugly Custard (said to be on 45 number 1 singles and once considered to be the drummer in Page's formative Led Zeppelin years). Throw in the girly vocals of Kay Garner and Helene Francois bolstering up five songs in that so Lou Reed arrangements kind of way, and it was all so promising. But then as Side 1 progressed and you flipped over to Side 2, that sinking feeling crept in and you began looking for magic that just didn't seem to want to turn up. To the music...

 

I know others dismiss it (which I find odd), but I have always held a candle for the opening number "I Can't Stand It" on Side 1 - a very Lou Reed post Velvets belter where he even comes across a tad Marc Bolan/T.Rex vocally and stylistically. Things mellow with the superbly languid "Going Down" - a tune I like a lot fifty years on. But then comes the awkwardly average "Walk It And Talk It" - a sort of half-kicking rocker that feels like its trying too hard with guitar runs that fill in rather than impress. Better is "Lisa Says" - the remaster very clean and full of presence. That 'so quiet' opening to the Side 1 finisher "Berlin" used to always drive me crazy with its lack on fidelity on those Dynaflex Vinyl original LPs - but again lifted up here. Dubonet on ice is very nice in the oh-babe-I'm-gonna-miss-you "Berlin" - a tune he would re-do in 1973 for the "Berlin" album (those doubled guitars and piano sound like Howe and Wakeman of Yes)

 

Side 2's opener "I Love You" is one of the LP's secret sweeties - Drums and Acoustic Guitars so clean now in the mix - his warmth and declarations of love actually even unnerving. Another kicker is "Wild Child" - those guitars and that Bass finally coherent in the assault. "Oh baby can I have some spare change, can I break your heart..." Talking to Betty on how her audition was awful, but she calmed down with some wine, which Lou assures us is what always happens with Betty's trauma. Another one of the LP's hidden Faberge Eggs is "Love Makes You Feel" - Love making Lou feel ten feet tall - a great Reed song now pumped-up with fantastic clarity. I had genuinely forgotten how cool this tune is and if you listen close too, you can hear The Edge's strumming technique and guitar sound originating here. Looking for another chance, "Ride Into The Sun" is one that requires a few plays and again the guitars have been transferred by Audio Engineer Andy Pearce with such delicacy. Side 2 then ends with epic drama as we go down by the sea in "Ocean" - grungy guitars and sound effects bringing it closest to VU territory. And again, storming audio. 

 

Anyone claiming that "Lou Reed" is a five-star overlooked masterpiece is pushing it in my books to say the bloody least. But for damn sure, there are more than a few overlooked gems in here even if the master disowned it a bit himself in October 1972 interviews. Still, this now old CD Remaster has polished up that curate's egg sufficiently to warrant another peek behind the banana peel. 

 

"It's hard being in a band, like living in a garbage pale...I can't stand it anymore..." - he snarled on great lyrics. "I live with thirteen dead cats...purple dogs with spats...they're all living in the hall and I can't stand them all..." 

 

"Lou Reed" was his ending the VU days LP - going it alone at last. And what came next with "Transformer", "Berlin" and the live "Rock & Roll Animal" LPs would prove him a stunning force in music. But spare a thought for this missing piece in his legend, fifty years on and sounding in dandy form...