"Night Fades Away/Wonderland" by NILS LOFGREN – September 1981 and August 1983 US Albums on Backstreet Records - Featured Guests include Guitarists Jeff Baxter (Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers) and Elliott Randall (guested on Steely Dan albums), Pianist Nicky Hopkins, Keyboardists Greg Mathieson and Robbie Kondor, Trumpet by Chuck Findley, Drummers Richie Hayward of Little Feat, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Andy Newmark, Bassists Neil Jason, David Hungate (of Toto) and Kevin McCormick with Singers Del Shannon, Louise Goffin, Edgar Winter and Carly Simon (March 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 2LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS: *** Material **** Remasters ***** Presentation

"…Feel This Explosion…"

This is the second release for England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO) of Nils Lofgren back catalogue that's been in collaboration with the artist. 

25 February 2022 saw his legendary live-double from October 1977 "Night After Night" be given a classy Remaster on the 2CD set Beat Goes On BGOCD1473 (Barcode 5017261214737) and here in March 2024, we get slot number two in what we must presume will be an on-going reissue series.

This time around we stretch into the Eighties after Lofgren and A&M Records parted company post the "Nils" album in June 1979. Backstreet Records (who were part of MCA) had signed Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers so Lofgren and his explosive guitar Rock must have seemed like a good fit. Big things were expected. But – and this is a big but for me with this reissue – when I worked at Reckless Records in Soho both these 80ts albums were strictly pound-fodder and for good reason (they remain so in 2024). "Night Fades Away" is mired in iffy sub-par material and dreadful bombastic Eighties production values into the bargain - while the saving grace for this twofer compilation is "Wonderland" – a criminally overlooked 1983 studio set that saw him return to the live simplicity of his former bandmates (Andy Newmark from the A&M days) so that when NL went into record – his playing was on fire and more important - the songs were far better. 

Long-term fans and Nils-nerds like me will welcome this great sounding and properly presented British 2CD reissue, but I would advise any newcomers to get a listen first. To the details…

UK released Friday, 1 March 2024 (17 March 2024 in the USA) - "Night Fades Away/Wonderland" by NILS LOFGREN on Beats Goes On Records BGOCD1512 (Barcode 5017261215123) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 2CDs (no Bonus tracks) that plays out as follows:

CD1 (37:27 minutes):

1. Night Fades Away [Side 1]

2. I Go To Pieces

3. Empty Heart

4. Don't Touch Me

5. Dirty Money

6. Sailor Boy [Side 2]

7. Anytime At All

8. Ancient History

9. Streets Again

10. In Motion

Tracks 1 to 10 are his fifth solo studio album (sixth overall) "Night Fades Away" – released September 1981 in the USA on Backstreet Records BSR-5251 and in the UK on MCA Records MCF 3121. Produced by JEFFREY BAXTER (and dedicated to Vietnam Veterans) - it peaked at No. 99 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts and at No. 50 in the UK. All songs written by NL except two co-writes with Jeff Baxter on "Streets Again" and "In Motion" and two cover versions - "I Go To Pieces" by Del Shannon and "Anytime At All" by The Beatles.

BAND and GUESTS:

NILS LOFGREN – Guitars, Accordion, Synths and all Lead Vocals

JEFF BAXTER of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers on Guitar, Guitar Synth and all Production

ELLIOTT RANDALL on Electric Guitar for "I Go To Pieces", "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All"

TREVOR VEITCH on Acoustic Guitar for "I Go To Pieces" and "Anytime At All"

NICKY HOPKINS on Acoustic and Tack Piano for "Streets Again" and Fender Rhodes Electric Piano on "Night Fades Away"

GREG MATHIESON – Fender Rhodes Electric Piano on "I Go To Pieces", "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All"

ED GREENE – Drums 

JEFF PORCARO of Toto on Drums for "Sailor Boy" and "Anytime At All" 

RICHARD HAYWARD of Little Feat on Drums for "Empty Heart", "Dirty Money", "Streets Again" and "In Motion"

NEIL JASON on Bass Guitar for all tracks except NEIL STUBENHAUS on "I Go To Pieces" and "Anytime At All" and DAVID HUNGATE (of Toto) on Bass for "Sailor Boy"

DEL SHANNON – Vocals on "I Go To Pieces"

CHUCK FINDLEY – Trumpet on "In Motion"

JERRY PETERSON – Saxophone on "Don't Touch Me"

CD2 (40:37 minutes):

1. Across The Tracks [Side 1] 

2. Into The Night

3. It's All Over Now

4. I Wait For You

5. Daddy Dream

6. Wonderland [Side 2]

7. Room Without Love

8. Confident Girl

9. Lonesome Ranger

10. Everybody Wants

11. Deadline

Tracks 1 to 11 are his sixth studio album (seventh overall) "Wonderland" – released August 1983 in the USA on Backstreet Records BSR-5421 and in the UK on MCA/Backstreet Records MCF 3182. Produced by NILS LOFGREN, KEVIN McCORMICK and ANDY NEWMARK and dedicated to James Honeyman Scott and Pete Fardon of The Pretenders – it didn’t chart in either country. All songs written by NL except "It's All Over Now" which is a Bobby Womack cover version done by The Rolling Stones also in the Sixties

BAND:

NILS LOFGREN - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Keyboards

ROBBIE KONDOR – Synthesisers

KEVIN McCORMICK – Bass Guitar and Background Vocals

ANDY NEWMARK – Drums with JIM MAELEN on Percussion

GUESTS:

LOUISE GOFFIN sings on "Wonderland" and "Everybody Wants"

CARLY SIMON sings on "Lonesome Ranger"

EDGAR WINTER sings on "Across The Tracks"

The outer card slipcase and substantial 20-page booklet with new liner notes from CHARLES WARING via new interviews with Lofgren give this 2CD Reissue a look and feel of class (let alone artist endorsement). The artwork front and rear for both LPs is here as are other photos (the sweaty teeshirt shot taken by Annie Leibovitz – his small band for album number two sat on steps). Instead of dry facts, Lofgren talks of leaving A&M after four studio albums and one hugely popular live double, his new signing to Backstreet Records (a subsidiary of MCA) and the high hopes both albums had that did not translate into public interest. 

Nils give a song-by-song insight – ex Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers stalwart Jeff Baxter is given real praise – a man who had worked with Nazareth and understood Rawk (he and Nils did pre-production work for weeks at 'Skunk' Baxter's place in Laurel Canyon). The "Night Fades Away" title track was flipped with "Ancient History" as a US 45-single which led the charge in October 1981 (Backstreet BSR-51191) - but it did little business. Released in September 1981, the album stalled on the US LP-charts at No. 99 but did much better in the UK at No. 50. The liner notes recall the great axeman's heyday and how he morphed into the Boss's sideman (Lofgren has been a permanent member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band since 1984 – an astonishing 40 years burning down that code of the road whilst maintaining a Solo Career on the side). The new BGO Records Remasters are by ANDREW THOMPSON from Universal-licensed original tapes and both shine as much as original techniques will allow (2024 ears will have to adjust to that bombastic 80ts sheen production values they had back then - especially on the "Night Fades Away" album which of the two fares worse in my books). You can't make a purse out of...but what is here is very clear and well done. To the music...

As upbeat as "Night Fades Away" is an opening salvo, there is a crass feel to "Don't Touch Me" and the dismissive anger in "Dirty Money" feels forced too. "Sailor Boy" is a bopper opening Side 2 that does little to help the feeling that there are no tunes - while an ill-advised cover of The Beatles "Anytime At All" feels like Southside Johnny doing a filler song. The flipside of the album’s only single, "Ancient History" is for me the best dead-aim song on a patchy album – the treated guitars, piano and vocals doing the business. His fifth studio album "Night Fades Away" rolls home using two co-writes with Jeff Baxter – the decidedly un-pc lyrics to "Streets Again" making for a weird and uncomfortable listen – the Side 2 finisher "In Motion" with its striking and daring Chuck Findley Trumpet solo being so much better. In his fabulous Great Rock Discography books, music chronicler Martin Strong awards the "Night Fades Away" album a stingy 4-stars out of ten (worst in his catalogue) but I have to say, I unfortunately agree with him. Strong then gives "Wonderland" (next up) 6-stars and again – right about that too.

In the liner notes, Lofgren explains that his band had been jamming and rehearsing and gelling for months prior to the recording of "Wonderland" in 1983 – a back to basics approach - and man does it show. After the almost sedate playing displayed on "Night Fades Away" - it is like Lofgren went mad with his solos on "Wonderland" because they are incendiary. He was clearly excited about the material (10 originals and one cover that suited), his tight unit of a band – the no-nonsense production achieved by all three principal players in his group. Almost Rolling Stones in its down-to-business sound and wild playing - "Across The Tracks" opens proceedings with a kicker – a song about a boy and a girl from different sides of the social divide – Daddy with his shotgun by the railings should young lips touch. "Into The Night" is a typically excellent Lofgren song, simple yet touching, melodic yet softly rocking in its own way.

Things return to Rawk with the only cover on the LP – a hard-hitting very Chuck Berry chugging go at the Bobby Womack song "It's All Over Now" – Nils building the menacing guitar chords to a great solo (breakfast in bed, ease my aching head). The next offers huge guitar pings as an opening where "I Wait For You" later goes into echoed guitar soloing. There's a cool chord chug to "Daddy Dream" that might have made a good double with "Wonderland" as a US 45 (Louise Goffin, daughter of Jerry Goffin, sings on both "Wonderland" and "Everybody Wants"). "Room Without Love" feels like a Ry Cooder ballad – a room without hope where our Nils has been pining for a lady gone to greener pastures. No less than Bob Dylan told Nils in a corridor quick-chat that he loved "Confident Girl" – sound and changes – not bad. The island-beach-sand shuffle of "Lonesome Stranger" features a subtle backing vocal on the chorus from Carly Simon – sweet support that works. The LP romps home with the slight reggae-feel of "Everyday Wants" while his trademark guitar-led rocking bricks "Deadline". 

"Night Fades Away" did OK but despite his high hopes, "Wonderland" the LP didn't chart and was largely ignored. Why - truth be told – neither album is a blinder and it's easy to hear why less than a dollar or a pound will secure either vinyl LP a full forty-years after the events. 

But Nils Lofgren fans will also know that outside of expensive and now deleted Box Sets these hard-to-find platters are new to standalone CD and accompanied as they are with quality Remasters and great presentation – you have to say that England's BGO Records have done it again - and how. Wallet ahoy daddy-o, Nils won't go, but you may have too...

"We Have Met Together" by MICK MALONEY – February 1973 UK Debut Solo Album [ex The Johnstons] on Transatlantic Records (August 2023 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Records Reissue onto CD with Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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This Review And 225 Others Is Available In My AMAZON E-Book 

BOTH SIDES NOW - FOLK & COUNTRY 

And Genres Thereabouts

Your Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

For the 1960s and 1970s

All Reviews In-Depth and from the Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

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"…Molloy's Favourite And The Earl's Chair…"

Limerickman, Banjo and Mandolin playing Folky Mick Maloney had already done his Irish Traditional Music time with The Johnstons between 1966 and 1972 – a very fondly remembered Folk/Folk Rock act on Transatlantic Records. Apart from lead vocalist Adrienne Johnston, Mick Maloney and the American Chris McCloud - The Johnstons were also the six-album home to one of Ireland's truly great songwriters - Paul Brady. 

Time to go solo - and for his Transatlantic Records debut in early 1973 - Maloney ditched that old crew and roped in a six-piece outfit of International players – Friedemann Witecka from Germany on Guitar, Dave O'Docherty from Dublin on Flute and Whistles, Dave Moses and Mal White from England on Bass Guitar, Recorder and Bodhran respectively with Ian (Jan) Inge Rasmussen from Norway on Guitar and Second Vocals and Scotsman Aly Bain from the Shetland Islands on Fiddle. Maloney played Tenor Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar and sang Lead Vocals on eight of its seventeen tunes. Adam Skeaping (one of the Engineers on the album) plays Synthesiser on the final lament to eerie effect on Side 2. Beat Goes On Records of England (commonly known as BGO Records) has also managed a first time on CD for this forgotten rarity with both beautiful Presentation and clear Audio. Here are the heady traditional details…

UK released Friday, 4 August 2023 (18 August 2023 in the USA) - "We Have Met Together" by MICK MALONEY on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1498 (Barcode 5017261214980) Remasters his 1973 debut solo album onto CD and plays out as follows (45:51 minutes):

1. Two Jigs [Side 1]

2. The Invisible Man

3. The Pipe On The Hob

4. Belfast Town

5. Bodhrán Solo

6. Don't Cry In Your Sleep

7. Reel On Mandolin

8. Farewell To The Rhondda

9. Vi Skal Ikkje Sova Burt Sumar Natta

10. Bean Pháidín [Side 2]

11. Bodhrán Solo

12. Molloy's Favourite And The Earl's Chair

13. Avondale

14. The Leitrim Fancy

15. An Gaoth Andheas

16. Flute Solo

17. The Fields Of Vietnam

Tracks 1 to 17 are his debut solo LP "We Have Met Together" – released February 1973 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 263. Produced by MICK MALONEY – it is first time on CD

NOTES: 

"The Invisible Man" is a Leon Rosselson song and features Friedemann Witecka on Second Guitar with Dave Moses on Bass

"Belfast Town" features Ian Inge Rasmussen on Second Guitar

Mal White plays the Bodhran on "Bodhrán Solo"

"Bean Pháidín" is Irish for Paddy's Wife

"Don't Cry In Your Sleep" features Ian Inge Rasmussen on Second Guitar and Vocal with Dave O'Docherty on Flute

"Reel On Mandolin" features Ian Inge Rasmussen duetting on Guitar

"Farewell To Rhondda" is a Frank Hennessy song about the Welsh mining strikes in 1972 and features Friedemann Witecka and Ian Inge Rasmussen on Guitars with Dave Moses on Bass

"Vi Skal Ikkje Sova Burt Sumar Natta" is a 1960s Norwegian Song (and not Traditional Folk as misdescribed in the original LP liner notes) and features Friedemann Witecka on Second Guitar with Dave Moses on Bass and Recorder

"Molloy's Favourite And The Earl's Chair" features Ian Inge Rasmussen on Guitar with Dave O'Docherty on Flute and Mal White on Bodhrán (the Molloy in the title refers to Irish Flutist legend Matt Malloy of Planxty and The Bothy Band)

"Avondale" is a Dominic Behan song about Charles Stewart Parnell and features Second Guitar by Friedemann Witecka and Dave Moses on Bass

"An Gaoth Andheas" translates as The South Wind and features Aly Bain on Fiddle (Late with The Boys of the Lough)

"Flute Solo" features Dave O'Docherty on Flute only

"The Fields Of Vietnam" is a Ewan MacColl song with Adam Skeaping on Synthesiser

Quite apart from the lovely card slipcase that lends these stand-alone album reissues a real sense of visual class – the 20-page accompanying booklet with new JOHN O'REGAN liner notes goes deep on Maloney’s history with Folk, the album and beyond. Many Net sources are quoted – the original LP's liner notes are reproduced as is its artwork. O'Regan and Musician friends of Maloney note how he made the layout of the album tracks something of a template for future releases – Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, Euro and American Roots tunes sat alongside instrumentals on the Bodhrán, Flute or Banjo. 

Subject matters included the dread emigration, labour woes once in cheap work, unemployment hunger once out of casual jobs, occupying armies and alienation at home and all roads to and from similar socially aware themes. Maloney sings with his very nasal Tĩr na n'Óg vocals on eight songs (all others are instrumentals) – Tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13 and 17. Audio is a New Remaster by ANDREW THOMPSON and it is clean, warm and a lovely listen – the real simple instruments given space to shine.

Some will find the barricades and gelignite lyrics in "Belfast Town" an open-wound – a brave and horribly realistic song about the Northern Ireland troubles – its author wanting to remain anonymous in 1973 no doubt fearing reprisals from both side of the paramilitary divide. The same anchor's away to a better place doom permeates "Don't Cry In Your Sleep" while a jolly-roger lilt fills the colliery pit-men song "Farewell To The Rhondda" – the mines all closing and the population falling – all heading towards the big smoke of London to get work. Side 1 ends with a 60ts Norwegian song sung in the native tongue – it's pretty and features floating recorder, accented Bass and lovely acoustic soloing from guest Guitarist Friedemann Witecka. It's contemporary Folk and not Traditional at all.

A Traditional does open Side 2 – sung in Gaelic, "Bean Pháidín" is Irish for Paddy's Wife and Maloney makes light-work of the speedily sung impenetrable lyrics as the Mandolin and Acoustics strum and pick. After a short Bodhrán solo, the band gets to show its instrumental chops on "Molloy's Favourite And The Earl's Chair" – a Banjo, Whistle and Bodhrán tapping set of reels learned from Flutist Matt Molloy. Things return to plaintive ballad with the lovely "Avondale" – Dominic Behan singing of tall trees and ancient glory in the vales – Maloney sounding completely at home with the lead only to be joined on the second chorus by the other lads (very nicely done, Parnell would have approved). 

Two instrumentals highlight Acoustic Guitars, Banjo, Fiddle and Flute whilst "An Gaoth Andheas" is about a Southern Winter where Aly Bain of Boys of the Lough plays a binder on plaintive fiddle. The album ends of probably its best shot at greatness – a cover of the Ewan MacColl political ballad "The Fields Of Vietnam". It opens with lonesome solo vocals but is soon joined by an ominous synth drone (Adam Skeaping) – the Vietnamese taken on by the invading armies of the French and the Americans – none of them succeeding. "The Fields Of Vietnam" brings to an end a strong debut – not a masterpiece by any means – but superbly presented here for those who have waited decades for it to show on decent digital.

Having toured since the Sixties and been involved in nearly forty albums – Mick Maloney made the USA his home and sadly passed in July 2022 aged 77 – a lifetime given over to all forms of Folk music and its rich history, academia and philanthropy. Although his name may not reverberate around the annals of Music Fame outside of the Traditional genres – inside it – Maloney was beloved and spread the gospel far and wide – some saying he chronicled and championed all forms of Roots Music with a passion and warmth that was infectious. Much like this rather lovely CD Reissue and Remaster…

"A's and B's" by REDBONE – Thirty-Six Single Sides from 1970 to 1977 on Epic and RCA Records USA and Epic Records UK and Brazil – featuring Pat and Lolly Vegas (March 2023 UK BGO Records (Beat Goes On Records) 2CD Compilation of Andrew Thompson Remasters)

 

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"...Come And Get Your Love..."

 

A two-hit wonder on the singles chart in their native USA in 1971 and 1972 (one big smash in the UK in 1971 that went all the way to No.2) – the Native Indian REDBONE are a strange one. Part a poor man's METERS - sort of MALO Latin-Rhythms with a bit of Funky booty butt waddles via GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION – they have always bubbled under but never really broken through.

 

But unfortunately – and even with the expanse of thirty-six 45-single sides from 1970 to 1977 presented here in quality remastered audio – it is easy to hear why. Their LPs never sold when I worked the vinyl counters in Reckless Records in London's Soho – and it has remained that way for decades.

 

Redbone were good at times, but never consistently great and despite this valiant British 2CD seven-inch singles trawl through material even diehard Seventies nuts like me don't know – there are not the discoveries you would hope for (some nuggets for sure, but not much more (hence the 3-stars). This release also doesn't provide any real discography info, so I have. Anyway, to the details...

 

UK released Friday, 17 March 2023 - "A's and B's" by REDBONE on Beat Goes On Records (BGO) BGOCD1488 (Barcode 5017261214881) is a 36-Track 2CD Compilation of Digitally Remastered 45-Single Sides from the USA, UK and JAPAN that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (61:22 minutes):

1. Crazy Cajun Cakewalk Band

2. Night Come Down

Tracks 1 and 2 the A&B-sides of February 1970 US Debut 45-single on Epic 5-10597

3. Maggie

4. New Blue Sermonette

Tracks 3 and 4 the A&B-sides of October 1970 US 45-single on Epic 5-10670

5. Alcatraz

Track 5 the B-side of Maggie, October 1971 Japan-only 45-single on Epic 83006

6. Light As A Feather

7. Who Can Say?

Tracks 6 and 7 the A&B-sides of February 1971 US 45-single on Epic 5-10712

8. The Witch Queen Of New Orleans

9. Chant: 13^th Hour

Tracks 8 and 9 the A&B-sides of May 1971 US 45-single on Epic 5-10749; August 1971 UK 45-single on Epic EPC 7351 – peaked at No. 21 in the USA, No. 2 in the UK

10. When You Got Trouble

11. Niji Trance

12. Jericho

Tracks 10 and 12 the A&B-sides of March 1972 US 45-single on Epic 5-10839; Tracks 11 and 12 the A&B-sides of April 1972 UK 45-single on Epic S EPC 7954; note – the A-side in the UK was "Niji Trance", "When You Got Trouble" was not released there

13. Message From A Drum

14. One Monkey

Tracks 13 and 14 the A&B-sides of May 1972 US 45-single on Epic 5-10866 (no UK issue)

15. Fais-Do

16. Already Here (Brujo)

Tracks 15 and 16 the A&B-sides of August 1972 US 45-single on Epic 5-10910

17. Poison Ivy

18. Condition Your Condition

Tracks 17 and 18 the A&B-sides of January 1973 US 45-single on Epic 5-10946; A-side is a cover version of The Coasters 1959 R&B classic originally on Atlantic Records in the USA

 

CD2 (62:49 minutes):

1. We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee

2. Speakeasy

Tracks 1 and 2 the A&B-sides of March 1973 US 45-single on Epic 5-10979; February 1974 UK 45-single on Epic S EPC 1472

3. Come And Get Your Love

4. Day To Day Life

Tracks 3 and 4 the A&B-sides of August 1973 US 45-single on Epic 5-11035; April 1974 UK 45-single on Epic S EPC 1944

5. Wovoka

6. Clouds In My Sunshine

7. Sweet Lady Of Love

Tracks 5 and 6 the A&B-sides of May 1974 US 45-single on Epic 5-11131; Tracks 5 and 7 the A&B-sides of November 1973 UK 45-single on Epic S EPC 1830; Note – Tracks 10 and 6 issued in the UK September 1974 as the A&B-sides of Epic S EPC 2664; Track 8 on CD1 and Track 5 reissued as A&B-sides in the UK on Epic S EPC 4894 in January 1977

8. Suzi Girl

9. Interstate Highway 101

Tracks 8 and 9 the A&B-sides of August 1974 US 45-single on Epic 8-50015

10. One More Time

11. Blood, Sweat & Tears

Tracks 10 and 11 the A&B-sides of October 1974 US 45-single on Epic 8-50015; Note: Tracks 10 and 6 issued in the UK September 1974 as the A&B-sides of Epic S EPC 2664

12. Only You And Rock And Roll

Tracks 12 and 9 the A&B-sides of February 1975 US 45-single on Epic 8-50074

13. I've Got To Find The Right Woman

14. Physical Attraction

Tracks 13 and 14 the A&B-sides of May 1975 US 45-single on Epic 8-50107

15. (Beaded Dreams Through) Turquoise Eyes

Track 15 is the B-side of "Suzi Girl" in 1975 on a Brazilian 45-single 66262

16. Checkin’ It Out

Track 16 is the A-side of a 1977 Promo-Only US 45-single on RCA JH-11182

17. Give Our Love Another Try

Track 17 is the A-side of a 1977 Promo-only US 45-single on RCA JH-11096

18. Funky Silk

 

I have to say that even though the card-slipcase gives BGO Records compilations a cool look – these 2CD sets have boring and uninspiring front of shop artwork. On the rear of the slight 12-page booklet (good liner notes from SEAN EGAN) is a collage photo of varying picture sleeves down through the years (US, UK, Europe etc) that would have made for far prettier front cover artwork. Still – the digitally remastered Sony/BMG Remasters all pack a wallop (no engineer name noted)

 

As a two-sided different listen, the swamp rock voodoo vibe of "The Witch Queen Of New Orleans" backed by the extraordinary "Chant: 13^th Hour" which offers a Native Indian chant and drone for its first minute and half before going immediately into the most unexpected Meters/Allen Toussaint-type Funk that sounds staggeringly contemporary in 2023 for something that is 52-years old. "Give us just a little more time... " - the Native American band pleads – for more of this – you can have all the time you want. The melodies and heartaches continue with the really rather good "When You Get Trouble" – a sort of Drifters/Stylistics soulful shuffle that hooks its way into your affections as it comments on social mores of the day - eight children to feed, the landlord bearing down on you (great screaming passionate vocals as it gets into a stride too).

 

Don’t know why someone in Epic UK thought "Niji Trance" would somehow be a better A-side than "When You Get Trouble" – it’s an interesting spirit dance of a funker, but it was never as commercial as say the USA A-side or its guitar-funk social-commentary "Jericho" flip – a neighbourhood on the edge of Fresno where people are living in tents and lean-tos. Another excellent song (quite rightly noted by Sean Egan in his liner notes) is the mellow and sincere "Message From A Drum" – a very Matthews Southern Comfort vibe (its flipside "One Monkey" is piano-organ pretty too, a song about moving up to Detroit).

 

Things go downhill fast by the time CD2 comes around - "We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee" feeling like a sideways but somehow cheesy attempt to recreate the hit "The Witch Queen Of New Orleans" hit. Its B-side is an awful pedal-steel country thing called "Speakeasy". A track called "Hail" was issued as a UK 45 A-side with "Condition Your Condition" as its flipside April 1973 on Epic S EPC 1398, but unfortunately it has not been included on CD2 - a naughty oversight. But things cheer up considerably when we get to the joyous "Come And Get Your Love" – the song that was of course revived by being used in the opening sequence of the huge Marvel Movie "Guardians Of The Galaxy" as Chris Pratt dances across an alien surface with the Redbone song playing on his Walkman. Despite being listed on the card sleeve as "Day To Day Life/Chant Wovoka" – it is only the "Day To Day Life" edit at 2:40 minutes. Great Production and the catchy guitar-funk of "Wovoka" should have seen it succeed as a 45-single – especially with its hey-hey Native Indian chant B-side "Clouds In My Sunshine" that quickly morphs into Stylistics Soul-Pop territory. Unfortunately by the time I get to the insipid "Suzi Girl", "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and so on Redbone feel like a band trying to find a hit rather than writing any.

 

Redbone have their admirers and this huge 2CD singles haul is going to make them very happy by way of rarity content and remastered audio; but for the rest of us, I advise a listen first...

"Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" by GEORGE SMITH and THE CHICAGO BLUES BAND – February 1969 US Debut Studio LP on World Pacific Records in Stereo (March 1969 UK on Liberty Records in Stereo) featuring Muddy Waters on Guitar, Otis Spann on Piano, SP Leary on Drums with Luther Johnson and Marshall Hooks also on Guitars (July 2022 UK Beat Goes On Reissue (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) – 1LP onto 1CD with 3 Bonus Tracks, One Including Lucille Spann on Vocals – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

This Review Along With Over 215 Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

"MANNISH BOY" 

BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, DOO WOP, ROOTS

RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD 

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

Thousands of E-Pages

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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"...Key To The Highway..."

 

What you have here is a reissue of a reissue of a reissue.

 

England's Beat Goes on (BGO) initially put out this CD as far back as late March 2012 (launched again in late January 2013). 

 

This variant is a July 2022 re-release using the same catalogue number and barcode (itself delayed from 2021 because of Covid-19). This time around you get upgraded to Card Slipcase packaging, a see-through CD tray, other album advert inlay beneath and a 2022 Copyright Date to differentiate issues. This 2022 re-release is NOT a new remaster - the February 2012 liner notes are the same as is the 2012 Remaster – no change.

 

The other album... 

July 2022 also saw BGO remaster his 2^nd studio album from mid 1969 called "...Of The Blues" accredited to GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND. 

Beat Goes On BGOCD1448 (Barcode 5017261214485) is the first official CD Reissue of that lost Blues-Rock blast – see separate review.

 

Lots to talk about here though and most of it great – to the details...

 

UK released July 2022 (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) -  "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" by GEORGE SMITH and THE CHICAGO BLUES BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD1035 (Barcode 5017261210357) is a CD Reissue and Remaster of his debut studio album from 1969 plus three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (44:57 minutes):

 

1. Mellow Down Easy [Side 1]

2. Can't Hold On Much Longer

3. My Babe

4. Juke

5. West Helena Woman

6. Tell Me Mama [Side 2]

7. Last Night

8. You Better Watch Yourself

9. Key To The Highway

10. Everything Gonna Be Alright

11. Too Late

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut studio album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" - released February 1969 in the USA on World Pacific Records WPS-21887 in Stereo – March 1969 UK on Liberty Records LBS 83218E in Stereo. Recorded across three days in October 1968 (2^nd, rd and 4^th), the album is mostly cover versions of his Chess Records Harmonica hero – Little Walter. Produced by STEVE LaVERE and PETE WELDING in Los Angeles - guest musicians include Muddy Waters, Marshall Hooks and Luther Johnson on Guitars, Otis Spann on Piano, Lawrence "Little Willie" Wimberley on Bass with S.P. Leary on Drums.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Goin' Down Slow

13. Just A Feelin'

14. Love With A Feelin'

All three tracks were cut at the October 1968 sessions. Both 12 and 14 feature Muddy Waters and Luther Johnson on Guitars with "Goin' Down Slow" featuring a Rare Muddy slide-guitar solo. Although not stated definitively – Track 13 probably contains the core band listed above also. "Love With A Feelin'" features Lucille Spann – the then 29-year-old wife of Otis Spann – on Lead Vocals and was first issued March 2012 on the original BGO reissue.

 

The outer Card Slipcase is new but the 8-page booklet and TONY RUSSELL liner notes are the same as the original March 2012 version – track list too. The 2012 ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster needs no improvement and absolutely Rocks – reminding me of those Taj Mahal 360 Sound CD Remasters that Legacy put out. The music is Blues with a Rock lean – sort of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band fronted by George’s great voice and his deep chromatic Harmonica warbles. To the tunes...

You can hear the band filling out both your speakers in the opening "Mellow Down Easy" (a Willie Dixon song Little Walter made famous) - Smith's voice way better than you'd expect - a sort of warm-toned crooner feel. Whilst both Muddy Waters and Luther Johnson are on the opener, it's background rather than flash. And then it comes in - that huge Harmonica. Smith's second is the can't sleep at night/cat-nap all day Slow Blues of "Can't Hold On Much Longer". "Gonna have to cut you loose now woman..." and then that warbling harp blasting out around the room. Also impressive is Otis Spann - tinkling cool in the background. 

"My Babe" has to be almost everyone's fave-rave Chess Classic when it comes to Little Walter - British R&B combos like Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames practically combusting on the spot in the Sixties. Here Smith gives it fantastic Mojo - so R&B sweaty nightclub - and gorgeous full audio too. Northern Soul dancers and Modernists will dig the Harmonica R&B shuffle of the instrumental "Juke" - all party - all night long. Smith ends Side 1 on what is surely an LP highlight - a lowdown gutsy Slow Blues in "West Helena Woman". Mean and ballsy - the lyrics are boisterous Saturday Night - going out and having a Natural Ball - our George loving this woman best of all. The two guitars (Muddy and Luther) get to weep and moan too in this superb side-finisher. 

 

Side 2 opens with a bopper "Tell Me Mama" - our George suspicious about a chap leaving his home at an unbecoming hour. Way better is the misery-loves-company that is "Last Night" - a 2 a.m. Blues moaner that features superb guitar/piano/harp battles throughout - impressive stuff. "Last Night" contains the band's best mind meld - a true Blues With A Feeling. Belting harp opens "You Better Watch Yourself" - a typically menacing Little Walter blame game - his beady eyes on his gal's possibly shifty behavior. It romps home with "Key To The Highway", "Everything Gonna Be Alright" and "Too Late" - fun R&B boppers any one of which could have been a single. 

The three Bonuses are just that - "Goin' Down Slow" featuring Muddy on Slide Guitar with Otis plinkering away in the Slow Blues background. It's great stuff but was probably left off because it was one mooch too many. "Just A Feelin'" has two guitarists - gotta be Muddy and Johnson - and is excellent - equal to tunes on the LP. And we end with Otis Spann's wife Lucille taking Lead Vocals for the mid-tempo "Love With A Feelin'" - coming on like a Big Mama Thornton. She gives it some gusto, but the vocal is a little too low in the mix and therefore doesn't come across with the upfront power the tune demands. But the guitar playing is great.

 

A very cool little CD reissue/remaster of a hip but largely unknown debut album from 1969 - George Smith and his Band of Blues Brothers remembered with style and mucho Audio punch. "Harmonica" Smith would go on to do two albums with England's Blues Rock combo BACON FAT featuring Rod Piazza under the watchful eye of the label's producer Mike Vernon (see my separate review for "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" 2CD set). 

 

But as a starter for ten, his debut LP "Blues With A Feeling..." was indeed the Keys To The Highway. Dig in and enjoy...

"...Of The Blues" by GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND - June 1969 US Second Studio Album originally on Bluesway Records in Stereo featuring Harp Player Rod Piazza of The Dirty Blues Band and Bacon Fat, Marshall Hooks and Arthur Adams on Guitars with Big Jim Wynn and Ed Davis on Horns (July 2022 UK Beat Goes On Reissue (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) – 1LP onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review Along With over 200 Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

"MANNISH BOY" 

BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, DOO WOP, ROOTS

RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD 

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

Thousands of E-Pages

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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 "...Juicy Harmonica..."

 

Now here's a rarity reissued as well as we can hope for  - the fantastic Mississippi harp player's second US album issued originally on Bluesway Records and first time on CD too (incredibly). Let's get to the nitty gritty...

 

UK released July 2022 (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) - "...Of The Blues" by GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD1448 (Barcode 5017261214485) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his second studio album from 1969 that plays out as follows (34:50 minutes):

 

1. A Letter To The President [Side 1]

2. Got My Mojo Working

3. Milk That Cow

4. Blues For Reverend King

5. Ode To Billie Joe

6. Juicy Harmonica [Side 2]

7. Help Me

8. Hawaiian Eye

9. If You Were A Rabbit

Tracks 1 to 9 are his second studio album "...Of The Blues" - released June 1969 in the USA on Bluesway Records BLS 6029 in Stereo (no UK issue). 

 

George Smith wrote tracks 3, 4, 6 and 9 - Track 1 written by Rose Marie McCoy, Track 2 written by Muddy Waters, Track 5 by Bobbie Gentry, Track 7 by Sonny Boy Williamson and Track 8 by Mack David.

 

Produced by BOB THIELE for Flying Dutchman Productions 

Guest musicians included:

ROD PIAZZA of The Dirty Blues Band, Bacon Fat and later with The Midnight Flyers (as Lightnin' Rod) on Lead Harmonica for "A Letter To The President", "Juicy Harmonica" and "Help Me"

MARSHALL HOOKS on Guitar (ARTHUR ADAMS on "A Letter To The President" only)

ROBERT SCHEDELE on Piano

BIG JIM WYNN and ED DAVIS on Saxophones - RICHARD DAVIS on Trumpet

CURTIS TILLMAN on Bass (Drummer unknown)

 

First thing you need to know apart from the pretty card slipcase and the 12-page booklet with Liner Notes from an enthusiastic JOHN O'REGAN (written April 2021) is that the ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster is not from real tapes, but it seems, a clean vinyl source. Beat Goes On states this clearly and given what they've had to work with, the stereo imaging and clarity is remarkable - but you crank it too much and you can hear those edges blur. But make no mistake - this is a job well done and when the band is cooking as they are on their cover of Mack David's "Hawaiian Eye" - the audio is great - a sort of Booker T & The MG's on a rollicking Brass and Harmonica tip.

 

It opens with 3:40 minutes of George talking his way through an end-racial-inequality plea called "A Letter To The President". To the backdrop of train sounds a-chugging-along where the acoustic guitar strums in the left speaker and guest Rod Piazza warbles on Harp in the right - he narrates as if he's a boxcar hobo riding the trains some 20 years and wanting 60ts USA to end 'whites only' signs - the man with the big speeches in the big house to step up the plate in other words. It's good but very much of its time. Better for me is his first cover version of the album, Muddy Waters signature song "Got My Mojo Working" - great feel and warm audio. His first original "Milk That Cow" is probably my least fave on the record - badly dated falsified fun. Way, way better is the full-blown chromatic warbling harmonica instrumental that is "Blues For Reverend King" where GS gets stuck in and makes Little Walter nervous for his crown. Side 1 then ends on another instrumental - Bobbie Gentry's huge hit "Ode To Billie Joe" - which George makes Bluesy and Funky too - very tasty.

 

Side 2 opens with that other Paul Butterfield contemporary Rod Piazza giving it some "Juicy Harmonica" - another warbling instrumental. Piazza is extraordinary - he started out singing and blowing his big gruff harp with two 60ts albums for The Dirty Blues Band (which BGO has reissued and I've reviewed), two for Blue Horizon's Bacon Fat in the very early 70ts (also reviewed that) and then nearly 30-years with his band The Mighty Flyers (still going in 2022). Which brings me to my two craves on the record - George's cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic "Help Me" and the fantastic seven-minutes of "If You Were A Rabbit" where both GS and Marshall Hooks kill it on Harmonica and Guitar.

 

By the end of 1969, George Smith was with English Producer Mike Vernon of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac fame in the Eldorado Recording Studios in Hollywood making albums for Vernon's Blue Horizon Records of the UK with the short-lived but much loved Bacon Fat (I reviewed that August 2006 Sony/Blue Horizon double CD anthology years back - "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions"). Their first album "Grease One For Me" would be issued early 1970 with their second "No Time For Jive" coming at the spring of 1971 after November 1970 UK tours. Neither did much business despite the quality and from there on in, Smith went touring with other luminaries such as James Cotton.

 

Getting back to the case in hand - "...Of The Blues" is not a balls-to-the-wall Blues Rock masterpiece for sure, and his first album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" is probably better. But Beat Goes On (BGO) of the UK are to be thanked big-time for making available again those tracks within that are simply brilliant and a warbler LP gem that deserves recognition some 50+ years after the event.

 

July 2022 (delayed from May 2021) also saw BGO of the UK reissue on CD George Smith's more revered and famous debut album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" (BGOCD1035 - Barcode 5017261210357). BGO initially put that disc out way back in 2012 - this is an upgrade with card slipcase and a 2022 copyright date. Remastered from original tapes – it sounds incredible. 

 

Originally from February 1969 on World Pacific Records USA (was given a UK issue on Liberty Records in March 1969), that stereo album featured some Blues heavy-hitters too - Muddy Waters on Guitar, Otis Spann on Piano, SP Leary on Drums with Luther Johnson and Marshall Hooks also on Guitars. It's a winner too. Get 'em both I say...