"The Dream Weaver/The Light Of Smiles/Touch And Gone/Headin' Home" by GARY WRIGHT [ex Spooky Tooth] - US Albums from July 1975, January and December 1977 (two) and March 1979 on Warner Brothers Records – featuring (April 2018 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Think It's Time To Get Ready..."

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Beginning a four-album run with England's Spooky Tooth from the July 1968 debut "It's All About" to July 1970's "The Last Puff" - Keyboardist GARY WRIGHT then pumped out two Rock-Soulful solo albums on A&M Records in 1970 and 1971 - "Gary Wright's Extraction" and "Footprint". They featured folks like Guitarists Jerry Donahue of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay and American rocker Ronnie Montrose, Horn playing legends King Curtis and Rolling Stones regulars Bobby Keys and Jim Price along with backing singers like Nanette Newman, Doris Troy, Madeline Bell and P.P. Arnold (impressive session people to say the least). 

Wright had also been an integral part of the 1970 George Harrison triple-album magnum opus "All Things Must Pass" – Beatle Harrison returning the favour by appearing on and co-producing (uncredited) the second LP "Footprint". Gary would also tinkle those heartbreaking ivory keys on Nilsson's worldwide mega-hit "Without You" in 1972. After two British singles failed in March and November 1972, GW was to see his "Ring Of Changes" LP credited to Gary Wright's Wonderwheel issued sometime in December 1972 on A&M Records - but it was withdrawn due to lack of interest (Esoteric Recordings have done a superb 2016 CD Reissue and Remaster of it). From there he reformed Spooky Tooth and popped out more (largely ignored) studio albums on Island Records like 1973's "Witness" and the delightfully entitled "You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" - most of which I've reviewed on 2016 Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman Remasters for Universal. 

Which brings us to 1975 and this October 2018 double-digital cracker from English reissue specialist BGO (Beat Goes On Records). It deals with phase two of his huge career – Wright's signing to Warner Brothers in the USA where he hit paydirt big time with his pioneering all-keyboards albums. After an initial slow start from release in July 1975, two of his Warner 45s from "The Dream Weaver" LP belatedly smashed their way up to No. 2 on the US Top 100 in 1976, prompting the album itself to shift bucket-loads of copies and eventually achieve an impressive No. 7 placing. The other three Warners LPs dealt with it on this British card slipcase reissue charted in the American Top 200 (two from January and December 1977 and one from March 1979) - albeit in ever-lowering numbers. 

I hadn't really expected much from these platters with their slightly cheesy titles (The Light Of Smiles, oh dear) and in all honesty, it's been decades since I played any of them. And re-hearing them now, I can recall why I thought the later LPs lacked something or were just poorer versions of the big one. But like everyone else late to this synth-Rock party, I remain surprised at some of these forgotten goodies. Here are the loves that are still alive...

UK released Friday, 27 April 2018 - "The Dream Weaver/The Light Of Smiles/Touch And Gone/Headin' Home" by GARY WRIGHT on Beat Goes On BGOCD1334 (Barcode 5017261213341) offers 4LPs from 1975, 1977 (two) and 1979 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:38 minutes):

1. Love Is Alive [Side 1]

2. Let It Out 

3. Can't Find The Judge 

4. Made To Love You

5. Power Of Love 

6. Dream Weaver [Side 2]

7. Blind Feeling 

8. Much Higher 

9. Feel For Me 

Tracks 1 to 9 are his third studio album "The Dream Weaver" - released July 1975 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2868 and November 1976 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56141. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 7 in the USA, didn't chart UK

10. Water Sign [Side 1]

11. Time Machine 

12. I Am The Sky

13. Who Am I 

14. Silent Fury 

15. Phantom Writer 

16. The Light Of Smiles [Side 2]

17. I'm Alright 

18. Empty Inside 

19. Are You Weepin'

20. Child Of Light 

Tracks 10 to 20 are his fourth studio album "The Light Of Smiles" - released January 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2951 and January 1977 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56278. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 23 in the USA, didn't chart UK

CD2 (78:00 minutes):

1. Touch And Gone [Side 1]

2. Starry Eyed

3. Something Very Special 

4. Stay Away

5. Night Ride 

6. Sky Eyes [Side 2]

7. Lost In My Emotions

8. Can't Get Above Losing You 

9. The Love It Takes 

Tracks 1 to 9 are his fifth studio album "Touch And Gone" - released December 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3137 and January 1978 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56435. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 117 in the USA (didn't chart UK) 

10. Keep Love In Your Soul [Side 1]

11. Love's Awake Inside 

12. You Don't Own Me

13. Moonbeams 

14. Stand 

15. I'm The One Who'll Be By Your Side [Side 2]

16. Follow Next To Me 

17. I Can Feel You Cryin'

18. Let Me Feel Your Love Again

19. Love Is Why

Tracks 10 to 19 are his sixth studio album "Headin' Home" - released March 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3244 and March 1979 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56585. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 147 in the USA, didn't chart UK.

The card slipcase on these BGO CD sets lends the release an air of class and the 24-page booklet with JOHN O'REGAN liner notes reproduces all the original LP artwork and inners whilst illuminating his extraordinary career – especially his sort of unspoken/unknown contribution to Keyboard Rock – a pioneer to be held in the same revered sentence as say Keith Emerson, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre and his home contemporaries like Rick Wakeman of Yes and Roger Davies of Supertramp. 

BGO's long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON has done the Digital Remasters into Hi Def, and always beautifully produced in the first place, it's hardly surprising to find that this 2018 transfer hits all the right notes. The clarity of that "Love Is Alive" synth punch is fantastic and to get all four platters sounding this good for less that twelve quid is some kind of deal. Speaking of the same, much is made in the liner notes of the guitar-less "Dream Weaver" album as being innovative whilst at the same time acknowledging those who had trailed this path before - Stevie Wonder, Tonto's Expanding Head Band and even acts like Beaver and Krause. 

But I've always thought that Gary Wright was actually smarter than that - his noggin pointed at arty 'hits' – no doubt sick and tired of well-intentioned British Rock that didn't really sell. There is also a touch of The Cars about his LPs in this mid to late Seventies period – Yacht Rock hooks swirling around sexy piano-based melodies – commercial yet credible – the clever lad. To the albums...

Despite his huge Stateside success, Gary Wright saw "The Dream Weaver" LP have to wait until November 1976 to get a release in Blighty - the single "Love Is Alive" b/w "The Dream Weaver" issued as a UK 45-single taster in late October 1976 on Warner Brothers K 16831. It seems strange now that such a fantastically commercial double-whammy 7" single like that couldn't have elevated the LP into the British Top 50 - but no joy. And when you listen to the perfectly-formed Michael McDonald-sexy Doobie Brothers Soul-Rock of say "Let It Out" (those great harmony vocals with the ladies) or the driving Boogie-Funk of "The Power Of Love" and the "Love Is Alive" soundalike of "Much Higher" (a tremendous transfer whacks those drums out of your speakers for both) - you wonder why normally-savvied British DJs didn't pick up on this. "Take away my worries of today..." Wright sang on the swirling 'I believe we can reach the morning light' of the title track – another winner on a very satisfying LP. 

"The Light of Smiles" album from early 1977 followed the same all-keyboards of its Yacht Rock predecessor but I thought it wasn’t nearly as good. I found "Who Am I" a little too schlocky for my tastes and the short childish chant "I Am The Sky" little more than filler. "Silent Fury" and "Child Of Light" touched on the same Funky Rock magic of "The Dream Weaver" album – abandoned youngsters making for strangely upbeat song material. 

There is a huge jump upwards in Production values when you reach the late 1977 release of "Touch And Gone" – like he was aiming at the polished Hall & Oates marketplace without perhaps having their genius with a tune that moves both the feet and the heart. The title track is a great single and "Something Very Special" is the kind of upbeat synth dancer that would have played out the credits of any late 70s Rom Com film set in Miami or California. A lot better is the Soulfulness in "Stay Away" and the hit-city keyboard funk of "The Love It Takes" (you've got it baby). You feel a change in the air because your "Love's Awake Inside" on Side 1 of the "Headin' Home" album from 1979, again featuring uber production values. "Moonbeams" feels like it's trying to be soulful without actually knowing how (wash your sorrows in moonbeams - oh dear). Better is the hit-single of "I'm The One Who'll Be By Your Side" and the nothing-to-hide slow dancer "I Can Feel You Cryin'".

For sure there will be those in 2020 who feel these Gary Wright albums are dated and of a time long past that isn't worth revisiting (as I did) and there are enough cheesy moments to prove some of that right. But there is also the good stuff. "I think it's time to get ready..." he sang on "Love Is Alive". Better late than never...

PS: 

The "Gary Wright's Extraction" debut LP came out December 1970 on A&M SP-4277 in the USA (January 1971 on AMLS 2004 in an elaborate foldout poster sleeve in the UK) - while his second studio solo set "Footprint" hit US and British stores on A&M SP-4296 and A&M AMLS 64296 in 1971 respectively. Both were also dealt with by BGO in December 2005 with a 2LPs-onto-1CD reissue – see Beat Goes On BGOCD699 (Barcode 5017261206992).

"The Ozark Mountain Daredevils/It'll Shine When It Shines" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS – December 1973 and December 1974 US Debut and Second Studio Albums on A&M Records (April 1974 and January 1975 in the UK) – featuring John Dillon, Michael "Supe" Granda, Larry Lee, Buddy Brayfield, Steve Cash and Randle Chowning (January 2005 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 2LPs Onto 2CDs (No Bonuses) – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Light In The Lowlands..."

In 1974 I was fully committed. Not to Bedlam (as some had hoped) but to buying every album my lounge-boy Guinness and Gordon's bar-tips could afford. I bought "The Confessions Of Dr. Dream..." by Kevin Ayers on Island Records in a two-quid deal as well as Greenslade's third on Warner Brothers "Spyglass Guest", Todd Rundgren's Utopia and their self-titled monster debut on Bearsville, Dan Fogelberg's gorgeous "Souvenirs" on Full Moon/Epic - and so many more. Average White Band, Planet Waves, On The Border, Caribou, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Hergest Ridge, Relayer, Sheet Music, On The Beach, Court And Spark, The Payback, Rejuvenation, Perfect Angel, It's Too Late To Stop Now, Irish Tours '74, Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley, Second Helping, Roxy's Country Life, Phaedra, Joe Walsh's fab So What – 1974 was a good year for albums and diversity of genres.

Then I spotted the intriguing grandma and shack A&M Records sleeve for "It'll Shine When It Shines" by the quirkily named THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS (again in a sale). I liked the inner foldout lyrics sheet that made the release feel substantial; I mostly dug Country Rock and Acoustic Country in all its guises and thought - what the hell - let's give this pretty mountain goat a whirl. I played that album to death and of course back-tracked to the debut from the previous year which I found was just as good - and some would say - even better. Hell, the debut even had Prog elements in songs like "Spaceship Orion" and "Colorado" - a genre I was equally obsessed with. And so, I've been a huge fan of the hoot and a holler Ozarks ever since. To the matter...

What you get here is their December 1973 US debut album (April 1974 in the UK) and their second platter from December 1974 USA (January 1975 in the UK) - both on A&M Records - remastered to perfection onto 2CDs in 2005 by England's Beat Goes On (BGO) and the pair of albums loaded down with fun, warmth and astonishingly good/calming and refreshing melodies that get their hooks into you and won't leave.

The Byrds in the late Sixties, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, America, John Prine and of course the mighty Eagles (among many) had all broken down the Country Rock door moving the largely US genre away from Hicksville into tunes you couldn't deny. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils embodied all of it and actually did feel like the crystal clear waters of a Missouri stream, light in the lowlands. Here are the boys hat made the mountains sing...

UK released 24 January 2005 - "The Ozark Mountain Daredevils/It'll Shine When It Shines" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 648 (Barcode 5017261206480) offers their debut and second studio albums Remastered onto 2CDs that play out as follows:

CD1 (38:46 minutes):

1. Country Girl [Side 1]

2. Spaceship Orion

3. If You Wanna Get To Heaven

4. Chicken Train

5. Colorado Song

6. Standin' On The Rock [Side 2]

7. Road To Glory

8. Black Sky

9. Within Without

10. Beauty In The River

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "The Ozark Mountain Daredevils" - released December 1973 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4411 and April 1974 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64411. Tracks 1 and 7 written by Randle Chowning, Tracks 2 and 9 by Larry Lee, Tracks 4 and 8 by Steve Cash, Tracks 6 and 10 by John Dillon and Tracks 3 and 5 by Steve Cash and John Dillon. Produced by GLYN JOHNS and DAVID ANDERLE - it entered the US LP charts in February 1974 and peaked at No. 26 (didn't chart UK)

CD2 (44:20 minutes):

1. You Made It Right [Side 1]

2. Look Away

3. Jackie Blue

4. Kansas You Fooler

5. It Couldn't Be Better

6. E.E. Lawson

7. Walkin' Down The Road [Side 2]

8. What's Happened Along In My Life

9. It Probably Always Will

10. Lowlands

11. Tidal wave

12. It'll Shine When It Shines

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second studio album "It'll Shine When It Shines" - released December 1974 in the USA on A&M Records SP-3654 and January 1975 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 63654. Produced by GLYN JOHNS and DAVID ANDERLE - it entered the US LP charts in December 1974 and peaked at No. 19 (didn't chart UK). 

The outer card wrap is both classy and a trademark look for BGO CD reissues and I would imagine BGOCD648 has been a steady seller for them. The sixteen-page booklet reproduces both lyric inserts that came with the original vinyls and also sports new JOHN TOBLER liner notes. All six band members are profiled - John Dillon, Steve Cash, Randle Chowning, Larry Lee, Michael "Supe" Granda and Buddy Brayfield along with their British and American Producers - Glyn Johns and David Anderle - pals who in-between gigs for The Rolling Stones went to see the band in Kansas, liked them and produced both records with superb fidelity. The legendary Glyn Johns has lent his hand to "Joan Armatrading", "Who's Next", "Eagles" - engineered the first Zeppelin and so many more - and the Andrew Thompson Remaster here is just glorious - bringing out that polish Johns brought to the original sessions.

As you can see from the track lists and playing-times provided above, Beat Goes On has chosen to separate each album onto its own CD. And I mention this because the only real downside (given that there was room on both discs) is that they didn't include the non-album 45 flipside to the huge hit "Jackie Blue" which was called "Better Days" (January 1975 US on A&M Records 1654-S, February 1975 UK on A&M records AMS 7150). There was also the exclusive "Dreams" that only showed up on the British 45 to "You Made It Right" in April 1976 on A&M Records AMS 7223. To my knowledge neither of these period B-sides have ever made their way onto digital (maybe future BGO reissues would consider adding these two rarities on?). Outside of that, this is an audio and presentation winner. Let's get to the Country girls and Kansas foolers...

The jaunty strum of "Country Girl" sets the tone immediately - very Eagles "Take It Easy" with Randle Chowning on Lead Vocals, Lead Electric and Acoustic Guitars, National Steel and Harp too. His "Country Girl" is a sweetie and a dead-ringer for easy radio-programming, so hardly surprising that A&M chose it as the lead off 45 in October 1973 - two months before the album arrived in December. It was paired with the Side 2 album cut "Within Without" on A&M 1477-S (another pretty strummer) - but neither song caught on. Single number two did. With the album picking up momentum, A&M tried the equally catchy "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" b/w "Spaceship Orion" on A&M 1515-S - a very cool twofer of album gems released in April 1974. It took some months, but in the second week of June 1974, it finally made Billboard's singles chart and eventually rose to No.25 giving the Springfield, Missouri band their first (semi) hit.

Perhaps not wanting the band to be lumbering with the riotously funny hoot 'n' holler square-dancing "Chicken Train" - it seems odd now that this obvious crowd-pleaser (neck jerking ahoy) wasn't issued as a follow-up 45 in either the USA or UK - but alas. For those looking towards ballads, "Road To Glory" is a harmonica strummer about card games in courtyards whilst "Black Sky" starts out like "Stone Fox Chase" by Area Code 615 (the theme song to "The Old Grey Whistle Test") before it becomes something akin to something on Cooder's "Paradise And Lunch" - all sliding acoustics as the Harp warbles over the stove lyrics. The LP's finisher "Beauty In The River" is a tad too hick for my tastes, but both "Spaceship Orion" and the fabulous "Colorado Song" shock me still with their gorgeous and clever melodies (love that guitar solo, very Genesis even somehow and those crescendo harmonies). I'm going back to Colorado, rolling down the highway...take me with you boys.

The second studio album made good on the America-good melodies of the debut opening strongly with "You Made It Right" – a very McGuinness Flint jolly old rag mama strummer with "clear blue windswept sky" lyrics. It’s an infectious tune – simple and beautifully captured by Producer Johns. Geetar honky tonk follows with the equally slick "Look Away" – a chugger with piano rolls and oh lord look away gospel words. I remember liking "Jackie Blue" when I first heard it in 1974 but didn’t think much past that. The American listening public begged to differ – loving the tune to distraction where it became a huge radio tune pushing A&M 1654 all the way up to No. 3 in March 1975. While the cool "E.E. Lawson" finishes Side 1 in great slide guitar fashion (did those deep vocals), my heart returns more to the pretty love song "It Couldn't Be Better" – a John Dillon co-write with Elizabeth Anderson where I think she provides uncredited harmony vocals amidst those crickets. Side 2 is the better stew pot of ballad gems like "What's Happened Along In My Life" and in particular the gorgeous "Lowlands". There are more but best you discover them yourself.

Sticking with A&M Records, The Ozarks would make "The Car Over The Lake Album", "Men From Earth" and "Don't Look Back" in 1975, 1976 and 1977 only to end their tenure with the label on the double-live album "It's Alive" in 1978. BGO have paired 1975 and 1976 on another release. But many feel the Springfield sixers are best remembered here.

"...I heard a song that was taught to a lady and it made the mountains sing..." – the boys teach on the beautiful opening to "Lowlands". Investigate these river songs and enjoy...

"Jerry Reed/Hot A' Mighty/Lord Mr. Ford/The Uptown Poker Club" by JERRY REED – Four Albums from 1972 and 1973 (3) originally on RCA Victor Records (May 2019 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Dreaming Of Henry Ford..."

This is the kind of twofer reissue that Beat Goes On Records of the UK does so well (BGO for short) - four now forgotten and obscure albums remastered in full onto two CDs by Audio Engineer Andrew Thompson. You get a classy looking card slipcase – foldout double jewel case, new liner notes and a decent asking price. The original vinyl was "Jerry Reed" from 1972 alongside three from early to late 1973 - "Hot A' Mighty", "Lord, Mr. Ford" and "The Uptown Poker Club" - all originally on RCA Victor Records in the USA.

UK released 31 May 2019 - Beat Goes On BGOCD1377 (Barcode 5017261213778) offers up all four albums newly remastered in high def in their entirety - the third platter included giving the witty Georgia Boy a US Country Music No. 1 with the oil, gas, wheezing, automobile spluttering song "Lord, Mr. Ford" - a lyrically very funny tune by Dick Feller that tapped into the truckers craze of the early Seventies.

In fact wit abounds in songs choices like "Alabama Wild Man" and the Rock n' Roll tribute album of sorts "Hot A' Mighty" where he tackles hunks of Chuck Berry but still manages to slot in Mickey Newbury's "Sweet Memories". With Chet Atkins production across all four of the platters (played Guitar too on most) and a huge bevvy of quality Nashville players – it’s no wonder that the audio transfers are lovely - really clear and full of body. His acting career skyrocketed then (eventually becoming integral to the Smokey & The Bandit films) and he gave music a bit of a back seat.

For sure Seventies Country music (on RCA especially) has had the reputation of being just the wrong side of hick - but when Reed covers songs like Rodney Crowell's "You Can't Keep Me Here In Tennessee" and "Everybody Has Those Kind Of Days" whilst throwing in his own "It's Tough All Over" – JR showed his smarts and sass at picking a winning tune. It can be dated in places as these albums tended to be, but this is a very good reissue from BGO (yet again) highlighting a songwriter and personality who deserves a second-go-round. Nice one...

"Tears Of Joy/Connection" by DON ELLIS (December 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 2CDs - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This and 100s more review like it available in my e-Book:

"...Euphoric..."

What you get here is the last two albums Big Band Leader and Jazz Trumpeter Don Ellis made for Columbia Records (USA) - one being a full double-album from 1971 of new material recorded over several nights live at the legendary Basin Street West Jazz Club in San Francisco - and the other, a 1972 single studio album of contemporary covers augmented with three new songs. Both albums are newly remastered here in 2017 from licensed Sony tapes - with the first's running order split across two CDs in order to make it fit without audio compromise.

A collection of contemporary cover versions across a wild scope of genres (Gilbert O'Sullivan to Yes, The Carpenters to The Crusaders), the second album "Connection" has probably Don Ellis' most sought after crossover moment – his jagged yet funky original theme to the ultimate gritty cop chase movie "The French Connection" starring Gene Hackman (Frog 1 baby).

But there's so much more - the fabulously inventive and superbly recorded and played "Tears Of Joy" 2LP set is rated by fans as one of his best – seventeen minutes of "Strawberry Soup" baby. And man does it all sound good too (England's Beat Goes On (BGO) has done a top job as usual). Here are the euphoric details...

UK released 15 December 2017 (22 December 2017 in the USA) - "Tears Of Joy/Connection" by DON ELLIS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1317 (Barcode 5017261213174) offers two albums (one a double, the other a single) Remastered in full onto 2CDs that play out as follows:

Disc 1 (60:11 minutes):

1. Tears Of Joy [Side 1]

2. 5/4 Getaway

3. Bulgarian Bulge

4. Get It Together

5. Quiet Longing [Side 2]

6. Blues In Elf

7. Loss

8. How's This For Openers? [Side 3]

9. Samba Bajada

Tracks 1 to 9 are Sides 1, 2 and 3 of the double-album "Tears Of Joy" - released October 1971 in the USA on Columbia Records G 30927.

Disc 2 (68:54 minutes):

1. Strawberry Soup [Side 4]

2. Euphoric Acid

Tracks 1 and 2 are Side 4 of the double-album "Tears Of Joy" - released October 1971 in the USA on Columbia Records G 30927. All songs written by Don Ellis except "Get It Together" by Sam Falzone, "Samba Bajada" by Hank Levy and "Euphoric Acid" by Fred Seldon

3. Put It Where You Want It [Joe Sample song, Crusaders cover] - Side 1

4. Alone Again (Naturally) [Gilbert O'Sullivan song]

5. Superstar (from the Rock Opera "Jesus Christ Superstar") [Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice song]

6. I Feel The Earth Move [Carole King song]

7. Theme From "The French Connection" [Don Ellis song]

8. Conquistador [Keith Reid and Gary Brooker song, Procol Harum cover]

9. Roundabout [Jon Anderson/Steve Howe song, Yes cover] - Side 2

10. Chain Reaction [Hank Levy song]

11. Goodbye To Love [John Bettis and Richard Carpenter song, Carpenters cover]

12. Lean On Me [Bill Withers cover]

13. Train To Get There [Richard Halligan song]

Tracks 3 to 13 are the single album "Connection" - released November 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31766.

The card slipcase lends the reissue an air of class and the 20-page booklet comes resplendent with new MATT PHILLIPS  (Musician and Founder of soundsosurprise.com and movingtheriver.com) and all the original artwork including the song-by-song notes from Ellis that adorned the inner gatefold of the mammoth "Tears Of Joy" double. It's nicely done with new Remasters from BGO's long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. These CDs sound great - the new transfers bringing out the best of the original Don Ellis and Phil Macy production values. To the Jazz...

Although "Tears Of Joy" was recorded live (climaxing a US tour) – such is the restraint of the crowd – you'd barely notice. But don't let that make you think the performances are too staid or po-faced reverential. If you want to know how a band 'cooks' – check out the staggering syncopation of the ensemble on "5/4 Getaway" – eight minutes of trumpet and horns merging – the two drummers Ralph Humphrey and Ron Dunn giving in some solo time before the whole group keeps it tight-tight to the end followed by whoops from a clearly geared-up crowd (sticks man Humphrey would join Zappa and his band just after this). From that and the wildness of the Sam Falzone contribution of "Get It Together" – we feel the complete contrast of "Quiet Longing" – a lone trumpet with some strings - sounding just like its title – images of a lone hombre on the range aching for his love as he stares up at the stars in the stillness of the night.

"Blues In Elf" begins in a reverential classical mode until piano player Milcho Leviev (much to the mirth of the crowd who spot the clever mood change) gets all sloppy New Orleans on its ass. Leviev is later joined by a string section and Don Ellis on Trumpet, the combo of which suddenly turning the initial Jazz Blues rhythm into something way cooler and more 1971-contemporary. "Loss" is equally beautiful and its complex string arrangements buffering off the trumpets and horns gives it a sort of magnificence that is truly epic. The hank Levy composition "Samba Bajada" that ends Side 3 feels like Santana crossbreeding with a Big Band by way of Herb Alpert – its eleven minutes again displaying amazing virtuosity from the whole ensemble (joyful stuff). Side 4 offers us two – an epic 17:38-minutes of "Strawberry Soup" where a lone sad cello is followed by cascading flute but is soon thrown into pure Zappa experimental territory – the band still managing to sound musical as it sounds at times like "The French Connection" – the extended car chase.

The predominantly covers album "Connection" opens with a very clever choice – Joe Sample’s fabulously funky and groovy "Put In Where You Want It" – an instrumental from the "Crusaders 1" double-album on Blue Thumb Records released only months earlier in 1972. Never one to take the easy route, Ellis then unfortunately embarks on an unwise cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's mega hit "Alone Again (Naturally)" but instead of sounding cool, his version feels destined for some horrible elevator somewhere (going down). His takes on the Jesus Christ Superstar title track is a bit better as is the lesser-heard Procol Harum single "Conquistador", but you can't help racing towards that real moment of cool – his jerky theme to "The French Connection" movie – very groovy stuff indeed. Another smart choice is his suitably brass-bopping take on the Fragile track "Roundabout" – a Yes cover that even features some Rick Wakeman copycat keyboard sounds.

The double is a wonder, a genuinely great release that's unfairly forgotten now while the 1972 platter may have been cool-ish back in the day, but sounds the most dated of the two despite its odd moments of brilliance. Still with presentation and great audio, this is another stellar five-star winner form BGO. Dig in and get connected...

"Earth Wind And Fire/The Need Of Love" by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE (October 2018 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs Remastered Onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Fan The Fire..."

Most folks know Maurice White's mighty Soul and Funk machine EARTH, WIND & FIRE through their Columbia Records output which almost immediately made huge inroads into the US R&B charts - "Last Days And Time" and "Head To The Sky" hit No. 15 and No 3 in 1973 whilst their 1974 platter "Open Our Eyes" went all the way to number one. Later in 1975, 1977 and 1979 they hit those top slots again and again – massive sales, global hits. You could safely say then that EWF were huge right from the get go...

But spare a thought for their other big label beginnings because that's what you're getting here - their first two American albums on Warners Brothers issued in the spring and winter of 1971 (no UK variants of either). And what utter musical blasts they are – righteous Soul and Funk and Fusion before the big hair, the big offices and the big limos. All this and a killer cover of a Donny Hathaway classic - you could say I'm a convert. Let's get to the 'everything is everything' details...

UK released Friday, 12 October 2018 (19 October 2018 in the USA) - "Earth, Wind And Fire/The Need For Love" by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1358 (Barcode 5017261213587) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD that plays out as follows (61:56 minutes):

1. Help Somebody [Side 1]

2. Moment Of Truth

3. Love Is Life

4. Fan The Fire

5. C'mon Children [Side 2]

6. This World Today

7. Bad Tune

Tracks 1 to 7 are their self-titled debut album in full "Earth, Wind And Fire" - released March 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1905 (no UK issue). It peaked on the US R&B LP chart at No. 24 (17 week stay).

8. Energy [Side 1]

9. Beauty

10. I Can Feel It In My Bones [Side 2]

11. I Think About Lovin' You

12. Everything Is Everything

Tracks 8 to 12 are their second studio album "The Need Of Love" - released November 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1958 (no UK issue). It peaked at No. 35 in the USA.

You get the usual classy card slipcase (jewel case within), a 20-page booklet that repros all the original artwork and has typically in-depth new liner notes from Mojo Magazine's main Soul and Jazz contributor - CHARLES WARING. The nine-ten piece ensemble are pictured and you get platter-by-platter analysis of their extraordinary career - right up to the sad passing of their Memphis founder Maurice White in 2016 aged 74. But of course the big news for fans is the availability of both albums and presented here in High Def with new Remasters from BGO’s long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. This CD sounds fantastic as befits the original Joe Wissert Productions. Let’s get to the flames...

The moment the funky opener "Help Somebody" hits the speakers, I can hear the uplight from the mid Nineties euro CD - the ten-piece bopping and jabbing with real power. "Moments Of Truth" feels like Kool & The Gang giving it some y'all with a James Brown backing beat. Smooch-city comes at ya with "Love Is Life", a tune that feels a tad forced despite its positivity message. "Fan The Flame" features some Isley Brothers wild guitar soloing while "C'mon Children" is full-on Sly & The Family Stone 1971 Funk. "Bad Tune" ends a good opening album gambit well, but there's still a feeling that the group hasn't hit on that winning hook just yet.

Album number two opens with nine-minutes of "Energy" - a very Jazz Fusion number with Oscar Brashear providing the wild Miles Davis trumpeting. For sure it's going to be an acquired taste as a girly voice tells us "...as we float through time as energy, seeking no place, filling all space..." - you may want to light that Joss Stick and slap that Prana slipmat on your Garrard. "Beauty" feels far better - a pretty little blossom of Soul-Funky optimism - nice vocal breaks throughout as the 'open up your heart' choruses build. Harmonica opens "I Can Feel It In My Bones" - the kind of fuzzed-up guitar Funk that shows up on those "Funk Drops" CD compilations where someone smarter than you or I reminds us that we missed a 'What It Is' moment on Earth, Wind & Fire's second album. While the six minutes of "I Think About Lovin' You" benefits from Sherry Scott's lovely vocal turn, the tune feels a little too dangerously close to pastiche and the album is saved by a spirited cover version of that fabulous Donny Hathaway song "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)" - here shortened to "Everything Is Everything".

You wouldn't call these two albums masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination - EWF feeling for a direction more than finding one. But there's good to savour on here, and presented in such a classy way and with such top Audio, is going to make fans very happy indeed...

"Five Albums On Three Discs" by MIKE COOPER (22 March 2019 UK Beat Goes On Compilation - 5LPs Remastered onto 3CDs Plus Bonuses) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review And 212 Others Is Available In My AMAZON E-Book 

 

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"...Looking Back..."

How here's a treat, and a lot of it too. Hailing out of Reading in Berkshire, our Guitar-playing Harmonica-ingesting British hero MIKE COOPER sees his first five platters between 1969 and 1973 be given the BGO treatment - New Remasters, Digipak presentation and even three bonus tracks – rare stand alone single sides from 1970 and 1972 on Dawn Records.

His musical styles and influences progressed from Roots Blues, Folk and Americana in 1969 (on Pye) through to 1971’s Folk and Country Rock aided and abetted by guest players taken a hiatus from their day jobs as Jazzers in groups like Mike Westbrook’s Quintet, Nucleus and The John Dummer Band. The very Neil Young "Places I Know" set from 1971 is a collaboration album with Michael Gibbs and his next ensemble group 'The Machine Gun Co.' Playing superb 12-string guitar on one of Cooper's 'you never see them' British singles "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" is none other than Chris Spedding (it's the first of three bonus tracks tail-ending on Disc 3). There's a wad of open tunings to wade through, so let’s get at it...

UK released Friday, 22 March 2019 (29 March 2019 in the USA) - "Oh Really?!/Do I Know You?/Trout Steel/Places I Know/The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper/Bonus Tracks" by MIKE COOPER on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1371 (Barcode 5017261213716) offers 'Five Albums On Three Discs' plus Three Bonus Single Sides and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (73:30 minutes):

1. Death Letter [Side 1]

2. Bad Luck Blues

3. Maggie Campbell

4. Leadhearted Blues

5. Four Ways

6. Poor Little Annie

7. Tadpole Blues [Side 2]

8. Divinity Blues

9. You're Gonna Be Sorry

10. Electric Chair

11. Crow Jane

12. Pepper Rag

13. Saturday Blues

Tracks 1 to 13 are his debut album "Oh Really?!" - released February 1969 in the UK on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo and in the USA on Janus JLS-3004. Mike Cooper on Vocals and Guitar with Derek Hall on Second Guitar.

14. The Link [Side 1]

15. Journey To The East

16. First Song

17. Theme In C

18. Thinking Back

19. Thinks She Knows Me Now [Side 2]

20. Too Late Now

21. Wish She Was With Me

22. Do I Know You?

23. Start Of A Journey

24. Looking Back

Tracks 14 to 24 are his second studio album "Do I Know You?" - released March 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3005 and 1970 in the USA on Janus JLS-3021. Mike Cooper on Guitar, Vocals and Slide with Harry Miller of The Mike Westbrook Quartet on Double Bass

Disc 2 (70:40 minutes):

1. That's How [Side 1]

2. Sitting Here Watching

3. Goodtimes

4. I've Got Mine

5. A Half Sunday Homage To A Whole Leonardo Da Vinci (Without Words By Richard Brautigan)

6. Don't Talk Too Fast [Side 2]

7. Trout Steel

8. In The Mourning

9. Hope You See

10. Pharaoh's March

11. Weeping Rose

Tracks 1 to 11 are his third album "Trout Steel" - released November 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3011 (no USA issue)

12. Country Water [Side 1]

13. Three-Forty Eight

14. Night Journey

15. Time To Time

Tracks 12 to 15 are Side 1 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue)

Disc 3 (75:35 minutes):

1. Paper And Smoke [Side 2]

2. Broken Bridges

3. Now I Know

4. Goodbye Blues, Goodbye

5. Places I Know

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue). "Night Journey" and "Paper And Smoke" feature The Machine Gun Company [Co.] - Alan Cook on Piano, Bill Boazman, Geoff Hawkins on Saxophone and Pipes, Jeff Clyne of Nucleus, John Van Derrick, Laurie Alan, Les Calvert on Bass and Tim Richardson on Percussion with Chorus Vocals by Gerald Moore of Reggae Guitars, Jean Oddie and Jazz Vocalist Norma Winstone

6. Song For Abigail [Side 1]

7. The Singing Tree

8. Midnight Words

9. So Glad (That I Found You) [Side 2]

10. Lady Anne

Tracks 6 to 10 are his fifth studio album "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" - released November 1972 in the UK on Dawn DNLS 3031 (no USA issue).

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2) - UK 1970 7" Maxi EP single on Dawn Records DNX 2501, A-side, Non-Album

12. Time In Hand - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, A-side, Non-Album

13. Schaabisch Hall - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, B-side, Non-Album Instrumental

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 featuring Chris Spedding on 12-String Guitar

As far as I know this is only the second time BGO has used fold-out digipaks (Sonny & Cher was the other in 2018) and I must say I miss the classiness of the outer card slipcase because the four-panel digipak is a bit weedy and although every see-through tray has original artwork beneath it – this is one of those cases where you wish they’d done a Grapefruit Records reissue and stuck three card sleeves in a clamshell box with a bigger booklet. At 24-pages you get all the original artwork and new liner notes from noted writer JOHN O’REAGAN – but I think it ‘feels’ like one of those crappy Universal Deluxe Editions without the plastic titled slipcase.

And in 2006 when Japan reissued his most popular album "Trout Steel" on a SHM-CD with original repro artwork – they included both seven-minute sides of his 1970 Dawn Records single as two Bonus Tracks - "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with its B-side "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)". I mention this because "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)" is not here – a damn shame because as you can from the total playing time for Disc 2, there was room for one more important inclusion. But these are minor complaints because the real spoils lie in new 2019 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters that lift up the primarily acoustic-based music beautifully. This threesome sounds gorgeous and the music deserves it too.

The first album is pure Folk Blues – Acoustic one-man renditions by way of Scunthorpe – all songs originals except for the two openers – a cover of the Son House doomy classic "Death Letter" and a Blind Boy Fuller song called (not surprisingly) "Hard Luck Blues". The debut is a beginning and you can hear it – the whole album quietly good, but more functional than inspiring. But when Cooper hit the second platter "Do I Know You?" – it’s like he suddenly found his voice – the songs more distinctively him than copyist styling of some Americana dream. The most immediate comparison is Michael Chapman over on Harvest Records (the playing and voice) – the opening instrumental "The Link" getting a huge acoustic sound (like a 12-string). That promising entrée is followed by an impressive Roy Harper-ish duo of tunes "Journey To The East" and "First Song". Birdies and Froggies chirp and croak for the intro of "Them In C", a Bluesy Slide Acoustic with treated vocals that sound like Ray Dorset discovering the Delta as it segues into "Thinking Back". Other winners include the pretty but painful "Too Late Now", the panned Gallagher & Lyle acoustic guitars of "Wish She Was With Me" and the tidal wash of "Start Of A Journey".

Everything has changed Cooper sings on "That’s How" – another familiar acoustic strummer that opens album number three "Trout Steel". Stefan Grossman and Bill Boazman guest on guitars as do Mike Osbourne, Alan Skidmore and Geoff Hawkins on varying Horns. Very cool acoustic soloing on "Sitting Here Watching" while the run-together title "Goodtimes" feels like jolly Gallagher & Lyle or Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance rehearsing some slide acoustic melodies. The eleven-minutes-plus of "I’ve Got Mine" feels like experimental John Martyn, a bedroom of acoustic picking jabbed by Jazz musicians who know how to feel out something special – probably the album’s best moment – and something even Prog Folk lovers will crave.

After the acoustic-based Blues and Folk variations of the first three albums, the overtly Country-Rock of "Places I Know" feels like you’ve stumbled on Plainsong making their debut album - only a year earlier. At times "Three-Forty Three" even feels like Neil Young circa 1970 or Lindisfarne contemplating the Fog On The Tyne. While the Bluesy groove of "Night Journey" is uncomfortably close to Dylan and his Blonde On Blonde gem "Pledging My Time" – even the way the sliding guitar strings build. But Roy Harper type greatness comes in the epic 8:30 minutes of the Side 1 finisher "Time To Time" – all strummed acoustics and Alan Cook giving us aching piano echoing in the background only to be joined by gorgeous Norma Winstone and Chorus ooh and aahs as the strum builds – you don’t know, the way she can be from...

The strangely deflated mellow of "Song For Abigail" opens "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" album – the whole LP apparently supposed to have been the second half of the double-album "Places I Know". The fourteen-minute John Martyn Guitar and Rock Fusion noodle that is "So Glad (That I Found You)" is either going to test you or thrill you. But as much as I try to like the tunes, few move me and I can’t help thinking this half of the double was canned for a reason. Way prettier and a reminder of his fresh-faced genius is the ultra-rare 1970 single Mike Cooper "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with Chris Spedding elevating its seven minutes to gorgeousness by way of his 12-string guitar playing – Michael Gibbs directing the cello. Given a picture sleeve (repro’d on Page 16) – it was a Maxi single that played at LP speed and along with "Time In Hand" and its piano-ballad B-side "Schaabisch Hall" end Disc 3 on a high.

For sure not everything here is undiluted Mike Cooper genius (Michael Chapman or Roy Harper would thrash him song-wise any day of the week). But there is also a great deal to love and it’s been decades since I heard it all sound so well. Maybe next time though BGO – go for that clamshell box and some tasty card sleeves...