"Welcome" by SANTANA – November 1973 US and UK Fifth Studio Album on Columbia and CBS Records featuring Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin on Guitars, Leon Thomas and Flora Purim on Lead Vocals, Tom Coster, Richard Kermode and Wendy Haas on Keyboards, Michael Shrieve and Jose "Chepito" Areas on Drums and Percussion with Arrangements by Alice Coltrane (October 2003 UK Columbia/Legacy Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Yours Is The Light..."

After the difficult to like "Love, Devotion & Surrender" album with John McLaughlin in July 1973 - November 1973's "Welcome" felt like the beginning of the end for me. By the time "Borboletta" arrived in 1974, the splurging-too-much triple live "Lotus" in 1975 and then "Amigos" in 1976 - I'd lost interest.

Hal Miller's ludicrously 'genius' 'masterpiece' 'sublime' liner notes over-egg the "Welcome" pudding somewhat too, but do at least acknowledge the huge difference the keyboard players were making to the evolving Santana sound (Tom Coster and Richard Kermode supplying some of the LP’s best tracks). Unfortunately indulgence like the 12-minute "Flame-Sky" on Side 2 felt like filler to me even if their cover version of John Coltrane's "Welcome" ends the record on a beautifully recorded instrumental shimmer.

But my indifference and increasing boredom to its white-embossed charms notwithstanding - "Welcome" has stubbornly held a place in Santana fan's hearts as a bit of a lost gem over the years. And on re-hearing this stunning Bob Irwin/Vic Anesini Remaster of it, on its better moments, I can actually hear why. Musicianship wise, the band is cooking here. But worse, to my amazement, it sports an Unreleased Session Outtake as a Bonus Track called "Mantra" that I think knocks spots off some of the Leon Thomas sung fluff on the released record (although I can understand why it was canned). Let's get our joyous devotional knickers in a Chinmoy knot - to the Fusion illuminations...

UK released October 2003 - "Welcome" by SANTANA on Columbia/Legacy COL 511130 2 (Barcode 5099751113027) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with one Bonus Track that plays out as follows (56:50 minutes):

1. Going Home [Side 1]

2. Love, Devotion & Surrender

3. Samba De Sausalito

4. When I Look Into Your Eyes

5. Yours Is The Light

6. Mother Africa [Side 2]

7. Light Of Life

8. Flame-Sky

9. Welcome

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth studio album "Welcome" - released November 1973 in the USA on Columbia FC 32245 and November 1973 in the UK on CBS Records S 69040 Produced by CARLOS SANTANA, MICHAEL SHRIEVE and TOM COSTER - it peaked at No. 25 in the USA and No. 8 in the UK.

BONUS TRACK:

10. Mantra (Santana, Shrieve and Coster song, 6:10 minutes, recorded April 1973) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

SANTANA was:

CARLOS SANTANA and JOHN McLAUGHLIN - Lead Guitar

LEON THOMAS and FLORA PURIM - Lead Duet Vocals on Tracks 2 and 4, Purim on Track 5 and Thomas on Track 7

TOM COSTER, RICHARD KERMODE and WENDY HAAS - Keyboards (Coster also Vocals)

DAVID BROWN and DOUG RAUCH - Bass

JULES BROUSSARD - Saxophone

JOSE "Chepito" AREAS and ARMANDO PERAZA - Percussion

MICHAEL SHRIEVE and TONY SMITH - Drums

ALICE COLTRANE - Arrangements

The two-sided four-leaf foldout inlay features all the musician credits and those May 2003 HAL MILLER liner notes where he assures us that "Welcome" is a masterpiece (it isn't). What is beautiful however is the BOB IRWIN and VIN ANESINI Transfers and Remaster. Both have huge career lists - Anesini has done Santana, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, Nilsson, Aerosmith, Mountain, The Jayhawks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Moby Grape, Lou Reed, Spirit and much more - his resume is huge and impressive. This is a big-sounding Columbia/Legacy CD - instruments racing around your speakers as the huge band vies for your attention and it sounds fab (JEN WYLER mixed the Bonus "Mantra" track). To the music...

I would be the first to decry Leon Thomas' vocals as weedy Terry Callier but not in a good way - so his efforts on the swirling percussiveness of "Love, Devotion & Surrender" kind of do for me even if it does contain Carlos giving it some Soulful notes. I much prefer the Latin Funk of Richard Kermode's "Yours Is The Light" where Flora Purim's lone vocals suit the high-flying bird of a tune. There are beautifully arranged strings to the opening of "Light Of Life" - a very Rotary Connection meets Santana rhythms exploration that has amazing playing on it. My personal crave is the six and half minutes given to their cover of John Coltrane's "Welcome" which feels like "Song Of The Wind" from "Caravanserai" - stunning keyboard work shimmering behind sustained notes. 

It wouldn't be until the double "Moonflower" in October 1977 that I would dig Santana again, but I can so understand why fans return to this largely forgotten white blip in their formidable LP cannon. A lovely sounding CD reissue and it's cheap too...

"Tapestry" by CAROLE KING - February 1971 US LP on Ode/A&M Records featuring Guests James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Danny Kotchmar, Russ Kunkel, Ralph Schukett, Charles Larkey and Production by Lou Adler (June 2008 UK Epic/Legacy 2CD 'Legacy Edition' Reissue and Remaster by Vic Anesini) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Of Rich And Royal Hue…"

I can vividly remember a girlfriend I had in the early Seventies in her faded jeans, cheesecloth smock and fabulous crimped long hair. She was far too pretty for me to be with - looking like one of those dream babes in Cameron Crowe's Seventies homage movie "Almost Famous" - the ones that inspire songs and poetry and a serious amount of effort in the 'trying-to-impress-with-how-witty-I-am' department. 

But I also remember her baggage as she walked towards me that sunny summer afternoon - clutching not a satchel full of hairbrushes and makeup - nor a copy of Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" (how odd) - but her used vinyl copy of Carole King's "Tapestry" album on A&M/Ode Records. She was clutching it tightly under her right arm so that it didn't fall from her grasp onto the unforgiving Dublin pavement below - protecting the LP like it was girly life itself. And smiling as she got closer - I kind of knew that its presence under her arm had a purpose - this nice but slightly dim guitar-mad Irish boy would need to be educated on something other than Deep Purple and Black Sabbath...

15 weeks at Number 1 when it was released in 1971, Rolling Stone's coveted album of the year award, four Grammy nominations, selected by the American Library of Congress for placing in The National Recording Registry and 20 gazillion sales ever since. And that's not to mention in the 11's an entire Broadway Musical based around it that regularly brings audiences to their feet with tears streaming down their cheeks (the Tony winning show "Beautiful") - it doesn't get much more iconic than Carole King's mighty "Tapestry" album. And I'm thrilled to say that this 2008 2CD "Legacy Edition" does that singer-songwriter milestone an audio solid. Here are the bare feet and the cat in the windowsill details...

Released June 2008 - "Tapestry" by CAROLE KING on Ode/Epic/Legacy 88697 11455 2 (Barcode 886971145526) is a 2CD 'Legacy Edition' Reissue and Remaster that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (44:37 minutes):

1. I Feel The Earth Move [Side 1]

2. So far Away

3. It's Too Late

4. Home Again

5. Beautiful

6. Way Over Yonder [Side 2]

7. You've Got A Friend

8. Where You Lead

9. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

10. Smackwater Jack

11. Tapestry

12. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Tapestry" - released February 1971 in the USA on Ode/A&M Records SP-77009 and in the UK on Ode/A&M Records AMLS 2025

Disc 2 (38:19 minutes):

1. I Feel The Earth Move

2. So Far Away

3. It's Too Late

4. Home Again

5. Beautiful

6. Way Over Yonder

7. You've Got A Friend

8. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

9. Smackwater jack

10. Tapestry

11. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Tracks 1 to 11 are all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED live versions featuring Carole just on a piano - they were recorded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1973, Columbia Maryland, Central Park in New York and in the San Francisco Opera House in 1976 (no dates nor other details given).

In a rather nigglesome but understandable move - the Side 1 and Side 2 LP labels repro'd under the see-through plastic CD trays on either side of the digipak are for Epic PE 34946 - the 1977 Epic/Ode Records reissue version (when Columbia took over its distribution). They should be for the 1971 Ode/A&M SP-77009 original. The 22-page colour booklet is pretty, reproducing the text and lyrics to every song in the same typography as the album artwork. There's a repro of "The Hollywood Reporter" from 15 March 1972 when she swept the Grammy boards (along with a snap of her clutching the same), period photos of Carole with Engineer HANK CICALO and Producer LOU ADLER, backing musicians JONI MITCHELL and JAMES TAYLOR - as well as her band - DANNY "Kootch" KOTCHMAR (Guitars), RUSS KUNKEL (Drums), CHARLES LARKEY (Bass) and RALPH SCHUKETT (Keyboards). There's short but informative liner notes on the album and its legacy by HARVEY KUBERNIK - a well known contributor to Rolling Stone and author of two books on Rock Music.

But the big news is a new BOB IRWIN and VIC ANESINI remaster which to my ears has given the notoriously low-fi album a beautiful fulsome polish - her voice and the instruments are lovely - warm and clear. Not to be outdone - my heart sank when I saw that Disc 2 was filled with 'live' versions - but as they're just her and a piano - they're beautifully intimate ("Way Over Yonder" in particular is gorgeous and features a storming vocal). Her voice cracks on a few and she hits a few bum notes here and there (probably why they've been in the can up until now) but most are well worthy of inclusion.

Even as the opening keys of "I Feel The Earth Moves" hit you - you're tingling. Once into "So Far Away" and "It's Too Late" - resistance is pretty much futile. James Taylor's acoustic guitar on the gorgeous "Home Again" is so subtle yet underlies the whole song as it aches its way into your heart. And those Sixties classics done by someone else now get their owner's touch - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" and the sublime "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". And the title track never ceases to move me (lyrics above). 

Uplifting, life affirming, nourishment for the soul - its all on "Tapestry". And now that touchstone in all our lives is better....

"Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL (September 2000 UK Columbia/Legacy CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini Remasters – Part of the 'Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series' of CD Reissues) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Wake Up Mama...Turn Your Lamp Down Low..."

I've always had a soft spot for the Blues of Henry Fredericks from New York’s Harlem (Taj Mahal to you and I) - and his stunning 1968 self-titled "Taj Mahal" debut album still ranks in my books as one of the all-time-greats. Like "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" (1968), John Mayall's "Blues From Lauren Canyon" (1968), Johnny Winter's "Second Winter" (1969) or Shuggie Otis' 1970 debut album "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" - "Taj Mahal" is the kind of good-time hair-shaking bum-waddling Blues-Rock that I adore. And to me it still sounds as fresh as a daisy - with maybe less hair and a wee bit of a middle-aged droop around the tum tum (not mine you understand). Here are the 'Leaving Trunk' and 'E Z Rider' details…

UK released September 2000 - "Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL on Sony/Columbia/Legacy COL 498173 2 (Barcode 5099749817326) is a straightforward CD transfer of his debut LP from 1968 and plays out as follows (33:00 minutes):

1. Leaving Trunk [Side 1]

2. Statesboro Blues

3. Checkin' Up On My Baby

4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime

5. E Z Rider [Side 2]

6. Dust My Broom

7. Diving Duck Blues

8. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut album "Taj Mahal" - released February 1968 in the USA on Columbia CL 2779 (Mono) and CS 9579 (Stereo) and in the UK on Direction 8-63279 (Mono) and S 8-63279 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used in this 2000 remaster and there are no bonus tracks.

The 12-page booklet is a nicely substantial affair reproducing the album’s original rear artwork and liner notes by Tom Nolan on the inner pages. There is then a short essay on Taj Mahal by Stanley Crouch, album and reissue credits – all peppered with a bunch of outtake photos from the recording sessions.

Remastered for CD by the dynamic duo of BOB IRWIN and VIC ANESINI in 2000 and put out as part of the “Columbia High Fidelity “360 Sound” Series” - these are Audio Engineer names I actively seek out. Anesini alone has handled hugely prestigious catalogues like Elvis Presley, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Hall & Oates, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Jayhawks, Mott The Hoople, Santana and many more. This CD reissue is part of Sony's "Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series" – a logo along the spine of the under inlay. When Columbia started issuing their 'Stereo' LPs in the USA in the 60ts they used the "360 Sound" logo on the album's artwork and label as a part of their selling point – best sound – all around - etc. I'm not sure anyone has noticed this CD logo down the spine inlay - but everyone knows that the 'Legacy' moniker on a CD is a mark of their remastering quality. Whatever way you look at it – this CD rocks like a mother and in the very best way.

Taj Mahal’s debut album is the stuff of Blues-Rock legend - an absolute gem. Recorded in August 1967 (released early 1968) and Produced by Dave Rubinson - the band consists of guitarists Ry Cooder (credited as Ryland P Cooder) and Jesse Edwin Davis with veterans James Thomas on Bass and Charles Blackwell on Drums. Taj sang all the tunes and mainly stuck to harp playing except on the brilliant 8-minutes of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" where he puts in some great slide-guitar work. Other guests included Bill Boatman on Rhythm Guitar and Sanford Konikoff on Drums.

It opens with a blaster – a cover of a Sleep John Estes classic called "Leaving Trunk" where our hero had better leave before his lady's husband gets home. Immediately you're in the presence of a huge warbling Harmonica and those chucky flicking guitars – it's a fantastic updating of old world Blues – sort of like what Paul Butterfield's band did on Elektra Records a few years earlier (see my review of his "Original Album Classics" 5CD Mini Box Set). Blind Willie McTell provides us with the Boogie of "Statesboro Blues" where Taj wants his woman to "...wake up mama...turn your lamp down low..." Continuing in that wicked rollicking vein – we get another shuffling winner in the shape of "Checkin' Up On My Baby" written by another great Harmonica warbler Taj deeply admired - Chess Records' Sonny Boy Williamson. The perfection of Side 1 ends with another nugget from the pen of Sleepy John Estes - "Everybody's Got To Change Sometime". Once again the audio is magnificent – loud and ballsy but not too trebled to ruin it. Direction Records tried it as a UK 45 on Direction 58-3547 with "Statesboro Blues" as the flipside – but despite the strength of both sides – no one seemed to notice in early 1968.

Side 2 opens with the only Taj Mahal original on the album "E Z Rider" which Direction tried as a 2nd UK 7" single with "You Don't Miss Your Water" as its flipside (Direction 58-4044) but again it failed to raise a ripple. The band counts in that slide-guitar barroom slasher from Elmore James "Dust My Broom" which oddly enough is good only – more workmanlike than great. Things pick up with "Diving Duck Blues" again from the fertile pen of Sleepy John Estes where an inebriated Estes tells us that "...if a river was whiskey...I'd dive to the bottom and never come up..." (thirsty and dangerous work). But it ends on a tour-de-force – the near nine-minute Slow Blues of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues". It's a Traditional arranged by Taj and it captures everything that was great about his house band – that chugging Cooder Guitar – sweetly complimentary Mandolin plucking while he warbles on the Harp inbetween pleading lyrics. It's brilliant - and by the time the tune hits that Rhythm Section entry about 2:20 mnutes – you’re won over. Great stuff...

Niggles - the original album was also issued in MONO - and as you can see from the playing time provided above - it could easily have been fit on here as a first - but alas. There was a non-album single in 1967 on Columbia 4-44051 with "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" b/w "Let The Good Times Roll" – again both AWOL when there was loads of room. I would also love to one day see a LEGACY DOUBLE DELUXE of this fantastic debut - there must be some outakes in storage somewhere - and live sets with that stellar band...

Selling for less than four quid in most places – a Blues Rock barnstormer you need on your shelf and in your Stereo...all '360' degrees of it...

"Sticky Fingers: Deluxe Edition" by THE ROLLING STONES - April 1971 UK LP on Rolling Stones Records (June 2015 UK Polydor 2CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Stephen Marcussen Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

Amazon UK Purchase Link for this 2CD Deluxe Edition

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

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Just Click Below To Google, Purchase or See My Author Page

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"...English Blood Runs Hot..." 

There can’t be too many Rolling Stones fans out there in the big wide world that won’t look at the sleeve of "Sticky Fingers" and grin like a schoolboy watching the English Ladies Hockey Team practice their down strokes. And I suppose if us aging reprobates are to suffer yet another reissue of that absolute Classic Rock Album – then this June 2015 two-disc rehash is a great way to massage our hip-replacements - because frankly it’s a bit of belter. In fact fans of the 'Mick Taylor Era' of The Rolling Stones are going to flip for Disc 2. Once more unto the bleach...

First things first – Disc 1 is not a new version in any way – it’s the remaster done by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering in 2009 and runs to exactly the same playing time – 46:25 minutes. Disc 2 presents us with 10 Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks mixed by BOB IRWIN and mastered by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN – five album outtakes and five live cuts from the last date on their UK Tour – Sunday, 14 March 1971 at The Roundhouse in London.

The 8-page basic inlay that accompanied the 4 May 2009 reissue has been upgraded to 24-pages for this 2CD Deluxe Edition (there is a single disc version that keeps the 8-page inlay). The Andy Warhol torso and underpants photo that was hidden under the original ‘zipper’ sleeve is reproduced on Page 3 - with Pages 4 to 7 giving us new black and white portrait photos of each member of the band (all were once considered for the inner artwork). The photo that did grace the inner insert for the original April 1971 LP is reproduced on the left hand flap as you open the gatefold card digipak – but rather tastefully - an outtake I’ve never seen before from the same photo session is on the right flap. Instead of Mick yawning and Keith grinning in side profile – it has Keith and Mick staring forward pensively with the other three doing the same in the rear (Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor and Charlie Watts). 

You can see why they chose the one that finally came out – its just more funny and a better snap (but what a lovely touch). Beneath each see-through CD tray (yellow lips logo on Disc 1 and green on Disc 2) are pictures of tape boxes. The booklet also has shots of their initial recording sessions at the famed Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama (there’s even a bill for $1009 for the recording of "Wild Horses"), black and whites of the Stargroves Estate in Hampshire where further recording took place, the artwork for the "Brown Sugar" UK 7" single picture sleeve, a repro of the UK Tour 1971 poster, colour shots from the Roundhouse gig in London and even photos of the album launch in France with Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records. Finally there are detailed credits for both discs.

UK released 8 June 2015 (9 June 2015 in the USA) – this reissue of "Sticky Fingers" by THE ROLLING STONES comes in a dizzying TEN FORMATS - including Single and Double Vinyl variants, differing Downloads versions and even a Spanish Cover Version with its famously unique 'Fingers in A Tin Of Treacle' artwork. This review is for the 2CD Deluxe Edition on Polydor/Rolling Stones 376 483-6 (Barcode 602537648368). Here are the details...

Disc 1 (46:25 minutes)

1. Brown Sugar

2. Sway

3. Wild Horses

4. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

5. You Gotta Move

6. Bitch [Side 2]

7. I Got The Blues

8. Sister Morphine

9. Dead Flowers

10. Moonlight Mile

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Sticky Fingers" - released 23 April 1971 in the UK and USA on Rolling Stones Records COC 59100

Disc 2 (54:02 minutes):

1. Brown Sugar (with Eric Clapton) – 4:05 minutes

2. Wild Horses (Acoustic) – 5:47 minutes

3. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (Alternate Version) – 3:24 minutes

4. Bitch (Extended Version) – 5:53 minutes

5. Dead Flowers (Alternate Version) – 4:18 minutes

6. Live With Me – 4:22 minutes

7. Stray Cat Blues – 3:48 minutes

8. Love In Vain – 6:42 minutes

9. Midnight Rambler – 11:27 minutes

10. Honky Tonk Women – 4:14 minutes

Tracks 1 to 5 are Outtakes from the original sessions produced by Jimmy Miller. "Brown Sugar" is credited as (with Eric Clapton) when in fact it also has Al Kooper on Guitar (Ian Stewart on Piano and Bobby Keys on Saxophone too). Tracks 6 to 10 are highlights from a show at The Roundhouse in London on Sunday, 14 March 1971 (there is a CD3 only on the Super Deluxe Edition 12" x 12" Box Set which is called "Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out" and was recorded 1971 at Leeds University). The live band for the London show included Bobby Keys on Saxophone, Jim Price on Trumpet and Nicky Hopkins on Piano. All songs are Jagger/Richards originals except "Stray Cat Blues" which is a Robert Johnson cover version.

THE ALBUM:

Right from the opening riffs of "Brown Sugar" (slightly distorted it has to be said) - you know you're in the presence of a different beast. This (2009) thing rocks - the guitars and rhythm section filling your speakers with incredible energy. I can hear the 'loudness wars' naysayers already - sure these things are loud and sure they're hissy in places too - but at least I feel like I'm in the presence of the real master tape. The power and clarity of instruments on say "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Dead Flowers" is astounding. Ry Cooder's Slide Guitar and Jack Nitzsche's Piano on "Sister Morphine" is so good too, Paul Buckmaster's gorgeous Strings on "Moonlight Mile" and Keith's beautiful acoustic playing on "Wild Horses" - all fabulous. But if I was to isolate one track that shows massive improvement on this SHM - it's the Side 2 nugget "I Got The Blues". Everything about it rocks - Keith Richards and Mick Taylor on guitars, Bobby Keys and Jim Price on Horns, Jimmy Miller's Percussion and especially the Billy Preston Organ solo - it sounds truly fabulous. There's just that little more pep in the step of every track on this format - and somehow that amazing Cooder Slide on "Sister Morphine" seems more in your face (but in a good way), the sexy Saxophones on "Bitch" - the guitars on their fantastic bluesy cover of the Mississippi Fred McDowell/Gary Davis dead-and-dying tune "You Gotta Move". There are many who hated the 2009 remaster saying it was too loud or something like that. I think this is crap of the highest order. I bought the Japanese Platinum SHM-CD version with a flat transfer (which is what many of these detractors wanted) and it 'was' awful. It's a matter of Audio taste I know - but I frankly get weary of Audiophile types telling me what I'm hearing is lousy when my ears tell me different.

I had expected Disc 2 to be a disappointment – five lesser versions with a bunch of live stuff that should have stayed in the can – neither let the side down thank God. To hear “Brown Sugar” in ‘any’ variant is a blast - yet you can so hear why Jagger toned down the “get down on your knees...” lyrics and how the twin slide guitar work of Clapton and Kooper is good but still feels too ramshackle. Bobby Keys comes blasting in with that Saxophone solo pretty much intact but the finished album cut is sharper and their decision to go with a cleaner more concise version was the right one. It’s odd ‘not’ to hear the opening acoustic strums of “Wild Horses” be accompanied by that second guitar – this time we get a sort of unplugged original – and what a gorgeous song it is too. Lyrically there’s not much that’s different except that you can you hear the words more clearly on this Alternate. We then get a weird reversal – the finished album masterpiece “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” gets cut down from 7:16 minutes to 3:24 minutes and is really the band ‘feeling’ for something. In fact on the amazing near 12-minute live version of “Midnight Rambler” where Keith and Mick solo like crazy – you can hear the finished licks and solos creep in because it was March 1971 – after they’d recorded this early attempt. 

But then comes an absolute jewel – the extended “Bitch” where Bobby Keys (Saxophone) and Jim Price (Trumpet) add so much to the song. It’s absolutely fantastic and I actually shouted “More” at the Marantz as it finished – not wanting this bad sucker to end. After such excitement the Alternate of “Wild Flowers” isn’t nearly as Country as the finished album version and suffers for it. Fans will be disappointed that the five live cuts don’t actually feature a single “Sticky Fingers” track but that’s not to say that they’re inferior fare – far from it. This is the 1971 band cooking (with Mick Taylor) on 1969 “Let It Bleed” material like “Live With Me” and “Love In Vain”. There is already a huge step forward in the overall sound and impact – a band finding their Rock feet. The Robert Johnson cover of ”Stray Cat Blues” is just fantastic while the huge “Midnight Rambler” sees Mick give it some fabulous harmonica fills inbetween those Bluesy guitar moments (“Spotlight on Keith’s arse...” he say before they launch into the jam). After introductions of the band – Mick tells the crowd to “open your lungs on this one” as The Stones go into a stunning version of “Honky Tonk Women”. Very tasty stuff...

I don't know if I’d plum up the dosh for the Super Deluxe Version – but I have to say that this 2CD Deluxe Edition is a triumph.

In the Jake Gyllenhaal/Dustin Hoffman/Susan Sarandon movie "Moonlight Mile" from 2002 – Jake's character is in a bar, goes over to a jukebox and puts on the movie's title track. It starts to play and then as the stunning Paul Buckmaster strings kick in – Jagger sings - "I'm riding down your Moonlight Mile..." 

And I remember watching it and not for the first time did a chill go up my arms – reminding me of how much I loved this band and in particular "Sticky Fingers" - an album I played to death as a teen in Dublin. This 2CD reissue is magical to me. Lick your lips folks...because here we go again...

"The Spice Of Life" by MARLENA SHAW (2005 Universal/Cadet CD Remaster - Her 1969 Cadet Records LP) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...All You've Got To Do Is Believe It..."

Released on vinyl in late 1969 in the USA on Cadet LPS-833 - Marlena Shaw's 10-track LP "The Spice Of Life" contains the monster rare groove hit "Woman Of The Ghetto" (the opening track on Side 1) and from there on in - it just doesn't let up. 

"The Spice Of Life" by MARLENA SHAW is one of those fantastic Soul LPs you don't know anything about and should - so Sixties - Funky, Bluesy, Soulful and righteous in its message. It ticks all the right boxes.

This hip little Universal CD reissue (released in the UK and Europe July 2005) on Verve/Universal 0602498818695 comes in an aesthetically cool-looking card digipak with a foldout inlay that repros the black rear sleeve and Louis McGlohan's original liner notes. The lovely BOB CRAWFORD photograph and silver feel to the front album cover art is there too (the vinyl repro of it is gorgeous to look at).

1. Woman Of The Ghetto

2. (They Call It) Stormy Monday

3. Where Can I Go

4. I’m Satisfied

5. I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)

6. Liberation Conversation

7. California Soul

8. Go Away Little Boy

9. Looking Thru' The Eyes Of Love

10. Anyone Can Move A Mountain

The remaster (31:32 minutes) was carried out by BOB IRWIN and JAYNE PIERUZZI at Sundazed Studios in the States and is fabulous throughout - clear, full of power, great presence - just a joy to listen to. All of the tracks were recorded at the famous Chess/Cadet 'Tel-Mar Studios' in Chicago between 1968 and 1969 with "Liberation Conversation" actually dating back to September 1966.

The big names involved here are RICHARD EVANS and a personal cult hero of mine - CHARLES STEPNEY - arrangers, songwriters and musicians. Stepney was involved in a lot of the Cadet label output - Rotary Connection, Terry Callier and The Dells and was sort of a Burt Bacharach of Soul - bringing beautiful string arrangements and cool brass fills to many songs.

Shaw's cover of T-Bone Walker's "Call It Stormy Monday" is wicked while her version of the song made famous by Nina Simone "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To be Free" ends Side 1 in real style. Ashford And Simpson provide the other huge Rare Groove hit "California Soul" - while "Go Away, Little Boy" is a Goffin-King track made famous by Steve Lawrence in 1962.

Marlena co-wrote the huge hitter "Woman Of The Ghetto" with soul heroes Bobby Miller and Richard Evans ("Liberation Conversation" is also a co-write with Bobby Miller) and it's impossible not to be moved by its funkiness and 'trying to survive' lyrics. Mellow and lovely like Dionne Warwick on a Soul tip - "Looking Through The Eyes Of Love" is a Mann-Weil song with that Gene Pitney melodrama built in. It also has staggering backing vocals with that glass-breaking sky high pitch Minnie Riperton used to get for Rotary Connection. The liner notes don't provide full musician credits - so I wonder is it her - its got to be? It ends on the anthem gospel groove to "Anyone Can Move A Mountain" written by Johnny Marks (lyrics above).

A stunner - a peach - enrich your Soul world with this little beauty...

PS: see also reviews for TERRY CALLIER - Occasional Rain, What Color Is Love and I Just Can't Stand It, Rotary Connection and Songs/Hey, Love (2LPs on 1CD) by ROTARY CONNECTION and Standing Ovation by THE DELLS (all of which have Charles Stepney connections)...

"Original Album Classics" by TAJ MAHAL. 2011 Sony/Columbia/Legacy 3CD Mini Box Set Remasters - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Have You Ever Been On The Outside..."

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Blues of Henry Fredericks from Harlem in New York (Taj Mahal to you and I) - and his 1968 self-titled "Taj Mahal" debut (part of this nifty package) still ranks in my books as one of the all-time-greats. Like "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" (1968), John Mayall's "Blues From Lauren Canyon" (1968), Johnny Winter's "Second Winter" (1969) or Shuggie Otis' 1970 debut album "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" - "Taj Mahal" is the kind of good-time hair-shaking bum waddling Blues-Rock that I adore and to me still sounds as fresh as a daisy (with maybe less hair and a wee bit of middle-aged droop around the tum tum). Here are the 'E Z Rider' details…

UK released 24 January 2011 (1 Feb 2011 in the USA) on Sony/Columbia/Legacy 88697731562 (Barcode 886977315626) - this 3CD mini box set is part of Sony's hugely successful and popular "Original Album Classics" series. It contains the following 3 albums in singular 5" card repro sleeves with original American artwork on the front and rear...

Disc 1 (33:00 minutes):
1. Leaving Trunk
2. Statesboro Blues
3. Checkin' Up On My Baby
4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime
5. E Z Rider [Side 2]
6. Dust My Broom
7. Diving Duck Blues
8. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues
Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut album "Taj Mahal" - released February 1968 in the USA on Columbia CL 2779 (Mono) and CS 9579 (Stereo) and in the UK on Direction S 8-63279 (Stereo only). The Stereo mix is used in this 2000 remaster and there are no bonus tracks.

Disc 2 (49:03 minutes):
1. Good Morning Miss Brown
2. Corinna
3. I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll
4. Going Up to The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue
5. Done Changed My Way Of Living
6. She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride [Side 2]
7. The Cuckoo
8. You Don't Miss Your Water (’Til Your Well Runs Dry)
9. A Lot Of Love
Tracks 1 to 9 are his 2nd studio album "The Natch'l Blues" - released February 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9698 (Stereo only) and in the UK on Direction 8-63397 (Mono) and S 8-63397 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used.

BONUS TRACKS (all Previously Unreleased in 2000):
10. The Cuckoo (Alternate Version)
11. New Stranger Blues
12. Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine

Disc 3 (33:43 minutes):
1. Johnny Too Bad
2. Blackjack Davey
3. Big Mama
4. Cajun Waltz
5. Slave Driver [Side 2]
6. Why Did You Have To Desert Me?
7. Desperate Lover
8. Clara (St. Kitts Woman)
Tracks 1 to 8 are his 8th studio album "Mo' Roots" - released October 1974 in the USA on Columbia KC 33051 and CBS S 80346 in the UK (no bonus tracks)

Remastered for CD by the dynamic duo of BOB IRWIN and VIC ANESINI in 2000 and put out as part of the "Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series" - these are Audio Engineer names I actively seek out. Anesini alone has handled hugely prestigious catalogues like Elvis Presley, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Hall & Oates, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Jayhawks, Mott The Hoople, Santana and many more. So the audio is top notch and at first glance this release seems like a steal at just under seven quid (nine bucks) - but there's 'both' really good and really bad on here. Let's get to the good first...

The debut album is the stuff of Blues-Rock legend - an absolute gem. The band consists of guitarists Ry Cooder (credited as Ryland P Cooder) and Jesse Edwin Davis with veterans James Thomas on Bass and Charles Blackwell on Drums. Taj sang all the tunes and mainly stuck to harp playing except on the brilliant 8-minutes of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" where he puts in some great slide-guitar work. Niggles - the original album was also issued in MONO - and as you can see from the playing time provided above - it could easily have been fit on here as a first - but alas. I would also love to one day see a LEGACY DOUBLE DELUXE of this fantastic debut - there must be some outakes in storage somewhere - and live sets with that stellar band...

The follow-up album "The Natch'l Blues" was more of the same up-tempo boogie (and his first LP to chart in the USA - it peaked at a lowly 160 in February 1969). Again it featured Jesse Edwin Davis (had his own albums on Atco by now) but also brought in Al Kooper on Piano. Produced by Bruce Robinson, the record featured great funky blues rhythms like "Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue" - sounding not unlike Shuggie Otis on his wonderful debut "Here Comes..." (see separate review for that 3CD box set). The 3 bonus tracks are shockingly good too - especially the Fleetwood Mac 1st album feel to "New Stranger Blues" (lyrics above).

But the side is let down badly by the "Mo' Roots" set - a real dog and wildly out of place here. It was also badly produced for 1974 - very dull and lifeless sounding - and I'm afraid this supposed remaster has done nothing for it. Tracks like "Slave Driver" with its cod-reggae rhythms sounds like poor man's Bob Marley and The Wailers. A better inclusion would have been the 1969 2LP set "Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home" which continued on convincingly from the first two records. It's also a single CD that fitted the entire double on it - so it would have been ideal here and would have made this mini box an absolute must-buy.

Like the Shuggie Otis, Muddy Waters and Fleetwood Mac 3CD sets in this cool little series - this box set of great Blues Rock is stunning value for money. But Taj Mahal’s addition to the series is docked a star for that turkey 3rd disc.

To sum up - a good release then (2 out of 3 ain’t bad) - but it's a damn shame Sony didn't apply some imagination here because it could have been a truly great one...

PS: 01/02/2010 saw the introduction of THREE DISC SETS in the "Original Album Classics" Series (there are 5CD sets also) and releases are ongoing. Here is a list of the '3CD' sets to January 2012...

1. ADAM & THE ANTS (26/09/2011)
[Dirk Wears White Sox/Kings Of The Wild Frontier/Prince Charming]
2. AMERIE (01/02/2010)
(All I Have/Touch/Because I Love It)
3. ANATHEMA (26/09/2011)
[Judgement/A Fine Day To Exit/A Natural Disaster]
4. BLONDIE (26/09/2011)
[No Exit/Livid/The Curse Of Blondie]
5. COLIN BLUNSTONE (26/07/2010)
[One Year/Ennismore/Journey]
6. DAVID BOWIE (09/01/2012)
[Outside/Earthling/Hours...]
7. JOHNNY CASH (09/01/2012)
[Hello, I'm Johnny Cash/The Johnny Cash Show/Man In Black]
8. CLANNAD (24/01/2011)
[Magical Ring/Macalla/Sirius]
9. SHAWN COLVIN (08/02/2010)
[Steady On/Fat City/Cover Girl]
10. ALICE COOPER (26/09/2011)
[Trash/Hey Stoopid/The Last Temptation]
11. MILES DAVIS (26/07/2010)
[Nefertiti/Sorcerer/Filles De Kilimanjaro]
12. DEEP PURPLE (26/09/2011)
[Slaves And Masters/The Battle Rages On/Purpendicular]
13. DONOVAN (22/07/2010)
[Mellow Yellow/Hurdy Gurdy Man/Barabajagal]
14. BOB DYLAN (26/07/2010)
[Empire Burlesque/Down In The Groove/Under The Red Sky]
15. BOB DYLAN (09/01/2012)
[Good As I Been To You/World Gone Wrong/MTV Unplugged]
16. EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER (28/03/2011)
[Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970/Live At The Royal Albert Hall/Live In Poland]
17. AGNETHA FALTSKOG [of ABBA] (01/02/2010)
[Agnetha Faltskog/Nar En Vacker Tanke Blirsang/Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus]
18. (PETER GREEN'S) FLEETWOOD MAC (01/02/2010)
[Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac/Mr. Wonderful/The Pious Bird of Good Omen - The Original UK Album Track Lists - No Extras]
19. ARETHA FRANKLYN (01/02/2010)
[The Electrifying/The Tender The Moving The Swinging/Soul Sister]
20. GROOVE ARMADA (26/07/2010)
[Vertigo/Goodnight Country (Hello Nightclub)/Lovebox]
21. THE JEFF HEALEY BAND (09/01/2012)
[See The Light/Hell To Pay/Feel This]
22. JAPAN (28/03/2011)
[Adolescent Sex/Obscure Alternatives/Quiet Life]
23. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE (28/03/2011)
[Volunteers/Bark/Long John Silver]
24. JOURNEY (01/02/2010)
[Departure/Escape/Frontiers]
25. TAJ MAHAL (24/01/2011)
[Taj Mahal/The Natch'l Blues/Mo' Roots]
26. CHARLES MINGUS (26/07/2010)
[Mingus Ah Um/Mingus Dynasty/Tijuana Moods]
27. WILLIE NELSON (01/02/2010)
[Yesterday's Wine/Red Headed Stranger/Stardust]
28. THE ONLY ONES (09/01/2012)
[The Only Ones/Even Serpents Shine/Baby's Got A Gun]
29. SHUGGIE OTIS (09/01/2012)
[Here Comes Shuggie Otis/Freedom Flight/Inspiration Information]
30. DOLLY PARTON (8/02/2010)
[Eagle When She Flies/Slow Dancing With The Moon/White Limozeen]
31. IGGY POP (28/03/2011)
[New Values/Soldier/Party]
32. ELVIS PRESLEY (26/09/2011)
[Today/From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee/Moody Blue]
33. PRIMAL SCREAM (26/09/2011)
[Vanishing Point/Echo Dek/XTRMNTR]
34. SANTANA (08/02/2010)
[Illuminations/Oneness/The Swing of Delight]
35. SANTANA (26/09/2011)
[Havana Moon/Beyond Appearances/Spirits Dancing In The Flesh]
36. SCORPIONS (01/02/2010)
[In Trance/Virgin Killer/Taken By Force]
37. GIL SCOTT-HERON (24/01/2011)
[Real Eyes/Reflections/Moving Target]
38. SIMON and GARFUNKEL (01/02/2010)
[Sounds Of Silence/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme/Bookends]
39. PATTI SMITH (26/07/2010)
[Gone Again/Peace And Noise/Gung Ho]
40. THE STRANGLERS (28/03/2011)
[Feline/Aural Sculpture/Dreamtime]
41. TOTO (08/02/2010)
[Toto/Hydra/Turn Back]
42. LUTHER VANDROSS (01/02/2010)
(Never Too Much/Give Me The Reason/The Power of Love)
43. VANGELIS (26/09/2011)
[Heaven And Hell/Albedo 0.39/Spiral]
44. THE WALKER BROTHERS (01/02/2010)
[No Regrets/Lines/Nite Flights]
45. MUDDY WATERS (24/01/2011)
[Hard Again/I'm Ready/King Bee]
46. BOBBY WOMACK (09/01/2012)
[Home Is Where The Heart Is/Pieces/Roads Of Life]