"Fandango!" by ZZ TOP – May 1975 Album on London Records with First Side Being Live (Without Overdubs) and the Second Side Being Studio Tracks - featuring Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard (February 2006 UK Warner Brothers Remastered And Expanded CD Reissue with Three Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Downtown Tush..."

The fantastically named ZZ TOP had been building up a serious head of steam since their January 1971 US debut "ZZ Top's First Album" on London Records - a natural home for a Texas Blues Rock band. 

But things really started to boil on platters number 2 and 3 - "Rio Grande Mud" released April 1972 and especially "Tres Hombres" from August 1973. The stunning Blues Boogie riffage of "La Grange' from "Rio Grande Mud" had gotten everyone's attention (especially American FM Radio) – so the Tops needed a big fat juicy follow-up winner – a 45-juggernaut - and "Tush" from 1975's "Fandango!" nailed it like Anthony Hopkins anywhere near an Oscar performance.

Which brings us to this – the 'Newly Remastered And Expanded' CD Edition of "Fandango!" from late 2006 – over 30 years after the main event first appeared. Time for details, so to the girls turning up at gigs with a new boyfriend and your old jeans that went missing just before she left (eek)...

UK released 28 February 2006 - "Fandango!" by ZZ TOP on Warner Bothers 8122-78965-2 (Barcode 081227896522) is a Newly Remastered And Expanded CD Reissue of their Fourth Album from 1975 with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (42:04 minutes):

1. Thunderbird [Side 1]

2. Jailhouse Rock

3. Backdoor Medley: Backdoor Love Affair/Mellow Down Easy/Backdoor Love Affair No.2/Long Distance Boogie

4. Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings [Side 2]

5. Blue Jean Blues 

6. Balinese 

7. Mexican Blackbird 

8. Heard It On The X

9. Tush

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fourth LP "Fandango!" – released May 1975 in the USA on London PS 656 and June 1975 in the UK on London SH-U 8482. The three 'live' cuts of Side 1 were recorded without overdubs at the Warehouse venue in the Waterfront District of New Orleans - while Side 2 sports five new Studio Tracks. Produced by BILL HAM – the LP peaked at No. 10 in the USA and No. 60 in the UK. 

BONUS TRACKS: 

10. Heard It On The X (Live) 

11. Jailhouse Rock (Live)  

12. Tush (Live) 

All three Bonus Tracks recorded live in 1979 and are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

Some history - sporadic tracks from "Fandango!" have cropped up in remastered form on the 2003 "Chrome, Smoke & BBQ" 4CD Retro Box Set - whilst there is also a Remastered version of the whole album minus the bonuses (33:51 minutes) in repro card sleeve form in the June 2013 Box Set "The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990" on Warner Brothers 8122796519 – a 10CD mini clamshell whopper of a box set that goes all the way from 1971's debut up to their "Recycler" album from October 1990. 

Here we get a 12-page booklet with hugely entertaining and informative liner notes from TOM VICKERS - a friend and admirer of the band since the Seventies. The front and rear artwork of the single sleeve original LP is here (nudie suits and ten-gallon hats ahoy) as are some period photos of the 'Little Trio From Texas' including an overhead shot of 80,000 arena friends in 1974 (see photos provided). The band was (still is) BILLY F GIBBONS on Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals and Harmonica with DUSTY HILL on Bass and Vocals and FRANK BEARD on Drums (the only one who ironically did not sport a beard as a part of their recognisable look for decades to come). 

But the big news is of course a BOB LUDWIG Remaster done from original master tapes at his Gateway Mastering Studios, and as you can imagine, this rowdy little sucker is not shy in any way as it exits your slightly shell-shocked speakers. It sounds 'great'. To the tunes and those complimentary extras... 

The smart move on their Texas Threesome part was to show both sides of the band – Side 1 of the LP live and undubbed – gritty, down and dirty as a bar stool in Little Joe’s Bourbon Bordello out on Highway 29. Those of us who bought the LP at the time will remember the wording on the rear sleeve - "Side One Live Recorded At The Warehouse, New Orleans Captured As It Came Down - Hot, Spontaneous - And Presented To You Honestly, Without The Assistance Of Studio Gimmicks". And that’s pretty much what you get. 

After the roar of the crowd, a drum roll and an excited compare asking the collective punters are they 'ready to rawk' (they were) - ZZ Top launch into a new song called "Thunderbird" where they sing about getting high, high, high. It's a storming opening and even though a new tune, feels like a friend you missed. Dusty's hero had always been Elvis Presley (they relay a story about stumbling on him in his limousine one day as they travelling to a Memphis gig) - so not surprisingly they tear through "Jailhouse Rock". A tune that's been overdone for sure, but ZZ give it some fantastic new Rock licks and suddenly those lyrics about "...wanna stick around and get my kicks..." have a new urgency. Side 1 ends with a nine and half minute tour-de-force medley. They mix in the Willie Dixon-penned Little Walter tune "Mellow Down Easy" into two of their own - "Backdoor Love Affair" and "Long Distance Boogie". As the drums pound and the rapid pace is maintained - Billy raps with the crowd between singing - let that boy Boogie Woogie way down in New Orleans. It's great fun and despite being only a three-piece, they make a huge sound as they romp on home.   

But then we get their greatness reaffirmed as the Studio Side 2 opens with the fantastically dirty riffage of "Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings" - the Remaster giving it some real power at last. There follows what has to be one of my favourite Blues lurches of theirs - the tale of "Blue Jean Blues". Frank Beard done ran into his baby and finally found his old blue jeans (he recognises them from the oil and gasoline) only she's wearing them for some other lowlife skank (stunning Blues playing throughout too). More tales of dodgy goings-on down at the "Balinese" and then a gal who works the cantina then dances and loves the boys in "Mexican Blackbird". The rapido riffage returns with "Heard It On The X" – tunes from their past whizzing through the air – listening to the radio as it lifted and enlightened. The Remaster brings up that so-cool guitar solo – top indeed. 

The album ends on a total winner. The seven-inch 45-single "Tush" was issued July 1975 in the USA on London 5N-220 in a picture sleeve and 11 July 1975 in England on London HLU 10495 in a label bag – both issues with the cool "Blue Jean Blues" on the flipside. This is my idea of a masterpiece 45-single – both sides impossibly great. The Blighty issue created interest in the album (didn't chart though), but it hit big in the USA, peaking at No. 20 – an improvement over the No. 40 placing of its American little brother "La Grange" in May 1974 (a minor blip for the booklet is not picturing the rare US cartoon sleeve). The short, sweet and to-the-point riffage of "Tush" has been used in countless movies since - "Armageddon", "Dazed And Confused" and "The Bucket List" to name but a few and in great TV series like "Breaking Bad". 

The three previously unreleased live choices recorded four years after the "Fandango!" album (no dates or venues are supplied) reflect tracks that were on the original 1975 LP. And it is clear that the years have helped because they are honed and crafted into mini aural beasts – stunning air and atmosphere around them – a fitting end to a very successful and pleasing reissue. 

Dusty F. Gibbons sees his third solo album "Hardware" issued in June 2021 with many advance orders and excited Stereo trigger-fingers waiting anxiously to get their grubby paws on it. But if you want to know why ZZ Top was so adored in the first place, this gritty little Balinese CD Remaster is the perfect place to go. 

Fifty years plus and that 'little 'ol band from Texas' still continue to cast a long shadow...and isn't that just the Blues Rock best...

"Black And Blue" by THE ROLLING STONES – April 1976 UK and US Album on Rolling Stones Records featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts with Guests Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins on Guitars, Billy Preston and Nicky Hopkins on Keyboards and Backing Vocals with Ian Stewart with Ollie Brown on Percussion (June 1994 UK Virgin CD Remaster by Bob Ludwig vs. May 2009 Polydor CD Remaster by Stephen Marcussen) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Shake Your Body...Work It Right Now..."

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If it weren't for the abomination that is their cover version of Eric Donaldson's Reggae song "Cherry Oh Baby" on Side 1 (a serious pet hate for me in the entirety of their formidable catalogue) - I would actually consider April 1976's "Black And Blue" to be as close to perfect a Rolling Stones 70ts album as you can get. 

For sure it's not the mighty "Let It Bleed", "Sticky Fingers" or "Exile On Main St." - but then what is. But "Black And Blue" is an album that had taken the Funk and Soul influences that had crept into 1973's "Goats Head Soup" and even elements of 1974's "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" and given it full flourish. Stuff like "Hey Negrita" and "Hot Stuff" were a revelation to me when I heard them first - the Stones smartly catching the Funk, Soul and Jazz Funk vibes of the time and stretching their sound out to accommodate them. And "Melody" had a sass and sway about it too. But white boys doing Reggae never did quite work for me outside of say the Ska rhythms of Two Tone that would come at the end of that fantastic decade. 

Plus the non-crammed vinyl record sounded 'brilliant' - produced like a kicking mule - which is not something you could ever have accused "Goat's Head Soup" of. And I thought the ballad "Fool To Cry" to be magical (and still do). But what CD variant of this 8-track genre-melt do you buy? 

1. Hot Stuff [Side 1]
2. Hand Of Fate 
3. Cherry Oh Baby 
4. Memory Hotel
5. Hey Negrita [Side 2]
6. Melody 
7. Fool To Cry
8. Crazy Mama 
Tracks 1 to 8 are their album "Black And Blue" – released 20 April 1976 in the UK and USA on Rolling Stones Records COC 59106 and COC 79104 respectively. Produced by The Glimmer Twins – it peaked at No. 1 in the USA and No. 2 in the UK. 

Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts - were joined by Guests included guitarists Harvey Mandel and Wayne Perkins with Keyboardist and Vocalist Billy Preston, Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and Ian Stewart with Ollie Brown on Percussion.

There are maybe four or even five remasters in total, but two I think worth it and easy to access. The first is the 1999 Virgin issue and the second – he more commonly available 2009 Polydor variant. 

June 1994 saw two reissues using the UK original master tapes – the Standard CD Edition on Virgin CDV 2736 (Barcode 724383952021) and a Collector’s Edition on Virgin CDVX 2736 (Barcode 724383949922) issued in a stickered outer plastic slipcase with Original Album Packaging repro’d in Mini LP form on the inside – the 1976 gatefold and its track-by-track credits inner sleeve (41:25 minutes). Renowned Audio Engineer BOB LUDWIG carried out the Remaster at Gateway Mastering using the UV22 Super CD Encoding Process (created by Apogee Electronics in California). 

The second came with the May 2009 Remaster on Polydor/Rolling Stones Records 0602527015613 (Barcode 602527015613) housed in a Super Jewel Case with a CD booklet. Part of The Rolling Stones Remasters Series (all done by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN), it plays to 41:21 minutes, has a Lips Sticker on the case and there is no Collector’s Edition. 

The Virgin issues are both deleted and not surprisingly the Collector’s Edition garnishes a cost – none too unreasonable though as it regularly sells for somewhere between twelve and sixteen UK pounds. The Polydor issues (part of The Rolling Stones Remasters Series) have sold for as little as a fiver or somewhere below seven quid and are easily available. Japan has weighed in with SACD issues, Flat Transfer SHM-CD and Platinum SHM-CDs in presentation boxes and on it goes (I hated the Platinum variant of Sticky Fingers that used a flat transfer so I avoided the rest). 

The Virgin issue has extraordinary vitality – the rhythms and flicks and vocals shouts leaping out of your speakers. As guest guitarist Harvey Mandel takes the sole Lead Guitar on the Side 1 opener "Hot Stuff" (a young virtuoso, he had played slide with Blues artists like Canned Heat and Charlie Musselwhite before starting a solo career in 1968) – the power is undeniably huge. He flicks sexy rhythms as a back beat then overlaying that with funky Jeff Beck Blow By Blow moments. Jagger sings he can't get enough and neither can I. Back to proper Stones fare with the superb "Hand Of Fate" - Keith back at the guitar reins with help from Manassas whizz-kid Wayne Perkins on the solo (a stunner). I love this kind of Stones swagger (watched him die, watch out boy) - they seem to make something out of nothing and it somehow comes up peaches and cream. 

Long-time sessionman Nicky Hopkins provides the keyboards for "Cherry Oh Baby" but I quickly skip to the oddly touching "Memory Hotel" - it's seven-minutes and ten seconds feeling epic in all the best Stones way. Billy Preston plays String Synthesizer; Wayne Perkins plays Acoustic with Harvey Mandel on Electric - while Billy, Keith, Ronnie Wood and Mick all provide backing vocals. Sang a song to me - Jagger remembers - stuck right in my brain. I also love that 'she got a mind of her own and she uses it well...' off the cuff line from Keith as a counter melody. The audio is superb. Used to mean so much to me – it still does. 

The sloppy Joe signature sound of Ronnie Wood combined with Keef gives the fantastic "Hey Negrita" (apparently a nickname for Jagger's wife) - Billy Preston dropping in those off-the-cuff piano fills that just so work. Stevie Wonder's percussionist Ollie Brown is in their too shuffling with Charlie Watts. But its Wood who slots in like a glove - catching the groove - as Jagger hollers just a momentita - one last dollar - then we go - fantastic stuff. Mick Jagger is credited with 'foot stomp' on the jazzy New Orleans sleaze that is the Saturday Night of "Melody" - Arif Mardin arranging a genius horn section towards the finish while Billy Preston slips in superb second vocals. 

We race to the finish with a double-whammy of greatness that puts the album up there for me - the poor-me tear-fest "Fool To Cry" and the boozy riffage of "Crazy Mama". Even today, I can still recall the chills that went up my arms when I first heard "Fool To Cry" - the Nicky Hopkins and Mick Jagger synth and piano combo - its words nailing me to some lonesome mast or other - the Stones are like that. The ball and chain sawn-off shotgun pound of "Crazy Mama" is still a mule kicker and easily as good as say "Start Me Up" – just not as famous.

The 2009 Polydor Remaster (which I also own) is fantastically clear and fulsome, but somehow there's a softer naturality to the 1994 version that keeps bringing me back to it. But if you are on a budget, either will do in truth. 

"Black And Blue" is a great Seventies Stones album for me. "It makes me wonder why...daddy you're a fool to cry..." Well, I don't care if I do look like a nit after all these decades of Glimmer Twins & Co worship, because this is one I want to cry about...

"It's Only Rock 'N Roll" by THE ROLLING STONES – October 1974 UK and USA LP on Rolling Stones Records featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts with Guests Billy Preston, Ian Stewart, Nicky Hopkins, Blue Magic, Ray Cooper, Willie Weeks and Kenny Jones (August 1994 Virgin CD Remaster vs. May 2009 Polydor CD Remaster – Bob Ludwig and Stephen Marcussen Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

1994 Virgin CD Reissue and Remaster - Standard Edition in Jewel Case

Collector's Edition with Original Album Packaging

"...If You Want To Be My Friend..."

Following the artistic studio-album high of "Beggars Banquet" (1968), "Let It Bleed" (1969), "Sticky Fingers" (1971) and the double "Exile On Main St" (1972) with a cool live set thrown in for our delectations in 1970 - "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" - common knowledge has it that the Stones brought this astonishing run of Rock-cool to a shuddering halt (or at least stalled it a tad) with the decidedly half-assed "Goat's Head Soup" in 1973 and "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" in 1974. Drugs, excess, failing marriages, tax exiles – by the mid Seventies I suppose it was a minor miracle that any of them were still breathing/corpus mentis let alone popping out masterpieces for baying maidens.

But like me - and I suspect this is the case across the world - despite the obvious weaknesses of 1973's and 1974's studio efforts – I remember at the time thinking even half-baked Stones was better than most everyone else. And in a way, we strolling bones lovers had held a penny candle for these two runts ever since – some even citing them as faves over their more lauded work. But for this review, I want to talk about sound…

While "Goat's Head Soup" had always felt like an audio let down of epic proportions - October 1974's "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" saw the Glimmer Twins take the Production controls once again and it rawked. The CD reissues have been the same - the two principal choices for Stones nuts being either 1994 on Virgin vs. 2009 on Polydor - and I'd argue that both astonish in the Audio Remaster battle. "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" is an LP that is transformed by digital - lifted up and given a power far greater than the original single sleeve LP we all owned for years. Be my friend, it's time you were. Let's get to the Fingerprint Files...

1. If You Can't Rock Me [Side 1]

2. Ain't Too Proud To Beg

3. It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)

4. Till The Next Goodbye

5. Time Waits For No One

6. Luxury [Side 2]

7. Dance Little Sister

8. If You Really Want To Be My Friend

9. Short And Curlies

10. Fingerprint File

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" - released 18 October 1974 in the UK on Rolling Stones Records COC 59103 and in the USA (same date) on Rolling Stones Records COC 79101. Produced by MICK JAGGER and KEITH RICHARDS - it peaked at No. 1 in the USA and No. 2 in the UK. All songs were written by Jagger/Richards - except "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" - a cover version of the Temptations classic originally written by Norman Whitfield and Eddie Holland.

MICK JAGGER - Vocals and Guitar

KEITH RICHARDS - Lead Guitars, Vocals and Bass

MICK TAYLOR - Lead Guitars Vocals, Synthesizer, Congas and Bass

BILL WYMAN - Bass and Synthesizer

CHARLIE WATTS - Drums and Synthesizer

Guests:

Billy Preston - Piano and Clavinet on Tracks 1, 2 and 10

Nicky Hopkins - Piano on Tracks 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10

Ian Stewart - Piano on Tracks 3, 7 and 9

Ray Cooper - Percussion

Blue Magic - Backing Vocals on Track 8

Charlie Jolly - Table on Track 10

Ed Leach - Cowbell on Track 2

Willy Weeks (Bass) and Kenny Jones of Small Faces and The Who - Drums on Track 3

The 15 August 1994 CD Reissue and Remaster by BOB LUDWIG on Virgin comes in two forms - the standard issue on Virgin/Rolling Stones Records CDV 2733 - 7243-839522-2-9 (Barcode 724383952229) has a standard jewel case with 4-page inlay - while the limited edition 'Collector's Edition-Original Album Packaging' variant uses mini LP repro artwork (cover and inner sleeve) in a special stickered outer jewel case on Virgin/Rolling Stones Records CDVX 2733 - 7243-8-39500-2-7 (Barcode 724383950027).

The UV99 Super CD Encoding Process by Apogee Electronics in California promised uber realistic transfers from the original tapes – and in the case of the 4 May 2009 Polydor Remasters by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN on Polydor 0602527015590 (Barcode 602527015590) – you got the same (issued in a stickered round-cornered Super Jewel Case). I have both and the AUDIO is a wow (48:26 minutes).

Polydor 2009 Reissue and Remaster in Rounded Super Jewel Case

Artwork-wise, all of these IORNR reissues are a little bit of a joke – typical cheap-assed Stones – a gatefold inlay that repro’s the original inner sleeve with barely readable details. No new liner notes – zip. Is it any wonder I’ve seen copies online for under a pound. Better is the audio and the music...

Long-time pal of the Beatles and The Stones - Billy Preston - gives it some Clavinet underpinning on the lyrically vicious "If You Can't Rock Me" that opens Side 1 - Jagger screaming "I've got a hard and it hurts like hell, if you can't rock me, find someone who will..." Girls with bright blue hair successfully tempting our Michael away from his dissolving marriage to Bianca - the drums and guitars in yer ya-ya's face throughout. Not for the first time do The Stones reach for The Temptations back catalogue - their version of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" became an American-only 45 that punching the top 20 to settle at No. 17. The guitars, chunky riffs and Billy Preston's piano - all amazingly clear and full of muscle. Having listening to the LP cut and that ever so-slightly muffled 45 for all those years - the acoustic/electric guitars combo of the title track "It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It)" is likely to shock many. And its a brilliant single - remember that soap suds video that eased your brain. But then Side 1 gives us two gems I've always loved - the coffee shop down on 52nd Street acoustic ballad "Till The Next Goodbye" - gorgeous audio as those Mick Taylor guitar touches come melting into the mix. And have they been so beguiling as on the star-crossed "Time Waits For No One" - won't wait for me - well this is waiting for you - as is Mick Taylor's fantastic guitar parts (beautifully clear).

Side 2's "Luxury" had a playing time on my original LP of about 4:30 minutes, here this CD cut is 5:01 minutes - longer in the fade out. $20 me (making a million dollars for Texans) working so hard for the company, to keep you in luxury - go the lyrics in this Reggae-Rock chugger. Rolling Stones Records put "Dance Little Sister" on the B-side of the US 45 for "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" (October 1974 on Rolling Stones 19302) and were rewarded with as many radio plays as the A-side received - and again those drums and guitars kicking out of your speakers. The Atlantic Records Soul Band BLUE MAGIC of "Sideshow" fame adds subtle but deep backing vocals to "If You Really Want To Be My Friend" - a plea for understanding and not jealousy. The short and snotty got you by the ….s rocker "Short And Curlies" apparently started life sometime around the Exile sessions and was obviously press-ganged into Rock 'n' Roll service to fill out Side 2.

But Audio Blast numero-uno belongs to the fantastic menace of "Fingerprint File" - Jagger clearly sick of the press and government hounding he and everyone around him was getting. Some little jerk in the FBI keeping papers on him six feet high - gets him down. Well the stunning audio won't.

1974's "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" may not be a mountain of a record and it would be two years to "Black And Blue" in 1976 - another underrated winner for me in their sexy Seventies catalogue. But I'd say go for it. And the standard variant of IORNR can be picked up for under a fiver in the right places (and sometimes a lot less).

Who's listening - whose taking pictures by the ultra-violet light - methinks it should be you. Good night-sleep tight. Love it...

"The Singles 1965-1967" [Box 2 of 3] by THE ROLLING STONES – Eleven 60ts UK and US 7" Singles in Repro Picture Sleeves – Three of Which Have 3 Tracks Reflecting The Different B-sides in the UK and USA. Featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts with Guests Ian Stewart, Nicky Hopkins and Jack Nitzsche (Keyboards), John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (String Arrangements) and Steve Marriott of Small Faces and later Humble Pie on Backing Vocals (January 2004 UK/EU ABKCO Records 11CD Clamshell Box Set – Steve Rosenthal, Teri Landi and Bob Ludwig Transfers, Audio Restoration and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"…We Love You…"

Ah the glorious bad boys of Rock – The Rolling Stones. The kind of trouser-snake seductive ne'er-do-well pert-bottomed reprobates a concerned mother warned you about (when she wasn't shovelling tranquillisers down her gullet).  We're we (or they) ever so young or indeed so naughty! Hell yes!

This is the second box set in a series of three covering their Satanic Majesties entire 45s output on Decca (UK) and London Records (USA) – this fab little sucker covering their first primo period of non-stop 60ts hipsville - and what a humdinger it is too. There is a mountain of info to wade through, so once more my lysergic listeners unto the nervous breakdowns and girly rainbows…

UK/Europe released 1 January 2004 – "The Singles 1965-1967" by THE ROLLING STONES on Abkco 0602498209851 (Barcode 602498209851) is the Second of Three Box Sets covering their entire Decca/London Records UK and US output on 45s. The Clamshell Box contains 11CDs in Picture Repro Sleeves featuring artwork from many different countries (10 singles by The Rolling Stones and one solo outing by Bassist Bill Wyman), Three Art Cards featuring photos from 1965, 1966 and 1967, a foldout double-sided poster (the Lady Jane single advert with Mick Jagger's face on one side with a band photo on the other) and a 28-Page Fact-Filled Booklet outlined details on each release, reissue credits etc. Its 25-tracks covering eleven 7" singles breaks down as follows…

CD1 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - 10:29 minutes, 3 tracks:

US 45, 5 June 1965 on London 45-9766

A. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction b/w The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man

UK 45, 20 August 1965 on Decca F 12220

A. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction b/w The Spider And The Fly

CD2: "Get Off Of My Cloud" - 7:41 minutes, 3 tracks:

US 45, 24 September 1965 on London 45-9792

A. Get Off Of My Cloud b/w I'm Free

UK 45, 22 October 1965 on Decca F 12263

A. Get Off Of My Cloud b/w The Singer Not The Song

CD3: "As Tears Go By" - 4:52 minutes, 2 tracks:

US 45, 18 December 1965 on London 45-9808

A. As Tears Go By b/w Gotta Get Away

UK 45, 4 February 1966 on Decca F 12331 (with different A-side, US A-side relegated to the B)

A. 19th Nervous Breakdown By b/w As Tears Go By

CD4: "19th Nervous Breakdown" - 7:00 minutes, 2 tracks:

UK 45, 4 February 1966 on Decca F 12331 (see Disc 3 for B-side)

A. 19th Nervous Breakdown b/w As Tears Go By

US 45, 12 February 1966 on London 45-9823

A. 19th Nervous Breakdown b/w Sad Day

CD5: "Paint It Black" - 9:44 minutes, 3 tracks:

US 45, 6 May 1966 on London 45-901

A. Paint It Black b/w Stupid Girl

UK 45, 13 May 1966 on Decca F 12395

A. Paint It Black b/w Long Long While

CD6: "Mother's Little Helper" - 5:57 minutes, 2 tracks:

US 45, 2 July 1966 on London 45-902 (Note: no UK issue)

A. Mother's Little Helper b/w Lady Jane

CD7: "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows?" - 5:49 minutes, 2 tracks:

US 45, 23 September 1966 on London 45-903

UK 45, 23 September 1966 on Decca F 12497

A. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in The Shadow? b/w Who's Driving Your Plane?

CD8: "Let's Spend The Night Together" - 6:40 minutes, 2 tracks:

UK 45, 13 January 1967 on Decca F 12546

US 45, 13 January 1967 on London 45-904

A. Let's Spend The Night Together b/w Ruby Tuesday

CD9: "We Love You" - 8:26 minutes, 2 tracks:

UK 45, 18 August 1967 on Decca F 12654

US 45, 2 September 1967 on London 45-905
A. We Love You b/w Dandelion

CD10: "She's A Rainbow" - 8:57 minutes, 2 tracks:

US 45, 23 December 1967 on London 45-906

A. She's A Rainbow b/w 2000 Light Years From Home (Note: no UK issue)

CD11: "In Another Land" by BILL WYMAN/The Lantern by THE ROLLING STONES  - 7:19 minutes, 2 tracks:

US 45, 2 December 1967 on London 45-907

A. In Another Land (by BILL WYMAN) b/w The Lantern (by THE ROLLING STONES) (Note: no UK issue)

The Audio is done to a team of three – STEVE ROSENTHAL for Sound Restoration and Archive Coordination, TERI LANDI for Analogue to Digital Transfers and Tape Archive Research and BOB LUDWIG for Mastering. For instance you can really hear the contributions made by NICKY HOPKINS (Piano) and future Led Zeppelin Bassist JOHN PAUL JONES (who arranged the stings) on one of the better tracks from "Their Satanic Majesties…" LP - "She's A Rainbow". Clearer too is Brian Jones pressing down those Mellotron keys on the swirling hippy-dippy soundscape that is "2000 Light Years From Home".

I must admit that I haven't played the Wyman-penned US-only track "In Another Land" in probably four an half decades, but its now nice to hear (once again) the Remaster bring forth Nicky Hopkins lending his piano while Small Faces giant STEVE MARRIOTT taps those distinctive lungs of his for backing vocals. And 'allegedly' none other than Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles and poet Allen Ginsberg can be heard giving backing vocals to "We Love You" – a tribute to fans who supported the band during those difficult busted months (Nicky Hopkins also contributed piano).

Fans will not surprisingly adore the sheer wallop that comes of the decidedly fruity "Let's Spend The Night Together" – a song apparently written about the first time Mick and Marianne Faithfull hooked up for something we're reliably informed wasn't a fish supper. Unsung hero Jack Nitzsche plays Keyboards on both "Let's Spend The Night Together” and the Bluesy Harmonica driven B-side "Who's Driving Your Plane?" - whilst also contributing distinctive-sounding Harpsichord to the baroque elegance of "Lady Jane". Nitzsche also plays piano on a true digital obscurity – the US B-side "Sad Day” which only appeared on CD in 1989 on the triple "Singles Collection" set. And although its lyrics are now terribly dated and not the most enlightened on the planet, I've always had a thing for the Aftermath song "Stupid Girl" – way more than the rooster strut of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - a ball-breaker of a song whose fuzzed up guitars and driving rhythm changed the music world forever.

There is of course so much more here, but what you can't deny is the 'on fire' feel to it all. Like The Beatles, The Stones just hit this run of magic that would culminate in Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and of course on into Stick Fingers and beyond.

Songs about drugs, sex, record company chaperones and grown men dressed in drag for the picture sleeves. Ah the glory. Remember them this way…

"The Velvet Underground & Nico" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (June 2002 UK Universal/Polydor 2CD ‘Deluxe Edition’ Reissue – Bob Ludwig and Jeff Willens Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...He's Got The Works..."

I can think of only two other albums like The Velvet Underground's debut that have influenced so much and so many - and had such a staggering and lasting cultural impact - "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles and "Never Mind The Bollocks..." by The Sex Pistols. When I worked at Reckless in the West End we kept at least 100 copies of the Velvet's debut on new 180grams reissue vinyl for eager punters to snap up on a daily basis - without question the biggest selling reissue album we ever had. No other LP short of Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" or Nirvana's "Nevermind" has had such a devoted and long-lasting following.

And for those who can't afford (nor want) the Super Deluxe 6-Disc version that came out in October 2012 - this 2CD Deluxe Edition gives a scratchy arm all the needles it'll need. Here are the Femme Fatales and Andy Warhols...

Released June 2002 - "The Velvet Underground & Nico: Deluxe Edition" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO on Universal/Polydor 314 589 624-2 (Barcode 731458962427) is a 2CD Deluxe Edition with the Mono and Stereo Versions of the album with Nine Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (60:18 minutes):

1. Sunday Morning

2. I'm Waiting For The Man

3. Femme Fatale [Vocals by Nico]

4. Venus In Furs

5. Run, Run, Run

6. All Tomorrow's Parties [Vocals by Nico]

7. Heroin [Side 2]

8. There She Goes Again

9. I'll Be Your Mirror

10. The Black Angel's Death Song

11. European Son

Tracks 1 to 11 are the STEREO VERSION of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" - their debut album released March 1967 in the USA on Verve V6-5008 and November 1967 in the UK on Verve SVLP 9184 [For Mono Variant see Disc 2]

12. Little Sister

13. Winter Song

14. It Was A Pleasure Then

15. Chelsea Girls

16. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

Tracks 12 to 16 are from "Chelsea Girl"- the solo debut album by NICO released October 1967 on Verve V6-5032 (Stereo) and finally released in the UK in September 1971 on MGM Select 2353 025 (Stereo)

Disc 2 (77:33 minutes):

1. Sunday Morning

2. I'm Waiting For The Man

3. Femme Fatale [Vocals by Nico]

4. Venus In Furs

5. Run, Run, Run

6. All Tomorrow's Parties [Vocals by Nico]

7. Heroin [Side 2]

8. There She Goes Again

9. I'll Be Your Mirror

10. The Black Angel's Death Song

11. European Son

Tracks 1 to 11 are the MONO VERSION of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" released March 1967 in the USA on Verve V-5008 and November 1967 in the UK on Verve VLP 9184 [For Stereo Variant see Disc 1]

12. All Tomorrow's Parties (Single Version),

13. I'll Be Your Mirror (12 and 13 issued July 1966 as the A&B-sides of a US 7" single on Verve VK-10427. Both tracks feature NICO on Lead Vocals, are in MONO and were not issued in the UK as a single. "I'll Be Your Mirror" the 'single version' features an alternate ending to the cut on the LP)

14. Sunday Morning (Single Version)

15. Femme Fatale (Single Version) (14 and 15 issued December 1966 as the A&B-sides of a US 7" single on Verve VK-10466. "Femme Fatale" features NICO on Lead Vocals, is in Mono and was not issued in the UK)

Compiled by BILL LEVINSON and remastered by BOB LUDWIG and JEFF WILLENS - they've done a fantastic job with an album that is notoriously lo-fi on purpose (Produced by Andy Warhol with Nico credited as a 'Chanteuse'). The foldout flaps of the digipak feature reviews of the album from various trade papers of the time, album credits, suitably blurry photos of the band beneath the see-through trays and a 28-page booklet that has classy black and white snaps of the group's famous shows (mostly live shots) and some studies of Nico. The Dave Thompson liner notes (Pages 3 to 12) go deep into the album's explosive history, there's lyrics to all the songs and original US issues (Universal 314 589 624-2) even has a 'peelable' banana on the front flap to repro the rare first pressings on vinyl (now worth a King's ransom).

Flower-power ladies, loved up hippies and peace-in-our-time acid droppers got the fright of their lives when "The Velvet Underground & Nico" was released in the spring of 1967. It painted a seriously dark picture of a counter-culture that was already writhing in sweaty withdrawal. Drugs and their all-pervasive effect of everything you hold dear permeates almost every song  - scoring them ("I'm Waiting For The Man"), doing them ("Venus In Furs") and then selling your body and eventually your soul to get more ("Run, Run, Run"). And all of this despair is wrapped up in jagged melodies, droll voices (American and German) and distorted guitars that sound like they're being tortured by CIA operatives determined to find a Communist. But I suspect that like "Bollocks" - the real reason the album has endured so long is precisely because it's so brutally honest - where one track is actually called "Heroin" - and the others barely disguise such a controversial subject matter. And yet there's inexplicable prettiness too - the gorgeous opener "Sunday Morning" sung by Lou Reed as if he hasn't a care in the world - while Nico scores massively with three vocal beauties - "Femme Fatale", the ragged piano of "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the delicate "I'll Be Your Mirror". Even now it's an extraordinary piece of work and 'influential' barely touches on its true impact down through the decades. It also has something you can't invent - it's effortlessly cool...

Of the two versions I actually find the MONO mix to be more powerful and direct (unavailable since its 1967 release) - the wild soloing of "Heroin" is so stunning and the jangly guitar of "There She Goes Again" much cleaner as it escapes your speakers. And with Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed and John Cale all contributing to the NICO solo tracks - it's hardly surprising they bookend Disc 1. The flute and dry nature of "Chelsea Girls" with "Bridget all wrapped in foil..." matches the Velvets album perfectly while the eight-minutes of the (admittedly hissy) "It Was A Pleasure Then" feels just as druggy as anything on the "Banana Peel" debut.

Will we ever know its like again? Will I ever find an unpeeled 'banana sleeve' in a dollar bin or carboot sale - no is the answer. But at least with this superb Universal DE Edition you can get to understand what all the fuss and iconography is about.

"$26 in my hand...more dead than alive..." Lou Reed sings on "I'm Waiting For The Man". 

Well in 2019 you'll get your fix for a lot less now - and in this case - it's worth every blood red cent...

"Sheer Heart Attack: 2011 Digital Remaster 2CD Deluxe Edition" by QUEEN (March 2011 Island Records 2-Disc Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Hundreds of Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

CLASSIC 1970s ROCK and POP - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"…Dynamite With A Laser Beam…"

The first 1986 CD reissue, the 1991 Hollywood version from the USA, the 1993 UK variant – and now this '2011 Digital Remaster' – yet another definitive version tapping Queen's lucrative back catalogue - this time on Island Records.

Their breakthrough 3rd album on EMI Records has had (like most huge titles from the period) its fair share of recomboozalated whirls on the old digital merry-go-round. But this latest wallet-tempter for Queen fans has to be the best – at least sonically – although I find that the visuals are once again naught to write home about...

First of all - the '2011 Digital Remaster' comes in two variants – the single European CD version on Island Records 276 440 9 (Barcode 602527644097) with just the 13-track album. The one I want to concentrate on is its big brother – the 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' with a Bonus EP of 5-tracks as Disc 2. Here are the tenement funsters...

UK and Europe released March 2011 - "Sheer Heart Attack: 2011 Digital Remaster 2CD Deluxe Edition" by QUEEN on Island Records 276 441 1 (Barcode 602527644110) is a CD + BONUS EP Reissue/Remaster and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (39:08 minutes):

1. Brighton Rock [Side 1]

2. Killer Queen

3. Tenement Funster

4. Flick Of The Wrist

5. Lily Of The Valley

6. Now I'm Here

7. In The Lap Of The Gods [Side 2]

8. Stone Cold Crazy

9. Dear Friends

10. Misfire

11. Bring Back That Leroy Brown

12. She Makes Me (stormtrooper in stilettos)

13. In The Lap Of The Gods...revisited

Tracks 1 to 13 are their 3rd studio album "Sheer Heart Attack" - released November 1974 in the UK on EMI Records EMC 3061 and in the USA on Elektra 7E-1026. Produced by QUEEN and ROY THOMAS BAKER – it peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 12 in the USA

Disc 2 BONUS EP (15:48 minutes):

1. Now I’m Here (Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)

2. Flick Of The Wrist (BBC Session, October 1974)

3. Tenement Funster (BBC Session, October 1974)

4. Bring Back That Leroy Brown (A Cappella Mix 2011)

5. In The Lap Of The Gods... revisited (Live At Wembley Stadium, July 1986)

The round-cornered 'super jewel case' certainly looks the part but in truth I find them bloody awkward to use. At least the 16-page booklet is a better affair than previous - new period photos of the band - the lyrics to the songs that were on the inner bag are here too as are track-by-track explanations of the BONUS EP by GREG BROOKS and GARY TAYLOR. But there's no history of the album - no rare foreign picture sleeves for this most collectable of bands - no reminiscences or input from surviving members of the band... It's good but hardly great and visually feels about as special as used Pizza Hut box.

At least the audio lives up to the highlighted sentence inside - "This 2011 version has been meticulously re-created using the finest modern analogue and digital technology from the original first-generation masters mixes" - because you can 'hear' this sucker the second you play that fairground opening to "Brighton Rock" - the manic Brian May guitars slowing creeping in as Mercury gives it some falsetto 'Jimmy went away' and 'Rock of Ages' lyrics. The team that did wonders with the 2005 versions of 1975's "A Night At The Opera" and 1976's "A Day At The Races" are back - KRIS FREDRIKSSON and JUSTIN SHIRLEY-SMITH with Audio maestro BOB LUDWIG doing the mastering. The Bonus EP has different sources  - all mastered by ADAM AYAN at Gateway Mastering. The results are amazing...

While the sheer sonic attack of the guitars in the brilliant and wild "Brighton Rock" is enough to impress (written by Brian May) - the impact of clarity on Freddie Mercury’s insanely catchy "Killer Queen" is another thing altogether. I've never heard May's layered guitars so clear - Mercury's lead vocal so in your face - the backing vocals and flanged effects – all of it is a wow. Brian Taylor's Rock 'n' Roll 45s has been enraging the stuffy neighbours on the lower floor in his "Tenement Funster". But what I hadn't bargained for is that piano-intro that segues into the sinister "Flick Of The Wrist" - it's so damn clean now - a long way from my battered UK EMI LP where the sleeve always seemed to split at the slightest pressure. The 'intoxicate your brain' vocals are full of power too. The short but pretty "Lily Of The Valley" is impressive - Mercury at the piano holding court as he continues the 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' story begun on "Queen II" in 1973. But my rave has always been the barnstorming single "Now I'm Here" - the opening vocals and drum whacks panning from speaker to speaker. When it kicks in with the 'I'm just a new man...' riff - you're won over - and you're down in the dungeon with peaches 'n' me.

Side 2's "In The Lap Of The Gods" has always been a Prog moment for me - oohs and aahs and crashing cymbals - wonderfully clear audio as parts of the song feel very similar in structure to 'that' single which would dominate Christmas 1975 (the last "Leave it in the Lap Of The Gods" chorus is so good). Back to mania with the huge "Stone Cold Crazy" and I'm thinking Heart was listening to this when they recorded "Barracuda". And again you marvel at the sheer virtuosity of May's playing - little flicks - huge riffs - memorable solos - he uses them all. Although it sounds like a Freddie tune - the short but sweet "Dear Friends" is actually a Brian May composition and feels like a hymn sung to a child. John Deacon puts up the acoustic bop of "Misfire" where love's a game and don't misfire your loaded gun (ok boys). I've always disliked the cod seaside banjo of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" - better is May's "She Makes Me" where Queen feel melodious and huge at one and the same time. It ends on another vocal tour-de-force - the revisited "In The Lap Of The Gods" - the manic stripped away - Queen wallowing in their own sound...

"Now I'm Here" on the Bonus EP actually dates from the British November/December 1975 tour for "A Night At The Opera" where both the album and the single "Bohemian Rhapsody" nestled at No. 1 in the charts. It was recorded at The Hammersmith Odeon in London and apparently this kick-ass version opened the show. Hero of the hour for the two BBC Sessions turns out to be a man I bought records off while I worked at Reckless - BBC Sound Recording man Jeff Griffin (engineered by Chris Lycett). Apparently it was practice for the Beeb to wipe tapes back in those less-enlightened days - but Jeff held onto to them for 40 years – hence their new inclusion here. Both versions of "Flick Of The Wrist" and "Tenement Funster" are close to the finished articles - but it's fun to hear May letting rip on those guitar passages - cutting it live just as much as he did in the studio. The supposed 'A Cappella Mix' of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" is best described as ‘fun’ - while the immersed rapture of the audience at Wembley Arena in July 1986 is genuinely audible on the finisher "In The Lap Of The Gods". From here the band would go on to do the Scaramouche and the Fandango with thunderbolts and lightning indeed when they owned the world in 1975...

In some ways I can't help thinking someone somewhere at Island Records could have come up with a tastier and more fan-pleasing presentation for "Sheer Heart Attack" after all these decades. And that money-gremlins over at Island know that serious fan-worship will drive Queen lovers into the arms of those Japanese SHM-CDs using the new remasters but with beautifully accurate Repro Mini LP Sleeves. Hell there’ll probably be yet another anniversary box set issue in the next few years with newly found/remixed tiny morsels to tempt us.

But in the meantime – this 2011 Digital Remaster does at least do the Stone Cold Crazy with Audio style. Suffice to say - for now you should park your Marie Antoinette's on this semi-naked Killer Queen...