"Something's Up! Film, TV & Studio Work 1964-1967" by JOHN BARRY (September 2024 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS:

Content ****

Audio *****

Presentation *****

"…The Man With The Sun In His Hair…"

Being something of a JB trouser-stroking aficionado, lifelong bended-knee bellend and all-round worshiper of all things Baz-like - I had such high hopes for this British CD  compilation of his primo Sixties output. 

But while 85% of "Something's Up! Film, TV & Studio Work 1964-1967" is fabtastic in that so-60Ts way (complete with truly terrific audio) – it just falls short of the magic you'd expect from someone – well – as magical as Soundtrack Composer and all-round suave coolsville champ John Barry.

For starters there is the price and content. Fans will look down through the 25-song track list in September 2024 and know they have many of these obvious choices (a few are B-side rarities but they aren't very good, some Stereo US versions when they were only Mono in Blighty and so on) – and as The Real John Barry 3CD set by Columbia is just £6 or less for nearly 60 tunes (see separate review) – where does Ace get off wanting £14 or more for 1CD?

But - there is that Corking Audio and Ace's usual top-notch booklet with liner notes that go deep - instead of a major label skim (none of The Real triples have liner notes but they do have Top Notch Remastered Audio and basic track details beneath each see-through plastic tray). There are also tracks from two very popular 'remakes' compilations - the 1966 set "Great Movie Sounds Of John Barry" and the 1967 UK LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" - both in Stereo - which will please diehards no end.

Even so - it's a four-star offering from Ace when it could have been a five-star double-apéritif in a Soho boozer with an immaculate King Rat schmoozing hotel chambermaids over by the plastic Pineapple Bucket. But - let's give credit where its due - to the Shaken Martinis and Space Capsules with Dr. Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang giving it a bit of Quiller and Goldfinger up your séance on a wet afternoon (if you catch my patchouli drift)…

UK released Friday, 27 September 2024 - "Something's Up! Film, TV & Studio Work 1964-1967" by JOHN BARRY on Ace CDTOP 1649 (Barcode 029667111027) is a 25-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (66:31 minutes):

1. The Syndicate (October 1965 UK 45-single on CBS 201822, A-side)

2. Oublie Ca (July 1964 UK 45-single on United Artists UP 1060, Mono B-side of "Séance On A Wet Afternoon" (Track 3 is the A-side) - for a Stereo Version of "Séance On A Wet Afternoon" from the LP - see Track 24)

3. Séance On A Wet Afternoon (see Track 2 for details)

4. Troubadour (October 1964 UK 45-single on United Artists UP 1068, Mono B-side of "Goldfinger" - for a Stereo Version of "Goldfinger" from the Soundtrack LP - see Track 7)

5. Chicken Delhi Cold (from the 1964 US STEREO LP "Man In The Middle - Original Soundtrack Album" on 20th Century Fox TFS 4128 - Note: the UK variant of the Soundtrack LP on Stateside SL 10087 was only ever issued in MONO)

6. Barbra's Theme (April 1965 UK MONO 45-single on CBS 201747, B-side of "A Man Alone" - for the A-side see Track 10)

7. Goldfinger (Remake of the 1964 classic - from the 1966 UK STEREO LP "Great Movie Sounds of John Barry" on CBS SBPG 62402)

8. The Chase (March 1966 US 45-single on Columbia 4-43544, A-side)

9. Theme From King Rat (from the 1965 US STEREO LP "King Rat - Original Soundtrack Recording" on Mainstream S/6061)

10. A Man Alone (see details on Track 6)

11. The Knack (Remake of the 1965 classic - from the 1966 UK STEREO LP "Great Movie Sounds of John Barry" on CBS SBPG 62402 - for more from 'The Knack' Soundtrack Mono LP - see Track 17 "Something's Up!")

12. Thunderball (Remake of the 1965 classic - from the 1967 UK STEREO LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" on CBS SS 63068)

13. Mister Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Remake of the 1965 classic - from the 1966 UK STEREO LP "Great Movie Sounds of John Barry" on CBS SBPG 62402)

14. Four In The Morning (from the 1966 UK MONO LP "Four In The Morning" on Ember NR 5029)

15. The Danny Scipio Theme (October 1966 UK 45-single on CBS 202390, B-side of "Vendetta" - for the A-side see Track 19)

16. Theme From "The Quiller Memorandum" - Wednesday's Child (November 1966 UK 45-single on CBS 202451, A-side)

17. Something's Up! (from the 1965 US MONO LP "The Knack...And How To Get It" on United Artists UAL 5129 - see also Track 11 for a Remake of "The Knack" song)

18. The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair (from the 1967 UK STEREO LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" on CBS SS 63068 - written for a Sunsilk Hair Shampoo advert - it was also the UK STEREO 45-single B-side of "You Only Live Twice" in June 1967 on CBS 2825 - see Track 21 for the A-side)

19. Vendetta (see Track 15 for details)

20. The Whisperers (from the 1967 UK STEREO LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" on CBS SS 63068)

21. You Only Live Twice (see Track 18 for details)

22. Space March (Capsule In Space) (Original on the "You Only Live Twice" Soundtrack LP - This Version from the 1967 UK STEREO LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" on CBS SS 63068)

23. Dutchman (from the 1967 UK STEREO LP "John Barry Conducts His Great Movie Hits" on CBS SS 63068)

24. Séance On A Wet Afternoon (from the 1966 UK STEREO LP "Great Movie Sounds of John Barry" on CBS SBPG 62402)

25. Born Free - Main Title (1966 US 45-single on MGM K 13591, A-side)

NOTES: 

Tracks 1 to 4, 6, 10, 14, 15 and 19 in MONO: all others in STEREO

The 20-page booklet curated and penned by affectionate uber-fan BOB STANLEY is a thing of beauty and packed with details ('Mister Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' was the nickname given to Bond in Japan and Italy so Barry was commissioned to pen a song with this dubious moniker by the market-conscious Producers - JB of course delivered with a wry smile). All the entries have mini photos abutting text for their varying UK and US 45s and LPs - for instance there's a full page spread for 'The Quiller Memorandum' on Page 15 and the photograph for the Soundtrack to 'Four In The Morning' features the correct British sleeve art (on Ember Records) because the US variant is different. Page 12 gives the Mono and Stereo artworks for 'The Knack' soundtrack because they differ - Rita Tushingham on the Mono copy and the snapping Fingers entwined with Legs photo on the Stereo - attention to detail in other words. JB himself is pictured across Pages 2 and 3 examining film reels while there is a full-page spread given to 'A Man Alone' - a picture sleeve on Page 10 you just don't see every day of the carboot-sale week. 

But best of all is Remasters by NICK ROBBINS - Ace's vastly experienced Audio Engineer and he canes it on all counts. There cannot be any Barry fans who do not adore "Space March..." where the American capsule is swallowed up by another 'foreign' craft orbiting Earth in "You Only Live Twice" or the menace inherent in the "King Rat" theme - both sounding spiffo here. Personally I would have loved the bouncing super-60Ts "Here Comes Nancy Now!" track from 'The Knack' soundtrack rather than the so-so "Something's Up" choice - but that's just me. And the rare B-sides will please hardcore collectors. To the listen...

With a signature Brass and Drums business - "The Syndicate" piano-pounds out of your speakers like the baby brother of 007 shuffling around a Bahama's beach. Crystal clear audio for "Oublie Ca" but I find it silly and dismissible. The overly-fast pace of "Seance On A Wet Afternoon" seems out of kilter too with its title while the Flute and Spanish Acoustic Guitar of the B-side "Troubadour" hints at greatness in his melodies. The plucked harp-strings and plinking tubular bells of "Chicken Delhi Cold" is another strange choice - pleasant enough - but hardly thrilling. 

At last, and six songs in, we get "Barbra's Theme" - another obscure flute-driven B-side (to "A Man Alone")  when his signature slink starts to truly manifest itself. But good as "Barbra's Theme" is, 'tis no match for the gorgeous "Goldfinger" - all 4:22 minutes of it in sophisticated Super Stereo. "The Chase" sounds like its title - secret agents on the run - bad men close behind - a shuffling high-hat giving it edginess until an Acoustic Guitar and Harmonic take it romping home. Fans will adore the brilliant "Theme From King Rat" that virtually oozes prison-camp sweat, menace and even sadness as the titular 'getter' walks clean and untouched amongst the hurt and dirt because he 'knows people' that others consider sworn enemies. 

The familiar piano-plinking makes "A Man Alone" feel like a very British Spy theme - gorgeous audio as the tambourine shakes. But sophistication and playfulness soon return with "The Knack" resplendent here in 2:52 minutes of Stereo glory (yeah baby). Big and brassy comes a thundering in with "Thunderball" - the strings and flutes lifting it up into total classic mode (dig those tasteful piano fills). More brass blasting with "Mister Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" - naughty Bond sashaying across a hotel lobby as the ladies flutter their eyebrows and whatever little else they're wearing. Melancholy and darkness pervades the lonesome "Four In The Morning" taking the listen down a needed notch with style. "The Danny Scipio Theme" could have been any 60Ts TV Spy theme music - our hero up against the odds but still somehow coming out on top with a rubber band and roll of sticky tape as his only weapons. 

A clever downturn in the pace comes with the quiet but effective "Wednesday's Child" from 'The Quiller Memorandum' (an Adam Hall novel adaptation) - the saw warbling Flexatone being the instrument of unusual choice. Very clever sequencing throws "Something's Up" on as a follow-through - organ and ladies voices brought to a crescendo. But this is whomped by blonde nubiles washing their hair in Sunsilk Shampoo as "The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair" plays them (surely there's a waterfall in there Mr. Bond). What a gorgeous and evocative piece of JB magic this is. A reformed Mafioso begins working for the Vatican's anti-Mafia unit - "Vendetta" offering us a so 1966 BBC Spy Show them song (Stelio Candellli was the actor playing Danny Scipio). But good as that is, I'd forgotten how gorgeous the sad and powerful music to "The Whisperers" is - a Bryan Forbes movie about Oldham in 1967. But again all is whacked into touch with the most glorious Bond Theme ever - "You Only Live Twice"  - here in its instrumental magic - all exploding dug-out Japanese volcanoes and Little Nellie suitcases. And I love love (did I say love) "Space March (Capsule In Space)" in all its creeping magnificence - surely the primo example of Barry's genius in setting a film alight whilst making it exotic at one and the same time. And on it goes...

"Something's Up! Film, TV & Studio Work 1964-1967 could be longer (at least ten more minutes) and could include music that tingles rather than just being rare. But as it's John Barry - and as it's his wonder-years - you can only call this Ace Records CD compilation another world-saving gadget success. Goodbye Mr. Bond! Not so fast Blofeld! Recommended like a night out with Moneypenny..

"I Am A Lineman For The County: Glen Campbell Sings Jimmy Webb" by GLEN CAMPBELL and JIMMY WEBB – Twenty-Three Stereo Tracks Written by Jimmy Webb and Sung by Glen Campbell – 45-Single and Album Releases 1967 and 1982 on Capitol Records Including All But One Song Of The 1974 Album "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" (February 2024 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING: ****

"…Wishing I Could Be With You Again…."

A clever compilation this from Ace Records of the UK - part of their Songwriters Series (see my rear inlay photo which has an advert for four other releases in this series). 

Twenty-Three 45-Single and Album tracks in Stereo from that famously suitable pairing of songwriter Jimmy Webb and Country/Country Rock singer Glen Campbell (release dates stretch from 1967 to 1982, all but the last song on Capitol Records). 

Their superb collaboration album "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" from October 1974 (not released until 1975 in the UK) may not have troubled too many chart listings back in the day, but in the subsequent four decades "Reunion" has gained an almost mythical reputation among melody seeking collectors as one of those great platters that slipped through way too many nets.

But - knowing that the 2001 Reissue Remastered CD of that album on Capitol Records is deleted and expensive on open market sites - makes it almost inexplicable that Ace of the UK have left off 'one track' from the album when at 72:29 minutes there was surely room on this CD compilation for its inclusion? That 2001 CD of "Reunion" also had "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman" as bonus tracks - but they at least are here. 

The explanation almost certainly lies in the fact that "Roll Me Easy" (the missing tune that opened Side 1 of "Reunion") was a Lowell George song and a Little Feat cover. I think it should have been put on here as Track 24 – a singled-out 'bonus' – so fans could sequence the entire "Reunion" from this new CD (but alas). 

Still - with melody gems like "Wishing Now", "Ocean In His Eyes" (written by Jimmy's sister Susan Webb) and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" – what is on offer in lovely Remastered quality is sweet. To the playground details…

UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "I Am A Lineman For The County: Glen Campbell Sings Jimmy Webb" by GLEN CAMPBELL and JIMMY WEBB on Ace Records CDTOP 1641 (Barcode 029667109321) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (72:29 minutes):

1. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
2. Wichita Lineman
3. Galveston
4. Where's The Playground Susie
5. Didn't We
6. Honey Come Back
7. Just Another Piece Of Paper
8. Macarthur Park
9. Just This One Time 
10. You Might As Well Smile
11. Wishing Now
12. Ocean In His Eyes
13. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress
14. I Keep It Hid
15. Adoration
16. It's A Sin When You Love Somebody
17. Christiaan No
18. This Is Sarah's Song
19. Early Morning Song
20. Highwayman
21. Love Song 
22. In Cars
23. I Was Too Busy Loving You
NOTES (All Tracks in STEREO, all songs by JIMMY WEBB):
Track 1 is an October 1967 US 45-single on Capitol 2015, A-side
Track 2 is an October 1968 US 45-single on Capitol 2302, A-side
Track 3 is a February 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2428, A-side
Track 4 is an April 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2494, A-side
Track 5 from the August 1969 US LP "Live" on Capitol STBO-268, January 1970 UK LP on Capitol ST 21444
Track 6 is a January 1970 US 45-single on Capitol 2718, A-side
Tracks 7 and 8 from the September 1970 US LP "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album" on Capitol SW-493, December 1970 in the UK as "The Glen Campbell Album" on Capitol ST 22493
Tracks 9 to 16 from the October 1974 US LP "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" on Capitol SW-11336, April 1975 UK LP on Capitol E-SW 11336
Track 17 from the April 1976 US LP "Bloodline" on Capitol SW-11516, May 1976 UK LP on Capitol E-SW 11516
Tracks 18 and 19 from the February 1977 US LP "Southern Nights" on Capitol SO-11601, April 1977 UK LP on Capitol E-ST 11601
Tracks 20 and 21 from the October 1979 US LP "Highwayman" on Capitol SOO 12008, November 1979 UK LP on Capitol E-ST 12008
Track 22 from the January 1981 US LP "It's The World Gone Crazy" on Capitol SOO-12124, February 1981 UK LP on Capitol EST 12124
Track 23 from the September 1982 US LP "Old Home Town" on Atlantic 90016-1 and UK LP on Atlantic 790016-1

The 20-page booklet is the usual Ace Records classy vaults-trawl. BOB STANLEY does the new liner notes (August 2023) and gives a track-by-track breakdown. Sheet Music for "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", Trade Adverts, a still from the 'Norwood' film, Capitol cartoon advert that depicts Campbell and Webb in a car on 'their way again' to the charts with the hit "Galveston" - Capitol Records building used as a backdrop to an 'any takers?' advert for "Where's The Playground Susie" while Page 14 not surprisingly gives the "Reunion..." album sleeve a whole page. 

The others albums up to "Old Home Town" on Atlantic Records in 1982 are pictured too albeit in smaller squares. There are probably one too many shots of GC with that square-drip-hair-do of his, but once you play the opening salvo of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman" in their glorious Stereo, you won't be calling either his singing or Webb's writing anything but captivating. The Remasters are by long-standing Audio Engineer to Ace Records DUNCAN COWELL and they are great. The superb acoustic guitar runs Campbell does in "Wishing Now" is a highlight on the whole CD - a fantastic song. 

After 1969's sing-a-long "Galveston" comes the lesser "Where's The Playground Susie" - a song I never really liked. Unfortunately, they are followed by two terrible cheeseball tunes in the shape of a live rendition of "Didn't We" - the hick he-talks-before-he-sings-with-strings "Honey Come Back" even worse. Two 1970 singles are o.k., but it's not until we get to the "Reunion..." album proper at Track 9 that things really start to cook. As I said earlier - the triple whammy comes with melody winners "Wishing Now", "Ocean In His Eyes" (written by Jimmy's sister Susan Webb) and "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress". Harsh Mistress has been covered by loads of folks and its just the kind of Webb lyric and vibe that burrows its way into your brain and you'll find its reluctant to leave. Webb is pining through the 'break-up' album and none more so than in "I Keep It Hid" when he professes to be sporting a series of trophies for best 'I don't care about you anymore' lies in every room of his house.  

The later Seventies albums pour on the Production values - gorgeous and lush is what you would call "This Is Sarah's Song" even if it's in danger of drowning in an ocean of strings. "Early Morning Song" continues the piano ballad mode - a woman waiting all night long for Jimmy - his wife Susan Barg (and I suspect Harry Nilsson) who gets name-checked in the lyrics. Campbell keeps it calm and classy and just about contains the power-ballad temptation. The simply acoustic and banjo intro to "Highwayman" comes as a gentle surprise after all that overpowered previously. It's soon filled with keyboards and strings and lyrics about sailing and yardstalls and dam-building and a man wandering from job-to-job. Better is "Love Song" - a tender ballad about words he longs to say - preferring to let his loving eyes do the talking. The very 80ts production of "In Cars" sounds like poorman's Stephen Bishop - nice but not a whole lot else. The compilation smooches home with 1982's "I Was Too Busy Loving You" where our GC sounds a little like a less growling Willie Nelson - too blind to see her slipping away. It's a lovely song and a nice inclusion.

Campbell fans will love this CD compilation and Webb admirers will have to own it. "I Am A Lineman For The County..." isn't a 5-star masterpiece (too many saccharin moments early on) - but it is a beautifully packaged reminder of class of a different hue. Roll Me Easy indeed... 

"Bob Stanley Presents LONDON A To Z: 1962 to 1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring 24 Single and Album Tracks by The John Barry Seven, Cat Stevens, Marianne Faithfull, Jethro Tull, Cressida, John and Beverly Martyn, Nick Drake, Linda Lewis, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Dave Evans, Dana Gillespie, Quintessence, Humble Pie, Al Stewart, Shelagh McDonald and more (September 2023 UK - October 2023 USA Ace Records CD Compilation with Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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Rating: ****
 

"...Things Are Great In Notting Hill Gate..."

 

I have had a hard time with some Bob Stanley CD compilations for Ace Records – loved a few – hated others. 

 

But this 'A To Z' journey through the Sixties and Seventies folk side of British Music with London themes built into every song is a very clever little road-map indeed. Sure – some songs are here only because they fit the street/borough criteria, but actually, the choices are cool and the easy-going busman's holiday vibe works as a cohesive whole. To your all zones pass...the details...my bedsit commuters of love...

 

UK released Friday, 29 September 2023 (6 October 2023 in the USA) - "Bob Stanley Presents LONDON A To Z: 1962 to 1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1638 (Barcode 029667109024) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of Single and Album Track Remasters that plays out as follows (72:53 minutes):

 

1. Cutty Sark – THE JOHN BARRY SEVEN and ORCHESTRA (March 1962 UK 45-single on Columbia DB 4806, A-side)

2. Portobello Road – CAT STEVENS (September 1966 UK Debut 45-single on Deram DM 102, B-side of "I Love My Dog")

3. Sunny Goodge Street – MARIANNE FAITHFULL (from her fourth album "North Country Maid" released April 1966 in the UK on Decca LK 4778 in Mono only)

4. Jeffery Goes To Leicester Square – JETHRO TULL (from their second studio album "Stand Up" - released 27 July 1969 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9013)

5. Marcel's - HERMAN'S HERMITS (29 December 1967 UK 45-single on Columbia DB 8327, B-side of "I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving")

6. Goodbye Post Office Tower, Goodbye – CRESSIDA (from their second album "Asylum" released January 1971 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 025)

7. Primrose Hill – JOHN and BEVERLEY MARTYN (from his 4th studio album "The Road To Ruin" issued November 1970 on Island ILPS 9133)

8. Mayfair – NICK DRAKE (from the January 1987 UK Posthumous LP compilation "Time Of No Reply" on Hannibal Records HNBL 1318)

9. London Bridge – CILLA BLACK (7 February 1969 UK 45-single on Parlophone R 5759, B-side of "Surround Yourself With Sorrow")

10. Hampstead Way – LINDA LEWIS (from her debut album "'Say No More...'" issued 1971 in the UK on Reprise Records K 44130)

11. Soho – BERT JANSCH and JOHN RENBOURN (from the September 1966 UK LP "Bert And John" on Transatlantic Records TRA 144)

12. Friday Hill – BULLDOG BREED (on the UK album "Made In England" released January 1970 on Deram Nova DN 5 (Mono) and SDN 5 (Stereo) - Stereo mix is used. Band featured BERNARD JINKS and KEITH CROSS who went on to form T2. Cross also teamed up with Peter Ross and produced a lovely folky type album called "Bored Civilians" released July 1972 on Decca SKL 5129 (see separate review))

13. London Social Degree – DANA GILLESPIE (from her October 1969 UK LP "Foolish Seasons" on Decca SKL 5012)

14. Euston Station – BARBARA RUSKIN (28 April 1967 UK 45-single on Parlophone R 5593, A-side)

15. Kew Gardens – RALPH McTELL (from his third studio album "My Side Of Your Window" released December 1969 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 209)

16. City Road – DAVE EVANS (from his October 1971 UK Debut LP "The Words In Between" on The Village Thing Records VTS 6)

17. Parliament Hill – MAGNA CARTA (from their June 1971 UK Debut album "Songs From Wasties Orchard" on Vertigo Records 6360 040)

18. Edgware Station – EDWARD BEAR (from their fourth US LP "My Side Of Your Window" released January 1973 on Capitol ST-11157)

19. Beckton Dumps – HUMBLE PIE (from the 2LP set "Eat It" released April 1973 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 6004 and March 1973 in the USA on A&M Records SP-3701)

20. Notting Hill Gate – QUINTESSENCE (October 1969 UK Debut 45-single on Island WIP 6075, A-side)

21. Clapham Junction – NORMA TANEGA (from the album "I Don't Think It Will Hurt If You Smile" released 1971 in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8217)

22. Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres – AL STEWART (from his October 1967 UK Debut Album "Bed Sitter Images" on CBS Records S BPG 63087 – reissued June 1970 in the UK as "The First Album" on CBS Records S 64023)

23. Richmond – SHELAGH McDONALD (from her debut LP "Shelagh McDonald Album" released October 1970 in the UK on B&C Records CAS 1019)

24. Vauxhall To Lambeth Bridge – JULIE DRISCOLL, BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY (from their third release, the 2LP set "Streetnoise" released May 1969 in the UK on Marmalade 608005/6 and June 1969 in the USA on Atco SD 2-701)

NOTES:

Tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, 9 to 12 and 15 to 24 in STEREO

Tracks 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14 in MONO

 

Following on from the reproduction of the colour front page of The Sunday Times Magazine of 1969 on Page 2 that features a gorgeous Julie Driscoll in her best big hat repose – Page 3 starts the 20-pages of song-by-song explanations proper (24 mini notelets). Anyone who knows Ace Records will know that these booklets are fab collages of single and LP labels, rare picture sleeves/album covers, a trade advert (the first Quintessence 45 on Island from October 1969) and so on. Compiler BOB STANLEY gives detailed appraisals of his choices that all act as a musical mooch around a London of yesteryear (and its un-sung suburbs as the back inlay implies). It's a great read – informative too – the overall song choices very much in the Folk, Folk Rock and Hippy Tradition of things (a mellow yellow listen in other words).

 

DUNCAN COWELL – longstanding Audio Engineer for Ace – has handled the transfers and Remasters and almost everything sounds super clean and clear – the noticeable odd-man-out being the Nick Drake demo. I should add that despite the tracks jumping from Mono to Stereo (especially in the first half of the listen) – the segue feels good - and as it moves into the Tracks 15 to 24 Stereo run - is never less than an impressive listen audiowise. To the tunes...

 

After a very cool start with the instrumental "Cutty Sark" – a dapper John Barry Seven giving in some secret agent lounge room before Bond even knew who he was – the Mr. Smoothy flow fades fast with the dreadfully twee Cat Stevens flipside "Portobello Road". Things pick-up with the Harmonica and Acoustic doom of Marianne Faithfull talking about hashish smokers and magicians and other hippy neer-do-wells on her version of Donovan's "Sunny Goodge Street". On Tull's much-anticipated second studio album "Stand Up" in late July 1969 (their first UK No.1) sat Track 2 on Side 1 – the speaker-to-speaker "Jeffery Goes To Leicester Square". It's a clever choice – lead singer and principal songwriter Ian Anderson swirling the production with phasing giving the song that so Tull feel. "Jeffrey..." and his trip to the famous tourist Merry-go-round area of the Capitol City comes complete with observational lyrics about what was on TV at the time while the populous/tourists gleefully took in the local colour - Ian A's insights sounding way too smart for a beggar standing on one leg with a flute in his hand.

 

Herman's Hermits urge you and "Marcel" to go down to his houseboat on the Thames where men with long eyelashes inhabit this East End wonderland – odd creatures with unfamiliar features keeping it groovy man in the London Borough of Wapping. Not so sure whether I like or just admire the darlings of Vertigo Spiral albums Cressida and their piano-plinking "Goodbye Post Office Tower, Goodbye" where they urge the capitols authorities to just blow up the GPO and be done with it. Better (always better) is John and Beverly Martyn giving it some 'sun going down' on "Primrose Hill" – the kind of Saxophone (Ray Warleigh) and Piano (Paul Harris) hippy ditty she must cringe at in 2023 (it was relevant then in 1970). Lovely production values though. The same cannot be said (unfortunately) for the Nick Drake cut "Mayfair" – a clearly demo-ish outtake that featured on the posthumous album "Time Of No Reply" – nice to have him here but the song is weak and the tin-can audio off-putting.

 

Leaping from the outside lavvy to serious EMI production values – we next get Cilla Black getting soulful and affecting on a beloved B-side. Written by her then hubby Bob Willis and Denmark Street songwriter Clive Westlake, "London Bridge" is the kind of pretty ditty that doesn't get aired enough and kudos to Bob Stanley for spotting its rightful place here. Leaping from that into real Soul, we get true vocal acrobatics from Linda Lewis on her fantastic fun-to-funky "Hampstead Way" – a self-penned gem on her 1971 debut album that features fabulous electric guitar picking from Chris Spedding - soft one second - attacking the next as the pace builds up only to mellow out again. The great lady only passed in May 2023, so for me the Linda Lewis cut is one of at least three genius choices on this intriguing compilation (see also Dave Evans and Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger at the end).

 

While the Bert Jansch and John Renbourn song "Soho" rattles around your speakers with their staggering musicality, there is unfortunately more than a touch of the plodding to "Friday Hill" by Bulldog Breed – not quite a doggy doo-doo but not far off it either. "London Social Degree" (a Billy Nicholls song) and "Euston Station" (Ruskin original) see two ladies Dana Gillespie and Barbara Ruskin comment on street life in the capitol – stressed out people in dead-end jobs not paying nearly enough attention to flowers and trees and their world hurtling into the war-machine abyss. They are good but not really great truth be told. Better for me is the gorgeous "Kew Gardens" by Ralph McTell – beautifully supported by the fay-but-too-fay vocals of Ruth and Brian Britain of the obscure British Folk outfit English Tapestry – a plaintive ballad that could only have come from the optimism of the late 60ts. A smart choice then that is in turn followed by my second fave track on the comp – the genuine discovery of Dave Evans and his winding-down song "City Road".

 

Very much in the vein of acoustic Nick Drake, John Martyn and Meic Stevens by way of a Welsh Leonard Cohen (Evans is from Bangor – a few train stops from Hollyhead in North Wales) – the song may make you rush to buy his debut album "The Words In Between" from October 1971 on the UK Folky/World Music label The Village Thing Records. It is seriously rated by Folk and Folk Rock aficionados – reissued by Earth Records here in the UK in 2018 on CD and already hard-to-find. City Road was an industrial district that housed the Gordon’s Gin distillery (G&T with the D&E). The track has sweetly lovely audio quality with second vocals from Adrienne J. Webber who had her own self-titled solo album in 1976 on Anchor Records as AJ Webber – nursery rhymes and ice-cream chimes. 

 

The rare Norma Tanega 1971 album "I Don't Think It Will Hurt If You Smile" on RCA Victor featured instrumentals in-between songs that referenced London hot-spots - "Clapham Junction" being the one that opened Side 2 with a giggle from her and the musicians having an Acoustic-ish Funk-Up. Who doesn't love every second of Steve Marriott's voice even on a lesser Humble Pie song (he could recite the phone-book and make any London boy shed a tear of joy). And on it goes to a cool duo of lady album-enders - "Richmond" by Shelagh McDonald – a sophisticated slice of musicianship from her revered B&C Records Debut Album of 1970 – in turn followed by the glorious near seven-minute passion of Julie Driscoll giving it some I-hope-you-find-what-you're-looking-for searching in the vocals and acoustic guitar duet "Vauxhall To Lambeth Bridge". So sixties, but also looking forward too – a perfect finisher for the compilation.

 

I am certain some punters will look in vain for bigger inclusions like "Richmond" by the Faces from their 1970 second album "Long Player", or pushing the time-frame boundaries a little – maybe the pretty "Portobello Belle" by Dire Straits from their 1979 second album "Communiqué" (probably licensing issues). Or how about "Piccadilly" by the Irish Folk Duo Tir na n'Og from their May 1971 self-titled debut album on Chrysalis Records. I'll bet the list could go on to a Vol.2...

 

So for sure 2023's "Bob Stanley Presents LONDON A To Z: 1962 to 1973" is not all CD compilation genius (there isn't a Vinyl variant either). But there are more than enough discoveries to please old hands and plenty to entice musical newcomers to sit up and take notice and maybe even seek out these lesser-trodden paths. And for any compiler/influencer - that's a job well done.

 

A very cool little compilation – recommended – and contender for the 2023 CD Reissue Lists in someone's December Magazine...

"Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS [Bob Stanley and Martin Green Present] – Featuring Lee Hazlewood, Chris Gantry, Jerry Reed, Jeannie C. Riley, Hoyt Axton, Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers, Bobby Gentry, Jim Ford, Tony Joe White and more (July 2021 UK Ace Records CD Compilation – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review And 184 Others Like It Is Available In My AMAZON E-Book 

SOMETHING'S HAPPENING HERE - Volume 7 of 7 

Your Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

For the 1960s and 1970s

All Reviews In-Depth and from the Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

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"...Shavings Of Your Mind..."

Blame it all on "Ode To Billie Joe" – Bobbie Gentry's 1967 Southern Country Rock anthem to infidelity, appetite loss, sawmills and death by Tallahatchie bridges. 

Coming on like a really, really good Lee Hazlewood album that you haven't yet heard – compilers Bob Stanley and Martin Green have pulled out a genuine winner with Ace Records' 2021 compilation "Choctaw Ridge..."

Available as a CD and 2LP Vinyl Album (24-tracks for both, see below for catalogue numbers and barcodes) - there is much to savour on here that even diehard collectors will not have heard. So let's return to the back side of Dallas, Logan courthouses, summer coming early to Strawberry Farm and marooned pregnant girls longing for wayward straw-hatted beaus chasing other unwedded pageant queens with pedal steel guitars down in Dover...

UK released Friday, 30 July 2021 - "Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDCHD 1585 (Barcode 029667102322) is a 24-Track CD and 2LP VINYL compilation (Ace Records XXQLP2 078 – Barcode 029667012911) that plays out as follows (76:51 minutes): 

1. The House Song – LEE HAZLEWOOD (June 1968 US 45-single on Reprise 0699, B-side of "Morning Dew" – also on the 1968 US Stereo LP "Love And Other Crimes" on Reprise RS 6297)

2. If Only She Had Stayed – CHRIS GANTRY (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Retrospection" on Monument SLP 18100)

3. Endless Miles Of Highway - JERRY REED (from the 1972 US LP "Smell The Flowers" on RCA Victor LSP 4660)

4. The Back Side Of Dallas - JEANNIE C. RILEY (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Things Go Better With Love" on Plantation PLP 3)

5. Way Before The Time Of Towns - HOYT AXTON (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "My Griffin Is Gone" on Columbia CS 9766)

6. Strawberry Farms - TOM T. HALL (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Homecoming" on Mercury SR 61247)

7. Down From Dover - DOLLY PARTON (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Fairest Of Them All" on RCA Victor LSP 4288)

8. July 12, 1939 - CHARLIE RICH (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Fabulous Charlie Rich" on Epic BN 26516)

9. What Am I Doing In L.A.? - NAT STUCKEY (July 1970 US MONO 45-single on RCA Victor 47-9884, B-side of "Whiskey, Whiskey" – Stereo Version also on the 1970 US LP "Country Fever" on RCA Victor LSP 4389)

10. Mr. Stanton Don't Believe It - ROB GALBRAITH (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "Nashville Dirt" on Columbia CS 1057)

11. Saunders' Ferry Lane - SAMMI SMITH (August 1971 US 45-single on Mega 615-0039, A-side - also from the 1970 US Stereo LP "He's Everywhere" on Mega Records M31-1000 - renamed "Help Me Make It Through The Night" with the same catalogue)

12. Four Shades Of Love - HENSON CARGILL (March 1970 US 45-single on Monument MN45-1198, B-side to "The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I've Ever Heard" - and from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Uncomplicated Henson Cargill" on Monument SLP 18137)

13. Drivin' My Nails In The Wall - WAYLON JENNINGS & THE KIMBERLYS (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Country-Folk" on RCA Victor LSP 4180)

14. Ruby, Don't Take My Love To Town - KENNY ROGERS & THE FIRST EDITION (May 1969 US 45-single on Reprise 0829, A-side - also from the 1969 US Stereo LP "'69" on Reprise Records RS 6328)

15. Why Can't I Come Home - ED BRUCE (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "If I Could Just Go Home" on RCA Victor LSP 3948)

16. Mr. Walker, It's All Over - BILLE JO SPEARS (February 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2436, A-side - also from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" on Capitol ST 224)

17. Harlan County - JIM FORD (August 1969 US 45-single on Sundown SD-115, A-side - also on the 1969 US Stereo LP "Harlan County" on Sundown JHS 1002)

18. Widow Wimberly - TONY JOE WHITE (from his 1970 3rd US Stereo LP "Tony Joe" on Monument SLP 18142)

19. Belinda (Alternate Take) - BOBBIE GENTRY (recorded in 1970, first issued on the September 2018 UK/Europe 8CD Box Set "The Girl From Chickasaw County (The Complete Capitol Masters)" on Universal/UMC 5383971) 

20. Joanne - MICHAEL NESMITH & THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND (from his 1970 US Stereo LP "Magnetic South" on RCA Victor LSP 4371)

21. Mr. Jackson's Got Nothing To Do - JOHN HARTFORD (from his 1969 US Fifth Stereo LP "John Hartford" on RCA Victor LSP 4156)

22. Alone - LEE HAZLEWOOD & SUZI JANE HOKOM (November 1969 Promo-Only MONO US 45-single on LHI Records LHI 19, B-side to "Same Old Songs")

23. Fabulous Body And Smile - SIR ROBERT CHARLES GRIGGS [aka Bobby Charles] (1973 US 45-single on Capitol 3714, A-side - also from his 1973 US Stereo LP "The Legend Of Sir Robert Charles Griggs" on Capitol St-11234)

24. I Feel Like Going Home - CHARLIE RICH (August 1973 US 45-single on Epic 5-11040, B-side of "The Most Beautiful Girl")

NOTES: All Tracks in STEREO except 9 and 22 in MONO

The 24-page booklet is a thoroughly satisfying feast of knowledge and affection from compiler BOB STANLEY (with nods to friends who helped) that's also jam-packed with rare US 45/LP artwork with the occasional trade adverts (full pages to Michael Nesmith and Charlie Rich). Top quality Audio is by Ace's long-standing and mucho-experienced NICK ROBBINS - 22 Stereo cuts with only Nat Stuckey and the Lee Hazelwood/Suzi Jane Hokom duet in Mono. VINYL collectors should also note that all Ace Records issues of the double are black vinyl, but there's a rare GREEN VINYL variant of 500 copies (with the same catalogue number) on Rough Trade, which was available direct from their mail order. To the chunes... 

The underling menace/relationship-sleaze inherent in the song "Ode To Billie Joe" acts as an idea springboard for this collection of lesser-heard 60ts and 70ts Country and Folk Rock from Southern States USA (not surprisingly most of these songs were on RCA Victor or Columbia - two principal homes of Country). What comes as something of a surprise though is how this compilation proves the extraordinary reach of that song - its unusual structure, words, weirdly downbeat yet intriguing story - all of it – beguiling and inspiring. Five tracks in and it's pretty clear that huge swathes of great artists had heard Bobby Gentry and her stunning 'Son Of A Preacher Man' type-tune and had been duly blown away (Tony Joe White practically started writing his own material because of it). Seizing the sluice-gates day, they too began aping its searing lyrical honesty and between 1968 and 1970 (especially) tackled subjects usually off-limits to a three-minute radio song appealer. 

But amongst these knowing tales of serial cheaters, guitar-case railroad-track walkers and swamp-rocking widows are surprisingly touching odes to genuinely tremulous hurt and loss. It opens with a gorgeous remastered Stereo cut from Lee Hazlewood (the king of deadpan drama, lyrics from it title this review) where a tempestuous marriage puts the house up for sale every Wednesday morning only to see it taken off the market that afternoon once their even hastier make-up kicked in. Dolly Parton too – so often seen as a bubble-headed Barbie Doll in mock Cherokee tassels singing about good old Kentucky gals – stuns with her open-wound pain story of a pregnant girl hiding her smock bump - abandoned by a huckster in "Down From Dover". Bob Stanley quite rightly calls it brave at a time when so many in her genre wouldn’t have gone near such real-world nastiness with a barge pole. And just how early-morning God-of-life beautiful is Hoyt Axton's "Way Before The Time Of Towns" – a stunning soft-as-silk orchestrated acoustic epic from a writer normally associated with Rock stuff like Three Dog Night's keyboard-upbeat chart-topper "Joy To The World" and Steppenwolf's hard-hitting anti-drug song "The Pusher".

Gentry herself gets a showing with an Alternate Acoustic rendering of "Belinda", a song that turned up on her fifth and final album "Patchwork" for Capitol Records in 1970. Its first appearance came on CD7 of the exemplary and seriously sought after September 2018 8CD Box Set "The Girl From Chickasaw County". Sat on the front-door steps of some large house in her patchwork dress, tasselled hair and wicker basket of oh-so-darlin' flowers - it's a pared-back acoustic rendering is a clever choice over the issued version – this brute starker and darker and better for it. Before the Nancy Sinatra duets, Lee Hazlewood over on his Lee Hazlewood Industries LHI label had been pairing with Suzi Jane Hokom and their Jack Nitzsche-arranged "Alone" makes for another slyly dark sleeper (a Promo-only 7" in the USA). Other genius inclusions are the hard-to-find-on-CD B-side "I Feel Like Going Home" by Charlie Rich (flip of the Silver Fox's huge hit "The Most Beautiful Girl") and anything from the Country-Soulful Jim Ford album "Harlan County" is a doozy in my books. And on it goes...

"Choctaw Ridge..." is the kind of compilation that's rare in the 2020s - the listen is good (discoveries galore); it sounds great and has on-the-money annotation that will make you dig deeper and explore. And all of it collated by British men sporting brave trouser choices - decent chappies proffering us American Country Music cultural-less Neanderthals with tunes and artists we really need to pay more attention to/reappraise. Top stuff and well done to all involved...