"Free/Identity/Promises Of The Sun" by AIRTO (January 2019Beat Goes On (BGO) Reissue - 3LPs Plus Bonuses Onto 2CDs Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Lucky Southern..."

By 1972, Brazilian-born superstar Percussionist AIRTO MOREIRA had already dropped two albums and sessioned up to the wazoo before releasing his third platter "Free" on Creed Taylor's CTI Records (engineered by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder). "Free" had been preceded by his 1970 debut "Natural Feelings" and its 1971 follow-up "Seeds On The Ground" – both LPs originally on Buddah Records in the States.

In its tasty and eclectic gatefold sleeve, the five songs of album number three also famously featured a virtual who's who of quality Jazz types bringing up the improvisational rear - Bassists Stanley Clarke and Ron Carter, Return To Forever's Keyboardist Chick Corea and Horn Player Joe Farrell, Keith Jarrett on Keyboards, Hubert Laws on Flute, George Benson on Guitar and the LP even boasted a Flora Purim composition ("Flora’s Song") and two guest vocals from the great lady (she became Airto's wife in the Sixties). Corea, Clarke and Flora Purim would of course feature in the band Return To Forever, formed in 1972 after the "Free" sessions. Prior to all this he'd played with Miles Davis on seminal period albums like 1971's double album "Live-Evil" and would re-join the mercurial trumpeter for 1973's "Black Beauty" and 1974's "Big Fun. Heady stuff and wild days indeed...

Back to 2019 - England's Beat Goes On Records (BGO) now give Moreira a long-overdue and stylish three-onto-two CD reissue and remaster - lumping in Airto's celebrated 1972 CTI set (three bonus outtakes from the sessions are included too) with two later albums he did for Arista Records after he left CTI. Both of these had more of a Latin and Samba influence than the improv Jazz of before - his 1975 set "Identity" and 1976's "Promises Of The Sun". The first of these "Identity" featured Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and again Flora Purim as guests whilst "Promises..." boasted talent like Vocalist and Guitarist Milton Nascimento, Guitarist Toninho Horta and Keyboard whizz Hugo Fattoruso. Here are the promising details...

UK released 11 January 2019 (December 2018 in the USA) - "Free/Identity/Promises Of The Sun" by AIRTO on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1366 (Barcode 5017261213662) offers Three LPs with Three Bonus Tracks Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (55:16 minutes):

1. Return To Forever [Side 1]

2. Flora's Song

3. Free [Side 2]

4. Lucky Southern

5. Creek (Arroio)

Tracks 1 to 5 are his third studio album "Free" - released October 1972 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6020. Produced by Creed Taylor - Track 1 written by Chick Corea, 2 by Flora Purim, 3 by Airto Moreira, 4 by Keith Jarrett and Track 5 by Victor Brazil.

BONUS TRACKS:

6. So Tender

7. Jequie

8. Creek (Arroio) (Alternative Version)

Tracks 6 and 7 first appeared on CTI CD Remasters in 1988 as session outtakes – Track 8 first appeared on the 2003 'Master Series' CD Reissue and Remaster of "Free" on CTI/Epic/Legacy 5127852. Track 6 written by Keith Jarrett, 7 by Moacir Santos and 8 by Victor Brazil

Disc 2 (73:24 minutes):

1. The Magicians (Bruxos) [Side 1]

2. Tales From Home (Lendas)

3. Identity

4. Encounter (Encontro No Bar)

5. Wake Up Song (Baiao Do Acordar)/Cafe [Side 2]

6. Mae Cambina

7. Flora On My Mind

Tracks 1 to 7 are his seventh album (sixth studio) "Identity" - released December 1975 in the USA on Arista AL 4068 and April 1976 in the UK on Arista ARTY 119.

8. Batucada [Side 1]

9. Zuei

10. Promises Of The Sun

11. Candango

12. Circo Marimbondo

13. Le De Casa

14. Ruas Do Recife

15. Georgianna

Tracks 8 to 15 are his eight album (seventh studio) "Promises Of The Sun" - released June 1976 in the USA on Arista AL 4116

The card slipcase houses a 2CD jewel case and a 20-page booklet featuring new liner notes from CHARLES WARING, a regular writer for BGO and one of Mojo’s Jazz reviewers. You get all the album credits, photos and a very good history of his Jazz Fusion years at CTI Records, his less successful Brazilian vs. Fusion rhythms with Arista only to eventually sign to Warner Brothers in the late Seventies doing Jazz Funk and trying to ride that very commercial wave.

Highlights on "Free" include ten minutes of Fender Rhodes, doubled-up flutes, Samba rhythms and Flora's ethereal vocals on the opening track "Return To Forever" – not just the name of the band they’d formed but a song they’d recorded prior to the "Free" sessions for ECM Records in February of that productive year, 1972. Keith Jarrett contributes Acoustic Piano to Side 1's other sweetie - "Flora's Song" – aided very nicely by Hubert Laws on Flute and Jay Berliner who classes up the overall feel with lovely Acoustic Guitar. The album's title track opens Side 2 and lives up to its name with ten and half minutes of free form (giggles and shouts ahoy from the players) whilst Keith Jarrett provides "Lucky Southern" - two and half minutes of KJ and George Benson trading guitar and piano solos. Return To Forever's Joe Farrell gives you a muscular saxophone solo on the album closer "Creek (Arroio)" while woodwinds keep it anchored. I have to say too that the three Bonus Cuts are exactly that - bonuses - "So Tender" at five minutes is Keith Jarrett on a beautiful sounding piano while "Jequie" by Brazilian Saxophonist Macir Santos may only be three minutes, it still allows guitarist Jay Berliner, Chick Corea on Piano and Flute player Hubert Laws enough room for all three to impress.

By the time we jump past three albums ("Fingers" in 1973, "Virgin Land" and "In Concert" with Deodato both in 1974) – Airto arrives at 1975 and 1976 for the "Identity" and "Promises Of The Sun" albums on Arista Records with his home country and its Latin/Samba rhythms firmly in the uppermost of his thoughts. Again there are genre-celebrity players on both records - Airto producing "Promises..." with Flora to gain total control when prior he’d used others. Without being overt, there is commerciality to these records – both sensing the Jazz Funk wave sweeping across music and into the mainstream. Airto even gets into some lurve vocals and deeply groovy territory on the tribute tune "Flora On My Mind" - the passion declarations amped up by Raul De Souza's trombone. Over on the almost environmental "Promises Of The Sun" (the album's title track written by and featuring Milton Nascimento) - Airto resorts to bird noises throughout to a backdrop of soothing woodwinds and delicate guitar from Toninho Horta. And on it goes... 

In September 2002, the then Brazilian President awarded Airto Moreira and his wife Flora Purim their country's highest honour for lifetime achievements in music - the 'Order Of Rio Branco'. And on the evidence presented here on this gorgeous sounding 2CD reissue highlighting an array of musical styles - its hardly surprising. Another winner from BGO...

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

"...Fan The Fire..."

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

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

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

1. Help Somebody [Side 1]

2. Moment Of Truth

3. Love Is Life

4. Fan The Fire

5. C'mon Children [Side 2]

6. This World Today

7. Bad Tune

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

8. Energy [Side 1]

9. Beauty

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

11. I Think About Lovin' You

12. Everything Is Everything

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

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

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

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

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

"See/Search And Nearness" by THE RASCALS (September 2018 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs from 1969 and 1971 Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Carry Me Back..."

Having dropped the 'Young' moniker in 1968 for their fourth platter "Once Upon A Dream" (thereafter simply known as The Rascals) – the American band’s sixth and seventh albums (reissued here) were originally issued Stateside in December 1969 and March 1971 on Atlantic Records. But whilst the 'groovin' on a Sunday afternoon' troupe might have been trying to spread out artistically - commercially they were bombing in leaps and bounds.

Few now remember the slightly trippy "See" or "Search And Nearness" LPs - 1969's effort making No. 45 on the Billboard album charts whilst 1971's platter barely registered at No. 198 and then for only 1 week. In fact by the time "Search..." had come round (recorded late 1969 and into 1970) - the four-piece was down to three (Brigati left) and they would soon be signing to Columbia Records for "Peaceful World" - a supposed new start double-album released in the early summer of 1971 but one that again only registered mild public interest.

Neither of these final records for Atlantic were well received by the critics of the day – most saying the band was either languishing on their positive sunshine vibe of 1966 and 1967 that now sounded old hat in 1969 and 1971 or were offering too many styles on their new outings (Country Rock, Sunshine Pop, Psych and Jazz Rock are just some on platter number two alone) which conversely had the backwards effect of making them seem directionless and not expansive.

But Rascals fans see "See" or "Search And Nearness" differently – liking them precisely because of the stretching-out and the range of genres. For instance, my particular poison is a truly stunning Jazz Fusion Rock instrumental called "Nama" which ends Side 1 of "Search And Nearness" (written by the drummer Dino Danelli). Its 5:34 minutes of Keyboards, Saxophones and Drum solos would make most people double-take if they were shown the authors of such a piece as being by 'The Rascals'. Sounding not unlike War meets Billy Cobham meets Earth Wind And Fire – the band of "Good Lovin'" or "Groovin'" are absolutely unrecognisable here.

Availability-wise too both albums have been hard to find on deleted CD for years now - so this card-slipcase September 2018 Double-Disc Remaster by England’s Beat Goes On is a welcome addition to their increasingly impressive reissue catalogue (even if some will feel that this is a five-Star reissue of three-Star material – which it is). So coming to a digital nirvana portal near you - here are the all-seeing all-enlightening details...

UK released Friday, 21 September 2018 - "See/Search And Nearness" by THE RASCALS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1357 (Barcode 5017261213570) offers two albums (1969 and 1971) Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 "See" (42:12 minutes):

1. See [Side 1]

2. I'd Like To Take You Home

3. Remember Me

4. I'm Blue

5. Stop And Think

6. Temptation's 'Bout To Get Me

7. Nubia [Side 2]

8. Carry Me Back

9. Away Away

10. Real Thing

11. Death's Reply

12. Hold On

Tracks 1 to 12 are their sixth studio album "See" - released December 1969 in the USA on Atlantic SD 8246 (Stereo only) and in the UK on Atlantic 588 210. Produced by THE RASCALS - it peaked at No. 45 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

THE RASCALS for "See" were:

FELIX CAVALIERE – Keyboards (Organ, Piano), Lead and Backing Vocals

GENE CORNISH – Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals

EDDIE BRIGATI – Percussion, Lead And Backing Vocals

DINO DANELLI – Drums

Guests:

Chuck Rainey – Bass on all tracks except...

Ron Carter – Bass on "Nubia" and "Carry Me Back"

Hubert Laws – Flute on "Nubia", Danny Labbate – Soprano Sax on "Nubia"

CD2 "Search And Nearness" (38:44 minutes):

1. Right On [Side 1]

2. I Believe

3. Thank You Baby

4. You Don't Know

5. Nama

6. Almost Home [Side 2]

7. The Letter

8. Ready For Love

9. Fortunes

10. Glory Glory

Tracks 1 to 10 are their seventh studio album "Search And Nearness" - released March 1971 in the USA on Atlantic SD 8276 and in the UK on Atlantic 2400 113. Produced by THE RASCALS - it peaked at No. 198 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

THE RASCALS for "Search And Nearness" were:

FELIX CAVALIERE – Keyboards (Organ, Piano), Lead and Backing Vocals

GENE CORNISH – Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals

DINO DANELLI – Drums

Others:

Eddie Brigati (left the band during recordings) – Lead Vocals on "You Don’t Know", "The Letter" and "Fortunes" (Felix Cavaliere Lead on all others)

Ron Blanco – Bass on Track 4

Chuck Rainey – Bass on Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7 and 9

Howard Cowart – Bass on Tracks 3, 6, 8 and 10

Joe Newman (Trumpet) with Joe Farrell and Seldon Powell (Saxophones) on "Nama"

David Brigati – Backing Vocals

The Sweet Inspirations – Backing vocals on "Glory Glory"

Cissy Houston and Tasha Thomas – Backing Vocals on "I Believe"

The card-slipcase adds the reissue a classy/luxurious look - Mojo contributor CHARLES WARING does his usual bang-up job with the liner notes gamely describing some of the not-so-brill songs with imaginative adjectives - whilst the big draw will be new 2018 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters. I've always found the band's own productions a tad clumsy - panning the three vocalists between the speakers like a badly recorded Three Dog Night - but there's no doubt to my ears of the improvement. Even when the guitars are fuzzy and the vocals bucket-deep, the overall stereo imaging is great and at last there's really power to the rhythm section. These CDs are upgrades and contain real oomph on recordings that needed it.

Lead Vocalist and founder member Felix Cavaliere came up with 8 of the 12 compositions on "See" – guitarist Gene Cornish proffering "Remember Me" and "Away Away" - while "I’m Blue" is a co-write between FC and Eddie Brigati - leaving only a lone cover of the Soul masterpiece "Temptation’s ‘Bout To Get Me" – a James Diggs song made a hit by The Knight Brothers in 1965 on Checker Records. Despite its yeah-man image of a silhouette dove on the front cover – the album seemed more full of short songs trying to be hits rather than messages of love and racial integration. Atlantic has issued "Carry Me Back" as a lead-in 45 in August 1969 with the album cut "Real Thing" as its flipside and it reached a respectable No. 26 on the Billboard 100.

They covered The Box Tops hit "The Letter" on "Search And Nearness" LP – a gorgeous gatefold sleeve on original release (the rear child-face artwork is the inlay beneath the CD trays whilst the front cover is the front page of the 16-page booklet). They psych it up although not perhaps as brilliantly as one would hope – but there is not doubt of their passion for the huge social changes taking place in the USA in the opener "Right On" – sort of Three Dog Night does inequality with a Norman Whitfield groove.

For sure not everything here is going to be worshipped from afar, but I can't help think that the second LP especially has stuff worthy of rediscovery and even an occasional rant ("Nama" baby - you heard it here first). Yes its 3-star material, but man what a 5-star presentation of it. Well done to all involved...

"Shock Treatment/Autumn" by DON ELLIS/ORCHESTRA (April 2018 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 2CDs with Bonuses - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

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SOUL, FUNK and JAZZ FUSION - Exception CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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"...Seven To The Bar..."

England's Beat Goes On (BGO) continues it Don Ellis CD reissue campaign with this further twofer (see below for other reissues). Here are the details worth trumpeting...

UK released 27 April 2018 (3 May 2018 in the USA) - "Shock Treatment/Autumn" by DON ELLIS and DON ELLIS and his ORCHESTRA on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1333 (Barcode 5017261213334) offers two Stereo albums from 1968 and 1969 Remastered in 2018 onto 2CDs with Four Bonus Tracks (issued 2001) that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Shock Treatment" (66:43 minutes):

1. A New Kind Of Country

2. Night City

3. Homecoming

4. Mercy Maybe Mercy

5. Zim

6. Opus 5

7. Star Children

8. Beat Me, Daddy, Seven To The Bar

9. Milo's Theme

10. Seven Up

11. The Tihai

12. Zim (Alternate Take)

13. I Remember Clifford

14. Rasty

Credited to DON ELLIS and Produced by JOHN HAMMOND - the original July 1968 US and UK LPs on Columbia CS 9668 and CBS Records S 63356 were 10-track affairs. The above track run for this CD mimics exactly the reinterpreted running order of the May 2001 US CD reissue on Koch Jazz KOC-CD 8590 (Barcode 099923859024). If you want to sequence the original "Shock Treatment" album use the following 10 tracks from this CD:

Side 1: Tracks 1, 4, 6, 8 and 11

Side 2: Tracks 9, 7, 3, 10 and 5

Disc 2 "Autumn" (57:44 minutes):

1. Variations For Trumpet [Side 1]

2. Scratt And Fluggs

3. Pussy Wiggle Stomp

4. K.C. Blues [Side 2]

5. Child Of Ecstasy

6. Indian Lady

Credited to DON ELLIS and his ORCHESTRA and Produced by AL KOOPER – Tracks 1 to 6 are the original March 1969 US and UK Stereo LPs on Columbia CS 9721 and CBS Records S 63503.

You get the usual card slipcase (makes the reissue look classy), a 24-page booklet that reproduces the original LP dedications by Digby Diehl for "Shock Treatment" and hip Producer/one time Blood, Sweat & Tears songwriter Al Kooper for 1969's "Autumn" - as well as a new appraisal of Doin Ellis' musical legacy by Mojo's main writer CHARLES WARING. The 2018 Remasters are once again carried out by BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON and being licensed Sony material - sound awesome. At times you have to turn down the sheer assault of brass instruments that hit you on say "Opus 5" while the funky Bongo interplay with Ellis on "The Tihai" is fantastic stuff.

The first album is better heard as released with Track 2 "Mercy Maybe Mercy" being amongst my faves - 60ts TV Cops cool. It's writer Hank Levy is also represented here by "A New Kind Of Country" whilst Howlett Smith gets the lengthy "Opus 5" and decidedly shorter "Seven Up" with Ellis having penned the bulk of the rest. The four-minute 'Alternate Take' of John Magruder's "Zim" is a worthy addition whilst the unreleased trio of "Night City", "I Remember Clifford" and "Rasty" show DE is a more mellow lounge-lizard mood and so were probably left off the original platter because they didn't fit in with the hip 'n' happening vibe of the others. And "K.C. Blues" from "Autumn" is gorgeous stuff whilst the two lengthy pieces "Variants For Trumpet" and "Indian Lady" at 19 and 18 minutes are tour de force playtime. Treatment indeed...

A sweet release from BGO and one that Don Ellis fans will need saspo...

PS: The other DON ELLIS titles in this BGO series are:

1. The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground [1969]/Don Ellis At Fillmore [1970]

(Beat Goes On BGOCD 1143 (Barcode 5017261211439 - released 2014)

2. Tears Of Joy [1971]/Connection [1972]

(Beat Goes On BGOCD1317 – Barcode 5017261213174 - released 2017)

"Lighthouse/Suite Feeling/Peacing It All Together" by LIGHTHOUSE (May 2017 Beat Goes On 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CLASSIC ROCK & POP 1970 to 1974 - Exceptional CD Remasters  

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"...Peace And Love..."

Canada's LIGHTHOUSE are the very definition of a bargain-bin band - at least the first part of their career on RCA Records is.

When I worked for Reckless Records in London's Islington and Soho's Berwick Street (20 years of buying and selling rarities) - UK copies of their second and third platters - 1969's "Suite Feeling" and 1970's "Peacing It All Together" was strictly a no-no. I used to see copies of the 1969 debut "Lighthouse" too with its silver-foil cover in charity shops - but it elicited little interest (the debut was American and Canadian only). Toronto's finest pushed out two further LPs on Vertigo in the UK (Evolution in the USA) - "One Fine Morning" in October 1971 on Vertigo 6342 010 and "Thoughts Of Movin' On" in April 1972 on Vertigo 6342 011 - but in my opinion they're only sought after because 'everything' on that most Prog of spiral labels is.

A 13-piece ensemble that started out on a brassy Rock tip with some Psych and Fusion flourishes thrown in - but then went all Association and Harper's Bizarre drippy Pop - the Lighthouse sound was both hard to nail down and market. In their initial Jazz-Rock phase - to help them along their Fusion way none other than an aged but still dapper Duke Ellington introduced the group in May 1969 at Toronto's Rock Pile Club to a rapturous response. But even his legendary presence and the support of Woodstock Folk-Soul hero Richie Havens failed to ignite sales and they struggled to feed those thirteen right-on mouths and hungry wattage. And unfortunately given some of the musical evidence presented here (even though the new remasters sound fab) – it's not too difficult to hear why the public weren't really bothered.

Well here comes England's Beat Goes On Records and the determined Kaftan-wearing Aztec-spaceship moustaches within their British ranks want us to reconsider Lighthouse's musical legacy - that amidst the poor man's Blood, Sweat & Tears and Jefferson Airplane soundscapes is some great fusion Rock and the occasional hooky groove. And there is actually - but I'm afraid the direness of the 3rd album kind of takes the discovery thrill out of the first two. Here are the enlightening details...

UK released 12 May 2017 - "Lighthouse/Suite Feeling/Peacing It All Together" by LIGHTHOUSE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1281 (Barcode 5017261212818) offers 3LPs newly-remastered onto 2CDs (two from 1969 and one from 1970). It plays out as follows...

Disc 1 (66:29 minutes):

1. Mountain Man [Side 1]

2. If There Ever Was A Time

3. No Opportunity Necessary

4. Never Say Goodbye

5. Follow The Stars

6. Whatever Forever [Side 2]

7. Eight Miles High

8. Marsha, Marsha

9. Ah I Can Feel It

10. Life Can Be So Simple

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Lighthouse" - released USA and Canada June 1969 on RCA Victor LSP-4173. Produced by SKIP PROKOP and PAUL HOFFERT - it didn't chart.

11. Chest Fever [Side 1]

12. Feel So Good

13. Places On Faces Four Blue Carpet Traces

14. Could You Be Concerned

Tracks 11 to 14 are Side 1 of their second studio album "Suite Feeling" - released November 1969 in the USA and Canada on RCA Victor LSP-4241 and in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8103. Produced by SKIP PROKOP and PAUL HOFFERT - it didn't chart.

Disc 2 (59:11 minutes):

1. Presents Of Presence [Side 2]

2. Talking A Walk

3. Eight Loaves Of Bread

4. What Sense

5. A Day In The Life

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of their second studio album "Suite Feeling" - released November 1969 in the USA and Canada on RCA Victor LSP-4241 and in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8103. Produced by SKIP PROKOP and PAUL HOFFERT - it didn't chart.

6. Nam Myoho Renge' Kyo/Let The Happiness Begin [Side 1]

7. Every Day I Am Reminded

8. The Country Song

9. Sausalito

10. The Fiction Of Twenty-Six Million

11. The Chant (Nam Myoho Renge' Kyo)

12. Mr. Candleman [Side 2]

13. On My Way To L.A.

14. Daughters And Sons

15. Just A Little More Time

16. Little People/Nam Myoho Renge' Kyo

Tracks 6 to 16 are their third studio album "Peacing It All Together" - released May 1970 in the USA and Canada on RCA Victor LSP-4325 and in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8121. Produced by MIKE LIPSKIN, SKIP PROKOP and PAUL HOFFERT - it peaked at No. 133 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

LIGHTHOUSE was:

SKIP PROKOP - Drums and Vocals

PAUL HOFFERT - Musical Director. Keyboards and Vibes

RALPH COLE - Guitar and Vocals

GRANT FULLERTON - Bass and Vocals

PINKY DAUVIN – Percussion and Vocals

IAN GUENTHER – Violin

DON DiNOVO – Violin and Viola

DON WHITTON and LESLIE SCHNEIDER – Cello

FREDDY STONE and ARNIE CHYCOSKI – Trumpet and Flugel

HOWARD SHORE – Alto Sax

RUSS LITTLE TROMBONE

There's the usual classy card-slipcase - the 16-page booklet repro's the artwork for the three LPs and has new liner notes from Mojo's Jazz columnist CHARLES WARING who presents both sides of the argument - good and bad. BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON has newly remastered all three LPs and they sound great - punchy and full of life.

The two leading lights in the ensemble were Drummer/Singer Ron 'Skip' Prokop and Keyboardist/Vibes player Paul Hoffert who wrote most of the tunes and co-produced all three records. Side 1 highlights of the debut "Lighthouse" are the pretty but slightly overdone "If There Ever Was A Time" with its soothing warbling guitar and nice lurve-song melody. Better than the frantic "No Opportunity Necessary" and the pastoral ELO cellos of the sappy "Never Say Goodbye" is the Side 1 finisher "Follow The Stars" which suddenly feels like something magical is happening. There is an epic Byrds-vibe to the song – all brass lines, clever cellos and flanged vocals – very cool and interesting. Side 2 gets neck jerking groovy with the Brass and Organ dancer that is "Whatever Forever" which in turn is quickly followed by a very complimentary fuzzed-guitar cover of the Byrds Psych classic "Eight Miles High". RCA UK tried it as an only-45 off the album in October 1969 – tucked away as the B-side to the more commercial "If There Ever Was A Time" on RCA 1884 - but it did no business. Guitarist Ralph Cole suddenly discovers his inner Cream and Hendrix with the excellent "Marsha, Marsha" – a "Born Under A Bad Sign" Rock-Blues tune with added clever moments of brass melody and vocal harmonies that take you by total surprise and make you think we may have missed something Psych-brill here. There is a very Neil Young simplicity to "Ah I Can Feel It" as a lone-guitar strums before brass, strings and voices take the song into ‘Lighthouse’ and ‘Stonehouse’ ensemble territory. And they sound like B, S & T and The Association have had a Woodstock love child on the Side 2 finisher "Life Can Be So Simple" – an accomplished Pop song that half way through unleashes a properly wild Garage guitar-solo worthy of any Nuggets Box Set.

Despite some good fuzz guitar in "Chest Fever" - the opener for "Suite Feeling" is pretty awful and the everyone's smiling peaceful vibrations of "Feel So Good" comes over as the kind of song that hippy teenagers would have played their uptight parents in 1969/1970 (get with it Mom and Pop). Better is the funky and adventurous "Places On Faces Four Blue Carpet Traces" - a near eleven-minute Brass and Drums instrumental that is similar to in structure to the longer stretches on Chicago's "Chicago Transit Authority" debut in 1969. Trumpets compete for your attention with an organ - then about five-minutes in you get a clever Vibes solo that feels like some Avant Garde Atlantic Jazz album as it builds and builds with strings and more brass and ends on a huge fuzz-guitar solo (easily their technically most accomplished piece of writing so far). "Could You Be Concerned" taps into that "Hair Musical" message - as does the very Jefferson Airplane "Presents Of Presence". We get the sermon on the mount with the cheesy "Eight Loaves Of Bread" while the coy and poppy flute and piano bop of "What Sense" is likely to elicit laughter nowadays and not for the right reasons. They end a patchy album with a six-minute cover of The Beatles "Sgt. Peppers" classic "A Day In The Life" but it feels like a frantic brass and strings butchery rather than a compliment.

The third LP is probably the worst - a record that hasn't weathered well at all. A refrain precedes "Let The Happiness Begin" - a full on Association meets The Mama's and The Papa's happy-wappy jaunt that is cringing rather than touching. Even the honest words of "Every Day I Am Reminded" can't save it from a wall of voices that make it sound like the kind of pastiche a TV program would use to slag off the excesses of the Sixties. The fiddling "Country Song" is awful and the 'come with me to the sea' pap of "Sausalito" is 1967 and not 1970. And on it goes to the busy and frankly annoying "On My Way To L.A." and the clinging "Daughters And Sons".

To sum up - the first LP is very good and the second is an improvement in places especially the stunning eleven-minute Fusion-Rock instrumental "Places On Faces Four Blue Carpet Traces" - but that third platter goes direct for the "Hair" audience and feels laboured instead of inspired.

Still - fans of the band and that big brassy Rock Sound should dive in and be thankful that BGO have reissued Lighthouse's legacy with such style...