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"...Tell The Truth Boy!"
If I'm completely honest and forthright with my adoring/besotted readers (and it goes against my religion to be so) - these three albums aren't all yesteryear masterpieces of knee-trembling genius. In fact the third self-titled platter here hasn't seen the digital light of day ever and even with a fabulous remaster on offer here (and it does rock) - it's unfortunately easy to hear why no one has bothered.
But (and as they say in Kim Kardashian's house, this is a big but) - I've loved all things Blood, Sweat & Tears to distraction for over 50 years and that American band's gargles-gravel-for-breakfast lead singer David Clayton-Thomas can do no wrong by me. The good stuff on these platters far outweighs the ordinary (three tracks on album number three are corkers) and the big man could bring his lungs and passion to other people's tunes to such an extent that he often made them his own (check out C-T's version of Chris Ethridge and Gram Parson's gorgeous "She" on the Columbia debut LP for instance).
So when I heard that England's Beat Goes On (BGO as they prefer to be called these days) we're lumping together his two solo albums from 1972 on Columbia Records and the one that followed in 1973 on RCA Victor and throwing in a 1983 Bonus Track for good measure – all of it resplendent on two Remastered CDs with sexy-pants presentation - I had to read a Brussels explanation of BREXIT to bore me sufficiently rigid, thereby stopping my blood pressure from blowing a gasket. Like the John Kay of Steppenwolf solo albums of 1972 and 1973 on ABC/Dunhill Records (Probe in the UK) which Beat Goes On have also done (see separate review) – I love these DCT records - and any upgrade in Audio gets me excited.
We'll I'm glad to say that the Mad Dogs and Englishmen over at BGO have done it again - a great sounding reissue offering many albums I actually want and for less than the cost of a session with Joe Biden's speech therapist. We're all meat from the same bone, as the great Canadian says. Here are the juicy details...
UK released Friday, 28 August 2020 - "David Clayton-Thomas/Tequila Sunrise/David Clayton-Thomas" by DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS (of Blood, Sweat & Tears) on Beat Goes On BGOCD1424 (Barcode 5017261214249) offers 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs with One Bonus Track and plays out as follows:
CD1 (74:11 minutes):
1. Magnificent Sanctuary Band [Side 1]
2. We're All Meat From The Same Bone
3. Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord
4. Dying To Live
5. Sing A Song
6. She [Side 2]
7. Don't Let It Bring You Down
8. Once Burned
9. North Beach Racetrack
10. Caress Me Pretty Music
Tracks 1 to 10 are his second studio solo album "David Clayton-Thomas" (first for Columbia) - released April 1972 on Columbia KC 31000 in the USA and on CBS Records S 64755 in the UK. Co-produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears buddies BOBBY COLOMBY and JOEL SILL – it peaked at No. 184 on the US LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).
11. I Could Just Boogie All Night (Intro) [Side 1]
12. Yesterday's Music
13. Friday The 13th Child
14. The Face Of Man
15. One More Time Around
16. Down Bound Train
17. Nobody Calls Me Prophet [Side 2]
18. Last Time That She Cried
19. Fallin' By Degrees
20. My Song (For Geanenne)
21. Bread 'N Butter Boogie
22. I Could Just Boogie All Night (Reprise)
Tracks 11 to 22 are his third studio album "Tequila Sunrise" - released October 1972 in the USA on Columbia records KC 31700 (no UK equivalent, but Dutch copies on CBS Records S 65237 were imported into Britain and sold). Produced by MIKE POST - it didn't chart (bubbled under at No. 202 in early November 1972).
CD2 (37:06 minutes):
1. Harmony Junction [Side 1]
2. Workin' On The Railroad
3. Alimony
4. Harbor Lady
5. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
6. Hernando's Hideaway [Side 2]
7. Sweet Fantasy
8. Small Family
9. Can't Buy Me Love
10. Professor Longhair
Tracks 1 to 10 are his fourth solo album "David Clayton-Thomas" – released June 1973 in the USA on RCA Victor APL1-0173 and October 1973 in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8381. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER – it didn't chart in either country. This August 2020 BGO 2CD set is its first digital reissue.
BONUS TRACK:
11. Some Hearts Get All The Breaks – 1983 US 45 on Epic 34-03792, A-side
The outer card slipcase is always classy looking and the chunky 20-page booklet with new appreciations from Mojo and Record Collector contributor CHARLES WARING is a very enjoyable affair. This is not one of those releases where the liner notes go on about the artists’ history and then proffer a few lines to the actual music being reissued - Waring almost goes track for track and on all three albums - and he loads on the musician details and song histories. The session’s details and artwork from all gatefold LPs are here too (photos etc) - but the big news is a quality Remaster from BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. Like most fans, I've had (and reviewed) the March 2006 Repertoire CD remaster for 1972's "David Clayton-Thomas" (Repertoire RES 2300 - Barcode 400910230022) but these new versions are fantastic. With Production values from Bobby Colomby (of B, S &T), future TV tunes man Mike Post and finally Gabriel Mekler - the sound on these albums in great - with number three noticeably leaping up the scales into almost Audiophile standards. Let's get to the tunes...
Co-produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears buddies BOBBY COLOMBY and JOEL SILL - his "David Clayton-Thomas" debut for Columbia Records had been recorded in September to November 1971 sessions but because of B,S&T commitments would have to wait until April 1972 for US release. Its ten tracks offered nine cover versions and one original - the junkie song "North Beach Racecourse". Top heavy with sessionmen - players included David Cohen, Hugh McCracken, Mike Deasy, Sal DiTroia, Paul Cannon and Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MG's on Guitars, Frank Owens on Piano with Bobby Colomby of Blood, Sweat & Tears on Drums and Production and super session ladies Clydie King and Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals.
Highlights are Edgar Winter's post-Woodstock anti-war anthem "Dying To Live" which is given a powerful rendition with strings that strengthen the melody and message rather than drown it. The "After The Gold Rush" classic of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Neil Young is also treated to a strange solitary French horn opening that really works – it takes a good song and moves it to somewhere different – very cool. But the real peach here is his gorgeous vocal to Gram Parson and Chris Ethridge's much-covered "She". Clayton-Thomas does it more than justice – he almost makes it his own. His lone self-penned contribution about his favourite haunt "North Beach Racetrack" is a 'daddy was a junky' song with a funky guitar romp while he roars a trademark B, S & T mannerism "…tell the truth boy!" It's excellent and features slick guitar work from all three - Paul Cannon, Steve Cropper and Thomas himself. And the sound is superb throughout the entire album - Gary Wright's Spooky Tooth tune "Sing A Song" punchy and vibrant - "Caress Me Pretty Music" by Anita O'Day and the born-again multitudes of people 1970 Dorsey Burnette cover "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" both featuring noticeably warm Bass - all good. There is hiss on some of the quieter songs like the Todd Rundgren cover "Once Burned" but it's not too much to detract. And up there with "She" is another clever choice - CT's funky and righteous cover of Paul Kelly’s "Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord" - a minor hit for its Soul Man originator in 1970 on Happy Tiger Records.
Deciding to forgo so many 'other people's songs' for his second on Columbia - "Tequila Sunrise" saw Clayton-Thomas hook up big time with Keyboardist, Singer and 'Musical Director' William "Smithy" Smith. Almost all of the songs are originals - co-writes with Smith. On "Tequila Sunrise's" plus side - ace guitarist and long-time associate with James Taylor's backing band Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar comes on board with Kenny Marco as the two principal guitarists and their Steely Dan-esque solos pepper many of the tunes. On the downside, because the "David Clayton-Thomas" LP sounded so much like a BS&T solo record with all those contributors and especially the frequent brass fills - it was decided to strip back "Tequila Sunrise" of Horn Arrangements - a sound trademark associated with Blood, Sweat & Tears. In hindsight, that was a mistake. Although originals like the angry yet still sexy "Nobody Calls Me Prophet" or the fantastic piano-funk and guitar grove of "Last Time She Cried" - you can't help but think that actually a wee bit of brass would have lifted them into the stratosphere.
It's not all good - the frantic "Bread 'N Butter Boogie" is wildly forced and the Blues Acoustic Intro and Outro of "I Could Just Boogie All Night" that tail ends both sides of the LP feels gimmicky when it would have been better to just give it full reign. Lyrically "Friday The 13th Child" (he was both 13 September) is very strong and Bobby 'Blue' Bland covered its hurting message on his stunning 1973 ABC Records LP "His California Album". I also can't understand why Columbia who apparently did little or no press for the LP didn't tap into the fab grit-and-groove Rock-Funk of his Chuck Berry cover "Down Bound Train". It literally sounds like a Blood, Sweat & Tears neck-jerker waiting to be a 45 hit. They chose the soppier "Yesterday’s Music" b/w "Fallin' By Degrees" as the album's only 7" single in both the USA and UK even though the LP itself never received a released in Blighty (all copies were Dutch imports on the famous orange CBS Records label). Still, it's a good album and the audio feels right.
By the time we get to platter number three from 1973 - another self-titled LP - Clayton-Thomas has signed to RCA Victor and the Production qualities have gone through the roof. As far as I know, "David Clayton-Thomas" has never been on CD and its inclusion here is most welcome (fans have often called the record "Harmony Junction" after Side 1's opening song - another superb co-write with Smithy). Side 1 has the best stuff - a killer cover of Tommy Tucker's "Alimony" where Kootch, Kenny Marco and future James Gang guitarist Dominic Troiano provide very cool slide guitars. There is a rile at the Statue of Liberty in the hard-hitting "Harbor Lady" - Clayton-Thomas asserting that she isn't a symbol of hope - the reality being that someone's "...wife and son are buried in the dirt of a semi-slum". But the LP loses all momentum with a dire Side 2 where he covers "Hernando's Hideaway" from the 1954 musical "The Pajama Game" for God's sake and it all goes downhill from there to a pointless and uncharacteristically anaemic cover of The Beatles "Can't Buy Me Love". The Bonus Track single "Some Hearts Get All The Breaks" is romantic schlock from 1983 on Epic Records that apparently went to Promo-only stage. It's bad movie music and unworthy of him - the kind of twaddle that makes you want to hurry back to his fantastic rendition of Sam & Dave's torch ballad "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" that ends Side 1 of the third LP.
In summary - this three-LPs-onto-two-CDs is a mixed bag for sure and you can't help but think that a man so obviously steeped in the Blues, R&B and Soul should have tapped those rich genre veins way more often. These LPs needed material to give his extraordinary set of pipes some real meat. But when Dave found that song (bopper or ballad) – man was DCT good.
Fans will love the new Audio, the classy presentation, the genuinely informative liner notes and those interested in Funky 70ts Rock on a Soulful tip will find loads to enjoy once they get past some occasional clunkers.
"...Tell The Truth Boy!" – big Dave shouts in one of his famous vocal ad-libs. Amen baby and I'm off now to board that "Down Bound Train" so I can whack the Devil on the head with a crowbar as he tries to take a drunk from the barroom floor onto his thunder-crash, fire and brimstone, steam-engine (sneaky bleeder). Keep rocking peeps...
