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CADENCE /CASCADE
CADENCE /CASCADE
PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters
Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On
Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground
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Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs
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"...In My Dreamworld..."
So many could-have
been/should-have been artists and bands litter the 60ts and 70ts. Championed
by none other than The Rolling Stones' Bassist Bill Wyman (arguably at the
height of their fame with "Let It Bleed") and as evidenced by this
superbly assembled 4CD vaults-trawl – the five fiercely hairy men of THE END
would have had legitimate cause to be more pissed than most at Joe Public's
lack of take up.
This British Psych/Rock
group had experienced players who stretched back to 1964 (including a half
decent vocalist) and a Rolling Stone producing their album alongside legendary
Audio Engineer Glyn Johns (the Production values are excellent). But more
importantly - they had tunes to match the talent. But as always, bad timing,
clumsy decisions and the sheer pace of change when 1968 quickly became 1969 -
THE END did indeed live up to their name and their lone LP arrived a year too
late and looking well past its December 1969 end-of-decade sell-by-date (they
would eventually morph into Tucky Buzzard – see my review for "The
Complete Tucky Buzzard" from July 2016, a 5CD Box Set also on Edsel).
Which is where "From
Beginning To End..." featuring input from the band and Bill Wyman, comes a
lollygagging in. Here are the retrospective introspective details...
UK released 4 December 2015
- "From Beginning To End..." by THE END on Edsel EDSB 4028 (Barcode
740155402839) is a 4CD 61-Track Clamshell Box Set covering 1964 to 1970 and
plays out as follows:
CD1 "In The Beginning:
1964-1967" (44:40 minutes):
1. I Can't Get Any Joy
2. Hey Little Girl
3. I Want You Around
4. I Can't Believe It
5. Lost Without You
6. Baby Stay Like You Are
7. It Won't Be Long
8. She Believed Me
9. I Got Wise
10. You're So Right
11. You Better Believe It
Baby
12. Please Do Something
13. Why
14. Yo-Yo
15. Searching For My Baby
16. Daddy Loves Baby
17. We've Got it Made (July
1967 Mix)
18. Shades Of Orange
(November 1967 Mix)
NOTES:
Tracks 1 and 2 are the
A&B-sides of a 22 October 1965 UK 45-single on Philips BF 1444
Tracks 11 and 12 are the
A&B-sides of a January 1967 SPANISH 45-single on Sonoplay SN 20.002
Tracks 13 and 14 are the
A&B-sides of a March 1967 SPANISH 45-single on Sonoplay SN 20.014
Tracks 3 and 4 recorded 18
November 1964, unissued until 1996
Tracks 5 to 10 recorded
March and April 1965, unissued until 1996
Tracks 15, 16, 17 and 18
recorded August 1965, autumn 1967 (Tracks 15 and 16) and November 1967 -
unissued until 1996 on the "In The Beginning...The End" UK LP on
Tenth Planet TP025 (1000 copies only)
Charlie Watts of The Rolling
Stones plays tabla on "Shades Of Orange"
CD2 "Introspection:
1968-1969" (40:16 minutes):
1. Dreamworld [Side 1]
2. Under The Rainbow
3. Shades Of Orange [Album
Version]
4. Bromley Common [Vocals by
George Kenset]
5. Cardboard Watch
6. Introspection (Pt. 1)
7. What Does It Feel Like
[Side 2]
8. Linen Draper [Vocals by
George Kenset]
9. Don't Take Me
10. Loving, Sacred Loving
[Album Version]
11. She Said Yeah
12. Jacobs Bladder
13. Introspection (Pt. 2)
Tracks 1 to 13 are their
debut and lone album "Introspection" - released August 1969 in the
USA on London PS 560 (Stereo only) and November 1969 in the UK on Decca LK-R
5015 (Mono) and Decca SLK-R 5015 (Stereo) - the STEREO MIX is used for this CD.
GUESTS: George Kensit does the Voice on the spoken-word tracks "Bromley
Common", "Linen Draper" and "Jacob's Bladder", Nicky
Hopkins plays Harpsichord on "Loving, Sacred Loving", Ken Leeman
plays Saxophone on "She Said Yeah", Jim Henderson adds Harmony Vocals
to "She Said Yeah" and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones plays Tabla
on "Shades Of Orange"
BONUS TRACKS:
14. Shades Of Orange (Mono
Single Version)
15. Loving, Sacred Loving
(Mono Single Version)
Tracks 14 and 15 are the
A&B-sides of a 8 March 1968 UK 45-single on Decca F 22750
Charlie Watts of The Rolling
Stones plays Tabla on "Shades Of Orange"
CD3 "Retrospection:
1968-1969" (52:54 minutes):
1. Loving, Sacred Loving
(February 1968 Remix)
2. Building Up A Dream
3. Little Annie
4. Morning Dew
5. Tears Will Be The Only
Answer
6. Today Tomorrow
7. Lady Under The Lamp
8. Black Is Black [Side 2]
9. Mister Man
10. Call Me
11. Shades Of Orange (June
1968 Remix)
12. Mirror
13. We've Got It Made
(Mellotron Mix)
14. Bypass The By-Pass
Tracks 1 to 14 first issued
1997 on the UK LP "Retrospection" on Tenth Planet TP033 - Charlie
Watts of The Rolling Stones plays Tabla on "Shades Of Orange"
BONUS TRACKS:
15. Mister Man (Instrumental
Version)
16. The Fly
17. Sometimes I Wish I Were
Dead
18. Stones In My Banana
CD4 "The Last Word:
1969-1970" (37:37 minutes):
1. Son Of Lightning
2. Second Glance
3. Mistress Bean
4. For Eleanor
5. So Free
6. North Thames Gas Board
7. Do Right Woman Do Right
Man
8. Turn On Waterstone
9. Smartypants
10. My Friend
Tracks 1 to 10 (excluding
Track 9 which is exclusive to this box) are the UK LP "The Last Word"
issued 2000 on Tenth Planet TP047. Chris Spedding plays Guitar on
"Mistress Bean" while Ian Stewart (of Rolling Stones fame) plays
Piano on "North Thames Gas Board".
As you can see from the
photos provided, the four singular card sleeves inside the glossy clamshell box
look cool and mimc those vinyl-only Tenth Planet reissue compilation LPs of
1996 (Disc 1), 1997 (Disc 3) and 1999 (Disc 4) whilst the 32-page colour
booklet provides a feast of period photos, trade adverts, foreign picture
sleeves and of course photos of our five heroes looking suitably psyched. DAVID
WELLS of Grapefruit Records fame penned the detailed and affectionate liner
notes with contributions from band-members and Wyman of the Stones. The
track-by-track annotation is superb, recording dates, release dates, personnel
etc. It's a great job done as you can imagine. PHIL KINRADE - long-standing
Audio Engineer for Edsel - did the Mastering at Alchemy and although you could
argue that they really should included the British Mono variant of the
"Introspection" LP on Disc 2 - the STEREO Mix is kicking - so all is
good.
It opens with a very Hollies
Pop 45 in the shape of "I Can't Get Any Joy" but its fairly
dismissible stuff. Of the unreleased stuff "It Won't Be Long" could
easily be a Monkees outtake but far edgier is "I Got Wise" and the
baby-I-want-ya Kinks-dense riffage of "You Better Believe It Baby"
(albeit that the first is a bit rough around the recording perimeters). The
very Georgie Fame-beat vibe to "Why" (produced by Wyman) and its
"Yo Yo" B-side had the chart chops for sure as had Wyman's writing
contribution to the band "Shades Of Orange" which ends a patchy CD1
on a high.
On Disc 2 you're immediately
hit with the swirling "Dreamworld", the "Introspection"
album's opening tune and along with the poppy (and excellent) "Under The
Rainbow" - you have to think that in December 1969 this was old hat
already - so very 1967 and 1968. At least the audio is superb. The three George
Kenset talking track interludes feature a 'sleeping it off' man bemoaning
British Bobbies and their heavy-handed tactics in dealing with a hobo. Groovy
tunes like "Cardboard Watch" and the fantastic fuzzed-up guitar hip-shaker
"Introspection Pt. 1" are so 1967 Small Faces - it's frightening -
and in a good way. Side 2's "What
Does It Feel Like?" (Yesterday I was a child) and the funky licks of
"Don't Take Me" (you make fiction better) are excellent - but my fave
is "Loving, Sacred Loving" - Nicky Hopkins' Harpsichord and their
wickedly good vocal arrangements all enhancing a supremely musical tune. The
whole shebang comes to another geetar ending with 'Pt. 2' of
"Introspection" - the Jeff Beck-type axe-playing allowed to solo and
you're left wondering why this album wasn't issued in 1968 where it would have
caused a stir and not a yawn in December 1969? Disc 3 and 4 simply offer more
of the same...
The band THE END is a
forgotten musical footnote in British Pop History - but that Decca debut album
(especially in sexy Stereo) should not be. Think Afghan Coats, think Small
Faces and Kinks, think great Harmonies and clever mid-tune changes – in order words
revisit these hep cats of old and think again...
PS: The entire Box Set is
available on iTunes for under a fiver.
