"Drift Away: A Decade Of Dobie 1969-1979" by DOBIE GRAY – Eighty-Track Four-Disc Book Set featuring Six US 45-Single Sides from 1969 to 1972 on White Whale and Anthem Records - plus Seven US Albums and a Further Four 45-Single Sides and One Unreleased Outtake from 1973 to 1979 on Decca, MCA, Capricorn and Infinity Records – Albums include "Drift Away" (January 1973), "Loving Arms" (October 1973), "Hey Dixie" (October 1974), "New Ray Of Sunshine" (December 1975 US, January 1976 UK), "Let Go" (February 1977), "Midnight Diamond" (December 1978) and "Dobie Gray" (October 1979) – Guest Musicians Include Guitarists Troy Seals, Reggie Young, Mentor Williams, Lonnie Mack, Pete Carr with Keyboards from David Briggs, Harmonica by Charlie McCoy, The Muscle Shoals Horns and many more (December 2004 US-Only Hip-O Select 4CD 80-track Card Book Set featuring Seven Albums Plus Ten 45-Single Sides and one Previously Unreleased Outtake – Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

RATINGS: 

Overall ***

Material *** to ****

Presentation *** to ****

Audo *****

"…Give Me The Music That Frees My Soul…"

Timber-voiced singer Lawrence Darrow Brown (Dobie Gray to you and me) can be viewed as a one-hit wonder in Soul/Country-Soul circles - and even that was someone else's great song.

"Drift Away" – a Mentor Williams written-tune that originated in 1970 - was picked up by 60ts Brit star Mike Berry in 1972 for his "Drift Away" LP on the obscure York Records label (York FYK 409). Produced by Mentor Williams and playing guitar in the band for Dobie Gray, DB then seized on the song as well and had a huge hit with the music-moving emotional tune in early 1973 when it was released Stateside on Decca Records 33057 with the equally cool LP cut "City Stars" on the flipside. Its lyrics and melody are classic nostalgia, but in a Soul-Rock kind of way that gave the tune huge crossover appeal. Even Rod Stewart joined in on the Rock Soulful tip when he covered "Drift Away" for his mega "Atlantic Crossing" album in 1975. Not to be outdone by others on his own song, Mentor Williams released his debut album "Feelings" with his version of "Drift Away" on it (June 1974 in the UK on MCA Records MCF 2549). There was also a US 7" single with "Feelings" leading the charge on the A-side and "Drift Away" on the flip – but it went unnoticed.

The other six Dobie Gray albums on here and straggler seven-inch singles did marginal business and, in the UK, meant less than naught. In fact, Dobie would have to wait until February of 1979 to see his "Midnight Diamond" LP (released in December 1978) finally become the first album of his to register on the US Billboard R&B charts albeit peaking at a modest No.73. 

Which brings us to this obscure but fantastic-sounding 4CD compilation on the US Mail-Order Label Hip-O Select (via Universal) with its quality ERICK LABSON Remasters from original tapes. LABSON has over 1,200 mastering credits to his name across 30 to 40 years – almost all of the gargantuan Chess Records Catalogue including large swathes of Motown acts, Rock Bands and Artists like The Who, Wishbone Ash, The Mamas & The Papas, The Jayhawks, Neil Diamond, The Dells, Steppenwolf, Buddy Holly, Three Dog Night and loads more. I actively seek out any CD he has had a hand in because the Audio is always a huge improvement on what went before. And this Dobie Gray US-only compilation is no different. To the details because there is a lot…

USA-only released December 2004 - "Drift Away: A Decade Of Dobie Gray 1969-1979" by DOBIE GRAY on Hip-O Select B0003621-02 (No Barcode) is an 80-Track Limited Edition Compilation Remastered onto 4CDs in a Book-Sized Card Sleeve. It contains 7 full-albums, 10 x Non-LP 45-single sides and 1 Previously Unreleased Session Outtake that plays outs as follows:

CD1 "The White Whale & Decca Years" (50:17 minutes):
1. Rose Garden
2. Where's The Girl Gone
Tracks 1 & 2 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a March 1969 US 45-single on White Whale WW-300, A-side is a Joe South cover version made famous by Country singer Lynn Anderson

3. Do You Really Have A Heart
4. What A Way To Go
Tracks 3 & 4 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a September 1969 US 45-single on White Whale WW-339, A-side is a Paul Williams and Roger Nicholls cover version

5. Guess Who
6. Honey, You Can't Take It Back
Track 5 is the Non-LP A-side of a December 1972 US 45-single on Anthem AN-200, B-side was "Bits And Pieces" – not on this set. Track 6 is the Non-LP A-side of a March 1970 US 45-single on White Whale WW-342, B-side was "Hallelujah" – not on this set

7. Drift Away [Side 1]
8. The Time I Loved You The Most
9. L.A. Lady
10. We Had It All
11. Now That I'm Without You
12. Rockin' Chair [Side 2]
13. Lay Back
14. City Stars
15. Street Lovin' Woman
16. Caddo Queen
17. Eddie's Song
Tracks 7 to 17 are his third album "Drift Away" – released January 1973 in the USA on Decca DL7-5397 and MCA MUPS 489 in the UK (reissued February 1974 in the UK on MCA Records MCF 2520). 

CD2 "The MCA Years" (67:20 minutes):
1. Good Old Song [Side 1]
2. You And Me
3. I Never Had It So Good
4. Lovin' The Easy Way
5. Loving Arms
6. Reachin' For The Feeling [Side 2]
7. There's A Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me In)
8. Mississippi Rolling Stone
9. Love Is On The Line
10. Rose
Tracks 1 to 10 are his fourth album "Loving Arms" – released October 1973 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-371 and March 1974 in the UK on MCA Records MCF 2528. 

11. Hey Dixie [Side 1]
12. How Can You Live All Alone
13. So High (Rock Me Baby And Roll Me Away)
14. Watch Out For Lucy
15. Old Time Feeling
16. Turning on You [Side 2]
17. Roll On Sweet Mississippi
18. Can You Feel It
19. Performance
20. The Music's Real (Mentor's Song)
Tracks 11 to 20 are his fifth album "Hey Dixie" – released October 1974 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-449 and November 1974 in the UK on MCA Records MCF 2578.

21. Watch Out For Lucy (Single Version) – July 1974 US 45-single on MCA Records MCA-40268, A-side, B-side is the LP track "Turning On You" – January 1975 UK 45-single on MCA Records MCA 171 – same flipside as the US issue

CD3 "The Capricorn Years" (73:44 minutes):
1. Harold And The Swinging Rocks [Side 1]
2. Drive On, Ride On
3. If Love Must Go
4. Lover's Sweat
5. A New Ray Of Sunshine
6. I'll Take You Down To Mexico [side 2]
7. Easy Loving Lady
8. Comfort And Please You
9. What A Lady
10. Easy Come, Easy Go
Tracks 1 to 10 are his sixth album "New Ray Of Sunshine" – released December 1975 in the USA on Capricorn Records CP 0163 and January 1976 in the UK on Capricorn Records 2429 132

11. Let Go [Side 1]
12. Do It (aka Do Me)
13. Mellow Man
14. Find 'Em, Fool 'Em And Forget 'Em
15. The Best Of My Love
16. Country Love [Side 2]
17. When A Man Loves A Woman
18. But I Do
19. Moonlight Trippin'
20. Can't Stop A Man In Love
Tracks 11 to 20 are his seventh album "Let Go" – released February 1977 in the USA only Capricorn Records ML 1040 (no UK issue). It was released 1978 in Germany and France retitled as "Mellow Man" with the same 10-tracks but with the running order slightly altered. 

21. Find 'Em, Fool 'Em And Forget 'Em (Single Version) – August 1976 US 45-single on Capricorn CPS 0259 with the LP track "Mellow Man" as its flipside
22. The Christmas Song – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD4 "The Infinity Years" (79:16 minutes):
1. You Can Do It [Side 1]
2. We've Got To Get It On Again
3. Let This Man Take Hold On Your Life
4. Weekend Friend
5. Miss You Nights
6. I Can See Clearly Now [Side 2]
7. Starting The Night Together
8. Who's Lovin' You
9. I'll Be Your Hold Me Tight
10. Thank You For Tonight
Tracks 1 to 10 are his eight album "Midnight Diamond" – released December 1978 in the USA on Infinity Records INF 9001 and February 1979 in the UK on Infinity Records INS 2001. Produced by RICK HALL. 

11. The "In" Crowd [Side 1]
12. Stumblin' Rock To You
13. Sunny Day To Rain
14. Spending Time, Making Love And Going Crazy
15. You Can't Keep A Good Man Down [Side 2]
16. Fool, Fool
17. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You
18. We Had It All
19. Bridge Of Silence
Tracks 11 to 19 are his ninth album "Dobie Gray" – released October 1979 in the USA on Infinity Records INF 9016 (no UK issue). Produced by RICK HALL and featuring The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and Horns

20. The "In" Crowd (Single Version) – November 1979 US 45-single on Infinity Records INF 50,043, A-side (B-side was "Let This Man Take Hold On Your Life" from the previous album "Midnight Diamond" of 1978). With the LP track "Spending Time, Making Love And Going Crazy" chosen as the A-side, the British 45 of September 1979 on Infinity INF 115 put the remake of "The "In" Crowd" on the B-side.

Specialising to a large degree in Classic 60ts and 70ts Soul and Rhythm & Blues and able to access the truly massive Universal Music Company (UMC) umbrella of labels like Motown, Chess, James Brown Single Series on King and Polydor etc - Hip-O Select releases of this nature (multiple disc sets) tended to go for the matt almost sepia-tinted card sleeve look. As far as I know (here in Nov 2024), Hip-O no longer issues material so all are deleted and costly on the open market. But when they did reissue stuff (see my reviews for Muddy Waters, Buddy Holly, Little Walter, Burt Bacharach, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Joe Walsh, Stephen Bishop, Nils Lofgren, Junior Parker and many more) - Hip-O Select releases always looked different, felt classy too and even special. And "Drift Away: A Decade Of Dobie 1969-1979" by Dobie Gray is no different.

Shaped and sized akin to a small paperback book - the gold Limited Edition logo on the rear doesn't indicate a numbered edition though I would imagine as little as 2,000 or less copies were pressed (nor does it even have a Barcode). The front cover, two inners flaps and rear cover hold the four CDs and 20-page colour paperback-sized booklet in card slots. Each flap lists the tracks for CD1, CD2 etc while the lovely-looking booklet features an essay on his career (for this period) by SCOTT SCHINDER dated August 2004, New York City (Pages 2 to 12). Page 13 has a signed note from the singer with a picture of DB above it (also August 2004). Pages 14 to 19 lay out album-by-album production credits, players, writers, single catalogue numbers beneath titles when necessary. Mike Ragogna is the Compilation Producer with Pat Lawrence and Thane Tierney for Hip-O Select. 

Between the text (which confirms his name is Lawrence Darrow Brown and not Leonard Ainsworth as some sources have acclaimed) are some photos and his long-haul story from a Fifties Baptist-Gospel upbringing to and early/mid Sixties singles until his version of "The "In" Crowd" in 1965 broke him through to National attention. There are stories of his time on the "Hair" musical in the early Seventies, acting on US TV's Beverly Hillbillies, his fortuitous connection to songwriters Paul Williams and his brother Mentor Williams – the latter of the two being the author of the magnificent "Drift Away" written apparently during a period of intense self-doubt.

The song "Drift Away" is one of those tunes that screams cover me – especially to Pop and Rock singers looking for that elusive Soul-feel that gives their variant surefire Hitsville crossover appeal ("…gimme the beat boys and free my soul...I wanna get lost in your Rock 'n' Roll..."). John Kay of Steppenwolf covered it on his second solo album "My Sportin' Life" (July 1973 on ABC/Dunhill DSX-50147 in the USA and July 1973 on Probe SPBA 6274 in the UK) while John Henry Kurtz of obscuro band Country Coalition did a version on his debut solo album "Reunion" (November 1972 on ABC Records ABCX-742 in the USA, February 1973 in the UK on Probe SPB 1068). The Kurtz album featured interesting guests like Jeff Baxter of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers fame, future Foot Loose singer Kenny Loggins and Doug Dillard of The Dillards on Banjo. When Rhino Handmade reissued the Jackie DeShannon album "Jackie" in 2003 as "Jackie…Plus" (the LP was originally on Atlantic Records in 1972) – they too found an unreleased recording of "Drift Away" and included it on that CD. Hardly surprising then when Dobie Gray talks about the song in the liner notes that he was desperate to record a version of what he and many others knew was a winner. I would argue (as I'm sure many aficionados would to) that Dobie Gray did the definitive version of "Drift Away" (it became his signature song) – a less-is-more approach to the arrangement that let the lyrics breath, the instruments be heard and his naturally Soulful vocals towards the end soar – moving you and not just impressing (comparisons to Bill Withers and Luther Ingram jump to mind). 

To the long-player that carries its name. The audio across the whole "Drift Away" album (which will be many people's fave here) is exceptionally clean and full of warmth – the piano fills at the end of "Eddie's Song" that closes out the LP, the slow acoustic start to "Sweet Lovin' Woman" and those double-upped vocals matching the guitar lines, the funky clavinet of the gambler-come-lover (Ruby and Billy) song "Caddo Queen" and that clever passage after the chorus. The only moment I take umbrage with is the ever-so-slightly Neil Diamond schlock feel to "We Had It All" – but if that is your bag or your song – the audio is fabulous. The bass too of Mike Leach on "Drift Away" (with Reggie Young on Guitar) is so sweet – punchy but not overdone. And as I said earlier, the flipside cut "City Stars" also excellent, making the "Drift Away" 45-single (in any country) a bit of a double-whammy class in my book.

CD2 throws up the "Loving Arms" and "Hey Dixie" albums from October 1973 and October 1974 with a Non-LP A-side tagged on a Bonus (Track 21). As with the "Drift Away" LP, songwriter Mentor Williams is once again at the Producer helm for both records. The "Hey Dixie" album features Country-Rock types like guitarists Lonnie Mack, Troy Seals and Reggie Young backing up by The Muscle Shoals Horns and other cool session dudes. Many Soul fans rate the "Loving Arms" LP as much as they do "Drift Away". Realigning himself with songwriters like Mentor Williams and Ron Davies (a re-run of the same ideas for "Drift Away" in "Good Old Song"), Troy Seals and Will Jennings (a Staples Singers meets Country Rock vibe for "You And Me"), Paul Williams and Roger Nichols (the lovely and mellow never had much money song but I got love of "I Never Had It Good"), the 45-single of "Lovin' The Easy Way" (MCA 40188 with "Rose" from the "Loving Arms" LP as its flipside)coming at you with crystal clear production values. Brit power-vocalist Tom Jones provides a highlight on the album, the title track of "Loving Arms". Personal fave comes in the shape of the gee-tar plucking of "Mississippi Rolling Stone" (a Troy Seals and Don Goodman song). 

The "Hey Dixie" album sounds like its title, Country Soul meets Pop and R&B. Lonnie Mack and Troy Seals provide the title track and the mellower "How Can You Live All Alone". Another Mentor Williams song (a co-write with Jack Conrad) comes in the shape of "So High (Rock Me Baby And Roll Me Away)" – a tad cheesy in the lyrics and overdone strings department. Lonnie Mack wrote the Country Soul boogie of "Watch Out For Lucy" where the waitress is more dangerous than the band (there is a Single Version of the song at the end of CD2 as a Bonus). "Roll On Sweet Mississippi", "Can You Feel It" and a cover version of the Allen Toussaint song "Performance" continue the honky-tonk-ified schtick but it all feels a tad too ordinary to impress. But again, if these albums are your big dish of prime ribs, then you have never heard them sound or taste this good. 

CD3 covers his two albums on Capricorn Records "New Ray Of Sunshine" (December 1975 in the USA, January 1976 in the UK) and "Let Go" from February 1977 (USA, no UK issue) - a label more comfortable with The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Ttucker Band Southern boogie. "New Ray Of Sunshine" was produced by Troy Seals and Dobie Gray but for "Let Go" he went to Rick Hall's Fame Label studio and his Muscle Shoals backing band. The "New Ray Of Sunshine" album is a halfway-house between Soul, Funk and the Country Soul of say Eddie Hinton. The audio on tracks like "Harold And The Swinging Rocks" and "Drive On, Ride On" is so damn clear and muscled enough to add to the band's funk. Will Jennings (who would go on to do huge amounts of co-writes with Steve Window of The Spencer David Group, Traffic and Blind Faith in the late Seventies and Eighties for his hugely successful stints on Island Records) wrote the sappy "If Love Must Go" - itself followed by the Clavinet Pop-Funk of "Lover's Sweat". But tracks like "A New Ray Of Sunshine" and "I'll Take You Down To Mexico" have an awkward genre feel - like they don't know what they want to be - Rock - or Rock Soul - when both end up not hitting either spot. The album comes to a big-ballad finish with "Easy Come, Easy Go" - love walking off down the road real slow - too much time for DB to see it disappear over the horizon of bad decisions. 

Rick Hall and his production crew opens the 1977 LP "Let Go" with a sophisticated Soul smoocher - hurts to say her name - gorgeous audio. But as with the album before it poor material like the seriously cheesy "Mellow Man" and the staggeringly incorrect lyrics of the funk work-out "Find 'Em, Fool 'Em and Forget 'Em" - not a story I want to hear DB. His cover version of the gorgeous Eagles ballad "The Best Of My Love" from their 1974 album "On The Border" is awful - the bippity-boppity shuffle of Country Love is not a whole lot better. Dobie's stab at Percy Sledge's fabulous 60ts Atlantic Records anthem "When A Man Loves A Woman" tries hard with its strings and guitars but again feels forced and not a patch on the genuinely moving original. Beautiful Bass Notes audio on "But I Do" but like the falsely upbeat schtick of "Midnight Trippin'" and the singalong finisher "Can't Stop A Man In Love" - it all feels like three-stars when you crave five. The final insult comes in the unreleased outtake – a 1977 Hallmark Movie and Greeting Card pour-on-the-syrup version of "The Christmas Song" – the magic of 1973's "Drift Away" drifting off into the distance depressingly fast. 

Straight-up nicking The Bee Gees sound and arrangements - "You Can Do It" is chasing the 'Saturday Night Fever' dollar so hard it's liable to disappear up its open-top silk shirt. Lurve-cack like "Let This Man Take Hold Of Your Life" and a cover of the Cliff Richard hit "Miss You Nights" only add to the falsehood even if they sound amazing. Johnny Nash and his Reggae hit of 1972 "I Can See Clearly Now" gets funked up to little point and saccharin strings drown "Who's Lovin' You" in layers of Soulless fairy dust. At least "Thank You Tonight" ends a very patchy album on a semi-high note. The self-titled "Dobie Gray" opens with a truly dreadful moment where Dobie butchers his Sixties masterpiece "The "In" Crowd" with a heavy-handed Disco take. Once again the Production values are top notch but super-produced ballads like "Sunny Day To Rain" and the cringe-lyrics of "Spending Time, Making Love And Going Crazy" are not tunes I will reach for ever again. 

So there you have it - "Drift Away: A Decade Of Dobie 1969-1979" by Soul Man Dobie Gray is the very definition of a musical mixed-bag - the first two albums in spiffing sound quality and actually worth returning too. But the rest is serious hard work if I'm honest. 

Released in December 2004 and like all American Hip-O Select reissues - limited and desirable - it also has the added wallop of costing you should you want a copy. But once you clap your tired lugs on that sweet-as-a-nut remastered sound quality -  fans will have to own it...

"The Big Chill Soundtrack: Deluxe Edition" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – September 1983 US Soundtrack Album on Motown Records, Plus April 1984 Follow-Up Motown Album "More Songs From The Big Chill" Plus 2 Bonus Soundtrack Pieces (all CD1) and CD2 "Bigger Chill – Music Of A Generation" with 19 Further Sixties and Seventies Period Tracks (March 2004 USA Hip-O Select 2CD Deluxe Edition with 26 Bonus Tracks and Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review and 194 More Like It Available 

In My Amazon e-Book 

"SOMETHING'S HAPPENING HERE Volume 7"

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Info Taken From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut and Paste Crap) Only £3.95 per Volume 

All seven Volumes same price - Total of 1,365 different reviews

 

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"...Dancing In The Street..."

 

Universal's Deluxe Edition 2CD Compilations seem to be defunct now in 2023. Once they were such a force – a huge 630-plus releases from 2001 onward to 2017 encompassing all genres of music. Now they are all but forgotten it seems - part of CD Reissue History - a series that had simply outran its course and overstayed its welcome.

 

DE's had that look – initially with the outer DELUXE EDITION plastic slipcase (often with credits printed on the rear, this DE does) that would be later be replaced by a band on the outside of a flimsy card Digipak (Thin Lizzy issues) that cheapened the series to a point where collectors hated them. And it seemed that every huge album issued in the 60ts, 70ts and 80ts had to have a DE. But many titles seemed to be stretching it at times with dubious bonuses and there was never that much of an imagination when it came to what was reissued. 

 

But there were about 10 in my books (Howlin' Wolf "The London Chess Sessions", Whiskeytown's "Strangers Almanac", The Who's "Who's Next", Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", the Jimmy Cliff and Various Artists Reggae Soundtrack "The Harder They Come", Bob Marley & The Wailers "Legend: Best Of") that actually sang like a bird and genuinely enhanced the original they were supposed to be complimenting.

 

Originally issued as a humble 10-tracker LP on US Motown in September 1983, "The Big Chill Original Soundtrack" focused on the exuberant "Dancing In The Street" Soul, R&B, Rock and Pop of the Sixties. It proved hugely popular because of its on-the-money track choices. The Lawrence Kasdan directed film about American friends navigating life, marriage, loneliness, kids and success in the burbs starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly and Jobeth Williams caught the zeitgeist when it was released into the cinema in late 1983. Hitting the Billboard LP charts in late October 1983 – it rose to No. 17and spent a whopping 161 weeks on the charts. The music in the film was so popular, it spawned a follow-up More album in 1984 that itself peaked at a more modest No. 85 – but was still impressive. Two songs are missing from that second album – The Rolling Stones and The Steve Miller Band due to licensing. This 2CD DE variant of "The Big Chill Soundtrack" just amplifies both of those LPs by adding 21 more cuts. It's a winner I've been meaning to champion for years.

 

You could easily argue that there are so many 60ts compilations that offer more, are easier to get etc. But this is one of those Hip-O Select reissues that so works and with genuinely top-notch Suha Gur Remasters (access to original master tapes) – packs the punch where it counts – audio – and can still be purchased in certain places for under fifteen quid. With its Digipak interior, outer plastic slipcase and its 24-page expanded booklet, it looks the part too. There's a lot to digest, so to the cold sweats...

 

US released 23 March 2004 - "The Big Chill Soundtrack: Deluxe Edition" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Hip-O Select B0001940-02 (Barcode 602498162286) is a 2CD Deluxe Edition Compilation offer Two Albums and Two Previously Unreleased Soundtrack Songs on CD1 with 19 More 'Music Of A Generation' Sixties Tracks on CD2. It plays out as follows (US 45-single details after each title):

 

CD1 (57:03 minutes):

1. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – MARVIN GAYE (October 1968, Tamla T-54176, A-side)

2. My Girl – THE TEMPTATIONS (December 1964, Gordy G-7083, A-side)

3. Good Lovin' – THE RASCALS (February 1966, Atlantic 45-2321, A-side)

4. The Tracks Of My Tears – SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES (June 1965, Tamla T-54118, A-side)

5. Joy To The World – THREE DOG NIGHT (February 1971, Dunhill/ABC Records D-4272, A-side)

6. Ain't Too Proud To Be – THE TEMPTATIONS (May 1966, Gordy G-7054, A-side)

7. A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like) – ARETHA FRANKLIN (September 1967, Atlantic 45-2441, A-side)

8. I Second That Emotion – SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES (October 1967, Tamla T-54159, A-side)

9. A Whiter Shade Of Pale – PROCOL HARUM (June 1967, Deram 45-7507, A-side)

10. Tell Him – THE EXCITERS (October 1962, United Artists UA 544, A-side)

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "The Big Chill Original Soundtrack" – released September 1983 in the USA on Motown 6062 ML. UK release was July 1984 on CD – Motown ZD72347.

 

11. Bad Moon Rising – CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL (April 1969, Fantasy 622, A-side)

12. When A Man Loves A Woman – PERCY SLEDGE (March 1966, Atlantic 45-2326, A-side)

13. In The Midnight Hour – THE RASCALS (cover version of the Wilson Pickett Atlantic Records classic, from their debut album "The Young Rascals" - released March 1966 in the USA on Atlantic 8123 (Mono) and Atlantic SD 8123 (Stereo) – Stereo Version used)

14. Gimme Some Lovin' – THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (December 1966, United Artists UA 50108, A-side, featured vocalist is Steve Winwood)

15. The Weight – THE BAND (August 1968, Capitol 2269, A-side, featured vocalist Robbie Robertson)

16. Wouldn't It Be Nice – THE BEACH BOYS (July 1966, Capitol 5706, A-side)

Tracks 11 to 17 on CD1 and Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 on CD2 are the album "More Songs From The Original Soundtrack Of The Big Chill" – released April 1984 in the USA on Motown 6094M. Note: the original LP had 11-tracks – the two missing are "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones and "Quicksilver Girl" by The Steve Miller Band due to licensing. Four of these LP tracks were not actually featured in the movie but included on the LP as period pieces – they are separated over to Tracks 1 to 4 on CD2.

 

FILM INSTRUMENTALS

17. Strangers In The Night – BERT KAEMPFERT (April 1966, Decca 31945, A-side – also on "More Songs From The Original Soundtrack Of The Big Chill" LP from 1984 – see Tracks 11 to 16 above)

18. You Can't Always Get What You Want – CHURCH VERSION (Previously Unreleased, 1983 Soundtrack Version used at the beginning of the movie)

 

CD2 "Bigger Chill: Music Of A Generation" (60:20 minutes):

1. It's The Same Old Song – THE FOUR TOPS (July 1965, Motown M 1081, A-side)

2. Dancing In The Street – MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS (July 1964, Gordy G-7033, A-side)

3. What's Going On – MARVIN GAYE (January 1971, Tamla T 54201, A-side)

4. Too Many Fish In The Sea – THE MARVELETTES (October 1964, Tamla T-54105, A-side)

Tracks 1 to 4 do not appear in the film but were included on the follow-up LP "More Songs From The Original Soundtrack Of The Big Chill" in April 1984

 

5. Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing – MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL (March 1968, Tamla T-54163, A-side)

6. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted – JIMMY RUFFIN (June 1966, Soul S-35022, A-side)

7. Shotgun – Jr. WALKER & THE ALL STARS (January 1965, Soul S 35008, A-side)

8. Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) – ISLEY BROTHERS (March 1968, Tamla T-54164, A-side)

9. Ask Any Girl – THE SUPREMES (September 1964, Motown M-1066, B-side to "Baby Love")

10. You Don't Own Me – LESLEY GORE (December 1963, Mercury 72206, A-side)

11. Like To Get To Know You – SPANKY & OUR GANG (April 1968, Mercury 72795, A-side)

12. Monday, Monday – THE MAMAS and THE PAPAS (March 1966, Dunhill D-4026, A-side)

13. Nights In White Satin – MOODY BLUES (January 1968, Deram 45-85023, A-side)

14. Feelin' Alright – JOE COCKER (May 1969, A&M 1063, A-side)

15. Game Of Love – WAYNE FONTANA & THE MINDBENDERS (February 1965, Fontana F-1503, A-side)

16. I Got You (I Feel Good) – JAMES BROWN and THE FAMOUS FLAMES (October 1965, King 45-6015, A-side)

17. (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet – BLUES MAGOOS (October 1966, Mercury 72622, A-side)

18. Time Of The Season – THE ZOMBIES (October 1968, Date 2-1628, A-side)

19. Get It While You Can – HOWARD TATE (March 1967, Verve VK 10496, A-side)

 

The four-way foldout card digipak provides stills from the movie on the inner flaps (William Hurt and Meg Tilly – Jeff Goldblum and Tom Berenger) – there's nothing underneath the see-through CD trays, but the oversized 24-page booklet has a new and very cool essay from KEVIN FILIPSKI called The Pulse Of A Generation – he being the first cool one to review the film in his 1983 college newspaper. For instance – Filipski points out that the hugely overplayed (and a tune I personally hate) "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by Procol Harum was first used in this 1983 film and to clever visual story-telling effect. Since then, Shade has been in every 60ts-based movie under the sun as an easy theme touch. Abutting the text are pictures of both album sleeves from 1983 and 1984, basic track details (no catalogue numbers or dates, I have provided that above) and two other photos of actors Kevin Kline, William Hurt and Meg Tilly.

 

But all of that is whomped by the fantastically alive Audio – remastered by a man who has had a hand in huge numbers of Motown and Hip-O Select reissues – SUHA GUR. Like Ellen Fitton or Erick Labson or Gavin Lurssen – Suha Gur is a Remastering Engineer I seek out. I've reviewed his Allman Brothers, Four Tops, Cream, Kansas, Fairport Convention, Joe Cocker Remasters - many on Deluxe Editions - and all are exceptionally good. Take a trio like the rarely heard B-side "Ask Any Girl" by The Supremes nestling as Track 9 on CD2 followed by Lesley Gore doing "You Don't Own Me" as Track 10 and again the lesser-celebrated "Like To Get To Know You" by Spanky & Our Gang as Track 11 (dig that fantastic Mamas & Papas layered vocal passage that plays the song out) – you may to turn the stereo down such is the clarity – fabulous stuff.

 

The 1983 Motown album and its 1984 follow-up followed the same musical formula - mostly 60ts Soul, R 'n' B, Pop and Rock with a smattering of early Seventies - Marvin Gaye's utterly stupendous "What's Going On" and Three Dog Night's fab cover of the Hoyt Axton tune "Joy To The World" - Jeremiah Bullfrog sounding like the decade before anyway. You might look at titles like "Dancing In The Street" by Martha & The Vandellas, "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin or even "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by The Temptations- and think - I've heard these perennials too many times before. But you haven't heard them in this clarity which has endowed each with a freshness that's revelatory - and on more than a few occasions I cried because they capture youth. Throw in nuggets like Joe Cocker's utter belter "Feelin' Alright" or even the innocence in The Marvelettes and their girly "Too Many Fish In The Sea" or or the blistering Motownesque "Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis group fronted by the astonishing young pipes of Steve Winwood. Hell, I even dig that Church Version of The Stones' "Let It Bleed" classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want" that Kasdan used at the beginning of the movie when you slowly begin to realize why someone is being dressed...

And on it goes - "The Big Chill Soundtrack: Deluxe Edition" is that rarity in reissues - the kind of release that upped the original to a point where a compilation is remembered with such affection 40-years after its initial charm. Check online too in 2023 as price vary. Buy and enjoy...

"Geronimo's Cadillac" by MICHAEL MURPHEY - May 1972 US Debut Solo Album [ex The Lewis and Clarke Expedition] on A&M Records, October 1972 in the UK on Regal Zonophone Records featuring Members of The Lost Gonzo Band, Blue Steel, Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry (August 2004 US-Only Hip-O Select/A&M Records CD Reissue In A Numbered Limited Edition (5000 Copies) Hard Card Oversized Mini LP Repro Artwork Gatefold Sleeve with Hip-O Inner - Gavin Lurssen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Debut Albums 1956 to 1986

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"...That Rainbow Man..."

 

Trading under the aliases of Travis Lewis and Boomer Clarke - Texans Michael Martin Murphey and his pal Boomer Castleman had been in the short-lived one-album band The Lewis And Clarke Expedition. Their "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" debut LP had appeared on Colgems Records in November 1967 (COM-105 Mono and COS-105 Stereo). As Lewis and Clarke, they had also managed to place their song "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round" (from that L&W debut) on Side 2 of The Monkees LP "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd" (Colgems COS-104, also issued November 1967). Probably kept them in peanuts and coffee for a while.

 

Years later, legendary Producer Bob Johnston of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Simon & Garfunkel fame brought Michael Murphey to A&M Records and Nashville as a Promising New Artist. And that brings us to this, his rather lovely but kind of obscure Country-Folk-Rock debut solo album "Geronimo's Cadillac". 

 

Issued May 1972 on A&M Records in the USA and October 1972 on EMI's Regal Zonophone label in the UK - Murphey in fact re-visited "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round" on his debut - and again in his own stylistically Terry Reid-ish gruff-voiced style. To the digital...

 

Hip-O Select's CD reissue is part of their Limited Edition to 5000 numbered series - hard card sleeves with inners and various original features. Good news and bad news there. The original American LP was on their Tan Label variant and came with an inner sleeve that printed all the lyrics - this CD rather stupidly uses a pressing probably around 1975 that has the Silver and Gold A&M label, advert inner bag for other A&M Records and no lyrics. This means that you get the Silver & Gold label on the CD and a rather silly repro of those A&M Records advert bag on a single slip of paper. The hard card gatefold sleeve (numbered in gold on the rear, see photos) is truly gorgeous and is oversized compared to say those Japanese SHM-CD Mini LP Repros. But the best news is what I really want - a stunningly pretty and clear CD Remaster courtesy of GAVIN LURSSEN from original tapes. 

I've got Lurssen's stellar transfers across a multitude of releases - Stephen Bishop ("Careless" and "Bish", both issues in this numbered series too), Joe Walsh ("Barnstorm"), Steppenwolf and The Crusaders ("Gold"), Terry Callier ("Occasional Rain"), Jimmy Cliff ("The Harder They Come" DE 2CD Version), Bo Diddley ("Chess Years") and right on up to Tom Waits ("Blood And Money") and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' magnificent "Raising Sand" set in 2007. Lurssen is the kind of Audio Engineer I seek out - and make no mistake - his work here is just beautiful. Only seconds into the lovely Acoustic Guitar of "Boy From The Country" and you'll be done and dusted. If you have any love for "Geronimo's Cadillac", then this is the digital version you need to own. To the details that 'take me back'...

 

US-only released 20 August 2004 - "Geronimo's Cadillac" by MICHAEL MURPHEY on Hip-O Select/A&M Records B0002878-02 (no Barcode) is a Limited Numbered Edition of 5000 Copies. It's housed in a Hard-Card Oversized Gate-fold Mini LP Repro Artwork Sleeve with a Hip-O Select See-Through Plastic Inner and Mid-70ts A&M Records Advert Bag reproduced as a single page insert (no lyrics). It plays out as follows (44:49 minutes):

 

1. Geronimo's Cadillac [Side 1]

2. Natchez Trace 

3. Calico Silver 

4. Harbor For My Soul 

5. Rainbow Man 

6. Waking Up 

7. Crack Up in Las Cruces [Side 2]

8. Boy From The Country 

9. What Am I Doin' Hangin' Around?

10. Michael Angelo's Blues (Song For Hogman)

11. Backslider's Wine 

12. The Lights Of The City 

Tracks 1 to 12 are his Debut Solo Album (as Michael Murphey) "Geronimo's Cadillac" - released May 1972 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4358 and October 1972 in the UK on Regal Zonophone SRZA 3062. Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it charted September 1972 USA and peaked at No. 160 some weeks later (didn't chart UK). 

 

MUSICIANS: 

MICHAEL MURPHEY [ex The Lewis & Clarke Expedition] - Lead Vocals, Acoustic, Bottleneck, Mandolin, Piano & Harp

LEONARD ARNOLD [ex Lavender Hill Express, later with Blue Steel] - Electric and Pedal Steel Guitar 

GARY NUNN [The Lost Gonzo Band] - Bass, Piano And Background Vocals 

ROBERT LIVINGSTON [The Lost Gonzo Band] - Bass and Background Vocals

BOOMER CASTLEMAN [ex The Lewis & Clarke Expedition] - Electric Guitar with Hand Levers 

KENNY BUTTREY [Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry] - Drums & Percussion

KARL HIMMEL [Mother Earth] - Drums 

CHARLES JOHN QUATRO - Vocals 

These Hip-O Select numbered CD reissues are lookers, lovely and so aesthetically pleasing, but again it's the GAVIN LURSSEN audio that thrills. To pre-empt the album in Blighty, Regal Zonophone issued "Geronimo's Car" as a 45-single on the 1st of September 1972 with the equally melodious "Boy From The Country" on the flipside for RZ 3062. But while it tanked in England, the USA afforded the same track combo a cool LP-artwork picture sleeve for their 7" single on A&M 1368. That July 1972-issued 45-single rose across months to No. 37 on the Billboard charts. So lingering around since May 1972, the LP then suddenly began getting traction and finally charted Stateside in September 1972 for a stay of 9 weeks. Speaking of sweet sounds, the slide guitar and warm bass of "Natchez Trace" and the Acoustic Plainsong-sounding strum of "Backslider's Wine" (the rain ruining his alibi) are other examples of beautiful audio.

 

While his brand of Country Rock and Acoustics meant zip in the UK, Murphey would go on to chart another seven albums on the US Billboard Album Charts on a variety of labels (A&M, Epic and Liberty) between 1973 and 1983. Arnold and Nunn would both be part of The Lost Gonzo Band on MCA Records from 1975 onwards, while Charles Quatro (poet and singer) would go on to have his own solo LP on Atlantic Records in 1971.

 

But "Geronimo's Cadillac" is Murphey's mellow even Country-Soulful starting place. And Hip-O Select have done it proud on the audio front at least on this now rare American-only 2004 CD Remaster - even if the packaging sloppiness kind of let the lyrical side down somewhat. 

 

Summing up - as the piano and organ in the LP's hymnal finisher "The Lights In The City" (written by Ray Lewis) swells around your room and talk of light shining down fills your speakers - I suspect fans and newcomers alike will be basking in this disc's audio glow. Rare but nice...