"Indianola Mississippi Seeds" by B. B. KING (1995 Beat Goes On CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Can't Break Loose Of These Chains And Things..."

Eagles Producer Bill Szymczyk first hooked up with B.B. King for the June 1969 "Live And Well" LP on BluesWay – then helmed the superb December 1969 studio album "Completely Well" too. Those two well-received live and studio sets introduced B.B. King classics like "The Thrill Is Gone" and "So Excited" to a new audience (largely white boys digging the Blues) and more importantly helped the legendary Blues Boy break the Billboard album charts after decades of absence - "Live And Well" made No. 56 and "Completely Well" went higher to No. 38.

Meanwhile on his 1969 travels to Cleveland - Bill Szymczyk spots a local band fronted by an amazing guitar player/singer rocking a club. It was The James Gang and the axe maestro was of course Joe Walsh.

Although beloved in the industry for her songwriting genius with Gerry Goffin and her largely unnoticed band work with The City – in 1970 Carole King hadn’t made "Tapestry" yet and wasn’t the household name she would become throughout 1971 and beyond. Oklahoma songwriter and keyboardist Leon Russell had only just released his self-titled debut LP "Leon Russell" in December 1969 on Shelter Records (Joe Cocker would cover "Delta Lady" from it and create a hit – BB King would do "Hummingbird" - also on that album). Soulful backing singer Merry Clayton had famously duetted with Mick Jagger on The Rolling Stones classic "Gimme Shelter" from their classic "Let It Bleed" album in 1969 and was about to emerge into the limelight in 1970 with her own debut album on A&M/Ode 70 Records not surprisingly called "Gimme Shelter” (see review).

The point of this musical history lesson is that B.B. King's 1970 LP "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" (Produced by Bill Szymczyk) brought 'all' of these mercurial talents together for the first time. And I'd argue that in 2016 - it's one of those criminally 'overlooked' albums that shouldn't be. Time to rectify that careless oversight on our part - we children of Alan Freed and a frothing Robert Johnson. Here are the plugged-in watermelon details...

UK released June 1995 (reissued December 2008) – "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" by B.B. KING on Beat Goes On BGOCD 237 (Barcode 5017261202376) is a straightforward CD transfer/remaster of that album and plays outs as follows (39:33 minutes):

1. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother

2. You're Still My Woman

3. Ask Me No Questions

4. Until I'm Dead And Cold

5. King's Special

6. Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore [Side 2]

7. Chains And Things

8. Go Underground

9. Hummingbird

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" – released October 1970 in the USA on ABC Records ABCS-713 and October 1970 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6255 (gatefold sleeve in both countries). Produced by BILL SZYMCZYK with Strings and Horns arranged by JIMMIE HASKELL. It peaked at No. 26 on the US LP charts. Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are written by B.B. King – Tracks 2, 7 and 8 co-written with B.B. King and Dave Clark – Track 9 is a Leon Russell cover version. 

MUSICIANS:

B.B. KING - All Lead Vocals & Guitar

JOE WALSH - Rhythm Guitar on "Ask Me No Questions", "King's Special" and "Hummingbird"

CAROLE KING - Piano on "You're Still My Woman", "Until I'm Dead And Cold" and "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore"

CAROLE KING - Electric Piano on "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore" and "Chains And Things"

LEON RUSSELL - Piano on "Ask Me No Questions", "King's Special" and "Go Underground"

MERRY CLAYTON - Backing Vocals

BRYAN GARAFALO - Bass

RUSS KUNKEL - Drums

45s released around the LP:

1. Hummingbird b/w Ask Me No Questions

July 1970 USA 7" single on ABC Records 45-11268

August 1970 UK 7" single on Stateside SS 2176

2. Chains And Things [Edit] b/w King's Special [Edit]

October 1970 USA 7” single on ABC Records 45-ABC-11280

Chains And Things b/w King's Special

February 1971 UK 7" single on Probe PRO 516 (no edits)

3. Ask Me No Questions b/w Nobody Loves Me But My Mother

February 1971 USA 7" single on ABC Records ABC-11290

Ask Me Questions/Help The Poor b/w Hummingbird

June 1971 UK 7" single on Probe Records PRO 528 (Note: the A-side has two tracks)

The 8-page inlay has basic but entertaining liner notes from JOHN TOBLER. This is 1995 BGO – so the booklet isn’t like their 20-page tomes of late nor is there a pretty card slipcase (mores the pity) and could frankly do with some updating. It doesn’t say who did the Remaster but it was carried out at 'Sound Recording Technology in Cambridge' in early 1995. The audio is great – meaty in all the right ways. It has a very analogue feel - hissy in some places - but alive and kicking for all that.

With just B.B.accompanying himself on piano - it opens with the witty "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" where the Blues Boy bemoans his womanless fate. Nobody loves him and he ain't sure about his mother either (could be jiving him). Next up is the slinky "You're Still My Woman" and we're introduced to another 'secret weapon' in the sessions - a writer's credit to a one 'Dave Clark'. B.B. co-wrote three of the songs with this Tennessee songwriting genius and although Clark never managed an album of his own – his songs crop up like good pennies in cool places. Clark’s "Homework" was covered by The J. Geils Band on their debut and used as a 7" single. "Homework" also turned up on the Fleetwood Mac and Friends double-album "Blues Jam At Chess" on Blue Horizon. B.B. would co-write with Clark again on the 1972 album "L.A. Midnight" on ABC Records (Probe Records in the UK). ABC decided to use Clark's wonderful "Chains And Things" as a 45 and you can so hear why. This sneaky electric piano riffs comes sailing in (Carole King) and it’s that fabulous 70ts fusion of Blues and Rock and Soul all rolled into one (a highlight for sure).

There are two funky instrumentals - "King's Special" (preceded by some studio chatter) features the band of King, Walsh, Carole and Leon all boogieing the session in a hipster jam. It's the kind of cool Rock-Soul-Funky instrumental that will turn up on some Soul Jazz double-album compilation in the next few years - an example of a long lost wicked groove that kids of today need to know about. The other is the Side 2 opener "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore" which is a weird one - like two songs in one - both different but excellent grooves. "Go Underground" hails from the "Completely Well" sessions and is a Funky bopper - could have been a great single. His cover of Leon Russell's "Hummingbird" ends the record on another Funky Blues vibe - great piano and those orchestrated strings. The bass is so sweet, Leon plays piano on his own tune and Joe Walsh gives it some chug in the Rhythm section and Merry comes in with the choir voices at the finale.

"Indianola Mississippi Seeds" is a wicked album filled with musical bodies that only complimented and enhanced the great man's mojo.

"...She gets me where I live..." - B.B. King sings on the cool "Hummingbird". Well plug me into that watermelon one more time...

"Home Free/Souvenirs" by DAN FOGELBERG - 1972 and 1974 Debut and Second Studio Albums featuring Guests Joe Walsh, Eagles (Henley, Meisner and Frey), Graham Nash, Members of Stephen Stills' Manassas and more (May 2006 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation - 2LPs onto 2CDs - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...When Faced With The Past...The Strongest Man Cries…"

Dan Fogelberg’s particular way with a melody has always tugged at my heart strings – and this genuinely classy Beat Goes On 2CD reissue of his first two albums from the early Seventies – only hammers home that great way he had with words about hurt and love – and all of it wrapped up in a fiendishly hooky Eagles-like Country Rock tune. Here are the hickory groves, changing horses and songs from half mountain…

UK released May 2006 - "Home Free/Souvenirs" by DAN FOGELBERG on Beat Goes On BGOCD 709 (Barcode 5017261207098) offers two albums from 1972 and 1974 (USA) remastered onto two CDs and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (46:58 minutes):

1. To The Morning

2. Stars

3. More Than Ever

4. Be On Your Way

5. Hickory Grove

6. Long Way Home ((Live In The Country) [Side 2]

7. Looking For A Lady

8. Anyway I Love You

9. Wysteria

10. The River

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut album “Home Free” issued in the USA in October 1972 on Columbia KC 31751 and 1974 in the UK on Epic S EPC 31847 (re-issued in July 1976 on Epic 80697 in the UK).

[Note: earlier CD issues of this album have tended to use a ‘remixed’ version of the album that was done in the Eighties. This CD uses the original master tape - so is the album as heard on release].

Disc 2 (43:29 minutes):

1. Part Of The Plan

2. Illinois

3. Changing Horses

4. Better Change

5. Souvenirs

6. The Long Way

7. As The Raven Flies [Side 2]

8. Song From Half Mountain

9. Morning Sky

10. (Someone’s Been) Telling You Stories

11. There’s A Place In The World For A Gambler

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 2nd LP released December 1974 in the USA on Full Moon Records PC 35872 and March 1975 in the UK on Epic EPC 80623.

His debut is good rather than being great but already had his melody strengths on show - a sort of singer-songwriter lone Eagles persona. Tracks like the piano opener “To The Morning” and the largely acoustic “Be On Your Way” are melancholic but also beautiful in their way. It’s been years since I first heard these songs (now sounding crystal clear) and a full forty years plus - it’s impressive stuff (like a male Judee Sill). But things took a quantum leap with LP number two...

With guest appearances on illustrious albums like “So What” by Joe Walsh, “Late For The Sky” by Jackson Browne and “Peace On You” by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds – Dan Fogelberg was already moving in elevated circles when he went to make the gorgeous “Souvenirs” album. Packed with catchy tunes and even a chart hit or two - this hugely polished effort put the album into the Top 50 charts in late 1974. “Part Of The Plan” was even lifted as a 7” single and did reasonably well.

Produced by JOE WALSH - “Souvenirs” featuring most of the Eagles (Henley, Meisner, Frey), Graham Nash, Kenny Passarelli, Russ Kunkel, Joe Lala and Al Perkins - the musician credits reads like a whose who of what was hot at the time. In the USA it was issued as a gatefold sleeve but in the UK as a single sleeve with a lyric insert. This CD reproduces the inner American artwork (a painting of his) and the lyrics for both LPs. The John Tobler liner notes are excellent (features an interview with Joe Walsh).

But the big news for me is the sound. I had “Souvenirs” on a 2007 Japanese remaster and 5” card repro sleeve - and that was good - this remaster is light years better. ANDREW THOMPSON did the remaster at Sound Mastering in London (he handles large numbers of BGO’s reissues) and his transfer here has brought out Walsh’s accomplished original production values. You can hear the squeaking of strings, air around the instruments - even the normally muddied “Part Of The Plan” sounds more open. There are so many goodies on here - a plaintive “The Long Way” and the gorgeous title track “Souvenirs” (lyrics from it title this review). “Song From Half Mountain” where he plays all the instruments himself is so pretty and the chugging Eagles Rock of “Someone’s Been telling You Stories”. “Changing Horses” and “Better Change” still stand up as great melodies - only the countrified “Morning Sky” lets the side down. All in all - moving stuff.

I posted a note on Fogelberg’s website when he sadly succumbed to cancer in December 2007 - yet another teenage hero of mine gone to the great gig in the sky.

“There’s a song in the heart of a woman...that only the truest of loves can release. Set it free...” These lyrics from the album finisher “There’s A Place In The World For A Gambler” get me to this day - nearly 40 years after the event. My younger sister Cathy even described him once as ‘beautiful’.

Well - now Dan is free - and this beautiful-sounded 2CD does his memory proud...

"Karla Bonoff/Restless Nights/Wild Heart Of The Young" by KARLA BONOFF - 1977, 1979 and 1982 Albums on Columbia Records (November 2013 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation - 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Sings Me Sweet Things..."

Like most people I came to Karla Bonoff and her affecting songs via Linda Ronstadt. I'd loved both "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me" and "If He's Ever Near" - Bonoff originals issued as singles by Linda in the USA. This excellent 2CD set is a great place to look for more...

UK released November 2013 – "Karla Bonoff/Restless Nights/Wild Heart Of The Young" by KARLA BONOFF on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1126 (Barcode 5017261211262) features 3 albums Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (74:20 minutes):

1. Someone To Lay Down Beside Me

2. I Can't Hold On

3. Lose Again

4. Home

5. Faces In The Wind

6. Isn't It Always Love [Side 2]

7. If He's Ever Near

8. Flying High

9. Falling Star

10. Rose In The Garden

Tracks 1 to 10 are her debut solo LP "Karla Bonoff" released in September 1977 on Columbia PC 34672 in the USA and January 1978 in the UK on CBS S 82455.

11. Trouble Again

12. Restless Nights

13. The Letter

14. When You Walk In The Room

15. Only A Fool

16. Baby Don't Go

17. Never Stop Her Heart

18. Loving You

19. The Water Is Wide

Tracks 11 to 19 are her 2nd album "Restless Nights" released in September 1979 on Columbia JC 35799 in the USA and January 1980 on CBS S 83587 in the UK

Disc 2 (37:56 minutes):

1. Personally

2. Please Be The One

3. I Don't Want To Miss You

4. Even If

5. Just Walk Away

6. Gonna Be Mine

7. Wild Heart Of The Young

8. It Just Takes One

9. Dream

Tracks 1 to 9 are her 3rd album "Wild Heart Of The Young" released in April 1982 on Columbia FC 37444

The card wrap pictures all 3 albums and the detailed 16-page booklet outlines session details and a history of her career and associations (John Tobler liner notes). Quite apart from Ronstadt, the albums are littered with the West Coast session mafia - Russ Kunkle, Waddy Watchel, the Eagles, Andrew Gold, Steve Forman, Leland Sklar, Joe Walsh, and long-time producer and friend Kenny Edwards. ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Performances in London did the remastering and they're beautifully clear and full of presence - reflecting the superb original production values.

The debut album is probably the best with gems like "Home" (lyrics above), "Faces In The Wind" and "Falling Star" as well as the fabulous "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me". In fact as the tunes and ace musicianship go softly by - you're hit over and over by her affecting song writing - rather like a female Jackson Browne on a good day. You could just imagine the Eagles recording an entire album of her songs and making them sound like their own compositions. Bonnie Raitt covered "Home" on her April 1977 LP "Sweet Forgiveness" and Warners even released it as a UK 7" single on K 16953 in May 1977 to promote the album. In the meantime Linda Ronstadt arguably took "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me" to even greater heights. She featured it on her April 1976 album "Hasten Down The Wind" (a top 3 record in the USA) and the song turned up as a US and UK 45 in late 1976 and early 1977 (it was also featured on her May 1980 "Greatest Hits Vol.2"). Bonoff is like this – a songsmith – picked up on by others who know a winning melody when they hear one. Her self-titled debut rose to No. 52 on the US Pop LP charts and had a 40-week run – but it's unfairly forgotten now and shouldn't be.

The second and third albums saw the tunes drop too many times into terrible late-Seventies Neil Diamond schlock territory. Jackie De Shannon provides backing vocals on her own song "When He Walked Into The Room" and another winner is her beautiful cover of the Traditional "The Water Is Wide" (James Taylor does a gorgeous version of it on his "New Moon Shine" album from 1991). The polished "Wild Heart..." from 1982 is unfortunately all production and too few actual tunes ("Just Takes One" is a lovely exception with nice slide guitar from Joe Walsh). And Kenny Edwards and Andrew Gold (long-time collaborators with Bonoff) have their talent and presence on almost every track (both are now sadly passed on).

It might not be everyone's idea of heaven - but those languid melodies I've mentioned will affect you. If you're a Karla Bonoff fan - this superlative sounding and well-presented reissue is a must own...especially for that lovely debut...