"The Freakbeat Scene" by VARIOUS (September 1998 Deram 'Decca Originals' CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Dig The New Breed..."

The nine titles in this 'Decca Originals' CD Series (listed below) are each worth an essay alone - 'On The Scene' compilations pitched as I recall at less than a fiver and in some cases a mere four quid - representing amazing value for money in any man's language (then and now).

Originally released in late 1998 and early 1999 in the UK, each generously proportioned genre-themed CD gives unsuspecting punters a 25-track access to ultra-rare music that would cost a Euro Sceptic's bar tab to acquire the originals on 60ts vinyl. Each is aimed at the discerning collector for sure, but there is also a clever commercialism at work here – the ludicrously well-informed compiler JOHN REED having lined up the goodies to please the ear of the old hand and newbee alike.

These listens are fun and brilliantly informative too – pointing the musical finger to the hybrid forms of Rock to come in 1969 and 1970. Dig the New Breed indeed. Let's get freaky with the dorky details...

UK released September 1998 - "The Freakbeat Scene" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Deram 844 879-2 (Barcode 042284487924) is a 25-Track CD compilation of 'Decca Originals-On The Scene' Remasters (all British released 7" singles) that plays out as follows (64:09 minutes):

1. Please Please Me - THE SCORE (November 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12527, A-side - Beatles cover)

2. Come On Back - PAUL and RITCHIE and THE CRYIN' SHAMES (September 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12843, B-side of "September In The Rain")

3. Anymore Than I Do - THE ATTACK (March 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F.12578, B-side of "Hi-Ho Silver Lining")

4. One Third - THE MAJORITY (July 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12453, B-side of "Simplified")

5. One Fine Day - SHEL NAYLOR (March 1964 UK 7" single on Decca F.11856, A-side)

6. Unto Us - THE NEW BREED (November 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12295, B-side of "Friends And Lovers Forever")

7. Grounded - THE SYN (June 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 130, B-side of "Created By Clive")

8. Father's Name Is Dad - THE FIRE (March 1968 UK 7" single on Decca F.12753, A-side)

9. Understanding - SMALL FACES (August 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12470, B-side of "All Or Nothing")

10. No Good Without You Baby - THE BIRDS (October 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12257, A-side)

11. The Third Degree - MARC BOLAN (June 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12413, A-side)

12. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone - THE FLIES (December 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12533, A-side)

13. Hey GYP (Dig The Slowness) - KEITH SHIELDS (February 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F.12572, A-side)

14. I'm Leaving - THE MARK FOUR (August 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12204, B-side of "Hurt Me If You Will")

15. Sorry She's Mine - JIMMY WINSTON And His REFLECTIONS (June 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12410, A-side)

16. Wooden Spoon - THE POETS (February 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F.12569, A-side)

17. Help Me Please - THE OUTER LIMITS (April 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 125, B-side of "Just One More Chance")

18. I Am Nearly There - DENIS COULDRY (February 1968 UK 7" single on Decca F.12734, B-side of "James And The Basement")

19. I Can Take It - THE BLUE STARS (December 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.12030, B-side of "Please Be A Little Kind")

20. Poor Little Heartbreaker - TIMEBOX (March 1969 UK 7" single on Deram DM 246, B-side of "Baked Jam Roll In Your Eye")

21. Run And Hide - THE FAIRYTALE (August 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F.12644, B-side of "Guess I Was Dreaming")

22. Tax Man - LOOSE ENDS (August 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12476, A-side)

23. Thanks A Lot - THE SEA-DERS (March 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F.22576, A-side)

24. Pink Dawn - THE HUMAN INSTINCT (February 1968 UK 7" single on Deram DM 177, B-side of "Renaissance Fair")

25. You Better Get A Better Hold On - THE BEATSTALKERS (March 1966 UK 7" single on Decca F.12352, B-side of "Left Right Left")

NOTES:

Track 1 - Beatles cover - the B-side of "Please Please Me" is on "The Mod Scene" CD compilation

Track 2 - Paul and Ritchie are Paul Crane and Ritchie Routhledge

Track 8 - Members of The Fire would later play with Paul Brett's Sage and The Strawbs

Track 10 - Ron Wood of The Birds would later join Faces and The Rolling Stones

Track 11 - Marc Bolan would later form Tyrannosaurus Rex with Mickey Finn, which became T.Rex

Track 12 - A Monkees cover version

Track 13 - A Donovan cover - Keith Shields was one of The Wildcats, Marty Wilde's backing group

Track 14 - The Mark Four A-side "Hurt Me If You Will" is on 'The Beat Scene' CD compilation

Track 15 - Jimmy Winston was the Organist in Small Faces - the B-side "It's Not What You Do" in on 'The Mod Scene' compilation

Track 22 - Beatles cover

The pleasingly nice-looking 12-page colour booklet has JOHN REED extend an informed paragraph to each artist – the Israeli Sea-Ders and New Zealand's Human Instinct - while West London's Birds spawned Ron Wood who would of course join Rodders and Ronnie Lane in the Faces and then hop on board The Stones in 1976. There are no mastering credits, but it does state on the see-through spine 'digitally remastered from the original master tapes' for all of these sets and I’ve found that to be uniformly true. Take the 'waters of my mind' of Denis Couldry's brilliant "I Am Nearly There" – wickedly good audio whether he's smooching or rocking out (he does both in great tune). The attacking guitar in The Blue Stars "I Can Take It" is the same, clear and in yer face.

Freakbeat fans love their hidden nuggets - which is why you will notice that a huge 14 of these tracks are flips - the band or artist in question able to whig out a tad and get away from the schmaltz that would invariably be given pride of commercial place on the A-side. The Beatles get two clever re-workings – their 1963 debut "Please Please Me" by The Score and Loose Ends giving it some Revolver with their stab at George Harrison’s withering "Taxman". And how unsurprising is it to hear T. Rex's Marc Bolan (even then) have that sprinkle of magic dust on him with his fabulous groover "The Third Degree".

 "...Their closing in on me..." moan The New Breed on their fantastic chugger "Unto Us" as cops and sheriffs chase down our heroes. Barnstormers come in the shape of supernatural intellect with Fire giving us "Father's Name Is Dad" while the wild fuzzed-up guitar gives The Flies an aggressive edge as they take on that angry Monkees hit "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone". But my fave-rave has to be "Poor Little Heartbreaker" by Timebox - a sexy guitar-jangle akin to The Byrds have a melodic dancing moment. Dig the New Breed...Dig In and Enjoy...

  

Titles in Deram's 'Decca Originals/On The Scene' UK CD Series

1. The Beat Scene (released December 1998 on Deram 844 799-2 - Barcode 042284479929)

2. The Blues Scene (released February 1999 on Deram 844 801-2 - Barcode 042284480123)

3. The Freakbeat Scene (released September 1998 on Deram 844 879-2 – Barcode 042284487924)

4. The Girls Scene (released February 1999 on Deram 844 897-2 - Barcode 042284489720)

5. The Mod Scene (released September 1998 on Deram 844 549-2 - Barcode 042284454926)

6. The Northern Soul Scene (released December 1998 on Deram 844 805-2 - Barcode 042284480529)

7. The Psychedelic Scene (released September 1998 on Deram 844 797-2 - Barcode 042284479721)

8. The R&B Scene (released September 1998 on Deram 844 798-2 - Barcode 042284479820)

9. The Rock 'n' Roll Scene (released March 1999 on Deram 844 892-2 - Barcode 042284489225)

Please note that some of these titles were reissued August 2007 on the budget label 'Spectrum'

"One-Way Glass: Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz & Funky Folk 1968-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (August 2017 RPM Records 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Out Of Nowhere..."

Weird, adventurous, cool, surprising yet forgotten, brilliant yet often unknown, sometimes crap and even risible - but at other times as Funky as a loved-up Bishop Curry on biblical-speed at a Royal Wedding. I love Box Sets like "One Way Glass..." – it’s not all undiluted James Brown vs. Deep Purple crossover genre-genius for sure - but when its Funky Breaks are good – man they’re shockingly so...

Spanning 1968 to 1975 and offering 58 tracks across 3CDs - "Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz & Funky Folk" is a catchall that goes so deep that even fairly knowledgeable types like yours truly here might look at the artist names on any of these near-eighty-minute CDs and shout 'who the hell are they?' Most are British Rock bands with great players that tapped into their Bad Soulful American Selves on throwaway B-sides and album fillers – getting down with the Groove be it on Mellotron or Wah Wah Pedal. Some are well known names but most were very much on the fringes and get a long overdue outing here.

But for me that's what makes this superb RMP Records anthology such a winner is the dip and discover factor - and all of it presented with knowledge, enthusiasm and even glee (a 42-page jam-packed booklet) and Audio that does well with ancient tapes. There is a heap of Hard Stuff to wade through - so once more my Burning Red Ivanhoes unto the Fat Mattress, Skin Alley and Jody Grind (and that's just the Pesky Gee)...

UK released 25 August 2017 (1 September 2017 in the USA) - "One Way Glass: Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz and Funky Folk 1968-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on RPM Records RPMBX 537 (Barcode 5013929553705) is a 58-Track 3CD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters with a 42-Page Booklet and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (79:04 minutes):

1. One Way Glass - TRIFFLE (from the December 1970 UK LP "First Meeting" on Dawn DNLS 3017 – a Manfred Mann Chapter Three cover version – for Triffle see also Track 11, Disc 3)

2. Elegy - COLOSSEUM (from the November 1969 UK LP "Valentyne Suite" on Vertigo VO1)

3. Man From Afghanistan - CURTISS MULDOON (from the October 1971 UK LP "Curtiss Muldoon" on Purple Records TPS 3501)

4. 3D Mona Lisa - PAUL BRETT'S SAGE (from the October 1970 UK LP "Paul Brett Sage" on Pye NSPL 18347)

5. Home Is Where I Belong - QUICKSAND (from the 1973 UK LP "Home Is Where I Belong" on Dawn DNLS 3056)

6. Somethin' You Got - SECOND HAND (from the April 1971 UK LP "Death May be Your Santa Claus" on Mushroom 200 MR 6)

7. Get One Together - PALADIN (from the April 1972 UK LP "Charge!" on Bronze ILPS 9190 - see also Track 2 on Disc 3)

8. Cold Wall Of Stone - FAT MATTRESS (Recorded 1969 and Previously Unreleased at the time - first appeared in 1992 on Sequel NEX CD 192 as a Bonus Track - a UK CD Reissue of their 1969 Polydor Records debut album "Fat Mattress" - see also Track 5 on Disc 3)

9. Libel - HARD STUFF (from the March 1973 UK LP "Bolex Dementia" on Purple TPSA 7507)

10. Sanctuary - GRAVY TRAIN (Non-album B-side to "Climb Aboard The Gravy Train (And Get On To A Good Thing)", a stand-alone July 1975 UK 7" single on Dawn DNS 1115)

11. City Of Darkness - THE WEB (from the August 1968 UK Stereo LP "Fully Interlocking" on Deram SML 1025 - see also Track 15 on Disc 3)

12. Out Of Nowhere - PATRICK CAMPBELL-LYONS (from the February 1973 UK LP "Me And My Friend" on Sovereign SVNA 7258)

13. The Bitch - THE GASOLINE BAND  (from the May 1972 UK LP "The Gasoline Band" on Cube HIFLY 9)

14. I Saw An Angel - PENTANGLE (B-side to the May 1969 UK 7" single "Once I Had A Sweetheart" on Big T Records BIG 124)

15. Ricochet - JONESY (and abridged edit of a track on their "On This New Day" LP issued as an A-side in January 1973 on Dawn DNS 1030)

16. Revolution's Death Man - EDWARDS HAND (from the 1970 UK LP "Stranded" on RCA Victor SF 8154)

17. Macumbe - BOND & BROWN [Graham Bond and Pete Brown] (Track 2 on Side 1 from the July 1972 UK 3-Track 7" EP "Lost Tribe" on Greenwich Gramophone Company GSS 104)

18. Henry - CMU (from the June 1971 UK LP "Open Spaces" on Transatlantic TRA 237)

19. Sunburnt Virgin Trousers - KNOCKER JUNGLE (from the 1970 UK LP "Knocker Jungle" on Ember NR 5042)

20. Cubano Chant - CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the November 1969 UK Stereo LP "Plays On" on Parlophone PCS 7084)

21. She's My Sister - OPEN ROAD (from the August 1971 UK LP "Windy Daze" on The Greenwich Gramophone Company GSLP 1001)

22. The Lord Doesn't Want You - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN (Recorded 1969, Previously Unreleased at the time)

Disc 2 (79:29 minutes):

1. I've Got My Mojo Working - MELANIE (from the October 1975 UK LP "Sunset And Other Beginnings" on Neighborhood NBH 69168)

2. Eyeballs - BLUE MINK (from the April 1974 UK LP "Fruity” on EMI Records EMC 3021)

3. Celebration - CHILLUM (Recorded 1971, not originally released)

4. Confusions About A Goldfish - JOHN KONGOS (from the 1969 UK LP "Confusions About A Goldfish" on Dawn DNLS 3002 - see also Track 1 on Disc 3)

5. Skin Alley Serenade - SKIN ALLEY (from the December 1972 UK LP "Two Quid Deal?" on Transatlantic TRA 260 - see also Track 10 on Disc 3)

6. Little Message - JODY GRIND (from the November 1969 UK LP "One Step On” on Transatlantic TRA 210)

7. Weren't Born A Man - DANA GILLESPIE (from the December 1973 UK LP "Weren't Born A Man" on RCA Victor APL1 0345)

8. Drinking My Wine - HARDIN & YORK (from the November 1969 UK Stereo LP "Tomorrow Today" on Bell SBLL 125)

9. She's Mine, She's Yours - JUICY LUCY (from their November 1969 debut UK LP "Juicy Lucy" on Vertigo VO 2 - see also Track 12 on Disc 3)

10. Avez-Vous Kaskelainen? - BURNIN' RED IVANHOE (from the November 1971 UK LP "W.W.W." on Dandelion 2310 145)

11. Message To Mankind - DEMON FUZZ (from the November 1970 UK LP on Dawn DNX 2504)

12. Closer To The Truth - ALAN JAMES EASTWOOD (A-side of a September 1972 stand-alone UK 7" single on President PT 379)

13. Wake Up My Children - SIREN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Siren" on Dandelion S 63755)

14. The Devil Made Me Do It - CURTIS KNIGHT ZEUS (A-side of January 1974 UK 7" single on Dawn DNS 1049 - also on the German-only LP "Sea Of Time")

15. Hilary Dickson - ATLANTIC BRIDGE (Track 2 on Side 1 of the 3-Track January 1971 UK 7" EP "I Can't Lie To You” on Dawn DNX 2507)

16. Sly Willy - BLUE BEARD (from the 1971 UK LP "Blue Beard” on Durium D 30-214)

17. Mean Old Man - JOAN ARMATRADING (from the November 1972 UK debut LP "Whatever's For Us" on Cube HIFLY 12)

18. Funky - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (from the withdrawn 1970 US LP "Funky" on Date Records TES 4021)

19. In The Beginning - THE FOUNDATIONS (A July 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17956, instrumental B-side to "I'm Gonna Be A Rich Man")

Disc 3 (79:12 minutes):

1. He's Gonna Step On You Again - JOHN KONGOS (from the November 1971 UK LP "Kongos" on Fly Records HIFLY 7, also a UK chart single that peaked at No. 3)

2. Bad Times - PALADIN (from the May 1971 UK LP "Paladin" on Bronze ILPS 9150)

3. Instant Whip- THE TREMELOES (Non-Album B-side of "(Call Me) Number One", an October 1969 UK 7" single on CBS 4582)

4. The Rock - ATOMIC ROOSTER (an Instrumental from their September 1971 album "In Hearing Of" on Pegasus PEG 1 - also the B-side to the No. 3 chart UK 7" single "The Devil's Answer")

5. Margarita - FAT MATTRESS (Recorded 1969 and Previously Unreleased at the time - first appeared in 1992 on Sequel NEX CD 192 as a Bonus Track - a UK CD Reissue of their 1969 Polydor Records debut album "Fat Mattress" - see also Track 8 on Disc 1)

6. Gesolreut (Live) - SOFT MACHINE (from the February 1973 2LP set "Six" on CBS Records S 68214)

7. Some Kind Of Beautiful - BRIDGET ST. JOHN (from her July 1974 UK LP "Jumble Queen” on Chrysalis CHR 1062)

8. House On The Hill - AUDIENCE (from their November 1969 UK Debut LP "Audience" on Polydor 583 065)

9. Indian Rope Man - NOIR (from the November 1971 UK LP "We Had To Let You Have It" on Dawn DNLS 3029 - a Richie Havens cover)

10. So Many People - SKIN ALLEY (from the December 1972 UK LP "Two Quid Deal?" on Transatlantic TRA 260 - see also Track 5 on Disc 2)

11. Alibi Annie - TRIFFLE (from the December 1970 UK LP "First Meeting" on Dawn DNLS 3017 - see also Track 1 on Disc 1)

12. I'm A Thief - JUICY LUCY (Non-Album B-side to "Pretty Woman", a stand-alone UK 7" single released December 1970 on Vertigo 6059 015 - see also Track 9 on Disc 2)

13. Travelling Like A Gypsy - HANSON (from the December 1973 UK LP "Now Hear This" on Manticore K 43507)

14. Looking For The Red Label - FAIR WEATHER (B-side to "Lay It On Me", a May 1971 UK 7" single on RCA Neon NE 1001)

15. I'm A Man - THE WEB (1968 Recording Previously Unreleased at the time - a Spencer Davis Group cover - see also Track 11 on Disc 1)

16. Pigs Foot - PESKY GEE (from the August 1969 UK LP "Exclamation Mark" on Pye NSPL 18293)

17. One Way Glass - JOHN SCHROEDER ORCHESTRA featuring Chris Thomas (a November 1971 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 45108, Non-Album Track, A-side, a Manfred Man Chapter Three cover version)

Compiled and co-ordinated by JOHN REED and MARK STRATFORD (with help from good eggs like Dave Timperley over at Cherry Red Records) – the 44-page booklet is amazing – a feast of knowledge, album covers, 45 label repros, trade adverts and of course rare photos of artists who are so underground they may have dirt in their mouths. Fluid Mastering has done the transfers and as Cherry Red has remastered much of this in the last ten years – it’s not surprising to find that the music audio is uniformly great. To the music of hairy-men secretly longing to be the Average White Band...

Disc 1: Triffle and their brass-funky "One Way Glass" give the anthology its name - an in-the-background guitar suitably distant as the backbeat gets laid down. Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith trade licks in the bopping Colosseum track "Elegy" while somebody with an itch in Curtis Maldoon is waiting for the "Man From Afghanistan" - a surprisingly cool 'waiting for the man' groove. Flute-Folk-Rock drives the excellent "3D Mona Lisa" - a guitar-chugger by Paul Brett Sage featuring some great fretwork and frantic Small Faces-type vocals. (Songwriter and Guitarist) Terry Davis features prominently on "Home Is Where I Belong" - a genuine highlight on a jam-packed Disc 1. We enter the valley of weird and silly voices tagged onto a Prog Funky beat with the very Greenslade-sounding Second Hand. Another winner on here is Noel Redding's Fat Mattress and their sexy "Cold Wall Of Stone" - Steve Hammond's guitar and Neil Landon's vocals highlights on an outtake from the first album that only saw the light of day in 1992 as a CD Bonus Track. Other notables are the piano-funky instrumental "Out Of Nowhere" by Nirvana’s Patrick Campbell-Lyons (entirely unrepresentative of the album’s overall singer-songwriter sound – see separate review) and the Folk-Rock cool of Pentangle’s groovy double-bass rhythms in "I Saw An Angel".

Disc 2 opens with a shocker - Melanie Kafka getting Funky as she gets her Mojo working (even if it won't work on the man she wants) - a fantastic groover from 1975 when her albums were probably being ignored. Equally shocking is the hard-hitting Labelle meets Sly Stone Funk of Blue Mink's "Eyeballs" - a truly brilliant Bass-Pounding Beast as inspirational singers Roger Cook and Madeline Bell get up to their eyeballs in backbeats and love. Chillum's "Celebration" is certainly funky but as a five-minute instrumental it feels a tad laboured. South African John Kongos gets the first of two entries - the title track from "Confusions About A Goldfish" being his intro - with lyrics flitting about wildly - from Thalidomide to Thanksgiving to the worries of a goldfish in a room we call the World (it's a good groove but "He's Gonna Step On You Again" over on Disc 3 annihilates it). Skin Alley's "Skin Valley Serenade" also promises much but like Chillum's entry feels overly-long and tired. Jody Grind's "Little Message" on the other hand has a fab organ vs. guitar battle going on throughout its pounding stay. Things also pick up with Dana Gillespie's 'Son Of A Preacher Man' groovy "Weren't Born A Man" - as cool as Lou Reed in 1973. Another Disc 3 highlight surely has to be superbly groovy "Drinking My Wine" by Hardin & York - Eddie Hardin and Pete York - both ex The Spencer Davis Group. And I've always been a sucker for the fantastic slide-guitar Blues Boogie sound of Juicy Lucy - vocalist Ray Owen howling and snarling out those sleazy lyrics while ace-supremo Glenn Ross Campbell goes all Johnny Winter on his guitar to truly hair-raising effect. Other notables include the go-go 60ts throwback chug of "Sly Willy" by Blue Beard – the acoustic attack of a young and angry Joan Armatrading on "Mean Old Man", the Flute-Cool Richie Havens-sounding emotional world of "Closer To The Truth" by Alan James Eastwood and a rare outing for the Chicago/BST sounding Jazz-Rock album you never see by The Spencer Davis Group – the withdrawn "Funky" LP on America's Date Records.

Disc 3 features the fantastic Malo/Santana Latin-Rock Fusion of Paladin's frantic "Bad Times" - a huge nine-minute Funk Monster that starts out slowly in 'Oye Coma Va' mode but then builds into a full-on tearaway Boogie with Drums and Guitars battling it out. Shocker-city comes with a B-side from The Tremeloes of all things - the funky instrumental "Instant Whip" with Drummer Dave Munden letting rip on some strangled Screaming Jay Hawkins yelps whilst guitarist Rick Westwood gives it some fantastic guitar chops throughout. I've raved before about the superb Atomic Rooster B-side "The Rock" (flip to "The Devil's Answer") - an instrumental guitar/keyboard/brass groover that's tucked away on one of the era's biggest Prog Rock LPs - 1971's "In Hearing Of..." Surprises come at you in the shape of Soft Machine finding their inner Mahavishnu Funk on the instrumental "Gesroleut" but Bridget St. John's "Some Kind Of Beautiful" is a tad too fey for its own good. Better is "Indian Rope Man" by Noir - a Richie Havens song from his 1969 double-album "Richie P. Havens, 1983" that seemed to produce a long line of covers that rocked as much as the original. And Skin Alley don’t disappoint with their Focus-sounding Flute-Rock-Funky "So Many People". And on it goes...

A huge haul and even for a know-all like me – some amazing finds in genres I love – music I make CD compilations of when Beelzebub is not looking.

Don’t let the vertigo-inducing up-the-side-of-glass-tower-buildings-artwork put you off – there is so much in here to savour and discover. And I'm thinking that somebody in Royal Circles should drop a sword on John Reed’s shoulder for his musical services to ageing Prog hooligans everywhere and their groove-aroused Zimmer frames. Or better still – punish him with four days chained to the pulpit of Bishop Curry after he’s read the Financial Times. That'll teach the little Funky Folker...

Fabtastic Flutes and then some. Recommended...

"Eight Gigs A Week: The Steve Winwood Years" by THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (1996 Island/Chronicles 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Gimme Some Lovin'…"

Twelve seven-inch singles, a cackle of four-track EPs and three albums worth of quality Sixties music is not a bad haul in any man’s books. But when it’s by THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP fronted by the voice of STEVE WINWOOD – then that compilation starts to smack of a must-own. Let’s run down those details… 

UK released March 1996 – "Eight Gigs A Week: The Steve Winwood Years" by THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP on Island/Chronicles CRNCD5 / 524 180-2 (Barcode 731452418029) gives you 51 tracks across 2 CDs (71:48 and 79:05 minutes). It breaks down into 49 studio songs (all in Mono) supplemented by two Previously Unreleased live versions of “Kansas City” and “Oh! Pretty Woman”(Tracks 9 and 20 on Disc 1).

As pages 2 and 3 of the booklet only list song titles without any Discography – here’s how to line up every SPENCER DAVIS GROUP vinyl release between August 1964 and June 1967 using this compilation to do it - [11/1] = Track 11 on Disc 1, [1/2] = Track 1 on Disc 2 etc

UK 7” SINGLES and EP’s:

1. Dimples [1/1] b/w Sittin' And Thinkin' [11/1] – August 1964 UK debut 7” single on Fontana TF 471

2. I Can’t Stand It [2/1] b/w Midnight Train [6/1] – October 1964 2nd UK 7” on Fontana TF 499

3. Every Little Bit Hurts [10/1] b/w It Hurts Me So [19/1] – January 1965 3rd UK 7” on Fontana TF 530

4. Strong Love [17/1] b/w This Hammer [22/1] – May 1965 4th UK 7” on Fontana TF 571

5. You Put The Hurt On Me EP – June 1965 UK 1st 7” 4-Track Extended Play on Fontana TE 17444

A1. She Put The Hurt On Me [13/1] - A2. I’m Getting Better [15/1]

B1. I’ll Drown In My Own Tears [14/1] - B2. Goodbye Stevie [16/1]

6. Every Little Bit Hurts EP – August 1965 UK 2nd 7” 4-Track Extended Play on Fontana TE 17450

A1. Every Little Bit Hurts [10/1] – A2. It Hurts Me So [19/1]

B1. I Can’t Stand It [2/1] – B2. Midnight Train [6/1]

7. Keep On Running [24/1] b/w High Time Baby [6/2] – November 1965 5th UK 7” on Fontana TF 632

8. Somebody Help Me [1/2] b/w Stevie’s Blues [17/2] – March 1966 6th UK 7” on Fontana TF 679

9. Sittin' And Thinkin' EP – June 1966 UK 3rd 7” 4-Track Extended Play on Fontana TE 17463

A1. Sittin' And Thinkin' [11/1] – A2. Jump Back [3/1]

B1. Dimples [1/1] – B2. Searchin’ [5/1]

10.When I Come Home [5/2] b/w Trampoline [10/2] – August 1966 7th UK 7” on Fontana TF 739

11. Gimme Some Lovin' [23/2] b/w Blues In F [26/2] – October 1966 8th UK 7” on Fontana TF 762

12. I'm A Man [25/2] b/w I Can’t Get Enough Of It [20/2] – January 1967 9th UK 7” on Fontana TF 785

UK ALBUMS:

“Their First LP” – released July 1965 in Mono on Fontana TL 5242

Side 1:

1. My Babe [8/1]

2. Dimples [1/1]

3. Searchin' [5/1]

4. Every Little Bit Hurts [10/1]

5. I’m Blue (Gong Gong Song) [12/1]

6. Sittin' And Thinkin' [11/1]

Side 2:

1. I Can’t Stand It [2/1]

2. Here Right Now [4/1]

3. Jump Back [3/1]

4. It’s Gonna Work Out Fine [7/1]

5. Midnight Train [6/1]

6. It Hurst Me So [19/1]

“The Second Album” – released January 1966 in Mono on Fontana TL 5295

Side 1:

1. Look Away [21/1]

2. Keep On Running [24/1]

3. This Hammer [22/1]

4. Georgia On My Mind [18/1]

5. Please Do Something [23/1]

6. Let Me Down Easy [25/1]

Side 2:

1. Strong Love [17/1]

2. I Washed My Hands In Muddy Waters [8/2]

3. Since I Met You Baby [11/2]

4. You Must Believe Me [9/2]

5. Hey Darling [7/2]

7. Watch Your Step [2/2]

“Autumn '66” – released September 1966 in Mono on Fontana TL 5359

Side 1:

1. Together Till The End Of Time [22/2]

2. Take This Hurt Off Me [18/2]

3. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out [3/2]

4. Midnight Special [4/2]

5. When A Man Loves A Woman [14/2]

6. When I Come Home [5/2]

Side 2:

1. Mean Woman Blues [12/2]

2. Dust My Blues [13/2]

3. On The Green Light [16/2]

4. Neighbour, Neighbour [15/2]

5. High Time Baby [6/2]

6. Somebody Help Me [1/2]

The 2CDs come in card slipcase which houses a slide-in 24-page oversized booklet - chockers with album covers, rare foreign language picture sleeves for both singles and LPs, trade adverts for Fontana releases and even a Pop Picture Library magazine cover for the princely fee of one schilling. JOHN REED - then at the Record Collector Magazine forming their famous Price Guides – has handled the liner notes. John is one of the most knowledgeable and passionate writers on the Sixties (and the Mod scene in particular) and his liner notes feature great reminiscences from Muff Winwood (Stevie’s brother) who went on to be the main Promotions/A&R Agent in Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. There are discussions on the making of the huge hits – Spencer Davis’ huge R&B collection influencing the direction of the band and of course the amazing vocal chops of a seventeen year-old called Steve Winwood from near Birmingham England and not Birmingham Alabama.

There are no mastering credits anywhere - but the Audio is wonderful - punchy MONO mixes rattling your speakers like they used to shake your transistor radio...

While all the huge hits like “Gimme Some Lovin’”, “I’m A Man”, “Keep On Runnin’” and “Somebody Help Me” (the last two went to Number 1) are all here - for me the knock-out stuff are those throwaway B-sides – many of which were simply done in the studio as instrumentals. “Stevie’s Blues” is the B-side of “Somebody Help Me” and sees Winwood launch into some truly stunning Blues guitar – it’s heavy like Cream or The Bluesbreakers. “Trampoline” is a cool-jaunty instrumental on the back of the well-underrated “When I Come Home” while the band goes on Ramsey Lewis on “Blues In F” – the flip of “Lovin’”.

Their affection for American Soul, Rhythm ‘n’ Blues and Reggae determined so many of their cover version choices, ”I’m Blue (Gong Gong Song)” (Ike Turner), “Since I Met You Baby” (Ivory Joe Hunter), “Every Little Hurts” (Brenda Holloway), “Georgia On My Mind” and I'll Drown In My Own Tears" (Ray Charles), “Dimples” (John Lee Hooker), “Searchin’” (The Coasters) and three by Jackie Edwards on Islands Records (“Keep On Running”, “When I Come Home” and “Back Into Life Again”). What’s also obvious is the massive improvement in the band as they transitioned from the first to the 2nd LP. “The Second Album” has a clever mixture of originals and less obvious cover versions like “I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water” (Charlie Rich), “You Must Believe Me” (The Impressions) and a mellow stab at Betty Lavett’s “Let Me Down Easy” with Stevie already sounding decades ahead of his actual age.

As many filmgoers will know every time someone in a British Rom-Com is running to a church – the filmmakers will invariably use “Keep On Running”. Cliché or not – it’s still a classy single. But the big daddy of them all has to be the astonishing Motowneseque power of “Gimme Some Lovin’” which to this day sends tingles up the spine. Like Roy Orbison’s “Oh! Pretty Woman” (the live version here has screaming girls wanting to do un-pretty things to the boys on stage) – “Gimme Some Lovin’” somehow encapsulates the Sixties to a tee – exciting, fun and sexy down to it’s Mary Quant lipstick and bottleneck winklepicker shoes.

So there you have it - tons of cool stuff, cracking remasters and nice presentation. 

The Chris Welch liner notes on the back of “The Second Album" sleeve state in its last lines - “...SDG fans will be completely satisfied with this package…”

On the money my musical son…