"Vertigo" by GRAHAM PARKER (and THE RUMOUR) – A 40-Track 2CD Mercury/Vertigo Records Anthology - Album And 45-Single Tracks from his April 1976 UK Debut "Howlin Wind" to his Fifth Studio Album "Squeezing Out Sparks" in March 1979 – Featuring Brinsley Schwarz, Bob Andrews, Martin Belmont, Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding of The Rumour with Guests Dave Edmunds, John Earle and Producer Jack Nitzsche - Includes the 1976 UK Promotional LP "Live At Marble Arch" Produced by Nick Lowe - First Time on CD Here (October 1996 UK Vertigo/Mercury 2CD 40-Track 'Chronicles' Anthology with Roger Wake Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Dodged All The Turnpikes..."

 

Tales of boozy anguish in hotel rooms with frisky chambermaids and a search the world over (well mostly in Dagenham) for that special lady. Graham Parker and his kickass band The Rumour should have been huge - what with their edgy songs that fused 60s R&B with Punk Rock lyrics about the frustrations and exhilaration of dole-ridden young life in New Wave England. And in some kind of curiously begrudging non-commercial 'stop reminding us of our predicament' way – they were. At least among my Dublin mates and I, GP & Crew were the Super Unleaded nozzle to us. 

 

I suppose as someone who lived through Punk and New Wave (and bought the safety pins and buttons) – I kind of thought that as each new record seemed to get demonstrably better than the last – the public would embrace him like they had say Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe or Hell, even Dave Edmunds. But the right worshipful Graham Parker (a gent from Chobham in Surrey) always seemed to struggle to rise above the music pulpit to be heard.

 

Still – this unwieldy CD twofer from the forgotten hills of England in 1996 (and one of those splurges the industry used to call 'A Chronicles Anthology' on the sticker) is here to remind us of our mistakes and emotional misdemeanors and offer up forty acts of suburban contrition so we can reassess and forgive ourselves for our many colored-vinyl trespasses. Here are the howlers...

 

UK released October 1996 - "Vertigo" by GRAHAM PARKER (and The Rumour) on Vertigo/Mercury 534 100-2 (Barcode 731453410022) is a 2CD 40-Track 'Chronicles' Best-Of Anthology covering his stay at Mercury and Vertigo Records between 1976 and 1979. It has Roger Wake Remasters from Original Tapes and also includes the 10-Track Promotional LP "Live At Marble Arch" (Tracks 6 to 15 on CD1) issued in 1976 in the UK and is first time on CD here. "Vertigo" plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (73:01 minutes):

1. Between You And Me

2. I'm Gonna Use It Now

3. You've Got To Be Kidding

4. Howlin' Wind

5. Back To Schooldays

6. White Honey (Live)

7. That's What They All Say (Live)

8. Back Door Love (Live)

9. Back To Schooldays (Live)

10. Silly Thing (Live)

11. Chain Of Fools (Live)

12. Don't Ask Me Questions (Live)

13. You Can't Hurry Love (Live)

14. Soul Shoes (Live)

15. Kansas City (Live)

16. Heat Treatment

17. Hotel Chambermaid

18. Black Honey

19. Fool's Gold

20. Hold Back The Night

21. (Let Me Get) Sweet On You

NOTES ON CD1:

Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 are from his debut album "Howlin Wind", April 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 129 and Mercury SRM-1 1095. Track 5 features Dave Edmunds on Rockabilly Guitar

Track 2 is the Non-LP B-side to "Silly Thing", his UK Debut 45-single in March 1976 on Mercury 6059 135

Tracks 6 to 10 are Side 1 whilst Tracks 11 to 15 are Side 2 of the Promotional Only UK LP "Live At Marble Arch" issued in 1976 on Phonogram G.P. 1. It is issued here in its entirety for the first time on CD. Note: The two Promo-Only Live Tracks "Silly Thing (Live)" b/w "Kansas City (Live)" were offered as a FREE SINGLE with initial copies of his second British album "Heat Treatment"

Tracks 16, 17, 18 and 19 are from his second studio album "Heat Treatment", October 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 137 and in the USA on Mercury SRM-1 1095

Tracks 20 and 21 make up Side 1 of a 4-track Extended Play EP - "The Pink Parker – Hold Back The Night" released March 1977 in the UK on Vertigo PARK 001. The other two tracks on the B-side were "White Honey" and "Soul Shoes" - both of which were on the preceding "Howlin Wind" album. "Hold Back The Night" is a cover of a TRAMMPS US Soul hit originally on Buddah Records in February 1976 – the other songs are Graham Parker originals with both "Hold Back The Night" and "(Let Me Get) Sweet On You" being exclusive to the EP.

 

CD2 (69:55 minutes):

1. The New York Shuffle

2. Watch The Moon Come Down

3. The Raid

4. Lady Doctor

5. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

6. The Heat in Harlem

7. Gypsy Blood

8. Discovering Japan

9. Local Girls

10. Nobody Hurts You

11. You Can't Be Too Strong

12. Passion Is No Ordinary Word

13. Saturday Nite is Dead

14. Love Gets You Twisted

15. Protection

16. Waiting For The UFOs

17. Don't Get Excited

18. Mercury Poisoning

19. I Want You Back (Alive)

NOTES on CD2:

Tracks 1, 2 and 3 are from his third studio album "Stick To Me" – released October 1977 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 017

Tracks 4, 5, 6 and 7 are from his fourth album "The Parkerilla" – released May 1978 as a 2LP set on Vertigo 6641 797 – it was all recorded live in the studio

Tracks 8 to 17 are the entire album "Squeezing Out Sparks", his fifth album released March 1979 on Vertigo 9102 030

Tracks 18 and 19 are the A&B-sides of a March 1979 US-only 45-single on Arista AS-0439

 

GRAHAM PARKER – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and Rhythm Guitar on

 

THE RUMOUR was:

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ – Guitar, Hammond Organ, Tenor Saxes and Backing Vocals

BOB ANDREWS – Lowrey And Hammond Organ, Piano and backing Vocals

MARTIN BELMONT – Guitar and backing Vocals

ANDREW BODNAR - Bass

STEVE GOULDING – Drums and backing Vocals

 

The 12-page booklet splits its details between JOHN TOBLER and GRAHAM PARKER – Tobler concentrating on the track-facts and scene-setting history while GP reminisces on his beginnings with the British Pub Rock band Brinsley Schwarz, his musical influences and where it all eventually led – to the USA on a bus hearing their latest single on American Radio and being duly impressed (not even the slightest bit repulsed). You would not say the lack of Discography or even half-decent photos or memorabilia helps (it all feels too slight even for a Chronicles twofer in 1996) – but thankfully the ROGER WAKE Remasters lift proceedings and leave it all on the page – the music. These Remasters jump and snarl - "Saturday Nite Is Dead" on the "Squeezing Out Sparks" album has huge guitars now – riffage and power galore (the whole album is included, and as many feel it his best, that is a good thing). To the tunes...

 

Choice shavings from his five albums for Vertigo Records are all here in spiffing audio - "Howlin Wind" (April 1976), "Heat Treatment" (October 1976), "Stick To Me" (October 1977), the double album "The Parkerilla" (May 1978) and finally "Squeezing Out Sparks" (March 1979). Inbetween the cracks are rare B-sides, stand-alone 45s and the big prize for diehard fans – a first-time on CD outing for the legendary "Live At Marble Arch" Promo-Only album issued by Phonogram to keep journos and industry insiders thinking about GP before the second LP of 1976. To that...

 

After the critical rave-ups and warm public response the debut album "Howlin Wind" received on release in April 1976 and before the issue of his second studio album "Heat Treatment" in October of that mercurial year – Phonogram decided to record a Live LP inbetween and release it as mock-bootleg to keep the momentum going with journalists and insiders alike. Again produced by Nick Lowe (like the debut), the resulting 10-track set "Live At Marble Arch" was probably circulated August/September of 1976 (no one seems to now its exact release date) in its stamped Bootleg-looking sleeve. It included live versions of five tracks from the "Howlin Wind" debut (Tracks 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12 on CD1) whilst the second LP "Heat Treatment" (which had yet to appear at the time the live set was recorded) got two outings (Tracks 7 and 8 on CD1).

 

The other three cuts (Tracks 11, 13 and 15 on CD1) were covers from his first passion – American R&B and Soul artists - "Chain Of Fools" originally done by Aretha Franklin on Atlantic Records in 1967, "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes on Motown in 1966 and the old Fifties Rhythm and Blues stalwart "Kansas City". The remastered Audio does its best with what Nick Lowe produced – get it down and stack it loud. Personally I love his tighter-than-tight Rumour band as they trash through one of my faves - "Back To Schooldays" (dig that twanging guitar solo while the old Joanna boogies along). The same can be said of a fantastic "Soul Shoes" and "Kansas City". Saxophone and sheer bombast carries the single "Silly Thing" to. In fact the overall impression is not of an angry young man or even a Punk/New Waver about town scowling at the powers that be – but that of a great band having a Pub Gig blast.

 

But the key to a 40-track spurge like this is the deep dives (or if you are new to GP, the discoveries). You could argue that the album "Squeezing Out Sparks" from 1978 (included on CD2 in its entirety) warrants serious rediscovery – stunners like the riffage of "Protection" and the aching real-world ballad "You Can't Be Too Strong" being genuine standouts. Spit and snarl and a certain world-weariness course through the veins of tunes like "Watch The Moon Come Down" and his rant at his American record label in "Mercury Poisoning" not doing him a solid – but I could honestly do without that cover of The Jackson 5 that ends CD2 on a bit of a too frivolous note.

 

Rhino had issued their superlative goody two shoes in 1993 called after a track on "Squeezing Out Sparks" – "Passion is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology 1976-1991" which also explored the Stiff Records and RCA 1980s albums that followed (personally I dug those even more) – so that compilation is worth seeking out too although in 2023 – it is deleted decades and has become pricey.

 

But in the meantime get dizzy on "Vertigo" – visually it may not look like much – but content/audio-wise – Graham Parker and The Rumour will tickle your inner gyro mechanisms as any good British Petrol Pump Attendant and his oily rags should...

"Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat" by CANNED HEAT – July 1967 US Debut Album Plus Their January 1968 US Second Studio Album both originally on Liberty Records in Stereo (August 1967 and June 1968 in the UK) - featuring Bob 'The Bear' Hite, Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson, Henry 'Sunflower' Vestine, Larry 'The Mole' Taylor, Frank Cook and Adolfo 'Fito' De La Parra (May 2022 UK Beat Goes On Compilation Re-Release – 2LPs onto 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remasters – This CD Originally Issued March 2003) - A Review by Mark Barry...

*** 2003 CD Remaster and 2022 Re-Release ***

 

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"...Turpentine Moan..."

 

In their nine-strong reissues of Canned Heat back-catalogue onto CD (see list below) – 2022 has seen England's Beat Goes On (BGO) return to three of them for re-release – and what we have here is the first of the three.

 

"Canned Heat" (July 1967 USA) and "Boogie With Canned Heat" (January 1968 USA) were both originally on Liberty Records and are presented here in glorious Stereo onto 1CD (a near 79-minute total playing time). The combo of their down-and-dirty Blues-Rock-Boogie and hairy-assed five-piece reprobate-charm chimed big time with young eager-to-participate audiences (they were a huge live draw back in the day).

 

First some background. What you technically have here is a re-release – a May 2022 re-release of a CD compilation Beat Goes On (BGO) first put out in March 2003 (itself reissued in 22 July 2013). Confusingly, this 2022 version uses the same catalogue number, Barcode and 2003 liner notes – with only the rear artwork around the copyright date box slightly different - but that is all (see photos above). It has also been suggested online that this is a new 2022 Remaster, but unstated as such, I doubt it. The 2003 Andrew Thompson Remasters were and are brilliant anyway – in yer face for all the right reasons so there would no need for a new one.

 

Time to start Rollin' and Tumblin' with our favourite Sterno Crew...here is the breakdown...

 

UK re-released 6 May 2022 (originally issued 17 March 2003) – "Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat" by CANNED HEAT on Beat Goes On BGOCD577 (Barcode 5017261205773) is a 2LP-onto-1CD compilation of their first and second studio albums originally on Liberty Records in Stereo (UK and USA) that plays out as follows (78:22 minutes):

 

1. Rollin' and Tumblin' [Side 1]

2. Bullfrog Blues

3. Evil Is Going On

4. Goin' Down Slow

5. Catfish Blues

6. Dust My Broom [Side 2]

7. Help Me

8. Big Road Blues

9. The Story Of My Life

10. The Road Song

11. Rich Woman

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut-album "Canned Heat" - released July 1967 in the USA on Liberty Records LRP-3526 (Mono) and LST-7526 (Stereo) and August 1967 in the UK on Liberty Records LBL 83059E (Mono) and LBS 83059E (Stereo) – the STEREO MIX is used for this CD. Produced CAL CARTER - it peaked at No. 76 in the US Rock LP charts (didn’t chart UK).

 

12. Evil Woman [Side 1]

13. My Crime

14. On The Road Again

15. World In A Jug

16. Turpentine Moan

17. Whiskey Headed Woman No. 2

18. Amphetamine Annie [Side 2]

19. An Owl Song

20. Marie Laveau

21. Fried Hockey Boogie

Tracks 12 to 21 are their second studio album "Boogie With Canned Heat" – released January 1968 in the USA on Liberty LRP-3541 in Mono and Liberty LST-7541 in Stereo and June 1968 in the UK on Liberty LBL 83103E in Mono and Liberty LBS 83103E in Stereo - the STEREO MIX is used on this CD. Produced by DALLAS SMITH – it peaked at No. 5 in the USA Billboard Rock LP charts and No. 16 in the UK LP charts 

 

CANNED HEAT was:

BOB 'The Bear' aka 'Big Fat' HITE – Lead Vocals

ALAN 'Blind Owl' WILSON - Vocals, Slide Guitar, Chromatic Harmonica

HENRY 'Sunflower' VESTINE - Lead Guitar (and Sitar)

LARRY 'The Mole' TAYLOR - Bass

FRANK COOK – Drummer ("Canned Heat" LP)

ADOLFO 'Fito' DE LA PARRA – Drummer ("Boogie With Canned Heat" LP)

 

Longstanding liner-notes writer JOHN TOBLER provides us with a potted history of this famous American Blues-Rock band and a track-by-track analysis across 12-pages. Their first two incendiary platters were almost entirely cover versions of Blues and R&B standards given a Blues-Rock work-over and then fronted by two hugely different vocal styles – Hite the Gruff and Wilson the Choirboy. It reproduces the Pete Wilson liner notes from the debut album of 1967 (there were no liner note for the second in 1968) – Tobler taking his history through the loss of Wilson to suicide in 1970 and Vestine rejoining the band in 1971. There is also a period photo of the popular boogie band and a rear inlay through the see-through CD tray that advertises six titles on BGO for Canned Heart. But the Remaster is the thing – a cracking ANDREW THOMPSON transfer from Liberty tapes in STEREO that unleashes each album – dated a little perhaps in 2022 – but no less powerful.

 

The debut is a mess-up of Blues and R 'n' B cover done in Rock-Blues style - a sort of gruffer Paul Butterfield Blues Band - guitar and chromatic harmonica tearing it up. "Canned Heat" opens on a Muddy Waters cover "Rollin' And Tumblin'" followed by Blind Boy Fuller's "Bullfrog Blues" which Rory Gallagher would flame-thorough on his fabulous LP "Live! In Europe" on Polydor Records in 1972. Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf's catalogue not surprisingly gets hammered with "Evil Is Going On" but far better is a Slow Blues shuffler in the shape of Jimmy Oden's "Goin' Down Slow" where Wilson gets to rip on huge Harmonica warbles. The album then goes so John Lee Hooker with "Catfish Blues" - geetar and foot taps soon joined by Bass and Drums in a typical Canned Heat build. 

 

Robert Johnson gets picked up next with his "Dust My Broom" - give this one a bit of welly on the old Volume knob - will repay that special telegram. The production lifts considerably for Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" - Wilson's high-pitched vocals taking a bit of getting used to - but wow that playing. Things speed up at last with "Big Road Blues" but go back to guitar-lead slow Blues for "The Story Of My Life" - a misery and woe tale of abandonment. The album romps home with two credible Howlin' Wolf approximations in "The Road Song" and then "Rich Woman" which comes on like John Mayall in 1966. 

 

The debut was good - even great in parts - but for me this release comes alive with their second LP "Boogie With..." - a far dirtier and more confident affair. The harsh separation of guitars are still in the left and right speakers, but the playing is almost abandoned - like the Riot In Cell Block No.9-sounding "My Crime" - an original of sorts where the boys describe working a hippy place busted by the cops. This is a band finding its groove - the Audio ballsy. We're then hit with a sound we all know - those opening moments of "On The Road Again" - the single that broke them worldwide and especially in the UK - Wilson's weirdly up-there vocals part of its groovy cool. We're then hit with Hite goin' Rawk with "World In A Jug" - another band original that almost has Doors dirtiness about it - fantastic stuff. 

Barroom piano-notes opens the 'running around with someone else' romp that is the wickedly good "Turpentine Moan" - the band cooking as he slashes through the slide guitar with that trademark talking Hite does. Drink a bottle of this and you're good to go. He introduces their second take on "Whiskey Headed Woman" with a giggle, but better is the message-song "Amphetamine Annie" - a lady who's always shoveling speed - pills that crack her lips and turns her skin yellow. "An Owl Song" has jarring brass, "Marie Laveau" is a slow Blues instrumental with great Guitar, Piano and harp battling - but they're whomped into submission by the finale of "Fried Hockey Boogie" - a huge Hooker-Boogie tour-de-force beast of outrageous guitar soloing that clocks in above twelve minutes. I mean they get it on! Hardly surprising that it surfaced on the "Cook Book: The Best Of Canned Heat" set that ended 1969. 

 

For sure this music is grungy, 60ts dated, hippy-ish and at times derivative and even amateur - but man what a racket the Heat made. Blind Owl - do your boogie - and they did...

 

CANNED HEAT CD Reissues/Remasters on Beat Goes On Records (BGO): 

 

1. "Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat"

Debut/Second LPs from July 1967 and January 1968 US on Liberty in Stereo

March 2003, July 2013 and May 2022 CD Reissues

Beats Goes On BGOCD577 (Barcode 5017261205773) for all

 

2. "Living The Blues"

Third album from November 1968 US 2LP set on Liberty Records in Stereo

September 2003, July 2013 and April 2022 Reissues

Beat Goes On BGOCD591 (Barcode 5017261205919) 2CD Set

 

3. "Hallelujah/Cook Book + Bonus Track"

July and November 1969 US Fourth and Fifth Albums on Liberty in Stereo

"The Canned Heat Cook Book: The Best Of Canned Heat" is a Compilation of Tracks from Their First Four Studio LPs

March 2003 and July 2013 with 21-Tracks (no Bonus)

May 2022 Re-release with 2022 Remaster and 22-Tracks (One Bonus)

Beat Goes On BGOCD578 (5017261205780) – all issues

The Bonus Track is the 1970 single "Let's Work Together"

 

4. "Canned Heat '70 Concert: Recorded Live In Europe"

November 1969 US LP, June 1970 UK on Liberty in Stereo

September 1989 UK CD Reissue

Beat Goes on BGOCD12 (Barcode 5017261200129)

 

5. "Future Blues"

September 1970 US/UK LP on Liberty Records in Stereo

September 1989 UK CD Reissue

Beat Goes On BGOCD49 (Barcode 5017261200495) 2CD Set

 

6. "Hooker N' Heat" (CANNED HEAT and JOHN LEE HOOKER)

January 1971 US 2LP set on Liberty Records in Stereo (March 1971 UK)

May 2005 UK 2CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes On BGOCD694 (Barcode 5017261206947) 2CD set

 

7. "Historical Figures And Ancient Heads"

February 1972 US LP on United Artists (March 1972 UK)

August 1990 UK CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes on BGOCD83 (Barcode 5017261200839)

 

8. "The New Age"

September 1973 US/UK LP on United Artists

May 1991 UK CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes On BGOCD85 (Barcode 5017261200853)

 

9. "One More River To Cross"

January 1974 US LP on Atlantic Records (March 1974 UK)

July 2016 UK CD Reissue/Remaster with Two Bonus Single Sides

Beat Goes on BGOCD1233 (Barcode 5017261212337)

"Hallelujah/Cook Book + Bonus Track" by CANNED HEAT - July and November 1969 US LPs on Liberty Records [Cook Book a Compilation] (May 2022 UK Beat Goes On Compilation 'Reissue' - 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and now with 1 Bonus Track) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

The May 2022 CD Remaster Version 

 

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"...Canned Heat Mama Sure Is Good To Me..." 

For 2022, England's Beat Goes On Records have revisited three of their old Canned Heat catalogue CD reissues originally put out in 2003 and it seems - upgrading them (mostly on the audio front). There's some explaining to do on this, so here goes... 

In March 2003 (themselves reissued in July 2013 with the same catalogue numbers, booklets and remasters) - BGO put out "Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat" on BGOCD577 (Barcode 5017261205773). That reissue contained the American Blues Boogie band's first two albums from July 1967 and January 1968 originally on Liberty Records (both in Stereo - 21 Tracks - 78:22 minutes). 

Then came their third outing - the sprawling double-album "Living The Blues" originally issued November 1968. First reissued September 2003, BGOCD591 (Barcode 5017261205919) was a 2CD set. Using the same catalogue number and Barcode - the April 2022 reissue of that comes in a card slipcase and again is on 2CDs - CD1: 47:39 minutes, CD2: 41:11 minutes (no bonuses). Has the same John Tobler 2003 liner notes and their is no note of a new Remaster (Andrew Thompson did the 2003 version and I've reviewed that - see separate entry). 

 

And then there is this - "Hallelujah/Cook Book" on BGOCD578 - their July and November 1969 fourth and fifth albums - also on Liberty Records - a song count of 20 tracks. "The Canned Heat Cookbook: The Best Of Canned Heat" (to give it its full title) was actually their first compilation LP that gathered up tracks from their first four LPs (see details below). Of the three 2022 reissues, this is the only one that actually names a '2022' audio upgrade.

 

So what you have with this reissue is a '2022 New Remaster' (presumably by Andrew Thompson, but it doesn't actually say) and a Bonus Track added on to make the song count 21 - not surprisingly the Bonus being their worldwide hit "Let's Work Together". Their is no outer card slipcase and the liner notes still hark all the way back to the ones pumped out by JOHN TOBLER in 2003. The front of the booklet however has had the moniker '2022 REMASTER now with Bonus Track' added to the artwork - the rear inlay also has "Let's Work Together" added on to the track list. Weirdly, Beat Goes On have kept the same catalogue number (BGOCD578) and to make matters more confusing, the same Barcode (5017261205780). Let's get to the finite details...

 

UK re-issued Friday, 6 May 2022 - "Hallelujah/Cook Book + Bonus Track" by CANNED HEAT on Beat Goes On BGOCD578 (Barcode 5017261205780) offers 2 Albums from 1969 Plus One New Bonus Track Remastered onto 1CD in 2022 playing out as follows (80:27 minutes):

 

1. Same All Over [Side 1]

2. Change My Ways 

3. Canned Heat

4. Sic 'Em Pigs

5. I'm Her Man

6. Time Was 

7. Do Not Enter [Side 2]

8. Big Fat (The Fat Man) 

9. Huautla 

10. Get Off My Back 

11. Down In The Gutter, But Free

Tracks 1 to 11 are their fourth studio album "Hallelujah" - released November 1969 in the USA on Liberty LST-7618 and in the UK on Liberty LBS 83239 (both in Stereo). Produced by CANNED HEAT and SKIP TAYLOR - it peaked at No. 37 on the US Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK).

12. Bullfrog Blues [Side 1]

13. Rollin' And Tumblin' 

14. Going Up The Country

15. Amphetamine Annie

16. Time Was 

17. Boogie Music

18. On The Road Again [Side 2]

19. Same All Over 

20. Sic 'Em Pigs 

21. Fried Hockey Boogie 

Tracks 12 to 21 are their first compilation (fifth album technically) - "The Canned Heat Cook Book: The Best Of Canned Heat" [often abbreviated to "Cook Book"] - released November 1969 in the USA on Liberty Records LST-11000 and February 1970 in the UK on Liberty Records LBS 83303 (both in Stereo) - peaked at No. 86 in the USA on the Billboard Rock LP charts and No. 8 in the UK.

Tracks 12 and 13 are from their debut album "Canned Heat"

Tracks 15, 18 and 21 are from their second album "Boogie With Canned Heat"

Tracks 14 and 17 are from their third album "Living The Blues"

Tracks 16, 19 and 20 are from their fourth studio album "Hallelujah"

 

BONUS TRACK

22. Let's Work Together 

February 1970 US 45-single on Liberty 56151, A-side - January 1970 UK 45-single on Liberty LBF 15302, A-side - original a Non-LP track. The B-side on both issues was "I'm Her Man" from the July 1969 album "Hallelujah". 

 

The 12-page booklet is the one used for the March 2003 reissue with JOHN TOBLER liner notes giving a potted history of the band - it also reproduces the inner artwork of 'The Best Of' Cookbook LP on its inner pages. The Audio is great - crank it and the power comes screaming through. With regards to the bonus - February 1969 saw "Time Was" b/w "Low Down" issued as a 45-single on Liberty 56097, while "Poor Moon" b/w "Sic 'Em Pigs" was issued as a 45-single on Liberty 56127 in July 1969. "Low Down" and "Poor Man" are both Non-LP sides that would have been more suitable '1969' sides than "Let's Work Together" - but I appreciate that with a total playing time of 80:27 minutes, you're sure getting killer value for money. 

 

While "Hallelujah" has great Blues Harmonica throughout (check out "Canned Heat" and "Big Fat (The Fat Man)" - the speaker-to-speaker shenanigans of "Get Off My Back" is hard to take now. But there is no denying the down 'n' dirty guitar power evident in both "Get Off..." and "Down In The Gutter, But Free". But strangely enough, you can so hear why "Cook Book" caught people's attention in Blighty - putting a Best Of up to No. 8. - as a set of great Canned Heat cuts - it absolutely rocks. The eleven-minutes and thirteen seconds of "Fried Hockey Boogie" (from their second album) can only be described as blistering Blues Rock - huge dirty grungy guitar throughout that Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top must have worshiped at the feet of - gone baby gone. Then that great single - cool...

 

A clever, timely, great sounding CD reissue with value-for-money up to the wazoo. One for the reminder of things that were great pile...

"Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" by ELTON JOHN – January 1973 UK and US Eight Studio Album on DJM Records and Uni Records in the USA – featuring Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson with Lyrics by Bernie Taupin and Arrangements by Paul Buckmaster (May 1995 UK Mercury Records/The Rocket Co Ltd CD Reissue – Expanded Edition in 'The Classic Years' Series with Four Bonus Tracks – Gus Dudgeon Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 299 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book 

US AND THEM - 1973

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional 

CD Reissues and Remasters 

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45's...

All In-Depth Reviews From The Discs Themselves - Over 2,200 E-Pages

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

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"...Keeping The Classroom Sane..."

I'll come clean here - I have a few genuine pet hates in music and the abomination that is "Crocodile Rock" is right up there with Eurovision drivel and tomcat poo. 

But that single-song hiccup aside, re-listening to the songsmith class on show in the opening trio alone - "Daniel", "Teacher I Need You" (lyrics above) and "Elderberry Wine" - it doesn't surprise me in the least that Elton's eight studio album went to No. 1 on both sides of the pond in that huge year for him, Bernie Taupin and his band – 1973. 

Plus, it had 'artwork' – those great days back in the Seventies when people took these things seriously and the makers of albums knew it. That 12-page booklet sleeve was a fab thing to behold and still is – full-colour plates, sepia tinted photos and all the lyrics in large type. It was lavish and gave the album a feeling of 'event'. The 20-page CD booklet does reasonably well repro-ing all of it – also throwing in new JOHN TOBLER liner notes that do a typically bang-up job of explaining the history and the heartache. To the music...

UK released May 1995 - "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" by ELTON JOHN on Mercury/The Record Co Ltd 528 154-2 (Barcode 731452815422) is an Expanded Edition in 'The Classic Years' CD Reissue and Remaster Series. It has Four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (56:25 minutes):

1. Daniel [Side 1]

2. Teacher I Need You

3. Elderberry Wine 

4. Blues For My Baby And Me 

5. Midnight Creeper 

6. Have Mercy On The Criminal [Side 2]

7. I'm Going To Be A Teenage Idol

8. Texas Love Song

9. Crocodile Rock 

10. High Flying Bird 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his sixth studio album (eight overall) "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" – released 22 January 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJLPH 427 and 26 January 1973 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-2100. Produced by GUS DUDGEON – it peaked at No. 1 on the LP charts in both countries. It was also his second No. 1 in the USA after 1972's "Honky Chateau". 

BONUS TRACKS: 

11. Screw You (Young Man's Blues)

Track 11 is the Non-LP 45-single B-side of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" released September 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 285 - credited as "Screw You". The 45-single for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was issued in the USA in October 1973 on MCA Records MCA-40148 but with the B-side credited as "Young Man's Blues" – hence the two titles for the same song. 

12. Jack Rabbit 

13. Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)

Tracks 12 and 13 were the Non-LP B-sides of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" issued June 1973 as a 3-Track EP in the UK on DJM Records DJX 502. 

14. Skyline Pigeon (Piano Version)

Track 14 is the Non-LP Version B-side of "Daniel" - a March 1973 US 45-single on MCA Records MCA-40046. The original version of "Skyline Pigeon" was one of the highlights on Elton’s 1969 debut album "Empty Sky" – this 1973 recorded version features EJ on Piano rather than Harpsichord. The UK 45 (released January 1973) on DJM Records DJS 275 has the same B-side. 

Elton had met the legendary American comedian Grouch Marx in Hollywood where the sharpest tongue amongst the Marx Brothers jabbed at the wildly dressed Englishman that our Reg probably had his name round back-to-front. In an off-the-cuff reply, EJ spat out the album’s title and so it came to pass that "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" became the album title. It was all done in jest of course. In fact, if you look to the right of the box office booth on the front sleeve, you will see a small billboard advertising their 1940 Marx Brothers screwball masterpiece "Go West" as a tribute to that moment.

Original Producer GUS DUDGEON handled the Remaster and explains in the booklet that after some 20-plus years those master tapes needed some transfer love - and he has done them proud. There is amazing clarity in the piano and humming opening to deep dive tracks like "High Flying Bird" (raven in the night time) or the Davey Johnstone guitars and Paul Buckmaster Strings doing battle in "Have Mercy On The Criminal" before they fade into the back of the mix in that out-to-kill piano section. There is a warmth too when those acoustic guitars pop out of the left and right speakers in "Blues For My Baby And Me". The bonus tracks feature the buckshot mandolin hootenanny "Jack Rabbit" - but far better is "When You're Ready..." - left poor Elton on the weekend - a dirty and lowdown trick - a B-side hat could easily have been on the main album (Davey Johnstone putting in some fantastic slide guitar). And on it goes...Daniel leaving on a plane...

Although "Piano" is somehow forgotten now and in many ways overshadowed by the double-album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" that would annihilate all comers in October 1973 (another No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic) – real EJ fans hold a candle for the gems inside its elaborate booklet sleeve - and the evidence is here. 

In fact, as a sort-of viable alternative, a fan might want to pop their wallets open a bit wider and go for the Japanese SHM-CD Reissue of August 2019 in all its Mini LP repro artwork glory. Mercury UICY-78960 (Barcode 4988031340677) uses a new Remaster made in 2018 based on UK original tapes - but it is sans those great four bonuses, which feels like a bit too much of a loss to me. 

"How can I ever get it together...without a wife in line..." - our Reg sang on the brass-cool "Elderberry Wine" all those decades ago. Well he may have taken a few more decades to get it together, but man what a journey he had. 

Whatever 'West' way you 'Go' – this is an Elton John album from a long distant past that still warrants a night out at the aural movies. And it's less than a fiver to Blighty types - brand new...