"L.A. Turnaround" by BERT JANSCH (2009 EMI/Charisma 'Expanded & Enhanced' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Let The Sunshine In..."

After eight years with Transatlantic (1965 to 1971) and a brief flit with Reprise Records for "Moonshine" in 1972 - Pentangle's gifted Guitar Player and perennial folky BERT JANSCH recorded three albums with Tony Stratton Smith's Charisma Records - all beloved, revered and absent from CD for decades - 1974's "L.A. Turnaround", 1975's "Santa Barbara Honeymoon" and 1977's "A Rare Conundrum".

All three of these rare and sought-after UK vinyl originals have been given a digital dust-up by Charisma (now part of EMI) and reissued/remastered with Bonus Tracks and Enhanced CD Video. And what a tasty job they've done too. In fact I'd argue you need the lot (never enough Bert in our house) - but if I was to zero in on just one for the house-is-burning-down arm pile - then you'd have to say that this melodic peach should be singled out. Here's one to let the sunshine in...

UK released June 2009 - "L.A. Turnaround" by BERT JANSCH on EMI/Charisma CASCDX 1090 (Barcode 5099996486306) is an 'Extended & Enhanced' CD Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks and an 'ECD Section' (three of the Bonus and the 13:12 minute movie are Previously Unreleased). It plays out as follows (49:28 minutes):

1. Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning

2. Chambertin

3. One For Jo

4. Travelling Man

5. Open Up The Watergate (Let The Sunshine In)

6. Stone Monkey

7. Of Love And Lullaby [Side 2]

8. Needle Of Death

9. Lady Nothing

10. There Comes A Time

11. Cluck Old Hen

12. The Blacksmith

Tracks 1 to 12 are his 9th studio album "L.A. Turnaround" - released September 1974 in the UK on Charisma CAS 1090 (no US release - didn't chart in the UK).

BONUS TRACKS (see Notes for 13, 14 and 15):

13. Open Up The Watergate (Alternate Version)

14. One For Jo (Alternate Version)

15. The Blacksmith (Alternate Version)

16. In The Bleak Midwinter - non-album A-side to a December 1974 UK 7" single on Charisma CB 240 (the album cut "One For Jo" was the B-side). Produced by Ralph McTell

ECD SECTION:

L.A. Turnaround...The Movie (13:12 minutes)

Contains: There Comes A Time, Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning, Travelling Man and One For Jo.

Filmed during the making of "L.A. Turnaround" at Tony Stratton-Smith's home, Luxford House in Sussex.

Features Bert Jansch, Mike Nesmith, Red Rhodes and others

NOTES: Tracks 13, 14, 15 and the ECD Section are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The 8-page booklet shows the lyric insert that came with original British LPs (centre pages) and is complimented by superb and informational liner notes from noted music writer and lover - MICK HOUGHTON. There's even a footnote from the man who signed him and ran Charisma - Tony Stratton Smith. There's a 'mad hatter' Famous Charisma Records repro label on the CD, a shot of Jansch and acoustic guitar during recording beneath the see-through CD tray and stills from the 'boys in the country' film that's part of the ECD Section. But the big news is a gorgeous CD Remaster by BERT JANSCH and PETER MEW at Abbey Road Studios - the whole album (and its previously unreleased outtakes) sounding sublime...

Very Folk orientated with a dash of Acoustic Rock thrown in here and there – surrounded by Yes, ELP, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Roxy Music - "L.A. Turnaround" was decidedly downbeat and maybe even 'too simple' for late 1974. And yet it’s beautiful because of that. Produced by Pentangle's John Renbourn in Paris in 1972 - the four-minute "Chambertin" with just Jansch on Acoustic Guitar is a good example – the kind of swirling, rolling, finger-picking work-out that gives Instrumentals a good name (beautiful audio on this highlight). Equally tasty is his cover of John Renbourn's "Lady Nothing" – another pretty melody that feels almost spiritual in its 'just the music' warmth. As some of have already mentioned the 'bird chirping' that opens "Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning" is AWOL - and without explanation either (couldn't get copyright on nature). But in truth - the song is so lovely, so soothing and bathed in beautiful Pedal Steel Guitar work from Red Rhodes – that bluntly I’m not that bothered.

"One For Jo" feels like an ancient English folk song - but it's a modern-day tale of dreamer that Jo clearly loves despite Bert's worries that he's all mouth and even a bit 'slow'. Politics rears its ugly head in the decidedly upbeat "Open Up The Watergate (Let The Sunshine In)". With Jesse Ed Davies playing  superb slide guitar - Klaus Voorman on Bass and Danny Lane on Drums - it sounds more like Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance than the Bert Jansch we know (it's one of my faves on the album). Mike Nesmith of The Monkees plays Guitar on "Stone Monkey" while Red Rhodes puts in Pedal Steel - it's the kind of song that took me a while to like.

No such problem with Side 2's opener - the beautiful "Of Love And Lullaby" - a gorgeous lilting folk ballad you can't help thinking that both Robert Plant and Jimmy Page would have given up a gonad to pen. Drug abuses seeps off the dark "Needle Of Death" - while the ghosts of a 1970 Matthews Southern Comfort permeate the whole of "There Comes A Time" - again aided and abetted by Mike Nesmith and especially Red Rhodes on the Pedal Steel. Kansas man Byron Berline brings his ex Dillards fiddle and mandolin to "Cluck Old Hen" - a song that feels like a Fairport Convention/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hybrid. Doc Watson's "The Blacksmith" ends the LP - a wickedly upbeat song dominated by Mike Cohen's beautifully complimentary 'electric' keyboards (Cohen wrote "Mary, Mary" for The Monkees and was part of Mike Nesmith's band).

After a nice album - I wasn't expecting much from the Bonus Tracks - but I agree with Mike Houghton's assessment that the Pedal Steel variant of "Open Up The Watergate" and Mike Cohen's use of Acoustic Piano rather than electric is just as fab as the released version - if not better. Crisply produced by Ralph McTell – Jansch’s 2:22 minute cover of the seasonal Traditional "In The Bleak Midwinter" keeps a beautiful melody simple – bolstering it up towards the end with male and female Christmas voices like a soft-spoken Colliery Choir. Sweet as...

PS: see also reviews for CD Remasters of "Rosemary Lane" (1971) and "Avocet" (1978)

“Is This What You Want?” by JACKIE LOMAX (October 2010 Apple 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Rolls Royce...Does It Make You Happy?"

Despite "Sour Milk Sea" being written by George Harrison at a time when all-things-Beatles was at an-all-time fever pitch – Jackie Lomax's debut album on their Apple Label has never really raised the goose bumps on collector’s arms (or the public’s interest - his next albums on Warner Brothers were the same despite some quality tracks). But on rehearing this 1969 opening salvo – there is much to enjoy here. One of 14 Apple Label albums Remastered and Reissued on 20 October 2010 - here are the questionable details...

Using the Stereo Mix of the album – the October 2010 Expanded Edition CD Remaster of "Is That What You Want?" by JACKIE LOMAX [featuring Eric Clapton, Nick Hopkins, Tony Newman, Madeline Bell and Doris Troy] on Apple 5099990825521 (Barcode the same) breaks down as follows (60:09 minutes):

1. Speak To Me

2. Is This What You Want?

3. How Can You Say Goodbye

4. Sunset

5. Sour Milk Sea

6. Fall Inside Your Eyes

7. Little Yellow Pills [Side 2]

8. Take My Word

9. The Eagle Laughs At You

10. Baby You’re A Lover

11. You’ve Got Me Thinking

12. I Just Don’t know

Tracks 1 to 12 are the LP "Is That What You Want?" released 14 March 1969 on Apple APCOR 6 (Mono) and Apple SAPCOR 6 (Stereo) in the UK and on Apple ST-3354 in the USA (Stereo only).

BONUS TRACKS:

13. New Day

14. Thumbin’ A Ride

15. How The Web Was Woven

16. You’ve Got To Be Strong

17. You Make It With Me

18. Can You Hear Me

Tracks 13 to 15 were the 3 bonus tracks given with the 1991 reissue while 16 to 18 are previously unreleased and exclusive to this 2010 version. There are also 5 more extra tracks available via Digital Download from iTunes or Amazon as an extra payment (see either site for details).

Using both album and bonus tracks, this CD will allow fans to sequence his 3 Apple UK 7" singles as follows: 

1. "Sour Milk Sea" b/w "The Eagle Laughs At You" [Tracks 5 and 9]

(Released 31 August 1968 in the UK on Apple APPLE 3)

2. "New Day" b/w "Fall Inside Your Eyes" [Tracks 13 and 6]

(Released 2 May 1969 in the UK on Apple APPLE 11; the A-side is a non-album track and is a MONO mix)

3. "How The Web Was Woven" b/w Thumbin' A Ride [Tracks 15 and 14]

(Released 6 February 1970 in the UK on Apple APPLE 23. Both sides are cover versions, the A-side by Clive Westlake and David Most while the B is a Coasters song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It is also the only single on the Apple catalogue produced by a Beatle on each side - George Harrison on the A and Paul McCartney on the B. Both songs were non-album at the time of release)

BOOKLET/PACKAGING:

Noted writer and music lover ANDY DAVIS does the new liner notes for the disappointingly weedy booklet (they all appear to be this generic length - 12 pages - EMI pushes the boat out again people). But with what little text he has been afforded, Davis does at least fill it with properly informative details - and it's peppered with some very tasty black and white photos of Lomax in Hyde Park in 1969 (two more adorn the inner gatefold) - and colour portraits of Jackie with George Harrison and Paul McCartney in the studio.  It's cute, but you do wish there was more...

PLAYERS/CONTENT:

Like so many of the sessions of the time, the recordings included three of The Beatles and many famous and talented friends - George played Guitar, Ringo was on Drums, Paul McCartney and Klaus Voormann contributed Bass - others musicians included ERIC CLAPTON on Guitar, NICKY HOPKINS on Keyboards and TONY NEWMAN of Sounds Incorporated on Drums. Although the liner notes don't state it - the backing vocals are probably DORIS TROY and MADELINE BELL. Excepting "Sour Milk Sea" (written by George Harrison) - the other 11 tracks on the album are Jackie Lomax originals.

SOUND:

The same team that handled the much-praised 09/09/09 Beatles remasters has done this - GUY MASSEY, STEVE ROOKES, PHIL HICKS and SIMON GIBSON. The audio quality is BEAUTIFUL - a massive improvement. It also makes you reassess a lot of the songs and especially the musicianship involved.

The album opens strongly with "Speak To Me" - strings, vocals, guitars - all sounding great. It's followed by the 'possessions are corrupting' title song (lyrics above) with a lovely Oboe floating over the loaded lyrics. In fact a lot of the album reflects a thinking-man's Rock 'n' Roller - "Little Yellow Pills" warning against doctor's helpful prescriptions and the plaintive album finisher "I Just Don't Know" ruminating about chasing dreams and girls - neither of which appear attainable to the dapper Jackie. Some of the slower songs don't work for me - a little forced and even twee in places - "Fall Inside Your Eyes" and "Baby You're A Lover"

But like the other issues in this series, the best is kept until last. What the 3 new bonus tracks lack in recorded finesse are more than made up for with heart and raw talent - "You Got To Be Strong" and "Can You Hear Me" are co-written with fellow label mate DORIS TROY - and they're excellent. Sort of hybrid Soul-meets-Rock songs, they suit his guttural vocals so well.  "Can You Hear Me" is even moving in a slightly Northern Soul way - a truly lovely melody.

Niggles - the gatefold card sleeve is nice to look at for sure, but the booklet and overall packaging feel lightweight (what EMI could get away with). The CD should have one of those gauze inner bags to protect it - a problem that no record company seems to want to acknowledge (scuffing and damage). These are minor points I know but worth making...

Lomax went on to make "Home Is In My Head" and "Three" for Warner Brothers in 1971 and 1972 (both of which featured ace UK slide-guitarist Bryn Haworth - they've been reissued by Rhino with extra tracks) - but this forgotten and underrated album is where it all started proper.

Recommended - especially given the massive improvement in sound quality and those excellent bonus tracks…

"Doris Troy" by DORIS TROY (September 1970 Sole Album For The Beatles Apple Label Now Reissued Onto A 2010 Extended Edition Apple CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Every Time I See You…You Keep On Coming On Strong…"

Monday 25 October 2010 has seen 14 of the 'Apple' label albums remastered and reissued in the UK alongside "Come And Get It" - a first-time-ever label 'Best Of'. This reissue is one of them.

Apple 5099990824326 (Barcode the same) breaks down as follows (65:07 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 13 are the LP "Doris Troy" released 4 September 1970 in the UK on Apple SAPCOR 13 (Stereo only) and on Apple ST-3371 in the USA. It was her only solo album for The Beatles label, but she also sang and co-wrote many songs on Billy Preston's two Apple albums - "That's The Way God Planned It" (1969) and "Encouraging Words" (1970) - see separate reviews.

BONUSES:

Tracks 14 to 18 are the 5 bonus tracks on the 1992 reissue:
"All That I've Got (I'm Gonna Give It To You)" (14) is co-written with Billy Preston. The song was his 3rd single on Apple in January 1970 (APPLE 21) - this is a different funkier take.
"Get Back" (15) is a soulful cover of The Beatles classic. It turned up as the non-album B-side to Doris Troy's 2nd single "Jacob's Ladder" issued 28 August 1970 on APPLE 28 in the UK.
"Dearest Darling" and "What You Will Blues" (16 and 17) are Doris Troy originals - outtakes from the sessions first issued as bonuses on the 1992 reissue. "What You Will Blues" is essentially an instrumental version of "Give Me Back My Dynamite" with some extra wordless ad-lib vocals.
"Vaya Con Dias" (18) is a mid-Fifties song first covered by Les Paul and Mary Ford, then Chuck Berry in the Sixties and others. It translates into "Go With God" and was the non-album B-side to her 1st single "Ain't That Cute" issued 13 February 1970 on APPLE 24 (co-produced be George Harrison).

Track 19 is a new bonus for this 2010 issue - a previously unreleased 'Alternate Version' of "All That I've Got (I'm Gonna Give It To You)".

BOOKLET/PACKAGING:
Noted writer and music lover ANDY DAVIS does the new liner notes for the disappointingly weedy booklet (they all appear to be this generic length - 12 pages - EMI pushes the boat out again people). But with what little text he has been afforded, Davis does at least fill it with properly informative details - and it's peppered with some very tasty black and white photos of Doris, Stephen Stills and George all in the studio - with colour portraits of Doris solo and live with Billy Preston at the piano. It's cute, but you do wish there was more...

CONTENT:
Two are co-written with GEORGE HARRISON - "Ain't That Cute" and "Give Me Back My Dynamite" while "Gonna Get My Baby Back" and "You Give Me Joy Joy" are shared songwriting-credits with Harrison and two other famous fans of Doris - RINGO STARR and STEPHEN STILLS. Cover versions include "Special Care" (a Stephen Stills song from his Buffalo Springfield days), "Games People Play" (Joe South), "Exactly Like You" (a 1930's Jazz Standard written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields and brought to fame by The Ames Brothers) and "Jacob's Ladder" (a Traditional air arranged by George Harrison & Doris). "You Tore Me Up Inside" and "Don't Call Me No More" are co-written with New York blues guitarist RAY SCHINNERY and "I've Got To Be Strong" is with fellow label mate JACKIE LOMAX. The last two collaborations are "Hurry" with GREGORY CARROLL and "So Far" with bassist KLAUS VOORMAN (appeared on "Revolver"). Doris produced the whole album except "Ain't That Cute" which was done by George.

PLAYERS:
Like so many of the sessions of the time, the recordings included some of The Beatles and many famous and talented friends - George played Guitar, Ringo on Drums, Klaus Voormann did the Bass with Stephen Stills, PETER FRAMPTON, ERIC CLAPTON and DELANEY BRAMLETT all on Guitar. BILLY PRESTON added keyboards - and although it doesn't say it - MADELINE BELL is probably on backing vocals too.

Unlike some of the other Apple issues, there are no extra tracks via download. But the really big news is the SOUND...

SOUND:
The same team that handled the much-praised 09/09/09 Beatles remasters have done this - GUY MASSEY, STEVE ROOKES, PHIL HICKS and SIMON GIBSON. The audio quality is BEAUTIFUL - a massive improvement. It also makes you reassess a lot of the songs and especially the musicianship involved.

The drums on "Give Me Back My Dynamite" (lyrics above) and the combined guitar licks on "You Tore Me Up Inside" (so Staple Singers on Stax) are nice and clear. The guitar and brass on "I've Got To Be Strong" are suddenly huge - great whack, but the strings on the orchestral "So Far" still seem too distant. Still, it's a lovely song and it features "you hurt me so" impassioned vocals. It's probably the nicest song on here and easy to see Doris wanted to work with Voormann more - a killer combination of his melodic rock with her Diva Soul. It all ends in the 'praise the Lord' bombast of "Jacob's Ladder" complete with spoken studio dialogue after the song finishes...

Issued 4 September 1970 - a week before Billy Preston's equally brilliant "Encouraging Words" on the 11th - both albums can be mentioned in the same breath because they were very confident soulful affairs - and must have made fans think that these white English guys at Apple were catalysts supreme. Two crackers in the same month...

But you could say that the best is kept until last - the new 'Alternate Version' of "All That I've Got (I'm Gonna Give It To You)" is a gem. The version on Track 14 is a Piano led take (which is pretty), but this is a Funkier Guitar take and is a lot better for it. Like the previously unreleased from-the-vaults tunes on both Billy Preston CD reissues - this is that genuine rarity - a must-have bonus track.

Niggles - the gatefold card sleeve is nice to look at for sure, but the booklet and overall packaging feel lightweight (what EMI could get away with). The CD should have one of those gauze inner bags to protect it - a problem that no record company seems to want to acknowledge (scuffing and damage). They're minor points I know, but worth making...

To sum up - like the two Preston albums she was involved with in 1969 and 1970, I've loved rehearing this forgotten peach of an LP in this hugely improved sound quality - Seventies Soul lovers 'need' to discover this great record.

A brilliant reissue and recommended big time.