"No. 1 Record" by BIG STAR (2009 Universal/Concord 'Expanded Edition' CD – 2004 George Horn Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Finest In The World…"

If you can't get your grubby paws on the April 2004 'Hybrid SACD' release of both 'No. 1 Record" and "Radio City" by BIG STAR (2LPs onto 1CD - see separate review) – a stunning audio treat on Stax/Fantasy/Universal SXSA-60025-6 (Barcode 025218732369) that also contains a standard CD layer – then opt for the Universal/Concord Music Group 2009 stand-alone CD reissues.

Each carries a very reasonable price tag, half-decent liner notes from the Editor of the superb Zig-Zag Magazine and uber-fan KRIS NEEDS (a six-leaf inlay) and best news of all - that same awesome audio done by GEORGE HORN at George Horn Mastering in California. They even sport a relevant bonus track.

If you're a newcomer - you've probably heard of their legend - or clapped your ears on one of their ballads that frequent so many Indie movies as badge of cool (like say Nick Drake or Patti Smith). Musically – it beggars belief even now that BIG STAR famously didn’t fare well at the box office – barely scraping above chart position No. 400 on initial release in 1972 and 1974. Their record company suffered distribution problems (Stax was on the wind-down) and even knowledgeable record stores found it hard to procure copies. Years after its release - it was still something of a hushed collectable. Like so many hard-luck stories of bands that 'should have been huge' - BIG STAR really were the very definition of 'criminally overlooked'. Here are the big details for the CD reissue of their wonderful debut album "No. 1 Record"...

USA released 14 September 2009 – "No. 1 Record" by BIG STAR on Universal/Fantasy/Concord Music Group, Inc. 0888072315730 (Barcode 888072315730) features 2004 Remastering, a Bonus Track and plays out as follows (40:01 minutes).

1. Feel

2. The Ballad Of El Goodo

3. In The Street

4. Thirteen

5. Don't Lie To Me

6. The India Song

7. When My Baby's Beside Me

8. My Life Is Right

9. Give Me Another Chance

10. Try Again

11. Watch The Sunrise

12. St 100/6

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "No. 1 Record" - released June 1972 in the USA on Ardent Records ADS-2803.

BONUS TRACK:

13. In The Street (Single Mix)

NOTE: their second album "Radio City" followed in January 1974 on Ardent ADS-1501 – but neither LP received an original UK vinyl release at the time. However, they were both clumped together as a budget-priced double-album package on Stax SXSP 302 in July 1978 - their first official British release on record. There have been various CD reissues of the albums ever since - most notably by England's Ace Records on their subsidiary label Big Beat and Rhino's superb 2009 American 4CD Box Set "Keep An Eye On The Sky" which features outtakes and alternates from both of these recording sessions.

As I said before in my review of the 2004 'Hybrid SACD' reissue - the big news here is a beautifully sensitive GEORGE HORN remastering that has brought a warmth and delicacy to already gorgeous music.

Lead singer and Guitarist ALEX CHILTON had been in THE BOX TOPS and along with CHRIS BELL (Guitar and Vocals), ANDY HUMMEL (Bass and Vocals) and JODY STEPHENS (Drums) - they wrote all their own songs (mostly Bell-Chilton compositions except "The India Song" by Hummel and "My Life Is Right" by Chris Bell and Thomas Eubanks of 'Rock City') and made a glorious racket.

Back to the audio - the bass, acoustic guitars and sublime harmony vocals on "The Ballad Of El Goodo" for instance are thrilling to hear as is the sweetness of "Thirteen" - surely one of the loveliest Alex Chilton songs. The jangling power-pop guitars of "When My Baby Needs Me" sound fantastic and "Try Again" reminds me of a band I loved called SMITH-PERKINS-SMITH who made only one album (a self-titled debut) in 1972 on Island Records (yet to make its way onto CD) - a sort of CSYN alternative. In fact the musicality on display here brings in mind that other tragic band BADFINGER.

Their record company tried two 45s in the USA - "When My Baby's Beside Me" b/w "In The Street" on Ardent ADA-2902 in August 172 - and a belated "Watch The Sunrise" b/w "Don't Lie To Me" on Ardent ADA-2904 in April 1973 - but neither charted. Songs like "My Life Is Right" are upbeat jangly rockers that straddle Country Rock and Pop - while the ache in "Give Me Another Chance" is just plain beautiful and moving. And to this day both "Thirteen" and "Try Again" make me weak at my ageing knees...

BIG STAR were always a little bit special and hold a cult status to this day that grows with the passing of time - like NICK DRAKE, JUDEE SILL or JOHN MARTYN.

"...Won't you tell your Dad...get off my back...tell him what we said about 'paint it black'..." - Chilton sang on the beautiful acoustic adolescence song  "Thirteen".

You and me kid against the world...

"Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON (2015 Ace/Big Beat CD Reissue - Duncan Cowell Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Dreaming On Some Sweet Repose..."

As simple and as plain a Folk album as you can get – Bonnie Dobson's 2nd album on Prestige Records was part of the American Folk boom in 1961 – and here it sees a beautiful New Remaster in 2015 by Ace Records of the UK. Here is the Maid of Constant Sorrow details...

UK released August 2015 – "Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON on Ace/Big Beat CDWID 325 (Barcode 029667432528) plays out as follows (37:17 minutes):

1. Dear Companion

2. My Mother Chose My Husband

3. Girl Of Constant Sorrow

4. Vranyanka

5. Ben's Lullaby

6. The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town

7. When I Was In My Prime

8. Ah! Si Mon Moine

9. Blues Jumped A Rabbit

10. Dink's Song

11. Vertsa Dievcha

12. The Cruel Mother

Tracks 1 to 12 are her 2nd US Folk LP "Dear Companion" – released 1961 in Stereo in the USA on Prestige International Records PR-INT 13031. The Stereo LP (only "Ben's Lullaby" is in Mono) was Produced by Rudy Van Gelder – Bonnie Dobson plays Guitar and Lead Vocals on all tracks, Hennie Kubik does Duet Vocals on "The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town", Isabel Gardiner plays Flute and Arranged "Vranyanka" and "When I Was In My Prime", Peter Gardner plays Second Guitar on "My Mother Chose My Husband" and "Blues Jumped A Rabbit".

The 12-page booklet reproduces the albums original song-by-song details and adds on new liner notes by KRIS NEEDS which includes interviews Bonnie a paltry 50 years after the event - its informative and fun. Ace’s long-standing Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL has transferred the Van Gelder recordings with care and skill. There is a faint level of hiss – but only faint – and it's not been squashed out by Pro Tools to get it cleaner  - hence the recordings breath and sound startlingly clear - in your face for all the right reasons.

Her high-pitched vocals are the very epitome of American Folk in the early Sixties. This is purist stuff – girl, guitar and voice combining American Traditionals with Serbian, French-Canadian and Czech Folk songs while occasionally throwing in her own originals that compliment the bulk. Both “Dear Companion” and “My Mother Chose My Husband” are very sweet but her remaking of “Man Of Constant Sorrow” into a female “Girl Of Constant Sorrow” adds a seamless verse of her own at the end to great effect. The Acapella “Ben’s Lullaby” is her own compilation and was inspired by a friend’s 14-month old baby. The double-guitars greatly help the Bob Coltman ballad “The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore” – a song about a man worshiping Jeanie as he drinks deep in a tavern. Isabel Gardner’s Flute and Arrangements help the lovely “When I Was In My Prime” and the Yugoslavian love song “Vranyanka”. The lyrics to “The Cruel Mother” tell of a disturbed unwed mum who kills both of her children and is visited by their ghosts who promise her a scorching time in the flames when she gets there (nice)...

Of a time and viewed by many as insufferable wailing – this kind of US Folk and Americana is an acquired taste for sure. But if you’re a fan – you will need this gorgeous-sounding reissue in your collection. And it’s mid-price too...

PS: see also my review for her 1960 debut album "She's Like A Swallow"...

"Many A Mile" by BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE (2015 Ace/Vanguard Masters CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Piney Wood Hills..."

Buffy Sainte-Marie's 2nd album for Vanguard Records came out Stateside in February 1965 in both Mono (VSR-9171) and Stereo (VSD-79171) amidst the Folk and Blues revivals. "Many A Mile" was heralded at the time and rightly so...

Using the Stereo mix - this 31 July 2015 UK CD Reissue and Remaster (August 2015 in the USA) on Ace/Vanguard Masters VMD 79171 (Barcode 029667073424) is a straightforward transfer of that rare 14-track Folk LP onto CD and breaks down as follows (36:39 minutes).

1. Must I Go Blind [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

2. Los Pescadores (The Fishermen) [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

3. Groundhog [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

4. On The Banks Of Red Roses [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

5. Fixin' To Die [Bukka White cover]

6. Until It's Time For You To Go [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

7. The Piney Wood Hills [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

8. Welcome Welcome Emigrante [Buffy Sainte-Marie song] [Side 2]

9. Broke-Down Girl [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

10. Johnny Be Fair [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

11. Maple Sugar Boy [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

12. Lazarus [Traditional Song cover done Acapella, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

13. Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

14. Many A Mile [Patrick Sky cover]

The 12-page booklet has detailed, incisive and affectionate liner notes by KRIS NEEDS (with additional material from Fred Jasper of Vanguard Records and Music Historian/Collector Alec Palao). There are some Trade Adverts (Cash Box Magazine), sheet music for the American single "Until It's Time For You To Go" (Vanguard VSD-35116) and the original vinyl album rear-sleeve liner notes by William Riverside reproduced in the last few pages.

The remaster has been carried out by NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering in London and is a mixed bag - great and then not so great. Most of the primarily acoustic tracks are very clean in the transfer - but some like "Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies" where she uses her Mouth Harp have huge background noise and hiss. It's noticeable too on the Acapella "Lazarus" while the acidic "Broke-Down Girl" feels like its dubbed off a record despite its clarity (sounds like rumble on the tapes). But then thankfully you get the exact opposite on other tracks – her gorgeous original "The Piney Wood Hills” and the revved-up Folk/Blues of "Fixin' To Die" both sound utterly amazing. It was clearly recorded with 'feeling' outweighing  uber-fidelity - so accept the remaster as 'warts and all'...

Buffy Sainte-Marie's warbling high Vibrato voice is a Marmite thing – you either love it or you hate it. And I have to admit that all that Sixties earnestness on stuff like "Los Pescadores" and the dreadful cod Irish of "Johnny Be Fair" are hard to take in 2015 – but there's other beauty and passion here too. Dylan covered Bukka White's stunning "Fixin' To Die" on his 1962 Columbia Records debut - but the song’s angry and desperate lyrics go back to 1930s where Bukka witnessed a friend of his be murdered in the infamous Parchman Farm Prison. Buffy uses her quivering Vibrato voice and fierce down-strumming on the strings like a stabbing knife – her anger and hurt a ferocious highlight and must have slayed audiences in the aisles when she played it live in 1965. Even better is her own supremely musical composition "The Piney Wood Hills” which ends Side 1 on an impressively warm melody. She reaches for the best Bob Dylan could offer in this song and beats him (a gorgeous plaintive melody that is thankfully free of excessive hiss levels). The folky "Until It's Time For You To Go" is a very personal love-song while Elvis Presley hijacked the album’s finisher and title track "Many A Mile" during his awful Vegas years and made it a belated hit.

"Many A Mile" by BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE won’t be for everyone - but those Folk/Bluesy nuggets on the album (and their excellent Audio) will be a huge draw for fans and the Folk-Americana curious...