"…And The Message From The Country Rises Higher…”
The 2000's have been good to The Move. Their first three albums
"The Move" (April 1968), "Shazam" (March 1970) and
"Looking On" (December 1970) all received 2008 CD upgrades by Salvo of
the UK (their debut is a 2CD set) with great sound and half-decent extras. There are also superlative 'Esoteric Recordings' reissues from 2016 (see reviews).
But
"Message From The Country" - their 4th and last studio album reissued
on an expanded EMI CD some years back - seems to have become a bit of a
forgotten gem. Time to rectify this oversight on your part…
Released September 2005 - "Message From The Country" by THE
MOVE on EMI/Harvest 0946 3 30342 2 8 is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster and
plays out as follows (76:19 minutes):
1. Message From The Country [by Jeff Lynne]
2. Ella James [by Roy Wood]
3. No Time [by Jeff Lynne]
4. Don't Mess Me Up [by Bev Bevan]
5. Until Your Moma's Gone
[Tracks 1 to 5 made up Side 1 of the original LP]
6. It Wasn't My Idea To Dance [by Roy Wood]
7. The Minister [by Jeff Lynne]
8. Ben Crawley Steel Company [by Roy Wood]
9. The Words Of Aaron [by Jeff Lynne]
10. My Marge [by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood]
Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Message From The Country"
released October 1971 in the UK on Harvest Records SHSP 4013 (a gatefold
sleeve) and in the USA with different artwork in a single sleeve on Capitol
Records ST-811
Track 11 is "Tonight" [by Roy Wood], a non-album song released
as a UK 7" single in June 1971 on Harvest HAR 5038 [it's B-side was the
album track "Don't Mess Me Up"]
Track 12 is "Chinatown" [by Roy Wood]; a non-album song
released as a UK 7" single in October 1971 on Harvest HAR 5043 [A]
Track 13 is "Down On The Bay" [by Jeff Lynne]; a non-album
song, it's the B-side of "Chinatown"
Track 14 is "Do Ya" [by Jeff Lynne], a non-album song; it was
the first of two B-sides to "California Man", a non-album track
issued as a 7" single in May 1972 in the UK on Harvest HAR 5050. Its
second B-side was the album track "Ella James". "Do Ya" was
also re-issued in September 1974 in the UK as an A-side in its own right on
Harvest HAR 5086 (it's B-side was the album track "No Time").
Track 15 is "California Man" (see 14)
Tracks 16 to 18 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED STUDIO SESSIONS - "Don't
Mess Me Up" is a stripped down version newly found at Abbey Road Studios,
"The Words Of Aaron" is an extended version with additional woodwind
(also newly found at Abbey Road Studios) and last is "Do Ya" - a
different mix prepared in Philips Studios in 1972 and originally intended for
broadcast as a BBC session (see below about this one).
PETER MEW has remastered the first generation original master tapes at
Abbey Road for this release and the sound quality is glorious - really clean
and muscular - another great job done by him. The 20-page booklet is superbly
laid out - detailed liner notes by noted band expert JOHN VAN DER KISTE, rare
worldwide 7" picture sleeves reproduced for the non-album single releases,
NME reviews and adverts - even snaps of the tape boxes.
“Message” has often been rated by MOVE fans as one of their best albums
- in fact the opening song "Message From The Country" still sounds
amazingly fresh to this day - sort of like a follow up to Thunderclap Newman's
"Something In The Air" (lyrics above). But what gets me is the
stunning quality of the 7" singles and their B-sides - equal to any of the
better album tracks - "Down On The Day" and "Tonight" jump
to mind. And then there's the three unreleased sessions which are unexpectedly
cool - the first two are almost Acapella backing tracks which give fascinating
insights into the quality of their great vocal harmonies, while the
seven-minute "Do Ya" stops at about 4:51 minutes into the song and
there's suddenly an unannounced version of "My Marge" [last track on
the album and a B-side in the States] complete with studio chatter - great
stuff!
To sum up - this is another blindingly good reissue from EMI for a band
that deserved the accolades. Top stuff all round really…
