"Bakerloo" by BAKERLOO – Debut and Only UK album from November 1969 on Harvest Records SHVL 762 featuring Dave 'Clem' Clempson (later with Colosseum, Humble Pie, Greenslade, Champion and Snafu), Terry Poole (later with Graham Bond and Magick, Colin Blunstone, Paul Brett and more and Keith Baker (later with Uriah Heep) and Producer Gus Dudgeon (October 2014 UK Esoteric Recordings 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue With 5 Bonus Tracks – Rob Keyloch Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...This Worried Feeling..."

Bakerloo made only one album on EMI's Underground label imprint Harvest Records and were in many ways a doomed nag before they even got out of the slots.

Headhunted by Jon Hiseman for his Jazz-Rock outfit Colosseum – Bakerloo's stunning guitarist, keyboardist and singing main-man Dave 'Clem' Clempson left in September 1969 to join Colosseum just two months before the self-titled Bakerloo album was launched, effectively kyboshing the three-piece just when Kentucky Derby fame beckoned.

They all went on to bigger and better things shortly afterward (listed below) – but for many fans left with one vinyl slice of what might have been - this raw Hard Rock Hard Blues Prog Tinted beast was a nice tip to leave on the EMI canteen table. Which brings us to this digital reissue – a brill-sounding brute of a CD foaming at the gills with top audio and bonuses…

UK released 6 October 2014 - "Bakerloo" by BAKERLOO on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2468 (Barcode 5013929456846) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (71:00 minutes):

1. Big Bear Ffolly [Side 1]

2. Bring it On Home

3. Drivin' Bachwards

4. Last Blues

5. Gang Bang

6. This Worried Feeling [Side 2]

7. Son Of Moonshine

Tracks 1 to 7 are their debut and only album "Bakerloo" – released November 1969 in the UK on Harvest Records SHVL 762 (no US equivalent). Produced by GUS DUDGEON – it didn’t chart.

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Once Upon A Time (Alternate Take)

9. This Worried Feeling (Alternate Take)

10. Georgia

11. Train

12. Son Of Moonshine Part One (Alternate Take)

There's a picture CD (Poole's striking graphically designed album artwork), a 12-page booklet featuring new liner notes from noted writer MALCOLM DOME that include enlightening reminiscences from Bassist Terry Poole on their formation, touring and the making of their lone album. And there is even a repro of that famous Marquee Club poster (90 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1) where Bakerloo were in the right place at the right time – because on Tuesday the 10th of December 1968 they were the support slot to a newly formed supergroup called LED ZEPPELIN - billed as [Nee The Yardbirds] should punters get confused (they might have gotten their eardrums hurt with both acts, but they weren't going to get confused). That night our trio was known by their full moniker BAKERLOO BLUES LINE, but of course shortened their name thereafter (apparently it wasn't sold out and Poole had known Plant and Bonham from their Band Of Joy days). There are also rare promotional and live shots of the three-piece and the usual reissue credits. The Remaster from Analogue Tapes is care of ROB KEYLOCH – done at Church Walk Studios and manner of heaviness abounds. This sucker is punchy and full of teeth.…

The hard-rocking 3-piece BAKERLOO featured Dave 'Clem' Clempson on Guitar, Harmonica and All Keyboards. Clempson went onto Colosseum heavily featuring on their classic June 1971 "Colosseum Live" double where he met ace keyboardist Dave Greenslade and would later be a part of Greenslade from 1973 on Warner Brothers. He also did stints in Humble Pie, Champion, Snafu and more. Terry Poole played Bass and sang vocals on "Last Blues" and "Son Of Moonshine" – he went on to session for Graham Bond with Magick, Colin Blunstone, Paul Brett and many more - while Keith Baker the drummer would go on to be with Uriah Heep. The original drummer John Hinch went to play with Judas Priest (its Keith Baker who plays on the album) and of course Gus Dudgeon would gain fame as being the defacto Producer for every Elton John album on DJM Records right up to "Blue Moves" in October 1976. The only guest on the Bakerloo LP was Jerry Salisbury who plays Trumpet on the short "Drivin' Bachwards" on Side 1 which at 2:08 minutes is a teeny-weeny revamp of a Bach song.

Despite fairly favourable press reviews towards the tail-end of 1969, for most punters, their first taste of Bakerloo probably came from a cheaply priced sampler album released in June 1970 - in this case Harvest's double "Picnic: A Breath Of Fresh Air" on Harvest SHSS 1/2. The opening instrumental on Side 1 of "Bakerloo" called "Big Bear Ffolly" (deliberate spelling with two f's) was featured on it - and it's easy to hear why. "Big Bear..." and its manic speed guitar is exactly the kind of Rock indulgence Page might have engaged in during a "Dazed And Confused" solo. Immediately that's followed by a cool as school cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's 1966 Chess Records classic "Bring It On Home" where the guitar/harmonica shuffling blues and slightly distorted vocal sounds (shall we say) uncannily like Zep's version on Side 2 of October 1969's "Zeppelin II". Still a winner though. Cute as it may have been with that Harpsichord in 1969, the largely dismissible JS Bach derivative "Drivin' Bachwards" is supposed to have inspired Tull with "Bouree" over on "Stand Up", but who knows.

Far better is the seven minutes of "Last Blues" - a slow brooding doomy guitar monster where lyrically Clempson sounds like he needs to get out more and enjoy local ale while he's doing it. Side 1 ends with the unfortunately titled "Gang Bang", six-minutes of proper whig-out guitaring - Baker's drums crashing over that Bass. Side 2's "This Worried Feeling" feels like 1969 Fleetwood Mac where Peter Green gets all moody with his misery guts Blues Guitar aided and abetted by a hurt-mama-hurt echoed vocal. It's properly great stuff as it crashes into that English Rock Band does the Blues thing. That's followed by the huge "Son Of Moonshine" - where elements of Prog are mixed towards the end with wild grungy guitar - fifteen minutes of riffage that doesn't care - Clempson's playing feeling like Gary Moore unleashed – stood grinning as he taps on the shoulder of Stoner Rock (hello boys). You can so hear why original copies of this album command such money…

The Bonuses offer us five including a cover version of Hoagie Carmichael's "Georgia" and a more piano orientated alternate take of "This Worried Feeling" - Clempson sounding like an upset Stan Webb in Chicken Shack concerned that his baby's fidelity might not be entirely intact (a fantastic Blues-Rock find). "Train" is a fascinating three minute slide guitar shuffle - and again this instrumental imbibed with the feeling that you're listening to Jeremy Spencer in Fleetwood Mac discovering Elmore James and Lightning Hopkins at the same time. But even that cool snippet is trumped by the fantastic 8:46 minutes of "Son Of Moonshine Part One" - a heads down Heavy Rock boogie that would impress Mountain fans.

A cracking reissue then of an unfairly forgotten debut bolstered up with Bonus Tracks actually worthy of the name. Want it down and dirty, then Bakerloo and its Blues Line is the train station you need to stop at..

"Colosseum Live" by COLOSSEUM - June 1971 UK 2LP Live Set of New Material on Bronze Records ICD 1 (November 1971 USA 2LP set on Warner Brothers 2XS 1942) featuring Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Dave Greenslade, Mark Clarke and Chris Farlowe with Songs by Jack Bruce, Pete Brown, Graham Bond, Dave Clempson, James Litherland and Chris Farlowe (29 July 2016 UK Esoteric Recordings 2CD 'Expanded Edition' with One Bonus Track on CD1 and Five on CD2 - Ben Wiseman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Ladder To The Moon..."

Colosseum’s fifth album – a live double issued in Blighty in June 1971 with mostly new material (as far as UK fans were concerned) - has had a poor history on both VINYL and CD.  But thankfully this superb 2016 twofer reissue from Esoteric Recordings of the UK finally sorts those anomalies out. And in style...

But some history first – formed in 1968 as a vehicle for Jazz Rock, Fusion and Prog – drummer John Hiseman and Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith recruited keyboardist Dave Greenslade and Bassist Tony Reeves (both of whom would be the future Warner Brothers Prog band Greenslade in 1973) along with guitarist James Litherland. They promptly popped out two giant slices of Prog Rock with their debut "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You" in March 1969 on Fontana and then the much-loved "Valentyne Suite" in November 1969 on the new home to all things weird and hairy – Vertigo Records – the famous label's first long-player release.

When James Litherland left, Dave 'Clem' Clempson of Bakerloo (one album on Harvest Records from 1969) was drafted in to replace him on guitar and some new songs along with re-recordings of "Valentyne Suite" material took place. This alternative or rejiggered "Valentyne Suite" material was issued March 1970 in the USA-only as the album "The Grass Is Greener" on ABC/Dunhill Records DS 50079 and in slightly altered artwork. It contained three new songs unknown to UK fans - "Jumping Off The Sun" by Dave Tomlin and Mike Taylor, the Dave Greenslade, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Chris Farlowe composition "Lost Angeles" and a cover version of a Jack Bruce (of Cream) and Pete Brown (of Battered Ornaments) song called "Rope Ladder To The Moon". 

The last two are mentioned because they turned up on "Colosseum Live" and of course were new to fans in England who bought that specially priced double album (the first release on Bronze Records in the UK). Colosseum then unleashed their third studio album (fourth overall) in December 1970 - "Daughter Of Time" – another Jazz Rock, Prog Rock beast on Vertigo Records. While they made no real inroads in the USA – the three British LPs had charted and done well – No. 15, No. 15 and No. 23 respectively. Which brings us to their famous and perhaps most popular moment - "Colosseum Live" – and its awful audio history…

Culled together from British gigs in March 1971 and UK released in June 1971 on Bronze Records (November 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers) - the live double famously came in a gatefold sleeve with clear red plastics attached to the inside to hold both LPs, had mostly all new material and an enticing price tag of £2.75 for a double-album (who among us remember those stickers – the one on Purple's "Made In Japan" had the same effect, "Bumpers" on Island etc). Unfortunately these plastics had a foam strip on each lip that was supposed to clean the record as you dragged it out – an 'AV/Pak' as I recall they called it on the inner gatefold. But it never worked; in fact the bare record without a polylined inner-sleeve was of course open to the elements and got wrecked very quickly. Worse, some LPs reacted to the plastic and had unmovable gunk deposited on the playing surface you couldn't wash off (Fat Mattress had that on their first Polydor album). It was a disastrous invention and probably wrecked more LPs than it cleaned - hence "Colosseum Live" ended up in more secondhand record bins faster than almost any other LP despite its very healthy No. 17 peak on the UK LP charts.

In 1992 the UK Sequel CD Remaster unleashed the Previously Unreleased "I Can't Live Without You" which is featured here as one of the Bonus Cuts (Track 4 on CD1 with a different version over on CD2). Simon Heyworth did a remaster in 1999 for Castle Communications, but this July 2016 2CD expansion trumps them all. Returning to the real tapes and featuring a BEN WISEMAN 24-Bit Digital Remaster that restores the oomph it has always needed – ECLEC 22545 also features crowd-pleasing bonus material like the "Valentyne Suite" live set from March 1971 with the classic line-up. So at last, to the 2016 details…

UK released 29 July 2016 - "Colosseum Live" by COLOSSEUM on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22545 (Barcode 5013929464544) is a 2CD Remastered 'Expanded Edition' with One Bonus Track on CD1 and Five on CD2. It plays out as follows: 

CD1 - 74:41 minutes:

1. Rope Ladder To The Moon [Side 1]

2. Walking In The Park

3. Skellington [Side 2]

4. I Can't Live Without You [Bonus Track, see Note below]

5. Tanglewood '63 [Side 3]

6. Encore…Stormy Monday Blues

7. Lost Angeles [Side 4]

NOTE: The original double-album as sequenced is Tracks 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 "Colosseum Live" – released June 1971 in the UK on Bronze Records ICD 1 and November 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers 2XS 1942. Produced by JON HISEMAN and COLOSSEUM – it peaked at No. 17 on the UK LP charts and No. 192 in the USA. Track 4 "I Can't Live Without You" first appeared as a Bonus Track on 1992 UK Sequel single CD Remaster and has been included here for completion.

CD2 - 73:56 minutes:

BONUS TRACKS – ALL LIVE

1. Rope Ladder To The Moon

2. Skellington

Tracks 1 and 2 recorded live at The Big Apple in Brighton in 1971

3. I Can't Live With You / Time Machine / The Machine Demands A Sacrifice

Track 3 recorded live at Manchester University, March 1971

4. Stormy Monday Blues

Track 4 recorded live in Bristol, 1971

5. The Valentyne Suite

(i) January's Search

(ii) Theme Two – February's Valentyne

(iii) Theme Three – The Grass Is Greener

Track 5 recorded live at Manchester University, March 1971

The booklet of 16-pages features new thoroughly engaging liner notes from MALCOM DOME with contributions from Hiseman - details about 1971 and the album's legacy closing in on 50 years in 2021. There are colour photos of the classic six-piece line-up in live rapture, both CDs are picture discs featuring the famous artwork and there are the usual reissue credits and that impressive new audio.

As the Greenslade vibes, Farlowe gruff vocals and Clempson grungy guitar kick in for the opening of the nine and half minutes of "Rope Ladder To The Moon" - you know you're in the presence of a different beast. Everything feels up in your face - Heckstall-Smith soloing away with that double-horn trick. Then we get Dave Greenslade simply Rick Wakeman brilliant - his live keyboard sound feeling like a 'Made In Japan' solo - fantastic. By the time Clempson tears into that opening guitar piece for the cover of Graham Bond's "Walking In The Park" - his affects pedals distorting away - the band lays down a Blues meets Jazz Rock combo that is thrilling - Farlowe clearly raring to go.

Spelt with one 'l' on the original double - the fifteen minutes of "Skellington" stretches each player out in a wild ensemble-playing piece - their harmony vocals impressive too (that Clempson guitar sound and solo is so cool - great audio as well). It feels odd to hear the 7:53 minutes of the bonus track - I Can't Live Without You – placed where it is. It’s a damn good addition – studio chatter at the beginning – and a messing around with another guy vocal from Farlowe. But maybe it should have been placed at the end of CD1 as I recall the original Sequel CD did.

The cover of the Michael Gibbs song "Tanglewood '63" that opens Side 3 is probably the most Jazz-Rock the album gets - the crowd clapping along as the boys engage in some Yes-like ba-ba vocals. T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues" gets a seven and half minute Bluesy workout where the band are clearly winging it - even managing at times to sound like Humble Pie with Marriott on vocals - digging down deep and enjoying it. At 15:49 minutes, "Lost Angeles" took up the whole of Side 4 and brings proceedings to a storming finish -Greenslade at first whipping the audience in a clapping frenzy with a keyboard groove that feels like The Nice about to embark on some British Rock 'n' Roll and be damned. Farlowe then comes roaring in followed by Dave Greenslade letting rip and the Prog Rock meets Blues and Jazz sound of Colosseum still feels fresh and uniquely their-own after all these years.

At 21:20 minutes – the three-parts of "The Valentyne Suite" recorded live by this line-up is probably going to have real fans a wee bit in need of a lie down. For some it is Prog Rock excessive dated if I'm honest, but the band is cooking, the audio remarkably clear and the playing by the double Daves of Greenslade and Clempson alongside that rhythm section is just a blast. And there's more on CD2 where that came from.

Esoteric Recordings have built up a rep in the reissue industry – get it right and do it right. Is it any wonder artists like this trust them with their precious back catalogue…

"Martyrs & Cowboys: The Atlantic Recordings 1974-1975" by WALLY (27 September 2019 UK Esoteric Recordings 2CD Reissue Including the albums "Wally" (1974) and "Valley Gardens" (1975) and Two Non-Album B-sides – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Mood I'm In..."

England's WALLY was a strange one. After being discovered and plugged by Rick Wakeman of Yes and Whispering Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test (that duo had a hand in the Production of both their LPs) - the Harrogate, Yorkshire six-piece signed to the mighty Atlantic Records (UK) and promptly pumped out two platters - "Wally" in August 1974 and their final studio set "Valley Gardens" in October 1975.

Taking their name from East End Cockney slang for pickled gherkins (Wallies were a fave of their first guitarist Jim Slade) – Wally were dogged by bad luck. A US tour with YES as a supporting act and a further UK venue haul with The EAGLES both failed to materialise (huge opportunities lost for a melodic band like Wally who were more comfortable live than in the studio). And despite Prog Rock being king in those halcyon years (1973, 1974 and 1975) and favourable press for the LP releases – the public simply didn’t get it – or perhaps more accurately – never got to hear their music. Combining poor album sales, lack of label support and two singles that missed their audience (one even had a Radio Caroline pick-of-the-week chance but Atlantic pressed the 45 up too many months after that buzz) – they were dropped and gone by 1976.

But what of the music you ask? With a sound that straddles Americana and Seventies Prog on each record (the second is definitely more Relayer than the first) - the albums are a strange hybrid of band-member influences clashing with each other. One minute its all America meets Eagles meets The Byrds meets Smith Perkins Smith for lead singer, frontman and principal songwriter Roy Webber - whilst keyboardist Paul Gerrett wants you to dig ye oldie clavinet Gryphon, violin based The Flock and Pedal Steel Area Code 615 – all of it washed down with liberal dollops of Greenslade Proggy keyboard flourishes on the other tracks. America vs. Colosseum...

Wally therefore made their own kind of mishmash sound, but I suspect the wildly conflicting musical directions must have made them a nightmare to sell and pitch. And deep down there is a niggling wish as you listen to the strums and chords, that the material was more memorable and not just pretty in places. Don’t get me wrong, there is beauty and accomplishment in some of the songs, especially the three contributions from Webber on the debut and a Side-2 magnum opus on the second LP in the form of a 19:20 minute 3-Part monster called "The Reason Why" will please density-is-good fans. But a lot of it feels plodding and never rises above each band member's desperate need to be David Crosby or Roger McGuinn on the one hand vs. Steve Howe and Jon Hiseman on the other.

Having said all of that, there is a lot to like here and if you're a fan, you need to own this superb reissue. For sure its 3 to 4 star material, but its presented here by Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red) in their typically exemplary 5-star way. Let's get to those sonically pickled gherkins...

UK released 27 September 2019 - "Martyrs And Cowboys: The Atlantic Recordings 1974-1975" by WALLY on Esoteric Recordings QECLEC 22691 (Barcode 5013929479142) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster offering both of their 1974 and 1975 LPs with Two Non-Album B-sides of 45s that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Wally" (46:24 minutes):

1. The Martyr [Side 1]

2. I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy

3. What To Do

4. Sunday Waiting Lady [Side 2]

5. To The Urban Man

6. Your Own Way

Tracks 1 to 6 are their debut album "Wally" - released August 1974 in the UK on Atlantic Records K 50051 and November 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 18115. Produced by RICK WAKEMAN of YES and BOB HARRIS - it didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACK:

7. The Life You're Living (Non-Album B-side to "I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy", a UK 7" single released 24 August 1974 on Atlantic K 10497)

Disc 2 "Valley Gardens" (45:30 minutes):

1. Valley Gardens [Side 1]

2. Nez Percé

3. The Mood I'm In

4. The Reason Why [Side 2]

(i) Nolan (ii) The Charge (iii) Disillusion

Tracks 1 to 4 are their second and last studio album "Valley Gardens" - released October 1975 in the UK on Atlantic Records K 50180 (not issued in the USA). Produced by BOB HARRIS - it didn't chart.

BONUS TRACK:

5. Right By Me (Non-Album B-side to "Nez Percé" - a UK 7" single released 13 June 1975 on Atlantic K 10616)

The 20-page booklet covers the artwork for both LPs front and rear (Jim Slade's distinctive sleeve designs, including the inner sleeve cartoons and lyrics for the second platter "Valley Gardens"), new and highly informative interviews with principal band members Roy Webber and Paul Middleton and a detailed history of the band from noted writer MALCOM DOME. We get everything from the Melody Maker unsigned bands contest in 1974 that brought them into the orbit of compere 'Whispering' Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test, keyboardist Nick Glennie-Smith joining the band after Yes dropped him for Patrick Moraz (fresh out of Refugee) to poaching ace session singer MADELINE BELL (doing a Blue Mink session in the studio next door) to get her to lay into a Clare Torry Pink Floyd's "Great Gig In The Sky" soaring vocal wail at the end of "Nez Percé" (she did it in one take). Very entertaining and illuminating...

The PASCHAL BYRNE Remaster makes the debut shine but I think Bob Harris' production values on the follow up "Valley Gardens" (an area in their home town Harrogate) let the side down considerably because there's slight but audible hiss and muddiness to CD2 despite Byrne's best transfer efforts. It sounds good - just not great. The two non-album B-sides also make their digital debut here and are welcome additions - decent tunes in both cases.

The self-titled August 1974 debut LP opens with "The Martyr" - a clavinet keyboard based Proggy moment where you feel you've stumbled on Gryphon mating with The Flock as Pete Sage plays his violin over the melody - whilst Roy Webber has his Lead Vocals backed by some fluid Pete Cosker guitar. Then we get three-in-a-row Americana tunes from Roy Webber - the first of which was an obvious Eagles/America 45 outing. "I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy" was chosen as the only 7" single from the album with a fine non-LP flip-side in the shape of "The Life You're Living" (here as a Bonus Track on Disc 1). Both it, "What To Do" and "Sunday Walking Lady" sound very Poco in places - sweet melodies that feel genuinely accomplished as three members of the band layer on the harmony vocals above the well-recorded Acoustic strums, Violin and Pedal Steel. It ends well on the lovely strummed vibe of "Your Own Way" that features a so-Yes wild guitar moment in its final minute.

The second album "Valley Gardens" (named after an area in their beloved Harrogate) is way more Prog than the debut - the three-part Side 2 beast "The Reason Why" being based on The Charge Of The Light Brigade and stretching to over 19-minutes. Platter No. 2 opens with "Valley gardens" and immediately the America and Eagles strums of old are completely gone - replaced with very Yes and Greenslade keyboard battles - the title track in fact feeling like some kind of outtake from the Yes masterpiece "Relayer" of 1974 with Patrick Moraz newly implanted in the band to replace Rick Wakeman then embarked on a fully-fledged solo career.  The anguished singer-songwriter sway of "Nez Percé" (pronounced Nay Parsay) made it an obvious candidate for 45 number one off the album but in August 1975 it did no business. And while "The Mood I'm In" is back to that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young influence of old (with keyboards and delicious harmony vocals) - the Side 2 three-parter is just too much like hard work for me.

Wally are a footnote in musical history now, but back in the day they made a sound that many loved. I suspect this lovingly put together twofer CD reissue from Esoteric will remind many of that...

"Second Album" by CURVED AIR from September 1971 UK on Warner Brothers (August 2018 UK Esoteric Recordings CD+DVD 'Expanded Edition' Reissue - Francis Monkman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Back Street Luv..."

There's nothing like a big fat hit single and Pans People on Top of the Pops doing a sexy lingerie routine to its groove to put an otherwise difficult band on the map. And June 1971's tan label Warner Brothers UK 7" single "Back Street Luv" was that doozy. When the album followed in September of that amazing year (see my e-book "There's Something About 1971...") the single had caused a flurry of interest and pushed its elaborate 'multiple flaps' sleeve presentation up to No. 11 in the UK LP charts – impressive stuff for a band that came on like a precursor to Roxy Music with a hot girl singer out front instead of a man sporting glitter and a squinty face. Warners even gave the American gatefold sleeve different artwork when they finally put the album out there in November 1971 - but Curved Air never made any real waves Stateside and it didn't chart.

Which brings us to 2018 and Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) who have clearly developed a passion for the band because like their exemplary Greenslade and Colosseum reissues – they've gone the full Prog Hog on England's CURVED AIR with dusted off archive recordings from the BBC and even Promotional/Euro Pop Programme footage on DVDs – much of it Previously Unreleased. They are even declaring that the fourth album "Air Cut" from 1973 is only now being released with the use of real master tapes (all other variants have been dubbed from vinyl apparently). Let's get the ever dance...

UK released 24 August 2018 (September 2018 in the USA) - "Second Album" by CURVED AIR on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22637 (Barcode 5013929473744) is a CD + DVD 'Expanded Edition' Reissue/Remaster that plays out as follows:

DISC ONE - CD (71:26 minutes):

1. Young Mother [Side 1]

2. Back Street Luv

3. Jumbo

4. You Know

5. Puppets

6. Everdance [Side 2]

7. Bright Summer's Day '68

8. Piece Of Mind

Tracks 1 to 8 are their second studio album "Second Album" – released September 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46090 and November 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1951 (in different artwork). Produced by Colin Caldwell and Curved Air – it peaked on the UK LP charts at No. 11 (didn't chart USA).

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Young Mother In Style

BBC Radio One JOHN PEEL 'Top Gear' Session – Recorded 5 Jan 1971

10. It Happened Today

11. Blind Man

12. Propositions (including What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up)

13. Vivaldi

Tracks 10 to 13 are BBC Radio One 'John Peel Sunday Concert' Recordings from 4 March 1971, recorded at the BBC Paris Theatre, Regent Street, London – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC TWO - DVD (75 minutes, NTSC, All Regions):

Curved Air On The Air – Television Recordings 1971

1. It Happened Today

2. Vivaldi

3. Screw

Tracks 1 to 3 are a 'Warner Brothers Present Curved Air' – A 1971 Promotional Film – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

4. Back Street Luv

5. Propositions

6. Interview

7. Vivaldi

Tracks 4 to 7 are 'Pop Deux' – Recorded at Taverne de l'Olympia, Paris on 6 July 1971. First Broadcast 4 September 1971 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

8. It Happened Today

9. Propositions

10. Vivaldi

Tracks 8 to 10 are 'Beat Club' Radio Bremen TV Sessions 1971 recorded March 1971

11. Back Street Luv (Version 1)

12. Piece Of Mind

13. Back Street Luv (Version 2)

Tracks 11 to 13 are 'Beat Club' Radio Bremen TV Sessions 1971 recorded September 1971

CURVED AIR was:

SONJA KRISTINA (Linwood): All Lead Vocals

DARRYL WAY: Vocals, Electric Violin and Piano on "Puppets"

FRANCIS MONKMAN: Guitar, Keyboards and VCS3 Synthesizer

IAN EYRE: Bass Guitar

FLORIAN PILKINGTON-MIKSA: Drums

The three-way foldout digipak and booklet reproduce all aspects of the John Kosh original album artwork – a many-flaps sleeve with the rainbow design that mirrored the concept of Terry Riley's "A Rainbow In Curved Air" US album from 1969 on Columbia Masterworks from whence the band took their name. Although they had no input into the design, it certainly made the LP feel substantial and combined with that lightning-in-a-bottle single – propelled the 12" record out of the racks into onto Garrard SP25s everywhere. There are also lots of great black and white photos of the band from the period – most of which I've not seen before and the May 2018 liner notes by MALCOLM DOME are typically excellent and informative. The only thing I would say is that the US gatefold card sleeve had different artwork and it seems a tad remiss not to have reproduced it here.

The Remaster has been done by band member FRANCIS MONKMAN and compared to my 2008 Rhino Encore version is a big improvement. The opener "Young Mother" explodes on so many levels – those violin and keyboard passages and the power in "Back Street Luv" with that right speaker keyboard separation is almost disconcerting.

Speaking of which - in the 24-page booklet that features new interviews – Sonja recalls how the "Back Street Luv" seven-inch single changed everything for the band – coverage, acceptance and even screaming from the front rows of subsequent tours. Originally released 18 June 1971 (ahead of the LP) as Warners WB 8029 with the album track "Everdance" on the B-side – when distribution of the Warner Brothers 'Kinney Music' catalogue started 1 July 1971 (previously done by Pye) – somewhere in there the single for the British "Back Street Luv" 45 was re-pressed as Warner Brothers K 16092. Using this catalogue number, it entered the charts for the week ending 7 August 1971 at No. 34, dropped out for a week and returned 21 August 1971 at No. 30 and thereafter quickly rose to a peak of No. 4 for the chart week ending 18 September 1971. Sitting comfortably alongside The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", Family's "In My Own Time", T. Rex's number 1 "Get It On" and Atomic Rooster's "Devil's Answer" (similar sounds around those same weeks) – the Funky Prog Rock groove of "Back Street Luv" grabbed the listener by the short and curlies and didn't let go (the sultry looks of lead vocalist Sonja Kristina helped matters too). The album of course benefitted from this hugely as did the size of gigs they were now playing.

Despite the obvious killer sexiness of the single - for me one of the LP's best melodies is "Jumbo" – a ballad by Darryl Way and Sonja Kristina that feels like a string quartet is accompanying all those keyboard moments – it's almost Tom Waits in its gorgeousness (stay in your room after dark, don't venture outside, Sonja warns her young listener). We're back to rocking with the guitar-driven "You Know" – a deadringer for a second 45 from the album but Warners never went with it (Monkman plays a blinder here and a huge Remaster too). Side 1 ends with another Way/Kristina composition – five and half minutes of "Puppets". It opens with giggles, then keyboard phasing and I must admit I found the Remaster has somehow made that rhythm section seem even discombobulating and not necessarily in a good way. Monkman provides all three on Side 2 beginning with the manic "Everdance" – sort of like The Flock let loose at the local school hall. I've always had an aversion to the three-minute manic-jaunt that is "Bright Summer's Day '68" – a relationship disintegrating in a disconcertingly happy-go-lucky sunshine-shining-down kind of a way. It ends on the album's undoubted monster – the near thirteen minutes of "Piece Of Mind" - an opus sounding not unlike ELP meets Blood, Sweat and Tears via Linda Hoyle's Affinity (over on Vertigo Records). The Remaster has made that pounding piano and violin duo feel even more eerie and powerful and when that keyboard solo comes in and the pace kicks up a notch – the effect is spectacular – Sonja talking the lyrics (wish they'd reproduced them in the booklet).

The opener BBC track "Young Mother In Style" features a typically excited BBC intro at a new song from the ‘sensational’ band. The following Peel Session (recorded in March 1971 and Previously Unreleased) features four songs from their "Airconditioning" debut alum released in November of the previous year – one of which "Propositions" incorporates the non-album B-side "What Happened When You Blow Yourself Up" (the flipside to their first British 45 "It Happened Today"). The audio is a wee bit distorted for the beginning of "Blind Man" as Sonja warbles her voice but thereafter it’s really rather shockingly good. The heavy guitar and bass "Propositions" stretches to six and half minutes as it incorporates the funky keyboard groove of "What Happened When You Blow Yourself Up" towards the end (the essence of creation baby). There’s hiss too on "Vivaldi" but the performance is all out at eight and half minutes. Which brings us to the visuals...

The DVD is pleasingly long at one hour and fifteen plus minutes - beginning with a decidedly ragged-looking lead in to a 1971 Warners Promotional film that gives us three tunes from their debut. Both Bassist and Guitarist sport plastic see-through body instruments (oh you're so cool boys) while Darryl Way dangles a scarf from the tuning screws of his violin – Sonja looking absolutely gorgeous in silver tassels. There doesn't appear to have been any restoration to the footage of newspaper clippings as the band plays "It Happened Today" nor as Way goes on a wild violin whig-out during "Vivaldi" (impressive playing by the way). Better is the French footage that begins at 16 minutes with a storming live cut of "Back Street Luv" – Curved Air singing "...ragged back streets...head on a wall..." and sounding/looking like a band that's arrived. There's a short between tunes interview with Sonja and Trevor that's translated into French on screen before we're back to the best footage of all – the three at the end that feature great image and sound combined – the Version 2 of "Back Street Luv" simply showing more visual effects than Version 1 because someone no doubt thought it looked cooler.

All in all – this is a great reissue of an album that’s been all but forgotten except by the faithful. Fans will adore it and Prog investigators will need to dive in and get air-conditioned. Well done to all...

2018 CURVED AIR Reissues on Esoteric Recordings

Francis Monkman Remasters

Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are 'Expanded Editions' - No. 4 is album-only

1. Airconditioning (November 1970 UK Debut LP)

2CD Remaster UK released 26 January 2018 on Esoteric Records PECLEC 22616 (Barcode 5013929471641)

2. Second Album (September 1971 UK LP)

CD + DVD Remaster released 24 August 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22637 (Barcode 5013929473744)

3. Phantasmagoria (April 1972 UK LP)

CD + DVD Remaster released 27 July 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22638 (Barcode 5013929473843)

4. Air Cut (April 1973 UK LP)

CD Remaster (no Bonus material) released 26 January 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 2617 (Barcode 5013929471740) First Use of Original Tapes

"Bedside Manners Are Extra" by GREENSLADE (November 2018 Esoteric Recordings 'Expanded Edition' CD+DVD Reissue and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Time To Dream..."

Whilst Thin Lizzy had its duel-guitar onslaught out front from 1974 onwards – British Prog Rockers GREENSLADE (who shared the musical landscape with the Lizzies around the same time) decided to forego guitars altogether and concentrate on two Keyboardists out front with a Bass Player/Singer and Drummer bringing up the rear.

The band had a huge musical history and pedigree that's worth elaborating on – leader and namesake Dave Greenslade cut his teeth with Chris Farlowe and The Fabulous Thunderbirds on their two Columbia Records albums in 1964 and 1966 only to then join up towards the end of that mercurial decade with Jon Hiseman and his fusion-art-rock outfit Colosseum. Greenslade contributed to their Vertigo Records debut "Valentyne Suite" (the label's November 1969 first LP on Vertigo VO 1), their second album "Those Who Are About To Die Salute You" on Fontana Records (also from 1969 - the band featuring Tony Reeves at this point) and their third record "Daughter Of Time" also on Vertigo Records in 1970 (Reeves had left but Chris Farlowe guested on some vocals). Dave is also on a final hurrah before the band disbanded with the 1971 live double "Colosseum Live". Second keyboardist Dave Lawson had done stints with Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band, Avant Garde jazzers The Web for their third album "I Spider" in 1970 (issued on Polydor Records – the first two LPs were on Deram) who then morphed into the uber-cultish Samurai that issued a self-titled rarity in 1971 on the obscure Greenwich Gramophone Company Records label. Drummer Andrew McCulloch had bashed his kit for no less than King Crimson on their 1970 LP "Lizard" and later hit the tom toms for the revered CBS act Fields on their self-titled debut in 1971.

Formed in 1972 from the ashes/exits of/from all these other bands – the foursome supergroup GREENSLADE were also riding on the wave of Progressive Rock's growing popularity - a complicated musical force that had been storming both the UK and USA in those formative years of 1970, 1971 and 1972. After signing to the prestigious Warner Brothers label – their self-titled debut was released February 1973 complete with deriguere Roger Dean logo and suitably flashy gatefold artwork (script writing akin to the inner sleeve on Yes' "Close To The Edge"). The Greenslade four-handed-man logo was in fact thought up by Dave Greenslade (drawn by Dean) to reflect the two sets of hands playing the music out front.

The stage seemed set for success too. Those other Proggy giants Emerson, Lake & Palmer (also heavily leaning towards keyboards over guitars) had put their third platter "Trilogy" up at No. 2 in August 1972 on the UK LP charts and would do the same to "Brain Salad Surgery" in December 1973 on their own record label - Manticore Records. YES would put their triple-live "Yessongs" on the No. 7 spot in May of 1973 only to replace that with the four-sided double-album studio beastie that was "Tales From Topographic Oceans" in December - both hugely ambitious and highly unlikely Top Ten entries ("Tales From Topographic Oceans" went all the way to No. 1). In other words - 1973 was a massive year for Prog Rock both artistically and commercially.

I say all of this because despite the press giving our fine-feathered newcomers loads of coverage (six clippings from Melody Maker and NME adorn the 24-page booklet of their debut "Greenslade") and despite their obvious Progressive Rock appeal and backdrop - Greenslade weren't the commercial success they should have been. Of the four albums they did in their classic period between 1973 and 1975 - it was only their third and most sophisticated work "Spyglass Guest" from August 1974 that charted and even then at a lowly No. 34 for three weeks.

In many ways, Greenslade are a footnote in chart history now. That doesn't mean they aren't remembered with huge affection (they are) and on evidence of this exemplary and comprehensive reissue series from Cherry Red's 'Esoteric Recordings' - it's easy to hear why. This issue for their second platter originally issued late 1973 also comes with fab unreleased material – including rare visuals on Disc 2 now in the public domain at last. It's Time To Dream...here are the details…

UK released Friday, 30 November 2018 (7 December 2018 in the USA) - "Bedside Manners Are Extra" by GREENSLADE on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22654 (Barcode 5013929475441) is an 'Expanded Edition' 2-Disc Reissue (CD and DVD) offering a new remaster of their 1973 Second Album with Previously Unreleased BBC Audio and Video Bonuses on both discs and it plays out as follows:

Disc 1 CD (55:20 minutes):

1. Bedside Manners Are Extra [Side 1]

2. Pilgrim's Progress

3. Time To Dream

4. Drum Folk [Side 2]

5. Sunkissed You're Not

6. Chalk Hill

Tracks 1 to 6 are their second studio album "Bedside Manners Are Extra" - released November 1973 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46259 (no US release). Produced by the four members of GREENSLADE (Engineered by Mike Bobak and Trevor White) - it didn’t chart USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

7. Time To Dream

8. Bedside Manners Are Extra

9. Pilgrim's Progress

BBC Radio One "Sounds Of The Seventies" Session recorded 31Oct 1973 (first broadcast 3 Dec 1973)

Disc 2 DVD (NTSC All Regions, 28 minutes - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED material)

1. Drowning Man

2. Temple Song

3. Mélange

Tracks 1 to 3 are a 1973 Warner Brothers Promotional Film called "Greenslade"

4. Pilgrim's Progress

5. Bedside Manners Are Extra

Tracks 4 and 5 recorded 20 November 1973 for the BBC TV program "The Old Grey Whistle Test"

GREENSLADE was:

DAVE GREENSLADE – Organ, Fender Piano, Mellotron, Clavinet, Harmonium, ARP Synths, Glockenspiel

DAVE LAWSON – Acoustic Piano, Fender Piano, Clavinet, ARP Synths, Soprano Saxophones. Gong, Bell Tree and Lead Vocals

TONY REEVES – Bass Guitars

ANDREW McCULLOCH - Drums and Percussion

A 90s issue out of Germany on Warner Brothers with basic artwork, a 2006 Wounded Bird issue in the USA with not much better and a 2009 better shot in Japan on Arcangelo that at least had a Remaster and a SHM-CD in natty repro artwork have seen their second studio album have a potted CD reissue history. But here in 2018 the UK finally gives it a Deluxe Edition fans can enjoy and access easily.

The three-way fold out digipak is the generic packaging for all three of these Esoteric Recordings 2-Disc GREENSLADE reissues – each picture disc in this case reflecting the original cover artwork by ROGER DEAN (front cover for both CD and DVD). The inner flap has the fourhanded logo painting by Dean that became an emblem for the band (reflecting two sets of keyboard players) and the reproduction values of the gorgeous original gatefold artwork are seriously well done (front and rear) - this is a handsome looking reissue.

The 20-page booklet too (helmed by noted writer and musicologist MALCOLM DOME) comes with new interviews involving Dave Greenslade, singer Dave Lawson and input too from artist Roger Dean - whilst the whole thing is compiled, researched etc by resident Prog expert and label head honcho MARK POWELL. All the colour snaps of the four boys playing live that adorned the inner gatefold along with the lyrics in Roger Dean script that came with the original Warner Brothers inner gatefold are present and accounted for. There's discussion of the band’s progress from the March 1973 self-titled debut to the 2pm to midnight recording and mixing process in July with the LP hitting the shelves in November. On the 20th of that month Blighty got to see Greenslade on the taste-making Old Grey Whistle Test (along with Man, Bees Make Honey and Kilburn and The High Roads) and as DG explains they were still changing structures in the songs. In short the booklet is beautifully laid out - both looking and feeling substantial.

As a firm fan fave this Remaster of "Bedside Manners Are Extra" (a title apparently suggested by the keyboard player’s then girlfriend and later wife) is a HUGE improvement over what has gone before – another fabulously clean and substantive Remaster from BEN WISEMAN who along with Paschal Byrne is Esoteric's go-to tape guy. Like most I've had the two Rhino/Edsel reissues these last few years that covered their first four albums (I reviewed the "Spyglass Guest/Time And Tide" twofer they put out in May 2011) – and whilst they were good – the audio here is a morning mist lifted off a muddied lake. Rehearsed and prepared in advance (the band’s motto) – you can hear the tight rhythm section so clearly – especially Andrew McCulloch whose drums seem to hover just beside the duelling keyboard whizzes as if they were an integral part of the overall soundscape and not just a rhythmic backdrop (very King Crimson in fact). To the music...

The debut and second LPs both came in 1973 (February and November) and by the time the band hit the studio in July – they had a Sympatico sound, a well-rehearsed pre-recording routine (practice, practice) and a sophistication that comes roaring off "Bedside Manners Are Extra" – a self-produced album. Side 1 opens with dancing synths, a Fender Rhodes and a Mellotron – like a steeplechase on keyboards. But it's the audio that thrills – those delicate Andrew McCulloch taps on the high hats now so clear.

The all-regions near 28-minutes DVD offers five tracks - first up is an amazing find in a three-song promotional film made by Warner Brothers to promote the March 1973 self-titled debut album. It lasts sixteen and a half minutes and is seriously grainy to begin with but soon settles down (the boys playing in Pye Studios in London). There they are, accomplished and Prog grooving alongside their Orange Amps with their frizzy long hair and a 69 teeshirt. During "Mélange" Bassist Tony Reeves gets to show what he can do mimicking almost exactly what he played on the album track (great stuff). Second comes a twofer from November 1973 recorded for Bob Harris' taste-making show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (Man, Bees Make Honey and Kilburn and The High Roads were featured that week). Immaculate looking and sounding great (restored footage), the keyboard spreads have expanded to all sides of the two Daves and the entire band’s playing is even more Sympatico that before – Greenslade sounding not unlike ELP letting rip. Amazing stuff to see after all these years...

To sum up - I've always loved the sophistication of "Bedside Manners…" and this five-star 2-Disc reissue of that 2nd album obscurity should make sure it gets the musical reappraisal it deserves. The packaging is great, the booklet informative and cool looking, the audio a big improvement on what went before and that second disc of unreleased footage, a no-filler winner. Cool.

No doubt the fourth platter from 1975 "Time And Tide" will follow soon after - possibly in 2019. Once again Esoteric Recordings have delivered big time. This is the version of "Bedside Manners Are Extra" to buy - nicely done boys...

GREENSLADE - 2-Disc 2018 Reissues from Esoteric Recordings of the UK:

1. "Greenslade" (February 1973 UK Debut) – reissue released 28 September 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22645 (Barcode 5013929474543) – 2CD Remaster with Seven Previously Unreleased BBC ‘In Concert’ performances on Disc 2 (recorded January and April 1973)

2. "Bedside Manners Are Extra" (November 1973 Second Album) – released 30 November 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22654 (Barcode 5013929475441) – CD & DVD Remaster with Three Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions after the album on CD1 (recorded October 1973) and a Three-Song In The Studio Warner Brothers Promotional Film Recorded 1973 for the debut album along with a further two-song slot on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (November 1973) on the Region Free DVD

3. "Spyglass Guest" (August 1974 Third Album) – released 26 October 2018 on Esoteric Recordings PECLEC 22647 (Barcode 5013929474741) – 2CD Remaster with Eight Previously Unreleased BBC Radio Sessions on Disc 2 (recorded November 1974)