"Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (May 2008 UK Universal/Decca 3CD Clamsehll Box Set with Paschal Byrne Remasters and Mark Powell Liner Notes) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 319 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE / CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

"…Revelation…"

There can't be too many music lovers (British especially) who don't get a slightly sicko and vicarious thrill at the mere sight of the magical 'Decca' label - home of so much class and (frankly frank) absolute shite. Like so many of the major labels of the time (probably run by squares dare we say it) - Decca threw it's old-fart hat into the ring and signed up all manner of Avant Garde and Progressive Rock reprobates in the late Sixties and early Seventies hoping to finance the next big thing. Sometimes they got lucky - other times we did - even when most of the time both of us lost money on the deal. So once more unto the laminate-sleeves breach my good friends - once more unto the Red and Blue Mono and Stereo punch-holes on the rear cover...

UK released May 2008 - "Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Universal/Decca 530 5347 (Barcode 0600753053478) is yet another one of those lovingly researched and nattily presented 3CD mini box sets that have appeared in the last decade with alarming glee (as if they've a right to be like everyone else). You get 49 tracks from the `golden age of British Prog' stretching from early 1969 to late 1975), a jam-packed 48-page booklet annotated by people who care and know their stuff - and best of all for our ageing eardrums come - properly great remastered sound that finally gives this often blindingly good music another real chance to shine.

Here are the East Of Eden Deviants, the Principal Edwards and the Curiosity Shoppe Moody Blues  (and that's way more than Ten Years After the Curved Air in the Tintern Abbey I can tell you)...

Disc 1 (Decca 530 5349) - 73:25 minutes:

1. In The Beginning - GENESIS (on the March 1969 Stereo LP "From Genesis To Revelation" on Decca SKL 4990)

2. Turn Into Earth - AL STEWART (B-side of "The Elf", his debut 45 on Decca F 12467 released July 1966 - his only release on the label)

3. Red Sky At Night  - THE ACCENT (A-side of their lone UK 7" single on Decca F 12679 released October 1967 - a listed £300+ rarity. The band featured RICK HAYWARD who played on Christine Perfect's debut LP "Christine Perfect" and released a self-titled solo album of his own (also on Blue Horizon Records) in 1971)

4. Vacuum Cleaner -TINTERN ABBEY (B-side of "Bee Side" - a legendarily rare Psych 45 released December 1967 on Deram DM 164 - listed at £1000 but often sells for more)

5. Secret - THE VIRGIN SLEEP  (A-side of a January 1968 UK 7" single on Deram DM 173. Their 2nd Psych single for the label (the other was "Love" on DM 146 in 1967) - listed rarity at £50+)

6. Twilight Time (Evening) - THE MOODY BLUES (from the November 1967 Stereo LP "Days Of Future Passed" on Deram SML 707. Their 2nd LP and 1st for Deram - their debut was "The Magnificent Moodies on Decca in July 1965)

7. Some Good Advice - BILL FAY (A-side of an August 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 143 - listed rarity at £60+)

8. Michaelangelo - 23rd TURNOFF (A-side of a 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 150. Listed Psych rarity at £90+. The band featuring Jimmy Campbell who went on to Rocking Horse and a solo career on Vertigo Records)

9. The Sounds - TEN YEARS AFTER  (B-side of their debut UK 45 "Portable People" released February 1968 on Deram DM 176. The band featured ALVIN LEE and went on to huge success - especially in the USA after an appearance at Woodstock in August 1969. Both Lee and CHICK CHURCHILL had solo albums on Chrysalis in the Seventies)

10. Baby I Need You - THE CURIOSITY SHOPPE (A-side of their lone single - November 1968 UK 45 on Deram DM 220. Known Psych rarity listed at £100 but often sells for more)

11. Like A Tear - WORLD OF OZ (B-side of "Willow's Harp" - their 3rd single released January 1969 on Deram DM 233. It's also on their lone self-titled album for the label - Deram SML 1034 released February 1969. Band featured DAVID KUBINEC who later worked as a solo artist)

12. Down At Circe's Place - TOUCH (taken from their only LP "This Is Touch" released February 1969 on Deram DML 1033 (Mono) and SML 1033 (Stereo). Rare copies came with a poster and command £150+. The Stereo mix has been used here. An American band - they featured DON GALLUCCI who produced "Fun House" by The Stooges and worked with Tom Waits - while other band members JOEY NEWMAN, BRUCE HAUSER and JEFF HAWKS formed STEPSON who had albums on ABC Records).

13. Under The Rainbow - THE END (taken from the album "Introspection" released November 1969 on Decca SKL-R 5015. GRAHAM TAYLOR and DAVE BROWN from the band became TUCKY BUZZARD who had several albums on Chrysalis. Initially helped by Billy Wyman of The Rolling Stones - The End's Graham Taylor later joined Bill Wyman's band The Rhythm Kings)

14. Opening - THE DEVIANTS

15. I'm Coming Home - THE DEVIANTS (Both 14 and 15 are taken from the March 1969 album "Ptooff!" on Decca SKL-R 4993. Originally recorded during Acid Summer of 1967 - it was first released on the privately pressed Underground Imprint label and sold via the "IT Magazine" in small areas of London. The initial press is a £350+ rarity (with liner notes from DJ john Peel) while the Decca Reissue clocks in at £90+)

16. Northern Hemisphere - EAST OF EDEN (taken from their debut album "Mercator Projected" released March 1969 on Deram SML 1038. DAVE ARBUS - the band's Violin player - does the violin solo at the end of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" - the opening track on their 1971 "Who's Next" album)

17. Magician In The Fountain  - SUNFOREST (taken from the album "Sound Of Sunforest" released January 1970 on Deram Nova DN 7 (Mono) and SDN 7 (Stereo). It's a known Folk-Acid-Rock rarity and is listed at £350+. The Stereo mix is used)

18. Jenra - DAVY GRAHAM (from the album "Large As Life, Twice As Natural" released January 1969 on Decca LK 4990 (Mono) and SKL 4990 (Stereo). A listed Folk-Rock rarity at £120+. The Stereo mix is used. A hugely influential acoustic guitar player - his style has been name-check by luminaries like Jimmy Page and Paul Simon. The instrumental "Jenra" - with its Danny Thompson double-bass backdrop against a foreground of loudly picked acoustic guitar - is stylistically similar to early John Martyn too)

19. The Best Way To Travel - THE MOODY BLUES (taken from their 3rd album "In Search Of The Lost Chord" released July 1968 on Deram DML 717 (Mono) and SML 717 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used. It reached No. 5 on the UK album charts)

20. I Will Be Absorbed - EGG (from their debut album "Egg" released March 1970 on Deram Nova DN 14 (mono) and SDN 14 (Stereo). It's a known rarity listed at £120+ (Stereo mix is used). Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics DS) later joined Steve Hillage's KHAN and became a member of HATFIELD AND THE NORTH and NATIONAL HEALTH. See also KHAN on Disc 3)

21. Bad Scene - TEN YEARS AFTER (from their 4th LP "Ssssh" released August 1969 on Deram DML 1052 (mono) and SML 1052 (stereo). The Stereo mix is used.

Disc 2 (Decca 530 5348) - 76:45 minutes:

1. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You - CARAVAN (A-side of an August 1970 UK 7" single on Decca F-R 13063 [miscredited as 10363 in the booklet]. Also appeared on the September 1970 album of the same name on Decca SKL-R 5052)

2. Gypsy - THE MOODY BLUES (from the album "To Our Children's Children's Children" released October 1969 on Thresh TH 1. Threshold was the label formed by The Moody Blues.)

3. Garden Song - BILL FAY (taken from his debut album "Bill Fay" released February 1970 on Deram Nova SDN 12)

4. Atmosphere - DENNY GERRARD (taken from the album "Sinister Morning" released March 1970 on Deram DN 10 (Mono) and SDN 10 (Stereo).  Was part of WARM DUST and produced the first HIGH TIDE album "Sea Shanties" on Liberty Records. Members of High Tide are featured on "Sinister Morning" - Stereo mix used)

5. Skillet - GALLIARD (taken from the album "Strange Pleasure" released January 1970 on Deram Nova DN 4 (Mono) and SDN 4 (Stereo). It's a known rarity listed at £200+. The Stereo mix is used)

6. Sharing - SATISFACTION (taken from the album "Satisfaction" released January 1971 on Decca SKL 5071. Featured Trumpeter MIKE COTTON with DEREK GRIFFITHS who went to the Keef Hartley Band and MILLER ANDERSON who joined DOG SOLDIER)

7. J.L.T. - T2 (taken from the album "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" released September 1970 on Decca SKL 5050. It's a known rarity and listed at £250+. The band featured KEITH CROSS on Guitars and Keyboards)

8. The Time Is Near - KEEF HARTLEY BAND (from the album "The Time Is Near" released August 1970 on SML 1071. It reached 41 on the UK album charts)

9. First Reminder - CLARK-HUTCHINSON (Taken from the album "Gestalt" released November 1971 on Decca SML 1090. Features ANDY CLARK on Keyboards and Vocals with MICK HUTCHINSON on Guitar. Both formed the fusion band UPP who had several albums on Epic Records)

10. Practically Never Happens - ASHKAN (taken from the album "Practically Never Happens" released January 1970 on Decca Nova SDN-R 1. They were the first band on Decca's Progressive label imprint `Nova')

11. Harpo's Head - STUD (from the album "Stud" released April 1971 on Deram SML-R 1084. The band featured Bassist CHARLIE MCRACKEN and Drummer JOHN WILSON who were the rhythm section in Rory Gallagher's superb TASTE. They also featured Ace guitar player JIM CREGAN who would become a huge part of Rod Stewart's Mercury Recordings)

12. Contrasong - EGG (taken from the album "The Polite Force" released November 1970 on Deram SML 1074)

13. Marcus Junior (7" Single Version) - EAST OF EDEN (May 1970 UK 7" single on Deram DM 297. It's the B-side of "Jig-A-Jig" which eventually charted April 1971 in the UK and rose to Number 7. There is a `alternate mix' of the track on the album "Snafu" - it's combined with "Leaping Beauties For Rudy" with the instrumental "Marcus Junior" being the second part of the song)

14. Winter Wine - CARAVAN (from the album "In The Land Of The Grey And Pink" released April 1971 on Deram SDL-R 1)

Disc 3 (Decca 530 5350) - 79:06 minutes:

1. Things Ain't Working Out Down At The Farm - THIN LIZZY (released April 1971 on the "New Day" EP on Decca F 13208. It was the last track on Side 2 of a 4-track non-album Extended Play. Original British issues (which played at 33 LP speed) came in a lovely gatefold picture sleeve and are very rare - listed value at £300+)

2. I'm Coming On - TEN YEARS AFTER (from the album "Watt" released December 1970 on Deram SML 1078)

3. Space Shanty - KHAN (taken from the album "Space Shanty" released June 1972 on Deram SDL-R 11. Featuring Steve Hillage and members of EGG - see Disc 2)

4. Cosmic Bride - ZAKKARIAS (from the album "Zakkarias" released October 1971 on Deram SML 1091. GEOFF LEIGH went to play with QUIET SUN and HENRY COW)

5. Time Of The Last Persecution - BILL FAY (from his second album "Time Of The Last Persecution" released January 1971 on Decca SML 1079)

6. Waterloo Lily - CARAVAN (from the album "Waterloo Lily" released May 1972 on Deram SDL-R 8)

7. Ballad Of The Queen Of Outer Space - PETE BROWN (on the album "The `Not Forgotten' Association" released October 1973 on Deram SML 1103. Lyricist to Jack Bruce and CREAM, Brown featured in BATTERED ORNAMENTS and then his own PIBLOKTO! On Harvest Records)

8. Steal The World - DARRYL WAY'S WOLF (from the album "Night Music" released November 1974 on Deram SML 1116. Founding member of CURVED AIR - Violin virtuoso Darryl Way made 3 albums with WOLF before re-joining Curved Air in 1974)

9. Spring's Sweet Comfort _ THE PARLOUR BAND (from the album "Spring's Sweet Comfort" released May 1972 on Deram SDL 10. PIX PICKFORD (Guitar and Vocals) and CRAIG ANDERS (Guitar and Vocals) formed A BAND CALLED "O")

10. Crying Won't Help You Now - CHICKEN SHACK (from the album "Imagination Lady" released February 1972 on Deram SDL 5. Features STAN WEBB on Guitar and Vocals with JOHN GLASCOCK on Guitar (formerly with THE GODS))

11. Sarah (Version 1) - THIN LIZZY (from their 2nd album "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" released March 1972 on Decca TXS 108. Band features PHIL LYNOTT on Bass and Vocals, ERIC BELL on Guitars and BRIAN DOWNEY JR. on Drums. The song features CLODAGH SIMONDS of MELLOW CANDLE on Piano)

12. Triplets - PRINCIPAL EDWARDS (taken from the album "Round One" released March 1974 on Deram SML 1108. Taking their name from a Dean at Exeter University - started out their career on John Peel's Dandelion Records)

13. Marie Antoinette (Live) - CURVED AIR (from the album "Curved Air Live" released 1975 on Deram SML-R 1119. Taking their name from the 1971 Terry Riley LP "A Rainbow In Curved Air" - the band featured SONJA KRISTINA, DARRYL WAY and FRANCIS MONKMAN. Way formed WOLF (see 8 above) while Monkman would later form SKY with virtuoso classical guitarist John Williams)

14. New York Ladies - MICHAEL CHAPMAN (on the album "Millstone Grit" released November 1973 on Deram SML 1105)

As you can see from the lists above - the scope is wide, not too many duplication of artists and the playing times generous (especially Disc 3). It covers not just Decca but large wads of Deram and its Prog sidekick Nova. The fantastically detailed and feature packed 46-page booklet contains quality liner notes from noted musicologist MARK POWELL while the tape transfers and 24-bit remastering has ben done by long-time engineer genius PASCHAL BYRNE - a name that regularly turns up on these kinds of sets for Universal (he also practically the in-house go-to-guy for Esoteric Recordings who've reissued large amounts of British Prog, Psych and Folk-Rock. The audio quality to a man is shockingly good - clear, warm and full of analogue presence. This was `Decca' and they didn't piss about when it came to Production standards.

And as there's so much on here by so many - I've tried to give as much info as possible in each individual entry above. But here are some highlights... the slightly mopey BILL FAY and his two albums on Deram will be an acquired taste for some - but I suspect many others will see his lovely music as a major discovery. His "Garden Song" starts out all acoustic simple then goes into wild strings and brass flourishes ala Bacharach or Jimmy Webb. It sounds like the smarm of Randy Newman with the sensitivity of Nick Drake meets the sadness of Nilsson with strings. Americana band Wilco brought his music to more public attention by covering ""Be Not So Fearful" from the first album. Gorgeous stuff. The slightly menacing phased vocals that begin the chugging "Sharing" by Satisfaction is brilliant - Derek Griffiths' guitar and Mike Cotton's overlaid trumpet spikes coming on like Ten Years After meets Aphrodite's Child. The wonderful "J.L.T." by the obscure T2 features the genuinely talented KEITH CROSS on Guitars and Keyboards sounding not unlike Colin Blunstone both vocally and musically. Esoteric Recordings have reissued his album with PETER ROSS called "Bored Civilians" from 1972 on Decca - superb stuff as well.

The Canterbury Scene is represented by CARAVAN and the wonderfully titled "If I Could Do It All Again, I'd Do It All Over You" and EGG with Dave Stewart on Keyboards (not the Eurythmics DS). Ireland's STUD with Taste rhythm section and guitar supremo JIM CREGAN bring up the pure fusion front with the seven-minute "Harpo's Head" (an instrumental until its dying minutes). There's more Celtic magic with the fab ERIC BELL line-up of THIN LIZZY giving it some rock romanticism on Disc 3 along with the wildly influential fusion band KHAN with guitar loon STEVE HILLAGE. Keef Hartley gets all Soulful Bluesy on the impressive ten-minute "The Time Is Near" (easy to see why fans rate this album so much). And who doesn't get a rush to the heart at the mere sight of the gorgeous SONJA KRISTINA from CURVED AIR pictured in full-on stage garb on Page 30. It ends perfectly with one eye on Rock's more melodic future - the deliciously atmospheric "New York Ladies" - a fabulous echoed-guitar fest by MICHAEL CHAPMAN that conjures up another Harvest Records genius - Roy Harper (see separate reviews for Chapman's superb 1970 LP "Fully Qualified Survivor" on Harvest put out by Light In The Attic Records in 2011 and Harper's masterpiece "Stormcock").

So there you have it - half genius, half bonkers and criminally forgotten in most cases when much of it shouldn't be. What a great ride it all was though and revealing too.

And where was Thin Lizzy when all this was happening you might ask? Why she was with the Queen Of Outer Space and the Magician In The Fountain inside Harpo's Head with Marcus Junior and his Cosmic Bride - of course!

You see - you've learned something already. I'm not sure what it is - but isn't that half the fun...enjoy.

"Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" by VARIOUS [Decca and Deram Labels] featuring Bill Fay, The End, Bulldog Breed, T2, Caravan, Leafhound, Granny’s Intentions, Johnny Almond Music Machine, Trapeze, Moody Blues, Savoy Brown, Daryl Way and more (January 2003 Universal/Decca 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE /CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"…Voodoo Forest…"

With a hefty 40-tracks stretching from 1967 to 1976 - as I recall this was the first of those dinky little 3CD mini box set label-retrospectives that UNIVERSAL began putting out with alarming regularity at the beginning of the Naughties. But what it oddly doesn’t say in the Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology title (or anywhere on the box for that matter) is that 29 of those slices of Psych/Prog/Hard Rock madness come from Decca’s Progressive Rock label imprint DERAM. So it’s essentially a DERAM retrospective (the other 11 tracks are on Decca and the Threshold label).

And with the experienced compiling team of MARK POWELL and engineer PASCHAL BYRNE behind the overall presentation – you get clever track choices, fantastically knowledgeable liner notes and uniformly great sound. There’s so much to discover on here and it isn’t all unlistenable proggy knob either. So here are the details for the Voodoo Forest, Granny’s Intentions and Cheerful Insanity. And just to wash those all down - a Nymphenburger on the Hellbound Train while you Jig-A-Jig with a Funky Nomad Tribe (if you know what I mean)…

UK-released January 2003 – "Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Universal/Decca 5857832 (Barcode 0731458578321) is a 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 – card sleeve pictures The Bulldog Breed (77:04 minutes):

1. Legend Of A Mind [1974 Remix] – THE MOODY BLUES (originally a track on their 3rd album from July 1968 "In Search Of The Lost Chord" on Deram SML 717 – this version is the 1974 remix from the double-album compilation "This Is The Moody Blues" released November 1974 in the UK on Threshold MB 1-2)

2. Screams In The Ears – BILL FAY (August 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 143, A-Side. Note: the non-album B-side "Some Good Advice" is on the "Strange Pleasures" 3CD Box from 2008 – see separate review)

3. Suite No. One – GILES, GILES & FRIPP on the LP "The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles & Fripp" released September 1968 in the UK on Deram DML 1022 (Mono) and SML 1022 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used. The track is written by Robert Fripp and along with Pete and Michael Giles later became KING CRIMSON)

4. Introspection – Part One – THE END (on the UK album "Introspection" released November 1969 on Decca LK-R 5015 (Mono) and SKL-R 5015 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

5. I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes – TEN YEARS AFTER (on their debut LP "Ten Years After" released October 1967 on Deram DML 1015 (Mono) and SML 1015 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

6. Austin Osmanspare – BULLDOG BREED (on the UK album "Made In England" released January 1970 on Deram Nova DN 5 (Mono) and SDN 5 (Stereo) - Stereo mix is used. Band featured BERNARD JINKS and KEITH CROSS who went on to form T2 (see track 11 on Disc 1). Cross also teamed up with Peter Ross and produced a lovely folky type album on Decca Records called "Bored Civilians" (see separate review))

7. The Song Of McGuillicudie The Pusillanimous – EGG (on the UK album "Egg" released March 1970 on Deram DN 14 (Mono) and SDN 14 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

8. Voodoo Forest – JOHNNY ALMOND MUSIC MACHINE (on the UK album "Patent Pending" released July 1969 on Deram DML 1043 (Mono) and SML 1043 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

9. Nymphenburger – EAST OF EDEN (on their 2nd UK LP "Snafu" released February 1970 on Deram DML 1050 (Mono) and SML 1050 (Stereo) – Stereo mix Used)

10. Once Upon A Hill/Put That In Your Pipe & Smoke It – AARDVARK (on their only album "Aardvark" released March 1970 on Deram DN 17 (Mono) and SDN 17 (Stereo) – Stereo mix used)

11. No More White Horses – T2 (on the UK album "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" released July 1970 on Decca SKL 5050 (Stereo). Bernard Jenkins and Keith Cross of T2 were formerly in Bulldog Breed – see track 6 Disc 1)

12. Hello Hello – CARAVAN (the B-side of "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" – a UK 7" single released August 1970 on Decca F 13063. It's a non-album 7" single mix – the album version is on their 2nd UK LP "If I Could Do It All Again, I'd Do It All Over You" released September 1970 on Decca SKL 5052 (Stereo) – later reissued in 1971 on Deram SDL-R 1)

13. Freelance Fiend – LEAFHOUND (on their lone UK LP "Grower Of Mushrooms" released October 1971 on Decca SKL-R 5094. On the rarest Hard Rock Progressive albums ever – listed at £2500 – sells for more)

14. Nutmeg, Bitter Sweet – GRANNY'S INTENTIONS (an instrumental on their lone UK LP "Honest Injun" released March 1970 on Deram SML 1060 (Stereo))

15. The Witch – THE RATTLES (A-side of a July 1970 UK 7" single on Decca F 23050)

16. Still As Stone – THE ALAN BOWN (June 1969 UK 7" single on Deram DM 259, A-side. The band featured JESS RODEN on Lead Vocals)

Disc 2 – card sleeve pictures The Keef Hartley Band (77:17 minutes):

1. Maybe Someday – HUMAN BEAST (on their lone UK album "Volume One (Instinct)" released August 1970 on Decca LK 5053 (Mono) and SKL 5053 (Stereo) – Stereo mix used)

2. Chauffeur – BLACK CAT BONES (on their UK LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" released February 1970 on Deram DN 15 (Mono) and SDN 15 (Stereo) – Stereo mix is used. Featured members of Leafhound (Pete French, Derek Brooks, Mick Halls and Keith Young) and Foghat Guitarist Rod Price as well as Brian Short on Vocals. The original line-up of the band featured Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke of Free but they departed before the album was recorded)

3. Tomorrow Morning – PACIFIC DRIFT (on their lone UK LP "Feelin' Free" released January 1970 on Deram DN 13 (Mono) and SDN 13 (Stereo) – Stereo mix is used)

4. The Unknown Years – ZAKARRIAS (their only UK LP "Zakarrias" released October 1971 on Deram SML 1091 – rare LP – listed at £800)

5. Free To Be Stoned – CLARK-HUTCHINSON (on their album "Retribution" released October 1970 on Deram SML 1076. Features Andy Clark on Keyboards and Lead Vocals and Mick Hutchinson on Guitar)

6. Cemetery Junction Part One and Two – ROOM (on the LP "Pre-Flight" released November 1970 on Deram SML 1073. Listed at £900)

7. Roundabout – KEEF HARTLEY BAND (on the LP "Overdog" released April 1971 on Deram SDL 2)

8. Question [Full Album Version] – THE MOODY BLUES (on the album “A Question Of Balance” released August 1970 on Threshold THS 3)

9. Love Like A Man [Full Album Version] – TEN YEARS AFTER (on their 5th album “Cricklewood Green” released April 1970 on Deram SML 1065)

10. Jig-A-Jig – EAST OF EDEN (May 1970 UK 7" single on Deram DM 297. Charted April 1971 – non-album track – an instrumental. Its B-side "Marcus Junior" is on the "Strange Pleasures" 3CD Box Set from 2008 – itself a non-album version)

11. Golf Girl – CARAVAN (on the UK album "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" released April 1971 on Deram SDL- 1)

12. Boulders On My Grave – MELLOW CANDLE (on their lone LP "Swaddling Songs" released April 1972 on Deram SDL 7. Listed Rarity £2000+)

13. Theme Song/En Route/Theme Song (Reprise) – KEEF HARTLEY BAND (as per 6)

Disc 3 – card sleeve pictures Savoy Brown (77:02 minutes):

1. Hellbound Train – SAVOY BROWN (on the UK album "Hellbound Train" released February 1972 on Decca TXS 107)

2. Stranded (Including Effervescent Psycho Novelty No. 5) – KHAN (on the UK album "Space Shanty" released June 1972 on Deram SDL-R 11. Band features STEVE HILLAGE and DAVE STEWART of GONG)

3. The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes – THIN LIZZY (on their 2nd album "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" released March 1972 on Decca TXS 108. Phil Lynott, Eric Bell, Brian Downey Jr. line-up)

4. Seafull – TRAPEZE (on their 2nd UK LP "Medusa" released November 1970 on Threshold THS 4)

5. C'Lu Thlu – CARAVAN (on the UK album "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night" released October 1973 on Deram SDL-R 12)

6. Whisky In The Jar – THIN LIZZY (their 2nd UK 7" single released November 1972 on Decca F 13355 and known as the 'full version' at 5:48 minutes. Both the A&B-side "Black Boys On The Corner" were non-album at the time. The A (no 'e' in the whiskey) is based on a Traditional Irish air from 1729)

7. Lady Fantasy: Encounter/Smiles For You/Lady Fantasy – CAMEL (on their 2nd UK LP "Mirage" released March 1974 on Deram SML 1107)

8. Spend My Nights In Armour – PETE BROWN & FRIENDS (recorded 25 February 1974 at Decca Studios – remixed and remastered for this release in 2001 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED. Track features both JEFF BECK and JACK BRUCE. [Note: there is a ‘mix’ on the UK double LP "Before Singing Lessons 1969-1977" released in 1987 on Decal Records KIKD 7 – but it's a different version])

9. Propositions – CURVED AIR (on the album "Curved Air Live" released February 1975 on Deram SML-R 1119)

10. Air Born – CAMEL (on the album "Moonmadness" released April 1976 on Decca TXS 115)

11. The Enjoy – DARYL WAY’S WOLF (on the album "Night Music" released November 1974 on Deram SML 1116)

The 3CDs are housed in individual colour card sleeves within a clamshell box – but what most impresses is the fabulous 48-page mini booklet crammed with publicity photos, trade adverts for LPs and singles (28 schillings and 6 pence! for an LP in early 1970), those great sleeves with their whacky artwork etc. Each artist is dealt with in alphabetical order (rather than how they’re laid out on the CDs) – Mark Powell's essays on Irishmen Granny Intentions (who once boasted Skid Row guitarist Gary Moore) or the obscure Bulldog Breed for instance mix facts with warmth. It’s properly in-depth and imbibes the music with a newfound respect. And the PASCHAL BYRNE remasters are just superb – familiar stuff like Savoy Brown, Thin Lizzy and East Of Eden all sounding spiffing. A lot of this is new to CD too…

Musically it flits all over the place – one minute you're in the presence of Jazz Guitar scales with Giles, Giles & Fripp – properly grungy hard rock like Leafhound (you can so see why its worth all that dosh), slow and slick Blues boogie with Ten Years After on the stunning "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" and then trippy Saxophone and Vibe moods with Johnny Almond Music Machine. God help us there’s even a chart hit on Disc 1 with "The Witch" by The Rattles – a German band fronted by screaming vocalist Herbert Hildebrandt. It sold over a million copies across Europe and the UK – reaching number 11 on our charts. Yum yum…

Things begin to get seriously interesting on Disc 2 with a double-whammy of musical brilliance – "Tomorrow Morning Brings" by PACIFIC DRIFT and “The Unknown Years” by ZAKARRIAS both sounding like acoustic Aphrodite’s Child – very good indeed and cool too. The Zakarrias album is impossibly rare (listed at £800). There’s then a serious piece of rocking brilliance – the wild "Free To Be Stoned" by CLARK-HUTCHINSON when guitarist Mick Hutchinson just lets it Ted Nugent rip for eight minutes – it's unbelievably good as Andy Clark stutters and moans through it (check out You Tube footage of this). I love the funky as Tom Selleck’s moustache Thin Lizzy cut "The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes" (another Phil Lynott winner). It runs to 7:06 minutes - but I edit it to begin at 1:20 and end at 5:52 thereby isolating that fantastic Eric Bell Funk-Rock portion in its centre. And shockingly good too is Curved Air's "Propositions" off the lesser-heard "Live" set – Fusion Rock at its brilliant best (reminds of the Mahavishnu Orchestra live set from 1973 "Beyond Nothingness And Eternity"). And how good is to hear bands like Trapeze (on the Moody Blues label Threshold) finally get a bit of airtime – their slow groove guitar fest "Seafull" is excellent. And what can you say about the utterly extraordinary Mellow Candle album "Swaddling Songs" – a genius fusion of Irish Folk with Rock and Kate Bush vocals/arrangements. "Boulders On My Grave" sent collectors into frenzies. Esoteric reissued the whole album on a beautiful remaster CD in 2008 (see my separate review).

So there you have – mad, bad and frightfully dangerous to know. Only people as mad as the English and the Irish would produce music this interesting and arresting – still grabbing us by the short and curlies all these decades later.

A fantastic reissue - you feel real care went into the compiling and making of "Legend Of A Mind…" and I for one am glad they took the time to expand my addled mind…

"Revolution: Underground Sounds Of 1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (February 2019 Esoteric Recordings 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry

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PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
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Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

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Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

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"...Chariots Rising..."

In truth I faltered at the basket stage on this one. Looking at the track list across 3CDs (42 cuts) - I realised being an ardent fan of that wildly creative decade and a major collector of CD reissues for over 30 years now that I'd at least 75 to 80% of the entries offer here - so what's the point? Do I need another remaster of overdone 1968 hits like Arthur Brown's "Fire!" or Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" or The Bonzo's "I'm An Urban Spaceman" or Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger's "This Wheel's On Fire" or even for that matter the lesser-heard "Race With The Devil" by Gun – the answer is not really...

But then those reissue hairy-types over at Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red) know suckers like me; it's the gaps in between that I'm after. And they have filled out the well-endowed discs with clever inclusions. An unreleased song overture to Island Records from 1968 by The Action (hoping for a signing) that hasn't been available since it first saw light of day in 1985, rare B-sides by The Bystanders and Genesis, even rarer A-side single-only releases from Dave Mason, The Pretty Things and The Moles and an EP cut from Sam Gopal. And there is much more too...

There's the emergence of Seventies Prog Rock giants in former incarnations - the Gods featuring Ken Hensley later with Toe Fat and then of course Uriah Heep, Steve Howe with Tomorrow before Yes, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown that featured a teenage Carl Palmer who would bash the kit for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Ray Shulman dreaming of a Gentle Giant when he was with Dantalian's Chariot, Jeff Lynne plucking a bow with The Idle Race before he formed The Electric Light Orchestra, Cheerful Insanity from Robert Fripp in Giles, Giles & Fripp before changing the course of music with King Crimson and even a young Andy Somers who many years later would become the zippy guitarist Andy Summers in another tiny group - The Police. There's a lot to love here and it's been presented in Esoteric's usual top quality way (audio and looks). Here are the chariots rising...

UK released Friday, 22 February 2019 (1 March 2019 in the USA) - "Revolution - Underground Sounds Of 1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32662 (Barcode 5013929476202) is a 3CD, 42-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (73:24 minutes):

1. And The Address - DEEP PURPLE

2. This Wheel's On Fire - JULIE DRISCOLL, BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY

3. Talkin' About The Good Times - PRETTY THINGS

4. World War Three - DANTALIAN'S CHARIOT

5. A Saying For Today - THE ACTION

6. Crossroads Of Time - EYES OF BLUE

7. Sunshine Help Me - SPOOKY TOOTH

8. Early Morning - BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

9. All Day, All Night - BLONDE ON BLONDE

10. Happy Birthday/The Birthday Party - IDLE RACE

11. Revolution - TOMORROW

12. We Are The Moles (Part 1) - THE MOLES

13. Blackberry Way - THE MOVE

14. One Eyed Hound - GENESIS

15. On A Saturday - KEITH WEST

16. Sovay - PENTANGLE

17. Cave Of Clear Light - THE BYSTANDERS

18. Soma (Parts One & Two) - DANTALIAN'S CHARIOT

19. Fire! - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN

20. I'm The Urban Spaceman - THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND

Disc 2 (72:39 minute):

1. Shapes Of Things - JEFF BECK

2. Black Magic Woman - FLEETWOOD MAC

3. Pearly Queen - TRAFFIC

4. People You Were Going To - VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR

5. Reality - SECOND HAND

6. Love Is The Law - EYES OF BLUE

7. Dusty - JOHN MARTYN

8. In Her Mind - ECLECTION

9. Summertime - LOVE SCULPTURE

10. Fly Tomorrow - JOHN MAYALL

11. Place Of My Own - CARAVAN

12. No Title - TEN YEARS AFTER

13. Child Of My Kingdom - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN

14. I Never Knew - THE GODS

Disc 3 (71:42 minutes):

1. My Sunday Feeling - JETHRO TULL

2. Sabre Dance - LOVE SCULPTURE

3. Flames - ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA

4. Somewhere To Go - THE DEVIANTS

5. Cold Embrace - SAM GOPAL

6. Shine On Brightly - PROCOL HARUM

7. Paradise Flat - STATUS QUO

8. That's Me - GENESIS

9. Suite No. 1 - GILES, GILES & FRIPP

10. Mist On A Monday Morning - THE MOVE

11. Ten Thousand Words In A Cardboard Box - THE AQUARIAN AGE

12. Mr. Sunshine - BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

13. Just For You - DAVE MASON

14. S.F. Sorrow Is Born - PRETTY THINGS

15. Magic Man - CARAVAN

16. The Half-Remarkable Question - THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND

17. Race With The Devil - GUN

18. Mandrake Root - DEEP PURPLE

The incredibly chunky 48-page booklet lines up the artists in alphabetical order (The Action and The Aquarian Age to Van Der Graaf Generator and Keith West) with MARK POWELL pouring on the biographies and details (he also compiled and researched the set). Page after Page offers promo photos, trade adverts, concert posters, men in fields communing with nature (or mushrooms) and so forth. It's a properly huge and thorough read (each of the singular CD card front sleeves features a montage of the photos used within the booklet). BEN WISEMAN has done the new Remasters at Alchemy with the Audio being uniformly great throughout - stuff like Love Sculpture and The Incredible String Band leaping out of the speakers.

The line-up of tracks is smartly done. Disc 1 opens its account with "And The Address" - one of two Stereo cuts from Deep Purple's September 1968 UK debut album "Shades Of..." on Parlophone PCS 7055 (the second is "Mandrake Root" which ends Disc 3). The Jon Lord/Ritchie Blackmore "And The Address" instrumental fades in a suitably doomy way only to eventually explode into a four-and-half minute Rock-Funk groove that allows ace axeman Blackmore room to bend and ping followed quickly by that huge organ sound Lord specialises in. It's so 60ts, so Deep Purple and so 1968.

The familiar sway of April 1968's "...does your memory serve you well..." from Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger follows nicely, the flanged rhythms of "This Wheel's On Fire" doing the Rick Danko and Bob Dylan composition a solid. The A-side of Columbia DB 8353 from The Pretty Things (February 1968) is "Talkin' About The Good Times" where our heroes (Dick Taylor and Phil May) produce an bona-fide slice of 60ts brilliance - The Who meets, well The Pretty Things.

To hell with pretty - let's rock is the mantra for "World War Three" by the fuzz-guitar grooving Dantalian’s Chariot - a band featured Zoot Money on Vocals, Pat Donaldson of Fairport Convention and Andy Summers of The Police. DC's wild guitar-driver recorded in January 1968 perfectly compliments one of this set's genuine joys - a melodic gem from The Action called "A Saying For Today”. Its an Ian Whiteman composition recorded in the summer of 1968 that only surfaced in 1985 on a rare UK 5-Track Mini LP called "Action Speak Louder Than..." on Dojo Records DOJOLP003 (one of Charly’s budget labels). Great stuff. Other winners on Disc 1 are Gary Wright's "Sunshine Help Me" - a Spooky Tooth sexy Rock groove from their Island Records debut album "It's All About" - sitar hippy dippy from Blonde On Blonde as he spends all day and all night dreaming of you - and shades of future brilliance as you barely recognise singer Peter Gabriel's voice on the May 1968 Genesis B-side "One-Eyed Hound" - a £400+ rarity originally on Decca 12775. Keith West gets an acoustic pop moment on the lovely "On A Saturday" - a July 1968 British 45 on Parlophone R 5713 featuring a hidden cache of stars - Steve Howe of Yes on Guitar, Ronnie Wood of the Faces and Stones on Bass and Aynsley Dunbar on Drums. Clive John and Micky Jones (later of Welsh rockers Man) penned the incredibly pretty and pure 60ts waft of "Cave Of Clear Light" – a rare and fab psychedelic B-side by The Bystanders – where these mind-travellers have clearly been spending too many hours on translucent lakes whilst watching a hermit meditate outside his cave, silent and free of the world (but maybe a little smelly though). Disc 1 finishes with Neill Innes having some fun on "I'm An Urban Spaceman" – a changing society song that caught the mood of the times, propelling it to an unlikely No. 5 spot on the UK singles chart in November 1968 on Liberty Records.

Discs 2 and 3 give us genius stuff like John Mayall in Laurel Canyon territory on the yeah man "Fly Tomorrow" (Mick Taylor of the Stones guesting to such wonderful effect) – the soft acoustic beauty of John Martyn plucking on "Dusty" from his second album "The Tumbler" (December 1968) with Harold McNair accompanying on Flute - the surprising Mamas and Papas meets The Moody Blues musicality of Eclection's gorgeous "in Her Mind" and Dave Edmunds getting all guitar-wild on the classical "Sabre Dance" in his band Love Sculpture (their cover of the Gershwin standard "Summertime" is another surprise ballad moment – very early Fleetwood Mac actually).

Changes were everywhere - Roy Wood would leave The Move doing their pastoral clavinet ditty "Mist On A Monday Morning" to form Wizzard and lash into the full-on glam of "Ball Park Incident", the Quo would abandon the frilly shirts and Pop-Psych of "Paradise Flats" and go no-nonsense Rock Boogie in 1970 with "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" - while "My Sunday Feeling" from Tull's debut "This Was" is again a very clever choice - showing just how much styles were being mashed into each other to create new sounds and new angles. And as you touch on Van Der Graaf Generator, Caravan and even the normally rocking Ten Years After (their eight-minute-plus "No Title" is trippy 1968) – it's not a large musical leap to 1973 where Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells", Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side Of The Moon", Tull's "As Thick As A Brick" and the Yes double "Tales From Topographic Oceans" would actually take the chart top LP spots all in the same year. Five years earlier and 1968 was surely the beginning of all that...the revolution's starting point.

There's a knack to these releases and Esoteric seem to have it down pat these days. Great stuff and thoroughly recommended...