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In truth I stumbled on Patto's guitar-player Ollie Halsall via Kevin Ayers. I was in a Dublin Record shop on Grafton Street in late 1974 - the kind of progressive chart store that used to remainder and cheap albums that hadn't sold due to artist obscurity or lack of interest or they were just plain crap. I'd pick up amazing off-the-beaten-track goodies in there like Greenslade on Warner Brothers, Todd Rundgren on Bearsville and Audience on Charisma.
One
day I stumbled on the utterly extraordinary Kevin Ayers album "The
Confessions Of Dr. Dream And Other Stories" – his first for Island Records
after a four-LP stint with Harvest. I took my two-quid deal home and although I
hated/didn't understand the record at first - it began to grow on me to a point
where it soon became indispensable (I reviewed the Peter Mew remastered CD of
it a few years back). But what kept me listening initially was the pyrotechnic
guitar playing of one 'Ollie Halsall' on the track "Didn't Feel Lonely
Till I Thought Of You" - the kind of axe-work that makes your head spin.
If you backtrack you come to his former band – the obscure and criminally
forgotten PATTO...
PATTO
arose out of the ashes of a 60ts band called TIMEBOX from Stockport in
Lancashire - singer Mike Patto, Bassist Clive Griffiths, Drummer John 'Admiral'
Halsey and super guitarist Pete 'Ollie' Halsall. TIMEBOX never did get an album
out but they landed seven rare and desirable 45s in the UK - two on Piccadilly
and five on Deram - one of which was a minor hit - a cover of The Four Seasons
"Beggin'" that peaked at a lowly No. 38 on the British singles charts
in July 1968.
But
as the Progressive Rock boom began to take over in the late Sixties - the four
ex-Timebox boys wanted to move on from the restrictions of Pop and formed PATTO
- signing to the then emerging label for all things Prog and eclectic -
Vertigo. They made three albums in total - two for Vertigo and one for Island -
none of which sold jack knob. Their debut "Patto" hit the streets of
Blighty in November 1970 on Vertigo 6360 016 (February 1971 in the USA), the
second "Hold Your Fire" in November 1971 on Vertigo 6360 032 and the
final "Roll 'Em Smoke 'Em Put Out Another Line" in October 1972 on
Island ILPS 9210 – all are listed vinyl rarities in the 2018 Record Collector
Price Guide valued at £300, £500 and £60 respectively.
Which
brings us to this long-overdue and superbly presented 'Expanded Edition' single
CD Remaster of their self-titled debut album from England's Esoteric
Recordings. Here are the screaming spirals...
UK
released Friday, 28 April 2017 (5 May 2017 in the USA) - "Patto" by
PATTO on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2581 (Barcode 5013929468146) is an 'Expanded
Edition' CD Remaster of their 1970 Debut LP on Vertigo Records with Three Bonus
Tracks added on and plays out as follows (69:41 minutes):
1.
The Man [Side 1]
2.
Hold Me Back
3.
Time To Die
4.
Red Glow
5.
San Antone [Side 2]
6.
Government Man
7.
Money Bag
8.
Sittin' Back Easy
Tracks
1 to 8 are their debut album "Patto" - released November 1970 in the
UK on Vertigo 6360 016 and February 1971 in the USA on Vertigo VEL-1001.
Produced by MUFF WINWOOD - it didn't chart in either country.
BONUS
TRACKS:
9.
Hanging Rope
Track
9 recorded & Mixed at Island Studios, London, 16 July 1970 – first appeared
as an outtake in 2004 on the reissue of the album by Repertoire (REPUK 1025)
10.
Love Me
11.
Government Man
Tracks
10 and 11 recorded 3 November 1970 for the BBC Radio One program "Sounds
Of The 70t's" – exclusively licensed and Previously Unreleased
The
16-page booklet is festooned with ticket stubs, trade adverts, gig flyers, the
Tony Benyon pencil cartoons on the inner gatefold of Vertigo 6360 016, black
and white band photos from the period and even has an advert plugging the first
two albums issued on Vertigo in the USA in February 1971 – Jimmy Campbell’s
"Half Baked" on Vertigo VER-1000 and Patto's self-titled debut on
Vertigo VER-1001. Some of the early photos and promotional snaps in the booklet
smartly feature TIMEBOX in their 60ts glory while one of the gig ads sees PATTO
share an unlikely bill with Shakin' Stevens & The Sunsets at Wardour
Street's 'Temple' venue in London's Soho. More encouraging is sharing a Chalk
Farm's Roundhouse line-up with The Who, Elton John and a new Warner Brothers
signing called America. There are detailed and informative liner notes from
noted writer SID SMITH too that feature reminiscences from drummer John Halsey
about the band and the sadly passed Halsall (he died in 1992).
But
the big news is the really clean and clear audio for what has always been perceived
as a lo-fi production. To my knowledge there have been three CD reissues of
this album before – Akarma out of Italy in 2002, Repertoire out of Germany in
2004 and one of those natty SHM-CDs in a card-repro sleeve out of Japan on
Universal in 2010. But this amazingly is the first time a British label has had
a go – Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings. And they've done a typically bang up
job - especially on the audio front with a new Remaster from original tapes by
Audio Engineer BEN WISEMAN – someone who has handled loads of these Reissues.
The opening track "The Man" is a slow Rock builder - the kind of tune
Free would have punched out of the park circa 1970's "Fire And Water"
LP. Mike Patto's impassioned vocals build as Halsall licks away on the guitar.
It's a hard song to transfer with any real power - and yet without trebling the
thing out of existence - the audio on this sucker alone is worth the price of
admission.
A
word about the music – although the Vertigo Label was largely associated with
all things Prog Rock - until the very trippy guitar-workout of the near
eleven-minute "Money Bag" over on Side 2 – in fact "Patto"
the album is way more Humble Pie than May Blitz. Most of the record feels like
Hard Rock – its even Bluesy in places. In fact sandwiched between the angry
social-conscience lyrics of "Government Man" and the Free-sounding
riffage of "Sittin' Back Easy" – the track "Money Bag"
seems wildly out of place – almost like its been transported in from another
world entirely.
That
doesn’t mean the music or the whole LP is lesser for it – its not. The album's
wonderful opener "The Man" was featured on Disc 2 of 2005's
"Time Machine" 3CD Vertigo Spiral Retrospective Box Set from
Universal - a slow burning builder that feels epic and cool too. The rock
swagger of "Hold Me Back" would do Grand Funk proud - while the
Acoustic-delicate opening of "Time To Die" feels like the kind of
song Marriott would have done on Immediate Records with late Sixties Small
Faces or Humble Pie's 1969 output - "As Safe As Yesterday" and
"Town And Country" again on Immediate Records before they signed to
A&M. "Red Glow" ends Side 1 on a fabulous Rock chugger where Mike
Patto sounds like Mike Harrison of Spooky Tooth getting his teeth into a
neck-jerking groove while Halsall lets rip with brilliant rocking guitar. The
album's Prog moments arrive as Jazz vibes introduced towards the end of
"Government Man" literally lead into the near ten-minutes of
"Money Bag" - an instrumental that lets Halsall indulge in his inner
John McLaughlin for what seems like half-a-year. I’ve always found this
meandering track difficult to take – but there’s no mistaking his playing that
at times feels like Jeff Beck five years before he did "Blow By
Blow". Song normality returns with "Sittin' Back Easy" where a
slow beginning then rips into Family-type Rock with Mike Patto actually
sounding a little like Roger Chapman. And those wanting more of Ollie Halsall
and his guitar should check out Boxer and Tempest.
I
wasn't expecting much of the Bonus Tracks - but Fusion and Ollie Halsall
admirers will be in Seventh Heaven here. "Hanging Rope" clocks in at
a huge 14:49 minutes and is similar to the Side 2 oddity "Money Bag".
With some minor Roger Chapman-esque vocals from Mike Patto halfway in – it's
mostly instrumental – Halsall soloing away on Guitar while cymbals clash and a
Bass goes Miles Davis on proceedings. Musically it feels like Family have
discovered Jazz and gone off on a Fusion wig out. I know it was on the 2004 CD
reissue from Repertoire – but it's the first time I've ever heard it – and what
a find. "Love Me" is PATTO as a Jazz-Prog band - eight-minutes of
Vibes, Bass and Mike singing 'love me as i would love you'. An almost
after-hours barroom vibe comes over in the BBC Session version of
"Government Man" - it's good rather than being great and isn't a
patch on the album's studio cut. But fans will welcome it.
1970's
"Patto" is a genuine rarity LP given a properly decent CD reissue
here - great audio, better presentation and genuinely complimentary bonuses.
Well done to all the cats at Esoteric Recordings for putting it out there again
and honouring Halsall's recorded legacy in such style...
Other PATTO 2017
Esoteric Recordings
'Expanded Edition'
CD Reissues & Remasters
Also reissued 28 April 2017 is their second
Vertigo vinyl platter from November 1971 called "Hold Your Fire" but
as a 2CD 'Expanded Edition' remaster with thirteen Bonus Tracks on Esoteric
Recordings ECLEC 225821 (Barcode 5013929468245). Adding to the eight-track
album on CD1 - this reissue contains five extra album outtakes including
Previously Unreleased and eight further BBC Radio One "In Concert"
and "Sounds of the 70s" live recordings.
On 26 May 2017 you got their third album
"Roll 'Em Smoke 'Em Put Out Another Line" from 1972 on Esoteric
Recordings ECLEC 2586 (Barcode 5013929468641) with three Bonus Tracks (a Peel
Session from 24 January 1973).
26 May 2017 also saw their aborted fourth album
recorded in 1973 called "Monkey's Bum" reissued by Esoteric and again
as an 'Expanded Edition' CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2587 (Barcode
5013929468740). It will be the first 'official' release of the album sanctioned
by the remaining members of the band and include three Previously Unreleased
tracks – sessions recorded for John Peel's BBC Radio One show on 13 February
1973 with the original line-up...
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