"The R & B Box: 30 Years Of Rhythm & Blues" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – 108 R and B Tracks Covering 1943 to 1972 and Including labels Decca, Aladdin, King, End, Modern, Chess, Checker, Atlantic, Motown, Stax, Polydor, Minit etc (November 1994 US Rhino 6CD Long Box Set (in Leatherette Effect) - Bill Inglot, Dan Hersch, Chris Clarke, Ken Perry and Bob Fisher Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/R-B-Box-30-Years-Rhythm/dp/B0000033EL?crid=30LS57S8IH5EO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KsZDhsc_zGys2dg_rrmIr_H5hwBDWpnv8rYxuMAkG5jK1xkgX9jxZb04C3XeOe0ogZEmsCy-7R1Z-Q4aRdZT4dMYMhlB-VzS9NnOy3hxIhUhNc9kRkL-LSGYV0rrTPOw.h8wPAnMuY15y30Mgz3rEHweqNDFKqqGHaD7ILUgs2lI&dib_tag=se&keywords=r%26B+Box+Rhino&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1730317340&sprefix=r%26b+box+rhino%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-7&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d7e5a2de-8759-4da3-993c-d11b6e3d217f&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=57007186636a53956e5d15e1ec3732ec&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Music **** to *****

Audio ****

Presentation ***

"...Tell It How It Is... "

There was a time in the Nineties and into the Naughties when I considered Rhino of the USA to be the greatest reissue label of them all. Big shoes when you consider Ace Records of the UK and Bear Family of Germany with their 40 to 50-year-plus catalogues of absolute reissue excellence - and more recently the stunning work Esoteric Recordings, Grapefruit and Doctor Bird have been doing via Cherry Red's large array of specialist reissue imprints. 

But there was just something brilliant about Rhino, a hip US company populated by history-preserving loons who just happened to have access to the cream of the recorded crop in terms of licensing primo oldies material. 

Which is why the US-only set "The R & B Box: 30 Years Of Rhythm & Blues" by VARIOUS ARTISTS of 15 November 1994 on Rhino R2 71806 (Barcode 08277180621) was such a huge disappointment. But before we get into its disastrous ugly-bug self-destructive presentation and lack of decent playing times on each CD - let's sing the praises of what is good. 

There are 108-tracks across six themed discs in a long-box presentation with a 60-page full-featured booklet:

CD1 "Jumpin' The Blues (1943-1950)" - 53:52 minutes, 18 Tracks
CD2 "Teenagers Are Diggin' It (1951-1954)" - 50:55 minutes, 18 Tracks
CD3 "Rockin' 'n' Rollin' (1955-1956)" - 48:50 minutes, 18 Tracks
CD4 "Goin' Nationwide (1956-1961)" - 47:07 minutes, 18 Tracks 
CD5 "Soul Brothers & Soul Sisters (1961-1965)" - 48:12 minutes, 18 Tracks 
CD6 "The End Of The Golden Age (1966-1972)" - 55:31 minutes, 18 Tracks 

Rhino not surprisingly start with the great grandfather of all Rhythm 'n' Blues genius Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five in 1943 doing "Five Guys Named Moe" on his famously catchy Decca classics, and ends on Disc 6 with The Spinners on Atlantic Records in 1972 telling us "I’ll Be Around" should we need their soothing advice in the matter of broken hearts. Between those two huge compass points comes revered genre labels like King, Aladdin, End, Specialty, Brunswick, Chess, Checker, Atlantic, Motown, Stax, Minit, Polydor, Volt and a huge array of other associated independent pioneers. 

The problem is that each CD play feels short - three above fifty minutes and three below. The first three CDs in particular pass rather quickly with overly familiar titles only to slip into early Soul by Disc 4. There's only 1 James Brown cut when he dominated R&B for entire decades, there's no Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye is represented by the underwhelming "Pride And Joy". I suppose you could argue what should and shouldn't have been included/excluded ad nauseam, but I can't help thinking they bit off more than they could chew with a one stop box, Rhino really should have made this Volume 1 of an R&B Series so they could dedicate more to it like they did with their lovely Doo Wop boxes across 3 volumes. 

But the worst part is the actual way "The R&B Box..." is made. It has a stippled-leatherette look (don't know why) with Atlantic Records and early Soul star Solomon Burke at the microphone on the front sleeve. You can't read the lettering on the rear for the track lists even with a squint. But then you open it and find that Rhino put each CD into an individual jewel case - three piled on three - two piles inside the bay (too weighty). The problem is that there's no wiggle room getting any of them out, so as you try to pull up CD1, it pushes against the flimsy deep corner walls and rips them instantly. I've seen loads of these sets across the years I served penal in Reckless Records in London's Soho and so many were afflicted with this implosion of the holding walls. 

The booklet has another ugly black-as-night cover (with nothing on it) but (it must be said) more than makes up for its boring visage with an array of classy black and white publicity photos throughout the thoroughly enthusiastic text from BILLY VERA. It's cool to see lesser-highlighted names like Little Esther, Mabel Joy, Percy Mayfield, Jackie Brenston and Buddy Johnson get their photo moment in the sun. Each inner cover flap has a collage of those beautiful R&B posters where names like The Five Keys, Jackie Wilson, Clyde McPhatter, The Spaniels, The Clovers, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, The Coasters, Chuck Willis and Booker T. & The MG's pounded the stage boards to capitalise on hot 45s breaking and making waves on the US Billboard R&B charts. I would have used these as the booklet and box artwork and in colour. Each song entry has writer credits, discography info and catalogue numbers, release dates and chart placing etc. 

The Audio comes from a team of five experience engineers – BLL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH (long-time workaholics for Rhino) with CHRIS CLARKE, KEN PERRY and BOB FISHER – names any oldies fan will know well. Beginning in bombastic but clean Mono, the songs slowly slink into Stereo as the Discs progress and apart from some early tunes that betray their had-no-money but had-the-feel independent origins – it all sounds tickety-boo and at times thrilling. Overall I'd award Presentation 3, content 4 with Audio 4 (at times a 5). 

There is huge debate as to what actually is 'R&B' especially in US circles - what do call the mighty "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG's - early Soul, 60ts Funk, Stax R&B, the greatest instrumental Funk ever laid down by the coolest cats ever - well all of it really. "Speedoo" by The Cadillacs, "In The Still Of The Nite" by The Five Satins and "Duke Of Earl" by Earl Chandler have been (rightly) plopped onto Doo Wop and Vocal group compilations for decades, B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" and Bobby Bland's "I Pity The Fool" are fabulous Sixties Blues, Little Richard's "The Girl Can't Help It" is a hair's breath away from out-and-out Rock and Roll mayhem while Billy Stewart's cover of Gershwin's "Summertime" is a mixture of Jazz, Swing and sophisticated nightclub smooch all rolled into one. Ike & Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" gives a nod towards Creedence Clearwater Revival's Swamp Rock while Brook Benton counts the warm raindrops in Tony Joe White's "Rainy Night in Georgia" - as gorgeous a groove as Clarence Carter's pleading in "Slip Away". 

There's a lot to love here, there really is, but you should also know there's a lot that should have been done in another way, especially that rather austere packaging for a genre of music that has always been associated with so much joy. 

Still, sat in my man cave in Nov 2024 with a post Covid-19 future looming tastily over the Margate sunset - I put on Dan Penn and Chips Moman's classic "Do Right Woman - Do Right Man" as interpreted by the powerhouse lungs of Aretha Franklin, and as Chris Kenner was fond of saying, "I Like It Like That"...(at least part of me does)...

"Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Music and Car/Drag-Racing Sound Effects Spanning 1946 to 1998 - Including The Duals, Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps, Chuck Berry, Jan & Dean, Robert Mitchum, Dinah Shore, The Rip-Chords, The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Sonny Boy Williamson, Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, Albert King, Nervous Norvus, Canned Heat, The Doobie Brothers, Golden Earring, Dave Edmunds, War, The Ramones, The B-52s, George Thorogood, John Hiatt, The Green Hornets and many more (March 1999 US Rhino 87-Track 4CD Brick-Shaped Lift-Top Box Set with Booklet, Mooneyes Themed Car Catalogue, Key Chain, A Sheet of Window Clinging Decals and a Pair of Hanging Rearview-Mirror Furry Dice – Bob Fisher Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Rods-Custom-Classics-Various/dp/B00000I5M0?crid=PXVP7S2HOC98&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-tuc_L4uzuXbw9pvCrIYmg.nvE64ydUcKI0j81r4e2bCs_yb31lODocJ7ZPrs3OetE&dib_tag=se&keywords=081227568825&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1729724888&sprefix=081227568825%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=662c7ffbd47ad7a36d5014a47061ef23&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATINGS:

Overall ****

Audio **** to *****

Presentation *****

"…Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits…"

I have loved and frankly adored at the altar of Rhino Box Sets, and back in the Nineties day when they were big-time active, they regularly came out with groundbreaking fun compilations like this forgotten car-themed gem. I still rate their zany and thorough efforts as the best fun-and-audio discovery tomes ever issued across a swathe of genre splurges.

"Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" digs the automobile in music - here we get muscle cars and dragsters and Cadillacs and Lincoln Continentals and Pontiacs and frankly anything to do with pistons, fuel-injected carburettors and Polly the Molly sat in an opentop back seat with a cold beer bottle in hand and her tomboy hair in the wind. As you can imagine, there will be skidding and revving of a frankly lascivious hairy-chested-nature and undeniable references to shifting sticks that may or may not have to do with urgent speedometers and liquid transmissions (if you dig my brake fluid).

This hunk of 4CD burning love was first issued Stateside in March 1999 and its packaging alone – a cause for celebration. It has music and sound effects spanning 1946 to 1998 (87 Tracks, most are Music), a 66-Page Booklet crammed with genre themes and essays and Mooneyes-Themed Surf and Drag Car Racing Memorabilia – a Mooneyes Catalogue, Key Chain, A Sheet of Window Clinging Decals and a Pair of Hanging Rearview-Mirror Furry Dice. Yes – you read right – a pair of actual furry dice inset into the inner box! Even the sides of the boxes have reproduced fantastically evocative newspaper and magazine adverts from the Fifties and Sixties selling Conversion Kits, Magnesium Engine Adapters, White Wall Tyres and Torque Wrenches. Time to ride baby – details Daddy-O!

US released 16 March 1999 - "Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Rhino R2 75688 (Barcode 081227568825) is a 4CD 87-Track Brick-Shaped Lift-Top Box Set. It has music and sound effects spanning 1946 to 1998, a 66-Page Booklet and Mooneyes-Themed Surf and Drag Car Racing Memorabilia (Mooneyes Catalogue, Key Chain, A Sheet of Window Clinging Decals and a Pair of Hanging Rearview-Mirror Furry Dice). It plays outs as follows:

CD1 (56:04 minutes):
1. New Car Attitude
2. Action Packed – RONNIE DEE (November 1958 US 45-single on Back Beat 522, A-side)
3. Stick Shift – THE DUALS (June 1961 US 45-single on Sue 745, A-side)
4. Hot Rod Man – TEX RUBINOWITZ (February 1980 US 45-single on Ripsaw 214, A-side)
5. Hot Rod Gang – STRAY CATS (from the August 1983 US LP "Rant N' Rave With The Stray Cats" on EMI America SO-17012)
6. Cruisin' – GENE VINCENT And HIS BLUE CAPS (from the March 1957 US LP "Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps" on Capitol T-811 in Mono)
7. Radar Love – GOLDEN EARRING (April 1974 US 45-single on MCA Records MCA-40202, A-side, 5:01 minute version. Note: the UK 45-single was issued November 1973 on Track 2094 116 and has a shorter version; the LP cut on the 1973 "Moon Tan" UK album is also longer than both the US and UK singles)
8. Mercury Blues – DAVID LINDLEY (from the 1981 US LP "E Rayo-X" on Elektra Records 5E-524)
9. Maybelline – CHUCK BERRY & His Combo (July 1955 US Debut 45-single on Chess 1604, A-side)
10. The Ballad Of Thunder Road – ROBERT MITCHUM (May 1958 US 45-single on Capitol F3986, A-side)
11. Forty Miles Of Bad Road – DUANE EDDY And THE REBELS (May 1959 US 45-single on Jamie 1126, A-side)
12. SS 396 – PAUL REVERE And THE RAIDERS (January 1967 US Split 45-single on Columbia Special Products CSM 466. Was the B-side to The Cyrkle doing "Camaro" on the A-side. The single was specially commissioned by Chevrolet and given to dealers)
13. See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet – DINAH SHORE (Advertising song for the 1956 US TV Series Chevrolet Hour)
14. Little Deuce Coup – THE BEACH BOYS (July 1963 US 45-single on Capitol 5002, B-side of "Surfer Girl")
15. Hot Rod – THE COLLINS KIDS (Unissued 1957 recording first released 1982 on the US 2LP compilation "Rockabilly Stars, Volume 3" on Epic Records EG 37984)
16. Mr. Highway Man (Cadillac Daddy) – HOWLIN' WOLF (April 1952 US 78 on Chess 1510, B-side of "Gettin' Old And Grey")
17. Lost Highway – HANK WILLIAMS With His Drifting Cowboys (September 1949 US 78 on MGM 10506, B-side of "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)")
18. Highway Patrol – JUNIOR BROWN (August 1995 US 45-single on MCG/Curb Records D7-76953, A-side)
19. Heavy Traffic Ahead – BILL MONROE And His BLUE GRASS BOYS (July 1949 US 78 on Mercury 20595, A-side)
20. Radar – MR. BEAR & HIS BEARCATS (1955 US 45-single on Groove 0150, A-side)
21. Motor Head Baby – JOHNNY "Guitar" WATSON credited at YOUNG JOHN WATSON (June 1953 US 78 on Federal 12131, A-side)
22. Led Sled – DENNY FREEMAN (from the 1986 US LP "Blues Cruise" on Amazing Records AM 1009)
23. Rev Off – Steve Wertheimer's 1951 Mercury Custom & Mike Young's 1960 Chevrolet "Exotica" Impala - Recorded at Dave's Precision Automotive, Austin, Texas on 23 October 1998 – Plus a Radio Advert for a 60ts Green Valley Raceway meet on a Wednesday night (between Dallas and Fort Worth) – unannounced and attached at the end of Track 23

CD2 (69:21 minutes):
1. Rocking Down The Highway – THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (November 1972 US 45-single on Warner Brothers WB 7661, B-side of "Jesus Is Just Alright")
2. Hey Little Cobra – THE RIP CHORDS (November 1963 US 45-single on Columbia 4-42921, A-side)
3. Hot Rod Queen – DEKE DICKERSON & THE ECCO-FONICS (from the 1998 CD Album "Number One Hit Record!" on HMG 3005))
4. Hot Rod Lincoln – JOHNNY BOND (June 1960 US 45-single on Republic 2005, A-side)
5. Hot Rod Race - RAMBLIN' JIMMIE DOLAN (June 1951 US 45-single on Capitol 1322, A-side)
6. Drag Race (excerpt from the 1960 Motion Picture "High School Caesar")
7. Draggin' – CURTIS GORDON (April 1956 US 45-single on Mercury 70861 X 45, A-side) 
8. Dragster – JOHNNY FORTUNE (November 1963 US 45-single on Park Avenue PA-130, B-side of "Siboney")
9. Race With The Devil – GENE VINCENT & HIS BLUE CAPS (August 1956 US 45-single on Capitol F3530, A-side)
10. Devil In My Car – THE B-52's (from the August 1980 US Album "Wild Planet" on Warner Brothers BSK 3471)
11. Ride On Josephine – GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS (from the September 1977 US Debut Album "George Thorogood & The Destroyers" on Rounder 3013)
12. Rocket "88" – JACKIE BRENSTON & HIS DELTA CATS (1956 US 45-single on Chess 1458, A-side)
13. Key To The Highway – LITTLE WALTER & HIS JUKES (September 1958 US 45-single on Checker 904, A-side)
14. Low Rider – WAR (August 1975 US 45-single on United Artists UA-XW706-Y, A-side)
15. Whitter Blvd. – THEE MIDNITERS (June 1965 US 45-single on Chattahoochie CH-684, A-side)
16. Every Woman I Know – BILLY "The Kid" EMERSON (January 1957 US 45-single on Vee Jay VJ 219, B-side of "Tomorrow Never Comes")
17. One Piece At A Time JOHNNY CASH & THE TENNESSEE THREE (March 1976 US 45-single on Columbia 3-10321, A-side)
18. Cadillac Assembly Line (January 1976 US 45-single on Utopia UB-10544, A-side)
19. I Want A Lavender Cadillac - MAURICE KING & HIS WOLVERINES (June 1951 US 45-single on 4-6800, A-side)
20. Bring My Cadillac Back – BAKER KNIGHT And THE KNIGHTMARES (November 1956 US 45-single on Decca 9-30135, A-side)
21. Pink Cadillac – SAMMY MASTERS & HIS ROCKING RHYTHM (April 1956 US 45-single on 4-Star 1695-45, A-side)
22. Transfusion – NERVOUS NORVUS (May 1956 US 45-single on Dot 45-14570, A-side)
23. Crawling From The Wreckage – DAVE EDMUNDS (from the July 1979 US album "Repeat When Necessary" on Swan Song SS 8507)
24. Dead Man's Curve – JAN & DEAN (February 1964 US 45 on Liberty 55672, A-side)
25. James Dean 1955 Interview (from the 1993 video to "Rebel Without A Cause") – unannounced and uncredited "Signal Mid Ethyl Gas" advert from the 60ts is attached at the end of Track 25

CD3 (51:55 minutes):
1. Let's Go For A Ride – THE COLLEGIANS (1957 US 45-single on X-Tra 108, A-side)
2. On The Road Again – CANNED HEAT (April 1968 US 45-single on Liberty 56038, A-side)
3. Drive South – JOHN HIATT (from the 1988 US album "Slow Turning" on A&M Records SP 5026)
4. I Gotta A New Car – BIG BOY GRAVES and Band (May 1955 US 45-single on Spark 114, A-side)
5. No Money Down – CHUCK BERRY & His Combo (January 1956 US 45-single on Chess 1615, A-side)
6. Dear Dad – DAVE EDMUNDS (from the April 1982 US album "D.E. 7th" on Columbia PC 37930)
7. Little Forty Four – LEON SMITH With The Ponsonby Sisters (July 1959 US 45-single on Epic 5-9326)
8. '41 Ford – THE GRAND PRIX (October 1963 US 45-single on Vault V-906, B-side of "Candy Apple Buggy")
9. '64 Ford – PHRANC (from the 1991 US album "Positively Phranc" on Island 848282)
10. Stolen Car – THE GREEN HORNETS (from the 1996 album "The Buzz" on Alopecia! 008)
11. 60 Lil' Camaro Go – RAMONES (from the 1987 US album "Halfway To Sanity" on Sire 25641)
12. Road Runner – BO DIDDLEY (January 1960 US 45-single on Checker 942, A-side)
13. Beep Beep – THE PLAYMATES (October 1958 US 45-single on Roulette R-4115, A-side)
14. Black & White Thunderbird – THE DELICATES (June 1959 US 45-single on Unart UR 2017, B-side of "Ronnie Is My Lover")
15. Pink Thunderbird – GENE VINCENT & HIS BLUE CAPS (from the March 1957 US LP "Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps" on Capitol T-811 in Mono)
16. '54 Corvette – THE CUSTOMS featuring Gary Usher (from the 1963 US LP "Hot Rod City" on Vault 104)
17. Sting Ray – THE ROUTERS (March 1963 US 45-single on Warner Brothers 5349, A-side)
18. Route 66 Theme – NELSON RIDDLE (April 1962 US 45-single on Capitol 4741, A-side)
19. Gas Money – JAN & ARNIE with Adam Ross (July 1958 US 45-single on Arwin MM-111-45, A-side)
20. Gasoline Alley – ROD STEWART (from the June 1970 US album "Gasoline Alley" on Mercury SR-61264) – includes added on Unannounced 60ts Advert for "Speedway Gas" attached to the end of the song

CD4 (50:06 minutes):

1. Mustang Sally - WILSON PICKETT (November 1966 US 45-single on Atlantic 45-2365, A-side)

2. Hopped-Up Mustang - ARLEN SANDERS And The Pacifics (June 1964 US 45-single on Faro 616, B-side of "A Letter To Paul")

3. Wild, Wild Mustang - DICK DALE (& HIS DEL-TONES) (May 1964 US 45-single on Capitol 5187, A-side)

4. 409 - THE QUADS (from the 1963 US LP "Hot Rod City" on Vault 104)

5. Automobiles - THE SPANIELS (Unreleased 1959 recording first issued on the 1993 US CD-compilation "Heart & Soul Volume 2" on Vee-Jay NVD2714)

6. V-8 Ford Blues - MOSE ALLISON (from the 1962 US LP "Takes To The Hills" on Epic BA 17031 in Stereo)

7. Pontiac Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON (November 1951 US 78 on Trumpet No. 145, B-side of "Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues")

8. G.T.O - RONNY & THE DAYTONA'S (June 1964 US 45-single on Mala 481, A-side)

9. Go Go G.T.O - CAROL And CHERYL (February 1965 US 45-single on Colpix CP-767, A-side)

10. Bite Bite Barracuda - BUDDY RANDELL & THE KNICKERBOCKERS (November 1964 US 45-single on Challenge 59268, B-side of "All I Need Is You")

11. Ford V-8 - HONEY BOY ALLEN (Unreleased 1958 Excello Recording first issued on the 1985 UK LP compilation "Rock Me All Night Long: Unissued 1950s R&B from Louisiana – The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Volume 41" on Flyright Records FLY 606)

12. No Particular Place To Go - CHUCK BERRY (May 1964 US 45-single on Chess 1898, A-side)

13. Four In The Floor - THE SHUT DOWNS (August 1963 US 45-single on Dimensions D 1016, A-side)

14. Big Green Car – BILLY CARROLL (1958 US 45-single on Fascination 2000, A-side)

15. Spark Plug - FOUR TEENS (August 1958 US 45-single on Challenge 59021, B-side of "Go Little Cat Go"

16. Buick 59 - THE MEDALLIONS (August 1954 US 45-single on DooTone 347, A-side) 

17. Freeway - THE FUGITIVES (October 1960 US 45-single on Arvee A 5014, A-side)

18. Two Lane Highway - PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE (June 1975 US 45-single on RCA Victor PB-10302, A-side)

19. Six Days On The Road - DAVE DUDLEY (April 1963 US 45-single on Golden Wing GW3020, A-side)

20. Wheels - THE FLYING BURRITO BROS. (from the February 1969 US Debut LP "The Gilded Palace Of Sin" on A&M Records SP-4175) - Plus an attached and uncredited spoken Sharp 1956 Automobile Advert about a Hot Rod having its wheels serviced

The 66-page booklet is a major departure for Rhino in some ways in that it doesn't show a single 45-repro label nor LP nor musical act nor sheet music nor trade advert anywhere in its 66-pages – it is all vintage cars and dragsters. Not even the four Digipaks containing the CDs (front or rear) pay a nod towards the music contained within – again all of them with paintings or pictures of famous chrome-infested machines (beneath each of the four see-through trays is a picture of a internal engine casing with juice-guzzling adaptations to their groaning manifolds).

While I appreciate going all out with the theme and the reproduction of famous articles on the subject matter - you can't help thinking that (music wise) say the picture sleeve for The Cyrkle/Paul Revere split 45 especially commissioned in 1967 by Chevrolet for car dealers might have been an obvious inclusion – the rare smiling-face picture sleeve for Chuck Berry's fabulous "No Particular Place to Go" (surely one of the great 'your car vs. frustrated love' songs ever). Or how about The Beach Boys or Jan and Dean atop Dune Buggies or in a Little Deuce Coup – Bobby Blue Bland standing proudly by his Driving Wheel - Batman in his phantasmagorical Bat Mobile etc - you could go on. Rhino also mistakenly credit Billy Carroll as Jimmy Carroll on the rare 1958 Rockabilly blast over on CD4 and get the Flying Burrito Bros LP catalogue number wrong on the last track of the set - but other than those puny errors...it's a gas gas gas…

Speaking of - I can't stress enough that this is a blast - a dip-and-dive box. "Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" is great fun - reeking of compilers who enjoyed their job and went that country mile for your delectation - the Sheet of Decal Stickers - The Key Chain with Moon Eyes and of course - the Furry Dice you would hang from your Cools-Mobile. Speaking of Moon Eyes - Dean Moon built his Moon Equipment Company in the USA provided equipment parts and everything else for cars. The 'Mooneyes Surf & Drag' Catalogue therefore has adverts for tee-shirts with 50ts and 60ts period designs - Bonneville Sports - Engine Parts - Custom Accessories like tail-lights - skulls for gear sticks - speed equipment - grill and chrome emblems and so on. And then there are all the period adverts repro'd on the side of the brick block box when you lift off the lid (see second set of photos above) - you could be hours with a magnifying glass just trying to get through them - a bygone age. It's enough to blind you to the excellent BOB FISHER Remasters that stretch decades of car-mentions - uniformly good audio from 78s to 45s to LPs to CDs. 

CD1 opens with 21-seconds of advert dialogue "You finally get your own car, the chances are your parents still don’t understand why you needed it, but the freedom – you treat it good – real good!" That is followed by the wild 1958 teenage Rock and Roll on the uber-rare "Action Packed" by Ronnie Dee – you can hear his youth and excitement. And then we get a truly great tune – arguably the first genuinely cool instrumental prior to "Green Onions" in July 1962 - "Stick Shift" by The Duals. This Rockabilly Beat nugget had arrived a full year earlier in June 1961 complete with engine roar start and cop-car siren ending – a classy inclusion. It's at this point (same on all 4 CDs) that the time frames start to jump forward and back again – but it works. Next up is a fantastic slice of Rockabilly brilliance in the 1980-recorded "Hot Rod Man" by the wonderfully named Tex Rubinowitz – itself not surprisingly followed by The Stray Cats also doing that untamed beast in 1983. We’re back to Gene Vincent and then rather oddly on to 1973/1974 and Golden Earring giving it friend-e-lee and coming on strong with their fabulous "Radar Love" (it is the 5:02 minute cut out of the USA). 

But then again, the compilation whomps you with a gem you have completely forgotten – David Lindley getting all slide-guitar mayhem with his "Mercury Blues". What a nugget and clever inclusion. Natural to see Chuck Berry and his influence start on CD1 (his tunes crop up on the other discs too) – his lyrically savvy tunes full of liberating automobiles and teenage knowing. From the start of summer 1955 on Chess Records, "Maybelline" and all that followed started a revolution in the States and its influence reached over to Blighty for a whole generation of English kids not least of all were The Beatles and Stones. Bit of film melodrama and fun with Robert Mitchum sing-talking his way through a song about bootleggers in joe-jammers - "The Ballad of Thunder Road" full of hard-boiled characters old Hate-and-Love hands Mitchum no doubt relished playing. America is the greatest land of all, Dinah Shore sings jauntily like Doris Day on uppers in the Chevie advert while The Beach Boys and a surprisingly cool Collins Kids get cute with the ladies – soon as they get a Hot Rod. Heavy Blues comes at you in full-on recorded-in-a-bucket mode when Howlin Wolf comes a roaring into your speakers perfectly countered by Hank country-fiddle singing about paying the cost for a life of sin on the Lost Highway (we know how you feel Mr. Williams – all too bitterly). And on it goes to Sheriffs with itchy fingers in their cherry-tops – Bill Monroe caught in heavy traffic with his banjo – Mr. Bear caught doing 105 MPH by that new-fangled Radar – and Denny Freeman getting all B.B. King geetar on his SRV-sounding Led Sled.

Hot Dog Lincolns and Souped-Up Fords shift and shuffle and race with devils both inside and outside come CD2 – streets forty-foot wide – Mercury speeding but taken by a hopped-up Model A. Echo-laden Rockabilly comes hammering out of your speakers as Curtis Gordon drags Main St. all night long. Cool Agent/Spy type vibes on the screaming tyres and guitar-picking instrumental "Dragster" – kids living dangerously while Johnny Fortune twangs his geetar. Manic vocals of The B-52s followed by the Slide Guitar Boogie of George Thorogood makes for a good pairing – and what can you say about the utter brilliance of "Low Rider" by War – like "Radar Love" on CD1, it will be a track you reach for again and again no matter how many movies have used both to death. Your lady can play with your keys and shift your gears according to Billy "The Kid" Emerson (rubber heels are a no-no). Genius lyrics come at you aplenty with the forgotten Man In Black hit "One Piece At A Time". Funny and savvy as always – Johnny Cash slays it as he describes assembling a GM Cadillac by sneaking out parts across two decades only to find that upgrades over the years have done for the usability of his unique $100,000 car.

Speaking of period wit – two decades back we get slip the blood to me bud Nervous Norvus – talking through witty lyrics amidst car-crash sounds. No picture sleeve unfortunately repro'd for the Jan & Dean Liberty 45 from February 1964 – "Dead Man's Curve" – and I cannot get enough of Dave Edmunds who gets the first of two appearances on this Box Set with his fab "Crawling From The Wreckage" (driving like a nut in the rain – taking out his revenge on the revolution counter). The final track is a 2-minute interview with James Dean about cars and car-racing – his supposedly sincere comments about safety are so damn ominous with what happened to him. But stick around also for an unannounced "Signal Gas" advert attached afterwards (Track 25) where nice chaps tell you that you no longer have to just use Regular or Premium Gas, because now at a third pump you can get Mid Ethyl Gasoline and go farther!

CD3 opens with an uber-rare 1958 R&B Vocal Group 45 by The Collegians asking all suckers to "Let's Go For A Ride". That is followed by the familiar whining vocals of Bob Hite in his Canned Heat doing the ever-popular "On The Road Again" – a huge hit for the Blues Rockers in 1968. Stunning inclusions ahoy with a clever switch up to John Hiatt asking his baby to "Drive South" (on his 1988 "Slow Turning" album) – telling her that will not need too many clothes because it gets hot where they’re going. A slew of clever lyrics follow starting with R&B man Big Boy Groves bemoaning his wallet because "I Gotta A New Car" (Soup and Tooth Picks not a good meal), while Chuck Berry lists his requirements in fabulous period detail for his new car with "No Money Down". But best of all is another gotta-get-rid-of the crappy old Ford song by Chuck Berry but this time done by Dave Edmunds – his fantastic bopping "Dear Dad" done in 1982 – a son writing to Pops to plead his motor needs. 

Another obscure flipside comes in the shape of Leon Smith with The Ponsonby Sisters – his 1959 Epic 45 informing the populace on his "Little Forty Ford". Gotta love the girly longing in "64 Ford" – Phranc with that early crush glint in her eye. Punky garage comes in the shape of Taratino-cool Green Hornets getting organ-and-sax grungy as they channel their inner X-Ray Specs on their "Stolen Car". The Ramones and their Soul Brother Bo Diddley give us a Camaro 60 followed with a Road Runner. Lyrically similar, a little Nash Rambler determined to scorn a Cadillac in The Playmates witty "Beep Beep" turns out to be a Mojo in bother rather than competition. Cool instrumentals return with two in a row – The Routers giving us "Sting Ray" while Nelson Riddle decides to go all Secret Agent Lounge Lizard with his stringed-up piano-plinking finger-clicker "Route 66 Theme". 

Jan & Arnie may argue in the bedroom, but itchy Jan knows what he needs - "Gas Money" – come up with the dough baby. And CD3 ends with a nugget – and even if it feels stylistically slightly out of place – there is no denying the slide-guitar Ron Wood and Rod Stewart melody in the fab and still-touching "Gasoline Alley". Stay tuned to Track 20 as it plays for Rhino has sneaked in a hidden unannounced "Speedway Gas" sung commercial attached to the tail-light of the Rod Stewart song – an advert sung by good old boys about ethanol propylene or some such 60ts gizmo.

CD4 features a very 1963/1964 vibe cosied up to by boppin Fifties R&B and Vocal Groups – all Mustang Sallys and Souped-Up Fords and mouthy Pontiacs never mind your slippery G.T.Os and muscle-clad Ford V-8s. The mighty Wilson Pickett opens his ride-around account with the superb "Mustang Sally" while Arlen Sanders talks us through the performance of his clear-to-the-floor six-cylinder Mustang duetting with a Cadillac (music by The Pacifics) against a backdrop of engine bursts. Genius inclusion comes in the shape of the very Chuck Berry-sounding "Wild, Wild Mustang" – Dick Dale accompanying his Del-Tones in a tale of his King of the Road wheels. The Quads catch the surfing Beach Boys groove with their "409" – giddy-up ooh-ooh. Clever down shift to 50ts R&B Vocal Group sound – The Spaniels giving us the skinny on the kind of cars their girls like (all of them). 1962 LP Coolsville comes a finger-clicking in as Mose Allison goes all Georgie Fame Yeh Yeh (or is it the other way around) with his beautiful sounding "V-8 Ford". 

Way back to a 1951 ten-inch 78 sounding remarkably fresh as Sonny Boy Williamson gives it some of his trademark Harmonica (loving his Pontiac). Audio-leap as Ronny & The Daytona's sing the wah-wah praises of their little "G.T.O." which corners like a forward-leaning skier hugging that Olympic slope. Girly duo Carol and Cheryl combine their ah-schucks vocals for the 1:35 minute from 1965. Weedy boy vocals follow with "Bite Bite Barracuda" – serious channel separation on this bizarre track. Thankfully we're rescued by Honey Boy Allen giving it R&B guitar and harmonica on his crude but cooly rocking "Ford V-8" where he wants to show his baby the power steering (now now Mister Allen). But all of this is whomped goodo by Chuck Berry who comes charging (in glorious Stereo) into your mancave with the brill "No Particular Place To Go" (the safety belt wouldn't budge people). Stunning  audio on the kick-ass instrumental "Four To The Floor" by The Shut Downs – a rip-roaring guitar beat set against a backdrop of screaming engines – feels like The Shadows found the dark side of The Force and let it rip. 

"…Hey Man! Did you see that doll in the big green car!" announces Bobby Carroll on his tremendous Rockabilly romp "Big Green Car". The same geetar menace permeates every sinew of "Spark Plug" by Four Teens – our lead singer just looking for some love – hot seat preferred (another smart inclusion). Fats Domino-style piano-rolling makes a very welcome appearance with The Medallions as they sing the virtues of their Vocal group lady-wagon - "Buick 59" – the lead-singer eventually going all Screaming Jaw Hawkins lecherous as he makes sound effects that mimic car shenanigans. I have never heard The Fugitives and their "Freeway" but it's very cool – a Saxophone and Piano instrumental bopper that gets louder as it progresses – expect it in a TV episode some time soon. 

A strange and slightly jarring leap to the audio perfection of 1975 and the Pure Prairie League giving it some Outlaws vs. The Doobie Brothers Country Rock with their "Two Lane Highway" – good tune though. Rolling down the Eastern seaboard with Dave Dudley getting all 10-gears and little white pills keeping his eyelids open - "Six Days On The Road" dodging all the State scales on this great Rockabilly bopper. It comes sauntering home with The Flying Burrito Bros. and their "Wheels" with lyrics about cars taking them home – or away – or to freedom. Frankly CD4 could have done with more and a better ending. But dig that uncredited spoken Sharp 1956 Automobile Advert about a Hot Rod having its wheels serviced complete with dialogue to appeal to Teens!

So, there you have it – chammy in your back pocket and oil on your white teen-shirt like all good James Dean posers should. Feelin' the need for speed - the only way is the Freeway - want your Spark Plugs ignited - your fuel-head Buick bounced - your Rubber Rims burnt - or your Chevie chassis discombobulated (oh dear, sounds painful) - then look no further my grease monkeys of yesteryear and bikers of oblivion - because Rhino's 1999 Box Set "Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" is the old-school gearbox you need...

I know 1999's "Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" is not all genius – but I love it – and cherish owning such a Rhino Box Set - Go Daddy Go!

"Keep An Eye On The Sky" by BIG STAR - A Box Set Containing A Selection of Tracks from their Three Seventies US Studio Albums "No. 1 Record" (April 1972), "Radio City" (January 1974) and "3rd" (March 1978) alongside 52 Previously Unissued Big Star Recordings, Solo Material by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, Songs from Previous Incarnations of the Band as Icewater and Rock City, Live Material from 1973 and the only known Video of the group as a Bonus Track on Enhanced CD4 (September 2009 US and UK Rhino 4CD 96-Song Box Set with Andrew Sandoval and Dan Hersch Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review Along With 310 Others Is Available In My

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TUMBLING DICE - 1972
- Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

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Thousands and Thousands of E-Pages of Real Info

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"...Unbelievable Odds..." 

You would have to call a 4CD 96-song blow-out given over to the plant-a-tune-in-a-film-darlings BIG STAR - a winner. With a whopping 52 Previously Unreleased and their only known video footage - "Keep An Eye..." was always a shoe-in for unsightly stroking of male goatees in scholarly abandon. It's not all genius in my books, especially that droning "3rd" album that dominates CD3, but there's more than enough goodies in-between the output cracks to warrant five-stars. 

 

Also, September 2009's "Keep An Eye On The Sky" has had its detractors because if you want to actually hear the 24 songs that make up their utterly brilliant first two albums - you get only four from "No. 1 Record" and nine from "Radio City" - all other cuts represented by Alternate Versions, Demos, Single Mixes or Live Material. That has irritated some, but Rhino have countered by saying that reissuing what is widely available in top notch George Horn Remasters elsewhere anyway was not part of the game. So they've gone for the unissued splurge instead. Luckily we get the whole of "3rd" (called "The Third Album" in the UK) - their rare and difficult third LP of original material recorded in 1975 but unreleased at the time only to see light of day in late 1978 on both sides of the pond (PVC Records USA, Aura Records UK). 

 

But make no mistake - this Rhino compilation is a labor of love - you can feel it in the presentation, the audio, trying to dissemble the notorious lack of documentation at Ardent Recording Studios, finding that footage on enhanced CD4. So let's deal with what we do have...details maestro please...

UK-released 15 September 2009 - "Keep An Eye On The Sky" by BIG STAR on Rhino 8122-79858-7 (Barcode 081227985875) is a 4CD Remastered Box Set with 98-Songs (52 Previously Unreleased Audio Tracks Plus One Video on Enhanced CD4) and a 102-Page Booklet. The original US Edition on Rhino R2 519760 (Barcode 081227985875) was also issued 15 Sep 2009. Both versions were subsequently reissued 24 Nov 2014 in the USA (Rhino RF2 519760) and 12 February 2015 in the UK (Rhino 8122-79562-0) with the same packaging and tracks. "Keep An Eye On The Sky" plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (79:32 minutes):

1. Psychedelic Stuff (Original Mix, 1968) - CHRIS BELL

2. All I See Is You - ICEWATER

3. Every Day As We Grow Closer (Original Mix) - ALEX CHILTON 

4. Try Again (Early Version) - ROCK CITY  

5. Feel 

6. The Ballad Of El Goodo 

7. In The Street (Alternate Mix) 

8. Thirteen (Alternate Mix)

9. Don't Lie To Me 

10. The India Song (Alternate Mix) 

11. When My Baby's Beside Me (Alternate Mix)

12. My Life Is Right (Alternate Mix) 

13. Give Me Another Chance (Alternate Mix)

14. Try Again 

15. Gone With The Light 

16. Watch The Sunrise (Single Version)

17. St 100/6 (Alternate Mix)

18. The Preacher (Excerpt) - ROCK CITY 

19. In The Street (Alternate Single Mix)

20. Feel (Alternate Mix) 

21. The Ballad of El Goodo (Alternate Lyrics)

22. The India Song (Alternate Version) 

23. Country Morn 

24. I Got Kinda Lost (Demo) 

25. Back Of A Car Demo (Demo) 

26. Motel Blues (Demo)

NOTES: 

All tracks by BIG STAR except where noted

Tracks 1, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 26 PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED

Tracks 2, 3, 19, 24 and 25 first issued on the 2008 UK CD compilation "Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story" on Ace/Big Beat CDWIK2 273 (Barcode 029667427326)

Tracks 5, 6, 9 and 14 are from their debut album "No. 1 Record" released April 1972 on Ardent Records ADS-2803 in the USA (no UK release). 

CD2 (79:42 minutes):

1. There Was A Light (Demo) 

2. Life Is White (Demo) 

3. What's Going Ahn (Demo)

4. O My Soul 

5. Life Is White 

6. Way Out West 

7. What's Going Ahn

8. You Get What You Deserve

9. Mod Lang (Alternate Mix)

10. Back Of A Car (Alternate Mix) 

11. Daisy Glaze 

12. She's A Mover 

13. September Gurls 

14. Morpha Too (Alternate Mix) 

15. I'm In Love With A Girl 

16. O My Soul (Alternate Version)

17. She's A Mover (Alternate Version)

18. Daisy Glaze (Rehearsal Version)

19. I Am The Cosmos - CHRIS BELL 

20. You And Your Sister - CHRIS BELL 

21. Blue Moon (Demo)

22. Femme Fatale (Demo)

23. Thank you Friends (Demo) 

24. Nightime (Demo) 

25. Take Care (Demo) 

26. You Get What You Deserve (Demo)

NOTES: 

Tracks 4 to 8, 11 to 13 and 15 are from their second studio album "Radio City" released January 1974 in the USA on Ardent Records ADS-1501  

Tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of a 1978 US 45-single by Chris Bell on Car Records CRR6

CD3 (72:03 minutes):

1. Lovely Day (Demo) 

2. Downs (Demo)

3. Jesus Christ Demo)

4. Holocaust (Demo)

5. Big Black Car (Alternative Demo)

6. Manana 

7. Jesus Christ 

8. Femme Fatale

9. O, Dana 

10. Kizza Me 

11. You Can't Have Me

12. Nightime 

13. Dream Lover 

14. Big Black Car

15. Blue Moon 

16. Holocaust 

17. Stroke It Noel 

18. For You 

19. Downs 

20. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 

21. Kanga Roo 

22. Thank you Friends

23. Take Care 

24. Lovely Day 

25. Till The End Of The Day (Alternative Mix) 

26. Nature Boy (Alternative Mix)  

NOTES: 

Tracks 7 to 12, 14 to 18 and 21 to 23 are their third studio album "3rd" due for release 1975, but belated issued March 1978 in the USA on PVC Records PVC 7903 as a 14-Track LP and August 1978 in the UK as "The Third Album" on Aura Records AUL 703 in different artwork and with a different rearranged track listing (only 12-songs).

 

The US 14-Track LP "3rd" can be sequenced using the following tracks from CD3:

Side 1: Tracks 17, 18, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 23

Side 2: Tracks 7, 8, 9, 14, 16, 21 and 22

The UK 12-Track LP "The Third Album" can be sequenced using the following from CD3:

Side 1: Tracks 10, 11, 7, 19, 20 and 22

Side 2:  Tracks 9, 8, 17, 16, 12 and 21

CD4 (69:53 minutes): 

Live at Lafayette's Music Room, Memphis, Tennessee, January 1973

1. When My Baby's Beside Me 

2. My Life Is Right 

3. She's A Mover 

4. Way Out West 

5. The Ballad Of El Goodo 

6. In The Street 

7. Back Of A Car 

8. Thirteen

9. The India Song 

10. Try Again 

11. Watch The Sunrise 

12. Don't Lie To Me 

13. Hot Burrito No. 2

14. I Got Kinda Lost 

15. Baby Strange 

16. Slut 

17. There Was A Light 

18. St 100/06 

19. Come On Now 

20. O My Soul 

 

ENHANCED CD Content:

1. Thirteen (Alternate Mix Video)  

 

 

Roughly the size of an oversized seven-inch single, the card box is admittedly way too flimsy for its own good. Inside is a foldout card slipcase with colour photos of the boys in the band on each flap (CDs inside slots) - ALEX CHILTON, CHRIS BELL, JODY STEPHENS and ANDY HUMMEL. But the meat is in a gorgeous 102-page booklet that goes for it - the grocery chain across the street from the studios called BIG STAR (complete with star neon) that they took their name from graces the cover. Inside are five distinctive parts - A Message From John Frey their Producer at Ardent (Page 3) - Big Star: The More You Learn, The Less you Know by Robert Gordon (Page 7) - The Great Crusade Birthing The Cult Of Big Star by Bob Mehr (Page 42) - A Certain Magic: Track Notes by Alex Palao (Page 67) and Credits (Page 96).

There are fantastic photos of heroes like Chilton by his Big Black Car in Tennessee's Shelby Forest in the summer of 1973, a promo photo as threesome in 1974 by Front Street - by the Mississippi River with the BIG STAR neon logo hanging from a tree, loads in the studio, outtakes from the Radio City cover photoshoot, Chris Bell's solo 45-single "I Am The Cosmos" and of course track-by-track annotation (where possible). But truthfully, the audio is what takes your breath away too when you clap ears on this ANDREW SANDOVAL and DAN HERSCH Remasters. Over on Disc 2, it opens with three demos - mostly acoustic - and they sound amazing. Or shuffle up to "What's Going Ahn" (Track 7, CD2) and the glorious production whomps your speakers with audio most bands would quietly kill a close relative to attain. They even have photos from the live stuff on Disc 4 at the Lafayette Room in 1973. It's a typically exemplary compilation from reissue champs Rhino of the USA doing their forgotten sons and their musical legacy proud. To the tunes...

 

While I will never want to hear the 1968 Chris Bell solo cack that is "Psychedelic Stuff" ever again - it's an indication of how good this release is that even a slight 'alternative mix' to "Try Again" on CD1 by the band is greeted by my soppy noggin with tears and chills. A version first showed on the July 2003 American CD compilation for Rock City as "Rock City" on Lucky Seven Records - a rare disc too. You can hear Chris Bell's serious melodic chops deep inside Icewater's rather good "All I See Is You" too. Then the count-in to an Alternate of the stunning "Thirteen" - it's acoustic picking clean and clear and gorgeous to behold. You can unfortunately hear why the Alternate of "My Life Is Right" didn't work, but then again you get a winner in the beautifully done "Give Me Another Chance" - a different mix that rivals the officially released version. 

 

You're then reminded of the first time you laid tired lugs on the strum of No.1's "Try Again" - wow! The audio on this sucker is astonishing - John Fry's production values shining like an Abbey Road Remaster. Fans will enjoy the 'Single Version' of "Watch The Sunrise" (issued February 1973 in the USA on Ardent 2904) - what a tune and why wasn't it a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young type crossover hit? And I wasn't prepared for good the No. 1 closer "St 100/6" would sound as an 'Alternate'. Fans will also notice that the Single Mix proper for "In The Street" is a Bonus Track on the 2009 CD reissue for "No 1. Record" only and is represented here in 'Alternate Single Mix' form.

Three Demos open CD2 of which "Life Is White" is gorgeous, but its the audio bringing out their musicality that gets you time and time again - "Radio City" track "You Get What You Deserve" being a primo example of all these elements colliding in one glorious racket (dig that so subtle guitar solo and the crystal clear drums) - 10cc mates with Todd Rundgren and The Byrds and its offspring is playing in your living room. There's a great gruff guitar nastiness to the Stonesy Alternate Mix of "Mod Lang" and a huge almost overwhelming jangle to the Alternate of "Back Of A Car". Deep LP cuts like the so-pretty yet so-sad "Daisy Glaze" sound anew while who can deny the sheer Power Pop glory that is "September Gurls". And is there a more beautiful song - "I'm in Love With A Girl" flooring all the pretenders in its acoustic path - finest girl in the world indeed. 

 

I must admit that I never know what to do with "I Am The Cosmos" - it's swirling production and stoned faraway Chris Bell vocals - half of me thinks its a glorious mess while the other half wants the song to get its act together. No complaints about the acoustic guitars in the B-side "You And Your Sister" - stunning audio and more than a touch of that old Big Star magic shuffling around its 1978 Beach Boys soundscape. Fans with lose it for Tracks 21 to 26 that tail-end CD2. Both the Demos of "Blue Moon" and their cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" are thrilling stuff and again with shocking audio clarity. Each is just acoustic ditty essentially (no dates are given) but with intimacy abundant - emotion raw - stuff like "Nightime" as lovely as you could want a Demo to be. 

After the abject and hurtful commercial failure of "No. 1 Record" in 1972 and its follow-up "Radio City" in 1974 - it was hardly surprising (though no less gauling) that the band found themselves with record number three and no one wanting to release it. Recorded n 1975, Page 89 of the booklet devotes a whole page to the Ardent Recording Studios letter from John S. King to Martin Cerf at the Phonograph Recording Magazine telling him that test pressings for their latest offering are enclosed (probably done February 1975 with white labels and Stax matrixes) which they would 'peddle' in the L.A. area the second week in march. But the wildly unimaginatively titled "3rd" (or "The Third Album" as it was known in the UK) would have to wait until 1978 to see the light of day. I mention all of this because CD3 is dominated by its darker disjointed presence. 

 

Opening CD3 on a lighter note is another gorgeous acoustic demo - "Lovely Day" which first surfaced on the "Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story" CD set from 2008. The demo of "Downs" introduces the electric guitar - choppy strums and harsh lyrics. Twelve-string opens an unrecognisble "Jesus Christ" (a lighter song than its title suggests) while piano and melancholy vocals fill the deeply sad "Holocaust" - Chilton's voice a mixture of child/adult hurt. The Previously Unissued Alternate Demo to "Big Black Car" features both acoustic and light electric guitar with doubled vocals. Tracks 6 to 25 are essentially the duo of Alex Chilton and Jody Stephen accompanied by additional musicians. The shimmering cover of the Velvet's debut album classic "Femme Fatale" is nice, but stuff like "O, Dana" and "Kizza Me" feel like they don't fit in anywhere and it's not surprising to me that no-one wanted to release this. 

"You Can't Have Me" is inflicted with awkward horns flitting in and out - "Nightime" softening the scene with acoustics and echoed slide guitar notes that 'dance' like the eyes of the girl he's admiring. "Dream Lover" comes off the 1985 PVC CD for "3rd/Sister Lovers" - a druggy heavy love song with deft string-arrangements that grows on you every time you hear it. The general aimlessness of the album is summed up in the drippy "Big Black Car" while the almost unfinished demo sound of the piano in "Stroke It Noel" feel like a man far too close to death. The second of the "3rd/Sister Lovers" takes comes in the Tom Waits-sounding "Downs" - a depressing fall from the musical grace of before. Love the distorted electric guitars of "Kanga Roo" that then combine with acoustic strums and floating mellotron notes - the song almost like a drunk let loose in the studio. "Thank You Friends" at least does a stab at a hit - its Pop feel undermined by openly antagonistic lyrical jabs. 

 

"3rd" comes to a close with "Take Care" - but again Chilton sounds like Kevin Ayers too stoned to concentrate. A decidedly mixed bag - CD3 ends on two differently paced cover versions - a raucous very Big Star-sounding stab at The Kinks' 60ts anthem "Till The End Of The Day" - an Alternate Mix that is Previously Unreleased - while the 50ts standard "Nature Boy" gets a piano and voice-only jab. I'll admit straight up that "3rd" has always been a blot on their copybook legend for me - an album that just doesn't work because it feels like falling apart disgracefully. Which brings us to the uplifting live set...

 

The live set (recorded 1973) opens up with a 'Thank You' and they're off into "When My Baby's Beside Me". Although Chris Bell isn't in the line-up, Rhino offers up two explanations for its inclusion. This is the only known live recording apparently out there that features the band that made the first two albums - the second reason being its intact audio quality (not audiophile, but not bootleg either). BIG STAR was a support act to Atlantic's Soul artists Archie Bell & The Drells - so the audience's palatable silent disinterest to a Rock band they don't know is present as they count in tunes without any audience fanfare. You can hear punters talking throughout "The Ballad Of El Goodo" as Chilton slowly grabs their attention with its lovely musicality. There are claps after "Back Of A Car" and even though there's incessant talking throughout the gorgeous "Thirteen" - you can feel the crowd beginning to notice the quality of the songs and the playing. The big twelve-string and tambourine of "Watch The Sunrise" are a little too far back in the mix - which is a shame because the audience noise overwhelms this precious artifact. And on it goes...

 

Why did they fail? I think the naff artwork didn't help, the name of the group you couldn't quite work out from the first LP's front cover, the piss-poor distribution and the dissolution of Stax adding to it all. A sound that was not the Prog, Funk or Heavy Rock of 1972 - diminishing songs and a third LP that didn't capture the magic of the first two? Whatever you look at it and despite my niggling feelings that I'll never play CD3 or 4 very much at all - "Keep An Eye On The Sky" does more than enough on its other fabulous parts to warrant our adoration.

 

What could have been - I say buy into what is - and marvel at music that still amazes 50-years after it was laid down by a combo of geniuses in front of and behind the glass booth...