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"...Time Machine..."
For such a prolific British band - Acton’s
finest never once saw the fruits of their LP labours chart in any meaningful
way. West London's hard-rockers STRAY put out a whopping eight studio albums on
two huge record labels between 1970 and 1976 (Transatlantic Records first and
then Dawn) and all of it made up of almost entirely original material (the only
cover version is one of Cliff Richard’s 50ts classic "Move It"). And
yet despite a passionate and loyal college circuit following and years of
relentless gigging – not a snifter. Welsh three-piece Budgie placed loads –
Space Rock mavericks Hawkwind the same - Ireland's Skid Row with a very young
Gary Moore and their weird variant of Speed Rock even nabbed one in 1970
against all the musical odds - but not STRAY.
Hindsight however has seen a growing-warmth
towards our head-banging heroes that has transcended decades. Steve Harris of
Iron Maiden and Neil Peart of Rush have sung their praises and name-checked
Stray's more Prog elements as a seminal influence. The respected and
artist-orientated Angel Air Records of the UK put out a live set of the classic
line-up in 2014 and fans of hard-hitting Blues Rock mixed with a tinge of Psych
and complicated time-phrases have been discovering their forgotten albums for
decades.
Hardly surprising then that here comes Cherry
Red's much-praised Esoteric Recordings with another overhaul - a 4CD Mini Box
Set covering the first period of their output on Transatlantic Records – five
albums and a heap of rarities (thirteen to be exact). Although the outer
clamshell looks the part – the inner card sleeves decidedly let the side down
with no original artwork and albums split across discs. But even despite these
iffy presentation choices (not something I ever say of Esoteric Recordings who
along with Ace Records are amongst my favourite British reissue labels) -
there's much to be praised here – especially the new Ben Wiseman Remastering. So
once more my hirsute hobbit-obsessed friends unto the suicidal past, mind
trips, moving on Mudanzas and flicks on a Saturday morning...
UK released 20 October 2017 - "All In Your
Mind: The Transatlantic Years 1970-1974" by STRAY on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC
42607 (Barcode 5013929470743) is a 4CD Mini Clamshell Box Set containing five
albums plus rarities that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 (77:30 minutes):
1. All In Your Mind [Side 1]
2. Taking All The Good Things
3. Around The World In 80 Days
4. Time Machine
5. Only What You Can Make It [Side 2]
6. Yesterday's Promise
7. Move On
8. In Reverse/Some Say
Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album
"Stray" - released June 1970 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA
216 (no USA release) - Produced by HUGH MURPHY
9. Son Of The Father [Side 1]
10. Nature's Way
11. Where Do Our Children Belong
12. Jericho
13. Run Mister Run [Side 2]
14. Dearest Eloise
15. Do You Miss Me?
Tracks 9 to 15 on Disc 1 and Track 1 on Disc 2
are their 2nd studio album "Suicide" - released March 1971 in the UK
on Transatlantic TRA 233 and September 1971 in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-611
with the same track list but different artwork
Disc 2 (70:05 minutes):
1. Suicide (as per Tracks 9 to 15 on Disc 1)
2. Our Song [Side 1]
3. After The Storm
4. Sister Mary
5. Move That Wigwam
6. Leave It Out [Side 2]
7. How Could I Forget You?
8. Mr. Hobo
9. Queen Of The Sea
Tracks 2 to 9 are their 3rd studio album
"Saturday Morning Pictures" - released February 1972 in the UK on
Transatlantic Records TRA 248 and in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-624 - Produced by
MARTIN BIRCH and STRAY
10. Changes [Side 1]
11. Come On Over
12. Alright Ma!
13. Oil Fumes And Sea Air
14. Gambler
15. Hallelujah
Tracks 10 to 15 are Side 1 of their 4th studio
album "Mudanzas" - released May 1973 in the UK on Transatlantic TRA
268 (no USA release) - Produced by WILF PINE
Disc 3 (64:08 minutes):
1. I Believe It [Side 2]
2. Pretty Things
3. Soon As You've Grown
4. Leave It To Us
Tracks 1 to 5 as Side 2 of "Mudanzas"
(as per Tracks 10 to 15 on Disc 2)
5. Tap [Side 1]
6. Move It
7. Hey Domino
8. Customs Man
9. Mystic Lady
10. Somebody Called You
11. Give It Up [Side 2]
12. Like A Dream
13. Don't Look Back
14. Right From The Start
15. Our Plea
Tracks 5 to 15 are their 5th studio album
"Move It" - released May 1974 in the UK on Transatlantic TRA 281 (no
USA issue) - Produced by WILF PINE
Disc 4 (43:17 minutes):
Demos & Rarities
1. Change Your Mind
2. The Man Who Paints The Pictures
3. In The Night
4. Outcast
Tracks 1 to 4 are Pye Studio Demos recorded
November 1968 and Produced by JOHN SCHROEDER
5. All In Your Mind (Single Version) - released
1971 in Italy as a 7"single on Transatlantic TN 111
6. Encore - recorded during the sessions for
"Suicide"
7. Our Song (Single Version)
8. Mama's Coming Home
Tracks 7 and 8 are the A&B-sides of a
January 1972 UK 7" single on Big T Records BIG 141 in a picture sleeve
9. Georgia
10. Get Out Right Away
Tracks 9 and 10 were featured on and exclusive
to the Stray compilation LP "Tracks" released September 1975 in the
UK on Transatlantic TRA SAM 33
11. Brand New Day - non-album B-side to the UK
7" single of "Hallelujah" released 1973 on Transatlantic/Big T
Records BIG 512
12. Move It (Single Version)
13. Crazy People
Tracks 12 and 13 are the A&B-sides of a
1973 UK 7" single on Transatlantic/Big T Records BIG 512
STRAY was (same four-piece line-up for all five
LPs):
STEVE GADD - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitars and
Percussion
DEL BROMHAM - Lead Guitars, Keyboards,
Harmonica, Percussion and Second Vocals
GARY GILES - Bass
RITCHIE COLE - Drums and Percussion
Guests:
Mike Evans - Violin, Andy Bearne – Harmonica, Keith
Bleasy – Congas - all on the "Suicide" LP
Barry St. John, Kay Gardner, Lisa Strike and
P.P. Arnold - all Backing Vocals on the "Suicide" LP
Jimmie Helms - Brass on "Hey Domino"
and Backing Vocals on "Customs Man" on the "Move It" LP
Castle Music/Sanctuary first issued these five
rare albums onto CD in Remastered form in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with the first
four as Expanded Edition single CDs whilst the fifth album "Move It"
became a double. Disc 4 of this 2017 reissue gathers up 13 of the Bonus Tracks
from those Castle reissues but misses out on eleven BBC Sessions – one on the
"Mudanzas" issue in 2006 and ten on the "Move It" double
from 2007. With the total playing time on Disc 4 clocking in at 43:17 minutes -
there was clearly room for some – but probably licensing rights have disallowed
their inclusion here – which is a damn shame.
Another problem (if you can call it that) is
that with five LP covers to represent and only four CD card sleeves to use –
Esoteric have decided to do themed artwork for all four cards with background
images of the original LPs. They’re black and white and are quite awful really
(see photos provided). You lose the impact of the die-cut debut gatefold
"Stray" – the gatefold for the hugely popular "Saturday Morning
Pictures" – the die-cut van sleeve for "Move It" and so on.
Worse – as you can see from the Disc listings provided above – the second LP
"Suicide" has its last song on Disc 2 with the bulk of the album on
Disc 1 (others are similar). Hardly the greatest way to listen to or look at
the albums as they were issued. It would of course have been far better to have
had five card sleeves with all the original artwork and the bonuses spread out
evenly across them – but alas.
So what do you get? The 20-page booklet has new
liner notes from noted writer and rocker extraordinaire MALCOLM DOME that
illuminate the band’s hurried and prolific output - whilst principal songwriter
and Stray stalwart throughout the decades DAVE BROMHAM provides insider details
that are both informative and witty. There are reproductions of Marquee
posters, trade adverts for various albums, live shots of the four piece in full
flow, snaps of the five album sleeves, a Country Club poster where they shared
the venue with an eclectic choice of different-genre bands like Dando Shaft,
Osibisa, Mike Westbrook and the Faces. But what I do really like is the BEN
WISEMAN Remasters – 24-Bit Digital Versions done at Broadlake Studios in
Hertfordshire – full of piss and vinegar – rocking out like the music does but
without being overly bombastic. To the music...
Stray had been rehearsing, gigging and writing
since 1968 so when they signed to Transatlantic in late 1969 (the label by then
looking to expand their predominately Folk and Blues roster into the latest
trends) - their self-titled debut was ready to rock. Recorded across only four
days of first and second takes - "Stray" carries this Box Set's title
track "All In Your Mind" - a huge fan fave and a Del Bromham song
that was given prominence on the much-praised "I'm A Freak, Baby" 3CD
Mini Box Set on the Grapefruit label in 2016 (goodies galore for fans of
Underground Heavies). Barely into their twenties – the songs and playing belie
their youth and inexperience with Bromham especially way past his Hank Marvin
fixation judging by the heavy-heavy wah-wah "Time Machine". The slow
and brooding "Yesterday’s Promise" sounds like Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn
Pig meets Black Sabbath getting mellow with their surprisingly trippy "Planet
Caravan". The manic guitar pyrotechnics of "Move On" feels like
Procol Harum letting Robin Trower out of his amplifier cage. It’s pretty
remarkable stuff for such youngsters.
By the time of the second LP "Suicide"
in 1971 – founder member Dave Bromham had added an increasing array of
instruments to his Electric and Acoustic Guitars of the debut - Mellotron,
Organ, Piano, Harpsichord and Harmony Vocals - whilst simultaneously supplying
all the songs except "Dearest Eloise" which was a Steve Gadd tune.
His songwriting prowess was taking leaps as both the lovely and lonely "Where
Do Our Children Belong" and the Stranglers-hooky guitar-chug of "Run
Mister Run" testify. At just under 2:20 minutes "Dearest Eloise"
has both Harpsichord and Mellotron at its quietly pretty core – more Moody
Blues than Stray. And finally things go Funky with the near seven-minute "Do
You Miss Me?" – a song I’d swear The Jam’s Paul Weller was listening to as
he tried on long trousers for the first time. A doomy feeding-back guitar opens
the album’s coolest and yet most dated rocking moment – the Side 2 finisher "Suicide"
– 7:42 minutes of very 70ts angst.
For many their 3rd album from February
1972 "Saturday Morning Pictures" was like discovering "Argus"
by Wishbone Ash – a band hitting a creative stride with the gatefold visuals to
go along with the thrill. You can hear the Soulful Backing Vocals of Lisa
Strike and Immediate’s P.P. "First Cut Is The Deepest" Arnold on the
opener "Our Song" – a much more melodic Stray suddenly sounding like
their bursting with confidence and the tunes to match the braggadocio. As if
discovering Prog by Track 2 - "After The Storm" opens with rain and
other ethereal soundscapes only to slip niftily into a wicked Ten Years After
strut-fest for the rest of its seven-minutes (Bromham giving it some Tony
McPhee on his axe). "Sister Mary" could be Focus, The Moody Blues,
The Strawbs or even a speeding Groundhogs – it’s a frantic acoustic-guitar
strummer that encompasses all manner of styles whilst at the same time
remaining a cute little rocker at heart. Another fave of mine is the loose-lips
swagger of "Move That Wigwam" sounding not unlike the Faces
rehearsing circa “Long Player” – brill little rocker with clever changes and a
catchy doubled-vocal. They go a tad yee-haw Country-Rock with the Terry Stamp
sounding "Leave It Out" – better is the fuzzed up blitz of guitars
that is "How Could I Forget You" – flanged plucking and vocals ahoy.
Both "Mr. Hobo" and "Queen Of The Sea" bring the melodic
Rock proceedings to a very satisfying close.
Album four from the spring of 1973 "Mudanzas"
(the title comes from a Spanish word for moving on/changing) opens with
gorgeous string arrangements from Andrew Powell on the one-minute "Changes"
only to return to Rocking business with "Come On Over" – a grungy
rocker with some uncomfortable string passages thrown over the top that sound
both right and wrong at one and the same time. Clearly listening to The Who - "Alright
Ma!" starts our kerranging before settling down into a melodic chorus and
cute tune. Going all Ronnie Lane vs. Lindisfarne - "Oil Fumes And Sea Air"
is a song about freedom, ships in the bay and the sound of the water going away
somewhere new. "Gambler" features some Harmonica warbling and brass
jabs but both "Hallelujah" and "I Believe It" have Brass
and Strings powered over them to a point where it feels they’re trying too
hard.
Album five from May 1974 saw them shake it and
groove it – opening with a Drum Solo called "Tap" only to segue into
an almost unrecognisable but cleverly boogiefied cover of the Cliff Richard and
The Drifters 1958 hit – "Move It" (let me tell you baby it’s called
Rock ‘n’ Roll). But after four albums stuff like "Hey Domino" sounds
like second-rate Man looking for a hit and failing. Neither here nor there
rhythms and badly recorded vocals on "Customs Man" only add to the
ordinariness. "Mystic Lady" also tries to be a hit single and
actually gets there in a Byrds jangly guitar way.
After signing to Pye Records (covered by
another Esoteric Recordings CD compilation called "Fire & Glass: The
Pye Recordings 1975-1976" issued November 2017) - Transatlantic Records
dragged two compilations out of the band - "Tracks" in September 1975
with two exclusive tracks that appear as Bonuses on Disc 4 and a final comp
called “Reflecting & Generation” in July 1977 on Transatlantic TRA SAM 44
that sampled the five albums.
So – a lot of rare 70ts music on offer and despite
the presentation carps - there is a lot to savour here and more than a niggling
feeling that the British LP charts (and by extension, the British public) lost
out to STRAY and not the other way around...
