"Brothers And Sisters: Deluxe Edition" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND (July 2013 '40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 2CD Reissue – Seth Foster Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…The Band Is Jumping And So Am I…"

The Allman Brothers Band fifth album was an American No. 1 - so a decent aural brush-up of 1973's "Brothers And Sisters" has long been on the cards. And you have to say that Universal's 40th Anniversary celebration does that huge fan favourite a proper solid. 

Typically (and just like buses) this 2013 sonic overhaul comes at cash-strapped music lovers in three forms - a 2CD Deluxe Edition (reviewed) - a 4-Disc Super Deluxe Edition and even a good old Vinyl reissue. Here are the details for the Rambln' Southbound Man...

UK released July 2013 - "Brothers And Sisters: Deluxe Edition" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND on Mercury/Universal 3728804 (Barcode 602537288045) is a 2CD '40th Anniversary' Reissue and Remaster that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (38:23 minutes):

1. Wasted Words [Side 1]

2. Ramblin' Man

3. Come And Go Blues

4. Jelly Jelly

5. Southbound [Side 2]

6. Jessica

7. Pony Boy

Tracks 1 to 7 are their 5th album "Brothers And Sisters" - released August 1973 in the USA on Capricorn CP 0111 and September 1973 in the UK on Capricorn 2429 102 (reissued shortly after onto Capricorn K 47507).

Disc 2 - REHEARSALS, JAMS and OUTTAKES (66:16 minutes):

1. Wasted Words (3 Dec 1972 Rehearsal) 5:06 minutes

2. Trouble No More (Oct/Nov 1972 Rehearsal - Muddy Waters cover) 3:58 minutes

3. Southbound (Instrumental Outtake, Recorded 8 Nov 1972) 5:56 minutes

4. One Way Out (Rehearsal) 5:38 minutes

5. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of The Town (Rehearsal) 11:14 minutes

6. Done Somebody Wrong (3 Dec 1972 Rehearsal) 3:50 minutes

7. Double Cross (Outtake - Recorded 13 May 1973) 4:36 minutes

8. Early Morning Blues (Outtake - Recorded 27 May 1973) 9:27 minutes

9. A Minor Jam (Studio Jam - Recorded 8 March 1973) 16:30 minutes

Tracks 1 to 9 are all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Note: There is also a 4CD American SUPER DELUXE EDITION of "Brothers And Sisters" on Mercury/Universal B0018079-02 (Barcode 602537288076) that offers 2 further 2CDs (10 tracks on Disc 3 and 7 on Disc 4). Both feature a Previously Unreleased Concert - "Live At Winterland, 26 September 1973". This has unfortunately garnished something of a price tag since its release...

The 3-way foldout card digipak has one of those ugly stick-on DE bandanas unceremoniously taped onto the bottom of the outer digipak instead of the outer title plastic slipcase of old. Those slipcases were/are awkward to get the discs out of - but I actually kind of miss them now. Once opened the inside has a live photo of the band spread across all three flaps (under both see-through plastic trays) and the 24-page booklet is a chunky and colourful affair with excellent SCOTT SCHINDER liner notes. Butch Truck's son Vaylor is on the front of the booklet and Berry Oakley's daughter Brittany is on the back page - as they were on the front and rear of the original gatefold vinyl LP sleeve in 1973. There's the famous family photo gracing the centerspread and live shots of the band in action and detailed reissue credits on the last four pages. But the big news is a massive upgrade in sound. ANDY SKUROW and ELIOT KISSELEFF did the Tape Research and Transfers (respectively) and SETH FOSTER (a very experienced Universal engineer) did the mastering - and what a bang-up job they've done. Everything to my ears is better - vocals, guitars, but especially the Rhythm Section - clear and full of presence.

The album opens with Gregg Allman's "Wasted Words" which now has huge punch - Betts slide guitar tight with the vocals. Perennial rave "Ramblin' Man" has the keyboards punching above its former weight while that dual guitar finish sounds brill. Chuck Leavell's fab piano licks on "Come And Go Blues" now get a bit of extra oomph - but they properly explode out of the speakers on the Side 1 Bluesy finisher "Jelly Jelly". Side 2 opens with another Dicky Betts original "Southbound" where the cohesion of the guitars, piano and especially the funkily tight rhythm section blast into your living room. New Bassist Lamar Williams had only finished auditions for the band and along with Drummer Jaimoe they absolutely rock this track. We then an instrumental that has since gone into history - up there with "Albatross" and "Cavatina" in its impact - the wonderful "Jessica" in its full seven and half minutes glory (where would "Top Gear" be without it). With Betts given full Lead Guitar reign, Les Dudek on Acoustic and Gregg Allman on Organ - that Leavell solo part still put chills up me - and now sounding utterly brilliant. "Brothers And Sisters" ends on "Pony Boy" with Betts on his Dobro sounding like he's in your living room - beautifully done and easy to see why it's a concert fave still (lyrics from it title this review).

I had expected Disc 2 to be workmanlike - it s not - it rocks. Because the rehearsals are from their most volatile, sad and yet strangely productive period - to my ears the tracks bristle with looseness and discovery and a band wanting to matter and cope. The "Southbound" instrumental is a case in point - the band boogieing through the song like it was the most natural thing in the world (which for them it was). The cover of Muddy Waters' old Chess classic "Trouble No More" is just brilliant - while a real find is "Early Morning Blues" - the song replaced by "Jelly Jelly" on the album. Using the same back beat - you get mournful Rock Blues for nine and half great minutes ("What goes on in your worried and mixed up mind..."). The other cool outtake is "Double Cross" - a Lynyrd Skynyrd Boogie Shuffle circa "Nuthin' Fancy". Admittedly the near seventeen minutes of "A Minor Jam" will test the patience of newcomers - but I can't help think that die-hards will secretly chew up every indulgent guitar/piano jamming minute of it.

So there you it - a winner made better. Five weeks at Number 1 and their first platter to go Platinum - it's easy to hear why "Brothers And Sisters" endures all these years after. And I still wonder what that child is looking at in those leaves below his feet...a plectrum maybe...a discarded hairnet...

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"Look Sharp!" by JOE JACKSON (2001 A&M 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Words Of Wisdom From The World Outside..."

Never has a debut album had such an 'apt' name as "Look Sharp!" Along with Graham Parker, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury - Staffordshire's Joe Jackson was part of England's Punk and 'New Wave' explosion in the late Seventies. With razor precision - the 24-year- old's tunes were both catchy and relevant - cool bopping little slices of intelligence. 

Like his compatriots in musical crime - David Ian Jackson was part of that emerging breed of songwriters who saved us from Rock's tired and bloated last gasps with angry-young-man vignettes - hard-hitting but truthful songs that had one eye on the dancehall and the other on the social pulse of the time (as well as last orders at the bar).

It's a measure of "Look Sharp!" and the lasting impact it had when you know that 5 of its 11 tracks regularly feature on "Gold" 2CD anthologies to this day - still leaving album winners like "One More Time", "Happy Loving Couples" and "Look Sharp!" for the devoted to rediscover. Hell even Mod Revivalists and Dancers have loved its bopping charms for decades now and coveted those original A&M Records vinyl LPs - Euro Soul Boys picking up a copy on their visits to Blighty. And this fantastic 2001 Remaster from Universal's top man ERICK LABSON has only made me love it all over again. Here are the white boy's winklepickers...

US released 14 August 2001 (imported into the UK) - "Look Sharp!" by JOE JACKSON on A&M 314 586 194-2 (Barcode 731458619420) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (42:55 minutes):

1. One More Time

2. Sunday Papers

3. Is She Really Going Out With Him?

4. Happy Loving Couples

5. Throw It Away

6. Baby Stick Around

7. Look Sharp!

8. Fools In Love

9. (Do The) Instant Mash

10. Pretty Girls

11. Got The Time

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut album "Look Sharp!" - released January 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64743 and April 1979 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4743. Produced by DAVID KERSHENBAUM – it peaked at No. 40 in the UK and No. 20 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Don't Ask Me - non-album B-side to "One More Time" released May 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMS 7433

13. You Got The Fever - non-album B-side to the reissue of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" released July 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMS 7459. "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" was his debut solo 45 in the UK released September 1978 on A&M Records AMS 7392 with the album cut "(Do The) Instant Mash" as its flipside.

The 12-page booklet is a concise but pleasing affair. SCOTT SCHINDER provides two pages of informative and affection liner notes - you get lyrics to all the songs including the two album outtakes that turned up as B-sides ("Don't Ask Me" and "You Got The Fever") including four A&M trade adverts for the singles and album. The back of the booklet and the photo beneath the see-through CD tray have our Joe trying to look sharp at the camera but actually looking a bit of place and confused (too much pressure man). But all of that pales against the 96K/24-Bit Remaster from one of Universal's Top Audio Engineer's - ERICK LABSON. Having handled The Who, Three Dog Night, The Mama's and The Papa's, Wishbone Ash, Buddy Holly and almost everything on the mammoth Chess label of artists - Labson is an Engineer with over 1200 audio restoration credits to his name. Always a punchy album - here its leaps back to life - real muscle without being overly trebled.

It opens on the choppy guitars of "One More Time" and instantly this is 'not' Rock but something sharper. The UK issued it as a 45 in May 1979 with the non-album "Don't Ask Me" on the flipside - featured on this CD as one of the Bonus Tracks. I absolutely flip for the Reggae-Rock of "Sunday Papers" (so Police first album) where words of wisdom from the world outside tell us about 'stains on the mattress' and the deal between 'the bishop and actress'. The single "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" broke him in both countries - in the USA first in May 1979 (No. 21) and July 1979 in the UK (No.13). If you wanted proof of 'sharp' audio then "Happy Loving Couples" is the cheesecake - absolutely amazing clarity and what clever lyrics - self-knowing and yet with that hint of loneliness and hurt. "Throw It Away" is about as Punk as the album gets - Gary Sandford letting rip on the guitar while Graham Maby slaps those heavy bass strings.

"Look Sharp!" is genius - a fantastically hooky song with 'no illusions' lyrics. It also features a very distinctive Joe Jackson piano-break that would practically redefine his sound for his "Night And Day" LP in 1982 and the "Body And Soul" album from 1984. "Fools In Love" is a vicious little sucker dressed up in a huge Bass Line while Sandford does his best Andy Summers on a Reggae tip impression. Bit of a Rock boogie comes in the shape of "(Do The) Instant Mash" - a great tune but one that sounds slightly out of place alongside the other later tracks. Mini-skirt frustration runs through the brill and infectious "Pretty Girls" where our Joe implores God to turn off his rampant libido (the loose clothing of women's liberation is doing his nut in). It ends on the Bass Race of "Got The Time" - another rapid-paced Rocker that killed whenever it was featured 'live'. The album outtakes used as B-sides are both superb and round off the CD with brilliance (I love that flicking guitar on “You Got The Fever” and the hooky Harmonica solo towards the end). I can imagine a Mod doing his stuff to this on any talcum-powered dancefloor...as Joe sings "...the girls at work are married...the girls in bars are waiting for their friend or their new fiancée..." (oh dear).

I could never understand why neither this nor the follow-up LP "I'm The Man" from 1980 ever received CD release proper back here in his own UK - both of the August 2001 Erick Labson CD remasters remain US imports to British buyers (it’s cheap though even as an import). But what I do know is that "Look Sharp!" needs to be looking sharp on your CD shelves someday soon...

"Fill Your Head : The Studio Albums 1969-1974" by RARE EARTH (2008 Hip-O Select 3CD Shaped Box Set - Seth Foster Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Welcome To The Beat Of A City Street…" 

There's a huge amount of stuff on this cool American import (a shaped 3CD Mini Box Set) - so let's get straight to the funky downbeats and Rare Earth details...

Disc 1 (77:45 minutes):

1. Magic Key

2.Tobacco Road

3. Feelin’ Alright

4. In Bed

5. Train To Nowhere

6. Get Ready

Tracks 1 to 6 are the debut album "Get Ready" issued August 1969 in the USA on Rare Earth RS-507 and January 1971 in the UK on Tamla Motown STML 11165

(Tracks 7 to 15 are BONUS single versions from the various 5 studio albums)

Track 7 is "Generation (Light Up The Sky)" which is the A side of Rare Earth 5010 issued November 1969 - also on the O.S.T. to the film "Generation"

Track 8 is "Get Ready" the 7" single edit issued April 1970 on Rare Earth 5012

(the single edit is 2:50 minutes long, while the full album version takes up all of Side 2 at 21:35 minutes)

Track 9 is "(I Know) I'm Losing You" - the 7" single edit issued July 1970 on Rare Earth 5017 (the single edit is 3:42 minutes long, while the full "Ecology" album version is 10:52 minutes)

Track 10 is "When Joanie Smiles" the non-album B-side to "(I Know) I'm Losing You"

Track 11 is "Here Comes The Night" which is the non-album B-side of "Born To Wander" (from "Ecology") issued January 1971 on Rare Earth 5021

Track 12 is "Hey Big Brother" is a non-album A-side issued November 1971 on Rare Earth 5038

Track 13 is supposed to be "Love Shines Down" the non-album B-side to "Good Time Sally" (on "Willie Remembers") issued October 1972 on Rare Earth 5048 - BUT A MASTERING ERROR repeats Track 1 "Magic Sky" albeit a little shorter

Track 14 is "Chained" which is a non-album A-side issued May 1974 on Rare Earth 5057

Track 15 is "Fresh From The Can" is the non-album B-side of "Chained"

Disc 2 (73:40 minutes):

1. Born To Wander

2. Long Time Leavin’

3. (I Know) I’m Losing You

4. Satisfaction Guaranteed

5. Nice Place To Visit

6. No. 1 Man

7. Eleanor Rigby

Tracks 1 to 7 are their 2nd album "Ecology" issued June 1970 in the USA on Rare Earth RS-514 and July 1971 in the UK on Tamla Motown STML 11180

8. What’d I Say

9. If I Die

10. The Seed

11. I Just Want To Celebrate

12. Someone To Love

13. Any Man Can Be A Fool

14. The Road

15. Under God’s Light

Tracks 8 to 15 are their 3rd studio album "One World" issued June 1971 in the USA on Rare Earth RS-520 and October 1971 in the UK on Rare Earth SREA 4001

Disc 3 (77:30 minutes):

1. Good Time Sally

2. Every Now And Then We Get To Go Down To Miami

3. Think Of The Children

4. Gotta Get Myself Back Home

5. Come With Your Lady

6. Would You Like To Come Along

7. We’re Gonna Have A Good Time

8. I Couldn’t Believe What Happened Last Night

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 4th studio album "Willie Remembers" issued October 1972 in the USA on Rare Earth R-5431 and March 1973 in the UK on Rare Earth SRE 3008

9. Ma

10. Big John Is My Name

11. Smiling Faces Sometimes

12. Hum Along And Dance

13. Come With Me

Tracks 9 to 13 are their 5th studio album "Ma" issued May 1973 in the USA on Rare Earth R-5461 and September 1973 in the UK on Rare earth SRE 3010. Both "Willie Remembers" and "One World" make their CD debut on this 3CD set while the 1971 live double "Rare Earth In Concert" issued on R 534 isn't featured at all (studio only).

Rare Earth’s first album "Get Ready" came in a rounded top sleeve in the USA - rather like the gravestone head sleeve of “S.F. Sorrow” by The Pretty Things or a Zippo lighter sleeve of “Catch A Fire’ by The Wailers. This mini card box imitates that shaped packaging. 

Released in the USA in September 2008 on Hip-O Select B-0003636-02 (Barcode 602498643426) - the lid of "Fill Your Head: The Studio Albums 1969-1974" by RARE EARTH has the words LIMITED EDITION embossed in gold on the rear (3000 copies worldwide) and inside is a concertina-effect card sleeve that depicts all 5 albums covers front and rear when fully folded out. The 3 discs themselves sport the distinctive red Rare Earth logo on each while the 32-page booklet even pictures the Tamla Motown special offers inner bags that came with some early 1970s albums.

There's an essay by noted writer SCOTT SCHNIDER on the group - all album artwork featured again in full colour - session details, discography info - all of it very tasteful done - pretty much as you would expect from this top notch reissue label. Against it - I'd say that the packaging is a card sleeve and therefore too prone to crushing - it would have been better in a book form - like the wonderful and far more robust Jimmy Cliff and Muddy Waters sets on Hip-O Select (see reviews).

But as ever with HIP-O SELECT the goodies come with the SOUND. Remastered from the Motown Archive tapes by SETH FOSTER at Universal Mastering Studio East - the sound is full, detailed and wonderfully clean. I would say though that the first Disc is slightly hissy in places - especially on the debut "Get Ready" and the mastering error is sloppy for sure.

A cross between Rock and Soul -RARE EARTH were difficult to categorize - a sort of rockier version of The Temptations meets the funkiness of Blood Sweat & Tears meets The Undisputed Truth's social documenting of urban America - a lethal combination if ever there was one. Take tracks like “Born To Wander” (lyrics above) or “Big John Is My Name” or the cool Instrumental “Fresh From The Can” – these are fantastic nuggets that both Soul and Rock fans would want to own. “Long Time Leavin'" and "If I Die" are fabulous too.

One reviewer has expressed extreme disappointment with the sound - but I don't hear that. I would say though that the song quality does taper off as you get to the end - but with 43-tracks in all - I can't help but think that fans of the band, Tamla lovers and soul-rock junkies everywhere - will absolutely eat up this set. Unfairly dismissed at the time (especially in Europe) - hopefully this 3CD box set will make people reassess.

In their ongoing trawl through the Motown archives - and despite reservations about packaging, content and sound - in my mind - this is yet another good HIP-O SELECT reissue. Dedicated fans will have to have it - casual buyers, however, should stick to the "Best Of". And Hip-O should offer an immediate refund and replacement copy for the offending mastering mistake on Disc 1...