"The Sonet Anthology" by BRETT MARVIN AND THE THUNDERBOLTS featuring Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs and Jona Lewie – Featuring The Albums "Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts" (May 1970), "12 Inches Of..." (May 1971), "Ten Legged Friend" (December 1973) as well as May 1970 BBC Sessions and Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs Material from 1971 to 1973 with Jona Lewie Solo Material from 1971 to 1977 and more (February 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 6CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Ten Legged Friend..."

When I worked as a Rarities buyer at Reckless Records in Soho, London (a 20-year stretch) - Brett Marvin and The Thunderbolts albums didn't sell. Even in the 2018 Rare Record Price Guide, the first is listed at £15 and the second at £20 - peanuts really for albums spewed forth in 1970 and 1971 - 50 years ago. A strong contender for a top-ten placing in the worst artwork ever issued, the third LP called "Ten Legged Friend" from 1973 isn’t listed at all - even though I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually seen a copy across 40-50 years of collecting on all formats.

But here's the point - and it's one that's made in the 36-page booklet that accompanies this surprisingly brill 6CD box set. Although the music rocked and is a discovery many will thoroughly enjoy making in 2020 - the made-up-name of 'Brent Marvin and The Thunderbolts' complete with the cheesy artwork on their debut album that looked like some bad budget calypso compilation (the likes of which you used to see in Woolworth's for 69p) - did for the band. The music was ace - the presentation, a complete misfire. You look at that name and these records and think cheapo Rock 'n' Roll revivalists - when this British five-piece Blues Boom ensemble was one of the best good-time Boogie bands on the scene (and on vinyl records, damn good too). Hell, the first LP even has the magical Jo Ann Kelly giving it some downhome duet vocals - masquerading under the pseudonym of 'Memphis 'Lil'.

So what are we dealing with here musically – for the first three LPs think of the homemade percussion-stick-with-bells Jug Band stomp and fun of Mungo Jerry combined with the chromatic Harmonica of Canned Heat meets the Bluesy slide guitar of Duster Bennett on Blue Horizon records and then add the three-string gutbucket modern-day geetar-sound of Seasick Steve - and you get an idea of what's on offer here. Tony McPhee of The Groundhogs caught them in their natural live habitat, liked what he heard and with an invite (recorded June 1969), both founder members Graham Hine and Jim Pitts and the band all got some first-audio-outing tracks on the Blues Rock Sampler LP "I Asked For Water, She Gave Me GASOLINE" issued in October 1969 (Liberty LBS 83252 is in itself a collectable these days). They then signed to the Blues and Folk orientated Sonet Records of Sweden in early 1970, recorded the debut and it was in the shops by May.

They then morph into a sideshow group called 'Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs' for a one-off novelty track that was issued on Sonet in 1971 and dies. But talent hunter Jonathan King at UK Records smells a hit, licenses it for a July 1972 re-launch on UK R 5 and suddenly they have a huge No. 2 chart smash with "Sea Side Shuffle". From this two-band identity, John Lewis turns into the alter ego of Jona Lewie and goes into a solo career on Sonet until 1977 (he finally has a solo hit with "You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties" on Stiff Records in 1980 - unfortunately outside the remit of this Box Set).

So it's all a bit mad really and actually rather brilliant too. With six discs, there's a boatload of seaside shuffles to wade through, so let's have at it...

UK released 28 February 2020 - "The Sonet Anthology" by BRETT MARVIN and THE THUNDERBOLTS featuring Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs and Jona Lewie on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX064 (Barcode 5013929186408) is a 6CD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 (50:49 minutes):

1. Dust My Boom [Side 1]

2. Too Many Hot Dogs

3. Haven't Got Any Hay

4. Walking Blues

5. Eyesight To The Blind

6. Shave 'Em Dry

7. Drop Down Mama [Side 2]

8. Calcutta Got Beggar

9. Don't Start Me Talking

10. Cincinnati Cream

11. Highway 61

12. Hairy

13. Bye Bye Baby

Tracks 1 to 13 are their debut album "Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts" - released May 1970 in the UK on Sonet Records SNTF 616. The album version of "Shave 'Em Dry" is 7:42 minutes and features duet vocals by 'Memphis 'Lil' who is JO ANN KELLY

BONUS TRACKS:

14. Shave 'Em Dry (Single Edit, 3:08 minutes) - 1970 French-Only 45 single on Barclay 061388 ("Too Many Hot Dogs" was the B-side)

15. Standing On The Platform - 1970 UK Non-Album 45 single on Sonet SON 2011 ("Too Many Hot Dogs" was the B-side)  

CD2 (45:15 minutes):

1. Take Your Money [Side 1]

2. I'm Coming

3. Southbound Lane

4. Love In Jest

5. Thoughts Of You

6. I'm Ready

7. Milk Cow Blues [Side 2]

8. County Jail

9. Little Red Caboose

10. Come On In My Kitchen

11. Goin' Back

Tracks 1 to 11 are their second studio album "12 Inches Of Brett Marvin And The Thunderbolts" - released May 1971 in the UK on Sonet Records SNTF 619

BONUS TRACK:

12. Coming Back - 1971 UK Non-Album 45 B-side to "Thoughts Of You" on Sonet SON 2015 ("Coming Back" is an Alternative Version of "I'm Coming" on the second album)

CD3 (57:55 minutes):

1. Thunderbolt Rag [Side 1]

2. Bank Holiday

3. Bye Bye Baby

4. Wrong Man

5. Bay Roller

6. Drinking Song

7. She Walked Right Out Of The Blue [Side 2]

8. You Got Me On The Hook

9. Doo-Dah-Doo-Dah

10. The Clown

11. Make It To The Woods

12. Boys In The Band

Tracks 1 to 12 are their and final studio album of the period "Three Legged Friend" - released December 1973 in the UK on Sonet SNTF 651.

BONUS TRACKS:

13. Thunderbolt Rag (Alternative Version)

14. Caribbean Zob-Rock

Tracks 13 and 14 are the non-album A&B-sides of a March 1974 UK 45 Single on Sonet SON 2038

15. Blow Me Down

Track 15 is the non-album A-side of a May 1975 UK 45 on Sonet SON 2053 ("Take Your Money" from the 2nd LP was its B-side)

16. Hawaiian Honeymoon

17. If You Need Somebody Call On Me 

Tracks 15 and 16 are the non-album A&B-sides of an August 1975 UK 45 Single on Sonet SON 2062

CD4 (62:35 minutes):

1. Roll And Tumble

2. Short Woogie

3. Nervous

4. Walking Blues

5. Don't Start Me talking

6. Cincinnati Underworld Woman

7. Milk Cow Blues

8. Come On In My Kitchen

9. Little Red Caboose

10. Take Your Money And Go Down The Road

11. I'm Ready

12. Hot Weather

13. Too Many Hot Dogs (aka "Chicken A La Blues")

14. Walking Blues

15. Make It To The Woods

16. Spoonful

17. Phonograph Blues

Tracks 1 to 17 issued as the CD compilation "Vintage Thunderbolts" in October 1999 on Mooncrest CRESTCD 041Z (Barcode 766126804129)

BONUS TRACKS:

18. Brian Matthew trailer

19. Brian Matthew intro

20. Goin' Back

21. Too Many Hot Dogs

Tracks 18 to 21 are a May 1970 BBC Radio 1 Session with Brian Matthew – taken from Top Of the Pops Transcription Disc 291 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (2020)

CD5 "Boogie Street" (69:48 minutes):

1. Crossroads

2. No Worries

3. Be Ready When He Comes

4. Hurry Up Train

5. How Many More Years

6. You're Gonna Need Somebody By Your Side 

7. Little Red Rooster

8. Big City Beat

9. Free Again

10. Phonograph Blues

11. Greedy Woman

12. Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

13. Lost Lover Blues

14. Tough Times

15. A Change Is Bound To Come

16. Big City Beat (Remix)

Tracks 1 to 16 are the CD "Boogie Street" released 1993 on Habana HABCD 201 (Barcode 0045395000327)

17. King Bee

18. Hurry Up Train

19. Miss You

20. Dust Me Broom

Tracks 17 to 20 are the 1981 UK 4-Track EP "Brett Marvin And The Thunderbirds" on Sun House EJSP 9586

CD6 (47:26 minutes):

1. Sea Side Shuffle

2. Ball and Chain - TERRY DACTYL AND THE DINOSAURS 

Tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of a 1971 UK 45 Single on Sonet SON 2027 (its rare Picture Sleeve is shown on Page 30 of the booklet). Reissued July 1972 on UK Records UK R 5 in a UK Records label bag - that variant charted and rose to No. 2 in the UK Singles Charts. Originally non-album, both tracks were finally issued on the 1972 LP "Alias Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs" on Sonet SNTF 630. The two sides were reissued again as a single in May 1976 on UK Records UK 133.   

3. On A Saturday Night

4. Going Around The World - TERRY DACTYL AND THE DINOSAURS

Tracks 3 and 4 are the non-album A&B-sides of a November 1972 UK 45 issued on UK Records UK R 20 - it entered the charts in January 1973 and peaked at No. 45 some weeks later

5. She Left I Died

6. Too Self-Centred - TERRY DACTYL AND THE DINOSAURS Featuring JONA LEWI

Tracks 5 and 6 are the non-album A&B-sides is a May 1973 UK 45 on UK Records UK R 39 (it didn't chart)

7. Piggy Back Sue

8. Papa Don't Go - JONA LEWIE

Tracks 7 and 8 are the non-album A&B-sides of a 1974 UK 45 Single on Sonet SON 2048

9. The Swan

10. Custer's Last Stand - JONA LEWIE

Tracks 9 and 10 are the non-album A&B-sides of an October 1975 UK 45 Single on Sonet SON 2056

11. Hallelujah Europe (Parts 1 and 2)

Track 11 is the non-album A&M sides of a July 1976 UK 45 on Sonet SON 2081 (Part 1 is Side 2, Parts 1 & 2 is Side b)

12. Come Away (Bate O Pe)

13. Cherry Ring

Tracks 12 and 13 are the non-album A&B-sides of an October 1977 UK 45 on Sonet SON 2115

14. Rocking Yobs

15. After We Swun

Tracks 14 and 15 are the non-album A&B-sides of a December 1977 UK 45 on Sonet SON 2117

Grapefruit Records is known for their in-depth and chunky booklets and with six CDs to explain, this is no different. Compiled and Annotated by DAVID WELSS with support from reissue specialist JOHN REED – there is new input from the leading BM light and Lead Guitarist GRAHAM HINE as well as the usual slew of rare photos (the boys doing the Abbey Road crossroads shoot) as well as 60ts shots of The Corsairs with John Lewis/Jona Lewie. There is a Sonet Records advert for the debut LP and single whilst a collage shot of concert posters (a double-page spread) shows their legendary support of Derek & The Dominoes (Clapton wanted to buy the National Steel but Hine wouldn’t sell), gigs with Caravan, tours as Terry Dactyl when Sea Side Shuffle became a huge hit - and most famous of all – headlining a 10 December 1975 (Vegetarian Buttery) gig at the City Polytechnic in London with some reprobates third on the bill called The Sex Pistols. The future Anarchists had only been together a month or so and it was their sixth or seventh gig – but their first (I believe) mention on a concert poster is enough to make that 70p admission piece of paper worth a bloody fortune. The Mastering is by SIMON MURPHY for Another Planet and the three studio albums sound great – with Number Two for me – sounding the best. To the music...

The debut is a mix of Blues Rock and Jug Band with a few touch points in-between. Bizarre and almost Beefheart in its nuttiness – imagine the keyboard intro to "Baba O'Riley" by The Who stretched out into a song and given muffled words and strange Indian-esque boogies. You get an idea of what "Calcutta Got Beggar" has in store for you as Jona Lewie almost goes Psych with the synths. We then get the utterly extraordinary Harmonica-nasty Blues Boogie cover of "Don't Start Me Talking" - a near eight-minute tour-de-force for the Sonny Boy Williamson infidelity classic. Like its Side 1 predecessor "Shave 'Em Dry" (minus the decidedly fruity lyrics) - it feels like Canned Heat with The Bear on vocals – but a CH that has gone all Mungo Jerry Jug Band whilst still rocking that piano, guitar and Harmonica. It is either genius or taking the piss and part of me thinks it's both.

Sonet issued the Pete Gibson-penned piano and guitar slow Chicken Shack Blues of "Thoughts On You" in early 1971 as a 45 with the album cut "Coming Home" on the B-side but it unfairly disappeared despite some glowing reviews. Just when you think they're dwelling too much on the Jug Band schtick - they hit you with an Acoustic Blues shuffling gem - "Southbound Lane". I love this track where Gregory Hine shows his playing prowess as he sings of a band at two in the morning travelling down the motorway - "Been playing up north trying to build ourselves a name...seen a hundred miles of cat's eyes in the road...every mile we travelled is a copy of a record we sold..."

By the time we get to album number three, the Jug Band sound has instead overstayed its welcome somewhat. Better than the cover versions are the original goodies like the Graham Hine written "Bank Holiday" and "Wrong Man" and the Pete Gibson lay all your love light on me "Bay Roller". Vaudeville and knees up Mother Brown codology comes in the shape of "Drinking Song", "She Walked Right Out Of The Blue" and "Doo-Dah-Doo-Dah" where they sound like The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band but not in a good way. Pete Gibson channels his inner Satisfaction as he Mick Jagger’s "The Clown" and sounds unconvincing when he sings of touring joy in "Boys In The Band". The singles give us the Scott Joplin entertainer piano romp "Thunderbolt Rag" while "Caribbean Zob-Rock" name-checks the Skiffle-type instrument called the Zob Stick that used to be once known as a lagerphone. Best of the bunch is the Foghat-ish Rock of "Blow Me Down" – slow ride slide guitars over a likeable rhythm. The Graham Hine guitar rocker B-side "If You Need Somebody Call On Me" is a good barroom boogie that redeems an otherwise disappointing Disc 3.

The "Rare Thunderbolts" CD compilation offers unidentified live recordings of Meade Lux Lewis covers alongside Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson - best of which is the muffled-vocals slide-guitar "Walking Blues" and "Come On In My Kitchen". If feels like some semi-bootleg recording for some better than average bar band - but no more. "Hello...do you dig the blues...well dig this!" Brian Matthew gives it some groovy Top Of The Pops intros for 50 and 20 seconds before the boys go into a grungy version of Leadbelly's "Goin' Back" - and actually the sound is excellent as in the fantastic lead-guitar. Bringing back the band for another intro - we get the band's original "Too Many Hot Dogs" which sounds great too.

Being 1993, the upgraded sound quality of the "Boogie Street" CD compilation comes as a blessed relief after much of Disc 3. It kicks off with a superb interpretation of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" - our heroes flagging a raucous ride. The Gospel of the Lord comes sailing in like The Blind Boys Of Alabama on the cool groove that is "Be Ready When He Comes". All seven members of the ensemble wrote "Hurry Up Train" but better is the warbling gritty Harmonica of Howlin' Wolf's "How Many Years" - dogging me around - rather be six feet in the ground - a great boogie rendition. Equally slick is the electric slide menace in "Little Red Rooster" - too lazy to crow for days. The Blues Band comparisons continue with the 4-Track EP that tail ends Disc 5 - Slim Harpo and Elmore James covers doing the business even if the original "Hurry Up Train" doesn't quite work.

After all the Mungo Jerry Jug Band Blues and Seasick Steve slide guitar – the last disc with Terry Dactyl and Jona Lewie feels like a creature from another planet - albeit a welcome one. The big accordion-driven single "Sea Side Shuffle" by Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs sounds good in Remastered form as does its boozy 'you are driving me insane' B-side "Ball And Chain". I can't even remember the follow-up "On A Saturday Night" as a single, but its very obvious effort to reproduce what made "Sea Side Shuffle" great feels a little too contrived - Part 2 but not as good as Part 1. Better is the Fats Domino piano-boogie shuffle of the B-side "Going Around The World" where a catchy chorus is doubled with a slide-guitar – great little number and the Remaster rocks. The Jona Lewie solo stuff comes on like Jerry Lee Lewis – a chicken shack pumping piano is soon joined by a New Orleans band on "Piggy Back Sue" – while its B-side "Papa Don't Go" taps into "Going Up The Country" by Canned Heat both musically and vocally (top stuff and a cool Remaster). The rest are a combo of weird and quirky rhythms that kind of amaze and impress in equal quirky measure.

For sure, six discs of some unknown group from the early Seventies that can't decide whether they're Mungo Jerry's uppity younger brother or Canned Heat's mellowed whiskey older uncle will probably not get the knees a-shakin' in 2020. But there is so much to love here and that second album is a wee bit of a lost diamond in my book while the Lewie solo stuff, something of a pleasant discovery. 

Grapefruit Records of the UK go the hog once more for the musical underdogs, and we old bowsers are the ones to benefit...

"Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring LP Tracks, Single Sides, Rarities and Two Previously Unreleased Recordings by John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Graham Bond Organization, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Jo-Ann Kelly, Jeff Beck, Duster Bennett, Love Sculpture, Alexis Korner with Robert Plant, John Dummer Blues Band, Taste, Savoy Brown, Blodwyn Pig, Stone The Crows, Ten Years After, Free, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Black Cat Bones, Icarus, Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac, Edgar Broughton Band, Jaklin, Steamhammer, Status Quo, Mungo Jerry, Linda Hoyle and more (March 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Shook Me..."

It's a piddly thing really and shouldn't elicit such joy in a 62-year old Dubliner badly in need of a post-lockdown haircut (I'm currently sporting a mad professor look with heaven bound sprouts of grey). And I've provided photos with this review to prove it.

Inside this terminally hip 56-Track Box Set are three single card sleeves with 'alternate' artwork – the hugely important and influential John Mayall and The Blues Breakers self-titled debut LP from July 1966 with Eric Clapton smiling and the Beano comic not fully visible - Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer looking like he's about to be arrested and cry for not being black enough in his undoubtedly tainted white soul - and finally Rory Gallagher's fantastic Taste (as The Taste) in a colour-red tinted live photo of the Irish rockers in full "What's Going On" reverie.

It's the attention to detail that gets me. No major label would have bothered with this - but Cherry Red's Grapefruit Records knows what its fans and collectors want - respect shown and affection too. This is smart sequencing and for a subject that's been done before (albeit in a piecemeal sort of way), the best presentation of such material that I've ever seen or heard. Before I start weeping into my stale Guinness, we'd better get to the details 'cause there's a shed load of 'em to wade through. Here goes...

UK released 27 March 2020 - "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX068 (Barcode 5013929186804) is a 3CD 56-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that pans out as follows:

Disc One (76:28 minutes):

1. All Your Love - JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS with ERIC CLAPTON (from the July 1966 UK Debut LP "Blues Breakers" on Decca LK 4804 in Mono)

2. Crawling Up A Hill - THE ZANY WOODRUFF OPERATION (Previously Unreleased, recorded December 1966, John Mayall cover)

3. Louise - ANDERSON JONES JACKSON [Ian Anderson, Al Jones and Elliot Jackson] (Track 1 of a January 1967 UK 5-Track 7" EP on Saydisc 33SD 125)

4. I Love You - THE GRAHAM BOND ORGANISATION (February 1967 UK 7" single on Page One PDF 014, B-side of "You Gotta Have Love Baby")

5. I'm A Man (Live) - THE YARDBIRDS (not originally issued, recorded April 1967, features Jimmy Page)

6. Don't Want You No More - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (July 1967 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 854, B-side of "Time Seller")

7. I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes - TEN YEARS AFTER (from the November 1967 UK debut LP "Ten Years After" on Deram DML 1015)

8. Jumping At Shadows - DUSTER BENNETT (not originally issued solo Demo Version, recorded early 1968)

9. Charlie - THE DEVIANTS (from the June 1968 UK debut LP "Ptooff!" on Impresarios IMP 1)

10. You Shook Me - JEFF BECK (from the July 1968 US debut LP "Truth" on Epic BN 26413, November 1968 UK debut LP on Columbia SCX 6293 in Stereo)

11. Ain't Nothin' In Ramblin' – JO-ANN KELLY (from the July 1968 UK compilation LP "Blues Like Showers Of Rain" on Saydisc Matchbox SDM 142)

12. Love That Burns - FLEETWOOD MAC (from their August 1968 UK 2nd LP "Mr. Wonderful" on Blue Horizon 7-63205)

13. Wang Dang Doodle - LOVE SCULPTURE (September 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5731, A-side)

14. Operator - ALEXIS KORNER featuring ROBERT PLANT (not originally issued, recorded September 1968)

15. Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? - THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND (from their November 1968 UK second LP "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" on Liberty LBS 83158 in Stereo)

16. Walking - DR. K's BLUES BAND (from the December 1968 debut LP "Dr. K's Blues Band" on Spark SRLP 101)

17. Little Woman You're So Sweet - SHAKEY VICK (from the January 1968 UK LP "Little Woman You're So Sweet" on Pye NSPL 18276 in Stereo)

18. A Stranger In Your Town - THE CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the February 1969 UK LP "The Climax Chicago Blues Band" on Parlophone PCS 7069 in Stereo)

19. Lord Of The Rings - DOWNLINERS SECT (from a February 1969 Swedish 4-Track EP on Juke Box JSEP 5584)

Disc Two (75:29 minutes):

1. Sweet Tooth - FREE (from their March 1969 UK debut LP "Tons Of Sobs" on Island ILPS 9089 in Stereo)

2. Death Letter – MIKE COOPER (from the March 1969 UK LP "Oh Really!?" on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo)

3. Blister On The Moon – TASTE (from their April 1969 debut LP "Taste" on Polydor 583 042 in Stereo featuring Rory Gallagher)

4. I Just Can't Keep From Crying – LEVEE CAMP MOAN (from the April 1969 UK LP "Levee Camp Moan" on County Recording Service COUN LP 132)

5. Sometime Girl – SAM APPLE PIE (May 1969 UK 7" single on Decca F 22932, B-side of "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)"

6. Skin Game - JOHN DUMMER BLUES BAND (not originally issued alternate version, recorded May 1969)

7. Diamond Joe - QUIET MELON (not originally issued, recorded May 1969)

8. Nobody By My Side - KILLING FLOOR (from the May 1969 UK debut LP "Killing Floor" on Spark SRLP 102)

9. Dear Jill (Live) - BLODWYN PIG (not originally issued, recorded circa May 1969)

10. There's An Easy And A Hard Way Of Living - ICARUS (not originally issued, recorded July 1969)

11. Tears In The Wind - CHICKEN SHACK (August 1969 UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3160, A-side)

12. Bring It On Home - BAKERLOO (from the September 1969 UK debut LP on Harvest SHVL 762 in Stereo)

13. The Same For You - JAKLIN (from the October 1969 UK LP "Jaklin" on Stable SLE 8003)

14. Train Comes, Train Goes - FROZEN TEAR (Previously Unissued, recorded October 1969) 

15. Telephone Blues (aka "Talk To Me Baby") - THE RATS (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

16. Madison Blues - ANGEL PAVEMENT (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

17. It's You I Miss - CHRISTINE PERFECT BAND (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

18. This Love Of Old - MEDICINE HEAD (from their May 1970 UK second LP "New Bottles, Old Medicine" on Dandelion S 63757 in Stereo)

19. Baby Please Don't Go - JASPER (from the November 1969 UK LP "Liberation" on Spark SRLP 103)

Disc Three (78:16 minutes):

1. I've Got Those Fleetwood Mac Chicken Shack John Mayall Can't Fail Blues - LIVERPOOL SCENE (from the November 1969 UK LP "Bread On The Night" on RCA Victor SF 8057 in Stereo)

2. Ride With Your Daddy Tonight - BRUNNING SUNFLOWER BLUES BAND featuring PETER GREEN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Trackside Blues" on Saga EROS 8132)

3. Time To Move - RED DIRT (not originally issued, recorded December 1969)

4. A Hard Way To Go (Live) - SAVOY BROWN (not originally issued, recorded circa January 1970)

5. Mean Blues - JEREMY SPENCER (from his January 1970 UK debut solo LP "Jeremy Spencer" on Reprise RSLP 9002)

6. Chauffeur - BLACK CAT BONES (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" on Decca Nova SDN 15)

7. Gardener Man - SIREN (featuring Kevin Coyne on Lead Vocals) (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Siren" on Dandelion 63755)

8. Dupree Blues - BLUE BLOOD (from the February 1970 UK LP "Blue Blood" on Sonet SNTF 615)

9. Passing Through - STEAMHAMMER (from the March 1970 UK debut LP "Steamhammer" on CBS Records S 63694)

10. Raining In My Heart - STONE THE CROWS (from their May 1970 UK debut LP "Stone The Crows" on Polydor 2425 017)

11. Old Gopher - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND (from the June 1970 UK LP "Sing Brother Sing" on Harvest SHVL 772)

12. Roadrunner - STACK WADDY (July 1970 UK 7" single on Dandelion S 5199, A-side)

13. Take Me Down To The Water - HEAVY JELLY (from the September 1970 Unissued LP "Heavy Jelly" on Head Records HELP 4 - Test Pressings Only)

14. The Man Who Never Was - SKID ROW featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels (from their October 1970 UK debut LP "Skid" on CBS Records S 63847)

15. Take Your Money - BRETT MARVIN & THE THUNDERBOLTS (from the May 1971 UK LP "12 Inches Of Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts" on Sonet SNTF 619)

16. The Sun Is Shining - MUNGO JERRY (from the September 1971 UK 4-Track EP "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" on Dawn records DNX 2513)

17. Backlash Blues - LINDA HOYLE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Pieces Of Me" on Vertigo 6360 060)

18. Railroad - STATUS QUO (from the November 1971 UK LP "Dog Of Two Head" on Pye NSPL 18371)

The 40-page booklet is the usual feast of images and words - compiler and annotator DAVID WELLS pouring on the factoids to keep even nerdish disciple like me in rapture for hours. And once again the visuals are a knockout - cool pictures of a guitar-wielding Alexis Korner with P.P. Arnold at a microphone - Jimmy Page fronting the (new) Yardbirds - the Emidisc acetate for Frozen Tear's "Train Comes, Train Goes" offering - Maggie Bell giggling as she reads a comic with her fellow band mates in Stone The Crows - and so much more. Posters, Trade Adverts, Magazine Reviews, Badges – it’s all here and more. SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet has done the mastering and it all feels great even when the source is something as crude as Levee Camp Moan doing "I Just Can't Keep From Crying". To the music and choices...

Disc One

Zeppelin's absence from this Box Set makes for an obvious chasm but "Crawling Up A Hill..." has a clever way of plugging that gaping hole. In September 1968 the gravel-voiced Godfather of British Blues Alexis Korner (later of the much loved C.C.S.) brought into the studio a new young vocal talent from the Midlands called Robert Plant. They recorded two songs "Operator" and "Steal Away" in what was supposed to be an album project, but Percy of course got lured away by some guitarist called Jimmy Page who would then go on to form some minor English band that no one even remembers now. Both of these truly fantastic vocals performances first turned up on the Alexis Korner "Bootleg Him!" double-album from August 1972 on Mickie Most's RAK Records where they were simply credited as 'The Duo'. To hear a pre-Zep Plant in that staggering vocal form that he would then bring in spades to Led Zeppelin's debut is hair-raising stuff and a very smart inclusion.

And just when it's all getting a tad too po-faced, time to bring in the sort-em-out humour of The Bonzo’s with their fab "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?" on the best-album-title-ever "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse". The box set's namesake "Crawling Up A Hill" is more fast-paced 60ts R&B than Blues but both Graham Bond's "I Love You" and the Spencer Davis Group B-side "Don't Want You No More" are great choices - Steve Winwood's God-given set of pipes still amazing us even after 50+ years. Acoustic Blues lovers will zip to the Jo Ann Kelly contribution - such a fantastic voice and interpreter. Fronting Love Sculpture, Dave Edmunds tells fast-talking Fanny that we're gonna "Wang Dang Doodle" all night long. And I recently re-discovered how good The Climax Chicago Blues Band were on their "A Stranger In Your Town" while I admit I've never heard the Anderson Jones and Jackson track "Louise" - a sweetest girl I know jug-band shuffle with harmonica accompaniment.

Disc Two

Free get heavy with "Sweet Tooth" but as much as I love the band, I would have chosen another track. The sliding acoustic blues of Son House's "Death Letter" however finds a sympathetic home with Mike Cooper (great stuff). The re-recorded "Blister On The Moon" for the April 1969 debut "Taste" LP is beefier than the Major Minor single variant of the previous year (they dropped The Taste in favour of just Taste from thereon in). It also shows off the fantastic axeman talent of Rory Gallagher still only a young man when his band supported Cream on their farewell tour of November 1968. It tickles me pink that a colorised variant of a live photo for TASTE has been used as the cover art for Disc Two. Absolutely any version of the fabulously Bluesy "Dear Jill" by Blodwyn Pig is cool by me. The studio version is on the smoking-porker-with-headphones debut album "Ahead Rings Out", but what we have here is a live cut I've not heard before recorded about May 1969 making a welcome inclusion (guitarist Mick Abrahams includes the fan-fave tune in his sets to this day).

Stan Webb takes the lead vocals on Chicken Shack's follow-up to "I'd Rather Go Blind" - the similarly mournful "Tears In The Wind" - with Plastic Penny's keyboardist Paul Raymond having just joined the band. Quite by accident The Bakerloo Blues Line (shortened to Bakerloo for their one and only LP on Harvest in September 1969) famously opened for the newly formed Led Zeppelin in October 1968 then still hogging the moniker of The Yardbirds (albeit as the 'New' Yardbirds). Zep's cover of Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home" that ended Side 2 of October 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" owes an uncomfortable amount to the Bakerloo arrangement. But still it's a smart inclusion and shows the bridge being formed between old Blues and the new Blues Rock and Heavy Metal. Killing Floor's wickedly good "Nobody By My Side" feels the same - heavy heavy. Misses for me include Christine Perfect's "It's You I Miss" which is awful and an odd choice - and while the melancholic Medicine Head "This Love Of Old" may be a really lovely song 

Disc Three

Opening with a frighteningly impressive amount of riffage, The Liverpool Scene then quickly begin to take the almighty Michael out of their band compatriots in the British Blues Boom with lyrics like "I woke up this morning with Mike Vernon from Blue Horizon Records in my room..." (that's Plainsong's Andy Roberts on impressive slide guitar). Actual Blues Rock then shows with the impressive snake-boogie of "Ride With Your Daddy Tonight" where you could easily mistake the wildly similar vocals and harmonica of Bob Brunning for an uncredited Peter Green (he plays guitar). The flute-rocker "Time To Move" by Red Dirt could easily have been a Blodwyn Pig outtake from the "Ahead Rings Out" LP featuring guitarist Steve Howden (formerly Fickle Pickle). Unissued was probably the right move for the plodding live version of "A Hard Way To Go" by Savoy Brown that is followed by an equally lost and bemused offering from Jeremy Spencer - "Mean Blues" pre-ambled by an ill-advised mock announcement to an indifferent crowd that is supposed to be funny but just isn’t (has some fab wild grungy guitar though).

Future Savoy Brown and Foghat guitarist Ray Price gives the Memphis Minnie cover of "Me And My Chauffeur Blues" a very Free feel - weird as Guitarist Paul Kossoff, Drummer Simon Kirke and Vocalist Paul Rodgers had all sat in on Black Cat Bones rehearsals and sessions. Before going solo, Kevin Coyne leant his vocals and wit to the Bluesy "Gardener Man" for Dandelion Records act Siren giving in some Them's Gloria by spelling out G-A-R-D-E-N-E-R lyrics in the same way Van the Man did. Far better is the Acoustic/Harmonica Blues playing of Roger Barnes in the obscure band Blue Blood - doing a damn good job covering the Blind Willie Walker stuck in Atlanta Jail classic "Dupree Blues" (tell my baby to sail on). Steamhammer give us the 70ts Rock of "Passing Through" – a tune that feels slightly plodding at first but soon develops into a deceptively hooky melody something Guitarist Martin Quittenton who would of course do for future collaborator Rod Stewart when he co-penned both "Maggie Mae" and "You Wear It Well" with Rodders for the 1971 smash album "Every Picture Tells A Story".

I can understand the rocking choice of "Raining In Your Heart" by the fabulous Stone The Crows given that the rapid-paced thrasher highlights both stunning vocalists in the band – Maggie Bell and future Robin Trower Band leading man James Dewar. But I’d have gone for the genuinely great Josh White cover version "Blind Man" (also on their July 1970 self-titled debut album) where Maggie Bell pulls off one of the most authentically brilliant Blues Vocals performances I've ever heard (but that's just me). Disc 3 begins to lose its way with the bruiser vocals of Edgar Broughton killing "Old Gopher" and the ordinary cover of Bo Diddley's beep-beep "Roadrunner" by Stack Waddy - only to pick up again with the Slow Rock Blues discovery that is Heavy Jelly's "Take Me Down To The Water". This brooding beast features sloppy heavy guitar work from John Morshead of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation along with a trio of Apple artists - Jackie Lomax and two from Badfinger, Pete Ham and Tommy Evans - all on Vocals (very cool).

Other Disc Three highlights include the happy-go-lucky jug-band shuffle of "Take Your Money" by Brett Marvin & The Thunderbirds on Sonet Records and Ray Dorset already showing frontman/songwriting genius in the self-penned "The Sun Is Shining", a gutbucket-sounding live-in-the-studio B-side from their September 1971 "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" EP on Dawn Records. Affinity's Linda Hoyle provides sexy vocals on the fantastic and hard-hitting "Backlash Blues" (second-class schools for second-class folks and then send my son to Vietnam) - a Nina Simone social satire cover version that features superb slide-acoustic and electric geetar from Chris Spedding. And it all comes to and end with the Quo giving us "Railroad" from their excellent "Dog Of Two Head" LP - a song that sets the Blues-Rock template for an entire 40 years of heads down boogie to come.

For sure not everything on "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" will appeal to all (The Downliners Sect grunge-Tolkien track may make many punters run for the hill) and there are absences that probably couldn't be included because of licensing rights. But in my mind, this is still one helluva impressive release and a damn good reminder of what's bin did and what's bin hid. Grapefruit Records do it again folks...