"Screamin' Jay Rocks [aka "Rocks]" by SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS (2008 Bear Family CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…I Put A Spell On You…"

I suppose if you were to nitpick - Screamin' Jay Hawkins never really 'rocks' (in the true sense of the word) on any of these 31 odes to lunacy, coffins and fragrant armpits - but he doesn't half put a grin on your face every time he opens his flamboyant and very unPC mouth. Lewd, crude and genuinely crackers in the frontal lobe area (he'd regularly expose his penis to old ladies in the audience on stage on a Saturday night and end up in jail on Sunday morning) - Screamin' Jay Hawkins was the real deal - the funniest shock-entertainer in Rock 'n' Roll's long pantheon of wild men and women. And this fabulous near eighty-minutes of musical mayhem is testament to his unhinged genius. Here are the degenerate and depraved details...

Released September 2008 in Germany - "Screamin’ Jay Rocks" by SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS is on Bear Family BCD 16687 AR (Barcode 4000127166876) and breaks down as follows (77:57 minutes):

1. Little Demon (1956, Okeh 4-7072, B-side of "I Put A Spell On You")

2. Baptize Me In Wine (1954, Timely 1004, A)

3. Not Anymore (1954, Timely 1004, B-side of "Baptize Me In Wine")

4. In My Front Room (unissued 1955 Mercury recording, first appeared on the 1990 2CD compilation "Spellbound! 1955-1974" on Bear Family BCD 15530)

5. This Is All (1955, Mercury 70549, A)

6. What That Is (unissued 1955 Mercury recording, first appeared on the 1990 2CD compilation "Spellbound! 1955-1974" on Bear Family BCD 15530)

7. (She Put The) Wamee (On Me) (1955, Mercury 70549, B-side of "This Is All")

8. Well I Tried (1955, Wing 90005, A)

9. Talk About Me (1955, Wing 90055, B-side of "Even Though")

10. Take Me Back (1956, Grand 135, A)

11. I Is (1956, Grand 135, B-side of "Take Me Back")

12. $10,000 Lincoln Continental (Take 2) (unissued 1955 Reco-Art Recording, first appeared on the 1991 CD compilation "From Grand To Gotham" on Interstate Music Ltd SJH CD 71829)

13. You Ain't Foolin' Me (unissued 1956 recording, first appeared on the 1991 CD compilation "At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins" on Acadia ACAM 8116)

14. Yellow Coat (first issued on the 1958 USA Mono LP "At Home With Screamin' Jay Hawkins" on Epic LN 3448)

15. I Put A Spell On You (1956, Okeh 4-7072, A - B-side is Track 1 "Little Demon")

16. Frenzy (1957, Okeh 4-7087, B-side to "Person To Person")

17. Alligator Wine (1958, Okeh 4-7101, A)

18. There's Something Wrong With You (1958, Okeh 4-7101, B-side to "Alligator Wine")

19. Person To Person (1957, Okeh 4-7087, A)

20. You Made Me Love You (1957, Okeh 4-7084, A)

21. Little Demon (Alternate Take) (unissued 1956 recording, first appeared on Disc 2 of the 4CD Box Set "Loud, Fast & Out Of Control: The Wild Sound Of 50's Rock" by Various Artists on Rhino R2 75704)

22. Armpit No. 6 (1958, Red Top 126, A)

23. Just Don't Care (1962, Enrica 1010, B-side of "I Hear Voices")

24. Strange (1964, Roulette 4579, B-side of "The Whammy")

25. The Whammy (1964, Roulette 4579, A)

26. Party Doll (unissued 1964 recording, first appeared on the 1997 CD compilation "Lotta Boppin' (And Plenty Scream' Too): Roulette Rock & Roll, Vol. 4" on Sequel NEM 921)

27. All Night (unissued 1966 Decca recording, first appeared on the 1990 2CD compilation "Spellbound! 1955-1974" on Bear Family BCD 15530)

28. Mountain Jive (unissued 1966 Decca recording, first appeared on the 1990 2CD compilation "Spellbound! 1955-1974" on Bear Family BCD 15530)

29. Do You Really Love Me (1969, Phillips 40645, B-side of "Constipation Blues")

30. Please Don't Leave Me (first issued on the USA LP "Because Is In Your Mind" on Phillips PHS 600-336 in 1970)

31. Knock-Kneed Nana (Take 7) (previously unissued 1958 Columbia recording - first issue here)

"Rocks" comes in a (three-flaps) foldout card digipak with a detachable oversized booklet offering fans a chunky 64-pages of stunningly detailed liner notes by long-time fan BILL MILLAR. The text is peppered with up-close and personal black and white stills from a gig at The Washington Hotel in Mayfair, London in January 1965 and then The Ram Jam Club in April 1966. You get reproductions of a great Ebony Magazine advert from 1957 with the "Spell-maker" (Dr. Scholl's sandals ahoy!) - publicity poses with his trademark skull 'n' crossbones stage get up and even 'labour' papers to enter the UK in February 1966. The Richard Weize and George White discography from 1952-1970 starts on Page 41 and doesn't finish until Page 62. The CD reflects the Okeh label for "I Put A Spell On You" and the single in its label bag is pictured beneath the see-through CD tray - as usual - a very tasty job done by BF.

It opens with the lesser-heard "Little Demon" - the anarchic B-side to his 1956 lifelong signature tune "I Put A Spell On You" (over 35 cover versions of it and counting). "Little Demon" has lyrics like "...done put pretty hair on grandma's bald head..." - nice. After two dullish early 1954 cuts - things pick up big time with the Fats Domino piano-rolling R'n'B of "In My Front Room" showcasing his great rasping voice. "This Is All" is the same - a breakneck vocal hovering over a slow-rolling brass-filled Rhythm 'n' Blues section which features Mickey Baker (prominently) on Guitar with Big Al Sears and Sam 'The Man' Taylor on Saxes.

He goes all Muddy Waters got my-Mojo-working on the blues "$10,000 Lincoln Continental" and he names all the garish colours of his wardrobe in "Yellow Coat" - witty Rock 'n' Roll and up there with anything Chuck Berry could write. The wonderful "I Put A Spell On You" still makes me giggle but even better is "There's Something Wrong With You" with its manic giggles and lines like "...roast baboon salad smothering in bubblegum...you ain't all there..." But the absolute bomb is "Armpit No. 6" about his woman's odours where he says "...she's stone from the sticks...with her own kind of perfume...armpit No. 6..." and then starts sniffing! "Just Don't Care" is brill Fifties boogie while "Strange" and "The Whammy" are full of his trademark manic voodoo rhythms and racy lyrics - what a blast!

If Screamin' Jay Hawkins didn't exist - you'd imagine God would have to invent him. He died in 2000 aged 70 with six wives behind him and approximately 33 children (I say approximately). And isn't that just 'so' Rock 'n' Roll...

PS: The "Rocks" Series by Bear Family features the following artists:

1. Chuck Berry [see REVIEW}

2. Pat Boone

3. Johnny Burnette [see REVIEW]

4. The Cadillacs [see REVIEW]

5. Eddie Cochran

6. Bobby Darin

7. Fats Domino

8. Connie Francis

9. Don Gibson

10. Glen Glenn

11. Bill Haley

12. Roy Hall

13. Slim Harpo [see REVIEW]

14. Dale Hawkins

15. Ronnie Hawkins

16. Screamin' Jay Hawkins [see REVIEW]

17. Wanda Jackson [see REVIEW]

18. Sonny James

19. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids

20. Sleepy LaBeef

21. Brenda Lee

22. Jerry Lee Lewis [see REVIEW]

23. Smiley Lewis [see REVIEW]

24. Little Richard

25. Bob Luman [see REVIEW]

26. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers

27. Carl Mann

28. Amos Milburn [see REVIEW]

29. Ella Mae Morse [see REVIEW]

30. Ricky Nelson

31. Carl Perkins

32. Roy Orbison

33. Lloyd Price [see REVIEW]

34. Piano Red (aka Dr. Feelgood) [see REVIEW]

35. Charlie Rich [see REVIEW]

36. Jack Scott

37. Shirley & Lee

38. The Treniers

39. Big Joe Turner [see REVIEW]

40. Conway Twitty

41. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps

42. Rusty York [see REVIEW]

The Bear Family "Rockin' Rollin'" Series features:

1. Johnny Horton

2. Marvin Rainwater

3. Marty Robbins Vol.1

4. Marty Robbins Vol.2

5. Marty Robbins Vol.3 

"The Singles Volume 1: The Federal Years 1956-1960" by JAMES BROWN featuring The Famous Flames and Bea Fords (September 2006 US Hip-O Select/Polydor 2CD Set - Suha Gur Remasters) - No. 1 in a Series of 11 - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Please, Please, Please…" 

A million miles removed from his Sixties Soul and Seventies Funk - this gorgeously produced and presented 2CD set concentrates on the beginning - James Brown And His Famous Flames as a Rhythm 'n' Blues belter (his first 19 singles). Here are the drop-to-your-knees details...

US released 26 September 2006 - "The Singles Volume 1: The Federal Years 1956-1960" by JAMES BROWN is the first of 11 Volumes of double-CDs covering his entire singles output between 1956 and 1981. Hip-O Select/Polydor B0007029-02 (Barcode 602517000575) breaks down as follows (all entries are American singles unless otherwise stated):

Disc 1, 21 tracks, 53:41 minutes:

1. Please, Please, Please

2. Why Do You Do Me (tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of his debut 7" single on Federal 12258 released March 1956 - a USA R&B No.5)

3.I Don't Know

4. I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On (tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of Federal 11264 released June 1956)

5. No, No, No, No

6. Hold My Baby's Hand (tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12277 released July 1956)

7. I Won't Plead No More

8. Chonnie-On-Chon (tracks 7 and 8 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12290 released October 1956)

9. Just Won't Do Right

10. Let's Make It (tracks 9 and 10 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12289 released January 1957)

11. Gonna Try

12. Can't Be The Same (tracks 11 and 12 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12292 released March 1957)

13. Message With The Blues

14. Love Or A Game (tracks 13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12295 released May 1957)

15. You're Mine, You're Mine

16. I Walked Alone (tracks 15 and 16 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12300 released July 1957)

17. That Dood It

18. Baby Cries Over The Ocean (tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12311 released November 1957)

19. Begging, Begging

20. That's When I Lost My Heart (tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12316 released February 1958

21. Try Me (Demo Version)

[Notes: 1 to 12 credited to JAMES BROWN With The Famous Flames

13 and 14 credited to JAMES BROWN

Remainder credited to JAMES BROWN And The Famous Flames]

Disc 2, 20 Tracks, 51:51 minutes:

1. Try Me (I Need You)

2. Tell Me What I Did Wrong (tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12337 released October 1958 - a USA R'&B No.1)

3. I Want You So Bad

4. There Must Be A Reason (tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12348 released February 1959 - A USA R&B No.20)

5. I've Got To Change [Mono Version]

6. It Hurts To Tell You [Mono Version] (tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12352 released April 1959)

7. I've Got To Change [Stereo Version]

8. It Hurts Me To Tell You [Stereo Version] (tracks 7 and 8 are the A&B-sides of Federal S-12352 released May 1959)

9. Double Bee

10. Bucket Head (tracks 9 and 10 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12360 released July 1959)

11. It Was You

12. Got To Cry (tracks 11 and 12 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12364 released August 1959)

13. Good Good Lovin'

14. Don't Let It Happen To Me (tracks 13 and 14 are A&B-sides of Federal 12361 released October 1959)

15. I'll Go Crazy

16. I Know It's True (tracks 15 and 16 are the A&B-sides on Federal 12369 released January 1960 - A USA R&B No. 15)

17. Think

18. You've Got The Power (tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12370 released April 1960 - a USA R&B No. 7 - B-side No. 14 R&B)

19. This Old Heart

20. Wonder When You're Coming Home (tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12378 released August 1960 - A USA R&B No. 20)

[Notes: all tracks are Mono except where stated, all tracks James Brown And The Famous Flames except "You've Got The Power" which is James Brown And The Famous Flames - Duet Vocals with Bea Ford]

The 28-page sepia-feel booklet is gorgeous - jam-packed with detail by fan/world authority and keeper of the famous flame - ALAN LEEDS. You get song-by-song histories, cool trade adverts and Federal singles pepper the text and there's a detailed Sessionography on the last pages. HAREY WEINGER and PAT LAWRENCE produced while SUHA GUR did the superlative remasters from original Mono Single mixes (except "Bucket Head" restored from 45). The audio is fantastic and I've sung this Engineer's skills before (Howard Tate, Eddie Kendricks, Grace Jones, Joe Cocker, Kool & The Gang, John Mayall, Cat Stevens, Cream - the Suha Gur list is long).

However - despite opening strongly with "Please, Please, Please" and its equally tasty B-side - you couldn't describe much of Disc 1 as 'classic' - it fact its plodding in places and downright uninspired in others. And outside of "Please, Please, Please", "Try Me (I Need You)" and "Think" - it's all too easy to see why much of it didn't chart or elicit interest from DJs. That's not to say there aren't gems in here like the groovy dancer "Tell Me What I Did Wrong" where Brown finally finds something of that legendary mojo. The STEREO VERSION of the "It Hurts To Tell You" single is an amazing entry - quite extraordinary sound and a genuine rarity. 

The "Try Me (Demo Version)" is dubbed off a 78" Acetate and sounds awful - a historical curio tagged onto the first 10 singles of his career on Disc 1. The largely instrumental "Bucket Head" is fun as is the boppin' "Good Good Lovin'" - one of his underground classics and a tune that should have charted. The pleader "I'll Go Crazy" is typical of his "if you leave me" type songs and I dig the Bluesy duet with Bea Ford on "You Got The Power" (the B-side to "Think"). Another cool tune is "You're Mine, You're Mine". The whole compilation is good rather than being great - but there is that audio and presentation...

Born in 1933 - passed in 2006 - James Brown changed the world of music forever - and so much for the better. The Godfather would hit his Soul stride with the arrival of the Swinging Sixties - but this is where that unbelievable career started to cook...

"Original Album Classics" by AL KOOPER (September 2015 Sony/Columbia/Legacy 5CD Mini Box Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...It's A Brand New Day..."

Having 'played the organ' on Bob Dylan's 1965 and 1966 masterpieces "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blonde" on your resume is probably not a bad start for most musicians. You then meddle about with Steve Katz and The Blues Project for more LPs. After that you form "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and punch out their equally stunning debut album "Child Is Father To The Man" in early 1968. You follow those accolades by having a "Super Session" with guitar wonder-kids Mike Bloomfield of The Electric Flag/Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield. Then you do a live double-album of that. And it's still only late 1968. So far so legendarily good. But then you get all bolshy and decide to do the dread deed - go 'solo'...

If I'm absolutely truthful and having bought them all down through the years (nine or ten albums in all if I recollect correctly) - I've always found Al Kooper's solo career somewhat patchy. There are moments of genius for sure but never a cohesive whole - expect maybe the criminally underrated and forgotten "Easy Does It" double-album from 1970 and 1972's "New York City (You're A Woman)".

And despite having charted oodles of LPs Stateside - his back-catalogue has always seemed to have had availability issues on CD - some making Columbia Remasters while others have only ever been reissued on expensive Japanese CD imports. But at last in 2015 – Sony's Columbia/Legacy branch sorts out a big chunk of it by giving us five of his most popular records between 1969 and 1972 clumped together in one handy "Original Classic Albums" buy-pack. And while there are no bonus tracks or annotation – we get a reasonable price tag, remastered audio and dinky repro singular card artwork. And with one of the CDs being a double-album onto one disc - you’re effectively getting six LPs worth of music for your 5-disc outlay.

There is a lot to process so let's get friendly once more with our favourite naked New Yorker - Al Kuperschmidt...

UK released 4 September 2015 (11 September 2015 in the USA) - "Original Album Classics" by AL KOOPER on Sony/Columbia/Legacy 88875099072 (Barcode 888750990723) is a 5CD Set of Remasters In A Card Slipcase and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (41:32 minutes):
1. Overture
2. I Stand Alone
3. Camille
4. One
5. Coloured Rain
6. Soft Landing On The Moon
7. I Can Love A Woman [Side 2]
8. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
9. Toe Hold
10. Right Now for You
11. Hey, Western Union Man
12. Song And Dance For The Unborn, Frightened Child
Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut LP "I Stand Alone" – released February 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9718 and March 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63596. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 54 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (44:10 minutes):
1. Magic In My Socks
2. Lucille
3. Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby
4. First Time Around
5. Loretta (Union Turnpike Eulogy)
6. Blues, Part IV
7. You Never Know Who Your Friends Are [Side 2]
8. The Great American Marriage/Nothing
9. I Don't Know Why I Love You
10. Mourning Glory Story
11. Anna Lee (What Can I Do For You)
12. I'm Never Gonna Let You Down
Tracks 1 to 12 are his 2nd studio album "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" – released October 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9855 and November 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63651. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 125 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 3 (62:30 minutes):
1. Brand New Day [Side 1]
2. Piano Solo Introduction
3. I Got A Woman
4. Country Road
5. I Bought You The Shoes
6. Introduction [Side 2]
7. Easy Does It
8. Buckskin Boy
9. Love Theme From "The Landlord"
10. Sad, Sad Sunshine [Side 3]
11. Let The Duchess No
12. She Gets Me Where I Live
13. A Rose And A Baby Ruth
14. Baby, Please Don't Go [Side 4]
15. God Sheds His Grace On Thee
Tracks 1 to 15 are his 4th studio set – the double-album "Easy Does It" – released September 1970 in the USA on Columbia G 30031 and November 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 66252. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 105 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). Note: his 3rd US studio set "Kooper Session – Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" from January 1970 is not included in this package.

Disc 4 (43:00 minutes):
1. New York City (You're A Woman)
2. John The Baptist (Holy John)
3. Can You Hear It Now (500 Miles)
4. The Ballad Of The Hard Rock Kid
5. Going Quietly Mad
6. Medley: Oo Wee Baby, I Love You/Love Is A Man's Best Friend [Side 2]
7. Back On My Feet
8. Come Down In Time
9. Dearest Darling
10. Nightmare #5
11. The Warning (Someone’s On The Cross Again)
Tracks 1 to 11 are his 5th studio album "New York City (You're A Woman)" – released June 1971 in the USA on Columbia C 30506 and July 1971 in the UK on CBS Records S 64340. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 198 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 5 (37:15 minutes):
1. (Be Yourself) Be Real
2. As The Years Go Passing By
3. Jolie
4. Blind Baby
5. Been And Gone
6. Sam Stone [Side 2]
7. Peacock Lady
8. Touch The Hem Of His Garment
9. Where Were You When I Needed You
10. Unrequited
Tracks 1 to 10 are his 7th studio album "Naked Songs" - released November 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31723 and in the UK on CBS Records S 65193. Produced by Al Kooper - it didn't chart in either country. His sixth studio album was "A Possible Projection Of The Future/Childhood's End" from April 1972 (not included in this set).

It doesn't say where or 'who' remastered these albums (Vic Anesini maybe) - but given the versions I had before - these new Stereo transfers have been done very well indeed. Each of these albums has renewed punch and I'm thrilled to find that "Easy Does It" sounds amazing - as do the heavy-on-the-arrangements songs on his "I Stand Alone" debut. That keyboard funk on "New York City..." and "Naked Songs" – it's all good frankly...

As you can imagine across five albums there's a wad of choice and eclectic session-players - his cover of Traffic's "Coloured rain" on the debut album "I Stand Alone" features the Don Ellis Orchestra - falsetto backing vocalist Robert John is on "Lucille" and "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" and Trumpeter Marvin Stamm guests on "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down". The "Easy Does It" double-album alone has a wad of guests - Fred Lipsius of Blood, Sweat & Tears fame gives a Saxophone solo on the Ray Charles cover "I Got A Woman" - Southern guitar rocker Charlie Daniels and Bassist Charlie McCoy of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry are both on "Let The Duchess No" - future New Waver Peter Ivers blows Harmonica on the cover of James Taylor's "Country Road" - not to mention percussionist Milt Holland and uber-drummers Rick Marotta and Earl Palmer and Guitarists Dave Bromberg and Tommy Tedesco. Roger Pope and Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot play on the "New York City (You're A Woman)" album - as does Sneaky Pete Kleinow of The Flying Burrito Brothers while Barry Bailey of Atlanta Rhythm Section features on the "Naked Songs" LP.

The debut is a part Rock, part Psychedelic, part 60ts Pop smorgasbord where the pointless instrumental/noises "Overture" irritates - but that's soon replaced by his signature Brass and Melody sound on "I Stand Alone". He co-wrote "Camille" with Tony Powers - a wildly overproduced piece of echoed melodrama. Better is his cover of Nilsson's "One" - Jimmy Wisner arranged those lovely strings for the loneliest number. We go Psych for Traffic's "Coloured Rain" with every manner of instrument invading a flanged mix that feels very "Magical Mystery Tour". Columbia stuck the weird and cultish keyboard-instrumental "Soft Landing On The Moon" on the B-side of "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" from the next album when they released it as a 45 in July 1969 (Columbia 4011).

A cop-car siren opens "I Can Love A Woman" - an ominous beginning to what turns out to be a happy tune complete with strings and backing ladies (lovely arrangements in the brass) and a train departing ending. It segues into a Rockabilly cover of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" made more famous by Elvis - in fact the tract feels like Al is channelling his inner Presley in a big way. Penned by Stax writing geniuses Isaac Hayes and David Porter - Johnnie Taylor's "Toe Hold" gets a funked-up work-over that sounds like a cool one which could easily have been on BS&T's "Child Is Father To The Man" debut in early 1968. Gunfire opens his own "Right Now For You" where he goes all Joe Meek on the keyboard with Nilsson acoustic guitars racing alongside the lyrics (neighbours hiding behind fences, howling at the moon). Proving his love of good Soul - he covers Jerry Butler's "Hey, Western Union Man" - another lovely groove (great bass on the transfer) that Columbia tried as a 45 in July 1969 (Columbia 4160) with "I Stand Alone" on the flipside. It ends on another Magical Mystery Tour sounding carnival - the very 60ts "Song And Dance For The Unborn, Forgotten Child" - where a woman's screams and a child-crying invade the strings. Personally it does my head in and I find it hard going...

We’re still very much in 60ts mode with the "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" album that opens with the brassy "Magic In My Socks" - a tune that features some very Zappa guitar passages. Charlie Calello, Lou Christie, Mike Gately and Robert John provide the four-strong wall of Beach Boys backing vocals on "Lucille" - a beautifully inventive song with amazing vocal arrangements (conducted and arranged by Charlie Calello). This quartet - this wall of Spector-esque voices inform almost every song on the album. I can't quite make my mind up about his cover of The Temptations and Marvin Gaye classic "Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby" - I prefer Marvin's beauty. The side ends on the 'would you tighten your foot' organ smooch of "Blues, Part IV" - my kind of improvised studio jam that produces an instrumental you return to again and again. Side 2 opens with the piano joviality of the album's title track where our Al sounds like he's The Monkees singing happy with the wildly upbeat music but actually waxing miserable. We go Scott Walker for the melodrama of "The Great American Marriage/Nothing" (all strings and strained words) which is followed by a Stevie Wonder cover of "I Don't Know Why I Love You" - an 'always treats me like a fool' song where our hero is resigned to his heart's fateful choices. Just like "One" on the debut album - the chorus of voices on "Mourning Glory Story" (yet another Nilsson cover) suit the song so well - even if its kind of ruined by too-clever-clever breaks in-between the wonderful Beach Boys voices.  The album closes on the impressive combo of "Anna Lee" and "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down" which sounds like our Al has been listening to The Band and Bacharach and David - in that order.

Before his next solo move - Kooper pushed out the Blues and R&B album belter "Kooper Session – Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" in January 1970 where he was involved in the songwriting of four cuts (Shuggie's own debut proper "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" hit the US shops in February 1970 – both stormingly good LPs on Epic Records that mixed Funk with Blues and Rock-Soul). They seemed to change Kooper. His sound suddenly matured. Or maybe it's because he gets to stretch out on September 1970's "Easy Does It" - or his sound feels instantly 70ts and not 60ts even though its only the decade's first year - or that its got so much going on - a dip in and find something new event - whatever it is – I've always loved this forgotten and underrated double-album.

"Easy Does It" opens with a theme to "The Landlord" film which itself had been released on United Artists in 1971 (the UAS 5209 album also featured Soul artists The Staple Singers and Lorraine Ellison). There's an edited 45 of "Brand New Day" - but here you get the fabulous 5:19 minute full album version that feels like a rejuvenated Al Kooper telling us it's alright (yes it is children). A melodic solo grand-piano intro tinkles for a few minutes before introducing a truly wonderful stringed-up Soulful take on Brother Ray's Atlantic Records smash "I Got A Woman". Drummer Rick Marotta, Bassist Stu Cook with Peter Ivers on Harmonica liven up another clever cover – James Taylor's “Country Road” – a song Merry Clayton also did justice too over on Ode 70 Records that same year (see my review for her wonderful "Gimme Shelter" LP remastered for CD by Repertoire). David Bromberg plays Pedal Steel on the strictly Country "I Bought You Shoes" – an Al Kooper song that sees our hero discover what Bob Dylan felt about Leopard Skin Pill-Boxed Hats (only this it's her footwear).

Side 2 opens with a minute of studio chatter that leads into a big brassy guitar rendition of the title track – a ballsy guitars 'n' trumpets song that feels like a bit of 50ts 'shapely legs' naughtiness updated to 1970 with Kooper really letting rip on Guitar (could even be an outtake from the "Kooper Session" LP). A very cool chug comes at you for "Buckskin Boy" - a great little album rocker about 'robbed native Americans' that could have been a great 45 with a relevant message. It segues into a 2001: A Space Odyssey of voices giving you the decidedly film-epic "Love Theme From Landlord" - a superb little song that Columbia used as a B-side to the "Brand New Day" 7" edit in March 1971 on Columbia 5146). On Side 3 I love "Let The Duchess No" which was written by John Gregory of The Mystery Trend and the plucked-strings of "She Gets Me Where I Live". Took time but I also dig The Velvet Underground feel to "A Rose And A Baby Ruth" - a teenage quarrel waltz that sounds like acidic Lou Reed beneath all that prettiness. But best of all is his magnificent cover of the Big Joe William's old R&B classic "Baby, Please Don't Go". Covered by everyone from Muddy Waters to Them - here its 1970 twelve-minutes takes up most of Side 4 and is a very Traffic version - all keyboards - Kooper working that piano and organ like a man lost in his groove. It's Soulful, Blue Note Jazzy and Trippy with flanged Keyboards, Bass solos and Scat vocals – only to return to the famous lyrics as it crescendos. It's an indulgence for sure but one that works - what a blast.

The British LP for "New York City (You're A Woman)" adds on 'Excerpt From "New York City: 6 AM To Midnight" - A Symphony In Progress' as its full title (the US LP hasn't got this). But any idea that his opening salvo is going to be a homage to the ladylike delights of his home city goes out the window when he calls his hometown something that rhymes with twitch (and cold-hearted at that). Still he's drawn to NYC like a moth to a flame. Rita Coolidge and Clydie King are amongst the vocalists on the very Band-influenced "John The Baptist (Holy John)". The album was famously recorded in the USA and the UK (thanks to the band Spring for the lend of the Mellotron) and it shows. The wild slide-guitar playing of "The Ballad Of The Hard Rock Kid" sounds like Juicy Lucy returning to "Who Do You Love" (Vertigo 1970) while the gorgeous "Going Quietly Mad" sounds like a melodious Joe Walsh in The James Gang circa 1970's "Rides Again" or even 1972's "Barnstorm". His two covers are more obscure and better for it - Elton John's "Come Down In Time" - a slow/fast rival for the "Tumbleweed Connection" original - while Bo Diddley's "Dearest Darling" is given a spoken intro and a righteous Soulful treatment - like Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett giving it some white people on Stax (I gotta play for you now baby - it's alright). It then ends on a clever one-two of big melodies - the 'two days in my flat' pretty misery of "Nightmare No. 5" while we go full bombast on "The Warning (Someone's On The Cross Again)" which may or not be about a second coming that's a fraud.

The final album here "Naked Songs" picked up where "New York City..." left off but didn't even scrape Top 200 in the USA - apparently a contractual obligation album to Columbia. Maybe this explains the styles - he simply doesn't care what he's recording. But actually - it works. The Peppermint Harris cover "As The Years Go Passing By" is gorgeous Guitar Blues that feels like Gary Moore has been transported from 1989 into 1973 - a very cool song. Jazz Giant Annette Peacock gets a suitably synth outing on "Been And Gone" - a far more Soulful take than you would expect with weird vocal samples as it fades out. His version of Sam Cooke's "Touch The Hem Of His Garment" is a good old 'in church on Sunday morning' rendition - all piano and organ before the sisters take it to the rafters. Kooper then goes contemporary country with John Prine's amazingly realistic "Sam Stone" - a soldier coming home song - a wounded man with shrapnel in his knee and morphine in his veins. Typically brilliant in the lyrical department - "...there's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes...Jesus died with nothing I suppose..." - Kooper gives it his best Richard Manuel impression on vocals and pulls it off - sounding not unlike a sincere 00's Springsteen but in 1972. Columbia even tried it as the album's lone 45 in September 1972 with the opener "Be Real" as the B-side (Columbia 45691) - but no one was listening. Had either the poopy "Where Were You When I Needed You" or the ballad "Unrequited" finishers turned up on Todd Rundgren’s "Something/Anything?" double- album in 1972 - we would be pulling adjectives out of our ass in a frenzy of genuine musical affection. But not for NYC Al which don’t seem right.

For sure you can't say that everything on "Original Album Classics" is out-and-out magic - but when Al Kooper is good like on "Easy Does It" and "New York City (You're A Woman)" and even those glints on "Naked Songs" - you can't help but think that his solo career is ripe for rediscovery and renewed praise.

It's a brand new day people...and having spent some time with this wicked New Yorker...I'm up for it. Recommended...

"The Rill Thing/King of Rock And Roll/The Second Coming" by LITTLE RICHARD (2016 Beat Goes On Reissue - 3LPs onto 2CDs - High Def Remasters by Andrew Thompson)

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"...The Beauty On Duty..."

Soul and Funk Albums from LITTLE RICHARD

A typically generous and beautifully presented set from England's 'Beat Goes On Label' covering the Georgia Peach's stay at Reprise Records between 1970 and 1972 (3LPs Remastered In High Def from Original Sources onto 2CDs).

Not surprisingly across three albums it's a tale of two cities - the great and the dismissible - with thankfully more keepers than ditchers. In fact there's very little Rock and Roll as we know it on offer here – these forgotten LPs are more about Little Richard's version of early 70ts Funk with a little old-time R&B style thrown in. Song after song comes at you like its Ike & Tina Turner having a jam-tight-butt-shake - and not as you would expect from one of the Original Rock & Rollers from the Fifties - Chuck Berry twelve-bar.

In fact Soul Boys the world over have been discovering these hip-shaking dancers for years now – Little Richard finding his inner 'sock it to me' Isley Brothers groove - his Allen Toussaint voice and winning (most of the time). There are times when it's shockingly different. Take the instrumental title-track "The Rill Thing" from 1970 – it's the kind of chugging Funkathon that would have customers rushing to the counter of any West End record shop demanding to know which 'Meters' song this is and on what album - only to find that you're listening to the Muscle Shoals House Band having a 10-minute Alabama jam without any lead vocal from LR.

And of course then there's that other aspect to any Little Richard record - the sheer fun of the man on those spoken passages where he sings the praises of – well – himself. Richard Penniman has always thought he's God and I'm quite sure a smiling God would be only too willing to agree (LR's modest declaration of 'The Second Coming' not withstanding). There's a lot to wade through indeed - so once mere mortals unto the beauty on a rooty...

UK released 22 July 2016 (29 July 2006 in the USA) - "The Rill Thing/King Of Rock And Roll/The Second Coming" by LITTLE RICHARD on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1235 (Barcode 5017261212351) offers 3LPs Remastered from first generation tapes onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1  (61:30 minutes):

1. Freedom Blues

2. Greenwood, Mississippi

3. Two-Time Loser

4. Dew Drop In

5. Somebody Saw You

6. Spreadin' Natta, What's The Matter?

7. The Rill Thing

8. Lovesick Blues

9. I Saw Her Standing There

Tracks 1 to 9 are his album "The Rill Thing" (credited as The "Rill" Thing on the label) - released August 1970 in the USA on Reprise RS 6406 and October 1970 in the UK on Reprise RSLP 6406.

10. King of Rock And Roll

11. Joy To The World

12. Brown Sugar

13. In The Name

14. Dancing In The Street

Tracks 10 to 14 are Side 1 of the album "King Of Rock And Roll" - released September 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6462 and November 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44156.

Disc 2 (62:04 minutes):

1. Midnight Special

2. The Way You Do The Things You Do

3. Green Power

4. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

5. Settin' The Woods On Fire

6. Born On The Bayou

Tracks 10 to 14 are Side 2 of the album "King Of Rock And Roll" - released September 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6462 and November 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44156.

7. Mockingbird Sally

8. Second Line

9. It Ain't What You Do, It's The Way You Do It

10. The Saints

11. Nuki Suki

12. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie

13. Prophet Of Peace

14. Thomasine

15. Sanctified, Satisfied Toe-Tapper

Tracks 7 to 15 are the album "The Second Coming" - released September 1972 in the USA on Reprise RS 2107 and in the UK on Reprise K 44204 (although allocated a 'K' catalogue in the UK by WEA - I've never seen a British pressed LP - so it's more likely that US copies were imported into Britain and 'K 44204' stickers put on the back of them). 

This 2CD set will allow fans to sequence 6 x 7" singles issued around the three LPs:

1. Freedom Blues b/w Dew Drop Inn - June 1970 USA 7" single on Reprise 0907 (reversed sides in the UK on Reprise RS 20907)

2. Greenwood, Mississippi b/w I Saw Her Standing There - August 1970 USA 7" single on Reprise 0942

3. Green Power b/w Dancing In The Street - November 1971 UK 7" single on Reprise K 14124

4. Shake A Hand (if You Can) b/w Somebody Saw You - December 1971 USA 7" single on Reprise 1005 

5. Mockingbird Sally b/w 1. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie 2. King Of Rock and Roll - August 1972 UK 3-Track 7" single on Reprise 14195

6. 1. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie 2. King Of Rock and Roll b/w 1. The Saints 2. Mockingbird Sally - 1974 UK 'Warner Giants' 4-Track EP on Reprise K 14343

The outer card slipcase adds a real classy feel to this release (as it does to all BGO reissues) and the 12-page booklet with new STUART COLMAN liner notes repros the original LP artwork. The praise-heavy blurbs on the rear of "The Rill Thing" by Pete Johnson and "The Second Coming" by RA "Bumps" Blackwell have been printed too in all their plugger-positive glory. Coleman gives a good insight into Little Richard's state of play when he went with Reprise after years in the chart wilderness - it's just such a shame that after "The Rill Thing" - the albums began a very obvious nose dive with the 2nd studio platter being merely good while the third leaves a lot to be desired (despite its ludicrous title).

What's not ridiculous is the fabulous Audio – High Def CD transfers from Original Sources by BGO’s Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I've had the Rhino set for years and the Remasters here pip it by a squeak - but it's an improvement in bottom end and muscularity that you can feel. These CDs sounds stunning - and fans will need to own them.

Album number one opens on a winner – the single that put Little Richard back into the US R&B charts after a 13-year absence - "Freedom Blues" - a co-write with his doppelganger and inspiration of old - Esquerita. A funky 'everybody's got to be free' groove starts up with guitars and keyboards - as LR proceeds to wax lyrical about dumping the past and embracing the new. A great guttural scream like only LR can omit ushers in the Sax Solo and resistance is futile. Written by Arthur Lowe and Travis Wammack - "Greenwood, Mississippi" is the most out-and-out Ike & Tina Turner guitar groove on the album - a tremendous funky-rock dancer to make you shimmy your booty thang to a backdrop of fuzz guitars. You can understand why Reprise in the UK switched sides for their opening single - putting the Rock 'n' Roll based "Dew Drop In" on the A-side instead of "Freedom Blues" in a country undergoing a huge Rock 'n' Roll Revival. Yet you can't help but feel the American side got the choice right. Little Richard's own "Somebody Saw You" is a Wilson Pickett strut with shimmering guitar notes and a seriously tight rhythm section. But the album is dominated by the aforementioned ten-minute work out that is Side 2's "The Rill Thing" - a truly fantastic instrumental that in reality has very little to do with LR - and yet is on his album. In fact when you go to the next song - a Country-Funk Tony Joe White take on the Hank Williams classic "Lovesick Blues" complete with a brass fade out - it feels weird to hear LR singing at all. The album ends on a reasonably cool take on that "Please Please Me" opener "I Saw Her Standing There" - Little Richard sanctifying The Beatles and just about getting away with it.

You can't help feeling that the 'King' on his throne artwork and title of album No. 2 dumbly emphasises a genre (Rock & Roll) that actually doesn't show up much on the record (it's another Funk LP ala The Meters). His cover of the traditional "Midnight Special" comes armed with CCR's warbling guitar underpinned by righteous sisters singing 'chugga-chugga'. He then goes after Motown by going all 'gotta' James Brown on The Temptations and their "The Way You Do The Things You Do". Better is the 'sock it to me' single "Green Power" where the funky rhythm and lady singers sound like they mean business at last. Another Hank Williams song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" gets wildly rejiggered but it feels like a cover too far. Better is his Bass and Brass cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born On The Bayou" - where he talks his 'beauty' and his 'title' and the 'kind of excitement that shakes the world' before it breaks into that familiar CCR swing. It's a good way to end an otherwise patchy album.

Despite its farcical title – no one was interested in his self-proclaimed nonsense in 1972. The album came out in September but the first Billboard review didn't appear until December - no doubt someone trying to flag failing sales. It opens with his own "Mockingbird Sally" where it feels like he's actually channelled some of that Specialty wildness once again - a piano-pumping Rock 'n' Roller. The Funk returns with "Second Line" - a co-write between him and Bumps Blackwell. "If Ain't What You Do, It's The Way You Do It" is terrible - clearly an outtake left in the can with his voice sounding like a guide - and a poor one at that. He re-arranges "The Saints" into a bopping 'marching in' travesty best forgotten. Better is the wah-wah-guitar funky "Nuki Suki". As an example of rare grooves from the vaults - Atlantic used it on the 2001 CD compilation "Right On! Volume 3" (it also appeared on the Rhino 4CD Box Set "What It Is!" in 2006). But my own poison is the great rhythm behind "Prophet Of Peace" and the track Soul Boys dig - the seven-minute instrumental "Sanctified, Satisfied Toe-Tapper" - an obvious attempt to recreate some of that ten-minute "Rill Thing" magic from album number one (they just about pull it off).

When all is said and done - you're left with the impression that if Little Richard’s record company (and him) had embraced Soul and Funk full on and not tried to rebrand his genius as the 'latest' version of an old Rock 'n' Roller - with some pruning and sassier material - we'd be talking about these albums in a more genuinely reverential light and not as a curio – an afterthought 47 years on from the event. 

Rhino's "King Of Rock and Roll: The Complete Reprise Recordings" 3CD set in 2005 was the last time these recordings were covered - but that was a limited edition and has been deleted and acquiring high prices for years. So a welcome reissue then and far funkier than you'd imagine. The beauty on duty people...even half-cocked he was capable of magic...

"Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2016 Ace CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Don't Let Me Down..."

I'm a huge fan of England's Ace Records and their stunning CD compilations (who isn't). And you look at the premise here - Soul Artists doing their take on the Fabs - and surely the results will be electrifying and funky as a gnat's chuffer.

But then you play "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS and song after song just feels wrong. Nothing ever ignites. It's a strange truth but The Beatles (as soulful as their music was) - doesn't translate to Soul. The Isley Brothers doing Carole King or Stephen Stills - Love Sculpture doing Ray Charles - even Grand Funk doing "Some Kind Of Wonderful" by The Soul Brothers Six - these crossovers all work. And of course you could fill box sets full of other covers that add to the original and even bring out more. But no such luck here - here you get one ill-chosen track after another.

The 16-page booklet is (as always) a thing of beauty - classy photos of Screamin' Jaw Hawkins doing "A Hard Day's Night", Mary Well's tackling "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and Dionne Warwick having a go at "We Can Work It Out". 

Released 30 September 2016 in the UK (October 2016 in the USA) - "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS is a typically well presented affair from reissue experts Ace Records. The booklet is a feast - rare picture sleeves - 7" single label repros (RCA for Nina Simone, Capitol for Junior Parker, EMI America for Gary U.S. Bonds) with top-quality mastering from Duncan Cowell and a generous 22-track playing time for Ace CDCHD 1483 (Barcode 029667077026) of 77:54 minutes.

1. Eleanor Rigby - Aretha Franklin

2. Dear Prudence - The 5 Stairsteps

3. Got To Get You Into My Life - Earth, Wind And Fire

4. Do You Want To Know A Secret - Mary Wells

5. The Fool On The Hill - Four Tops

6. Lovely Rita - Fats Domino

7. Here Comes The Sun - Nina Simone

8. Ob La Di Ob La Da - Arthur Conley

9. A World Without Love - The Supremes

10. Tomorrow Never Knows - Junior Parker

11. Don't Let Me Down - Randy Crawford

12. With A Little Help From My Friends - The Undisputed Truth

13. A Hard Day's Night - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

14. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Ike & Tina Turner

15. For No One - Maceo & All The King's Men

16. It's Only Love - Gary U.S. Bonds

17. We Can Work It Out - Dionne Warwick

18. Hey Jude - The Temptations

19. In My Life - Boyz II Men

20. Savoy Truffle - Ella Fitzgerald

21. Something - Isaac Hayes

22. Let It Be - Bill Withers

I wish I could say the music worth it. Beautifully presented or not - 9 times out of 10 the interpretations offered here feel like half-hearted cash-ins on a very popular band of the time - the most popular and influential group of all time. Yet somehow the Beatles songs don't really suit Soul. Better is the "Hard To Handle" set in this series where Black Artists have a go at Otis Redding – a combo that actually does work.

In the meantime – if you’re tempted by "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" - I'd try to get a listen to the CD first before committing...