"Keep On Truckin': The Motown Solo Albums Vol.1" by EDDIE KENDRICKS. A Review Of The 2006 Hip-O Select 2CD Retrospective.

This review is part of my "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters Soul, Funk & Jazz Fusion" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

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"I'm The Sideline...Hoping You'll Give Me A Chance..."

For Motown fans the world over "Keep On Truckin': The Motown Solo Albums Volume 1" is something of a long overdue treat – Eddie Kendricks forgotten and hard to find US album catalogue finally on CD - and in a top quality manner…

Released November 2006 in the USA on Hip-O Select - here's the breakdown:

Disc 1 (72:04 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut US solo album, "All By Myself", issued April 1971 on Tamla TS 309
Tracks 8 to 18 are his 2nd US album, "People…Hold On", issued May 1972 on Tamla T 315L

Disc 2 (74:14 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 8 are his 3rd US album, "Eddie Kendricks", issued May 1973 on Tamla T 327L
Tracks 9 to 16 are his 4th US album, "For You", issued November 1974 on Tamla T6-33551
There are no single versions nor any previously unreleased tracks of any kind on this 2CD set – they feature on the last disc of the companion 3CD volume - "The Thin Man – The Motown Albums Vol.2" (reviewed separately).

PACKAGING:
Both CDs are Brown and Yellow with the Tamla World logo – aping the way the US LP labels would have looked, The 28-page booklet pictures both the LP sleeves front and rear in full colour, gives detailed notes on the song-writer and session players involved, lists US singles and their B-sides that came off each album (details from the actual Motown session logs) and there’s an essay on Hendricks’ career by noted Motown writer BRIAN CHIN. In between the exact reproduction of album sleeves are high-quality colour pictures of Kendricks from the early Seventies – in fact the booklet like the silver digipak that houses the whole thing – has an overall classy feel about it. But the best bit – as always with HIP-O SELECT – is the wonderful SOUND…

SOUND:
All tracks have been remastered by one of Universal’s trio of in-houses wizard tape engineers – SUHA GUR – a name that has turned up on many of the "Gold" 2CD sets dedicated to other Motown acts. Typical of HIP-O SELECT, the sound is superlative and like the packaging, reeks of class and pride in what’s been presented to you… Kendricks’ high voice and the songs funky/string drenched arrangements remind you of Eugene Record from The Chi-Lites. There is hiss on the “All By Myself” tracks, but that all but disappears by the time we get to 1972’s fantastic “People…Hold On”. You hear the drums and bass on “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind” like never before – funky and sweet.

To sum-up, this is a great Motown set – yet another sweetie from the USA's HIP-O SELECT label - and one that will have you reaching for Volume 2…

"Elton John" by ELTON JOHN (2008 Universal/Mercury/Rocket 2CD 'DELUXE EDITION Reissue - Giovanni Scatola/Tony Cousins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Can Tell Them This Is Your Song..."

Reginald Dwight's 2nd album proper was recorded in a week in January 1970 at Trident Studios in London and then released in the spring of 1970. It included the monster hit "Your Song" - and after years of soul-destroying session work and an underachieving debut album "Empty Sky” - both the single and the self-titled album finally kick-started Elton John's extraordinary career which is still strong nearly 50 years after the event.

UK released 2 June 2008 - "Elton John: Deluxe Edition" by ELTON JOHN on Universal/Mercury/Rocket 5305559 (Barcode 600753055595) is an upgraded 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Remaster of his long forgotten self-titled second album (it's first Remaster came in 1995 on a Gus Dudgeon single disc issue). His 3rd album "Tumbleweed Connection" has also received a DE version released on the same date (see separate review). Here are the details for 'Your Song'…

Disc 1 (39:29 minutes):

1. Your Song

2. I Need You To Turn To

3. Take Me To The Pilot

4. No Shoe Strings For Louise

5. First Episode At Hienton

6. Sixty Years On

7. Border Song

8. The Greatest Discovery

9. The Cage

10. The King Must Die

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album “Elton John” originally released in the UK in April 1970 on DJM Records DJLPS 406 and in the USA on Uni Records 73090

Disc 2 (69:53 minutes):

1. Your Song (Demo Version)

2. I Need You To Turn To (Piano Demo)

3. Take Me To The Pilot (Piano Demo)

4. No Shoe Strings For Louise (Piano Demo)

5. Sixty Years On (Piano Demo)

6. The Greatest Discovery (Piano Demo)

7. The Cage (Demo)

8. The King Must Die (Piano Demo)

9. Rock And Roll Madonna (Piano Demo)

10. Thank You Mama (Piano Demo)

11. All The Way Down To El Paso (Piano Demo)

12. I’m Going Home (Piano Demo)

13. Grey Seal (Piano Demo)

14. Rock And Roll Madonna (Incomplete Band Demo)

15. Bad Side Of The Moon – non-album B-side of “Border Song” released March 1970 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 217

16. Grey Seal

17. Rock And Roll Madonna – 17 and 16 are the A & B-sides of a non-album UK 7” single released June 1970 on DJM Records DJS 222. The B-side “Grey Seal” is known here are the ‘1970 Version” as it differs to the track that later appeared on the 1973 double “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

18. Border Song (BBC Radio 1 Session, Sound Of The Seventies Show, July 1970)

19. Your Song (as per 18)

20. Take Me To The Pilot (as per 18)

Outside of the 3 non-album single sides noted above (15, 16 and 17) – the other 17 tracks are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMO, PIANO and BBC VERSIONS.

PACKAGING:

The LP originally sported a matt gatefold sleeve, which has been faithfully reproduced in the upgraded 28-page booklet that accompanies this set. Along with period photos of Elton, there's a very informative new essay by noted writer JOHN TOBLER, session details on the bonus tracks, both CDs are picture discs and the booklet reflects both the rear sleeve ensemble photo and the lyrics on the inner spread in the same way they were on the gatefold of the original album - all very nice touches indeed. But the big news is the SOUND....

SOUND:

Sourcing the first generation original masters tapes from the Universal Archives, GIOVANNI SCATOLA and TONY COUSINS at Metropolis Mastering in London have carried out the remastering - and surely an EMMY awaits each of them! As the owner of way too many re-issue CDs, this (and Tumbleweed Connection) are simply the best remaster of old albums that I've ever heard! Twenty seconds into the overly familiar "Your Song", with its brand new piano and acoustic guitar clarity and its string-arranged beauty fully renewed, I was already writing a review and picking my jaw up off the table as I went!

So what's changed? When GUS DUDGEON replaced the useless 1980s CDs with the excellent 1995 remasters, he got the best sound out of the tapes that he could at the time (he sadly passed away a few years ago). But 13 years on to 2008 and that's a lifetime in remastering techniques. These 2008 versions BREATHE - you can hear everything - and clearly too. Songs like "First Episode At Hienton", "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die" heavily feature the fantastic string arrangements of PAUL BUCKMASTER (who did "Space Oddity" for Bowie) - well now you can hear how good they are! The sound is so clean, it makes you double take on almost every track - a TRULY BEAUTIFUL JOB DONE and easy to see why Elton would want these new versions out in the marketplace as soon as possible.

BAND/GUESTS:

FRANK CLARK and COLIN GREEN provide sweet guitar work on "Your Song" and "Sixty Years On", while guest vocalists MADELINE BELL, TONY HAZZARD, LESLIE DUNCAN and ROGER COOK feature especially well on the brilliant "No Strings For Louise" and "The Cage". DIANA LEWIS plays Moog on the sparse "First Episode At Hienton". CALEB QUAYE of HOOKFOOT provides Lead Guitar on "Take Me To The Pilot" while TONY COX of PENTANGLE drums on "The Greatest Discovery" and the epic album closer "The King Must Die".

DISC 2 gives us 12 excellent PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Piano Demos in a row (1-12) along with two separate BBC sessions - the "Dave Lee Travis Show" from April 1970 and the "Sounds Of The Seventies Show" from July 1970 (tracks 18, 19 and 20). They vary in sound quality, but are more than pleasantly good. It should be noted that Track 1, the demo version of "Your Song" did turn up on the "To Be Continued" box set years back, but that was only briefly available. "Bad Side Of The Moon" is the non-album B-side of the 7" single "Border Song" issued March 1970 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 217, while "Rock & Roll Madonna" and "Grey Seal" are the A&B sides of the non-album 7" single DJS 222 issued in the UK in June 1970. "Grey Seal" was re-recorded and turned up on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - the version on this disc is often referred to as "Version 1970".  These 3 were originally bonus tracks on the 1995 reissue CD of the album; here they've upgraded sound quality.

Then comes a genuine sensation; recorded for the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis for his "Sound Of The Seventies" Sessions in July 1970 is an almost note-perfect rendition of "YOUR SONG" which frankly rivals the issued version. Luckily the sound is BEAUTIFUL, his performance heartfelt and not wearied by 38 years of playing the same song. It's FANTASTIC STUFF and a reminder of what initially drew so many music lovers to Elton in the first place - his great song-writing and vocal delivery. Whatever way you cut it, this version is an absolute gem and will thrill fans to the core!

To sum up: I've loved coming back to this album - the great sound quality - actual tunes with thought-provoking lyrics - the attention to detail in the well-thought out packaging - the bonuses you'll play more than once - all of it. For fans of this unduly forgotten album - an absolute must buy...

PS: see also my reviews for the 2004 SACD/Surround Sound variants of “Madman Across The Water” and “Honky Chateau” and the 2014 Bob Ludwig Remaster of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is CLASSIC 1970s ROCK - an E-Book with over 250 entries and 2100 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

"Elton John" by ELTON JOHN. His 2nd Album From 1970 Gets A 2CD DELUXE EDITION and AN AWESOME REMASTER!

"...You Can Tell Them This Is Your Song..."

Reginald Dwight's 2nd album proper was recorded in a week in January 1970 at Trident Studios in London and then released in the spring of 1970. It included the monster hit "Your Song" - and after years of soul-destroying session work and an underachieving debut album "Empty Sky” - both the single and the self-titled album finally kick-started Elton John's extraordinary career which is still strong nearly 50 years after the event.

UK released 2 June 2008 - "Elton John: Deluxe Edition" by ELTON JOHN on Universal/Mercury/Rocket 5305559 (Barcode 600753055595) is an upgraded 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Remaster of his long forgotten self-titled second album (it's first Remaster came in 1995 on a Gus Dudgeon single disc issue). His 3rd album "Tumbleweed Connection" has also received a DE version released on the same date (see separate review). Here are the details for 'Your Song'…

Disc 1 (39:29 minutes):

1. Your Song

2. I Need You To Turn To

3. Take Me To The Pilot

4. No Shoe Strings For Louise

5. First Episode At Hienton

6. Sixty Years On

7. Border Song

8. The Greatest Discovery

9. The Cage

10. The King Must Die

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album “Elton John” originally released in the UK in April 1970 on DJM Records DJLPS 406 and in the USA on Uni Records 73090

Disc 2 (69:53 minutes):

1. Your Song (Demo Version)

2. I Need You To Turn To (Piano Demo)

3. Take Me To The Pilot (Piano Demo)

4. No Shoe Strings For Louise (Piano Demo)

5. Sixty Years On (Piano Demo)

6. The Greatest Discovery (Piano Demo)

7. The Cage (Demo)

8. The King Must Die (Piano Demo)

9. Rock And Roll Madonna (Piano Demo)

10. Thank You Mama (Piano Demo)

11. All The Way Down To El Paso (Piano Demo)

12. I’m Going Home (Piano Demo)

13. Grey Seal (Piano Demo)

14. Rock And Roll Madonna (Incomplete Band Demo)

15. Bad Side Of The Moon – non-album B-side of “Border Song” released March 1970 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 217

16. Grey Seal

17. Rock And Roll Madonna – 17 and 16 are the A & B-sides of a non-album UK 7” single released June 1970 on DJM Records DJS 222. The B-side “Grey Seal” is known here are the ‘1970 Version” as it differs to the track that later appeared on the 1973 double “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

18. Border Song (BBC Radio 1 Session, Sound Of The Seventies Show, July 1970)

19. Your Song (as per 18)

20. Take Me To The Pilot (as per 18)

Outside of the 3 non-album single sides noted above (15, 16 and 17) – the other 17 tracks are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMO, PIANO and BBC VERSIONS.

PACKAGING:

The LP originally sported a matt gatefold sleeve, which has been faithfully reproduced in the upgraded 28-page booklet that accompanies this set. Along with period photos of Elton, there's a very informative new essay by noted writer JOHN TOBLER, session details on the bonus tracks, both CDs are picture discs and the booklet reflects both the rear sleeve ensemble photo and the lyrics on the inner spread in the same way they were on the gatefold of the original album - all very nice touches indeed. But the big news is the SOUND....

SOUND:

Sourcing the first generation original masters tapes from the Universal Archives, GIOVANNI SCATOLA and TONY COUSINS at Metropolis Mastering in London have carried out the remastering - and surely an EMMY awaits each of them! As the owner of way too many re-issue CDs, this (and Tumbleweed Connection) are simply the best remaster of old albums that I've ever heard! Twenty seconds into the overly familiar "Your Song", with its brand new piano and acoustic guitar clarity and its string-arranged beauty fully renewed, I was already writing a review and picking my jaw up off the table as I went!

So what's changed? When GUS DUDGEON replaced the useless 1980s CDs with the excellent 1995 remasters, he got the best sound out of the tapes that he could at the time (he sadly passed away a few years ago). But 13 years on to 2008 and that's a lifetime in remastering techniques. These 2008 versions BREATHE - you can hear everything - and clearly too. Songs like "First Episode At Hienton", "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die" heavily feature the fantastic string arrangements of PAUL BUCKMASTER (who did "Space Oddity" for Bowie) - well now you can hear how good they are! The sound is so clean, it makes you double take on almost every track - a TRULY BEAUTIFUL JOB DONE and easy to see why Elton would want these new versions out in the marketplace as soon as possible.

BAND/GUESTS:

FRANK CLARK and COLIN GREEN provide sweet guitar work on "Your Song" and "Sixty Years On", while guest vocalists MADELINE BELL, TONY HAZZARD, LESLIE DUNCAN and ROGER COOK feature especially well on the brilliant "No Strings For Louise" and "The Cage". DIANA LEWIS plays Moog on the sparse "First Episode At Hienton". CALEB QUAYE of HOOKFOOT provides Lead Guitar on "Take Me To The Pilot" while TONY COX of PENTANGLE drums on "The Greatest Discovery" and the epic album closer "The King Must Die".

DISC 2 gives us 12 excellent PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Piano Demos in a row (1-12) along with two separate BBC sessions - the "Dave Lee Travis Show" from April 1970 and the "Sounds Of The Seventies Show" from July 1970 (tracks 18, 19 and 20). They vary in sound quality, but are more than pleasantly good. It should be noted that Track 1, the demo version of "Your Song" did turn up on the "To Be Continued" box set years back, but that was only briefly available. "Bad Side Of The Moon" is the non-album B-side of the 7" single "Border Song" issued March 1970 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 217, while "Rock & Roll Madonna" and "Grey Seal" are the A&B sides of the non-album 7" single DJS 222 issued in the UK in June 1970. "Grey Seal" was re-recorded and turned up on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - the version on this disc is often referred to as "Version 1970".  These 3 were originally bonus tracks on the 1995 reissue CD of the album; here they've upgraded sound quality.

Then comes a genuine sensation; recorded for the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis for his "Sound Of The Seventies" Sessions in July 1970 is an almost note-perfect rendition of "YOUR SONG" which frankly rivals the issued version. Luckily the sound is BEAUTIFUL, his performance heartfelt and not wearied by 38 years of playing the same song. It's FANTASTIC STUFF and a reminder of what initially drew so many music lovers to Elton in the first place - his great song-writing and vocal delivery. Whatever way you cut it, this version is an absolute gem and will thrill fans to the core!

To sum up: I've loved coming back to this album - the great sound quality - actual tunes with thought-provoking lyrics - the attention to detail in the well-thought out packaging - the bonuses you'll play more than once - all of it. For fans of this unduly forgotten album - an absolute must buy...

PS: see also my reviews for the 2004 SACD/Surround Sound variants of “Madman Across The Water” and “Honky Chateau” and the 2014 Bob Ludwig Remaster of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is CLASSIC 1970s ROCK - an E-Book with over 250 entries and 2100 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

"The Singer" on DVD. A Review Of The French Film Now ON DVD.

Unfortunately, the fundamental problem with this film is kind of self-evident on the DVD sleeve pictured above. To the left of shot is the gamine, slinky, sexy, drop-dead gorgeous babe that is Cecile de France. Then to her left is the fat-as-a-fool, false and past-his-sell-by-date Gerard Depardieu playing an aging Charles Aznavour-type crooner called Alain Moreau reduced to doing nightclubs to make a living. We’re supposed to believe that these two polar opposites would be attracted – she especially to him – she would not! And therein lies the problem. The idea that a woman as attractive as this would fall for such an unattractive slob as him is preposterous.

The idea has potential and would have made a great movie if it had been handled well – an older man has a relationship with a much younger woman, which over time blossoms into a tender and loving understanding (that’s what the trailer suckers you into believing), but they don’t. Unfortunately, you take one look at her and you know that in the real world she would never give this obvious loser the time of day. And of course, it’s in this that the whole movie falls apart.

Then there’s the small matter of the title – The Singer – only the French would cast a man who ‘can’t’ sing in the lead role! Depardieu’s efforts are passable at best, and at other times so obviously mundane and awful that it beggars belief. As if this isn’t stupidity enough to be getting on with, then there’s the subtitled lyrics whose abysmal nature can only be fully appreciated by quoting some of them here; check these out – and remember he and his cheesy band are ‘crooning’ these to an audience of bingo-hall, come-dancing elderly dancers…and her at the table swooning at such elegance!

“….You know the photos of Asia
That I shot on ASA 200
Now that you have gone away
Their bright colours have turned pale -
I thought I heard the blades
Of a seaplane but alas
It’s the fan blades as they pass
In the Police station sky…”

Sweet Jesus! Then she buckles at the table under the giddy romance of it all – oh please!

But the biggest problem is the star himself. Time has not been kind to Depardieu – it’s painfully clear that he’s been way too friendly with one-to-many rich dinners and expensive bottles of wine over the last few decades. On the evidence presented to us here, he’s at a point where his huge frame is dangerously close to being a truly horrible pastiche of the character he’s playing. The man is a heart attack waiting to happen and all that wonderful French charm and romanticism he so effortlessly conjured up in “Green Card” all those years ago has deserted him completely. He looks grotesque at times - and worse – simply disinterested in what he’s doing or whether anyone cares.

But it’s the unbelievable story that grates so much. There’s a scene where it’s the morning after; she’s waking up on the sheets with Depardieu’s character in the bathroom whistling, happy he got his end away the night previous with a young babe – pulling power still intact. We see him in a robe – but only in glimpses – why – because his actual naked massive frame would be so repulsive to any viewer as to give the game away. The idea that any woman would find this lardy lovebucket attractive is just ludicrous and the makers of the film don’t want you to see that, let alone think it. But the problem is that you do think it. We’re just not that easily fooled anymore. You could suspend belief in this tiny anomaly if the movie actually went somewhere, but of course, being a French film, it meanders and ponders and pouts and goes nowhere. And even if there were real insights into Beauty and The Beast or even Age versus Youth, they’re not played out in this screenplay. They spend most of their time in empty houses waffling – homes he’s never going to buy, chances he’s never going to take…

The other problem is the lead actress. De France is stunningly beautiful in a way that only young French starlets can be, but she doesn’t really have the acting chops of say Audrey Tautou. So her good looks also go against her – and undermine what you’re being asked to believe. No woman of her age, beauty and attractiveness to young men would be seen dead in that god-awful divorcees night club, let alone fancy the satin-shirted lothario on stage and then bed him because he plies her with a bottle of champagne!

Which brings me to another point about French films. They’re always about women – no actually they’re not – they’re about ‘beautiful women’ and there’s a huge difference. French cinema seems obsessed with ‘young’ female beauty. The camera lingers on her swan-like neck, the dresses caressing her lithe body, the obligatory tasteful cleavage shots, the pouty lips and porcelain expression focused on again and again and again… It’s almost as if French men don’t like women per se, they want to own them, possess them, and then trade in the old ones for new ones when they get the chance, rather than love them for what they are or even treat them as equals. Then the male characters are either weeds or rakes, when it’s very difficult to abide either.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t ‘hate’ French movies, I don’t! I just find them infuriatingly pretentious at times, distant and for the most part wildly unrealistic. But worse - they don’t move me. When I think of the tenderness and genuine magic in “Once” made on a shoestring of a budget in Dublin, but with real heart and genuinely affecting music, and then I look at “The Singer” and I hear nor see either. It's easy to impress, but it’s a whole different ball game to move someone. And for a country and people so closely associated with romanticism and love, French Cinema seems extraordinarily incapable of evoking either at the moment. Time and time again, their films have this almost sick voyeurism about them, they observe the feelings, but never get immersed in them nor offer insights.

In other posted reviews, viewers feelings towards this film varied between 1 and 5 stars – some loathed it/others loved it. Personally, it bored me rigid and then made me angry. I’ve seen some stunning French movies of late, “La Vie En Rose”. “Moliere”, “36” and “8 Women” jump to find, but they’re countered with so many turkeys like this and “Dans Paris” and ”Venus Beauty” – ponderous pretentious crap most of it.

I’m not writing this review so much as a slag off of the movie, but more as a heartfelt plea. French Cinema needs to regain its artistic and emotional soul and stop producing navel-gazing pap like “The Singer”.