"The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions' by TOP TOPHAM with Lloyd Watson and Pete Wingfield [featuring the "Ascension Heights" LP from 1970] (2008 Sony/Blue Horizon CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This review is part of my Series "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1970s Rock And Pop" 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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At the pimply age of 15 - Surrey-born Anthony 'Top' Topham stepped onto stage in May 1963 at the Eel Pie Island Club in Twickenham with his new wailing blues-band THE YARDBIRDS. A few months later he was replaced with Eric Clapton and after that - a certain Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page also joined that volatile crew. When you consider what a staggering influence CREAM, JEFF BECK, THE YARDBIRDS and LED ZEPPELIN have had on everything in rock then and now - it's a damn shame that Top Topham got musically lost in the mix somehow and has never been given the catalyst credit he so deserves. Maybe this superb and slightly odd release will change all that.

UK released September 2008 – “The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions” by TOP TOPHAM on Sony/BMG 886973590829 is a single-CD based around his obscure sole album “Ascension Heights” for the UK cult label Blue Horizon released in early 1970. 
It boasts top-quality remastered STEREO sound and 7 previously unreleased MONO bonus cuts.

Here's the breakdown (59:43 minutes)

1. Sawbuck

2. Mini-Minor-Mo

3. Hop House

4. Ridin’ The Blinds

5. Hot Ginger

6. Funks Elegy

7. Ascension Heights [Side 2]

8. Tuxedo Junction

9. Globetrottin’

10. Spider Drag

11. Mean Old Pullman

12. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

Tracks 1 to 12 are "Ascension Heights” - his only vinyl LP released on Blue Horizon Records 7-63857 in January 1970 (recorded in London at CBS STUDIOS in October 1969)

Tracks 13 and 14 are "Christmas Cracker" and "Cracking Up Over Christmas" - his lone UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3167 released November 1969

Track 15 is "Hop House" which is a previously unreleased live BBC session recorded at The Paris Theatre in London on 8 January 1970 for the Blue Horizon Hour on the JOHN PEEL SHOW. It was aired 11 January 1970 on BBC Radio and is a slow blues tune with lovely fretwork from Top complimented by tasty keyboard rolls from PETE WINGFIELD (then with another BH signing Jellybread).

Tracks 16 to 19 are “Heart Of Stone”, “You Gonna Ruin Me Baby”, “Long And Lonely Year’ and “Anything For You” - previously unreleased tracks recorded in May 1969 by then unknown Blue Horizon signing - LLOYD WATSON – a very talented 20-year old guitar player (Jamaican mother and English Dad) who looked and played a little like Shuggie Otis meets Peter Green. "You're Gonna Ruin Me Baby" is a rocking Leslie Johnson/Jerry West cover version while the other three are Lloyd Watson originals.

The tapes were transferred and remastered by SEAN LYNCH at Torch Music and the sound quality is gorgeous - really clear and clean - all the instruments given a fab new lease of life. The 12-page booklet has detailed liner notes and stories about Topham's life by the label founder MIKE VERNON, colour and black & white photos from the period, full session discographies and it even sports a dapper card wrap sleeve on the outside that gives the whole package a real air of class and event.

The album "Ascension Heights" has always been a £100+ vinyl rarity (I've seen only one copy of it in my life), so its reissue here is to be welcomed. But it has also divided Blues purists for years because - for a blues label release - it's a slightly strange record! Firstly it's entirely instrumental - and not in a blues way either. It doesn't seem to quite know what it is. One minute it has the playfulness of Django Reinhardt jazz noodling on "Spider Drag", the next minute it's Sixties Chet Atkins on "Globetrottin'", the next second its funky Blood, Sweat and Tears without the vocals on the brass filled "Mini-Minor-Mo" (a personal favourite and one that funky rock enthusiasts should check out pronto). It also features PETE WINGFIELD on Piano. There are even times on "Hot Ginger" where it sounds like a soulful version of Fleetwood Mac's debut album. It's a varied record - daring in its choices and filled with original songs by Topham. "Ascension Heights" is a grower that bears repeated listening.

The extras are a mixed bag. The funky backbeat of "Christmas Cracker" sounds like something Booker T & The MG's would dash off as festivities filler. It's good - if not great. The live track is received well too by an enthusiastic British audience.

But the four LLOYD WATSON tracks are however - a real find. He had an excellent voice and presence; they're mostly rockin' blues and make for a fab vocal surprise after the dearth of instrumentals that preceded them.  "Anything For You" finishes the disc in a great Yardbirds meets Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac kind of a way and will have fans of both loving this release. 

Another winner from Blue Horizon that’s thoughtfully put together - and full of surprises you wish there was more of...

“Ascension Heights” - A 1970 LP Rarity Is Finally Reissued by BLUE HORIZON with Superlative Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks and Remastered Sound

At the pimply age of 15, Surrey-born Anthony “Top” Topham stepped onto stage in May 1963 at the Eel Pie Island Club in Twickenham with his new blues-wailing band - THE YARDBIRDS. A few months later he was replaced with ERIC CLAPTON and after that a certain JEFF BECK and JIMMY PAGE also joined that volatile crew. When you consider what a staggering influence CREAM, BECK and LED ZEPPELIN have had on everything in rock then and now - it’s a damn shame that Top Topham got musically lost in the mix somehow and has never been given the catalyst credit he so deserves.

Maybe this superb and slightly odd release will change all that.

This 19-track September 2008 single CD is based around his obscure sole album for the UK cult Blue Horizon label released in early 1970; it also top-quality remastered STEREO sound and 7 previously unreleased MONO bonus cuts.

Here’s the breakdown (59:43 minutes)
Tracks 1 to 12 are “Ascension Heights”, his only album released on Blue Horizon Records 7-63857 in January 1970 (recorded in London at CBS STUDIOS in October 1969)
Tracks 13 and 14 are “Christmas Cracker” and “Cracking Up Over Christmas”, his lone 7” single on Blue Horizon 57-3167, which preceded the release of the album in November 1969
Track 15 is “Hop House” which is a previously unreleased live BBC session recorded at The Paris Theatre in London on 8 January 1970 for the ‘Blue Horizon Hour’ on the JOHN PEEL SHOW – it was aired on BBC Radio 1 on 11 January 1970. It’s a slow blues tune with lovely fretwork from Top complimented by PETE WINGFIELD’s tasty keyboard rolls.
Tracks 16 to 19 are previously unreleased tracks recorded in May 1969 by then unknown Blue Horizon signing LLOYD WATSON, a talented 20-year old guitar player (Jamaican mother and English Dad) who looked and played a little like SHUGGIE OTIS meets PETER GREEN. Three are his own compositions with “You’re Gonna Ruin Me Baby” being a rocking Leslie Johnson/Jerry West cover version.

The tapes were transferred and remastered by SEAN LYNCH at TORCH MUSIC – the sound quality is GORGEOUS – really clear and clean – all the instruments given a fab new lease of life – superb stuff. The 12-page booklet has detailed liner notes and stories about Topham’s life by the label founder MIKE VERNON, colour and black & white photos from the period, full session discographies and a even sports a dapper card wrap sleeve on the outside that gives the whole package a real air of class and event.

The album “Ascension Heights” has always been a £100+ vinyl rarity (I’ve seen only one copy of it in my life), so its reissue here is to be welcomed. But it has also divided Blues purists for years because - for a blues label release – it's a slightly strange record! Firstly it’s entirely instrumental – and not in a blues way either. It doesn’t seem to quite know what it is. One minute it has the playfulness of Django Reinhardt jazz noodlings on “Spider Drag”, the next minute it’s Sixties Chet Atkins on “Globetrottin’”, the next second its funky Blood, Sweat and Tears without the vocals on the brass filled “Mini-Minor-Mo” (a personal favourite and one that soul boys should check out pronto) which also features PETE WINGFIELD on Piano. There are even times on “Hot Ginger” where it sounds a soulful version of Fleetwood Mac’s debut album! A heady mix to say the least! It’s varied, daring too – a grower that bears repeated listening.

The funky backbeat of “Christmas Cracker” sounds like something Booker T & The MG’s would dash off as festivities filler. It’s good if not great.

The 4 LLOYD WATSON tracks however are a real find – he had an excellent voice and presence; they’re mostly rockin’ blues and make for a fab surprise after the dearth of instrumentals that precede them. “Anything For You” finishes the disc in great Yardbirds meets Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac kind of a way and will have fans of both loving this release.

Another winner from Blue Horizon- highly recommended.

"Caramel" - A Review Of The Nadine Labaki Film Now On DVD and BLU RAY (2014)

"Your Name Is My Prayer…" - Caramel on DVD and BLU RAY

"Caramel" is not what you'd expect from Lebanese filmmaking and in particular movies about that most troubled of their cities - Beirut. I found it touching, unbelievably insightful and genuinely romantic too - it's one of the loveliest watches I've had the pleasure of seeing in years. The largely unknown cast is superb and each deserves specific mention:

NADINE LABAKI plays Layale - the sexy yet scatter-brained 35-year old owner of "Si Belle" - a salon that acts as emotion-central for co-workers and girlfriends. Layale is having a giddy but demeaning affair with a married man whom we never see except as a shadow in a car under a bridge - or hear him - as he honks his horn outside the premises for her to come running...

YASMINE AL MASRI plays Nisrine - one of Layale's best workers - the beautiful and young Nisrine is having doubts about her forthcoming marriage to Bassam - a headstrong modern man played by ISMAL ANTAR. Bassam is a man who will take on the oppressive state and even God rather than capitulate; Nisrine's also worried that Bassam might not want her should he find out about her less-than-virginal past...

GISELE AOUAD plays Jamale - a customer and friend of the younger ladies. Jamale's mid to late 40's, an actress who is getting too old to nab the lucrative advert roles anymore and goes to sad and desperate lengths to stay young-looking...

JOANNA MOUKARZEL plays the slightly butch Rima - a lowly washer of hair in the saloon who falls silently and breathlessly in love with a beautiful woman who walks in off the street one afternoon. She is played by FATME SAFA - and may even share with shy Rima the love that dares not speaks its name (the title of this review is a lyric from a love song sung by Rima at Nisrine's wedding)...

SIHAM HADDAD plays the stoical and ceaselessly loving Rose - Rima's 65-year-old Aunt who lives across the street from the salon in her humble haberdashery business...

Lili (her even older sister) is played to heart-breaking perfection by AZIZA SEMAAN. Lili is a mouthy old curmudgeon who picks up bits of paper off the streets and tells everyone there's a plane coming to take her and her lover away. Rose is driven to despair by Lili's increasingly difficult senility until one day a gentleman caller comes in for a suit alteration. His name is Charles played by a debonair DIMITRI STANCOFSKY - Charles says little, but his kind and warm glances reawaken a tenderness in Rose she'd long thought gone - and of course poses her with a horrible family conundrum....

ADEL KARAM plays Youssef - the parking-ticket Policeman who longs for Layale from a distance, but she is too busy screwing up her life to notice. Youssef is handsome, decent and right for her, if only Layale would stop sticking her tongue out at him...

FADIA STELLA plays the redheaded and lovely Christine, wife of Rahid, the feckless husband we never see. She comes calling to "So Beautiful" for a free waxing one afternoon after a phone-call the previous day to her home by a sappily desperate Layale. Or perhaps Christine's there to size up the threat to her marriage and her lovely young daughter. There are many other cameos and they're all excellent.

Nadine Labaki - the principal actress and director - co-wrote the script with RODNEY EL HADDAD and JIHAD HOJEILY. It's her 1st film and she could easily have shirked the undeniable downside of their world in order to make the film a more palatable package for Western viewers - but she doesn't. The eternal shame heaped on women by virtue of religious guilt in all things that they do - the double standards of the authorities - the legacy of war lingering malevolently in the background - all of is subtly woven into crucial scenes. Their lives are not given to you in a preachy or clichéd manner, but in a way that shows you just what a Middle Eastern woman has to cope with nowadays. They laugh like us, they cry, they triumph, they make their mistakes, take stock, get back up again - and try their damnedest to be modern in a world inextricably tied into a two-thousand year old past. Family acts as the bedrock - friends are cherished - and love - like in every society - is the simple and deeply sought after goal for all. It's a positive and refreshing film and a view of Beirut city life that you just don't ever see.

The script is full of deftly insightful stuff too - scenes that are just so funny, tender, sad, romantic: the kid under the family dinner table looking up Nisrine's skirt because she and Bassam were playing touchy-feely legs and he knows the woman can't rat him out; the tenderness between Charles and Rose as he quietly sugars her tea in his apartment after she's returned his altered gentleman's trousers; Jamale sat on a toilet using a bottle of ink on tissue paper to feign her still having youth; Rima's lovely face as she falls in love, softly washing the long flowing jet-black hair of a stunningly beautiful customer in the lean-back sink...her huge brown eyes as she looks back up at Rima....and smiles. To effortlessly move from the old-world respect of the elderly couple to the sensual playfulness of the young lesbians in the salon is fantastic writing.

"Caramel" blew me away - it made me ache for these good people and their hopes and aspirations and dreams. But if you want real persuasion, there are FOUR nomination references on the DVD's rear sleeve, one of which is the WINNER of the AUDIENCE AWARD at the "San Sebastian Film Festival". Not the critics - not the industry insiders - the 'audience' award.  That public knew a winner when they saw one.

Joy, pride and heart went into the making of this little foreign film (called "Sukkar Banat" in some territories) - and as the credits role and Nadine Labaki's dedication tells you the movie is "For My Beirut" - it's hard not to be impossibly moved. Put "Caramel" high on your rental/to buy list. And then make a beeline for Mira Nair's "The Namesake" - another peach of a movie - cut with the same tenderness and grace.

PS 2014 FORMATS UPDATE:

As of June 2014 - the UK REGION 2 DVD on Momentum (Barcode 5060116722819 for the correct issue) is the only format to have this Lebanese language film in ENGLISH subtitles – English and English for the Hard of Hearing.

There are now two All Regions BLU RAY reissues: The German issue on Barcode 4042564130788 has two Audio tracks – German DD 5.1 and Arabic DD 5.1  - but has only German language subtitles.

The French BLU RAY also has two Audio tracks – Lebanese and French 5.1 HD Master Audio – but with only French subtitles

In short - both BLU RAY reissues have *NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES* of any kind for this Lebanese language film. The picture quality on both BLU RAYs is gorgeous but it's a damn shame someone doesn't release this lovely film for the English-speaking world on BLU RAY...

"C.C.S. II" by C.C.S. [feat Alexis Korner, 2nd LP from 1972] (2000 Repertoire 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster in Artwork-Repro Digipak) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Don't Give Me No Jive Talk Brother…"

CCS or C.C.S. (short for COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS SOCIETY) made 3 studio albums and 7 singles for Mickie Most's RAK Records in the UK in the early Seventies, before the band finally split up in late 1973.  This fantastically clear-sounding Repertoire CD from 2000 is the second of those three albums - supplemented with two rare and desirable B-sides as bonus tracks.

The CD digipak mimics the album's original single sleeve artwork front and rear (the 1st album - the red covered one - was a gatefold) and has an 8-page booklet with a CHRIS WELCH essay on the LP and the band's history. The original British pressing of their second album actually calls the LP simply "C.C.S." like the debut - but Repertoire have called it 'II' to avoid confusion with the first album from 1970 (also reviewed).

Released April 2000 (reissued June 2002) - "C.C.S. II" by C.C.S on Repertoire REP 4852 (Barcode 4009910485224) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster that plays out as follows (51:34 minutes):

1. Brother

2. Black Dog

3. I Want You Back

4. Running Out Of Sky (Sky Diver)

5. Whole Lotta Rock And Roll

(a) School Day (b) Lucille (c) Long Tall Sally (d) Whole Lotta Love

6. Chaos/Can’t We Ever get It Back [Side 2]

7. This Is My Life

8. Misunderstood

9. Maggie's Song

10. City

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 2nd album - which as well as their 1970 debut - was simply called "CCS" on the original vinyl LP. Here it's called CCS II for CD purposes. It was originally released in April 1972 on Rak Records SRAK 503 and on the strength of the March 1972 UK 7" single "Brother" - the album charted at 23 - the only one of their three LPs to break the Top 50. Great sleeve too.

Tracks 11 and 12 are the bonus tracks:

11 is "Mister What You Can't Have" which is the non-album B-side to "Brother" on RAK 126 (it's a John Cameron original - great fun track)

12 is "Sixteen Tons" which is the non-album A-side of RAK 141 issued in 1972. Its B-side is the Peter Thorup original "This Is My Life" - it's Track 7 on the album. However, the single version is shorter and different. It has Thorup vocals only, while the album version includes both Thorup and Korner. If you want the single mix (unfortunately not included here), it's on the superb EMI CD "A's B's & Rarities" which also sports 2 previously unreleased CCS tracks not on any of these Repertoire issues. Well worth seeking out that. Back to the A though. I've always thought CCS's version of "Sixteen Tons" to be one of 'the' great lost Seventies gems - and for soul boys looking for a funky rock track to fill out that cool 70's CD-R, this is the place to look. It's a cover version of the Tennessee Ernie Ford 1950's classic which was followed quickly by a PLATTERS version - this fabulous take on the famous 'shoveling coal' song borrows a bit from both and it's a song that whenever we play it in the shop, has customers coming to the counter asking "who's this, who's this?"

The huge ensemble group CCS was the brain-child of British Blues Boom Godfather ALEXIS KORNER who along with Danish singer PETER THORUP and British arranger JOHN CAMERON pulled together the cream of brass/flute-playing session-men of the time and went after the BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS market for funked-up rock. Deciding right from the start to include cover versions ala B, S & T, they did a fantastic brassed-up take on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" that not only complimented the original, but also defined that "CCS" sound. So when the new BBC pop program "Top Of The Pops" needed a cool new theme song, they took this winner from their 1970 debut album, dropped the flute intro and the vocal middle and end - and a theme song legend was born. That mixture of cover-versions given the CCS treatment alongside JOHN CAMERON and ALEXIS KORNER originals continued on this LP. "Black Dog" is another Zeppelin cover from IV, "I Want You Back" was made famous by The Congregation and The Jackson 5 - while the "Whole Lotta Rock 'n' Roll" track is a 5-part medley of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and a reprise of Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".

But the best bit is the SOUND. Repertoire re-issues are always good in my book, but this licensed-from-EMI remaster is exceptional. I'd expected wads of hiss, but the transfers are very clean - and given the amount of brass coming at you, muscular to a point where you have to sometimes reach for the volume control! A really great job done for a criminally forgotten album (lyrics from “Brother - the opening track on Side 1 of the LP - provide the title of this review).

When C.C.S. folded, both Korner and Thorup teamed up with King Crimson's BOZ BURRELL and IAN WALLACE to form SNAPE who issued some albums in Europe that were good too. But my heart is with the fab C.C.S. Highly recommended to those who love their Seventies with a bit of balls and a sense of humour.

PS:

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For those who want more, their 1st album from 1970 (also called "CCS" on vinyl - "CCS Vol.1" for CD purposes) is also available in this series - as is their 3rd and last album from 1973, "The Best Band In The Land". I've bought the other two also - and remastered with bonus tracks - they're the business too. I've also extensively reviewed Esoteric Recordings "Tap Turns On The Water: The C.C.S. Story" 2CD Anthology from 2013 which has equally stupendous audio quality...