Something's Broken On This Reissue & It Isn't The Arrows

This September 2008 ORK Records/RPM CD puts together both of JOHN "RABBIT" BUNDRICK'S solo albums on the Island label from the early 1970s on the same CD (64:09 minutes). "Broken Arrows" was released in May 1973 on Island ILPS 9238 and "Dark Saloon" released in August 1974 on Island ILPS 9289.

You've probably noticed that the albums have been placed in reverse running order - 1974 first, then 1973. This seems like an odd admin error to make - that is until you `listen' to the 1973 album. It's absolutely drenched in huge amounts of hiss on every single track - to a point where it intrudes on the listen - way too much. The second album fares better sound wise with most of its songs being crisp and clear. But why place the better sounding tracks FIRST? Could it be that if you put them in the right order and played it - you wouldn't buy the disc at all! It says these albums were `mastered' by Music Masters - but doesn't say by who or when - or even whether the real tapes were used? A shoddy job to say the least.

However, most of that would be bearable if the music was actually any good. It isn't. This is turgid mid 70's rock - it was uninteresting then and has dated badly now. Rabbit hadn't a great voice either. When I worked at Reckless, these albums used to sit in the racks for months despite being supposed listed rarities - on hearing this poor reissue, it's not difficult to see why.

Unless you have to have these forgotten LPs on CD - I'd say avoid this sloppy reissue. It's odd - because RPM releases have a good reputation.

“Mr. Wonderful” by FLEETWOOD MAC (1999 and 2004 Sony/Blue Horizon 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Stop Messin' Around..." 

Following only 7 months after their explosive debut and afforded the luxury of a gatefold sleeve - Fleetwood Mac's second studio album "Mr. Wonderful" was released in September 1968 on Blue Horizon Records S 7-63205 in the UK (in stereo only). The American equivalent was issued in February 1969 on Epic Records BN 26446 and was called "English Rose" - it had different artwork and a much-altered track run. This CD version reflects the UK LP and is slightly expanded.

Here's the breakdown - the original 12-track album track list ran as follows (41:51 minutes):

1. Stop Messin' Round (Peter Green and C.G. Adams song) [2:21 minutes]

2. Coming Home (Elmore James cover) [2:41 minutes]

3. Rollin' Man (Peter Green song) [2:54 minutes]

4. Dust My Broom (Elmore James cover) [2:53 minutes]

5. Love That Burns (Peter Green and C.G. Adams song) [5:04 minutes]

6. Doctor Brown (William Glasco cover) [3:46 minutes] (End of Side 1)

7. Need Your Love Tonight (Jeremy Spencer song) [3:29 minutes]

8. If You Be My Baby (Peter Green & C.G. Adams [3:53 minutes]

9. Evenin' Boogie (Jeremy Spencer song) [2:42 minutes]

10.Lazy Poker Blues (Peter Green & C.G. Adams song) [2:36 minutes)

11. I've Lost My Baby (Jeremy Spencer song) [4:18 minutes]

12. Trying So Hard To Forget (Peter Green & C.G. Adams song) [4:51 minutes] (End of Side 2)

This 16-track CD reissue of "Mr. Wonderful" by FLEETWOOD MAC at 56:27 minutes is "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" version from the November 1999 Sony 6-CD Box Set issued as a stand-alone disc in July 2004 (Sony 51644442 - Barcode 5099751644422). The additional bits are that Track 1 has some studio chatter before the take [extended to 2:36 minutes], tracks 2 to 12 are exactly the same, while the following are BONUSES added on...

13. Stop Messin' Round (Takes 1, 2 and 3 with False Starts/Previously Unissued) [4:32 minutes]

14. Stop Messin' Round (Take 5 - Master Single Version/Remix)  [2:47 minutes]

15.I Held My Baby Last Night (Elmore James/Jule Taub cover) [4:26 minutes]

16. Mystery Boogie (Jeremy Spencer song) [2:51 minutes]

Note: Track 14 is longer than and different to the album version of "Stop Messin' Round" that opens the LP

In the USA the album was called "English Rose" on Epic Records and its altered track list ran as follows:

1. Stop Messin' Round [as above]

2. Jigsaw Blues [on "Pious Bird Of Good Omen"]

3. Doctor Brown [as above]

4. Something Inside Of Me [on "The Original Fleetwood Mac"]

5. Evenin' Boogie [as above]

6. Love That Burns [as above]

7. Black Magic Woman [on "Pious Bird Of Good Omen"]

8. I've Lost My Baby [as above]

9. One Sunny Day [on "The Original Fleetwood Mac"]

10. Without You [on "The Original Fleetwood Mac"]

11. Coming Home [as above]

12. Albatross [on "Pious Bird Of Good Omen"]

[As you can see - in order to sequence "English Rose" in remastered form you will need 3 CDs from the 6CD box set - "Mr. Wonderful", "The Pious Bird Of Good Omen" and "The Original Fleetwood Mac"]

Musically, "Mr. Wonderful" only half works for me - it feels like a poor-man's version of the debut (the USA "English Rose" compilation LP has a far better track run). Also over half the album - tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 11 do 'not' feature Peter Green at all (and suffer for it). The others appear to be hijacked by Jeremy Spencer's obsession with Elmore James to a point where "Doctor Brown" and "Need Your Love Tonight" sound exactly like the same song repeated literally one after another. It's not that the album is bad - it just somehow lacks something. The last song, however, redeems things a bit - it's "Trying So Hard To Forget" and has Peter Green on Guitar with label mate DUSTER BENNETT on Harmonica - just the two of them - and it's a peach.

The bonuses turn out to be excellent too - especially the two previously unreleased Jeremy Spencer tracks - the very slow blues of "I Held My Baby Last Night" and the jaunty boogie-guitar instrumental of "Mystery Boogie". And as with the box set, the DUNCAN COWELL remastered sound is exceptionally good - blasting out of your speakers with all the power of the band live in the studio.

As a stand-alone disc, it's great value for money - I'd say BUY IT and then go for 2 to 5 as well...they're all magical in their own way. Or just buy the box set outright - it's such great stuff anyway and will allow you to sequence both "Mr. Wonderful" and "English Rose" as separate albums.

While it might feel like you’re stating the obvious – but any Fleetwood Mac from this period in your life is a good thing...

PS: For those wishing for more, the Blue Horizon label Fleetwood Mac UK albums are:

1.  Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968) (original album, known as "Fleetwood Mac" in the USA)

2.  Mr. Wonderful (1968) (original album)

3.  The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (1969)  (compilation of non-album 7" singles, their B-sides, collaborations and other rarities)

4.  Blues Jam At Chess (1969)

(Original 20-track 2LP set often referred to as a Various Artists compilation. Its full credit is to: Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J.T. Brown, Guitar Buddy, Honey Boy Edwards, S.P. Leary. Originally a 2LP set on release in the UK, it was broken into 2 volumes in the USA and renamed in May 1970 as “Blues Jam In Chicago Volume 1" and "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume 2". It was also reissued twice thereafter in the USA – 1971 and 1975 as “Fleetwood Mac In Chicago” (both charted). The CD reissues are based on the 1970 releases and names – but are the ‘Expanded Editions’ from the 1999 6-Disc Box set with rejiggered tracks. It is ONLY these singular re-sequenced releases that are available today.)

5.  The Original Fleetwood Mac (1971)

(Although released in 1971, this LP has recordings from August 1967 through to October 1968, all of which were previously unreleased at the time)

"Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" by FLEETWOOD MAC [1968 Debut LP] (1999 and 2004 Sony/Blue Horizon 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...My Heart Beat Like A Hammer..."

In its famous 'dog and dustbin' sleeve - Fleetwood Mac's first album was released in February 1968 on Blue Horizon Records in the UK in both MONO (7-63200) and STEREO (S 7-63200) and slightly later on Epic Records in the USA in both MONO (LN 24402) and STEREO (BN 26402). In the UK it's referred to by its label title "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" - in the USA simply as "Fleetwood Mac".

And although it's now recognised as a masterpiece of British Blues Rock - this particular stand-alone June 2004 CD reissue of that explosive debut is "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" version - the one taken from the 6CD box set issued in November 1999. And it’s jumbled around enough to require a detailed explanation. So here goes...

The original album track list ran as follows (35:55 minutes):

1. My Heart Beat Like A Hammer (Jeremy Spencer song) [2:59 minutes]

2. Merry Go Round (Peter Green song) [4:20 minutes]

3. Long Grey Mare (Peter Green song) [2:15 minutes]

4. Hellhound On My Trail (Robert Johnson cover) [2:06 minutes]

5. Shake Your Moneymaker (Elmore James cover) [2:57 minutes]

6. Looking For Somebody (Peter Green song) [2:52 minutes] (End of Side 1)

7. No Place To Go (Howlin' Wolf cover) [3:21 minutes]

8. My Baby's Good To Me (Jeremy Spencer song) [2:51 minutes]

9. I Loved Another Woman (Peter Green song) [2:57 minutes]

10. Cold Black Night (Jeremy Spencer song) [3:17 minutes]

11. The World Keep On Turning (Peter Green song) [2:29 minutes]

12. Got To Move (Homesick James Williamson cover) [3:21 minutes] (End of Side 2)

But this "Box Set" version runs to almost twice the length of the ordinary CD reissue (63:39 minutes):

1. My Heart Beat Like A Hammer (Take 2 Master Version with Studio Talk) [3:33 minutes]

2. Merry Go Round (Take 2 Master Version with studio Talk) [4:20 minutes]

3. Long Grey Mare (same as 3 above)

4. Hellhound On My Trail (Take 1 Complete Master Version/Remix) [2:06 minutes]

5. Shake Your Moneymaker (Master Version with Studio Talk) [3:14 minutes]

6. Looking For Somebody (same as 6 above)

7. No Place To Go (same as 7 above)

8. My Baby's Good To Me (same as 8 above)

9. I Loved Another Woman (same as 9 above)

10. Cold Black Night (same as 10 above)

11. The World Keep On Turning (same as 11 above)

12. Got To Move (same as 12 above)

BONUSES

13. My Heart Beat Like A Hammer (Take 1 - Previously Unissued) [3:43 minutes]

14. Merry Go Round (Take 1 - Previously Unissued/Incomplete) [0:57 minutes]

15. I Loved Another Woman (Takes 1, 2, 3 and 4 with False Starts - Previously Unissued - Incomplete) [6:09 minutes]

16. I Loved Another Woman (Takes 5 and 6 - Previously Unissued/Incomplete) [5:10 minutes]

17. Cold Black Night (Takes 1 through to 5 with False Starts - Previously Unreleased - and Take 6 which is the master version) [5:30 minutes]

18. You're So Evil (Take 2 - Previously Unreleased Jeremy Spencer Track) [3:07 minutes]

19. I'm Coming Home To Stay (Jeremy Spencer song, Previously Unreleased Track) [2:29 minutes]

Why so different? In November 1999 Sony issued the stunning 6-disc box set "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" by FLEETWOOD MAC to universal acclaim. Mike Vernon, the label's producer, had taken the unusual decision to re-sequence the track line-ups of ALL 5 UK albums (one was a double) to feature outtakes, studio chatter, false starts and so on. This was of course fine and dandy on a comprehensive box set.

But this June 2004 singular CD re-issue of "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" by FLEETWOOD MAC on Sony/Blue Horizon 516443 2 (Barcode 5099751644323) mimics that release - when it really should have been reverted to the 12 track original LP run and added the outtakes on as bonuses at the end. It sort of does, of course, but the downside is that when you play "My Heart Beat Like A Hammer" for the first time - the studio chatter and buggering about in the studio is quaint - but when you want to actually hear the track and album proper - it becomes a major pain. You can of course edit it with iTunes to play the 12 tracks as 1st released, but that's more work than should be necessary.

On the upside are two stunning previously unreleased Jeremy Spencer tracks at the end - "You're So Evil" and especially the raucous Elmore James clone "I'm Coming Home To Stay" - fantastic stuff and genuine bonus tracks. Completists would have enjoyed this disc having both the MONO and STEREO mix of the album - as initially released - and just the two unreleased on the end - but that's another day's work. And hearing raucous Blues Rock joy like "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "The World Keep On Turning" on the original album is never going to be anything less than thrilling.

As it stands Fleetwood Mac's 1968 first album is still one of the great rocking blues offerings in any configuration and only makes you pine for more. I'd say BUY IT anyway and then go for 2 to 5 listed below as well...they're all magical in their own way. "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" is the kind of album you will return to again and again…

PS: For those wishing for more, the Blue Horizon label Fleetwood Mac UK albums are (all reviewed):

1. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968) (original album, known as "Fleetwood Mac" in the USA)

2. Mr. Wonderful (1968) (original album)

3. The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (1969)  (compilation of non-album 7" singles, their B-sides, collaborations and other rarities)

4. Blues Jam At Chess (1969)

(Original 20-track 2LP set often referred to as a Various Artists compilation. Its full credit is to: Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J.T. Brown, Guitar Buddy, Honey Boy Edwards, S.P. Leary. Originally a 2LP set on release in the UK, it was broken into 2 volumes in the USA and renamed in May 1970 as “Blues Jam In Chicago Volume 1" and "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume 2". It was also reissued twice thereafter in the USA – 1971 and 1975 as “Fleetwood Mac In Chicago” (both charted). The CD reissues are based on the 1970 releases and names – but are the ‘Expanded Editions’ from the 1999 6-Disc Box set with rejiggered tracks. It is ONLY these singular re-sequenced releases that are available today.)

5. The Original Fleetwood Mac (1971)

(Although released in 1971, this LP has recordings from August 1967 through to October 1968, all of which were previously unreleased at the time)