“Patches/The Dynamic Clarence Carter” by CLARENCE CARTER (June 2000 Collectables CD covering his 4th and 2nd albums for Atlantic Records) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…That Was Another Place…And Another Time…"

Here's the breakdown for this 2LPs onto 1CD Reissue of "Patches/The Dynamic Clarence Carter" by CLARENCE CARTER on Collectables COL-CD-6416 (Barcode 090431641620) released June 2000 (69:56 minutes):

1. Willie And Laura Mae Jones

2. Say Man

3. I'm Just A Prisoner (Of Your Good Lovin’)

4. Let It Be

5. I Can't Leave Your Love Alone

6. Your Love Lifted Me

7. Till I Can't Take It Anymore

8. Patches

9. It's All In Your Mind

10. Changes

11. C.C. Blues

12. Getting The Bills (But No Merchandise)

Tracks 1 to 12 make up the stereo LP "Patches" his 4th album issued October 1970 in the USA on Atlantic SD-8267 and Atlantic 2400 027 in the UK

13. I'd Rather Go Blind

14. Think About It

15. The Road Of Love

16. You've Been A Long Time Comin'

17. Light My Fire

18. That Old Time Feeling

19. Steal Away

20. Let Me Comfort You

21. Look What I Got

22. Too Weak To Fight

23. Harper Valley P.T.A.

24. Weekend Love

Tracks 13 to 24 are the stereo LP "The Dynamic Clarence Carter", his 2nd album, issued March 1969 in the USA on Atlantic SD-8199 and Atlantic 588 172 in the UK

[His 1st album, the December 1968 "This Is Clarence Carter" and his 3rd album, the August 1969 "Testifyin'" also for Atlantic Records are available on another CD from Collectables]

To date there's been a 1993 Rhino best of set called "Snatching It Back” - some Sequel reissues of the 4 albums in the UK about 1997 and the recent 2007 compilation "Platinum Collection" from Warners/Rhino Europe (basically a slight re-run of "Snatching It Back"). What makes this Collectables USA reissue from 2000 so desirable is the SOUND - it's SUPERB - far better to my ears than any of the others. It doesn't say where or when it was remastered - but the sound 'is' markedly better...

This is odd because Collectables have never had the best of reputations for either packaging or sound - but when I A/B the wonderfully slinky "That Old Time Feeling" or "Two Weak To Fight" with the 1993 Rhino issue for instance - the sound on this 2000 version is twice as good - clearer and basically more punchy. The other point to note is that the 2 Best Of sets include only 5 tracks out of the 24 here - so there's a lot to discover on this CD - ace Sixties/Seventies Atlantic soul all of it.

The slip of an inlay reproduces the liner notes of each of the original LPs and the rear inlay provides session details for both albums - Duane Allman played guitar on "Dynamic" - Travis Wammack on "Patches" - stuff like that.

Highlights include his great cover of Tony Joe White's "Willie And Laura Mae Jones" (issued as the B-side of "It's All In Your Mind" in the UK in January 1971 on Atlantic 2091 045) complete with his trademark chuckle after the lyrics (title above). The backing vocals are provided by Donna Rhodes and Charles Chalmers on that track - they also wrote the cool and funky "Look What I Got" on "Dynamic".  "C.C. Blues" and "The Road To Love" are his own compositions and are superb too - especially the slow soulful blues of "C.C." A lesser-known soul man called Obie McClinton penned the lovely "Let Me Comfort You" and "Your Love Lifted Me" (he also penned tunes for James Carr). Another highlight is Carter's funked-up cover version of Jimmy Hughes' hit "Steal Away" - it's so clear now too - drums, keyboards, brass - fabulous stuff.

So much on here to treasure and enjoy - a wicked little reissue really. And with its tremendously clear sound - it’s big time recommended…

“The Platinum Collection” by JOE TURNER. A Review of the 2007 Rhino CD Compilation.

“…Monday Washing On The Line…I See Yours Right Next To Mine…”

Europe's "The Platinum Collection" is one of a large number of collections issued in 2007 to celebrate the label's 60th Anniversary - and Big Joe Turner deserves his place in that list of excellence. It consists of 21 mostly rocking Fifties Rhythm' n' Blues tracks - a huge number of which charted between 1951 and 1959. It's issued at a budget price and has that great Rhino remastered sound throughout.

At budget price, the inlay isn't detailed, and there's a few gems on here that are off the beaten track when it comes to hits sets for the lovely Big Joe - so here's a song-by-song breakdown (58:33 minutes):

All tracks (except 16) are USA 7" singles:
1. Shake, Rattle And Roll - 1954 on Atlantic 1026 [A]
2. Flip, Flop And Fly - 1955 on Atlantic 1053 [A]
3. Honey Hush - 1953 on Atlantic 1001 [A]
4. Well All Right - 1954 on Atlantic 1040 [A]
5. Hide And Seek - 1955 on Atlantic 1069 [A]
6. Morning, Noon And Night - 1956 on Atlantic 1080 [B-side to 7]
7. The Chicken and The Hawk (Up, Up And Away) - 1956 on Atlantic 1080 [A]
8. Corrine Corrina - 1956 on Atlantic 1088 [A]
9. Boogie Woogie Country Girl - 1956 on Atlantic 1088 [B-side to 8]
10. Midnight Special Train - 1957 on Atlantic 1122 [A]
11. Rock A While - 1956 on Atlantic 1100 [B-side to 12]
12. Lipstick, Powder And Paint - 1956 on Atlantic 1100 [A]
13. Midnight Cannonball - 1955 on Atlantic 1069 [B-side to 5]
14. The Chill Is On - 1951 on Atlantic 45-949 [A]
15. Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop - 1953 on Atlantic 1016 [B-side to 17]
16. You're Driving Me Crazy - 1956 USA LP "Boss Of The Blues" on Atlantic 1234
17. TV Mama - 1953 on Atlantic 1016 [A]
18. Tomorrow Night - 1959 on Atlantic 2044 [A]
19. Don't You Cry - 1952 on Atlantic 45-970 [A]
20. Sweet Sixteen - 1952 on Atlantic 45-960 [A]
21. Chains Of Love - 1951 on Atlantic 45-939 [A his debut single for Atlantic]

"TV Mama" features Elmore James on trademark slide guitar and it's said that Fats Domino is the one tinkling away on the ivories in the background. Both "Corrine Corrina" and "Lipstick, Powder And Paint: feature backing vocals from the girl group The Cookies, while Van "Piano Man" Walls puts in lovely keyboard flourishes on "Boogie Woogie Country Girl".

"Teen-age Letter" has witty and sharp lyrics that are the equal of Chuck Berry's finest, while "Morning, Noon And Night" features the wicked brass of The Blues Kings - as well as racy words that will put a naughty smile on your face. "Tomorrow Night" is a cover of LaVern Baker's 1955 Atlantic hit, while "You're Driving Me Crazy" is not a track you see on most JT compilations and it's a gem - almost like WWII swing in places - the brass uplifting like Glenn Miller. In fact there's not a duffer on here anywhere...

Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, The Clovers, The Coasters - they were all sensational Fifties acts for Atlantic, but my heart has always been with "Big" Joe Turner. My son - who is 18 and has Autism - has played this man's wonderfully uplifting R 'n' B since he was 5 - driving us near crazy with it sometimes - and yet in truth - I never tire of him or his music. Cracking tunes, huge voice, big personality, witty and clever lyrics - everything about Big Joe Turner's Atlantic sides is magic.

Sold for four pounds retail and even less online - this compilation is a steal at twenty times that price - and something you need in your life.

Dig in and enjoy and I envy you the journey.

PS: the other Atlantic artists in "The Platinum Collection" series are: LaVern Baker (see REVIEW), Archie Bell & The Drells (see REVIEW), Brook Benton (see REVIEW), Booker T & The M.G.'s, Ruth Brown, Solomon Burke, Clarence Carter (see REVIEW), The Clovers (see REVIEW), Arthur Conley (see REVIEW), Don Covay, The Detroit Spinners, Eddie Floyd, King Curtis, Barbara Lewis (see REVIEW), The Mar-Keys, The Persuasions, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge (see REVIEW), Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Betty Wright

“The Platinum Collection” by THE CLOVERS (2007 Warner/Rhino CD Compilation - Reissue of "Down In The Alley- The Best Of..." from 1991 plus extra track) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...One Mint Julep...Was The Cause Of It All..." 

The UK and Europe-only CD reissue "The Platinum Collection" by THE CLOVERS is essentially Rhino's American 21-Track CD compilation "Down In The Alley – The Best Of The Clovers" from 1991 - but with one more song added on to it at the end - "I Played The Fool".

The new 2007-issued 22-track running order is shuffled around a bit for sure and it comes with different/lesser artwork too. But it still has that great Rhino Remastered sound of old - and at budget price (under four quid from most retailers) - costs a fraction of the now deleted and pricey 1991 original. The compromise is losing the decent booklet - but little else.

Part of a large number of collections issued in 2007 to celebrate the label’s 60th Anniversary - "The Platinum Collection" consists of 22 Fifties Rhythm 'n' Blues 78" and 7" singles by Atlantic's first R&B superstar Vocal Group - the much loved CLOVERS. A huge number of these tracks charted big time on the US R&B charts between 1951 and 1957.

Being a cheapo reissue the new reissue inlay on Warner/Rhino 8122-79995-6 (Barcode 081227999568) is merely a gatefold slip of paper with barely any details - so here’s a track-by-track breakdown of all those cool American R&B 45s on this new 2007 variant (61:15 minutes):

1. One Mint Julep – 1951 on Atlantic 963 [A]

2. Good Lovin' – 1953 on Atlantic 1000 [A]

3. Ting-A-Ling – 1951 on Atlantic 969 [A]

4. Lovey Dovey – 1954 on Atlantic 1022 [A]

5. Down In The Alley – 1957 on Atlantic 1152 [B-side to "There's No Tomorrow"]

6. Fool, Fool, Fool – 1951 on Atlantic 944 [A]

7. Don't You Know I Love You – 1951 on Atlantic 934 A, debut single]

8. Wonder Where My Baby's Gone – 1951 on Atlantic 969 [B-side to "Ting-A-Ling"]

9. Crawlin’ – 1953 on Atlantic 989 [B-side to "Yes It's You"]

10. Hey, Miss Fannie – 1952 on Atlantic 977 [B-side to "I Played The Fool"]

11. Middle Of The Night – 1951 on Atlantic 963 [B-side to "One Mint Julep"]

12. I've Got My Eyes On You – 1954 on Atlantic 1035 [B-side to "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash"]

13. I Confess – 1954 on Atlantic 1046 [A]

14. Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash – 1954 on Atlantic 1035 [A]

15. Little Mama – 1953 on Atlantic 1022 [B-side to "Lovey Dovey"]

16. Nip Sip – 1955 on Atlantic 1073 [A]

17. Devil Or Angel – 1956 on Atlantic 1083 [A]

18. Blue Velvet – 1955 on Atlantic 1052 [A]

19. In The Morning Time – 1955 on Atlantic 1060 [B-side to "Love Bug"]

20. Love Bug – 1955 on Atlantic 1060 [A]

21. If I Could Be Loved By You – 1955 on Atlantic 1073 [B-side to "Nip Sip"]

22. I Played The Fool – 1952 on Atlantic 977 [A]

The 5-piece Washington DC vocal group had two great leads in John "Buddy" Bailey and later Billy Mitchell and were backed up with killer fun songs from Rudolph "Rudy" Toombs, Jesse Stone and even the label’s founder Ahmet Ertegun (often credited with his name spelt backwards as Nugetre). They could handle jump and ballads with ease and scored a No.1 with their debut single "Don't You Know I Love You" released in June 1951 - pretty much dominating that decade thereafter (the liner notes mentions their biggest hit "Love Potion No.9" from 1959, but it isn’t on here because it was on United Artists). Their success allowed the fledgling Atlantic label top class signings like Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker and the wonderful Big Joe Turner – and of course paved the way for so much astonishing music to come.

Highlights include the classic too-many-drinks song "One Mint Julep", the 'gotta have all your' demands of "Good Lovin'" and the dancing penicillin that is "Love Bug" – they’re all R&B wonders that would make any heart go 'bippety bam'. In fact listening to these half-century old boppers, strollers and smoochers - it’s hard not to be grinning from ear-to-ear with admiration at their timeless brilliance. They really are 'so' good…

A fantastic listen then, and at a retail price that is laughable, it’s a great place to start your Atlantic Rhythm 'n' Blues journey – and God do I envy you that!

PS: the other Atlantic artists in "The Platinum Collection" series are: LaVern Baker (see REVIEW), Archie Bell & The Drells (see REVIEW), Brook Benton (see REVIEW), Booker T & The M.G.'s, Ruth Brown (see REVIEW), Solomon Burke, Clarence Carter (see REVIEW), Arthur Conley (see REVIEW), Don Covay, The Detroit Spinners, Eddie Floyd, King Curtis, Barbara Lewis (see REVIEW), The Mar-Keys, The Persuasions, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge (see REVIEW), Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, (Big) Joe Turner (see REVIEW) and Betty Wright

"Down In The Alley – The Best Of The Clovers " – 1991 Track List:

1. One Mint Julep

2. Good Lovin'

3. Don't You Know I Love You

4. Wonder Where My Baby's Gone

5. Ting A Ling

6. Crawlin'

7. Hey Miss Fannie

8. Lovey Dovey

9. Middle Of The Night

10. Fool Fool Fool

11. I've Got My Eyes On You

12. I Confess

13. Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash

14. Little Mama

15. Down In The Alley

16. Nip Slip

17. Devil Or Angel

18. Blue Velvet

19. In The Morning Time

20. Love Bug

21. If I Could Be Loved By You

“The Platinum Collection” by CLARENCE CARTER (March 2007 UK Warner Brothers Platinum/Rhino CD Compilation Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…I Make All The Little Girls Happy…While The Boys Are Out To Play…Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Europe’s "The Platinum Collection" by CLARENCE CARTER is essentially Rhino's USA 21-track 1992 compilation "Snatching It Back: The Best Of..." minus one song ("Slipped, Tripped And Fell In Love").

The new UK-released March 2007 CD on Warner Brothers Platinum/Rhino 8122-79994-2 (081227999445) has also had its 20-track running order rearranged, there's cheaper artwork and it's now at a budget price (still also has that great Rhino remastered sound). It's reissued as part of the labels 60th Anniversary celebrations (55:24 minutes). .

Carter made 4 albums for Atlantic and a slew of 7" singles came off them, but his career stretched back to 1965 when he was a duet act with Calvin Scott on the Fame label credited as CLARENCE and CALVIN (some of those rarities are on here).

1. Slip Away 

2. Back Door Santa

3. Snatching It Back

4. Tell Daddy

5. Too Weak To Fight 

6. Looking For A Fox 

7. Road Of Love

8. Soul Deep

9. I Smell A Rat

10. I Can't Leave Your Love Alone 

11. Doin' Our Thing

12. Feeling Is Right 

13. Old Time Feeling

14. I Stayed Away Too Long

15. Making Love (At The Dark End Of The Street)

16. It's All In Your Mind

17. I Can't See Myself

18. Step By Step

19. I'd Rather Go Blind

20. Patches

The detailed booklet of the original CD has been reduced to a fairly slight inlay, so here's a track-by-track breakdown of what song came from what:

"This Is Clarence Carter"

1968 USA STEREO LP on Atlantic SD-8192, Atlantic 588 152 in the UK

(CD Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7 and 17)

"The Dynamic Clarence Carter"

1969 USA STEREO LP on Atlantic SD-8199, Atlantic 588 172 in the UK

(CD Tracks 13 and 19)

"Testifyin'"

1969 USA STEREO LP on Atlantic SD-8238, UK on Atlantic 588 191

(CD Tracks 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 15)

"Patches"

1970 USA STEREO LP on Atlantic SD-8267, UK on Atlantic 2400 027

(CD Tracks 10, 16 and 20)

Tracks 4 and 14 are "Tell Daddy" and "I Stayed Away Too Long", the non-album 7" single A and B-side of Fame 1010 from 1967

Track 18 is "Step By Step", the non-album 7" single A-side on Atco 6362 from 1965

There are so many highlights on here - "Looking For A Fox" (a huge 60ts club classic these last few years), the deliciously naughty "Back Door Santa" with his trademark chuckling after ever saucy lyric (quoted above), the fantastic "I want to tell you about it..." soul of "That Old Time Feeling" with its keyboard and brass build up - irresistible. The only real dog is the awful cheese of "Patches" (his biggest chart hit ironically), but it's a tiny glitch in a sea of great Atlantic Sixties soul.

If you want to go deeper, his 4 albums for the label are available elsewhere as twofers on the USA's Collectables label, but in the meantime this little gem sells for four pounds retail and even less online - and it's a solid gold foxy purchase at ten times that price.

Recommended - big time...

PS: the other Atlantic artists in "The Platinum Collection" series are: LaVern Baker (see REVIEW), Archie Bell & The Drells (see REVIEW), Brook Benton (see REVIEW), Booker T & The M.G.'s, Ruth Brown, Solomon Burke, The Clovers, Arthur Conley (see REVIEW), Don Covay, The Detroit Spinners, Eddie Floyd, King Curtis, Barbara Lewis (see REVIEW), The Mar-Keys, The Persuasions, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge (see REVIEW), Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, (Big) Joe Turner and Betty Wright

“Dean Spanley". A Review of the 2008 Movie now released on a 2009 DVD.

“…Human Fear Has A Dreadful Smell…Dreadful…”

"Dean Spanley" is that rarity - a weird little film that you think is going to be absolute rubbish at first, but then twists and turns and delightfully works itself out. The script - based on the 1936 book by Lord Dunsany called "My Talks With Dean Spanley" - is adapted and expanded by top British writer Alan Sharp - and is about loss and reincarnation, but in a very strange roundabout kind of way...

Peter O'Toole plays the elderly English gentleman Horatio Fisk - who is visited every Thursday by his punctual son (Jeremy Northam). Set in affluent Edwardian London, their meets are convivial rather than warm - but of late - increasingly spiked. Fisk Junior feels dutiful rather than loving towards his 'near-to-the-end' Dad - and their tit-for-tat word battles and mind games are eating him up. Something has distanced them - and worse - turned his father into a boor - a man who you suspect was once very kind, but now isn't.

Fisk Junior longs of course for a real father and son relationship - free of the bickering and incessant quips - but more than that - he longs for his father to get to the core of the problem - open up and talk about his other son's loss in the recent Boer war. The no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs. Brimley (played so subtly by Judy Parfitt) hardly knows what to say or do anymore - and just stoically gets on with it - real talking just isn't done in educated circles...

By chance into the equation comes the equally awkward and stuffy man of the cloth Dean Spanley - played beautifully by Sam Neill (easily his most difficult and wordy role to date). The Dean seems odd - even a bit nutty - and may or may not harbour dangerous views about reincarnation for a man of a very fixed religion. Enter another Australian Bryan Brown who can procure anything - including the Dean's craved favourite tipple - a rare Imperial wine that sends the cleric into near rapture - a few drops of this stuff in the Dean's veins and things start to happen...and without giving too much away...on the story goes...

While O'Toole is typically magisterial and impressive in his role - as you would expect of such a quality guy - it's Sam Neill who is revelatory. There are sequences (especially towards the end) where his dialogue passages are enormous - and he carries them off with style - even actually carrying the movie itself.

This is the second feature film by New Zealand Director Toa Fraser ("No. 2" was his first) and from the interviews in the extras section, Toa 'knows' he got lucky with such a Grade-A cast of actors. O'Toole's interview is witty, intelligent, perceptive - all the things you suspect he is in real life - while poor Sam Neil seems genuinely tortured when asked to speak - like someone is pulling his teeth. Bryan Brown and Jeremy Northam just seem to be enjoying themselves - involved in a film they know to be a little sweetheart.

"Dean Spanley" was a lovely surprise - and genuinely uplifting. Buy it or rent it soon. Highly recommended.

PS: Although shot in hi-def, it hasn't been issued on either Blu Ray or on a Region 1 disc - so the Region 2 DVD is presently the only way to get your hands on this film.

“The Platinum Collection” by LaVERN BAKER. A Review of the 2007 CD Compilation.

”…Mercy Mercy…Pudding And Pie…You’ve Got Something That Money Can’t Buy…”

Born Delores Williams in Chicago in 1929, LaVern Baker was one of Atlantic's first true superstars. Possessed of the most gloriously fun voice, she was big, bold, sassy and sexy - a sort of Mae West of Rhythm 'n' Blues. Armed with top session players that included King Curtis, floor-filling songs with catchy lyrics and an image that was pure knock-out, her irresistible popularity crossed over from the race music charts into the popular, which along with the wonderful Joe Turner practically put the fledgling Atlantic label on the map - and of course led to so much more in the years that followed.

This European 20-track budget-priced 2007 "Platinum Collection" is an exact rerun of Rhino's 1993 US compilation "Soul On Fire" minus the detailed booklet, but still with that great re-mastered sound.

The songs stretch from 1953's "Soul On Fire" through to an obscure album track "You Said" from the 1963 LP "See See Rider". Many of the early singles "Tweedlee Dee" (lyrics above), "Bop-Ting-A-Ling" and "My Happiness Forever" feature The Gliders as her backing group, "How Often" is a duet with Ben E. King, while "I Waited Too Long" is an early Neil Sedaka song.

As you play this uplifting compilation of both fast and slow rhythm 'n' blues, you understand why her loss in 1997 at only 67 was greeted with such sorrow by the industry and music lovers alike - at least she lived to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 1991.

At a retail price of only four pounds (even cheaper online), "Platinum Collection" is a great way into her magical Atlantic recordings - it's a well of riches people, it really is. If there's a God in Heaven, she's there on a Saturday night at the local blues bar - Pina Colada in hand, hair immaculate, foot tapping - boogieing to LaVern Baker doing "Jim Dandy".

Recommended - big time.

PS: the other Atlantic artists in "The Platinum Collection" series are: Brook Benton (see REVIEW), Booker T & The M.G.'s, Ruth Brown, Solomon Burke, Clarence Carter, The Clovers, Arthur Conley (see REVIEW), Don Covay, The Detroit Spinners, Eddie Floyd, King Curtis, Barbara Lewis (see REVIEW), The Mar-Keys, The Persuasions, Sam & Dave, Percy Sledge (see REVIEW), Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, (Big) Joe Turner and Betty Wright