"1962 – 1966" by THE BEATLES - April 1973 'Red Album' 2LP Set on Apple Records - Companion to "1967 - 1970" 2LP 'Blue' Album on Apple (October 2010 UK EMI/Apple 2CD Reissue in Gatefold Panel Card Sleeves Using 2009 STEREO Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Commonly known as the "Red" and "Blue" albums - the 2LP vinyl sets "1962 - 1966" (Apple PCSP 717) and "1967-1970" (Apple PCSP 718) by THE BEATLES became instant classics when they were first released in April 1973 on both sides of the pond. Balls to the wall with chart hits, number ones and moments of undeniable album genius – both double-albums have been beloved by the globe ever since. Based on the A&B of singles worldwide, both doubles also finally gave an 'album' placing to many fantastic Non-LP tracks like "We Can Work It Out" and the unbelieveibly good "Don't Let Me Down".

 

And now in October 2010 - finally free of those cumbersome 1993 double jewel-cases and an extortionate full price tag – we get the pair of them again. But this time the "Red" and "Blue" 2CD sets are in natty looking three-way Foldout Card Digipaks, pitched at a much more reasonable 'mid-price' - and most important of all – come resplendent with the fabulous remasters the full catalogue received in 2009 (see photos). 1st Prize rosettes for both! Here are the details for all our Yesterdays on the Long and Winding Abbey Road…

 

Disc 1 of "1962-1966" (31:02 minutes):

1. Please Please Me

2. She Loves You

3. All My Loving

4. Love Me Do

5. From Me To You

6. I Want To Hold Your Hand

7. Can't Buy Me Love

8. A Hard Day's Night [Side 2]

9. Eight Days A Week

10. Ticket To Ride

11. And I Love Her

12. I Feel Fine

13. Yesterday

 

Disc 2 of "1962-1966" (31:45 minutes):

1. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away [Side 3]

2. Day Tripper

3. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

4. Help!

5. We Can Work It Out

6. Drive My Car

7. Nowhere Man [Side 4]

8. In My Life

9. Paperback Writer

10. Yellow Submarine

11. Michelle

12. Girl

13. Eleanor Rigby

2CD set released Oct 2010 on EMI/Apple 5099990675225

 

Disc 1 of "1966-1967" (51:15 minutes):

1. Strawberry Fields Forever

2. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

4. All You Need Is Love

5. Penny Lane

6. With A Little Help From My Friends

7. A Day In The Life

8. I Am The Walrus [Side 2]

9. The Fool On The Hill

10. Lady Madonna

11. Revolution

12. Hello Goodbye

13. Magical Mystery Tour

14. Hey Jude

 

 

 

Disc 2 of "1966-1970" (48:43 minutes):

1. Back In the U.S.S.R. [Side 3]

2. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

3. Don't Let Me Down

4. Old Brown Shoe

5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

6. Get Back

7. The Ballad Of John And Yoko

8. Here Comes The Sun [Side 4]

9. Something

10. Let It Be

11. The Long And Winding Road

12. Come Together

13. Octopus's Garden

14. Across The Universe

2CD set released October 2010 on EMI/Apple 5099990674723

 

The left flap in each set houses a new 32-page booklet. The lyrics are intact from the red and blue inner sleeves of the original album issues, the photo of the Beatles at St. Pancras Old Church in London looking out through the railings at the public (taken 27 July 1969) is there in the centre flaps, there's new liner notes by BILL FLANAGAN the MTV Executive and author of "Evening's Empire" (a book on Rock in the Sixties) and there's plenty of superb colour photos from the period - it's impressively done.

 

It doesn't take a particular genius to work out from the playing times provided above (especially on the "Red" album) that the first set could easily have fitted onto 1CD and even included bonus tracks. But EMI would of course argue that this would fundamentally alter the aesthetic of the original 1973 double-vinyl release. At least this time – with the reissue being mid price - we're not being charged for the privilege.

 

The compilations are basically the A-sides of all their UK 7" singles releases between 1962 and 1970 in chronological release date order with a few key album tracks thrown in for good measure. Eagle-eye fans would therefore note that as ALL Beatles UK 7" singles for that period were issued only in MONO, so the tracks on the album should reflect that - the MONO single mixes. But EMI did nothing of the sort. In fact the original 1973 albums stated only STEREO on the labels and only the STEREO code was reflected in their catalogue numbers too. At least this time this new 2010 issue notes that Tracks 1 to 4 on Disc 1 are in MONO, while all other are in STEREO ("Love Me Do" is the album mix and not the single version). Bottom line - I would argue that accuracy's loss is the listener's gain because the STEREO versions used here are awesome.

 

The sound quality is fantastic - breathtaking clarity on instruments - George Harrison's sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" - the string quartet on "Eleanor Rigby" and so on. But what impresses most is the actual listen itself. Even now it's truly shocking to hear just how accomplished The Beatles were. Re-listening to each disc in straight order is a gobsmacking experience – from the mop-tops of "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You" to the accomplished polish of “Ticket To Ride", “Michelle” and "Yesterday" (the song that single-handled shut all the begrudgers up) – it's all so incredibly sweet a listen. "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" were a single for God's sake - not on any English album at the time of release. "Paperback Writer", "Girl", the harmonizing on "Nowhere Man" - track after track of brilliance. Were The Beatles really this good and so early on? The answer is yes - and always will be.

 

In fact the second volume ("Blue") more than the first shows the rapidity with which they had matured as songwriters and innovators of recording techniques. The piano and guitars on "Lady Madonna", the jet screeching in at the opening of "Back In The U.S.S.R", the brass on "All You Need Is Love", Billy Preston's superb keyboard work on "Let It Be", the wonderfully loose live feel of "Don't Let Me Down" (best B-side ever?)

 

There's the truly beautiful and evocative "Across The Universe", Ringo's "With A Little Help From My Friends", Harrison's 'Abbey Road' double-whammy of "Here Comes The Sun" and "Something" while the epic 'Sgt. Peppers' finisher "A Day In The Life" still astounds. And I haven't even touched on the flute loveliness of McCartney's "The Fool On The Hill" or the monster guitar on Lennon's "Revolution"…

 

To sum up - the sound on these new reissues is fabulous - the packaging better than the 1993 versions and each is being sold at mid-price - available in most places for less than the price of a single new album. You can't help but think that millions of people globally will take one look at these beauties on a shelf somewhere and slap them straight into their shopping baskets. The world’s most collectable and revered band - and on the evidence presented here in these one-two double sucker punches - rightly so...

“Blowing The Fuse – 27 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1949” by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2004 Bear Family CD Compilation, Volume 5 of 16, Jurgen Crasser Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Boogie Woogie…It's In Him…And It's Got To Come Out…"

Bear Family's truly fabulous "Blowing The Fuse" series of CD compilations chronicles the transition of minority ghettoized Blues into national Rhythm 'n' Blues and stretches across 16 individual single-disc volumes that cover the years 1945 to 1960. Released across 2004 and 2005 –"Blowing The Fuse" was then followed in 2008 and 2009 by Bear’s equally magnificent "Sweet Soul Music" series of 15 sets from 1961 to 1975 - complimented in turn by their spiritual and musical partners - 15 volumes of Vocal Group sets called "Street Corner Symphonies" covering 1939 to 1963 (released 2012 and 2013). I suppose you could argue that I just say, "Buy the lot man!" in a very loud voice - but bluntly they're so good - each deserves a thorough review (and that’s what I’ve done). So here goes with Volume 1 of the R&B Series "Blowing The Fuse"…

"Blowing The Fuse - 27 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1949" is on Bear Family BCD 16704 AS (Barcode 4000127167040) and was released November 2004 in Germany. Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures an original record relevant to the year (1949 has "Rockin At Midnight" by Roy Brown on DeLuxe), the centre flap holds a 70 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the "Sweet Soul Music" and "Street Corner Symphony" setes of compilations, each of the 16 R&B spines makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a fantastic black & white shot of a crowd of hip dudes and their gals dancing at some Saturday night bar). As you can see from the cover photos of these compilations too, the theme of people dancing and artists enjoying themselves is repeated right across all of these wonderfully restored photographs (they're from The Showtime Music Archive in Toronto). This 1949 issue has 72-pages in its booklet and the CD runs to a fulsome 79:10 minutes.

THE SOUND and TRACK CHOICES:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (or the best disc available) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care - and given their age and the wildly varying sources, the sound quality is uniformly great. But - it has to be said that in comparison to 1951 to 1960, the sound on both 1949 and 1950 is a lot rougher, especially when it’s off a 78”…

The first indication of this is on Track 3 – the ballad “Bewildered” by Red Miller (originally a hit for Tommy Dorsey 10 years earlier) – it’s rough sounding, but the charm is there and still remains a lovely listen. But then things jump straight into the legendary – the awesome one-chord, foot-stomping “Boogie Chillen” by John Lee Hooker - sounding like Blues was literally invented right here.
As if sensing its importance, the Modern Records 78” is pictured alongside an early shot of him on Pages 12 and 13. Over 60 years old and this simplest of Blues stomps still has incredible power and mojo (lyrics above).

Outside of Blues (Jimmy Witherspoon) and Vocal Groups (The Orioles) - the other order of the day was shuffling boogie tunes – most of which were instrumentals. There’s “Texas Hop” by Pee Wee Clayton (with Buddy Floyd on Tenor Sax), “The Hucklebuck” by Paul Williams (a tremendous dancer that was No.1 for weeks) and “T.J. Boogie” by Georgia piano player T.J. Fowler, where you can literally hear Glenn Miller and Lionel Hampton receding into the background, blurring into that new rocking Rhythm ‘n’ Blues sound – and even Rock 'n' Roll…

Criminally forgotten gems go to "The Spinach Song" by the witty and saucy Julia Lee. Sounding fantastic (top Capitol Records production values), it’s a master class in double-entendre lyric writing – sex disguised as a song about a hot vegetable on a dinner plate (“I didn’t like it at first, but oh how it grew on me…”). It’ll have you grinning and running to the confessional. Speaking of likeable sinners, habitual womanizer and whiskey drinking Wynonie Harris gives us his fantastic voice and another irresistible bopper in “All She Wants To Do Is Rock” – where he also uses the lyric couplet “rock ‘n’ roll” six years before its explosion. “Numbers Boogie” sounds like a nine-year old singing, because it is… Sugar Chile Robinson was a piano-playing child prodigy born in Detroit and Capitol rather cutely advertised him as needing his stool to be propped up by two telephone directories in order to reach the keys. He was a smash though – and even headlined in England’s West End in 1951 (great advert and publicity photo on Pages 54 and 55). Ruth Brown’s “So Long” on Atlantic sounds far better here than it has done on any other compilation I have by her. And of course, there’s the perfection of Louis Jordan on “Saturday Night Fish Fry” – it’s easy to see why he was so beloved and shifted so many units – everything about his songs was right – catchy tune, great lyrics, huge personality…

But my favourites are two criminally forgotten blues shouters - Billy Wright and Charles Brown. Now a footnote in history, the openly gay Billy Wright looked like a younger Little Richard. Wild showmanship, Pancake 31 makeup to lighten his face, even his singing style was lifted by Richard a few years later (James Brown and Otis Redding name-checked him too). His “Blues For My Baby” on Savoy is exactly the kind of great choice the compilers should make. Charles Brown was a ‘classy’ Blues singer – his “Trouble Blues” has a real beauty about it - the great bluesman even received a letter of consolation written by President Clinton, which was read out at his funeral in 1999.

THE BOOKLET:
Although slightly different in layout, like the "Sweet Soul Music" series, the booklet is to die for. There's an intro on Page 4 with the text for the songs beginning on Page 5 and ending on Page 70, so there's almost no wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, and every now and then, a beautiful full colour plate of lesser-seen records and their label bag graces an entire page (“Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee” by “Stick” McGhee on Atlantic and "Rock The Joint” by Jimmy Preston on Gotham and are on Pages 36 and 58). Each song then has an essay on its history by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT and because the booklet allows him to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast - it's a fabulously entertaining and informative read.

To sum up - even though they're expensive as imports, I think once long-time collectors actually get their hands on even one of these compilations (no matter what the date) - they'll be irresistibly hooked. For the casual buyer just looking for a great one-stop account of R&B Music for a given year - "1949" is 'the' place to start.


Detailed track list for the Bear Family CD compilation “Blowing The Fuse - 1949"
Label & Catalogue Number () for the USA 78" follow the Title and Artist Name.
If there's TWO Catalogue Numbers, the first is the Original; the 2nd is the Reissue.

1. Up Above My Head, I Hear Music In The Air – SISTER ROSETTA THARPE and MARIE KNIGHT with the Sam Price Trio (Decca 48090)
2. Texas Hop – PEE WEE CRAYTON and his Guitar (Modern 643)
3. Bewildered – RED MILLER TRIO (Staff 607/Bullet 295)
4. Boogie Chillen – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Modern 627)
5. Deacon’s Hop – BIG JAY McNEELY (Savoy 685)
6. Ain’t Nobody’s Business, Part 1 – JIMMY WITHERSPOON (Supreme 1506)
7. The Hucklebuck – PAUL WILLIAMS and his Hucklebuckers (Savoy 683)
8. The Spinach Song – JULIA LEE and her Boyfriends (Capitol 15367)
9. Rockin At Midnight – ROY BROWN and his Mighty, Mighty Men (DeLuxe 3212)
10. Tell Me So – THE ORIOLES (Jubilee 5005)
[Featuring Sonny Til and Norman Bridges on Lead and Bridge Vocals]
11. T-Bone Shuffle – T-BONE WALKER (Comet T-53/Capitol 57-70042)
12. Pot Likker – TODD RHODES and his Orchestra (Sensation 15/King 4287)
13. Trouble Blues – CHARLES BROWN TRIO (Aladdin 3024)
14. Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee – "STICK" McGHEE and his Buddies (Atlantic 873)
15. T. J. Boogie – T.J. FOWLER and his Orchestra (National 9075)
16. So Long – RUTH BROWN with Eddie Condon’s N.B.C. Television Orchestra (Atlantic 879)
17. All She Wants To Do Is Rock – WYNONIE HARRIS (King 4304)
18. Roamin’ House Boogie – AMOS MILBURN (Aladdin 3032)
19. Baby Get Lost – DINAH WASHINGTON (Mercury 8148)
20. Why Don’t You Haul Off And Love Me – BULL MOOSE JACKSON and his Buffalo Bearcats (King 4322)
21. Numbers Boogie – SUGAR CHILE ROBINSON (Capitol 70037)
22. Rock The Joint – JIMMY PRESTON and his Prestonians (Gotham 188)
23. Blues For My Baby – BILLY WRIGHT (Savoy 710)
24. Saturday Night Fish Fry, Parts 1 & 2 – LOUIS JORDAN and his Tympany Five (Decca 24725)
25. Cuttin’ Out – ANNIE LAURIE with The Paul Gayten Orchestra (Regal 3235)
26. For You My Love – LARRY DARNELL (Regal 3240)
27. Mary Is Fine – CLARENCE 'GATEMOUTH' BROWN, his guitar and Orchestra (Peacock 1504)

"Rocks" by PIANO RED aka Dr. FEELGOOD. A Review Of The 2009 Bear Family CD Compilation.

"…Do You Want To Rock Baby? Yes! Yes!”

Released April 2009 on Bear Family BCD 16639 AR, "Rocks" offers up 33 slices of Piano Red’s pumping Rhythm 'n' Blues piano style – and it’s a peach. “Rocks” covers 1950 to 1966 on the Groove, Jax, Okeh and RCA Victor labels - and at a generous 78:04 minutes - doesn't scrimp it on content or value for money.

Like all the titles in this extensive series, "Rocks" comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak with a large detachable booklet in the centre (48-pages for this one). The CD label itself repros the 1956 7" single of “Woo-Ee” complete with its Groove Records label bag - and that's again repro’d in full on the flap beneath the see-through tray (a nice touch).

The substantial booklet features extensive liner notes from Page 2 to 26 by BILL DAHL who did such stunning work on Bear's "Sweet Soul Music" Series from 1961 to 1971 (see separate reviews for all 10 compilations). There's even a Discography for all 33 tracks from Page 34 to 45 by Bear Family’s own RICHARD WEIZE - which in itself pictures 45"s and album sleeves in full colour (very tasty to look at). Especially worth noting is a series of black and white photos of Piano Red and his band in concert in March 1956 at the Magnolia Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia – they’re peppered throughout the text pages and are very intimate shots of the band and the audience enjoying themselves. Great stuff…

The remastered sound is by one of their best tape engineers JURGEN CRASSER – he handling the “Blowing The Fuse” series from 1945 to 1960 (I’ve reviewed all 16 volumes). Alive, clean and far better than previous CDs I've had of the same material, the sound is wonderful.

Musically William Perryman (his real name) was like Amos Milburn, Louis Jordan, Smiley Lewis and Louis Prima - an irrepressible force of rockin' joy. His warmth and witty words filled every song and when he was pumping out those party tunes with a big brassy band behind him, it must have been nigh on impossible to resist dancing your nuts off. Highlights include the 1957 instrumental “Wild Fire” with the whole band cooking like eggs on the bonnet of a car, the “I’ve had lots of big women…I’m having a ball…” song of “What Up Doc?” while in “Rock, Baby” he tells his girl to “Get out your silk and satin, because that old gal dress just won’t do…” because they’re going out to party (lyrics above). But the biggest surprise is kept until last.

Not found when the 4CD box set “The Doctor Is In!” was being formed in 1993, five previously unreleased studio cuts have surfaced from Columbia’s vaults – “Jumping The Boogie”, “The Double Twist” and “Rock Me” were recorded in December 1962 – while “I Need You” and “Can’t Wait No Longer” were recorded in March 1966. Being fully-formed and expertly recorded Columbia studio cuts, the Stereo sound is fabulous – and the quality of the songs themselves shockingly good. There's even a slightly Mod feel to “I Need You” from 1966 where it sounds like he's being backed up by Booker T And The MG’s. It’s the kind of song that a DJ would discover on the B-side of some single somewhere and play it in a UK Northern Soul club!

But if you want to get a taster of the songs and sound quality for a reasonable cost - try the 36-track "All We Wanna Do Is ROCK" sampler for this series - it has the 1954 Groove single of "Big Rock Joe From Kokomo” - typical of his style (see separate review).

Great stuff and such fun. In the vernacular - recommended the most...

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

1. Pat Boone
2. Johnny Burnette
3. The Cadillacs
4. Eddie Cochran
5. Bobby Darin
6. Fats Domino
7. Connie Francis
8. Don Gibson
9. Glen Glenn
10. Bill Haley
11. Roy Hall
12. Dale Hawkins
13. Ronnie Hawkins
14. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
15. Wanda Jackson
16. Sonny James
17. Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids
18. Sleepy LaBeef
19. Jerry Lee Lewis
20. Smiley Lewis
21. Bob Luman
22. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
23. Carl Mann
24. Amos Milburn
25. Ella Mae Morse
26. Ricky Nelson
27. Carl Perkins
28. Roy Orbison
29. Lloyd Price
30. Piano Red
31. Charlie Rich
32. Jack Scott
33. Shirley & Lee
34. The Treniers
35. Conway Twitty
36. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
37. Rusty York

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

"How Sweet It Is: The Columbia Hit Singles 1976-1981 by TYRONE DAVIS (January 2010 UK SuperBird CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 330+ Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R 'n' B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95 (2024 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"…You’ve Been Waiting For Me Too Long…"

UK released January 2010 - "How Sweet It Is: The Columbia Hit Singles 1976-1981" by TYRONE DAVIS features 13 charted 45-singles and 1 album track - giving fans the second phase of his career after having spent 1968 to 1976 with Dakar Records.

A division of Cherry Red Records UK - SuperBird SBIRD 0006 CD (Barcode 5013929880627) breaks down as follows (67:22 minutes):

1. Give It Up (Turn It Loose) (Columbia 3-10388, August 1976)
2. Close To You (Columbia 3-10457, February 1977)
3. This I Swear (Columbia 3-10528, May 1977)
4. All You Got (Columbia 3-10604, October 1977)
5. I Got Carried Away (from the 1977 USA LP "Let's Be Closer Together" on Columbia PC 34654)
6. Get On Up (Disco) (Columbia 3-10684, March 1978)
7. Can't Help But Say (Columbia 3-10773, 1978)
8. In The Mood (Columbia 3-10904, March 1979)
9. Ain't Nothing I Can Do (Columbia 3-11035, 1979)
10. Be With Me (Columbia 3-11128, December 1979)
11. Heart Failure (Columbia 3-11246, 1980 [DJ-Only Issues])
12. Can't You Tell It's Me (Columbia 3-11199, 1980)
13. How Sweet It is (To Be Loved By You) (Columbia 3-11344, October 1980)
14. Just My Luck (Columbia 18-02269, 1981)

The 8-page booklet has detailed and informational liner notes by BILL FISHER and the music's been remastered by ROGER LOMAS at Ro-Lo Studios. The sound is rich and beautifully clear on the smoocher "Close To You" while the brass and strings on the disco dancer "This I Swear" are full of muscle and power. Great sound quality throughout...

Highlights for me are the smooth soul of "I Got Carried Away" which is so Philly in all the right ways (lyrics above), the sexy slink of "In The Mood" and the truly lovely balladry of "Heart Failure" - which inexplicably only ever made it only to a 7" Demo (never received a stock copy release). The sound quality on "Can't You Tell It's Me" is 'so' good - even if it does get a little cheesy in the spoken-word centre part. In fact, his vocal work throughout is wonderfully expressive and deep - it's easy to see why Tyrone Davis' chart career lasted so long and why his live shows were so well attended - even up to his untimely death in 2004. Such an underrated talent...

If you like your Seventies soul in the vein of The Dells, The Spinners and The O'Jays - with a little Ronn Matlock, Teddy Pendergrass and Prince Phillip Mitchell thrown in - then this rather sweet compilation is going to be a treat and a nice surprise. And with most of this music being released for the first time on CD after decades in the digital wilderness, SuperBird has done his legacy and memory proud.

Recommended.

PS: if you want to further your Tyrone Davis soul collection - read my review for "The Ultimate" - issued October 2005 in the USA on Brunswick - it offers 40 Remastered Tracks covering 1968 to 1976 and includes versions of all 22 of his American R&B hits on Dakar Records (a subsidiary label of Brunswick).

"Tasteful Soul"/"Bitter Sweet" by THE MAIN INGREDIENT. A Review of the 2010 CD Reissue Of These Rare Seventies Soul LPs.

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:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

“…Before You Do Anything Rash…Dig This…”

Released August 2010, this mid-price CD makes available two lesser-seen Seventies albums by the New York Soul group THE MAIN INGREDIENT. SuperBird Records SBIRD 0027 CD breaks down as follows (68:16 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 10 are “Tasteful Soul”, released March 1971 in the USA on RCA Victor LSP-4412
[Lead Singer: Donald McPherson]

Tracks 11 to 20 are “Bitter Sweet”, released June 1972 in the USA on RCA Victor LSP-4677
[Lead Singer: Cuba Gooding, Snr.]

Excepting the track “Brotherly Love” (which is on the “L.T.D.” album from 1970), this release will also allow you to sequence the following five USA 45’s issued around the albums:

1. “Need Her Love (Mr. Bugler)” b/w “I’m Better Off Without You”, released 1970 on RCA Victor 74-0382
2. “I’m So Proud” b/w “Brotherly Love”, released December 1970 on RCA Victor 74-0401
3. “Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)” b/w “Magic Shoes”, released April 1971 on RCA Victor 74-0456
4. “Everybody Plays The Fool” b/w “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)”, released July 1972 on RCA Victor 74-0731
5. “You Got What It Takes (If You Want It)” b/w “Traveling”, released January 1973 on RCA Victor 74-0856

The 8-page colour booklet has detailed liner notes by JERRY EWING on the history of the albums and the band itself. It’s mastered by ROGER LOMAS at Ro-Lo Studios and although the sound is good in places (upfront bass), the vocals often feel ever so slightly distorted at the top end - muffled and cluttered – almost like it’s been mastered off good vinyl and cleaned up. It doesn’t mention master tapes anywhere, so I don’t know… The best way of putting is that it’s very good in places – it’s just not great… and it’s kind of sloppy too not to include the B-side of “I’m So Proud” as a bonus track. Edsel would have done this better…

Highlights include their lovely cover of “I’m So Proud” by The Impressions (a Curtis Mayfield tune) on the very accomplished “Tasteful Soul” album, while the equally impressive “Bitter Sweet” LP gave up the huge Number 2 hit “Everybody Plays The Fool” (lyrics above). There’s also covers of two David Gates/Bread tracks – “Make It With You” and “Look At Me” and a top ballad in “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” – a tune initially featured in the Sixties Broadway musical production of “The Roar Of The Grease Paint – The Smell Of The Crowd”. Tony Bennett had a hit with the track in late 1964 – it’s the sort of song that lends itself to soulful interpretation.

But for me there’s two absolute nuggets on here that sum up The Main Ingredient’s sound (a lush Delfonics, Chi-Lites, Dells type of vocal-group soft soul) – the slow and tasty “That’s What Fate Will Do” and the fabulous “You’ve Got To Take It (If You Want It)” which was co-written with Ed Townshend of Marvin Gaye’s “Let's Get It On” fame. Both are worth the price of admission alone.

The 1st album also benefited greatly from the beautiful vocals of Donald McPherson who tragically succumbed to Leukaemia in July 1971 – only months after the album’s release. His replacement was band collaborator Cuba Gooding Snr (his son is Cuba Gooding Jnr, the Oscar winning actor) – an equally impressive set of pipes.

For lovers of lush vocal-group soul – strings and brass galore – then this is a nice release – and despite my niggles about the sound quality on some tracks – it’s recommended.