“The Solo Albums: Volume 1 - Smokey and Pure Smokey” by SMOKEY ROBINSON (2010 Hip-O Select/Motown CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…It's Just My Soul Responding…"

In truth Smokey Robinson Solo albums have a mixed rep amongst collectors – moments of genius – filled out with syrupy padding. And certainly as this series progresses into the mid to late Seventies that appraisal is uncomfortably true. 

But re-listening to this pairing of his first two platters from 1973 and 1974 on Motown – there’s so much to enjoy and frankly rediscover – there really is. Here are the Soul Responding details…

Released September 2010 - "The Solo Albums: Volume 1 - Smokey (1973) and Pure Smokey (1974)" by SMOKEY ROBINSON is the 1st of 6 volumes chronicling Smokey Robinson's solo albums for Motown - and Hip-O Select/Motown B0014415-02 (Barcode 602527409856) breaks down as follows (74:55 minutes):

1. Holly

2. Medley: Never My Love/Never Can Say Goodbye

3. A Silent Partner In A Three-Way Love Affair

4. Just My Soul Responding

5. Sweet Harmony

6. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

7. Wanna Know My Mind

8. The Family Song

9. Baby Come Close

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut solo album "Smokey", released June 1973 in the USA on Tamla T-328L and in November 1973 in the UK on Tamla Motown STMA 8012

10. It’s Her Turn To Love

11. The Love Between Me And My Kids

12. Asleep On My Love

13. I Am I Am

14. Just Passing Through

15. Virgin Man

16. She’s Only A Baby Herself

17. Fulfill Your Head

18. A Tattoo

Tracks 10 to 18 are his 2nd solo album "Pure Smokey", released March 1974 in the USA on Tamla T-331V1 and June 1974 in the UK on Tamla Motown STML 11265

The gatefold card digipak houses a 24-page colour booklet containing entertaining and knowledgeable liner notes by PETER DOGGETT (formerly of Record Collector magazine and author of "There's A Riot Going On"). It also reproduces the American artwork for each album (even though in truth their impossible to read), lyrics and detailed recording and release credits. But the big news for fans is the improved Audio…

Remastered by ELLEN FITTON from the original Stereo tapes - the sound quality is just gorgeous - really beautifully done. I've bought CDs by Hip-O Select before where I've noticed her name in the credits - she's one of Universal's top engineers (like Erick Labson, Suha Gur, Gavin Lurssen, Gary Moore and Kevin Reeves). She did the truly superlative "Complete Motown Singles" Book Sets - all 13 volumes of them. On top of that is "Forever: The Complete Motown Albums Vol.1" 2CD set by The Marvelettes, the David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks "Motown Solo Albums" multiple CD sets, "1990" by The Temptations and "This Is The Story: The 70's Albums Volume 1" by The Supremes (excluding the Singles books, I've reviewed nearly all of the other titles).

I wish I could say that the material is all killer and no filler, but that's just not true. Smokey LPs in a second-hand record shop such as ours are always a hard sell. The cover of The Shirelles "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" is awful. Having said that, the reason I bought the disc is for those gems that are 'so' worth it - "Just My Soul Responding" is one of them (lyrics above) - a rare social-commentary that rumbles on like a Norman Whitfield gem - five-minutes plus of words about the plight of Blacks and Hispanics in the cities of Seventies USA (“too many roaches and not enough heat to keep my babies warm…”). It's absolutely stunning.

The popular "Baby Come Close" is more familiar smoocher territory - what a gem - and it's so good to hear the full album version here after all these years of living with the single edit of 3:24 minutes. The second album has "I Am I Am" which is a lovely soul song featuring the rhythm section of L.T.D., while "Virgin Man" touches on a subject matter not too often discussed. The synth funk of "A Tattoo" is good too. But mostly "Pure Smokey" was a loverman lead-in to the far better "Quiet Storm" album in 1975 - which is on the Volume 2 set.

What’s missing? The two LPs produced 5 singles Stateside and a couple in the UK - most had edited versions of their longer album tracks while the USA promos 7" singles often came with a promo-only MONO mix - none of those are on here - which is a shame. But at less than a fiver per album this is great value for money - and even if the material doesn't always rise to genius - the tracks that have stood the test of time are now in that superb sound quality - and that's been worth it for me...

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“Copperhead Road” by STEVE EARLE. A Review Of The 2008 2CD DELUXE EDITION Reissue.

"…You Can Smell The Whiskey Burnin'..."

With two good albums under his belt, “Guitar Town” from 1986 and “Exit O” from 1987, “Copperhead Road” was Steve Earle’s 3rd record for the MCA stable and he had clearly hit his song-writing stride. From the opening track it reeked of bar-drenched alcohol and chemical substances that weren’t exactly Milk of Magnesia and Aspirin. In other words, it was a great big ball of rockin’ fun - and that sense of kick-ass joy permeates its every track to this day. Released October 1988 in the USA on Uni 7 and MCA 1280 in the UK - like other big-hitters around that time - “Brothers In Arms” by DIRE STRAITS, “Kick by INXS and “…Nothing Like The Sun” by STING – it also had the then desirable DDD code on the back of its jewel case – a Full Digital Recording.

UK released 2 June 2008 - "Copperhead Road: Deluxe Edition" by STEVE EARLE is a 20th Anniversary remaster of that album with 17 live tracks thrown in on Disc 2 (many of which are previously unreleased).

DISC 1 (43:39 minutes)
Disc One offers just the album on its own and is a GAVIN LURSSEN remaster. His work on this is TRULY BEAUTIFUL. The sound literally leaps out of the speakers at you with a warmth and clarity that will thrill lovers of the album to the core. It was always a LOUD record as I say, and DDD, but that isn’t always good, because it can become hard on the ear - something you want to turn down rather than enjoy. But here the remaster is subtle. If I was to nail down what’s different – the DDD recordings of the time often had a clinical feel to them – like the essence of the live playing had been mastered away by the need for pure digital perfection. They sounded good for sure, but it often made the music itself, sound slightly soulless and gimmicky. Well this remaster seems to have taken that edge of the recordings and brought them back to life. You can HEAR the instrumentation now. The drums of KURT CUSTER hammer like Max Weinberg at his best without being too overbearing (Earle was a huge Springsteen fan at the time), the acoustic guitars and mandolins are all THERE in the mix too – a really great job done. Highlights would be the opening track, where the build-up is mind-blowing. When the band does kick in, you may find yourself resorting to unsightly air-guitar in your front room because you just can’t help it!! The guitar and drums that introduce “Back To The Wall” are just fantastic, while The POGUES and NEIL MacCOLL from THE BIBLE put in raucous stuff on “Johnny Come Lately” (recorded in London). GARRY W TALLENT, the bassist with Springsteen’s E-Street Band arranged the ‘gun’ song “The Devil’s Right Hand”. There are also two softer moments on the album that are just superb –“Even When I’m Blue” – as lovely a song as he’s ever written – while the country band TELLURIDE and Lone Justice’s MARIA McKEE turn up on the LP’s closer “Nothing But A Child”. McKEE in particular puts in really beautiful backing vocals on it - harking back to the glory days of Stevie Nicks on “Rumours” and “Tusk”. It ends the album on a real high note. The major disappointment here is the lack of outtakes or even demos or previously unreleased songs from the period. Which leads us to...

Disc 2 (78:17 minutes):
Disc 2 is entirely LIVE and is a very mixed bag indeed. First up is the CRAP SOUND. Having been treated to a fantastic blast on Disc 1, Disc 2 sounds like some poorly recorded radio show – it’s not quite as bad as a bootleg, but I’m afraid it isn’t far off it either. The recordings are hissy and strangely underwhelming. The crowd hollers through each song introduction and as it’s a small venue, it gets irritating real quick. There are a number of covers here - “Wheels’ is the CHRIS HILLMAN/GRAM PARSONS song from “The Gilded Palace Of Sin", the FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS debut album from 1969 and “Brown and Root” is a RODNEY CROWELL cover from the mid 1970s. Tracks 1 to 11 are all previously unreleased, recorded by the “Exit O” band in Raleigh, North Carolina on the 18h of November 1987. Track 12 was recorded in 1988 and is a cover version of Springsteen’s “Nebraska”. It turned up on a Spectrum Label CD called “The Collection” years back. Tracks 13 to 17 were recorded in Calgary, Canada in April of 1989 and featured as various b-sides the world over. (“Dead Flowers” is a Stones cover from “Sticky Fingers” and “Little Sister” is a George Trooper song). In truth, I can't imagine myself listening to these tracks ever again or considering them to be a 'bonus'.

PACKAGING:
The 4-way fold-out spread on the inside of the digipak gives you black & white photos of Earle most of which have been seen before - plus two colour shots – one of the beautiful blue Harley used for the sleeve and the other of him strumming an acoustic guitar. The 20-page booklet is hardly great either, a brief history of the album by roots music writer CHRIS MORRIS, lyrics, production credits - some photos - it's good, but hardly comprehensive. There's no inteview with Earle himself which would have explained what influenced whats song.

SUMMARY:
You can’t help but think that Universal should have remastered all three of his first albums “Guitar Town”, “Exit O” and this “Copperhead Road”, added some really good bonus tracks and be done with it. It would have been far better value than this slightly underwhelming experience. Fans will want the remaster of the album on this DELUXE EDITION for sure, but the casual buyer won’t need anything else.

To sum up then - a 5-star job on Disc 1 with a 3-star surplus on Disc 2.

PS: with regard to tape-remastering engineers GAVIN LURSSEN and ERICK LABSON - see also my reviews for The Crusaders “Gold” and Stephen Bishop’s “Careless” for LURSSEN - and Steppenwolf “Gold”, “The Complete Hits Singles” by Three Dog Night, “Buddy Holly” by Buddy Holly for LABSON. Fantastic work put in.

"Strangers Almanac" by WHISKEYTOWN featuring Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Jeff Rice and Steven Terry - July 1997 US Second Album (March 2008 UK Geffen 2CD 'DELUXE EDITION' Reissue with Previously Unreleased Bonus Material and Ted Jensen Remasters ) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...All Wrapped Up..."

WHISKEYTOWN were:

(David) RYAN ADAMS - Acoustic, Electric Guitars, Piano, Banjo, Percussion, Lead Vocals and Principal song Writer

PHIL WANDSCHER - Electric Guitar, Organ, Percussion and Backing Vocals

CAITLIN CARY - Violin and Lead/Backing Vocals

JEFF RICE - Bass Guitar

STEVEN TERRY - Drums, Percussion and Backing Vocals

"Strangers Almanac" was the 2nd album for North Carolina country-rock band Whiskeytown and first appeared to warm acclaim in the summer of 1997. "Faithless Street" from two years earlier had been their excellent and promising debut and the messy release of "Pneumonia", their 3rd and last album recorded in 1997, but not released until April 2001 was a few years away yet. (They actually disbanded in 1999 and both Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary went solo). Produced, engineered and mixed by JIM SCOTT, "Strangers Almanac" sounded like a band not just finding their feet, but a group arriving - and big time.

Issued 31 March 2008, this UK/Euro 2CD 'DELUXE EDITION' of "Strangers Almanac" by WHISKEYTOWN on Geffen 0602517398603 (Barcode 602517398603) is a major overhaul of that record (it's been available Stateside since January 2008). And for my money it's already a strong contender for REISSUE OF THE YEAR.

A few things came together in 1997 - Ryan Adams' gifted songwriting had really begun to flourish into something special, the band was talented and playing beautifully, while producer Scott seemed to know exactly how to tap into the band's psyche and get their 'Whiskeytown' sound. Jim Scott would turn out to be a big part of the album's 'feel' and success. His truly beautiful production job on Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" from 1994 had won him an Engineering Award - and combining that same loose, gritty 'live' playing with a sympathetic sound engineer gave every track on the album a very real power and emotional punch.

I mention the production a lot because the original CD I've had all these years has always sounded superb - but this TED JENSEN master is something else. Although the difference in the mastering is ever so subtle, the effect isn’t. The sound is now simply awesome. The album literally explodes out of the speakers in the most fully crystal clear manner ever. And listening to the acoustics of "16 060251Days" or the twin rough and ready electric guitars of the magnificent "Everything I Do" now, is like hearing them anew - it feels like there's an improvement in every instrument. You can suddenly hear them all. It seems that this time around, a gentle tweaking has brought out how well recorded they were in the first place. I don't think I've heard an album more perfectly improved on as this one is. And if that's not enough, there's 24 Previously Unreleased tracks thrown in too. Let's get to that...here's a detailed breakdown:

Disc 1 (70:36 minutes):

1. Inn Town

2. Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight

3. Yesterday’s News

4. 16 Days

5. Everything I Do

6. Houses On The Hill

7. Turn Around

8. Dancing With Women At The Bar

9. Waiting to Derail

10. Avenues

11. Losering

12. Somebody Remembers The Rose

13. Not Home Anymore

Tracks 1 to 13 are the original album "Strangers Almanac" from 31 July 1997, released on CD as Outpost Recordings/Mood Food Records OPD 30005

BONUS TRACKS:

14. Houses On The Hill

15. Nurse With The Pills

16. I Don’t Care What You Think About Me

17. Somebody Remembers The Rose

18. Turn Around

Tracks 14 to 18 are 5 previously unreleased live performances from 10 September 1997, recorded/broadcast for "Brave New World" on KCRW-FM Radio in Santa Monica, California

Disc 2 (77:13 minutes)

1. Indian Gown (Non-LP Track)

2. 16 Days (Acoustic)

3. Somebody Remembers The Rose (Acoustic)

4. Avenues (Acoustic)

5. Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight (Acoustic)

6. Houses On The Hill (Early Version)

7. My Heart Is Broken (Non-LP Track)

8. I Still Miss Someone (Acoustic) [a Johnny Cash cover]

9. Kiss & Make-Up (Non-LP Track)

10. Barn's On Fire ((Non-LP Track)

11. Dancing With The Women At The Bar (Early Version)

12. Dreams (Non-LP Track) [a Fleetwood Mac cover]

13. Breathe (Non-LP Track)

14. Wither, I'm A Flower (issued on the promotional-only "In Your Wildest Dreams" EP in 1997 and then on the Soundtrack to "Hope Floats" in 1998)

15. Luxury Liner (Non-LP Track) [a Gram Parsons cover]

16. Theme For A Trucker (issued on the Soundtrack to Wim Wender's film "The End Of Violence" in 1997)

17. Streets Of Sirens (Non-LP Track)

18. Turn Around (Alternate Early Version)

19. 10 Seconds (Non-LP Track)

20. Ticket Time (Alternate Early Version)

21. The Rain Won't Help You When It's Over (Early Version)

[Track 21 is an Alejandro Escovedo song, who also sang backing vocals on 3 tracks on the album, "Excuse Me While I Break My Heart Tonight", "Dancing With The Women At The Bar" and "Not Home Anymore"]

Disc 1:

Recorded for US Radio, the 5 previously unreleased tracks tagged onto the end of Disc 1 are a mixed bag. Both the performance and sound quality of "Houses On The Hill" and "Nurse With The Pills" seem dull, like the band is disinterested somehow. Not the best. But things improve considerably with "I Don't Care What You Think About Me", a new song that features great duet vocals with Caitlin Cary. The other two are good too, but for me, the real meat'n'potatoes starts on Disc 2... 

Disc 2:

Excepting the two already released soundtrack songs, all tracks on Disc Two are Previously Unreleased and were recorded in two studio stints known as the "Barn On Fire" sessions (Tracks 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21) and the "Baseball Park" sessions (Tracks 2 and 5). The "Barn On Fire" sessions were recorded in Durham in North Carolina and acted as a run-through and rehearsal for the "Strangers Almanac" album, while the "Baseball Park" sessions were put down in Modern Recording studios in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

(There were further recordings at Chapel Hill and tracks from that session turn up on the 1998 extended version of "Faithless Street" put out on Outpost OPRD-30002 (it has 9 added tracks to the 1995 album's initial 12 and is a good starting point after this album).

Thankfully the superb quality of sound on the album continues on the double-album's worth of unreleased material on Disc 2. As you can see, there are three cover versions, one ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO song and the rest of the tracks are written solely by RYAN ADAMS. (Tracks 6, 7 and 18 are co-written with CAITLIN CARY, while 1, 3, 19 and 20 are co-written with PHIL WANDSCHER).

The acoustic nature of about half of the tracks on Disc 2 make it feel like an extended 'unplugged' session at times. And this is not a bad thing at all, because these aren't poorly recording home demos or half-finished rough versions - they're properly recording studio pieces, so the sound quality that came through on the album does so here too - and it makes a huge difference to the listen. If anything some of the tracks are all the more beautiful for being stripped down like this - they have an almost eerie "Nebraska" feel to them - real and of the moment. The production quality is fantastic. I'm reminded of Rick Rubin's stunning work on the five Johnny Cash American Recordings albums.

Track 2 is typical - just when I thought that, ”16 Days" couldn't get any more touching, this initial 'acoustic take' of the song - in my opinion - almost aces the finished version - it's just breathtaking and fans will adore it (lyrics above). The brilliant "Breathe" and the FACES feel to "The Rain Won't Help When It's Over" are rocking highlights, as is "Barn's On Fire". Both "10 Seconds" and "Ticket Time" kick ass as well - great band efforts. The opener is a pretty little song about a pretty little girl in an "Indian Gown" with really tasty guitar work featured - a quality track most bands would kill a close relative to have. The band's cover version of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" isn't great, but the solo acoustic take of Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone" is lovely. The full on countrified "Kiss & Make-Up" and "Luxury Liner" are impressive too with Bill Ladd's complimentary pedal steel work on "Kiss & Make-Up" being particularly sweet. It's astonishing really that the quality across all the tracks is so damn good - I'll be listening to these a lot - I know it - and not treating them like they were 'interesting' - play them once and then leave them on the shelf.

To sum up - this is a brilliant album given a stunning sonic upgrade and a shed load of previously unreleased material you will want to hear again and again. There have been some truly superb DELUXE EDITION releases in Universal's catalogue, but this is really something special. Buy with confidence and I envy you the journey...

"Wanda Rocks" by WANDA JACKSON. A Review Of The 2002 Bear Family CD Compilation.

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BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD   

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"…Start Getting' With It Baby…You’re Acting Like A Square To Me…"

Released December 2002 on Bear Family BCD 16631 AR - "Wanda Rocks" by WANDA JACKSON offers up 35 slices of Wanda's sexy Rockabilly and Rock 'n' Roll – and not surprisingly it's a peach. "Rocks" covers 1956 to 1963 on the Capitol label and at a crammed 79:58 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 45” for "Fujiyama Mama" – a big hit for her in 1957 - complete with its Capitol 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 5 to 26 by noted musicologist COLIN ESCOTT with a Discography for all 35 tracks from Page 35 to 42 by ROSS WAPENSKY and Bear Family’s owner RICHARD WEIZE. Photos of Wanda with admirers GENE VINCENT, ELVIS PRESLEY and Producer KEN NELSON pepper the rest of the booklet – as well as in-studio-recording snaps with Country stars MERLE HAGGARD and HANK THOMPSON (provides an Intro on Page 2). There are black and white publicity shots, trade adverts and sheet music - and all of it rounded off on the last few pages with full track-listings for two of their extensive Box Sets on her – "Right Or Wrong" (4CDs) and "Tears Will Be The Chaser For Your Wine" (8CDs). A typically top job done by Bear Family - as befits their reissue legend.

The remastered sound is by one of their best tape engineers JURGEN CRASSER. Crasser handled the stunning "Blowing The Fuse" series from 1945 to 1960 (I've reviewed all 16 volumes) and the "Sweet Soul Music" series from 1961 to 1975 (all 15 volumes reviewed too). Alive, clean and full of well-recorded Capitol Records class - the sound is wonderful.

Tracks from her big albums are featured as follows:

1. "Wanda Jackson", 1957 Mono LP on Capitol T-1041 (7, 8, 9, 10)

2. "Rockin' With Wanda", 1958 Mono LP on Capitol T-1384 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12)

3. "There's A Party Goin' On", 1961 Stereo LP on Capitol ST-1511 (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25).

4. "Right Or Wrong", 1961 Stereo LP on Capitol ST-1596 (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)

5. "Wonderful Wanda", 1962 Stereo LP on Capitol ST-1776 (32)

6. "Two Sides Of Wanda", 1964 Stereo LP on Capitol ST-2030 (34, 35)

The 3 remaining tracks are "Riot In Cell Block No. 9" and "Funnel Of Love" (tracks 20 and 21) that first appeared as unreleased tracks on Bear's "Right Or Wrong" 4CD box set of 1993 - while her own "You Bug Me Bad" (track 33) was a 7" single on Capitol F 4833 in 1962.

Musically – Wanda Jackson came across like a female Gene Vincent – like Elvis' mischievous little sister – and her less-than wholesome image beloved her to Rock 'n' Rollers everywhere. Not for Wanda to be standing on the porch of her mid Fifties suburban home with an apron around her bluster dress waving at hubby as he comes home from work with a pipe in his mouth – Wanda was all big hair, big chest and big lips – Wanda was in the hotel bar with the boys in the band - downing whiskeys and socking any local in the jaw who got fresh. “Cool Love” (lyrics above) give a good indication of her attitude that virtually set up a template for decades to come as to how women ‘rocked’.

Being Capitol, her band consisted of top session men - Buck Owens and Roy Clark on guitar, 'Skeets' McDonald on Bass with Merrill Moore and 'Big' Al Downing on Piano. And when she got her Country-tinged croaky voice behind great material like “Money Honey” and “Let’s Have A Party” - she made it her own. On Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” she sings “…let’s have some fun tonight…” like she meant it. As the years moved on and styles changed, she did too (but with her trademark rockin’ vibe still in tow). The superb “Fallin’” is so early Sixties Presley, while “Tongue Tied” is great fun as well as boppin’ like the old days (and in handsome Stereo).

Like a force of nature, like life itself, just looking at a photo of the ballsy Wanda Jackson makes me smile. And this little cracker from those nice reissue people in Germany – does her legacy proud.

And it’s such good fun too...

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

1. Chuck Berry [see REVIEW]

2. Pat Boone

3. Johnny Burnette [see REVIEW]

4. The Cadillacs [see REVIEW]

5. Eddie Cochran

6. Bobby Darin

7. Fats Domino

8. Connie Francis

9. Don Gibson

10. Glen Glenn

11. Bill Haley

12. Roy Hall

13. Slim Harpo [see REVIEW]

14. Dale Hawkins

15. Ronnie Hawkins

16. Screamin' Jay Hawkins [see REVIEW]

17. Wanda Jackson [see REVIEW]

18. Sonny James

19. Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen with the Rhythm Orchids [see REVIEW]

20. Sleepy LaBeef

21. Brenda Lee

22. Jerry Lee Lewis [see REVIEW]

23. Smiley Lewis [see REVIEW]

24. Little Richard

25. Bob Luman [see REVIEW]

26. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers

27. Carl Mann

28. Amos Milburn [see REVIEW]

29. Ella Mae Morse [see REVIEW]

30. Ricky Nelson

31. Carl Perkins

32. Roy Orbison

33. Lloyd Price [see REVIEW]

34. Piano Red (aka Dr. Feelgood) [see REVIEW]

35. Charlie Rich [see REVIEW]

36. Jack Scott

37. Shirley and Lee

38. The Treniers

39. Big Joe Turner [see REVIEW]

40. Conway Twitty

41. Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps

42. Rusty York [see REVIEW]

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 

“Rocks” by ELLA MAE MORSE. A Review Of The 2010 Bear Family CD Compilation.

"…Just Love Me…All Night Long…"

Released November 2010 on Bear Family BCD 16672 AR, "Rocks" offers up 34 slices of Ella Mae Morse’ varying styles – Easy Listening, Jazz Vocals, pumping Rhythm 'n' Blues and even Rock ‘n’ Roll – and it’s a peach. “Rocks” covers 1942 to 1957 on the Capitol label and at a stonking 84:33 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 (52-pages for this one). The CD label itself repros the 78” for “House Of Blue Lights” – a big hit for her and Freddie Slack in 1946 - complete with its Capitol 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 30 by KEVIN COFFEY with a Discography for all 34 tracks from Page 31 to 45 by Kevin Coffey, LAWRENCE J. ZWISOHN and Bear Family’s owner RICHARD WEIZE. Especially worth noting is that the 40-page album-sized booklet which came with Bear’s extensive 5CD box set (from way back in 1997) was a dull black & white pictures affair… “Rocks” has considerably improved on that – there are lovely full-page colour shots of her two important album covers, “Barrelhouse, Boogie, And The Blues” (1954) and “The Morse Code” (1957). Added to that are in-studio-recording snaps which are new, trade adverts, sheet music and many of her American Capitol singles are pictured throughout - a typically top job done by Bear.

The remastered sound is by one of their best tape engineers JURGEN CRASSER – he handling the stunning “Blowing The Fuse” series (1945 to 1960 - I’ve reviewed all 16 volumes) and the “Sweet Soul Music” series (1961 to 1970 – all reviewed too). Alive, clean and full of well-recorded Capitol Records class - the sound is wonderful.

Musically - although Morse looked like some squeaky-clean 20-year old usherette serving popsicles in the movie theatre during World War II, musically this belied her vocal delivery. Ella was like a female Louis Jordan or a Bessie Smith, a white gal from Texas often mistaken for a black singer because of her slightly raunchy delivery when she got her hands on good R’n’B material (covers of Atlantic artist like Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker). A good case in point for this is the 10” LP of “Barrelhouse, Boogie, And The Blues” which to my mind is a criminally forgotten R’n’B masterpiece - and I’m glad to report that someone has been smart enough to put 7 of its 8 tracks on here. It opens with “Rock Me All Night Long” (lyrics above). Don’t get me wrong – not every track on here is rocking by any means – there are easy moments too - but they’re really good also. It just depended on the material she was given.

Speaking of history – when Capitol launched its first nine 78"s on 1 July 1942, Ella Mae Morse was there on Day 1. She sang lead with Freddie Slack and his Orchestra on the A-side of Capitol 102 - "Cow-Cow Boogie". It was a huge hit and quickly climbed to Number 1 - putting the fledgling label on the map. By 1946 Capitol had shifted 46 million records, by the mid Fifties they boasted two of the best selling singers in the Universe (Nat "King" Cole and Frank Sinatra) and by the mid Sixties they'd acquired some band from Liverpool in England (who also shifted some records - apparently). So you could say with confidence that Nick Tosche's assertion that she was one of 'the great unsung heroes of rock 'n' roll' is right. A musical chameleon, a sassy vixen, or just a good old gal with a nice voice – take your pick - but the world owes Ella Mae Morse for what her breakthrough led to.

Another cracker from those nice reissue people in Germany - and such good fun too.

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 [see REVIEW]
21. Bob Luman
22. Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
23. Carl Mann
24. Amos Milburn [see REVIEW]
25. Ella Mae Morse
26. Ricky Nelson
27. Carl Perkins
28. Roy Orbison
29. Lloyd Price
30. Piano Red [see REVIEW]
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

PPS: I’ve reviewed the box set separately with attached 78”, 45” and LP discographies