“Keep Your Soul Together/Polar AC/Skagly” by FREDDIE HUBBARD (2014 Beat Goes On - 3LPs Remastered Onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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

"…Happiness Is Now…"

Fans of Jazz labels CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) and KUDO have had their appetites whetted with tasty reissues for years (the beautifully presented "Cool Revolution" 4CD set from 2010 is one). But at last a British reissue label takes these fondly remembered Seventies Fusion albums out of the realm of expensive imports and presents them with real class and superlative sound quality.

UK released April 2014 (May 2014 in the USA) - “Keep Your Soul Together/Polar AC/Skagly” by FREDDIE HUBBARD on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1144 (Barcode 5017261211446) features 3 entire LPs Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (78:56 minutes)
1. Brigette
2. Keep Your Soul Together
3. Spirits Of Trane
4. Destiny's Children
Tracks 1 to 4 are the album "Keep Your Soul Together" - released 1973 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6036

5. Polar AC
6. People Make The World Go Round
7. Betcha, By Golly Wow
8. Naturally
9. Son Of Sky Dive
Tracks 5 to 9 are the album "Polar AC" - released November 1975 in the UK on CTI Records CTI 6056

Disc 2 (41:24 minutes):
1. Happiness is Now
2. Theme From "Summer Of `42"
3. Cascais
4. Skagly
5. Rustic Celebration
Tracks 1 to 5 are the album "Skagly" - released 1980 in the USA on Columbia Records FC 36418

As with all of these BGO reissues it comes with an outer card slipcase which gives the whole thing a quality feel and generic look. The 20-page booklet features full annotation, album sleeves, pictures of his stellar musicians and a wonderfully detailed appraisal of Hubbard and the albums by noted Mojo Jazz columnist CHARLES WARING. But the big news is the beautiful Sound...

Remastered in 2014 by ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Performance in London - the world-class original production values of Rudy Van Gelder are only accentuated here - lovely warmth and clarity abound - and space around the instruments too - it's a fabulous job done.

All 4 lengthy compositions on "Keep Your Soul Satisfied" are Hubbard originals and it opens with the beautiful vibes of "Brigitte" - sounding just so cool and mellow (just as I remember my used vinyl copy). The title track is fabulous fusion with the keys and treatments of George Cables to the fore. Side 2 of the LP opens with improv jazz sporting sensational drumming from Ralph Penland - while we get street funky with the finisher "Destiny's Children" which could so easily have been in a Blaxploitation movie of the time.

1975's "Polar AC" brought on board long-standing CTI superstars George Benson, Hubert Laws, Bob James and Lenny White. Originally aired by The Stylistics in late 1971 on their debut album (written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed) - "People Make The World Go Round" is one of those songs that gets covered to death (Neville Brothers, Marc Dorsey, Christine Day, and Innerzone Orchestra have all had a go) but Hubbard got their first. His version of their "Betcha By Golly, Wow" is cool too - stretching to 8 minutes (it may have inspired Prince to cover it). Things mellow out to Cannonball Adderley's "Naturally" with gorgeous strumming from Benson and jazzy shuffles from Billy Cobham on the sticks - ending on his own excellent "Son Of Sky Dive" sounding just spiffing.

In keeping with predominant sound of the times - things got seriously funky and Soulful for 1980's "Skagly" - bringing into the sessions keyboardist George Duke and even Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame on Guitar (title track). It opens with the chipper "Happiness Is Now" featuring superb musicianship from Billy Childs on keys and Carl Burnett on Drums (so "Aja" at times in its execution). The sweet feel to "Theme From "Summer Of '42 (The Summer Knows)" is so languid. Genius percussionist Paulinho Da Costa adds his rhythmic magic to the upbeat "Cascais" featuring great horn trades off between Hubbard and Headley Coleman. The near 15-minute funk work-out of Skagly" is a bit of a monster - great in places - but probably overstaying its welcome a tad. And it ends with "Aja" funky jam of "Rustic Celebration" which I've always loved.

I remember buying CTI albums at the time because as a Rock guy I knew they'd be aimed as geysers like me - chaps who liked their Fusion with a bit of Funk and dare we say it - Soulfulness. Revisiting these fabulous Hubbard albums has been a blast. A quality reissue - kudos indeed...

“21 Grams” – Soundtrack CD by GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA

"…Light In The Darkness…" – 21 Grams Soundtrack CD by GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA

I remember watching the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" in the cinema in 2004 and being ever so subtly moved by the accompanying soundtrack of Ry Cooder type guitar strums. It was a type of “Paris, Texas” vibe -all moody slide-guitars and strings rattling with menace and foreboding - but with a South American twist this time. It was hypnotic stuff and I knew I had to own it immediately.

Like Thomas Newman – there is something about GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA and his incidental film music that sends me – and whenever I include it on a CD-R for play purposes – friends always ask,  “Who is this!”

I quickly began vacuuming up everything I could get my grubby paws on by the guy – backtracking to 2003’s “21 Grams". He appears to be the preferred music man for Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who also did the much praised “Amores Perros” and “Babel” (see review for the BLU RAY).  

The guest tracks are “Cut Chemist Suite” a rap song by OZOMATTI, “Low Rider” the 1976 Soul Rock classic by WAR. “You’re Losing Me” a 1973 US Funky Soul gem by ANN SEXTON and “When Our Wings Are Cut, Can We Still Fly” by THE KRONOS QUARTET. Best of the oddities is actor BENECIO DEL TORO doing a spoken version of Big Joe Turner’s Fifties anthem “Shake, Rattle & Roll” – it sounds like spoken TOM WAITS and is so cool - it’s frankly embarrassing. The rest are GS originals.

The music is trippy treatments bolstered up by shimmering guitars, a Harmonium and South American Pipes – “Can Dry Leaves Help Us?” even uses dialogue from the father and two children who phone their mum (and never come home). “Can We Mix The Unmixable?” is the same cool jumble but with a House backbeat. My fave though is the haunting “Can Light Be Found In The Darkness” which flicks electric guitars pings from speaker to speaker at the start while a Harmonium gives it backbeat power – ending in his trademark strummed acoustic guitars. It’s fabulous stuff…

This CD now appears to be passing hands for staggering sums of money - but I'd argue - it's worth it. I bought the Japanese 16-track version on Geneon GNCE-3011 (Barcode 4988102230258).

Beautiful, trippy, moving and cool as fuck – next stop for you should be the 2CD set for the amazing “Babel” which is frankly better than this – and that’s saying a lot…

“Raw Silk / Now We May Begin” by RANDY CRAWFORD (with THE CRUSADERS) – A Review Of Her 1979 and 1980 Warner Brothers Albums - Now Reissued And Remastered Onto 2CDs By Edsel Of The UK In 2013…

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

"…Tender Falls The Night…" – Raw Silk and Now We May Begin by RANDY CRAWFORD (featuring THE CRUSADERS)

When I worked for Reckless Records in Berwick Street in Central London – Randy Crawford albums were pretty much a no-no – they had little value – and few wanted them. But in the last decade or so - as Soul Boys of all colours have started to look back to those heady days of the late Seventies and early Eighties – albums by artists like Patrice Rushen and Candi Staton are getting revaluated all the time. Fans are veering away from the obvious hits and seeking out those tunes hidden in the grooves (both funk and ballad) - and Randy Crawford’s Warner Brothers output is the same.

For years her albums have languished unloved by digital reissue companies – well comes Edsel of the UK doing the job with real class and style. Here are the velveteen details For Edsel EDSK 7042 (released October 2013)…

Disc 1 (45:27 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 11 are her 3^rd solo album “Raw Silk” – released June 1979 on Warner Brothers BSK 3283 in the USA and on Warner Brothers K 56592 in the UK.

It peaked at 63 on the US R&B charts (not in the UK) and was reissued in May 1982 in the UK after the success of the “Secret Combination” album

Disc 2 (37:02 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 8 are her 4^th solo “Now We May Begin” – released May 1980 on Warner Brothers BSK 3421 in the USA and on Warner Brothers K 56791 in the UK. It peaked at 30 in the American R&B charts and became her first charted LP in the UK at Number 10.

The outer card wrap gives the whole reissue a quality feel – as does the 20-page booklet which pictures the albums, publicity photos, track by track recording info and exceptionally detailed liner notes by Soul Expert and long-time Edsel Associate TONY ROUNCE.

The remasters by PHIL KINRADE at Alchemy are exceptionally good – but then the original production values of Stephen Goldman for “Raw Silk” and The Crusaders for “Now We May Begin” were top notch anyway – uber high class and soulful. Superlative musicians abound - Leon Pendarvis and Don Grusin on Keyboards, Abraham Laboriel and Will Lee on Bass, John Tropea and Greg Poree on Guitars with Rick Marotta and Joe Pocarro on Drums and Percussion…and the fabulous Crusaders (Joe Sample, Wilton Felder and Stix Hooper) adding their stardust to all of “Now We May Begin”.

The Sound is gorgeous on both albums – giving the quieter tracks off “Raw Silk” like the beautiful cover of the Bert Williams Traditional “Nobody” and Allen Toussaint’s “Declaration Of Love” a clarity they never had before. It’s a patchy album for me – but having said that I’d forgotten how good her re-working of Marvin Gaye’s acidic love song is – “Just To Keep You Satisfied” – a top rediscovery.

Things went stellar with “Now We May Begin” because The Crusaders came on board after she guested on the huge “Street Life” track in 1979. In fact Warners pumped out no less than 5 of its 8 album cuts as singles (As & Bs) – and most charted too – “One Day I’ll Fly Away” becoming almost signature for her. But what I wanted this reissue for is the 7 Joe Sample/Will Jennings songs – the stunning strings and Dean Parks’ guitar slink of “Now We May Begin” – love it – love it (definitely a forgotten groove and nugget). But despite all that famous band overshadowing – the one song on here that always got me is her own lone composition “Tender Falls The Rain” which ended up being B-side material for three releases. It’s gorgeous Soul (lyrics from it title this review).  

She would go on to real album brilliance with “Secret Combination” – but here is where her success story really started. A sweet lady – take a punt on this classy reissue…

"John B. Sebastian/The Four Of Us/Tarzana Kid/Welcome Back/BBC In Concert 1970 DVD" by JOHN SEBASTIAN (2014 Edsel 2CD/1DVD Reissue & Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry…

UK released February 2014 - "John B. Sebastian/The Four Of Us/Tarzana Kid/Welcome Back and BBC IN Concert DVD" by JOHN SEBASTIAN on Edsel EDSG 8039 (Barcode 740155803933) - this 2CD/1DVD triple features the four Reprise albums John Sebastian made after he left The Lovin' Spoonful in 1968. It also sports a Previously Unreleased Concert recorded for England’s BBC "In Concert" TV Program (broadcast 16 October 1970) that is approved by the artist himself and making its DVD debut here. Here is a stacked-up spoonful of loving details...

Disc 1 (75:57 minutes):

1. Red-Eye Express

2. She’s A Lady

3. What She Thinks About

4. Magical Connection

5. You’re A Big Boy Now

6. Rainbows All Over Your Blues

7. How Have You Been

8. Baby, Don’t Ya Get Crazy

9. The Room Nobody Lives In

10. Fa-fana-fa

11. I Had A Dream

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut solo LP "John B. Sebastian" - release January 1970 in the USA on Reprise RS 6379 and April 1970 in the UK on Reprise RSLP 6379

12. Well Well Well

13. Black Snake Blues

14. I Don’t Want Nobody Else

15. Apple Hill

16. Black Satin Kid

17. We’ll See

18. Sweet Muse

19. The Four Of Us

Tracks 12 to 19 are his 2nd studio album "The Four Of Us" - released in the USA August 1971 on Reprise RS 2041 and Reprise K 44149 in the UK

Tracks 20 and 21 are "Give Us A Break" and "Music For People Who Don't Speak English" - released February 1972 - they are the non-album A&B sides of a USA 7" single on Reprise 1074

Disc 2 (63:25 minutes):

1. Sitting In Limbo

2. Friends Again

3. Dixie Chicken

4. Stories We Could Tell

5. Face Of Appalachia

6. Wild Wood Flower

7. Wild About My Lovin’

8. Singing The Blues

9. Sportin’ Life

10. Harpoon

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd studio album "Tarzana Kid" - released in the USA September 1974 on Reprise MS 2187 and November 1974 in the UK on Bearsville K 54028

11. Hideaway

12. She’s Funny

13. You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine

14. Didn’t Wanna Have To Do It

15. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

16. Welcome Back

17. I Needed Her Most When I Told Her To Go

18. A Song A Day In Nashville

19. Warm Baby

20. Let This Be Our Time To Get Along

Tracks 11 to 20 are his 4th studio album "Welcome Back" - released in the USA April 1976 on Reprise MS 2249 and Reprise K 54074 in the UK

DVD “In Concert: John Sebastian Sings John Sebastian”

1. Lovin’ You

2. You’re A Big Boy Now

3. She’s A Lady

4. Rain On The Roof

5. Daydream

6. Jug Band Music

7. Goin’ To German

8. Nashville Cats

9. Improvisation On Harmonica

10. Darling Be Home Soon

The presentation on this reissue is top-notch - a four-way foldout digipak with a chunky 36-page booklet featuring recording details, lyrics, photos, an essay on his career by noted writer PAUL MYERS, pictures of the original album labels and even personal photos supplied by Catherine Sebastian. PHIL RYNSTON at Tall Order has done the mastering and the sound is uniformly great throughout.

The first album sounds amazing if not stylistically mixed up and out of time (recorded in 1968 but released until early 1970). The clarity on tracks is thrilling - "What She Thinks About" with Harmony Vocals by Graham Nash and my personal favourite - the trippy acoustic "How Have You Been" with Paul Harris later of Manassas on Harmonium. "Baby Don't Ya Get Crazy" is awful (even if it features Stephen Stills on Lead Guitar) but "I Had A Dream" ends the platter on a swirling upbeat note.

I've always thought the 2nd album was a massive improvement over the first opening with the bluesy Josh White cover "Well, Well, Well" which would later become "In My Time Of Dying" at the hands of Led Zeppelin on 1975's "Physical Graffiti". It continues with Clifton Chenier's "Black Snake Blues" - again in slide guitar boogie mode. "I Don't Want Nobody Else" intros like an Eddie Hinton song and is pure Sebastian Lovin' Spoonful melody - great stuff. After the pretty ditty "Apple Hill" - it's back to rocking on "Black Satin Kid". The piano of "Sweet Muse" sounds so clear now as does the acoustic guitar on the finisher title track. It's also a genuine blast to hear the non-album single "Give Us A Break" after all these years on a scratchy 45 - and with its superb instrumental B-side "Music For People Who Don't Speak English" sounding not unlike a War outtake with Lee Oskar on Harmonica.

The "Tarzana Kid" album features a huge cast of guests and is the funkiest of the four - there's Russell DaShiell of The Don Harrison Band, Lowell George of Little Feat, Emmylou Harris, The Pointer Sisters, Ry Cooder, Phil Everly, Buddy Emmons on Pedal Steel and David Lindley on Fiddle. The lovely "Face Of Appalachia" is co-written with Lowell George and features his signature style of guitar playing - it's a nugget. The Traditional "Wild About My Lovin'" features a perfectly complimentary Ry Cooder giving it some cool Mandolin and Slide. And I've often put the Rock-Funky instrumental "Harpoon" on many a 70's FEST CD-R compilation (always has folks asking after it).

The opener for album number four "Hideaway" sounds like Dave Edmunds while the title track "Welcome Back" became an unlikely US number 1 on the back of a John Travolta TV program called Welcome Back, Kotter. It's all a bit poppy on "She's Funny" but gets better on "You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine". He returns successfully to The Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit "Didn't Want To Have To Do It" by making it slower but still as lovely. The melody of "I Needed Her Most When I Told Her To Go" is so The Band - and in a good way.  Jeff Baxter plays Pedal Steel on the country "A Song A Day In Nashville" will tickle Gram Parsons fans. It ends nicely on the harmonica and strings of "Let This Be Our Time To Get Along" - as lovely a song as he's even penned.

But while the music may be 4 out of 5 - what gives this reissue that extra star is the real prize - the DVD. Stood alone in front of an appreciative and tiny British audience (maybe 30 people) - Sebastian is dressed in tie-dye shirt and trousers and enthusiastically works his way through new songs and a few Spoonful classics like "Rain On The Roof" and a storming version of "Daydream". He switches between acoustic, electric acoustic and electric lead - holding the stage easily and having great fun and banter with the crowd. He even puts in a fabulous Harmonica Solo towards the end and wraps it all up with a superlative rendition of the Spoonful's beautiful "Darling Be Home Soon". Defaulted to Full Aspect - the picture quality is great considering it's been in the can for 43 years. There's no extras on here - but man what a find - it's a real jewel in this reissue's crown.

It's not all genius by any means - there are clunkers on the CDs - and his mid Seventies voice was never the most emotive nor effective. But there is also so much to admire. This is impressive stuff - and you have to say that Edsel have done John Sebastian's musical legacy a solid with this superb release. Well done to all involved...