"...Into A Real Thing...And More" by DAVID PORTER (2015 Ace/Stax Expanded CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Sock-It-To-Me Man..."

With his mentor ISAAC HAYES (and later with his piano-playing and writing partner RONNIE WILLIAMS) – Memphis Grocery Boy DAVID PORTER joined Stax Records in 1961 at the ripe old age of 20. He did so after months of post-shift pestering – constantly showcasing his songs and singing to the staff of the then fledging Soul label. It eventually paid off landing Porter a salaried job as Hit Maker/A&R Man/Chief Bottle Washer. Pairing up initially with Isaac throughout the 60ts until Hayes exploded on the World Soul Stage in 1969 with his groundbreaking Solo LP "Hot Buttered Soul" – they wrote hit after hit ("Soul Man", "Hold On! I'm Coming" and "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby") to a point where the duo of Hayes-Porter were to Stax what Holland-Dozier-Holland was to Motown.

But Porter's Solo career didn't start until late. His debut album "Gritty, Groovy & Gettin' It" hit the US shops in March 1970 on Enterprise ENS 1009 rising all the way up to an impressive No. 4 on the American R&B LP charts (reissued on Expanded CD by Ace Records of the UK on Ace/Stax SDX 142 in July 2013 - Barcode 029667055628). And that’s where this 2015 Expanded CD comes in...

Continuing their digital exploration of his Solo output - this timely and clever reissue focuses on his 2nd Solo album "David Porter...Into A Real Thing" first issued on vinyl LP in the USA on Enterprise Records ENS 1012 in November 1970 (it's 1971 UK equivalent simply called "Into A Real Thing" was on Stax Records 2362006 on the famous and sought-after Yellow Label). It went Top 10 Stateside (peaked at No. 9) - but did precious little business in the UK (vinyl copies have always been elusive). Here are the finite details...

UK released August 2015 – "David Porter...Into A Real Thing...And More" by DAVID PORTER on Ace/Stax CDSXD 146 (Barcode 029667072724) is an Expanded CD featuring 3 Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows (46:27 minutes):

1. Hang On Sloopy [Full Album version at 11:07 minutes]

2. Ooo-Wee Girl

3. Too Real To Live A Lie [Side 2]

4. Grocery Man

5. I Don't Wanna Cry

6. Thirty Days

BONUS TRACKS:

7. Come Get From Me (Parts 1 & 2) – originally unissued track on the January 1998 UK Various Artists CD compilation "5000 Volts Of Stax" on Ace/Stax CDSXD 116

8. Gotta Get Over The Hump – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 2015

9. Somebody's Trying To Ride Piggy Back – originally unissued track on the October 1999 UK Various Artists CD compilation "Let's Crossover Again" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 174

The 8-page booklet has detailed and classy liner notes from long-time writer and genre expert TONY ROUNCE alongside several foreign picture sleeves for an edited "Hang On Sloopy" - while NICK ROBBINS did the transfers and Remastering at Sound Performance in London. The Audio is glorious – really warm and full of presence – reflecting the expertise and Production values of both Porter and Ronnie Williams. Tracks 2, 3,4 and 6 are Porter/Williams originals while "I Don't Wanna Cry" is a Chuck Jackson cover version. The other cover is of course the album's centrepiece "Hang On Sloopy" which dominates Side 1 at a whopping 11:07 minutes. It was initially a hit for The Vibrations in 1964 but is more famously associated with The McCoys who took it to No.1 in the USA (and many other territories) in September 1965 on Bang Records. There are no writing credits for the three bonus tracks – two of which have turned up as Previously Unreleased Stax outtakes on 1998 and 1999 UK CD compilations – but Tony Rounce (who compiled the CD) quite rightly surmises that they bear all the hallmarks of Porter-Williams penmanship.

Putting my hand on my heart – and as a true lover of all things Stax (check out my painstaking review of Stax Singles Volume 2) – this is one of those albums that should be great but in some parts simply refuses to fly. His side-long "Hang On Sloopy" may have seemed like the height of cool in late 1970 – nowadays it’s talking verses and street hipness seem forced and drag out a groove that would have been better on something else. "Ooo-Wee Baby" is a classic Soulful ballad with backing vocals from The Precious People who turn out to be a trio of Detroit Ladies - Joyce and Pam Vincent and their friend Telma Hopkins.

The Side 2 opener is "Too Real To Live A Lie" goes into more talking Bobby Womack territory – but much better is the piano-funky "Grocery Man" used as a B-side to "Hang On Sloopy" in many European countries ("...fellas used to call me the Sock-It-To-Me man..."). Brass gives "Thirty Days" a cool groove too. The three bonus tracks actually lift the proceedings considerably even if they sound more 1974 than 1970. All three are upbeat funky and far better than they had any divine right to be – especially the 6:27 minutes of "Come Get From Me (Parts 1 & 2)" which feels like a randy Marvin Gaye searching for his inner James Brown. The backing singers are from the Isaac Hayes Movement crew – a trio he not surprisingly called Hot, Buttered and Soul – Pat and Diane Lewis with Rose Williams. 

Porter did two further albums on Stax's Enterprise Records in the USA - "Victim Of A Joke?" (October 1971 on Enterprise ENS 1019) and "Sweat And Love" (December 1973 on Enterprise ENS 1026) - both will undoubtedly surface on CD in the next few years...

"Into A Real Thing" is a Stax Records vinyl album I've seen maybe twice in my life – so its Expanded UK reissue by Ace on CD in 2015 is welcome and especially in this stunning sound quality...

"Many A Mile" by BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE (2015 Ace/Vanguard Masters CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Piney Wood Hills..."

Buffy Sainte-Marie's 2nd album for Vanguard Records came out Stateside in February 1965 in both Mono (VSR-9171) and Stereo (VSD-79171) amidst the Folk and Blues revivals. "Many A Mile" was heralded at the time and rightly so...

Using the Stereo mix - this 31 July 2015 UK CD Reissue and Remaster (August 2015 in the USA) on Ace/Vanguard Masters VMD 79171 (Barcode 029667073424) is a straightforward transfer of that rare 14-track Folk LP onto CD and breaks down as follows (36:39 minutes).

1. Must I Go Blind [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

2. Los Pescadores (The Fishermen) [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

3. Groundhog [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

4. On The Banks Of Red Roses [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

5. Fixin' To Die [Bukka White cover]

6. Until It's Time For You To Go [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

7. The Piney Wood Hills [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

8. Welcome Welcome Emigrante [Buffy Sainte-Marie song] [Side 2]

9. Broke-Down Girl [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

10. Johnny Be Fair [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

11. Maple Sugar Boy [Buffy Sainte-Marie song]

12. Lazarus [Traditional Song cover done Acapella, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

13. Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies [Traditional Song cover, Arranged by Buffy Sainte-Marie]

14. Many A Mile [Patrick Sky cover]

The 12-page booklet has detailed, incisive and affectionate liner notes by KRIS NEEDS (with additional material from Fred Jasper of Vanguard Records and Music Historian/Collector Alec Palao). There are some Trade Adverts (Cash Box Magazine), sheet music for the American single "Until It's Time For You To Go" (Vanguard VSD-35116) and the original vinyl album rear-sleeve liner notes by William Riverside reproduced in the last few pages.

The remaster has been carried out by NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering in London and is a mixed bag - great and then not so great. Most of the primarily acoustic tracks are very clean in the transfer - but some like "Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies" where she uses her Mouth Harp have huge background noise and hiss. It's noticeable too on the Acapella "Lazarus" while the acidic "Broke-Down Girl" feels like its dubbed off a record despite its clarity (sounds like rumble on the tapes). But then thankfully you get the exact opposite on other tracks – her gorgeous original "The Piney Wood Hills” and the revved-up Folk/Blues of "Fixin' To Die" both sound utterly amazing. It was clearly recorded with 'feeling' outweighing  uber-fidelity - so accept the remaster as 'warts and all'...

Buffy Sainte-Marie's warbling high Vibrato voice is a Marmite thing – you either love it or you hate it. And I have to admit that all that Sixties earnestness on stuff like "Los Pescadores" and the dreadful cod Irish of "Johnny Be Fair" are hard to take in 2015 – but there's other beauty and passion here too. Dylan covered Bukka White's stunning "Fixin' To Die" on his 1962 Columbia Records debut - but the song’s angry and desperate lyrics go back to 1930s where Bukka witnessed a friend of his be murdered in the infamous Parchman Farm Prison. Buffy uses her quivering Vibrato voice and fierce down-strumming on the strings like a stabbing knife – her anger and hurt a ferocious highlight and must have slayed audiences in the aisles when she played it live in 1965. Even better is her own supremely musical composition "The Piney Wood Hills” which ends Side 1 on an impressively warm melody. She reaches for the best Bob Dylan could offer in this song and beats him (a gorgeous plaintive melody that is thankfully free of excessive hiss levels). The folky "Until It's Time For You To Go" is a very personal love-song while Elvis Presley hijacked the album’s finisher and title track "Many A Mile" during his awful Vegas years and made it a belated hit.

"Many A Mile" by BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE won’t be for everyone - but those Folk/Bluesy nuggets on the album (and their excellent Audio) will be a huge draw for fans and the Folk-Americana curious...

"The Complete Willy And The Poor Boys" [featuring Bill Wyman, Paul Rodgers, Jimmy Page, Garry Brooker, Chris Rea, Ringo Starr and Andy Fairweather Low] (2015 Edsel 2CD/1DVD Reissue/Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Let Me Love...You All Night Long..."

Tribute albums are always tricky – let alone ones that rely on old Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rhythm ‘n’ Blues tunes as its backbeat. Yet Bill Wyman’s 1985 fund-raiser LP for a terminally ill Ronnie Lane (of Small Faces, Faces and Slim Chance fame) works because its fun and doesn’t let the big name celebrities swamp proceedings - but add to them in a very real way.

Taking its name from a schoolyard nickname and an LP by his favourite American band (1969's "Willy And The Poor Boys" by Creedence Clearwater Revival) – Rolling Stones Bassist BILL WYMAN gathered together a formidable array of big musical names to record an album of favourites that would benefit ARMS (Action For Research Into Multiple Sclerosis). His core band consisted of Andy Fairweather Low on Guitar and Vocals, Mickey Gee of Love Sculpture and Joe Cocker’s Grease Band on Lead Guitar, his Rhythm Kings Rock ‘n’ Roll Pianist Geraint Watkins, Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones on Drums, himself on Bass and the Horn Section (on some tracks) brought up by Willie Garnett and Steve Gregory. Inbetween we get guest appearances by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on Guitar, Paul Rodgers of Free on Lead Vocals, drummers Terry Williams of Brinsley Schwarz and Henry Spinetti of The Herd and Climax Blues Band, Ray Cooper of Elton John’s Band on Percussion and one appearance of Ronnie’s old band mate Kenney Jones of The Who and Small Faces on Drums (“Sugar Bee”).

The UK LP appeared in May 1985 on Decca/Ripple BILL 1, the 30-minute film/video at Fulham Town Hall came also in 1985 with a further Willy And The Poor Boys ‘Live’ set in 1994 (recorded in Sweden in 1992 – known as “Tear It Up’ in the USA). This is the first time that all 3 have been brought together in one remastered package – and a thoroughly enjoyable Rock ‘n’ Roll romp it makes too. Here are the rowdy details...

UK released 7 August 2015 – "The Complete Willy And The Poor Boys" by BILL WYMAN on Edsel EDSG 8062 (Barcode 740155806231) is a 2CD/1DVD Digipak Set and pans out as follows:

CD 1 (36:35 minutes):

1. Baby Please Don’t Go [Big Joe Williams cover]

Features Chris Rea on Lead Vocals

2. Can You Hear Me [Allen Toussaint song/Lee Dorsey cover]

Features Andy Fairweather Low on Lead Vocals

3. These Arms Of Mine [Otis Redding cover]

Features Paul Rodgers of Free and bad Company on Lead Vocals with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on Guitars

4. Revenue Man (White Lightning) [Big Bopper cover]

Features Andy Fairweather Low on Lead Vocals

5. You Never Can Tell [Chuck Berry cover]

Features Bill Wyman on Lead Vocals

6. Slippin’ And Slidin’ [Little Richard cover]

Features Paul Rodgers of Free and bad Company on Lead Vocals with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on Guitars

7. Saturday Night [Dave Bartholomew and Pearl King song/Roy Brown cover]

Featuring Geraint Watkins on Lead Vocals and Keyboards

8. Let’s Talk It Over [Tampa Red cover]

Features Andy Fairweather Low on Lead Vocals

9. All Night Long [Clifton Chenier cover]

Features Bill Wyman on Lead Vocals

10. Chicken Shack Boogie [Amos Milburn cover]

Featuring Geraint Watkins on Lead Vocals and Keyboards

11. Sugar Bee [Eddie Shuler song/Cleveland Crochet cover]

Features Bill Wyman on Lead Vocals and Kenney Jones on Drums

12. Poor Boy Boogie [Bill Wyman and Andy Fairweather Low song]

Features Andy Fairweather Low on Lead Vocals

CD 2 – Live (54:40 minutes):

1. High School Confidential

2. Tear It Up

3.Baby Please Don’t Go

4. Medley: Ooh Poo Pah Doo/Rockin’ Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu

5. Mystery Train

6. Chicken Shack Boogie

7. Stagger Lee

8. What’d I Say

9. Red Hot

10. Lovin’ Up A Storm

11. Medley: Poor Boy Boogie/Hound Dog/Shake, Rattle & Roll/Looking For Someone To Love

12. Land Of 1000 Dances

Recorded 31 July 1992 at the Hotel Tylosand in Halmstad, Sweden

BAND was:

Bill Wyman – Bass and Vocals

Terry Taylor – Guitar and backing Vocals

Jimmy Henderson – Vocals and Harmonica

Andy Fairweather Low – Guitar and Vocals

Gary Brooker – Keyboards and Vocals

Graham Broad – Drums

Maria, Annica, Maggie Ryder & Miriam Stockley – Backing Vocals

Ollie Niklasson – Saxophone

DVD (NTSC/No Regional Restrictions):

1. Poor Boy Boogie

2. You Never Can Tell

3. Chicken Shack Boogie

4. Let’s Talk It Over

5. All Night Long

6. Saturday Night

7. Baby Please Don’t Go

8. These Arms Of Mine

Bonus Documentary – The Making Of Willie And The Poor Boys

Bonus Video – These Arms Of Mine (with Paul Rodgers and Jimmy Page)

WILLY AND THE POOR BOYS BAND was:

Bill Wyman – Bass and Vocals

Charlie Watts – Drums

Andy Fairweather Low – Guitar and Vocals

Geraint Watkins – Keyboards and Vocals

Mickey Gee – Guitar and Vocals

GUESTS: 

Chris Rea – Vocals

Ronnie Wood – Saxophone

Raf Ravenscroft – Saxophone

Mel Collins – Saxophone

Kenney Jones – Drums and Percussion

Henry Spinetti - Percussion

Terry Taylor – Percussion

Ringo Starr – Guest Appearance

The chunky gatefold digipak is a four-flap foldout affair festooned with photos of the band dressed up as Mods and Rockers with a fact-filled 20-page booklet sporting detailed liner notes by DAVID WELLS. Scans and photos come from the Bill Wyman archives, Val Jennings co-ordinated the project and the mastering was done by PHIL KINRADE at Alchemy Mastering. Both CDs sound great – full of vim and vigour – but then so did the original recordings.

It opens with the guttural vocals of Chris Rea laying into “Baby Please Don’t Go” and the album immediately states its Rock ‘n’ Roll and Boogie Woogie credentials – we’re here to party and have some fun. The track choices are clever too – avoiding the huge songs of the genre and favouring forgotten nuggets like Lee Dorsey’s “Can You Hear Me” and the Bip Bopper’s “Revenue Man”. The production is old school – full of warmth and a little echo or sloppiness on those guitar parts to give a more natural feel. Paul Rodgers and Jimmy Page have a Soulful Rock go at Otis Redding’s “These Arms Of Mine” – what a great voice he has – Page’s guitar way back in the mix as the Piano and Brass take centre stage. On the two tracks that Wyman sings (Chuck Berry’s wonderful “You Never Can Tell” and Clifton Chenier’s “All Night Long”) - he’s actually similar to Wilko Johnson in his nasal delivery and in some respects is better than Low or Watkins at the mike (though both exude their love for the music).

Rodgers and Page return for a raucous version of Little Richard’s “Slippin’ & Slidin’” but its actually the piano playing of Watkins that you notice. “Sugar Bee” and their own “Poor Boy Boogie” finish off proceedings in suitable style.

If the retro album was good – the live set saw the project explode into life in front of a small but wildly enthusiastic audience. Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker comes out on lead vocals and tears up the piano too on the Jerry Lee Lewis classic “High School Confidential”. They really start to cook on “Tear It Up” with all the vocals working and that great Rock ‘n’ Roll vibe seeping into the room. It also sounds brilliant – professionally recorded too. The wicked duo guitar opening to “Baby Please Don’t Go” is fantastic and how good is to hear anyone do Elvis’ “Mystery Train”. By the time it gets to “Red Hot” and the rollicking medleys that finish the Tim Young mastered disc – its job done.

Eagle-eyed collectors will note that the DVD sees the first time members of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who have played/joined together for a film project (it was filmed 11 and 12 March at the Fulham Town Hall in London). Smartly its also Region Free.

To sum up – the album by itself would be a solid 4-stars, but the Live CD and the Guest Heavy DVD give it a huge boost. Well done to all at Edsel for doing such a great job...

"Wee Tam & The Big Huge" by THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (2015 Beat Goes On 2CD Reissue – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review By Mark Barry...

"...Remember It All From Before..."

There are times when you listen to The Incredible String Band and wonder how we put up with it all – how we the unsuspecting and nay vulnerable music-loving public didn't just fall down on the floor in fits of laughter – ridiculing this utter hippy claptrap. But then you re-hear something like "Puppies" or "The Yellow Snake" or "Maya" and absolute magic happens – those swirling Sitar flourishes – those gorgeous complimentary vocal patterns that I defy anyone else to achieve – and you suddenly remember why TISB is held in such affection – and in some cases – genuine awe.

Beat Goes On have been steadily feeding our Acid Folk habit with CD reissues of The Incredible String Band for a while now (I've reviewed "U" and "I Looked Up" elsewhere) – and here they come again with the band's 4th album – the double set "Wee Tam & The Big Huge" unleashed on a Psychedelic world in the Autumn of 1968. Using the 2010 version as its base – this double-disc doozy is newly remastered in 2015 to superb clarity. Here are the communes with cousin caterpillars, sons of Noah and the occasional half-remarkable nature (if you know what I mean man)...

UK released July 2015 – "Wee Tam & The Big Huge" by THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1191 (Barcode 5017261211910) is a 2CD reissue and pans out as follows:

Disc 1 (44:03 minutes):

1. Job's Tear

2. Poppies

3. Beyond The See

4. The Yellow Snake

5. Log Cabin Home In The Sky

6. You Get Brighter [Side 2]

7. The Half-Remarkable Question

8. Air

9. Ducks On The Pond

Tracks 1, 4, 7 and 9 are written by Robin Williamson while Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 are by Mike Heron.

Disc 2 (43:13 minutes):

1. Maya [Side 3]

2. Greatest Friend

3. The Son Of Noah's Brother

4. Lordly Nightshade

5. The Mountain Of God

6. Cousin Caterpillar [Side 4]

7. The Iron Stone

8. Douglas Traherne Harding

9. The Circle Is Unbroken

Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 are written by Robin Williamson while Tracks 2, 6 and 8 are by Mike Heron

"Wee Tam & The Big Huge" was released as a 2LP set in the UK in October 1968 on Elektra Records EKL 4036/37 (Mono) and EKS 74036/37 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used. The UK artwork has the lyrics for Side 1 and 2 on the front sleeve and Side 3 and 4 on the rear with photos of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron on the inner gatefold. It was famously issued in the USA in 1969 in different sleeves on two separate LPs - "Wee Tam" on Elektra EKS 74036 and "The Big Huge" on Elektra EKS 74037. Alternative artwork of the two American LPs (slight variants of the original photographs) is featured on Page 2 and 3 of the booklet.

There is an outer card slipcase which lends the whole thing a very classy feel and a 20-page booklet which features the lyrics to all four sides, the poem that came as an insert with UK originals ("The Head" by Robin Williamson) gets a pride-of-place centre page spread while JOHN O'REGAN's typically excellent and insightful liner notes paint an entertaining picture of the group and the album’s history. But the big news is a beautiful 2015 remaster by ANDREW THOMPSON that makes pretty tracks like "You Get Brighter", "Air" and the epic "Maya" sound ethereal and new.

"Wee Tam & The Big Huge" is probably The Incredible String Band’s most accessible outing – the music being primarily Acoustic Folk blended with Eastern themes and instruments like the Gimbri, Sarangi, Sitar and Irish Harp. It opens with the 6:47 minutes of "Job's Tears" where Robin Williamson's Guitar is quickly joined by the 3rd member of the group – the equally high vocals of Licorice McKechnie. The instrumental "Beyond The See" has Mike's Harpsichord and Organ to the fore and sounds fabulous. As the opening acoustic notes of "The Yellow Snake" mingle with Indian Sarangi sounds – the audio is startling and is a million miles away from my battered orange label original on Elektra. The Side 1 finisher "Log Cabin In The Sky" sounds like the kind of Americana The Band was listening to when they made "Songs From Big Pink" while Side 2's gorgeous and simple "Air" is surely a highlight of the whole double album (beautiful vocal arrangements). The nine-minute "Ducks On A Pond" is probably the most Traditional Folk tune on here and again has lovely audio as the trippy lyrics roll by – "...I wear my body like a caravan...gipsy rover in a magic land..."

The East-meets-West musical infusion hits you with Side 2's "Maya" where nine and half minutes of Williamson's Sitar playing makes the track fly – the cool lyrics too rolling off the Williamson's tongue as Licorice shakes the tambourine. Birds and Nature open the Bob Dylan sounding "Greatest Friend" where Heron sounds like he wants to write a classic on the guitar and harmonica but can't quite get there (it's very pretty though). The rather pointless 17-seconds of "The Son Of Noah's Brother" precedes the more substantial "Lordly Nightshade" where "Lordly..." mixes lyrics about Hitler with Hippies (nice). A churchy organ opens "The Mountain Of God" where the melody actually apes a hymn. The "Da Doody Da" refrain in "Cousin Caterpillar" gives the song a sort of Small Faces madrigal effect. Side 4 ends with a tremendous threesome – the sitar/acoustic battle of "The Iron Stone" which features that other occasional band member Rose Simpson on Percussion – Heron's Folky "Douglas Traherne Harding" (gorgeous audio) and the pure English flute of "The Circle Is Unbroken". What a ride...

"Wee Tam & The Big Huge" may be as bats*** as Hamish McLooney who won Madman Of The Highlands fifteen times in a row - but it's also glorious, unique and damn it - loveable. So – a very cool reissue from England’s BGO who are (as we drop mushrooms) lining up the band’s first three albums on Elektra for their next 2CD release - "The Incredible String Band" (1966), "The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion" (1967) and "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" (March 1968).

It just remains for me to advise you all - in those most ancient of English words - get hippy on yo ass yo dandelion children...boo ya!

This review and many others like it are part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Books Series. 

Click the link below to get the E-Book on Amazon (over 1750 e-pages of reference and great ideas)...