"Going Back To Colorado/Sunset Ride" by ZEPHYR (featuring Tommy Bolin and Candy Givens). 2015 Beat Goes On (of the UK) 2CD Reissue – Andrew Thompson Remasters - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Take My Love..."

Denver's ZEPHYR made three albums – two of which featuring the mercurial talents of guitarist Tommy Bolin (later with The James Gang and Deep Purple) - while all three had the Janis Joplin gutbucket vocals of Candy Givens and the songwriting talent of her Jazz-Rock hubby David Givens.

This superb 2CD reissue from England's Beat Goes On Records brings together their 2nd and 3rd platters for Warner Brothers – both of which are very different beasts. 1971's "Going Back To Colorado" feels like a Boogie Rock LP trying to get out from under too many styles and influences while its 1972 follow up "Sunset Ride" is far funkier affair with Soft Soul Rock and even Jazz Fusion in places (Tommy Bolin is only on "Going Back To Colorado"). Here are the fret-bending chime-tinkering details for each digital platter...

UK released August 2015 (no US release date as yet) – "Going Back To Colorado/Sunset Ride" by ZEPHYR on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1196 (Barcode 5017261211965) features 2LPs on 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (41:19 minutes):

1. Going Back To Colorado

2. Miss Libertine

3. Night Fades Softly

4. The Radio Song

5.  See My People Come Together

6. Showbizzy [Side 2]

7. Keep Me

8. Take My Love

9. I'll Be Right Here

10. At This Very Moment

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 2nd studio album "Going Back To Colorado" – released March 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1897 (no UK release). Tiny-framed powerhouse Lead Singer Candy Givens penned "At This Very Moment" - Tommy Bolin co-wrote "Going Back To Colorado", "Keep Me" and "I'll Be There" with lyricist John Tesar (Cathy Givens also had a hand in "Going Back To Colorado") and Bolin solo penned "See My People Come Together" and "Showbizzy". Keyboardist John Faris wrote "Take My Love" – Bassist David Givens wrote "Night Fades Softly" and "The Radio Song" as well as co-writing "Miss Libertine" with his wife Candy Givens.

Disc 2 (41:57 minutes):

1. I'm Not Surprised

2. Someone To Chew

3. High Flying Bird

4. No Time Lonesome

5. Moving Too Fast

6. Sold My Heart

7. Sierra Cowgirl

8. Chasing Clouds

9. Sunset Ride

10. Winter Always Finds Me

Tracks 10 to 10 are their 3rd and last studio album "Sunset Ride" – released 1972 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2603 (no UK release)

There is the now standard card slipcase on the outside lending the whole package a classy feel - while ANDREW THOMPSON has carried out the 2015 remasters at Sound Mastering in London. The 16-page booklet has full album credits (including reproducing the lyric insert that came with US copies of “Sunset Ride”) as well as new liner notes by noted Rock Writer NEIL DANIELS. His excellent and informative paragraphs go into the band’s haphazard history with genres and record companies and how Bolin would go onto guitar-god fame with The James Gang and Deep Purple. Both CDs sound brilliant to me - especially the 2nd CD. Now to the music...

"Going Back To Colorado" was the 2nd and last Zephyr album Tommy Bolin played on – their self-titled debut came out in the USA in December 1969 on Probe CPLP-4510 and May 1970 in the UK on Probe SPB 1006. While it charted at a lowly 48 in the USA – the debut was met with complete indifference in the UK - hence the non-release of the following two albums on Warner Brothers (the original 1970 British Probe Records LP on the Pink Label is a £60+ rarity and is notoriously difficult to find). Although often derided as being a mash-up of too many conflicting styles – for me "Going Back To Colorado" still has many great moments on it – least not of all Bolin's inventive axework and the Janis Joplin-like vocals of Candy Givens (John Faris has his one croaky moment too).

Producer by "Electric Ladyland" Engineer helmsman Eddie Kramer - Side 1 opens with the Bluesy title track and after hearing Bolin's fab slide playing - you begin to think that maybe you've stumbled on a long-lost Boogie and Blues masterpiece. But the neither here-nor-there "Miss Libertine" soon puts a damper on that with its earnest "...all the animals have been killed..." hippy Rock that is seeking a tune but never quite finds it. The unlistenable backwards effects and voices of “Night Fades Softly” only make matters worse – irritating rather than innovating. We get a bit 'shoo-waddy-waddy' Rock 'n' Roll with the "The Radio Song" but things improve with the six-minutes of "See My People Come Together" where Zephyr let Bolin rip on the guitar effects before he goes into a great Rock-Funk groove. Along with Candy Givens' voice and that chugging rhythm section – this track in particular makes me think of the all-girl group FANNY at their best (were on Reprise Records in 1971).

Side 2 opens with a manic drum intro for Bolin's "Showbizzy" – the band sounding like Janis Joplin's Big Brother and The Holding Company having a rock out. "Showbizzy" has some tremendous Bolin axework in the funky/chunky James Gang backing riffs and as he Solos from speaker to speaker. The beautifully structured "Keep Me" feels almost like one of those Charles Stepney arrangements he did with Rotary Connection and Minnie Riperton. The Candy Givens vocal is more laid back and therefore expressive, John Faris giving it some Flute while backing singers Albertine Robinson, Eileen Gilbert and Tasha Thomas make it a more Soulful song. Sounding like lesser Dr. John – John Faris takes his only Lead Vocal on the album for his own composition "Take My Love". This is fabulous stuff – funky accomplished Soul-Rock with the whole band gelling (Faris also plays Saxophone on the song while David Givens plucks sexy Bass lines and Bobby Berge whacks those drums with pleasure). This is the kind of cool Funky Rock track that Soul Boys love - Bolin's Joe Walsh-like guitar flourishes giving the whole sexy swaggering thing aural meat and potatoes. We then get a terrible let down with "I'll Be Right Here" with lyrics about "...crops failing..." and the "...land being blighted..." It’s all very earnest for sure but its melodrama and big backing vocals date the whole song terribly - and somehow it just doesn’t move you - even though its trying its hardest to do so.

You would think with the departure of such a key element to their sound (Bolin's guitar) – that Zephyr would fall apart – yet their 3rd album is better in many ways that the patchy 2nd (Bolin famously replaced Joe Walsh in The James Gang for "Bang" and "Miami" on Atlantic Records in 1973 and 1974 – and then Deep Purple for "Come Taste The Band" in 1975). With Bolin gone – David Givens stepped up to the plate as the principal songwriter giving the album an altogether Funkier Soul-Rock feel (hence the jet and palm-tree Miami look). John Bartley replaced Bolin on Guitars (also sings on "Sold My Heart" and "Winter Always Finds Me") and the Organ and Piano of Dan Smyth replaced Keyboardist John Faris. P. M. Wooten hits the Drums anew while Candy's hubby David Givens remained as Bass.

Both "I Am Not Surprised" and "Someone To Chew" hammer home that Fanny comparison – Candy's vocals deeper in the mix and not so vitriolic while both Smyth and Bartley lay down the funkiest of rhythms – especially on the impressive "Someone To Chew". Opening like an upbeat Van Morrison song - their wistful cover of Billie Ed Wheeler's "High Flying Bird" retains the same Soulful feel Richie Havens gave it when he made the song famous on his "Mixed Bag" LP from 1967. Again Van's shadow is cast over the straight up admiration song "No Time Lonesome" with David and Candy sharing the mike in a husband and wife love-in. Equally lovely is "Sold My Heart" - a very accomplished little ditty that works its happy way into your heart (complete with Little Feat keyboard flourishes).

Neil Daniels is right to get a little overexcited in his liner notes about the brilliant 5:19 minutes of "Moving Too Fast" which features a hair-raisingly great Harmonica solo from Candy - rocking it out with impressive abandon as the slow builder nears its Funky-Rock end. They sound more America than Fanny on "Sierra Cowgirl" where they share vocals as the riding-a-rocking-horse rhythm builds in speed (good lyrics too and a lovely solo on Piano from Candy). "Chasing Clouds" is a co-write between David Givens and Dan Smyth – it sounds nice but steadfastly refuses to take off as a song. “Sunset Ride” is the jazziest piece on the album with crashing Santana cymbals ("Singing Winds, Crying Beasts" on Abraxas) and high backing vocals like an angel’s choir – it's cool in that Rotary Connection way. It ends on the spacey instrumental chimes and treated keyboards of "Winter Always Finds Me" where they sound like a cross between Googie's Air and Weather Report. The vocals arrive after the "Riders On The Storm" pace settles down into its sexy groove – very cool stuff and a bit of a groovy winner frankly...

To sum up - both albums are hugely different – 1971's "Going Back To Colorado" sounding like a Blues Bar Band trying to find its musical feet and occasionally winning – while the Funkier and more Rock-mellow "Sunset Ride" LP from 1972 is musical eons away – and even contains a few undiscovered gems Jazz Funkers the world over will need to own. Either way I'm big-time digging the good bits on both. Sadly both Tommy Bolin and Candy Givens lost their young and talented lives to sloppy drug-related incidents – Bolin aged 26 in 1976 and Candy aged 37 in 1984. What a waste...

At least this rather cool little double-CD set remembers their legacy with style and affection. Well done to Beat Goes On for re-educating us...check this reissue out...

"Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON (2015 Ace/Big Beat CD Reissue - Duncan Cowell Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Dreaming On Some Sweet Repose..."

As simple and as plain a Folk album as you can get – Bonnie Dobson's 2nd album on Prestige Records was part of the American Folk boom in 1961 – and here it sees a beautiful New Remaster in 2015 by Ace Records of the UK. Here is the Maid of Constant Sorrow details...

UK released August 2015 – "Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON on Ace/Big Beat CDWID 325 (Barcode 029667432528) plays out as follows (37:17 minutes):

1. Dear Companion

2. My Mother Chose My Husband

3. Girl Of Constant Sorrow

4. Vranyanka

5. Ben's Lullaby

6. The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town

7. When I Was In My Prime

8. Ah! Si Mon Moine

9. Blues Jumped A Rabbit

10. Dink's Song

11. Vertsa Dievcha

12. The Cruel Mother

Tracks 1 to 12 are her 2nd US Folk LP "Dear Companion" – released 1961 in Stereo in the USA on Prestige International Records PR-INT 13031. The Stereo LP (only "Ben's Lullaby" is in Mono) was Produced by Rudy Van Gelder – Bonnie Dobson plays Guitar and Lead Vocals on all tracks, Hennie Kubik does Duet Vocals on "The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town", Isabel Gardiner plays Flute and Arranged "Vranyanka" and "When I Was In My Prime", Peter Gardner plays Second Guitar on "My Mother Chose My Husband" and "Blues Jumped A Rabbit".

The 12-page booklet reproduces the albums original song-by-song details and adds on new liner notes by KRIS NEEDS which includes interviews Bonnie a paltry 50 years after the event - its informative and fun. Ace’s long-standing Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL has transferred the Van Gelder recordings with care and skill. There is a faint level of hiss – but only faint – and it's not been squashed out by Pro Tools to get it cleaner  - hence the recordings breath and sound startlingly clear - in your face for all the right reasons.

Her high-pitched vocals are the very epitome of American Folk in the early Sixties. This is purist stuff – girl, guitar and voice combining American Traditionals with Serbian, French-Canadian and Czech Folk songs while occasionally throwing in her own originals that compliment the bulk. Both “Dear Companion” and “My Mother Chose My Husband” are very sweet but her remaking of “Man Of Constant Sorrow” into a female “Girl Of Constant Sorrow” adds a seamless verse of her own at the end to great effect. The Acapella “Ben’s Lullaby” is her own compilation and was inspired by a friend’s 14-month old baby. The double-guitars greatly help the Bob Coltman ballad “The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore” – a song about a man worshiping Jeanie as he drinks deep in a tavern. Isabel Gardner’s Flute and Arrangements help the lovely “When I Was In My Prime” and the Yugoslavian love song “Vranyanka”. The lyrics to “The Cruel Mother” tell of a disturbed unwed mum who kills both of her children and is visited by their ghosts who promise her a scorching time in the flames when she gets there (nice)...

Of a time and viewed by many as insufferable wailing – this kind of US Folk and Americana is an acquired taste for sure. But if you’re a fan – you will need this gorgeous-sounding reissue in your collection. And it’s mid-price too...

PS: see also my review for her 1960 debut album "She's Like A Swallow"...

"Straight Shooter" by BAD COMPANY - April 1975 UK Second Studio LP on Swan Song Records (2015 UK Rhino/Swan Song 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Set – Jon Astley and Richard Digby Smith Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 199 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book 

BLOW BY BLOW - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves 

(No Cut And Paste Crap) 

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"...Shooting Star..."

There can't be many FREE and BAD COMPANY fans the worldwide that don't look misty-eyed at the cool Hipgnosis cover art for 1975's "Straight Shooter" and feel a quickening of the pulse and parallel movement in their ever so tight leather pants (well maybe not so tight in 2015). Bad Company’s self-titled debut from 1974 and this "Straight Shooter" (their 2nd smash album on Island Records in 1975) were always going to get 'Deluxe Edition' treatment at some point - and a 40th Anniversary seems like as good a time as any. 

It’s just that few of us could have expected such a bonanza of properly classic 70ts Rock on Disc 2 - because this is a wickedly good 2-disc 'DE' when a lot in the last few years have felt superfluous to requirements or worse - callous cash-ins. Here are the loaded dices...

UK released April 2015 – "Straight Shooter: Deluxe Edition" by BAD COMPANY on Rhino/Swan Song 081227955533 (Barcode is the same) is a 2CD Reissue of Remasters that breaks down as follows:

CD 1 – Original Album (2015 Remaster) – 38:49 minutes:

1. Good Lovin' Gone Bad

2. Feel Like Makin’ Love

3. Weep No More

4. Shooting Star

5. Deal With The Preacher [Side 2]

6. Wild Fire Woman

7. Anna

8. Call On Me

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 2nd studio album "Straight Shooter" – released April 1975 in the UK on Island ILPS 9304 and in the USA on Swan Song SS 8413. It peaked at No. 3 on both charts.

CD 2 – Bonus Tracks: Alternate Takes & Unreleased Songs – 68:48 minutes:

1. Good Lovin' Gone Bad (Alternate Vocal & Guitar)

2. Feel Like Makin' Love (Take Before Master)

3. Weep No More (Early Slow Version)

4. Shooting Star (Alternate Take)

5. Deal With The Preacher (Early Version)

6. Anna (Alternate Vocal)

7. Call On Me (Alternate Take)

8. Easy On My Soul (Slow Version)

9. Whisky Bottle (Early Piano Version)

10. See The Sunlight (Previously Unreleased Song)

11. All Night Long (Previously Unreleased Song)

12. Wild Fire Woman (Alternate Vocal & Guitar)

13. Feel Like Makin' Love (Harmonica Version)

14. Whisky Bottle – non-album track, B-side to "Good Lovin' Gone Bad' released as a 7" single in March 1975 on Island WIP 6223 in the UK and Swan Song SS-70103 in the USA

A clever touch in the foldout Deluxe Edition digipak is the photos adorning the inner flaps (they were on the inner sleeves of the original LPs). The leaning over the crap-table photo with the band dressed up in duds was taken by Aubrey Powell – but for some reason the US and UK inners had slight differences. The one used on the left flap of the digipak is the American version where Simon Kirke (on the far left) has just flung the two dices and they’re caught in mid air – the right flap has the UK variant where the dices have settled on the table (both showing sixes). What's also noticeable is that terrible photo of their posteriors that was on the other side of the LP inner sleeve is AWOL completely (someone clearly wants to forget that photo). The other inner flaps show master tape boxes and both CDs sport the Swan Song logos. The 20-page booklet is superbly laid out with new liner notes from band expert DAVID CLAYTON (author of "Heavy Load: The Story Of Free") and wonderful repros of French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian and Yugoslavian singles in rare Picture Sleeves (as well as other relevant memorabilia). Clayton (who coordinated and compiled the release) discusses the album's making and better still – gives a song-by-song breakdown of the Alternates so you know their musical history. Very tastefully done...

JON ASTLEY did the Remaster for the album at Close To The Edge Studios in the UK from the original production tapes - while RICHARD DIGBY SMITH did the Alternates and Bonuses on Disc 2 (mixed from the original multi-tracks). GEORGE MARINO did the original Remaster in 1994 and bluntly it's hard at times to hear the difference except that the Rhythm Section is clearer – a subtle warmth to the Bass and clarity to the Drums. What you can't mistake is the sheer power of the original RON NEVISON Production - this album sounds amazing - and Rocks for all the right reasons. Those who haven't heard it before on CD will be in for a treat...

Featuring Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke of Free on Vocals and Drums, Boz Burrell of King Crimson on Bass and Mick Ralphs from Mott The Hoople on Guitar - BAD COMPANY was virtually a Rock Supergroup right from the get go (apparently they took their name from a 1972 Jeff Bridges film). "Straight Shooter" is short as an album but oh so sweet (probably their best record). To tempt the market a month before the LP’s release Island Records put out the kick-ass "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" in March 1975 as a 7" single with the non-LP "Whisky Bottle" on its flip. It rose to a respectable 31 in the UK - but for such a Mick Ralphs winner you would have expected a better position. When the album turned up in April 1975 and the public realised how good it 'all' was – it sold in truckloads and leapt up to No. 3 on both sides of the pond. And with killer ballads like "Weep No More", "Anna" and the epic boy-does-good-then-dies storytelling of "Shooting Star" – somehow the lyrics of this song alone echoed the British band's fortunes. 

They were indeed ‘shooting stars’ – suddenly Bad Company had became huge. And being on the same label as Led Zeppelin in the States (Swan Song) and having the same maverick manager (Peter Grant) – helped proceedings too. By the time the sexy Rock Riffage of "Feel Like Makin' Love" hit the streets in August 1975 on island WIP 6242 – fans were digging the blistering axework of Side's 2 "Deal With The Preacher" and the funky swagger of “Wild Fire Woman" – as catchy a tune as Paul Rodgers and Mick Ralphs have ever penned. And the whole shebang sounds rip-roaring. But then you're hit with a genuine shock – nearly 70 minute of unreleased goodies on Disc 2...

CD2 - what's noticeable (and I'm sure this has been picked by many fans) is just how like FREE Bad Company sounded in rehearsal rather than the slick Rock machine of "Straight Shooter". There's a thrilling roughness and loose feel to these outtakes that makes you think you’re eavesdropping on a band recording greatness. Even though the earlier version of "Deal With The Preacher" (March 1973) lacks the magnificent riffage of the finished 1975 version – there's a gorgeous keyboard break and you can hear the amazing rhythm section of Burrell and Kirke for real this time. Simon Kirke's "Anna" has always been a pretty song – but here on the Alternate Vocal version Paul Rodgers gives it a really Soulful go and makes you appreciate what a great singer and interpreter he is (still sounds and looks great). Rodgers also keeps the keyboards going on a very rough version of "Call On Me" – the worst recorded of the lot.

Fans will know that Paul Rodgers' "Easy On My Soul" is a FREE track that turned up on their 6th album "Heartbreaker" in 1973. Here Bad Co. gives the songs a 'live-in-the-studio' spruce up and you can hear why – there's great stuff going on in the song as it boogies funkily along (I'm loving this outtake the most). We then get a barroom brawl version of that wicked B-side "Whisky Bottle" which was apparently marked as a master but never used (I'm glad – I think the version they did use is far better). That's not to say this take isn't worthy - it is. Here we get a Snafu/Micky Moody type slide guitar from Mick Ralphs and its properly great. Its at this point that things really take off with the inclusion of two new songs left in the can for 40 years – "See The Sunlight" and "All Night Long" – and both are fabulous. For "See The Sunlight" Ralph cranks up the boogie through those Island Studios Leslie Speakers and at times it feels like really good Foghat with Paul Rodgers on the mike. It's surmised that "All Night Long" sounded too much like "Movin' On" from the 1974 debut LP - but actually it feels like a lesser version of “Good Lovin' Gone Bad" to me – but in a really good way.

How cool is to hear one of the album’s hero tracks "Wild Fire Woman" in Alternate Form – here it features both different vocals and guitars and is just brilliant (you can hear the band cooking). It cleverly ends on a lethal double-whammy – a Harmonica Version of "Feel Like Makin' Love" and the finished mix of the kicking B-side "Whisky Woman". Then we get broadsided. Originally used on a short Promo Film of the band doing the single – the Alternate "Feel Like Makin' Love" has all the huge Production values of the finished article but different Vocal passages and at 2:46 - suddenly a lonesome cowboy Harmonica comes sailing in making Bad Co. sound like "Jailbreak" Thin Lizzy a year before the 1976 event. All the huge guitars are there and more – Ralphs letting it rip towards the end – and it even has a little Zeppelin "Physical Graffiti" mellow guitar moment as it fades out - wow - what a total winner this is. The released version of the rare "Whisky Bottle" B-side only cements this DE’s 5-star status.

Their following albums "Run With The Pack" (1976), "Burnin' Sky" (1977) and "Desolation Angels" (1979) somehow all fell way short of the opening salvo of "Bad Co." in 1974 and its best buddy "Straight Shooter" in 1975. But this 'Deluxe Edition' finally reminds us why we loved them in the first place...and how. No fallen angels here...

"Expecting Company" by SASSAFRAS (2014 Esoteric Recordings Expanded CD – Paschal Byrne Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Beans And Things..."

Now here's a sweetheart. I remember a pal of mine in Dublin who was Wishbone Ash mad at the time and was pigging out on "Argus" and "Pilgrimage" on an almost daily basis. It didn’t take him long to discover the twin lead guitars of Cardiff's SASSAFRAS who came on like a combo of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash – a mix I’ll take any day of the week. I never thought I’d see their brill 1973 debut on CD and you have to say that Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) have done a bang up job with it. Great audio from original tapes, interviews with Lead Guitarist Dai Shell, repro of the original and distinctive Ian Murray gatefold artwork, period photos etc - very tasty. Here are the beans and things...

UK released April 2014 – "Expecting Company" by SASSAFRAS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2442 (Barcode 5013929454248) is an 'Expanded Edition CD' with Two Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows (46:28 minutes):

1. Electric Chair

2. Busted Country Blues

3. Beans And Things

4. Across The Seas Of Stars

5. School Days [Side 2]

6. The Way Of Me

7. The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg

8. (a) Expecting Company (b) Meanwhile Back In Merthyr

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Expecting Company" – released December 1973 in the UK on Polydor Super 2383 245.

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Oh, Don't it Make You Want To Cry

10. Kansas City Wine

Tracks 9 and 10 are a non-album UK 7" single released July 1974 on Polydor 2058 497 in the UK

The 5-piece Welsh band SASSAFRAS featured Vocalist Terry Bennett (ex Exit), dual Lead Guitarists Ralph Evans and Dai Shell, Ricky John Holt on Bass and Rob "Congo" Jones on Drums (Jones was ex Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture). PHIL SAMPSON produced the original album and PASCHAL BYRNE has done the transfers and CD remaster from original master tapes. Paschal Byrne has compiled, researched and co-ordinated the release in conjunction with the band – and his huge experience of CD remasters shows (has done hundreds of these reissues). This CD sounds fabulous – really great Audio – all the instruments 'there' in the mix – not too trebled up for the sake of it either.

It opens with a huge fan fave "Electric Chair" – a five-minute slice of wicked Classic 70ts Rock – riffs that hook and stay. You're also struck by the band’s sound (so Wishbone Ash) - Terry Bennett's great gravely vocals out front backed by interlocking guitars and a tight rhythm section – in fact the group sounding like they’ve been playing together since 1970 never mind early 1973. The trio of Ricky Holt, Ralph Evans and Dai Shell wrote all the songs except "Across The Seas Of Stars" which is by Ricky Holt and "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg" which is by Steve Finn. After the boogie of "Electric Chair" – the countrified jaunt that is "Busted Country Blues" comes as bit of a pleasant shock. It’s witty lyrics, harmonising vocals and Elvin Bishop hog-rhythm is very Area Code 615 - an American Country-Rock band Shell liked (their "Stone Fox Chase" was used as the theme to "The Old Grey Whistle Test"). We go back to Rock and MAN territory with the excellent "Beans And Things" – a crowd pleaser to this day whenever they play live (the licks flicker like wild in one speaker while the harmony vocals come out of the other – and it has that clever keyboard break half way into its 5:35 minutes). We end Side 1 with a guitar ballad – six minutes of the pretty "Across The Seas Of Stars" which is almost like the Byrds in its harmony structure.

Side 2 opens with more twin-axes in "School Days" which (with an edit) would have made a great lead-off single. "The Way Of Me" again mines that Man and Wishbone Ash groove – Bennett's vocals really making the tune (the bass on this track is amazing too). We get a little Heavy Metal Kids Rock 'n' Roll on "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg" – where (uncool title aside) the vocals and boogie-guitars chug along very nicely. The album finishes of a two-parter (a) Expecting Company and (b) Meanwhile Back In Merthyr – probably the best sounding tracks on this reissue. The complex vocal lines are impressive (almost Prog) - while Part 2 goes into a faster twin-guitar battle that is very Man. The single shows how they'd progressed – far removed from the sound of the album – why it's almost AWB in its brass Funk rhythm like Ned Doheny years later on Warner Brothers. The B-side is a straightforward 3-minutes of Barroom Boogie (boys in the band) that's actually impressive. Brilliant extras...

Their debut isn't an out-and-out masterpiece for sure – but it’s a hugely accomplished start. They would release two further LPs - "Wheelin' 'n' Dealin'" on Chrysalis CHR 176 in April 1975 followed by "Riding High" on Chrysalis CHR 1100 in July 1976 – both of which were put on CD by Gott Discs in 2005 but is hard to find now. In the meantime – check out the classic 70ts Rock of Sassafras – remembered with real affection for a reason...