"Folk Singer" by MUDDY WATERS featuring Buddy Guy on Guitar, Otis Spann on Piano, Willie Dixon on Bass and James Cotton on Harmonica (1999 MCA/Chess Expanded CD Reissue – Eric Labson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Put Me In Your Lay Away Plan..."

Muddy Waters hadn’t seen chart action since 1958. But what was chewing up American Radio and the burgeoning live circuit in colleges and campuses across the country was a huge renewed interest in downhome Folk music as sung by their 'tell the truth' artists – people like The Kingston Trio, The Rooftop Singers and the hugely popular Peter, Paul & Mary. Against all the Pop odds (and with Dylan causing such an impact too) - these groups, these storytelling singers and custodians of history were all regularly making the top ten – and in some cases knocking on that big number one chart door on several occasions.

Being record men, part-time pimps and full-time genre hustlers - Leonard and Phil Chess thought – to hell with it – let's get Bluesman Muddy Waters in for an 'acoustic' session – get some old guy from down in the Delta who knows how to play Acoustic Slide on lead – get Willie Dixon on Bass and Clifton James on Drums to be the rhythm section and record the whole sucker cheaply in a few loose days in September 1963. So that's what they did...

Although Buddy Guy was literally cursed out by the infamous dynamic duo on the morning he arrived to do the session (both Leonard and Phil considered him 'too young' to know what to do) – Muddy insisted on his presence and once they heard his incredibly accomplished playing – the canny Jewish men cursed Buddy Guy again (but in a nice way) and the tapes started rolling. And thus the most unlikely part of Morgan McKinleyfield's career got the shot in the arm it needed and a recording/audiophile legend was born.

The January 1964 Chess album "Folk Singer" should actually read "Folk Blues" – because this is a long way from the heavy riffing of "Mannish Boy" and the loud Electric Guitar Blues of the 40s and 50s. But man oh man does it work. Deftly produced by WILLIE DIXON and RALPH BASS – "Folk Singer" has always been an Audiophile recording to me (unusual for the Blues genre of the time) and the kind of recording Mobile Fidelity have put out on 180grams reissue LP. But what sends this superb 1999 CD reissue into the stratosphere is not just the truly stunning ERICK LABSON Remastered sound quality - but five very cool bonus tracks which count among their numbers - what I feel are his best ever sides. "The Same Thing" and "You Can't Lose What You Never Had" are the A&B of Chess 1895 from May 1964 – a genius combo with "You Can’t Always..." used extensively by Director Martin Scorsese on his "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey" TV Series in 2004. And as if that's not enough – like some neglected masterpiece few seem to know exists – "Folk Singer" is on sale in some places for less than three quid! Let's say hello to little schoolgirls and big-legged women (and try not to get arrested in the mean time)...

US released July 1999 – "Folk Singer" by MUDDY WATERS on MCA/Chess CHD-12027 (Barcode 008811202729) is an Expanded Edition CD reissue and plays out as follows (48:51 minutes):

1. My Home Is In The Delta [Side 1]

2. Long Distance

3. My Captain

4. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

5. You Gonna Need My Help

6. Cold Weather Blues [Side 2]

7. Big Leg Woman

8. Country Boy

9. Feel Like Going Home

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Folk Singer" – released January 1964 in the USA on Chess LP 1483 and May 1964 in the UK on Pye International NPL 28038 (Mono). All tracks feature the following four – Muddy Waters on Lead Vocals and Lead Guitar, Buddy Guy on Lead Guitar, Willie Dixon on Bass and Clifton James on Drums – except "Feel Like Going Home" which in Muddy Waters on Guitar and Vocals only.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. The Same Thing

11. You Can't Lose What You Never Had (tracks 10 and 11 are the A&B-sides of a May 1964 US 7" single on Chess 1895)

Tracks 10 and 11 recorded 9 April 1964 with Otis Spann on Piano, James "Pee Wee" Madison on Guitar, Willie Dixon on Bass and S.P. Leary on Drums.

12. My John The Conqueror Root

13. Short Dress Woman (tracks 12 and 13 are the A&B-sides of a November 1964 US 7" single on Chess 1914; track 12 previously unreleased on US LP)

14. Put Me In Your Lay Away – A-side of a May 1965 US 7" single Chess 1921. Its B-side is "Still A Fool" from 1951 - so isn’t included on this CD.

Tracks 12, 13 and 14 recorded October 1964 with J.T. Brown on Tenor sax and Clarinet, Sam Lawhorn on Guitar, James Cotton on Harmonica, Otis Spann on Piano, James "Pee Wee" Madison on Guitar, Milton Rector on Bass and S.P. Leary on Drums

The 12-page booklet features a short essay of the album's genesis and history by noted Blues Historian Mary Katherine Aldin who did Hip-O Select’s annotation for their magnificent Volume 2 of Muddy Waters' complete Chess recordings "Hoochie Coochie Man..." in 2004. Pages 7, 8 and 9 reproduce the original liner notes by Producer Ralph Bass with the remainder taken up with reissue credits. Good names like ANDY McKAIE and BETH STEMPEL have coordinated the series – but the big news is new Remastering by ERICK LABSON at Universal. His credits list runs like a who’s who of Chess artists (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, The Dells, Rotary Connection) as well as many prestigious Rock catalogues (Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, Wishbone Ash and The Who) to name but a few. The Audio here is mindblowingly good – and I think its safe to say remains one of my favourite Blues transfers ever. The casual yet tight feeling of these sessions is part of why I play it so often – and that same gorgeous Audio applies even more to the five bonus cuts. A nice touch is that there are sepia-coloured outtake photos from the sessions beneath the see-through inlay.

The album opens with a very slow and moody "My Home Is In The Delta" followed by the equally cool "Long Distance" (both Muddy originals). The sound is amazing – the slow whack of the drum – the double bass plucked – Guy playing those beautiful little flourishes while Muddy moans and lays into that slide at appropriate moments ("...hear my phone ringing...sound like a long-distance call..."). The eerie 5:13 minutes of "My Captain" is the only Willie Dixon composition on here and is so quite at times it almost feels 'bare'. There is natural tape hiss but nothing too much to detract. What you do get is that gorgeous Buddy Guy playing which is all feel and talent. Things are livened up big time with Sonny Boy Williamson’s "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" – which along with "My Home Is In The Delta" are the two tracks represented on the "Gold" 2CD anthology. The audio is awesome on this salacious tune – boogieing out of your speakers with those drum flicks and Guy’s zippy playing.

It’s straight into funeral Blues – slow and brooding with "You're Gonna Need My Help" – the interplay between the two guitars thrilling the air every few seconds. Things drop to quiet again with another McKinleyfield original "Cold Weather Blues" – the slight echo on Muddy's whoops giving the tune a huge otherworldly chasm vibe ("...going down south people where the weather suits my cold..."). Things get physically animated in the trouser area on the witty John Temple song "Big Leg Woman" where our hero implores his ladies to "...keep your dresses down..." lest he gets too excited and goes all bulldog on their jellyrolls (yikes). His long-suffering gal has to put up with Muddy excuses like "...don't say I don’t love you because I stays out all night long..." on the beautifully simple "Country Boy”. Both it and the final nugget "Feel Like Going Home" have some of the finest playing too – guitars squeaking and groaning as the necks get worked. "Feel Like Going Home" in particular is just him and his guitar and is truly fabulous stuff...all mojo man and Blues feeling dripping off every lick and moan...

The five Bonus Tracks are all studio efforts too – singles from April and October 1964 sessions – but this time with a full band in tow. With the added visceral power the beautiful remaster gives them – the extras come as a welcome addition after all that acoustic Blues. For me the double-whammy of "The Same Thing" b/w "You Can't Lose What You Never Had" on Chess 1895 is the one of the finest examples of Chess genius. The brilliantly witty Willie Dixon A-side has Muddy chronicling the downfall of all men – the lure of a big-legged woman – while "You Can't Lose What You Never Had" is one of those stunning atmospheric B-sides you hear about but can never locate. And while the boogie of "My John The Conqueror Root" is great – the Saxophone sounds ever so slightly out of place. Better fun is another naughty "way up around her knee" tune written by Saxophonist John T. Brown called "Short Dress Woman" which has an almost New Orleans vibe going on in there – both Otis Spann on Piano and James Cotton on Harmonica playing up a blinder.

"...Put me in your lay away plan...with just a small deposit down..." - Muddy Waters sings in the last track on this fantastic "Folk Singer" expanded CD – and that sounds like damn good advice to me...

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"Presenting Dion And The Belmonts/Runaround Sue" by DION and THE BELMONTS and DION (2000 Ace Expanded CD Remasters) - A Review By Mark Barry...

"...A Teenager In Love..." 

White Vocal Groups don't come much better or even 'cooler' than Dion & The Belmonts.

This beautiful-sounding 28-track single CD from England’s Ace Records offers fans two rare original albums - "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts" (1959) and "Runaround Sue" (1961) - as well as four bonus cuts relevant to the period (singles sides). It's been remastered to perfection by long-standing Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL and comes with a tasty 12-page inlay which repros the LP sleeves and provides some great photo memorabilia from Tia Douglass who ran the British fan club back in the day. There's a lot to get through - so once more unto the teenagers in love with our Italian Stallion Dion DiMucci who likes to wander (never mind that naughty Sue who prefers to runs around)...

UK released March 2000 – Ace Records CDCH 966 (Barcode 029667196628) breaks down as follows (71:33 minutes):

1. I Wonder Why
2. Teen Angel *
3. Where Or When
4. You Better Not Do That
5. Just You
6. I Got The Blues
7. Don't Pity Me
8. A Teenager In Love
9. Wonderful Girl
10. A Funny Feeling
11. I've Cried Before
12. That’s My Desire
13. No One Knows
14. I Can't Go On (Rosalie) *
Note: all 14 are in Mono. Because the extras have been mixed into the playing list – in order to sequence the debut album "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts" proper - use the following songs:
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are Side 1
Tracks 8 to 13 are Side 2
Tracks 2 and 14 * - "Teen Angel" and "I Can't Go On (Rosalie)" are Bonuses
The LP "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts" was released October 1959 in the USA on Laurie LLP-1002 and in the UK on London HA-U 2194

15. Runaround Sue
16. Somebody Nobody Knows
17. Dream Lover
18. Life Is But A Dream
19. The Wanderer
20. Runaway Girl
21. I'm Gonna Make It Somehow *
22. The Majestic
23. Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight *
24. Little Star
25. Lonely World
26. (I'll Remember) In The Still Of The Night
27. Kansas City
28. Take Good Care Of My Baby
Notes: tracks 15, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 23 are in Stereo – all others in Mono. Because the extras have been mixed into the playing list – in order to sequence the album "Runaround Star" proper - use the following songs:
Tracks 15 to 20 are Side 1
Tracks 22 and 24 to 28 are Side 2
Tracks 21 and 23 * - "I'm Gonna Make It Somehow" and "Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight" are Bonuses
The LP "Runaround Sue" was released November 1961 in the USA on Laurie LLP 2009 and December 1961 in the UK on HMV CLP 1539.

SINGLES:
Using those extra tracks fans can sequence the following eight American and British 45s in their entirety.

1. I Wonder Why [1] b/w Teen Angel [2]
May 1958 USA 7" single on Laurie 3013
July 1958 UK 7" and 78” singles on London HL 8646
Notes: A-side on the album "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts"; the B-side was non-album at the time; both are in Mono

2. No One Knows [13] b/w I Can't Go On (Rosalie) [14]
August 1958 USA 7" single on Laurie 3015
October 1958 UK 7" and 78" singles on London HL 8718
Notes: A-side on the album "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts"; the B-side was non-album at the time; both are in Mono

3. Don't Pity Me [7] b/w Just You [5]
December 1958 USA 7" single on Laurie 3021
February 1959 UK 7" and 78" singles on London HL 8799
Notes: both tracks on the LP "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts"; both are in Mono

4. A Teenager In Love [8] b/w I've Cried Before [11]
April 1959 USA 7" single on Laurie 3027
June 1959 UK 7" single and 78" singles on London HLU 8874
Notes: both tracks on the LP "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts"; both are in Mono

5.In The Still Of The Night [26] b/w A Funny Feeling [10]
July 1960 USA 7" single on Laurie 3059
Notes: A-side on the "Runaround Sue" LP - B-side on the album "Presenting Dion And The Belmonts"; both are in Mono

6. Somebody Nobody Wants [16] b/w Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight [23]
July 1961 USA 7" single on Laurie 3101
Notes: A-side on the "Runaround Sue" LP – B-side a non-album track – both are in Stereo

7. Runaround Sue [15] b/w Runaway Girl [20]
September 1961 USA 7" single on Laurie 3110
October 1961 UK 7" single on Top Rank JAR 586
Notes: the A-side is in Stereo, the B in Mono; both tracks on the "Runaround Sue" LP

8. The Wanderer [19] b/w The Majestic [22]
November 1961 USA 7" single on Laurie 3115
February 1962 UK 7" single on HMV Pop 971
Notes: both tracks are in Stereo – both tracks on the "Runaround Sue" LP

Remastered from original tapes – the AUDIO on both of these sets is superb – especially the STEREO cuts of the huge hits "Runaround Sue", "The Majestic" and "The Wanderer". And while the teenybopper angst of "A Teenager In Love" is the usual suspect on every Vocal Group CD compilation imaginable – it's those albums cuts in between that make this release such a blast. The Rogers and Hart smoocher "Where Or When" and the slow-as-a-glacier ballad "Wonderful Girl" must have been pull-em-close clinchers on the dancefloors of 1958 America - while the rumbling "I Got The Blues" sounds like Buddy Holly at Coral Records. It's not all great by any stretch of the imagination – "You Better Not Do That" is dreadful saccharine pop but the soaring vocals of "That's My Desire" in great White Boys Vocal Group stuff.

The conjugal infidelity of that heartbreaker "Runaround Sue" still sounds racy and rude in the best ways (I wanna meet this woman) while his cover of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" has a superb Dion lead vocal. "The Wanderer" stills raises a smile with its young-man swagger and bullish lyrics - but "Could Somebody Take My Place Tonight" (the stand-alone B-side to "Somebody Nobody Wants") sounds like the wishy-washy material Presley was doing in the early sixties – complete with a whiter-than-white "bing bong" girly chorus. Better is the romanticism of Vocal Group ballads like "In The Still Of The Night" and "Life Is But A Dream" while in the hands of Dion the R&B groover "Kansas City" has a wicked strut similar to "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer". The hand-clapping "greatest dance you ever saw" arrives with the impossibly catchy "The Majestic" where Mr. DiMucci does his hum before launching into that chorus...so cool...

Ace have serviced the whole of Dion's 60s and 70s catalogue across the years including a Take 1 of "Runaround Sue" on the CD compilation "Runaround Sue: The Best Of The Rest" (Ace CDCH 915) that has to be heard to be believed (as Take 2 was the master - it's like eavesdropping on Rock 'n' Roll history). But this is where that legend started and that’s Italian Stallion enough for me...

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"London Conversation" by JOHN MARTYN (November 2005 Universal/Island 'Expanded Edition' CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...My Young Love Said To Me..." 

At the sprightly age of 18 – the young Scottish Folk Troubadour Ian David McGeachy signed to the roster of Chris Blackwell's eclectic and brilliant Island Records and became the first white artist to do so. Remodelling his new surname on a Martin Acoustic Guitar (changing the 'i' to a 'y') and just one month after his 19th birthday – his debut album "London Conversation" was released in Mono in October 1967 to a rapidly changing musical landscape.

Recorded at the Pye Studios in London and criminally forgotten now - it reputedly cost a paltry £157 to make - and thus began a love affair with that brilliant record label and his public that lasted into the late 1980s and beyond. In fact I've always felt that his music in the 90s and 00s was even more brilliant than his revered 60ts and 70ts output (his loss in January 2009 was a bitter blow to many music lovers). John Martyn's Folky debut LP has always been notoriously difficult to find on original vinyl (let alone repress) - so its CD reissue here under the 'Island Remasters' label-imprint is both welcome and beautifully done. Here are the chimney-pot chitchats and wee bonnie ballads...

UK released November 2005 – "London Conversation" by JOHN MARTYN on Universal/Island Remasters IMCD 319 (Barcode 602498307335) is an Expanded CD Remaster (one added bonus track) and plays out as follows (42:04 minutes):

1. Fairy Tale Lullaby [Side 1]

2. Sandy Grey

3. London Conversation

4. Ballad Of An Elderly Woman

5. Cocain

6. Run Honey Run

7. Back To Stay [Side 2]

8. Rolling Home

9. Who's Grown Up Now

10. Golden Girl

11. This Time

12. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut studio album "London Conversation" – released October 1967 in the UK on Island ILP 952 (Mono only). Theo Johnson produced the album (it received no US release).

BONUS TRACK:

13. She Moved Through The Fair – Previously Unreleased Session Outtake

The 12-page booklet has new liner notes from JOHN HILLARBY – a man who has kept the JM light lit for decades now. There's a two page photo spread of the rear sleeve with John sat between chimney pots playing his Acoustic Guitar and looking 'so' young. It’s sad to think that Hillarby mentions the Traditional 'Cocain' and the Bob Dylan cover of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" as 'remaining favourites with him' because of course when he wrote the liner notes in September 2005 – John Martyn was still with us (living in Ireland). Compiled by Mark Powell of Esoteric Recordings fame – the big news is a fabulous Remaster by PASCHAL BYRNE (Tape Research by Zoe Roberts) that really brings out the Folk beauty and purity of the recording. With just an Acoustic Guitar and his Voice for the bulk of the tracks – "London Conversation" is a long way away from 1973's trippy "Solid Air" or 1977's gorgeous "One World" with its echoplex guitars and space Folk-Rock soundscapes – but I find its Folky simplicity 'beautiful' to the nth degree. These are sweet and lovely melodies – and even at 19 – his voice was so expressive and Soulful.

It opens with the impossibly pretty "Fairy Tale Lullaby" – the acoustic guitar sweet and warm – as it is on "Sandy Grey" – a love song written in anger about Nick Drake by Robin Frederick (mistakenly credited to JM on the LP). "London Conversation" is another gorgeous transfer – no hiss – just air and his voice as the strings rattle. "Ballad Of An Elderly Woman" and "Run Honey Run" have great stories to each – "...Well I wish I could think of some cliché to mouth to make our parting scene less sad..." Side 2 opens with "Back To Stay" – a sweet rolling JM ballad that reminds me of "May You Never". His Sitar playing on "Rolling Home" is impressive (the only track to feature the instrument) while one of the album's hidden nuggets is "Who's Grown Up Now". Both it and "Golden Girl" are JM originals - yet they sound old – like they’ve always been with us. And while the Dylan cover is inevitable (and rather tastefully done too) – what blows me away is the gorgeous and Previously Unreleased session outtake "She Moves Through The Fair" – a Traditional that stretches back centuries. The lyrics have always moved me – "...it will not be long love...till our wedding day..." Simple Minds turned it into "Belfast Child" on their superb 1989 album "Street Fighting Years".

In the last few years - the album has seen renewed interest. July 2014 saw a reissue on heavyweight 180grams vinyl of the LP using the Paschal Byrne remaster - while 18 April 2015 saw "Cocain" b/w "London Conversation" issued as Record Store Day 45 in the UK on Island 472-010-2.

"London Conversation" is forgotten now and he would follow it with "The Tumbler" in December 1968 – another Folk album affair – but this time with some Blues and his own songwriting magic on stuff "Fly On Home" (which is actually very Nick Drake with Harold McNair’s flute additions).

Sometimes things are beautiful precisely because an artist keeps it simple – song, voice and guitar - no clutter. John Martyn was always capable of moving the masses and even as a naïve lad of 19 living in a London flat living on Tea and Toast to survive - I'm sure that's what Chris Blackwell saw and heard when he signed someone so young. Talent, talent, talent - and a huge Celtic soul. I miss him...

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"Super Session" by BLOOMFIELD, KOOPER & STILLS (2002 Columbia/Legacy Expanded CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Pick Up Every Stitch..." 

Having finished with Blood, Sweat & Tears and their debut album "Child Is Father To The Man" in 1968 – AL KOOPER found himself the in-house Producer at Columbia Records in need of a project. So he calls up ex Electric Flag and Paul Butterfield Blues band ace guitarist MIKE BLOOMFIELD and together they determine to make a 'quickie' – a Blues and Soul jam album they'll pump out in one manic session. They get down enough material for one whole side of an LP (a couple of covers and some originals) - but Kooper needs the remainder. With Bloomfield flown the coup (chasing things other than the blues) – Kooper called in ex Buffalo Springfield guitar/songwriting whizz Stephen Stills to record the rest. And out of these most unlikely of 'sessions' – history was born. Columbia CS 9701 (Stereo) peaked on the LP chart at an impressive 12 and started a run of superstar jam sessions - all trying to capture the same lighting in a bottle (common consensus agrees that few got near it).

Al Kooper's liner notes explain that he's gone back with Engineer ALLAN TUCKER to the original master tapes and 24-bit remastered the album to CD. And in keeping with fan-requests over the decades – he's taken off the 'horn' overdubs put on the long jam sessions so devotees of this iconic and cool 60ts album can finally hear Bloomfield workouts like "Albert's Shuffle" and "Season Of The Witch" 'sans horns' (see bonus tracks 10 and 11). They are magnificent and arguably up there with the best Bonus Tracks ever issued. All in all - you have to say that given what they had to work with – Kooper and Tucker have done a bang-up job. Here is the 'Man's Temptation'...

US/UK released April 2003 – "Super Session" by BLOOMFIELD, KOOPER & STILLS on Columbia/Legacy COL 508071 2 (Barcode 5099750807125) is an Expanded Edition CD with four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (77:14 minutes):

1. Albert's Shuffle

2. Stop

3. Man's Temptation

4. His Holy Modal Majesty

5. Really

6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry [Side 2]

7. Season Of The Witch

8. You Don't Love Me

9. Harvey's Tune

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Super Session" – released August 1968 in the USA on Columbia CS 9701 (Stereo) and September 1968 in the UK on CBS Records S 63396.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Albert's Shuffle (2002 Remix Without Horns)

11. Season Of The Witch (2002 Remix without Horns)

12. Blues For Nothing (Outtake from the Session – first made available on the 1995 Mastersound CD of "Super Session" on Columbia CK 64611)

13. Fat Grey Cloud (Live) – Previously Unreleased (Recorded 1968 at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA)

MIKE BLOOMFIELD – Guitar on Tracks 1-5, 10, 12 and 13

AL KOOPER – Vocals, Ondioline Organ, Piano, Electric and Acoustic Guitars

STEPHEN STILLS – Guitar on Tracks 6 -9 and 11

GUESTS:

BARRY GOLDBERG – Piano on Tracks 1 and 2

HARVEY BROOKS – Bass

"Fast" EDDIE HOH - Drums

The 12-page booklet has an opening 'Producer’s Note' from All Kooper not just explaining the recordings but the CD reissue and his 'without horns' 2002 remixes. BRUCE DICKINSON was Executive Producer for the re-release and both the Michael Thomas original LP liner notes and the David Fricke Rolling Stone Review are reproduced (four-stars from Robert who spends much of his time raving about Bloomfield when Kooper's contribution was just as big if not more in my books). There are some black and white session photos and not much else. ALLAN TUCKER did the Mastering at Foothill Digital Studios in New York and the Audio is fantastic – full of power and presence and that sense of immediacy the recordings had anyway (the Bonus Cuts are beautifully transferred too).

It opens with a Bloomfield/Kooper Instrumental called "Albert's Shuffle" – nearly nine-minutes of Shuggie Otis type Blues with Bloomfield shouting as he solos – Kooper letting loose on the keys (an organ sound most would kill to get). Next up is the uber-cool "Stop" – an instrumental cover of a Howard Tate soul tune on Verve Records from December 1967 (Verve VK 10573). I’ve loved this slinky little ditty for decades now and it still has that 60ts chug about it that utterly sends me. Next up is the first vocal by Al Kooper on their version of Curtis Mayfield's "Man's Temptation" – a song about a temptress who wants to "...ruin my happy home with man's temptation...” But then we get the magnificent band really cooking on another Bloomfield/Kooper creation "His Holy Modal Majesty" – a 9:19 minute Organ/Guitar battle that feels like Santana gone Prog by way of the Blues (and I still don’t know what the title means). Side 1 ends on the Traditional Slow Blues vibe of "Really" – 5:26 minutes of Bloomfield letting rip on the frets while Kooper puts in huge chords on the Organ (very tasty mama).

Side 2 has always been problematic for me. It opens with A Stephen Stills take on Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" and to me it immediately sounds like the album has gone off the rails. The tune is OK – but thematically it comes over like poor man’s Monkees instead of the fresh Bluesy workouts we were getting on Side 1. Things are brought back from the brink big time by the stunning 11:08 minutes of "Season Of the Witch" (a Donovan cover they did on the Side 1 all-day session). Columbia and CBS edited both it and "Albert's Shuffle" down to fit on the A&B-sides of a 45 in October 1968 (CBS 3770 in the UK, Columbia 44657 in the USA) – but it did little business despite the success of the album (it's a no-show here due to time constraints). Back to weird with the Hendrix flange cover of a Willie Cobbs tune called "You Don't Love Me" which again is good – but still feels wildly out of kilter with the rest of the record. Then we enter mellow Jazz Soul territory with the saxophone-led "Harvey's Tune" – another out of step instrumental that sounds like it should be in a Blaxploitation film instead of on this album. But then you’re hit with four corkers...

While the album has its incongruous moments – the bonus tracks act as an impossibly brilliant counterpoint – the first three sounding like the powerhouse Blues Session that should have been released. Why "Blues For Nothing" was left off the album and mediocrity like "Harvey's Tune" left on is a total mystery (4:15 minutes) and the two album cuts minus-the-horns actually seem to free the songs and focus you completely on the dynamic duo – Al Kooper on Organ and Mike Bloomfield on Guitar. "Season Of The Witch" is the prize here and stretches to its full 11:08 minutes - stripped and raw - it has a renewed power that's thrilling. As if this is not satisfying enough – the live Instrumental Blues of "Fat Grey Cloud" is fantastic – Bloomfield joking first about 'tuning' then letting rip – wild one second – Soulful Bluesy the next – with Kooper following after - pumping out an Organ Sound that is huge (4:39 minutes).

In truth the original album is probably more four-stars than five - but this genius CD reissue with those stunning bonus tracks bumps it up again.

"...You've got to pick up every stitch..." – Kooper sings in their funky cover of Donovan's Sixties-sinister "Season Of The Witch". And it seems that anything from that incredible 'super session' was indeed worth picking up...