"Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano... (Think About It Darlin')/Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough" by JERRY LEE LEWIS (2015 Beat Goes On CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Honky Tonk..."

Having renewed a better contract with Mercury Records - 1972 and 1973 saw the Killer riding high with chart success and sold-out tours. But his album-releases for the period uncomfortably straddled two worlds - American Country Music that was commercially lucrative but laced in strings and cheesy productions - against albums that snuck out inbetween the cracks that still showed his wild man Rock 'n' Roll piano-pumping chops. These two albums are firmly in the Country sphere and while there are moments on them for sure - they haven't weathered the years well. Those looking for touches of his old Rock 'n' Roll magic and mojo should look elsewhere.

UK released January 2015 - "Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano... (Think About It Darlin')/Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough" by JERRY LEE LEWIS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1174 (Barcode 5017261211743) features 2LPs on 1CD and breaks down as follows (66:44 minutes):

1. Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano

2. She's Reachin' For My Mind

3. Too Many Rivers

4. We Both Know Which One Of Us Was Wrong

5. Wall Around Heaven

6. No More Hanging On

7. Think About It Darlin' [Side 2]

8. Bottom Dollar

9. No Traffic Out Of Abilene

10. Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

11. The Mercy Of A Letter

Tracks 1 to 11 are the album "Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano... (Think About It Darlin')" - released December 1972 in the USA on Mercury SR 61366 (No UK release)

12. Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough

13. Ride Me Down Easy

14. Mama's Hands

15. What My Woman Can't Do

16. My Cricket And Me

17. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

18. Honky Tonk Wine [Side 2]

19. Falling To The Bottom

20. I Think I Need To Pray

21. The Morning After Baby Let Me Down

22. Keep Me From Blowing Away

Tracks 12 to 22 are the album "Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough" - released October 1973 in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-677 (no UK release)

The card-wrap and 16-page booklet lend the release a classy feel while ANDREW McRAE provides the affectionate and informative liner notes to compliment the album credits (there's also Country Music magazine covers, artwork and photos reproduced). ANDREW THOMPSON has done the remasters in 2015 at Sound Mastering and they're typically excellent - full of details and audio punch without being over-trebled for the sake of it.

The witty opener "Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano" sets the Country Music tone - Jerry giving the lyrics his sly acidic slant "who's gonna touch these keys with feeling...really get to you...the Killer ain't through!" There's a touch of Fats Domino piano boogie with "We Both Know Which One Of Us Was Wrong" where Jerry tells us where the blame squarely lies (oddly enough its not with him). Jimmy Webb provides a half-decent song in "No Traffic Out Of Abilene" where Lewis does his best Glen Campbell impression. On the second album "Honky Tonk Wine" provides a welcome boogie to the syrupy Country but again its drowned in girl singers and strings. It ends on the talking "Keep Me from Blowing Away" again drowned in kill-me-now strings.

You wouldn't call either of these records JLL's finest moments - but fans will enjoy the quality presentation and audio...

"1-40 Country/Odd Man" In by JERRY LEE LEWIS (2015 Beat Goes On CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Alcohol Of Fame..." 

Two long-forgotten American LPs from the Killer’s Pure Country period at Mercury Records – "1-40 Country" from 1974 and "Odd Man In" from 1975 (neither of which received a UK release). Both are chockers full of society outcasts, habitual sinners, randy barroom trysts with cheating ladies of the night and alcohol-fuelled misdemeanours that chill the bones of the motel receptionist in the cold light of dawn (nice). Here are the other sides of life....

UK released November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) – "1-40 Country/Odd Man Out" by JERRY LEE LEWIS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1216 (Barcode 5017261212160) features 2 LPs onto 1CD and plays out as follows (62:40 minutes):

1. He Can't Fill My Shoes

2. Tell Tale Signs

3. A Picture From Life's Other Side

4. I Hate Goodbyes

5. I've Forgot More About You (Than You'll Ever Know)

6. Tomorrow's Taking Baby Away [Side 2]

7. Cold, Cold Morning Light

8. The Alcohol Of Fame

9. Where Would I Be

10. Bluer Words

11. Room Full Of Roses

Tracks 1 to 11 are the album "1-40 Country" – released 1974 in the USA on Mercury Records SRM-1-710

12. Don't Boogie Woogie (When You Say Your Prayers Tonight)

13. Shake, Rattle And Roll

14. You Ought To See My Mind

15. I Don't Want To Be Lonely Tonight

16. That Kind Of Fool

17. Goodnight Irene

18. A Damn Good Country Song [Side 2]

19. Jerry’s Piece

20. When I Take My Vacation In Heaven

21. Crawdad Song

22. Your Cheatin' Heart

Tracks 12 to 22 are the album "Odd Man in" – released 1975 in the USA on Mercury Records SRM-1-1064

There's an outer card slipcase that lends the release a classy feel, the 16-page booklet has liner notes from ANDREW McRAE with album credits and there's new 2015 Remasters by ANDREW THOMPSON licensed from Phonogram. As usual with all BGO releases - it sounds great as always.

I was determined in many ways to hate these records. My memories of these string-laden LPs are that of horrid Country pap – the kind of piano-rolling pedal steel schlock Lewis could run off in his sleep. And in some respects on re-hearing these contractual filler albums those initial assessments haven't changed. But as ever with The Killer - both have their moments and remain stubbornly likeable precisely because of his languid delivery on boozy tales of infidelity and the headache-filled aftermath (and actually there's not a truck in sight). There's a knowing wink in the hit single "He Can't Fill My Shoes" and the sly stab of "I've Forgot More About You (Than You'll Ever Know)". But stuff like "Where Would I Be" and "I Hate Goodbyes" with their lonesome fiddle and paint-by-number pedal steel whines just feel like elevator music – and even a good melody like "Bluer Words" gets utterly drowned in strings and sappy backing vocals. And all that trucker CB Radio crap depicted on the cover was only pandering to the fad of the day...

At least the "Odd Man In" LP resurrected some of that old Rock 'n' Roll swagger and wit. The doctor tells old Jerry Lee to lay off the booze and pills – to which he promptly goes into a Rock 'n' Roll piano chorus which includes pleads to Jesus as he lashes the keys. It’s followed by a updated cover of Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll" – boogie that feels more alive than the entire "1-40 Country" LP. Back to the honky-tonk swing with the excellent "You Ought To See My Mind" and he even sounds drunk as he sings "I Don't Want To Be Lonely Tonight". Side 1 ends on a rambunctious "Goodnight Irene". He returns to real world problems with "...I took enough pills for the whole damn town..." as he tells us that "...my life would make a damn good Country song..." His stay at Sun Records finally comes through with "Jerry's Place" where he boogies through a song about a favourite watering hole - a bar where the girls don't have to worry about romance (peopled by nice guys and decent chappies). The same spirit of Fifties R&B permeates "Crawdad Song" - but it ends not surprisingly with a Hank Williams standard "Your Cheatin' Heart" - right back to the safety of his Country musical bread and butter of the day.

Neither album is a winner by any stretch of the imagination – but at least "Odd Man Out" shows traces of that old magic and some of the Country ballads on "1-40" put a grin on your face. Fans will love the presentation, the quality Audio and the chance to have these lesser-seen albums on their shelves. All others should hear first before they buy...

"In Fields Of Ardath" by EYES OF BLUES (2015 Esoteric Recordings 'Expanded' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…After The War…" 

Welsh cult band EYES OF BLUE released only two albums at the extreme ends of 1969 – "Crossroads Of Time" in January and "In Fields Of Ardath" in December. Yet this legendary pairing of Mercury Records Psych LP classics have incredibly stayed off the official CD reissue schedules-list for three whole decades and more. That is until now.

At last in late 2015 - along comes Mark Powell’s Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red of the UK) who have reissued both complete with new liner notes, collaborations from the remaining members of the band and rare bonus tracks (non-album single sides). And typically Esoteric have done a bang-up job for both. With the pair regularly clocking in at £250+ for vinyl rarities that few who love the genre get access to - both of these first-time-on-cd expanded reissues are welcome news for collectors and the curious alike. Here are the visionary details for album number two…

UK released 27 November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) – "In Fields Of Ardath" by EYES OF BLUE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2523 (Barcode 5013929462342) is a CD Reissue/Remaster of their second album with one bonus track and plays out as follows (42:30 minutes):

1. Merry Go Round (from the film "Toy Grabbers")

2. The Light We See

3. Souvenirs (Tribute To Django)

4. Ardath

5. Spanish Blues

6. Door (The Child That Is Born On The Sabbath Day) [Side 2]

7. Little Bird

8. After The War

9. Extra Hour

10. Chances

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 2nd and last studio album "In Fields Of Ardath" as Eyes Of Blue – released December 1969 in the UK on Mercury Records 20164 SMCL and in the USA on Mercury Records SR 61220 (both Stereo).

Tracks 1 and 10 written by Ritchie Francis

Tracks 2 and 8 written by Gary Pickford-Hopkins

Track 3 is a Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli cover

Track 4 written by John Weathers

Track 5 written by Graham Bond

Track 6 written by Phil Ryan and Roy Bennett

Track 9 written by Phil Ryan

The album was produced by LOU REIZNER (as was their debut) and featured 1969 liner notes from Quincy Jones – also reproduced on the last page of the booklet.

BONUS TRACK:

11. Apache '69 (Mono). Non-Album A-side – an updated version of the 1960's Shadows hit "Apache" originally written by Jerry Lordan years earlier. The 1969 7" single was released in the UK on Mercury MF 1080 and in the USA as Mercury 72911. However - the US 45 credited the band as EYES OF BLUE - but the UK issued it used the moniker THE IMPOSTERS. Both songs on the single were non-album on release and the B-side "Q III" is a bonus track on the "Crossroads Of Time" CD reissue (Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2522).

EYES OF BLUE was down to a 5-piece for their 2nd album and featured Gary Pickford-Hopkins (Vocals), Phil Ryan (Keyboards), Ray "Taff" Williams (Guitars), Ritchie Francis (Bass) and John Weathers (Drums) – the original sixth member of the band Vocalist Wyndham Rees left after the first LP.

The 16-page booklet features new liner notes by noted musicologist MALCOLM DOME with a history of both The Mustangs and The Smokestacks (two bands that gave rise to EOB), interviews with former band members Weathers and principal songwriter Francis on the formation of the band, the making of the album and the disappointing 'no sales' aftermath. There are black and white photos of the original line up, flyers for gigs at the Langland Bay Hotel in March 1969 and London's Speak Easy in February, rare foreign picture sleeves - the usual spread of period memorabilia that a body expect from a quality reissue like this.

BEN WISEMAN – a name that’s graced oodles of these classy reissues – has handled the exclusively licensed Remaster. While the first record was thrashed together in only 5-days – the second LP saw the band take a more careful approach and you can hear it in the accomplished Audio presented here. The transfer on songs like the hugely complex "Door..." with its Mellotron, layered vocals and Sitar alongside funky organ vehicles like their cover of Graham Bond's "The Sound Of '65" classic "Spanish Blues" is clean, ballsy and full of Psych power and raunch. This is a great sounding CD reissue...

Their association with a visiting Quincy Jones hunting for Soundtrack Rock saw their opener "Merry Go Round" featured in the risible 1969 movie "Toy Grabbers" starring Julie Newmar and Victor Bruno who both played villains in the US "Batman" TV Series. As the liner notes tell us – Eyes Of Blue also featured in the film "Connecting Rooms" (a drama that starred movie heavyweights Betty Davis and Sir Michael Redgrave) where they played a whole set to the extras (sadly none of it is available for this release). The Django Reinhardt tribute instrumental "Souvenirs" is initially covered in deliberately applied 78" scratches but then fades into an Acoustic and Electric Guitar jaunt – it’s interesting but not a lot else really. Far better is the melodic "Ardath" – a swirling "shining graceful" acoustic floater with lovely piano in the background like a childhood dream before it breaks into a wicked Graham Bond type shuffle and groove.

But it's when you play either "After The War" (penned by Pickford-Hopkins) or the superb and ethereal "Extra Hour" – does it becomes pretty clear that their songwriting talent as a band had taken huge leaps forward compared to their good but patchy January 1969 debut. By now Eyes Of Blues were sounding not unlike an early version of YES with all the keyboard and guitar skills of Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe in Phil Ryan and Ray Williams. The chipper piano-vocal driven "Little Bird" would have been a 7" single contender too. It ends on the almost Midnight Cowboy Pop of "Chances" – a lovely Ritchie Francis harmonica warbler. A truly impressive album...

Psych fans will love the inclusion of their Guitar and Keyboard instrumental re-working of The Shadows 1960 hit "Apache '69" – their rare non-album 7” single from 1969 in Mono (the band credited as THE IMPOSTERS in the UK). They will then quickly work out that its equally hard-to-find and brilliant instrumental B-side "Q III" is the bonus track on the first CD – "Crossroads Of Time" - also released by Esoteric Recordings on 27 Nov 2015.

Eyes of Blue then morphed into BIG SLEEP who produced one album in 1971 called “Bluebell Wood” on Pegasus Records PEG 4 that will undoubtedly be the subject of CD reissue soon also...

Difficult but brilliant - off its time and yet ahead of it - Eyes Of Blue have carved a semi mythical name in the pantheons of Psych and Prog lovers - and on the evidence of this superb but criminally forgotten second outing - it's easy to hear why...

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is COOL 1960s MUSIC - an E-Book with over 200 entries and 2000 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

"Crossroads Of Time" by EYES OF BLUES (November 2015 Esoteric Recordings 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Ain't Gonna Fight No More…"

Welsh cult band EYES OF BLUE released only two albums at the extreme ends of 1969 – "Crossroads Of Time" in January and "In Fields Of Ardath" in December. Yet this legendary pairing of Mercury Records Psych LP classics have incredibly stayed off the official CD reissue schedules-list for three whole decades and more. That is until now.

At last in late 2015 - along comes Mark Powell’s Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red of the UK) who have reissued both complete with new liner notes, collaborations from the remaining members of the band and rare bonus tracks (non-album single sides). And typically Esoteric have done a bang-up job for both. With the pair regularly clocking in at £250+ for vinyl rarities that few who love the genre get access to - both of these first-time-on-cd expanded reissues are welcome news for collectors and the curious alike. Here are the visionary details…

UK released 27 November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) – "Crossroads Of Time" by EYES OF BLUE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2522 (Barcode 5013929462243) is a CD Reissue/Remaster of their debut album with one bonus track and plays out as follows (45:50 minutes):

1. Crossroads Of Time

2. Never Care

3. I’ll Be Your Friend

4. 7 + 7 Is

5. Prodigal Son

6. Largo [Side 2]

7. Love Is The Law

8. Yesterday

9. I Wonder Why

10. World Of Emotion

11. Inspiration For A New Day

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Crossroads Of Time" – released January 1969 in the UK on Mercury Records 20134 SMCL and in the USA on Mercury Records SR 61184 (both Stereo).

BONUS TRACK:

12. Q III (Mono). Non-Album B-side of “Apache ‘69” – an updated version of the 1960's Shadows hit "Apache" originally written by Jerry Lordan years earlier. The 1969 7" single was released in the UK on Mercury MF 1080 and in the USA as Mercury 72911. However - the US 45 credited the band as EYES OF BLUE - but the UK issued it used the moniker THE IMPOSTERS. Both songs were non-album at the time and "Apache '69" (the A-side) is a bonus track on the "In Fields Of Ardath" CD reissue (Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2523).

EYES OF BLUE was a 6-piece and featured Gary Pickford-Hopkins and Wyndham Rees (Vocals), Phil Ryan (Keyboards), Ray "Taff" Williams (Guitars), Ritchie Francis (Bass) and John Weathers (Drums). Tracks 2, 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11 written by Ritchie Francis – Tracks 1 and 7 written by Graham Bond (credited originally as Diane Stewart (his wife) for contractual reasons) – Tracks 4, 6 and 8 are Love, Handel and Beatles covers respectively. The album was produced by LOU REIZNER and featured 1969 liner notes from Graham Bond – also reproduced in the booklet.

The 16-page booklet features new liner notes by noted musicologist MALCOLM DOME with a history of both The Mustangs and The Smokestacks (two bands that gave rise to EOB), interviews with former band members Weathers and principal songwriter Francis on the formation of the band, the making of the album and the disappointing 'no sales' aftermath. There are fabulous colour photos of the six-piece group (and an early shot of The Mustangs), trade adverts for gigs, rare foreign picture sleeves - the usual spread of period memorabilia. BEN WISEMAN – a name that’s graced oodles of these classy reissues – has handled the exclusively licensed Remaster. Recorded in only 5-days - we're not talking audiophile here - but we are talking raw power. The audio on songs like Graham Bond's "Crossroads Of Time" and the funky "I Wonder Why" is clean, ballsy and full of Psych raunch. This is a great sounding CD reissue...

The first of two Graham Bond's song contributions opens proceedings – the title track "Crossroads Of Time" (he doesn't play on the song) and is quickly followed by the very Prog "Never Care" – big guitars and even bigger vocal ideas (lyrics from the song title this review). Clearly bands like Love, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and The Doors have been influencing our boys as we hear the Bluesy but evolving Prog rhythms of “I'll Be Your Friend". Their cover of Love's manic "7 + 7 Is" is similar in feel to the original - coming on like tripped-out Buddy Holly with the vocals flanged for extra wild effect – the drums rattling the right speakers while the keys concentrate on the left (great guitar solo towards it conclusion too).

But things really do start to rock up when we reach the wicked Prog Boogie of "Prodigal Son" – the guitar let rip – like Taste on a good day. "Largo" is a Handel piece given a Mellotron and layered vocal treatment for its classical pain – and it works (some European territories gave it a 7" single release – complete with picture sleeve and their cover of The Beatles "Yesterday" on the flip). "Love Is The Law" is the second Graham Bond song – more plaintive than the first – a clever mid-tempo groove steeped in Mellotron and soloing keyboards which sounds very Moody Blues as the lyrics wax lyrical about a "wounded world" and "liking the sun". Perhaps the weirdest and most adventurous song on the album is their wildly inventive cover of "Yesterday" where Eyes Of Blue Mellotron up the melody and add brilliantly arranged counterpoint vocals (Psych fans will love it – Fab Four purists will probably need to lie down). I can't help thinking that the funky and (dare we say it) commercially catchy "I Wonder Why" would have made for a great leadoff 7" single from a hard-to-categorize LP - but someone didn't hear it that way at the time. The album ends on a double whammy of almost Pop rockers that somehow sounds like Robin Trower got a hold of Procol Harum's Prog leanings and said 'time to rock out boys' - "World Of Emotion" and "Inspiration For A New Day".

Psych fans will love the inclusion of the Guitar and Keyboard rocking instrumental "Q III" – their rare B-side from 1969 in Mono (the band credited as THE IMPOSTERS in the UK). They will then quickly work out that its equally hard-to-find cover version A-side "Apache '69" is the bonus track on the second CD – "In Fields Of Ardath" - also released by Esoteric Recordings 27 Nov 2015...

Difficult but brilliant - off its time and yet ahead of it - Eyes Of Blue have carved a semi mythical name in the pantheons of Psych and Prog lovers - and on the evidence of this superb but criminally forgotten debut - it's easy to hear why...

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is COOL 1960s MUSIC - an E-Book with over 200 entries and 2000 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

"Transformer" by LOU REED - November 1972 US and UK LP on RCA Victor Records - Re-Promoted and Charted UK in 1973 when 'Transformer' Producer David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane" Album went to No.1 (October 2002 UK BMG/RCA Expanded 'Original Masters' CD Reissue with Vic Anesini Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Plucked Her Eyebrows Along The Way..." 

With both David Bowie and Lou Reed having passed so recently - re-listening to 1972's utterly brilliant "Transformer" is a bittersweet experience. But more than the pain of their loss - you're also struck by just how 'fully-formed' the record is, how lyrically kick-ass it was (and still is) and that it's not just some dismissible showy glam rock period piece either. This sucker has more attitude (and mascara) than the angst-ridden gay spawn of Mary Whitehouse and Eddie Izzard. If anything "Transformer" seems shockingly rad in 2016 - contemporary and emotionally brave (a bit like its creator really). 

Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson (Ronson on Guitars, Bowie on Backing Vocals also) - the whole of Lou Reed's "Transformer" works - and Vic Anesini's wonderful 2002 CD remaster brings the album to life like never before – each track clean yet muscular without ever being over trebled for the sake of it. The audio of the monster smash "Walk On The Wild Side" alone is enough to make the hairs on the back on neck stand up (that Bass line, the Baritone Sax solo). Here are the plucked eyebrows...and shaved legs...

USA released 22 October 2002 (28 October 2002 in the UK) – "Transformer" by LOU REED on BMG/RCA 07863 65132 2 (Barcode 078636513225) is an expanded 'Original Masters' CD Remaster and plays out as follows (45:23 minutes):

1. Vicious [Side 1]
2. Andy's Chest 
3. Perfect Day 
4. Hangin' 'Round 
5. Walk On The Wild Side 
6. Make Up [Side 2]
7. Satellite Of Love
8. Wagon Wheel 
9. New York Telephone Conversation 
10. I'm So Free
11. Goodnight Ladies
Tracks 1 to 11 are his 2nd solo LP "Transformer" – released 8 November 1972 in the USA and UK on RCA Victor LSP-4807 (didn't chart until April 1973 in the UK). All songs by LOU REED – Produced by DAVID BOWIE and MICK RONSON – it peaked at 13 on the UK charts and 29 in the USA. Other guest Musicians included Herbie Flowers on Bass and Tuba, Klaus Voorman on Bass with Barry Desousza, Ronnie Ross on Saxophone, Thunderthighs on Backing Vocals with John Halzey and Richie Dharma on Drums

BONUS TRACKS: 
12. Hangin' 'Round (Previously Unreleased Acoustic Demo)
13. Perfect Day (Previously Unreleased Acoustic Demo)

The 16-page booklet is a pleasingly chubby and substantive affair – rare foreign picture sleeves for "Walk On The Wild Side" (most countries had "Perfect Day" as the B-side but some had "Vicious"), sheet music, RCA Master Tape Boxes, a music press advert for the album and even a picture of the 8-track cartridge on Page 3. The CD is a picture disc and there’s even a “Transformer” photo beneath the see-through tray. 

MICHAEL HILL provides the excellent and informative liner notes that go into song-by-song analysis and general ruminations on drag queens, Nelson Algren novels (where he got the title "Walk On The Wide Side") and how clueless BBC Radio 1 controllers simply didn't get the reference 'giving head' as being frightfully naughty and so played the song on English radio with gusto because it was 'one of those hit things' (much to the delight of the listening British public). But the big news is the truly superb VIC ANESINI Remaster. Anesini is a name I've raved about many times before when it comes to Audio Engineers - a man who seem to lift proceedings without drowning them out. He's worked on the prestigious Elvis Presley catalogue, Simon and Garfunkel. Carole King, Santana, The Jayhawks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Byrds, Nilsson, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Denis Wilson (of The Beach Boys), Hall & Oates, Cab Calloway, Big Maybelle...to name but a few (see reviews for all). His work here is typically on the ball – the album is muscular without being showy and those formerly too-distant bottom-end rhythm pieces now full of subtle punch. A top job done...

The words alone on this record should elicit classrooms full of study – witty, street savvy, butch and snarling – characters are looking for Soul food and a place to eat. Holly from Miami FLA has shaved his/her legs and we’re all taking a walk on the wide side (baby). Any album that opens with a song that counter-culture's with "...You hit me with a flower...oh baby you're so vicious..." is probably not going to be a demo for the Euro Vision Song Contest. Even the soundscape of "Vicious” with that manic treated guitar in the background and the rhythm amplified into the right speaker like some voodoo man tapping out a New York mantra on an empty tin of beans – it has such a 'Lou Reed sound' (helped of course by David Bowie and Mick Ronson understanding what Reed wants). "Andy's Chest" talks of "venom snipers" and "hairy-minded pink bare bear" and "...yesterday Daisy May and Biff were grooving on the street..." So much of the album is about clothing, make up, lipstick traces, torn tights, sex and generally coming out in New York regardless of the consequences. 

You have to say that "Andy's Chest" sounds amazing – especially those drums and backing vocals that used to kind of get lost on my vinyl issue. The beauty and ever so slightly lonely/desolate vibe that permeates the whole of "Perfect Day" was picked up by filmmakers (the druggy sequence in "Trainspotting") and even charity groups (1997 saw it reach No. 1 in the UK for three weeks after the BBC gathered together an all-star cast and used it (with permission) for their Children In Need Appeal). It was of course originally the B-side of "Walk On The Wild Side” when RCA issued that stunning song as a 45 7" single back in November 1972 in the USA (went to No. 10 in the UK in May 1973 after the "Transformer" album charted in April 1973). 

Harry becomes a priest and digs up his recently deceased father in the wicked groove of "Hangin' 'Round" as the guitar-shadow of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the following year's Aladdin Sane anchors the acidic lyrics. Then we get 'the' tune that defines the LP and for my money easily in the top 5 greatest 45 RPMs ever released bar none – the sensational "Walk On The Wlld Side". Even now it brings a smile to me face and flips a beat in my heart. The liner notes wittily explain that the song's truly iconic and hooky bass line by Herbie Flowers was more of a fluke than a stroke of musical genius. He did it first on an upright bass then added the more subtle electric bass line to underpin it - that way he got paid for two sessions instead of one. Flowers got his £12, RCA got their hit, Reed got to be a lippy Global superstar and we got musical history that literally oozes cool and sex. RCA issued it in the USA as a 3:57 minute edit without the 'oral' reference (to you know what) and it's a shame this CD reissue didn't include that version here as a third bonus track (plenty of room boys – as Candy would say on the streets of New York). By the way it's RONNIE ROSS who plays that brilliant Baritone Saxophone as the song fades out. 

Side 2 opens with "Make Up" where Lou tells us of a 'slick little girl' and people coming out of their closets. It's followed by another gorgeous "Perfect Day" moment – the very Bowie/Mott The Hoople "Satellite Of Love". Originating from his Velvet days in 1969 – Reed updated the song for "Transformer". A simple piano refrains play as he sings of cars parked on Mars while someone on Earth has been bold with Harry, Mark and John (and that's just on Monday). "Wagon Wheel" slides in like a slick T. Rex knock off – that cleverly treated guitar sound while Lou sings of 'flirting with danger' – Anesini's remaster brings out the clarity of those quite 'heavenly father' passages. Vaudeville rhythm fills "New York Telephone Conversation" with a street gossip bitchiness and you're not really sure he means it when he sings "...I'm glad to hear from you all..." The chugging guitars and backing vocals of the utterly brilliant "I'm So Free" could easily have been another single – and the remaster here gives it incredible clarity and power (you can Bowie's voice just above those harmonies more now – and that Ronson guitar soloing as it fades out). It ends on a Tuba where Herbie Flowers puffs away as Reed gets all Leon Redbone on "Goodnight Ladies" telling us that she's sucked her lemon peel dry...nice. 

I had thought the two demos would be throwaway – but their unplugged acoustic strum (beautifully produced) allows you to focus on the words that feature verses he didn't use in the finished song. Jeannie and her mentholated cigarettes are still in there as is "...you're still hung up on things I gave up years ago..." - but then there's Raymond who had no hair on his head so he didn't use a comb. The bittersweet "Perfect Day" feels even bleaker somehow in Acoustic Demo form as he sings "...it's just a perfect day...I'm glad I spent it with you..." Both are excellent finds. 

What mercurial talents Lou Reed, David Bowie and Mick Ronson were between 1971 and 1973 – everything they touched seemed to have a kind of fairy dust magic about it. Some records grow in stature - get rediscovered and rightly so - Lou Reed's second solo LP "Transformer" is one of those albums. It's still fresh, effortlessly cool and lyrically as snotty as The Sex Pistols - and 44 years after the event – just as relevant. 

All together now – "...And the colour girls go...do...de...do...de...do...de...do..."