"Give 'Em Enough Rope" by THE CLASH (Inside The 2013 'Sound System' Multiple-Disc Box Set Of Remasters on Sony) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"Sound System" by THE CLASH featuring "Give 'Em Enough Rope" 

"…Kings And Queens And Generals..."

I'll openly admit to a wee tremble when this beauty got handed over by a relieved postman - his arms reverting back to normalcy. This thing is big and heavy and yet I love every mad over-the-top inch of it. Amidst its glories is their second (and for me) overlooked album from the spring of 1978 - the short but storming "Give 'Em Enough Rope". You could argue of course that you simply buy the stand-alone September 2013 CD Remaster for under a fiver and be done with it. But I'd argue that THE CLASH is worth the splurge (especially as the Box set's price has dropped from ninety to sixty quid). There's a ton of info to get through on this sucker so let's do the drug stabbing time...

Released September 2013 and featuring full involvement with the band - "Sound System" by THE CLASH is a multiple CD, DVD and Memorabilia Box Set on Sony 88725460002 (Barcode 887254600022) and features the following:

A beautiful and thoughtfully put together Box Set shaped like a Ghetto Blaster Radio (270 x 420 x 100mm) - and once you open the flip-top lid - it reveals each item has been carefully placed inside in a numerical order - their exact placing within laid out in detail in the 'Service Manual'. Here are the contents - numbered 1 to 22 (1 to 8 housed in hard card book sleeves – the music is 1 to 6):

MUSIC:

1. The Clash CD (Newly Remastered by Tim Young and The Clash)

2. Give 'Em Enough Rope CD (Newly Remastered)

3. London Calling 2CD (Newly Remastered)

4. Sandinista! 3CD (Newly Remastered) [1 to 4 on the left side]

5. Combat Rock CD (Newly Remastered)

6. The Clash Extras 3CD (Newly Remastered)

EXTRAS:

7. The Clash DVD (Newly Remastered)

8. Service Manual (Hardback Book Sleeve Like The CDs) [5 to 8 on the right side]

9. Flightcase: 5 Badges and Dog Tags [centred between-and-dividing 1 to 8 CDs]

10. Flightcase: 3 DIY Stickers: 85 x 140mm [behind 1 to 4 CDs]

11. Flightcase: The Clash Paperback Book ("The Future Is Unwritten" - blank inside) [behind CDs 5 to 8]

12. The Clash Folder (contains 13 to 18 below)

13. The Armagideon Times Special Edition (36 Pages)

(Features written contributions from The Baker, Robin Banks, John Cooper Clarke, Johnny Green, Ray Jordan, Don Letts, Alex Michon, Chris Salewicz, Pennie Smith and Kosmo Vinyl. There are also essays from each member of the band - JOE STRUMMER, MICK ONES, PAUL SIMONON and TOPPER HEADON)

14. The Armagideon Times  (Reprinted Fanzine - 24 Pages)

15. The Armagideon Times 2 (Reprinted fanzine  - 24 Pages)

16. Bumper Sticker 88 x 297mm

17. Bumper Sticker 88 x 297mm

18. The Clash Vintage Sticker Set: 180 x 280mm (9 peelable stickers on one sheet)

19. Riser (Black & Yellow Card at the base of the box)

20. Poster Tube (Looks Like A Large Cigarette with a 'Clash' Filter Area)

21. Poster (15" x 15")

22. The Box Itself (inside Divider Has Number 22 on it)

The detachable card list on the rear falls away easily so I simply store it inside with the 'folder' in the rear pouch. Quite apart from the sheer visual and tactile whack of this thing - the big news for fans is brand new remasters from first generation tapes by TIM YOUNG in conjunction with the band at Metropolis Studios in London. We should talk about the REMASTERS because they're fabulous. Tim Young's notes in the "Extras" 3-disc set explain that "Give ‘Em Enough Rope" has had the first generation tapes used for the first time to his knowledge - so I immediately went to my favourite track "Guns On The Roof" - and WOW is the only appropriate response. It sounds just incredible with all that guitar power you always thought was buried in the mix somewhere now to the fore. "Drug-Stabbing Time" and "Stay Free" are even better - leaping out of your speakers with renewed venom. Let’s get to their second album...

Disc 2 - "Give 'Em Enough Rope" (37:02 minutes):

1. Safe European Home

2. English Civil War

3. Tommy Gun

4. Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad

5. Last Gang In Town

6. Guns On The Roof [Side 2]

7. Drug-Stabbing Time

8. Stay Free

9. Cheapskates

10. All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 2nd album "Give 'Em Enough Rope" - released October 1978 in the UK on CBS Records S CBS 82431 and February 1979 in the USA on Epic JE 35543

The second "Safe European Home" hits your speakers – the power is formidable. Like most I grew up with the British-pressed CBS Records Vinyl LP and it was good without ever being great in terms of kick-ass punch. No such problem here. On the 23rd of February 1979 – CBS took “English Civil War” out for a ride as an A-side 7" single with a non-album cover of the Toots & The Maytals classic "Pressure Drop" as its Reggae-tinted B-side (Track 14 on Disc 1 of the "Sound System Extras" 3CD set). Before that 24 November 1978 saw "Tommy Gun" be released as the LP's debut 7" single with the non-album "1-2 Crush On You" as its B-side (Track 12 on the "Sound System Extras" 3CD set). Both "English Civil War" and "Tommy Gun" rock with this new audio. I still get a giggle from "Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad" and can remember the 'everybody's high' lyrics. Side 1 ends with the fighting song "Last Gang In Town" - and again those guitars and drums are finally unleashed.

I can't be rational about the '1-2-3-4' of "Guns On The Roof" - a truly awesome song that straddles Punk and Rock and one of the truly great Clash riffs. Strummer snarls out lyrics like 'shaking in terror' and 'killing in error’ and 'a jury of a million faces' and 'guns made to shoot'. I can still feel the hairs on my arms going up when I first heard it. Now here's a band I can love I thought - go ape to - bring it on (and the remaster is utterly amazing too). As if that's not enough Side 2 offers up another huge rocker "Drug-Stabbing Time" - a kick-ass piece of Punk Rock that still feels dangerous and alive. More superb riffage for "Stay Free" - taking no crap from teacher - thrown out - weekends go dancing - chat up the girls on the bus while you try to look cool smoking menthols. The album roars to a finish with the 'never read a book' anger in "Cheapskates" and the 'worked there for a week but got the boot' of "All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)" - both with amazing Bass and Guitar clarity. What a ride the whole album is...a short but effective kick in the mental nuts...

To sum up - "The Last Gang In Town" and "The Only Band That Ever Mattered" - there's been an awful lot of knob written about The Clash across the years (what about the Ramones, The Pistols or even Television) - and "Sound System" conveniently exorcises out the infamous and horrible end of "Cut The Crap" in 1985. You could also argue that you'd be better off just spending twenty quid on the simpler "5 Studio Albums Box Set" released in tandem with this - but I'd say if ever a band deserved this kind of over-the-top celebration - then England's heroes The Clash are the boys. And when you think of how EMI has consistently cheaped-out Stranglers fans with card sleeves and little else - thank God Sony stumped up. I love the care and attention that went into "Sound System". So there you have it - all those old bits spangly new again and presented to us in a fabulous setting.

Tim Young has described remastering The Clash's six years of output as a 'labour of love'. Well - while the future may indeed be unwritten - I suspect his brilliant work here (in conjunction with surviving members of the band) will be written about for decades to come. This 2013 CD Remaster of "Give 'Em Enough Rope" is a roaring triumph. Well done to all involved and get this set into your 'Safe European Home' right soon...

"Look Sharp!" by JOE JACKSON (2001 A&M 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Words Of Wisdom From The World Outside..."

Never has a debut album had such an 'apt' name as "Look Sharp!" Along with Graham Parker, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury - Staffordshire's Joe Jackson was part of England's Punk and 'New Wave' explosion in the late Seventies. With razor precision - the 24-year- old's tunes were both catchy and relevant - cool bopping little slices of intelligence. 

Like his compatriots in musical crime - David Ian Jackson was part of that emerging breed of songwriters who saved us from Rock's tired and bloated last gasps with angry-young-man vignettes - hard-hitting but truthful songs that had one eye on the dancehall and the other on the social pulse of the time (as well as last orders at the bar).

It's a measure of "Look Sharp!" and the lasting impact it had when you know that 5 of its 11 tracks regularly feature on "Gold" 2CD anthologies to this day - still leaving album winners like "One More Time", "Happy Loving Couples" and "Look Sharp!" for the devoted to rediscover. Hell even Mod Revivalists and Dancers have loved its bopping charms for decades now and coveted those original A&M Records vinyl LPs - Euro Soul Boys picking up a copy on their visits to Blighty. And this fantastic 2001 Remaster from Universal's top man ERICK LABSON has only made me love it all over again. Here are the white boy's winklepickers...

US released 14 August 2001 (imported into the UK) - "Look Sharp!" by JOE JACKSON on A&M 314 586 194-2 (Barcode 731458619420) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (42:55 minutes):

1. One More Time

2. Sunday Papers

3. Is She Really Going Out With Him?

4. Happy Loving Couples

5. Throw It Away

6. Baby Stick Around

7. Look Sharp!

8. Fools In Love

9. (Do The) Instant Mash

10. Pretty Girls

11. Got The Time

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut album "Look Sharp!" - released January 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64743 and April 1979 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4743. Produced by DAVID KERSHENBAUM – it peaked at No. 40 in the UK and No. 20 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Don't Ask Me - non-album B-side to "One More Time" released May 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMS 7433

13. You Got The Fever - non-album B-side to the reissue of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" released July 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMS 7459. "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" was his debut solo 45 in the UK released September 1978 on A&M Records AMS 7392 with the album cut "(Do The) Instant Mash" as its flipside.

The 12-page booklet is a concise but pleasing affair. SCOTT SCHINDER provides two pages of informative and affection liner notes - you get lyrics to all the songs including the two album outtakes that turned up as B-sides ("Don't Ask Me" and "You Got The Fever") including four A&M trade adverts for the singles and album. The back of the booklet and the photo beneath the see-through CD tray have our Joe trying to look sharp at the camera but actually looking a bit of place and confused (too much pressure man). But all of that pales against the 96K/24-Bit Remaster from one of Universal's Top Audio Engineer's - ERICK LABSON. Having handled The Who, Three Dog Night, The Mama's and The Papa's, Wishbone Ash, Buddy Holly and almost everything on the mammoth Chess label of artists - Labson is an Engineer with over 1200 audio restoration credits to his name. Always a punchy album - here its leaps back to life - real muscle without being overly trebled.

It opens on the choppy guitars of "One More Time" and instantly this is 'not' Rock but something sharper. The UK issued it as a 45 in May 1979 with the non-album "Don't Ask Me" on the flipside - featured on this CD as one of the Bonus Tracks. I absolutely flip for the Reggae-Rock of "Sunday Papers" (so Police first album) where words of wisdom from the world outside tell us about 'stains on the mattress' and the deal between 'the bishop and actress'. The single "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" broke him in both countries - in the USA first in May 1979 (No. 21) and July 1979 in the UK (No.13). If you wanted proof of 'sharp' audio then "Happy Loving Couples" is the cheesecake - absolutely amazing clarity and what clever lyrics - self-knowing and yet with that hint of loneliness and hurt. "Throw It Away" is about as Punk as the album gets - Gary Sandford letting rip on the guitar while Graham Maby slaps those heavy bass strings.

"Look Sharp!" is genius - a fantastically hooky song with 'no illusions' lyrics. It also features a very distinctive Joe Jackson piano-break that would practically redefine his sound for his "Night And Day" LP in 1982 and the "Body And Soul" album from 1984. "Fools In Love" is a vicious little sucker dressed up in a huge Bass Line while Sandford does his best Andy Summers on a Reggae tip impression. Bit of a Rock boogie comes in the shape of "(Do The) Instant Mash" - a great tune but one that sounds slightly out of place alongside the other later tracks. Mini-skirt frustration runs through the brill and infectious "Pretty Girls" where our Joe implores God to turn off his rampant libido (the loose clothing of women's liberation is doing his nut in). It ends on the Bass Race of "Got The Time" - another rapid-paced Rocker that killed whenever it was featured 'live'. The album outtakes used as B-sides are both superb and round off the CD with brilliance (I love that flicking guitar on “You Got The Fever” and the hooky Harmonica solo towards the end). I can imagine a Mod doing his stuff to this on any talcum-powered dancefloor...as Joe sings "...the girls at work are married...the girls in bars are waiting for their friend or their new fiancée..." (oh dear).

I could never understand why neither this nor the follow-up LP "I'm The Man" from 1980 ever received CD release proper back here in his own UK - both of the August 2001 Erick Labson CD remasters remain US imports to British buyers (it’s cheap though even as an import). But what I do know is that "Look Sharp!" needs to be looking sharp on your CD shelves someday soon...

"On The Border" by EAGLES (1991 CD Remaster Inside 2013's 'The Studio Albums Collection 1972-1979' 6CD Warner Brothers Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Get The Best Of My Love..."

Since Glenn Frey's dreadfully sad passing in January 2016 (aged only 67) – like many I’ve been playing the EAGLES 70ts back catalogue with a strange mixture of wonder and genuine loss – loving the melodies but also wallowing in many longhaired memories – songs that I pulled girls close to – and songs that even eased a heartache or two at times. I suppose it’s that all our heroes are passing...and I for one would rather they were still playing, singing and inspiring us.

So I thought it would be a good idea to return to this dinky 6-album EAGLES collection that so ably sums up why these melodic Desperado's shifted so many millions of albums between 1972 and 1979. They were just so bloody good. And those Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Don Felder and Bernie Leadon harmonies slaughtered all in their path.

But while the lion’s share of their legacy always seems to be "Hotel California" and "One Of These Nights" – I've always loved their brilliant but overlooked third album "On The Border" - where the ten-track mixture of rockers and ballads balances itself out so well across both sides – a full listen. I'd also argue that this is one of those occasions where a multiple purchase will serve your musical needs better than a stand-alone CD. In other words get the album within the 2013 Box Set "The Studio Albums Collection 1972-1979”. Here are the Midnight Flyers...

UK released March 2013 – "On The Border" by EAGLES is contained within "The Studio Albums Collection 1972-1979" on Warner Brothers/Asylum 8122 7967468 (Barcode 081227967468) - a 6-CD Mini Box Set in which Disc 3 plays out as follows:

Disc 3 – "On The Border" (40:25 minutes):

1. Already Gone [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

2. You Never Cry Like A Lover [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

3. Midnight Flyer [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

4. My Man [Lead Vocals, Bernie Leadon]

5. On The Border [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

6. James Dean [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

7. Ol' 55 [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey & Don Henley] – Side 2

8. Is It True? [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

9. Good Day In Hell [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey & Don Henley]

10. Best Of My Love [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 3rd album "On The Border" – released March 1974 in the USA on Asylum 7E 1004 and May 1974 in the UK on Asylum SYL 9014. "Already Gone", "James Dean" and "Best Of My Love" were all issued as successful US 45s in April, August and November 1974 ("Best Of My Love" would their first US No. 1). Al Perkins of Stephen Stills' Manassas plays Slide Guitar on Tom Waits' "Ol' 55" – the only cover version amongst the originals.

The clamshell box pictures all six albums on the rear and inside you get singular card sleeves with no booklet. So the gatefold and inner of "Eagles" is missing, the textured feel to the front and back cover of "On The Border" isn’t there, the Embossed "One Of The Nights" front cover and it’s inner sleeve is not here, the gatefolds, inners and varying posters that came with "Hotel California" and "The Long Run" are all AWOL too. Shame someone couldn’t have taken a leaf from the Japanese when it comes repro artwork. However – in a nod to the period - each of the CD's label designs reflect their original design (white Asylum for the first two, Boxed Cage logo for number three and so on). They’ve even printed each album’s original vinyl catalogue number printed on the disc too. But that's it. No lyrics, no booklet, no photos, no appraisal or history – which is a damn shame. Cheap and cheerful I suppose...

The Remasters are those carried out by TED JENSEN in 1999 when the catalogue was reissued and they sound really great (always did). But it’s the consistency of the music... What hammers you time and time again as you wade through the albums is the sheer quality of the tunes – hit after catchy hit – and none of it feels maudlin or dated forty years after the event. Ok this is so American West Coast – but man is it good. Even when they made a 2CD "Best Of" compilation there a few years ago – there was still plenty of room for those album nuggets in-between the hits. I've highlighted who sang lead vocals on what – Frey and Henley getting the lion's choice – but in truth the Meisner, Leadon and Felder tracks all impress too.

It opens on the rollicking "Already Gone" (written by Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlin) – Glenn Frey and Don Felder squeaking out those high guitar notes during the solos. One of the albums hidden gems is the sweet ballad "You Never Cry Like A Lover" – a Don Henley and John David Souther song – Henley slyly caressing the words like he's 'both' hissing and in pain. Country time with the banjo-picking "Midnight Flyer" (written by Paul Craft) featuring a genuinely fantastic Glenn Frey slide guitar solo towards its end and fade out. Bernie Leadon's beautiful "My Man" was a tribute to Gram Parsons the leader of the Country-Rock outfit The Flying Burrito Brothers who had died in September of 1973 (only six months before the Eagles' third album was released). It's the kind of effortless warmth they often achieved in ballads – the type of song I used to play into the ground and ruminate on (deep baby deep). Side 1 ends on Rock brilliance. You can just about make out Glenn Frey's whispered "Good Night Dick" as the title track "On The Border" fades out – a caustic jab at President Richard Nixon's impending doom amidst the infamous Watergate scandal and cover-up (Tricky Dicky finally resigned in shame in the Autumn of 1974).

Side 2 opens with "James Dean" penned by the foursome of Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and John David Souther. While Bernie Leadon does a great solo – it’s never been one of my favourite of theirs. The mighty tunesmith and Bukowski-type hero Tom Waits probably made more money out of his "Ol' 55" on Side 2 than he did from the royalties of his entire first two albums on David Geffen's Asylum label which went criminally unnoticed for years. "Is It True?" sees Randy Meisner take Lead Vocal on his own song - while Frey and Henley unleash their bitterness in "Good Day in Hell" – Don Felder's slide shining throughout. But it's the album finisher "The Best Of My Love" (a US No. 1 single) that practically defines what made them so huge – stunning melody – Henley's fabulous voice – that effortless melodic brilliance that has so stood the test of time.

You could of course simply buy the album "On The Border" as a stand-alone CD remaster for probably three or four quid – but this is a group worthy of the whole package and "The Studio Albums Collection 1972-1979" is the place to get it - musically comprehensive, attractive to behold and sounds damn cool too.

What a glorious sound the EAGLES made for that whole brilliant decade – and what a sad loss to music is Glenn Frey’s passing. Dig in, enjoy and remember him this way...

"Sunflower/Surf's Up" by THE BEACH BOYS (2000 Capitol/Brother '2LPs on 1CD' Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Get Yourself Some Cool, Cool Water..."

In 2016 - both 1970's "Sunflower" and 1971's "Surf's Up" are considered the best of The Beach Boys 70's output - and rightly so. But at the time America’s Joe Public couldn't have cared less about the first and showed only casual interest in the second - especially considering how big and influential the band had been only years earlier.

Having jumped contractual ship from their spiritual home since 1962 (Capitol Records) - and especially given the melodic strength of the new material - big things was expected of The Beach Boys and their clean break to Brother Records in 1970 (distributed by the then mighty Warner Brothers). But it just didn't happen. Released Monday 31 August 1970 - "Sunflower" lasted only four weeks on Billboard's Top 200 peaking at a miserable No. 151. Apparently its sales figures were embarrassing in the USA (it fared better in the UK on EMI's Stateside label where it made No. 29 on the LP charts). 

Maybe "Sunflower" was perceived as being out-of-sync girly surfin' music - their Beach Boys sound 'old hat' against the emerging Hard Rock explosion that was engulfing music towards the end of the Sixties and into the first two years of that redefining decade - the Seventies. 

At least 1971's follow through "Surf's Up" cracked the USA Top 30 - finally landing at No. 29 - and managed a four months stay on the LP charts as opposed to one. With a weary warrior crouched over his beaten horse on the front cover and song titles like "Student Demonstration Time" and "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" - at least "Surf's Up" seemed more in step with a fractured and hurting America - so it did better.

Whatever way you interpret history - re-listening to these two remarkable albums on this wickedly good CD Remaster and I’m reminded in emphatic style that sometimes Joe Public needs to be just that - reminded. I say knob to those original embarrassing sales numbers – the musical brilliance on display here is indeed embarrassing - but for all the right reasons. Let's break down those brilliant harmonies...

UK released 14 August 2000 - "Sunflower/Surf's Up" by THE BEACH BOYS on Capitol/Brother 525 6922 (Barcode 724352569229) offers up 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (70:22 minutes):

1. Slip On Through

2. This Whole World

3. Add Some Music To Your Day

4. Got To Know The Woman

5. Deirdre

6. It's About Time

7. Tears In The Morning [Side 2]

8. All I Wanna Do

9. Forever

10. Our Sweet Love

11. At My Window

12. Cool, Cool Water

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Sunflower" - released 31 August 1970 in the USA on Brother Records/Reprise RS 6382 and November 1970 in the UK on Stateside SSL 8251.

13. Don't Go Near The Water

14. Long Promised Road

15. Take A Load Off Your Feet

16. Disney Girls (1957)

17. Student Demonstration Time

18. Feel Flows [Side 2]

19. Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)

20. A Day In The Life Of A Tree

21. 'Til I Die

22. Surf's Up

Tracks 13 to 22 are their album "Surf's Up" - released 30 August 1971 in the USA on Brother/Reprise RS 6453 and November 1971 in the UK on Stateside SSL 10313.

The properly chunky 22-page booklet offers fans liner notes from Beach Boys authority TIMOTHY WHITE adapted from his acclaimed book "The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys And The Southern California Experience". His song-by-song analysis and critique is both honest and affectionate and much of it peppered with Brian's 'selective' memories. There's the inner gatefold sleeve for "Sunflower" (no lyrics unfortunately), period photos, alternate artwork, original recording and reissue credits as well as lyrics to the "Surf's Up" album. But the big news is 24-Bit Digital Remasters from original tapes by two hugely respected Audio Engineers - ANDREW SANDOVAL and DAN HERSCH. Sandoval handled the acclaimed 2CD 'Deluxe Editions' of The Kinks and Small Faces (amongst many others) - whilst Dan Hersch (along with Bill Inglot) has been at the heart of Rhino's Vinyl and CD Reissue machine for over two decades - having handled literally hundreds of prestigious catalogues across a huge range of genres. These guys know their way around tape boxes and it shows. Beautifully and carefully recorded at the time - all that technical expertise and innovation comes shining through on these wonderful-sounding transfers. Top stuff...

Released towards the end of June 1970 on Brother 0929 - the second 45 from the "Sunflower" LP was the Side 1 openers "Slip On Through" b/w "This Whole World" - Dennis Wilson writing the A and Brian the flip-side (no UK issue). But despite the edgy groove - it tanked. Earlier in February 1970 - Brother had issued the Beach Boys debut 45 on the label - the pretty "Add Some Music To Your Day" b/w "Susie Cincinnati". At one point it appears that "Add Some Music..." was considered as an album title. Even better is the gorgeous "Deirdre" - a happy song with wonderful layered vocals and an almost jingle-bells Christmas feel to it (when Brother put out "Long Promised Road" in June 1971 as a single off "Surf's Up" - they used "Deirdre" as its B-side). The straight up bopper and "...I used to throw my mind sky high..." confessions of "It's About Time" (the Side 1 ender) give it incredible edge - and that Bass/Vocal middle-eight break is pure Beach Boys genius (Dennis Wilson, Bob Burchman and Alan Jardine wrote it).

Side 2 opens just as strongly with Bruce Johnston's hurting but beautiful "Tears In The Morning" where he keeps a hold on his sorrow as those string arrangements soar behind his 'missing you' vocal pleading. Brian Wilson and Mike Love's "All I Wanna Do" is the closest the LP gets to a "Pet Sounds" outtake (Todd Rundgren was surely listening to this). "Forever" is probably the album's most revered and beloved song - yet when Brother Records put out another 45 in February 1971 (Brother 0998) - they relegated "Forever" to the flip-side of "Cool, Cool Water" - a commercial mistake methinks. The 'sparrow came flying down' song "At My Window" is a fitting lead-in to the amazing "Cool, Cool Water" - a song that's synonymous with Beach Boys melodic brilliance. That build-up of trippy voices as the song makes its way to those ‘now now now’ chants – like Sigur Ros 30 years before the event - wow...

The Surf's Up" opener "Don't Go Near The Water" warns of polluted oceans and the same pouring out of your facet. An animated Carl Wilson fronts "Long Promised Land" wanting to throw off 'shackles that are binding me down' (lyrics he sings with a passion and desperation you can literally feel). The hippy wistful 'take good care of your feet' and 'watch what you eat' lyrics in "Take A Load Off Your Feet" feel like the theme song to a Californian whole-food store that sells any manner of mushrooms. Better is "Disney Girls (1957)" - a genuinely lovely melody beautifully played and sung by Brian Johnston where he pines for 'Patti Page and summer days...' Things take a decidedly heavy turn with the out-and-out Neil Young guitar rock of "Student Demonstration Time" where they incorporate 'there's a riot going on' and change 'cell block number nine' into 'student demonstration time'. It's brilliant and the kind of song CSYN might have produced on a third studio album if they'd made one...

Side 2 opens with the fazed vocals of "Feel Flows" where we're 'unbending never-ending tablets of time' - a fab yeah man moment with brilliant guitar laced with flute. I often cite "Feel Flows" as one of the album's layered masterpieces. The hurt disconnectedness of returning war-vets fills the equally trippy and acoustic-driven "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" - where men can't find work sweeping floors but can find substances on the street corner to dull the ache. Tweeting birds and a seaside/church organ fill the equally trippy "A Day In The Life Of A Tree" - a plea for the environment choking on 'pollution and slow death'. The beautiful but damaged "'Til I Die" has Brian wondering 'how long will the wind blow' before something darker takes him (he fought to have the song's dark subject matter on the album). The 'Smile Sessions' 2CD set showed us four variants of the album's centrepiece "Surf's Up" - one of them stretching back to a lovely 1967 piano demo. The finished "Surf's Up' is simply exquisite in its arrangement and delivery - where you can 'so' hear Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates and so many other melody giants in its 4:11 minutes.

For me "Surf's Up" is a huge leap forward and "Sunflower" was great anyway - so any listener is on a winner either way. In fact some have argued that this Beach Boys twofer may indeed be the best '2LPs onto 1CD' value-for-money remaster ever released. And damn - but I think they're absolutely on the harmony money...

"Original Classic Albums" by THE ISLEY BROTHERS (2008 Epic/Legacy 5CD Mini Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

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UK issued October 2008 - “Original Classic Albums" by THE ISLEY BROTHERS on Epic/Legacy 88697304842 (Barcode 886973048429) is one of those dinky 5CD Card-Repro Mini Box Sets from Sony and it breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (30:43 minutes): 

1. I Turned You On

2. Vacuum Cleaner

3. I Got To Get Myself Together 

4. Was It Good To You?

5. The Blacker The Berrie (a/k/a Black Berries)

6. My Little Girl

7. Get Down Off Of The Train

8. Holding On

9. Feels Like The World

Tracks 1 to 9 is the LP "The Brothers: Isley", issued November 1969 in the USA on T-Neck TNS 3002 and June 1970 in the UK on Liberty SSL 10300. All tracks are originals.

Disc 2 (39:48 minutes):

1. Get Into Something

2. Freedom 

3. Take Inventory

4. Keep On Doin'

5. Girls Will Be Girls 

6. I Need You So

7. If He Can You Can

8. I Got To Find Me One

9. Beautiful

10. Bless Your Heart

Tracks 1 to 10 is the LP "Get Into Something", issued February 1970 in the USA on T-Neck TNS 3006. All tracks are originals.

Disc 3 is the LP "Givin' It Back", issued September 1971 in the USA on T-Neck TNS 3008 - all 7 tracks are cover versions (41:56 minutes):

1. Ohio/Machine Gun [Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young/Jimi Hendrix - segued as one]

2. Fire And Rain [James Taylor]

3. Lay Lady Lay [Bob Dylan]

4. Spill The Wine [War]

5. Nothin' To Do But Today [Stephen Stills]

6. Cold Bologna [Bill Withers - also features BW on Guitar]

7. Love The One You're With [Stephen Stills]]

Disc 4 is the LP "Brother, Brother, Brother" (credited to "The Isleys"), issued June 1972 in the USA on T-Neck TNS 3009 (38:03 minutes):

1. Brother, Brother

2. Put A Little Love In Your Heart 

3. Sweet Season/Keep On Walkin'

4. Work To Do

5. Pop That Thang 

6. Lay Away 

7. It's Too Late

8. Love Put Me On The Corner

All 8 tracks are originals - except 1, 3 (Part 1 of) and 7 which are Carole King covers while track 2 is a Jackie DeShannon cover

Disc 5 is the LP "3 + 3", issued September 1973 in the USA on T-Neck KZ 32453 and November 1973 in the UK on Epic S EPC 65740 (43:13 minutes):

1. That Lady (Part 1&2)

2. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

3. If You Were There

4. You Walk Your Way

5. Listen To The Music

6. When It Comes Down To

7. Sunshine (Go Away Today)

8. Summer Breeze

9. Highways Of My Life 

All 9 tracks are originals - except track 2 is James Taylor cover, track 5 is a Doobie Brothers cover, track 7 is a Jonathan Edwards cover, track 8 is a Seals & Crofts cover

Track 10 is a CD bonus track, a live version of "That Lady" recorded in 1980

The remastered sound quality is superb throughout and the 5 card sleeves repro the original American 'T-Neck' Records album covers front and rear. TOM RUFF did the 'Legacy Rhythm & Soul Series' Remasters - so that's what's been used here. Unfortunately the card sleeves are too small and blurry to actually read any details off of them. But you can download a full Sessionography for each album from Sony's online site www.musicmadesimple.info (download runs to 9 pages).

In truth I bought this mini box set for the "Givin' It Back" LP - their hard-to-find covers album from 1971. It's one of those fabulous lost soul gems you rarely ever see on vinyl let alone reissue CD (it pushes £25 in places). "Givin' It Back" opens with a dynamite mix of CSYN's "Ohio" with Hendrix's "Machine Gun" and its genius - both songs imbibed with extraordinarily passionate Isley vocals (the Vietnam war and its protests looming everywhere in the lyrics). "Lay Lady Lay" is excellent too, but it does overstay its welcome at ten minutes plus. This is offset against a radically reworked version of James Taylor's "Fire And Rain" which is now brilliantly soulful.  

That the other albums also contain such an embarrassment of riches is of course a blast - a constantly repaying bonus. Check out their stunning cover of Carole King's "It's Too Late" from her wonderful 1971 "Tapestry" album - it's ten minutes long, but this time it works - beautifully soulful with searing guitar work throughout. The brass on "Freedom" too (lyrics above) leaps out at you from the speakers. Another particular favourite of mine is "Work To Do" which the Average White Band practically made their own on the fab "Pick Up The Pieces" Atlantic Records "AWB" album. 

So there you have it - properly great soul music in wonderful sound - and five albums worth of it too - a wee peach of an Isleys thing…

"The Brothers: Isley" by THE ISLEY BROTHERS (1997 'Legacy Rhythm & Soul Series' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Got To Get Myself Together..."

You take one look at the three monks dressed in lurid pink on the cover on this long forgotten T-Neck Records LP from late 1969 - and you know you're in the presence of some serious dig-the-flowers-in-the-garden hippy-hoppity transcendental psychobabble (with a Funky Soul twist).

But then I think - what's wrong with that. And given the sonic evidence presented on this fantastic-sounding June 1997 CD of "The Brothers: Isley" - I'm down with the boys regardless of their garish garb. As a post Brexit Theresa May would say – bring it on baby. Here are the details...

UK released June 1997 - "The Brothers: Isley" by THE ISLEY BROTHERS on Epic/T-Neck/Legacy 487515 2 (Barcode 5099748751522) is a straightforward CD Remaster and is part of Sony’s 'Legacy's Rhythm & Soul Series'. It plays out as follows (30:41 minutes):

1. I Turned You On

2. Vacuum Cleaner

3. I Got To Get Myself Together

4. Was It Good To You?

5. The Blacker The Berrie (aka 'Black Berries')

6. My Little Girl [Side 2]

7. Get Down Off Of The Train

8. Holding On

9. Feels Like The World

Tracks 1 to 9 are their album "The Brothers: Isley" (their 2nd LP on T-Neck) - released November 1969 in the USA on T-Neck Records TNS 3002 and June 1970 in the UK on Stateside SLS 10300. Produced by Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph Isley - it peaked at No. 20 on the USA R&B LP charts (didn’t chart in the UK).

Produced for reissue by Leo Sacks – the 8-page inlay pictures label repro’s of American T-Neck 45s – track by track credits – new liner notes from noted Soul writer DAVID RITZ called 'The Pleasure Of Picking Berries' and the usual reissue credits. The CD itself reflects the T-Neck label of old and the album's rear sleeve is repro'd beneath the see-through CD tray. But the big news is a fantastic CD Remaster by TOM RUFF at Sony Studios from original tapes – every track kicking like a mule and full of energy - if not a little hissy in places (bit only on some tracks).

Prepping the public's appetite - T-Neck pushed three 7" singles in 1969 - all of them months prior to the LP's eventual release in November. First up came the Side 1 opener "I Turned You On" b/w "I Know Who You Been Socking It To" in May 1969 on T-Neck TN 902. The flipside was the opening track on the preceding album "It's Our Thang" which peaked at No. 2 on the USA R&B LP charts in May of that year - 1969.  "I Turned You On" was an obvious choice as a lead-off single - a fabulous funky groove where Ronnie moans that he's 'turned her on' but 'he can't turn her off' - especially when she socks it to him (you gotta feel for the man). The remaster is incredibly muscular - a tiny bit of hiss for sure but nothing that detracts from those amazing brass jabs that accompany the groove right through to its slow fade end.

For the LP's second 7" single issued August 1969 on T-Neck TN 906 - the label took the near six-minute James Brown workout that is "The Blacker The Berrie" and re-christened it "Black Berries - Part 1" and "Part 2". The two-parter peaked at No. 43 on the US R&B charts during an uncharacteristically-short four-week reign. Single number three was "Was It Good For You?" - another neck-jerking groover that's busy with guitars and brass. With "I Got To Get Myself Together" as its flipside - it peaked at a modest No. 33 on the USA R&B charts (T-Neck TN 908). With the same track combo - this was the only UK released 45 from the album - February 1970 on Stateside SS 2162 - but it did no business and was quickly deleted.

Other worthy inclusions include the "My Little Girl" is 'dynamite' Side 2 opener and the mid-tempo "Get Down Off Of The Train" - Ernie's guitar playing prominent throughout. "Holding On" could have been another 'fast' 45 - a very Blood, Sweat & Tears brass arrangement propelling it along its Funky little path (fantastic Ronnie Lead Vocal while the boys chant 'you got me holding on'). The short late 60ts album ends on my fave - "Feels Like The World". It's a slow ballad with great guitars and vocal arrangements - Chris Jasper plinking away on the piano anchoring the Soulful proceedings. I love this song - a slinky IB groove that manages to be both Funky and Soulful at the same time. "Feels Like The World" sounds like a lost classic you want to rave about as soon as possible. I'd admit that in the opening minute the transfer is hissier than I would like - but the Lead Vocal from Ronnie (he let’s rip at the end) and the musicianship quickly make mincemeat of that minor quibble...

"The Brothers: Isley" is not a balls-to-the-wall masterpiece like say - "Givin' It Back" - the covers album from 1971. But it is The Isley Brothers on T-Neck during that hallowed period - and that's all the info I need.

Don the pink ponchos lads and get down with 'The Brothers: Isley'...