"All The Pieces: The Complete Studio Recordings 1971-2003" by AVERAGE WHITE BAND (2014 Edsel 19CD Box Set with 52-Page Booklet and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Pick Up The Pieces..."

A huge 172-tracks across 19 CDs covering 43 years (1971 to 2003) – every one of the official AVERAGE WHITE BAND studio albums represented in cool-looking 5" card repro artwork. And as if that's not enough - you get four exclusive sets - a rejiggered 1st album with a different track, a mock 2nd album with new artwork, a 1980 US-only Atlantic Records compilation LP called "Volume III" where Side 1 was 4 new songs and Side 2 had 5 oldies and finally a 2CD round-up named "All The Pieces" that gathers together Alternate Versions, 12" Single Mixes and other Rarities.

"All The Pieces" is housed in a squat flip-top box with beautiful AWB artwork and has an illustrated 52-Page Booklet that features involvement from the Scottish Rock-Soul boys themselves (Hamish Stuart and Alan Gorrie). There's a lot of cool music on here that isn't in the least bit average - so let's start picking up those pieces...

UK released 14 July 2014 (22 July 2014 in the USA) - "All The Pieces: The Complete Studio Albums 1971-2003" by AVERAGE WHITE BAND on Edsel AWBOX01 (Barcode 5014797890954) is a 19CD Flip-Lid Box Set with a 52-Page Booklet and plays out as follows:

1. Show Your Hand (8 tracks, 42:22 minutes) - debut LP released June 1973 in the UK on MCA Records MUPS 486 (reissued 1974 on MCA Records MCF 2514)

2. How Sweet Can You Get? (10 tracks, 39:52 minutes)

First released as 'The Clover Sessions' in January 2004 on CD2 of the “AWB” Deluxe Edition on Columbia 513413 2 (Barcode 5099751341321). Renamed as a 'missing album' in April 2009 for their 2CD reissue of "The Collection Volume 1 - Show Your Hand..." on Edsel EDSD 2030 (Barcode 740155203030).

3. Average White Band [aka "AWB" in the USA] (10 tracks 39:58 minutes)

"Average White Band" (also known as The White Album because of its distinctive plain artwork) was released on Atlantic K 50058 in July 1974 in the UK and as "AWB" in the USA on Atlantic SD-7308 in September 1974 (it reached number 1 in the USA, and number 6 in the UK in early 1975)

4. Put It Where You Want It (8 tracks, 40:35 minutes)

On the back of their "Pick Up The Pieces" 7” single chart success (taken from their famous "Average White Band/AWB" album) – 1973's "Show Your Hand" was reissued April 1975 in the UK and USA on MCA Records MCF 2705 and MCA-475 respectively as "Put It Where You Want It". As well as a different name and new artwork - the 1973 opening song "The Jugglers" was replaced by a session outtake - the 'Pick Up The Pieces' sounding "How Can You Go Home".

5. Cut The Cake (10 tracks, 42:38 minutes) - June 1975 UK LP on Atlantic K 50146

6. Soul Searching (11 tracks, 46:12 minutes) - July 1976 UK LP on Atlantic K 50272

7. Person To Person (Disc 7a, 5 tracks, 44:15 minutes - Disc 7b, 5 tracks, 45:41 minutes)

Live Double-Album released January 1977 in the UK on Atlantic K 60127

8. Benny And Us by AVERAGE WHITE BAND and BEN E. KING - (8 Tracks, 41:47 minutes) – July 1977 UK LP on Atlantic K 50384

9. Warmer Communications (9 tracks, 43:40 minutes) - June 1978 UK LP on RCA Records XL 13053

10. Feel No Fret (9 tracks, 37:38 minutes) - February 1979 UK LP on RCA Records XL 13063

11. Shine (9 tracks, 38:30 minutes) - May 1980 UK LP on RCA Records XL 13123

12. Volume III (9 tracks, 37:48 minutes) - September 1980 USA-only LP compilation on Atlantic SD 19266 where the four cuts on Side 1 were newly finished tracks and the 5 songs of Side 2 were their biggest Atlantic Records hits between 1974 and 1977 (including "Pick Up The Pieces", "Cut The Cake" etc)

13. Cupid's In Fashion (10 tracks, 41:37 minutes) - September 1982 UK LP on RCA Records RCALP 6052

14. Aftershock (9 tracks, 37:51 minutes) - August 1989 UK LP on Polydor 839 466-1

15. Soul Tattoo (13 tracks, 56:35 minutes) - February 1997 CD on Artful ARTFULCD 7

16. Living In Colour (10 tracks, 50:18 minutes) - 2003 CD on The William Morris Agency

17. All The Pieces - Alternate Versions, Rarities And Mixes (new cover artwork by John Pasche)

(Disc 1, Alternate Versions & Rarities, 10 tracks, 42:12 minutes):

1. Reach Out [First Version Recorded 1971]

2. The Jugglers [First Version Recorded 1971]

3. It Didn't Take Me A Minute [Recorded 1971]

4. In The Beginning [Recorded Between 1971 and 1972]

5. Look Out Now [Recorded Between 1971 and 1972]

6. White Water Dreams [Recorded Between 1971 and 1972]

7. Walk Tall (Live) [Recorded Live in 1976 - First Released in 2005]

8. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me [First Released in 2005]

9. Wasn't I Your Friend [First released 2009]

10. Miss Sun [Recorded 1980 - First released 2003]

18. All The Pieces - Alternate Versions, Rarities And Mixes

(Disc 2, The Mixes, 9 tracks, 53:47 minutes)

1. Back In '67 [First Version] - recorded between 1971 and 1972 - Alternate Version to the "Show Your Hand" LP track

2. The Spirit Of Love [Radio Short Version] - A-Side of the October 1989 UK 7" Single for "The Spirit Of Love" on Polydor PO 56

3. The Spirit Of Love [Dance Mix] - A-Side of the October 1989 UK 12" Single for "The Spirit Of Love" on Polydor PZ 56

4. Let's Go Round Again [The Brothers Mix]

5. Livin' On Borrowed Time [DJ Slok Remix]

6. Things [DJ PHILLY P & Joey M Remix]

7. Stop The Rain [Supreme One Mix]

8. Let's Go Round Again [Cosmic Village Mix]

9. Let's Go Round Again [12" Version]

Dedicated to their drummer and band founder-member Robbie McIntosh who died in 1974 from a spiked drink just as the 'AWB' album was taking off - the 52-page booklet features JUSTIN M. KANTOR liner notes on every LP - but oddly leaves out the "All The Pieces" double set entirely. Each album is in a 5” card repro sleeve with original artwork front and rear (gatefolds for “Feel No Fret” and the 2CD sets “Person To Person” and “All The Pieces”) but no inners or inserts (each disc is numbered). The mastering is by PHIL KINRADE (as it was on the 2009 "Collection" sets) and the material is licensed form Atlantic and Rhino who reissued the bands catalogue in the 90's. Suffice to say that these discs 'Funk' in all the right places and as you wade through them - you remember with huge affection just how good AWB was. This is music that transcends Soul, Funk or Rock – a musical hybrid of all three that hits the mark more times than it misses. That the sporadic later albums maintain that standard is pleasing - 90's and 00's updated variants of their famous 70ts and 80ts sound.

All the charted single are here - "Pick Up The Pieces" (1974), "Cut The Cake" (1975), "Queen Of My Soul" (1976), ""Walk On By" and "When Will You Be Mine" (1979) and "Let's Go Round Again" and "For You For Love" (1980). But in-between the cracks you get forgotten 7" single gems like their UK debut of Joe Sample's ludicrously infectious "Put It Where You Want It" (the keyboardist with The Crusaders) and the stunning "You Got It" which was the B-side of "Pick Up The Pieces" in July 1974 (what a double-sider that was). Other huge fan faves include "School Boy Crush" (November 1975), "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" (August 1975), "A Love Of Your Own" (December 1976) or the Gorrie/Stuart ballad "Cloudy" originally from the "Cut The Cate" LP but brought out and lifted up into the stratosphere for the brill live double "Person To Person". And any variant of the sublime "Let's Go Round Again" is likely to have me wiggling my aged booty in an undignified manner...no matter who's laughing...

But there's also hidden album nuggets like the stunning Brass-Funk shuffle of "Goin' Home" from the overlooked "Soul Searching" LP (they released a 'live' variant of it in March 1977 in the UK on Atlantic K 10192) or the Arif Mardin produced Philly Soulful "A Star in The Ghetto" with Ben E. King from their collaboration album "Benny And Us" - an LP that featured Luther Vandross on Backing Vocals before he brook through himself. Ned Doheny penned the fabulous groove of "Get It Up For Love" - the opening track on "Benny And Us" and from his own "Hard Candy" album from 1976 (see separate review). His songwriting knack would turn up big time with "Whatcha Gonna Do For Me" - a co-write with AWB's Hamish Stuart. Chaka Khan would name her entire 1981 Warner Brothers LP after the song. It should have been released as a single and David Foster admits he made a big mistake on that one (Christine Day does a great version of it on her 2004 CD album "Cover My Soul"). The entire 'AWB' LP is a stone masterpiece to me ("Word To Do" and "There's Always Someone Waiting") and everyone else while the second RCA LP "Feel No Fret" thrills to this day. I've loved that record with its cool gatefold and inner sleeve and winners like the irrepressible 'sunlight in my eyes' of "Atlantic Avenue", the drum shuffling heavy-on-the-bass Side 1 funk of "Feel No Fret" and the very AWB 'get back home to you' joy of "Fire Burning" that ends Side 2.

On 1977's "Warmer Communication" they do a gorgeous cover version of James Taylor's "Daddy's All Gone" from his overlooked 1976 LP "In The Pocket" - a lyrical subject matter a travelling band must have identified with. "Our Time Has Come" from "Shine" is the perfect fusion of Funk and Soul and again should have been monster. "Miss Sun" is one of four new tracks on the 1980 US-only LP compilation "Volume III" and it's so damn good too. The 90's album "Soul Tattoo" was a return to form (if they ever left) - a new set full of JB's "Pick Up The Pieces" 70ts production values and songwriting nods to that sound on "Back To Basics" and "Oh, Maceo". The 1982 set "Cupid's In Fashion" has always been seen as a 4-star blot on a 10-star track jotter but I like the two singles "You're My Number One" and "I Believe" as well as the 'toss and turn every night' sexiness of "Easier Said Than Done".

A cheaper alternative is Edsel's own four-volume "The Collection" series put out April 2009 in 4 card-slip cases that make up an 'AWB' spine. Those four CD reissues contain the first 13 albums (1973's "Show Your Hand" through to 1982's "Cupid's In Fashion") as listed above and can be purchased for about 25 quid secondhand in total. But I'd advise go to thirty-five quid and get the box with Discs 14 to 18 added on and that gorgeous presentation. The casual buyer should just opt for either the "AWB – Deluxe Edition" or a simple 2CD 'Best Of' that contains both the classic Atlantic and RCA Records periods - of which there are loads for under a fiver. 

When MCA Records talent scouts at an Eric Clapton concert in 1973 got a load of the Scottish support act AVERAGE WHITE BAND - a bunch of hairy white dudes who came on 'funky' like a band of brothers born to it - they were smitten. And thus the AWB legend was born. Clearly aimed at the completist and uber-fan - "All The Pieces" has pride of place on my Soul shelf and I pet it every now and then with affection. I suggest you get that bat crazy too...and check out their duet with Daryl Hall at Daryl's House online doing "Pick Up The Pieces" - wow!

"The Complete Tucky Buzzard" by TUCKY BUZZARD (2016 Edsel 5CD Mini Box Set Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Coming On Again..."

Arising out of the ashes of Decca's late 60ts Psychedelia band THE END - the delightfully-named TUCKY BUZZARD took their feathery moniker from a character in from one of the Uncle Remus books where one of the Br'er Rabbit runners was called 'Br'er Tucky Buzzard'. They managed a whopping five albums across three countries and with three different labels (without too many people noticing either) - Hispavox in Spain for the debut released in late 1971 as well as Capitol in the USA and Deep Purple's 'Purple Records' in the UK for the remaining four released between 1971 and 1973.

As well as that these funky British Rockers received the high profile patronage and hands-on help of Rolling Stone Bassist BILL WYMAN who produced three of their albums (see 2, 3 and 5 below) - one of which also featured the guitar chops of Rolling Stone ace axeman MICK TAYLOR and well as their top session players Bobby Keys and Jim Price on the Horns (Disc 2).

To the matter in hand... 

I've been digging Edsel Box Sets for years (some actually let the side down slightly - the T.Rex one jumps to mind) - but like the fabulous Average White Band, Chairmen Of The Board and their recent effort for cult 60ts act The End (see separate reviews) - this one is a goodie if you dig your Rock hard and heavy and occasionally funky. Superbly put together and clearly with Bill Wyman's involvement (a man known to take care of the Stones musical legacy) - this 5CD Box Set offers the very best presentation of Tucky Buzzard's short but productive career and allows Seventies Rock lovers access to much that is impossibly hard to find on original vinyl. There's a wad of info to get through - so if you'll forgive the inflight pun - onwards and upwards...

UK released 15 July 2016 (22 July 2016 in the USA) - "The Complete Tucky Buzzard" by TUCKY BUZZARD on Edsel EDSB 4033 (Barcode 740155403331) is a 5CD Mini Box Set containing their 'complete' recorded output between 1970 and 1973 and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "Coming On Again" (31:04 minutes):

1. SUITE

(a) Coming On Again [Part 1]

(b) For Maryse

(c) Over The Hill

(d) Coming on Again [Part 2]

(e) Believe Me

(f) Here I Am

2. You're All Alone [Side 2]

3. You Never Will

4. Free Ticket

5. Lady Fair

Tracks 1 to 5 are the debut LP "Coming On Again" - recorded 1970 and 1971 in Madrid, Spain and released 1971 on Hispavox HHS 11-208. Orchestral accompaniment is by the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra directed by WALDO DE LOS RIOS. Unreleased in the UK or USA at the time– it received its first CD reissue in 2002 on Ripple Records (this version is licensed from them).

Disc 2 "Tucky Buzzard" (39:39 minutes):

1. Time Will Be Your Doctor

2. Stainless Steel Lady

3. Sally Shotgun

4. Gu Gu Gu

5. My Friend

6. Pieces Apple Lady [Side 2]

7. She's Meat

8. Ace The Face

9. Whisky Eyes

10. Rolling Cloud

Tracks 1 to 10 are the second studio album "Tucky Buzzard" - released June 1971 in the USA (only) on Capitol ST-787. Produced by BILL WYMAN at London's Olympia Studios and featuring Rolling Stones players MICK TAYLOR (Guitar on "My Friend") as well as BOBBY KEYS and JIM PRICE (Horns on "Whisky Eyes" and "Rolling Cloud") - it was not released in the UK at the time and saw its first CD release in 2002 on Ripple Records (the master is licensed from them).

Disc 3 "Warm Slash" (40:31 minutes):

1. Mistreating Woman

2. (She's A) Striker

3. Fill You In

4. Need Your Love

5. Which Way, When For Why

6. Burnin' [Side 2]

7. Heartbreaker

8. Sky Balloon

9. Ain't Too Soon

Tracks 1 to 9 are the third studio album "Warm Slash" - released November 1971 in the USA on Capitol ST-864 and February 1972 in the UK on Capitol E-ST-864. Produced by BILL WYMAN - it was their first of three British released albums.

Disc 4 "Allright On The Night" (33:01 minutes):

1. Can't Live Without It

2. Fast Bluesy Woman

3. Gold Medallions

4. All I Want Is Your Love

5. Rainbow Rider [Side 2]

6. "Rudi" Movie Star

7. Pictures

8. Last War

Tracks 1 to 8 are the fourth studio album "Allright In The Night" - released May 1973 in the UK on Purple Records TPSA 7510 and October 1973 in the USA on Passport Records PPS 97001. Produced by PHIL CORDELL (of The Prophets) and TUCKY BUZZARD (Executive Producer Bill Wyman) - recorded on The Rolling Stones mobile unit.

Disc 5 "Buzzard" (41:23 minutes):

1. Who Do You Love

2. Run In The Mornin'

3. Hanging On In There (Waiting For You To Come)

4. Superboy Rock n' Roller '73

5. B-Bo's Hampton

6. Wine And Wimmin [Side 2]

7. Superfine Lady

8. Near To Me

9. Shy Boy

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth and final studio album "Buzzard" - released November 1973 in the UK on Purple Records TPSA 7503 and January 1974 in the USA on Passport Records PPS 98001. Produced by BILL WYMAN - recorded on The Rolling Stones Mobile Unit at The Villa in the South of France. Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke plays Hammond Organ and Piano, Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones plays Piano and Paul Kendrick of Czar and Tuesday’s Children is on Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals.

The massively in-depth 32-page booklet inside the glossy 5" clamshell mini box set is an impressive affair- new liner notes by noted music writer ALAN ROBINSON featuring new interviews with Guitarist Terry Taylor and Drummer Dave Brown - there's artwork for all five LPs with each CD placed inside a singular 5" card sleeve. The project was overseen by the vastly experienced VAL JENNINGS and PHIL KINRADE did the Remasters at Alchemy Mastering using licensed tapes. I found the sound varied across the albums - good to great. Mostly I'm just impressed with the musicianship and the Funkiness of the Rock - my kind of poison for sure...

Coming at you like England's answer to Steppenwolf meets Three Dog Night - probably because of the Deep Purple Records label tie-in Tucky Buzzard were perceived as 'hard rockers' - but in fact they were far funkier than that. There was a swing and chug to their guitars that made them FUNK like say American Gypsy or After The Fire. At other times they were soulful like Free and Humble Pie could be - while still churning out those riffs and funky grooves. Never is this more obvious than on the "Tucky Buzzard" album from late 1971 with 9 of the 10 tracks being self-penned originals. Both "There Will Be A Doctor" and "Stainless Steel Lady" give it some ants-in-your-pants Funk-Rock with the best of them. But there's horrible hiss levels on "Sally Shotgun" that put a damper on this rather lovely ballad - sweet Peter Green guitar licks from Terry Taylor with Jimmy Henderson's vocals sounding like Pink Floyd circa "Meddle". 

Things improve hugely with the fabulous "Gu Gu Gu" - a Funky-As-Coffee-Beans groover that I used to put on 70ts CD-Rs whenever I got the chance. Think Spirit's "Mr. Skin" and you're there - a chunky Nick Graham keyboard groove acts as the backdrop to Taylor's guitar and the 'make a mark in the sky' lyrics about existence and not working. I love this track and it sounds wickedly good here. Other winners on the "Tucky Buzzard" album include their cover of Leon Russell’s "Pisces Apple Lady" where the boys are encouraged by their American friend to get themselves together in the English countryside (they sound so Three Dog Night on this). "She's Meat" and "Ace The Face" feel like groovy Immediate label Small Faces while the two finishers lay down heavy Paul Francis drum beats before going all Brass Funk Rock with Jim Price and Bobby Keys of The Rolling Stones entourage on "Whisky Eyes" and "Rolling Cloud". I love the gritty guitar sound Taylor gets while Graham's keyboards remind me Snafu on WWA Records in 1973 and 1974. An edit of the 5:18 minutes "Rolling Cloud" could easily have been a great 45...

The tastefully entitled third album "Warm Slash" sees the five boys looking all manly on the front cover (hairy chests ahoy) while one of them communes with nature on the rear sleeve (helping a tree out you understand). Unfortunately the music looses a lot of the funky nature of "Tucky Buzzard" and opts instead for a harder edged Rock that is plodding at best. Keyboard moments in the eight-minute "Which Way, When For Why" are very cool and the riffage of "Mistreating Woman" has plenty of snake-guitar in its tight-trousered heart - but stuff like "Heartbreaker" and "Sky Balloon" just sound like bad Prog or Grand Funk Railroad on an off day. The "All Right On The Night" LP picked things up considerably with the great British Rock 'n' Roll of "Can't Live Without You" - the kind of Humble Pie swagger song (with Brass) that should have been a hit. It's hardly surprising that Purple Records chose "Gold Medallions" as a UK 7" single in March 1973 (Purple PUR 113) with the equally pleasing "Fast Bluesy Woman" on the flip-side. Rhythm Guitarist Paul Kendrick wrote ""Rudi" Movie Star" and the album ends on some nice slide within "Last War"...

David Bowie apparently saw them live in 1971 and was duly impressed (took some of their stage act with him) - but neither his nor Wyman’s peripheral superstardom seem to rub off and the band disbanded in mid 1974 after poor record sales and missed opportunities (they should have been on the 6 April 1974 'California Jam' bill in front of 250,000 fans where Deep Purple set the record for the 'loudest' band in the world - 50,000 LP sales from that gig wold have rescued them). Guitarist Terry Taylor ending up on RAK Records with photogenic heartthrobs The Arrows (released his first solo album in 2014 called "Taylor Made") and Nick Graham later penned winning hits in the 90ts for the Goss Brothers in Bros.

So much to discover and thankfully some of it you can actually like - and even though its far from being undiluted genius from top to bottom - Edsel are to be praised for getting the five-disc "Complete Tucky Buzzard" Box Set out there in such style. Fans should not hesitate...

"In City Dreams" by ROBIN TROWER (Inside 2012’s 3CD Set ‘Father On Up The Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983’) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I Was Tasting The Charms..."

For years Procol Harum’s Robin Trower seemed locked into those Hendrix comparisons – pumping out album after album of Hard Rock Riffage – simple no-nonsense guitar classics like “Bridge Of Sighs” and “For Earth Below” in 1974 and 1975. Then come the late Seventies and his inner Bernard Edwards and Chic seemed to grab him by the short and curlies and the man went for it. And I for one - loved it to bits.

I’ve always thought his "In City Dreams" and "Caravan To Midnight" LPs from 1977 and 1978 (with the mighty James Dewar on vocals) to be Funky Rock meisterworks where Trower and his Flange Pedal got real familiar. And that’s where this fabulous Remastered 3CD set from EMI comes in. Here are the fret-flicking details...

UK released 27 Feb 2012 - "Father On Up The Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983" on EMI/Chrysalis 301 3862 (Barcode 5099930138629) is the mega label's second anthology for Procol Harum’s first guitar virtuoso ROBIN TROWER (“A Tale Untold” was the first) and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (79:30 minutes):

1. Somebody Calling

2. Sweet Wine Of Love

3. Bluebird

4. Falling Star

5. Farther On Up The Road

6. Smile

7. Little Girl

8. Love’s Gonna Bring You Round

9. In City Dreams

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "In City Dreams" released September 1977 in the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR 1148.

10. Bluebird (7" Edit) - a non-album version 

11. My Love (Burning Love)

12. Caravan To Midnight

13. I’m Out To Get You

14. Lost In Love

15. Fool

16. It’s For You

17. Birthday Boy

18. King Of The Dance

19. Sail On

Tracks 11 to 19 are the album "Caravan To Midnight" released August 1978 in the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR 1189.

To get 6 albums and two 7" single sides thrown in for just over twelve quid is pretty amazing value for money (including a free rip to your PC or Mac). But the big deal here is the 2012 PETER MEW REMASTER. I've raved about this guy's touch at the tape before - even set a tag of his remastered issues for those interested in quality sound (there's hundreds) - and this double jewel-case set is no different. The sound is truly fantastic - full and clear without being over-hyped or amped up for the sake of it.

I've always thought "In City Dreams" to have been an overlooked funky nugget in his catalogue. Often associated with Hendrix in terms of guitar sound and technique - people are amazed at the sweetness of Trower's playing on lullabies like "Bluebird" and "Little Girl". The addition of Bassist Rustee Allen to his band (ex Sly & The Family Stone) only served to up the hip-swivelling gyrations by a factor of ten. And I've always thought the gritty vocals and songwriting talent of ex Stone The Crows vocalist JAMES DEWAR added so much to Trower's band - sadly lost to us years back.

This overlooked album opens with the brilliant Funky-Rock of "Somebody's Calling" – a seriously hooky groove that just builds and builds with its melodic strums and flange effect and Dewar's vocals that come sailing in only half way through. I've often included in on my 70's Fest CD Shop Plays and it used to always bring a customer hustling to the counter wanting to know - who this fantastic track is by (lyrics from it title this review). We mellow down with both the mid-tempo "Sweet Wine Of Love" and the lovely ballad "Bluebird". A more familiar "Bridge Of Sighs" Trower returns with the chunky Rock riffage of "Falling Star" while the side ends with an oddly placed 'live' rendition of "Further On Up The Road" where both Trower and Dewar elicit whistles and cheers from the Rock-Funkin' crowd.

Back to trippy business with the wickedly cool "Smile" - a flange and strummer similar to "Somebody's Calling" - while "Little Girl" sees his Bluesy Guitar doubled-up for effect as Dewar whispers the 'left on the ground...you could never fly...' lyrics. "Love's Gonna Bring You Round" should have been released as UK 7" single - catchy and representative of the album's overall sound. The guitars swirl and flange throughout the entire Bass-pumping Rock of "In City Dreams". Very cool...

On the celebratory "Sweet Wine Of Love" - James Dewar sings "...Let's throw a party...everyone is invited..." 

Accept the invitation as soon as your wallet will allow...

"Life For The Taking" by EDDIE MONEY (2013 Rock Candy ‘Remastered & Reloaded’ CD Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Can't Keep A Good Man Down..."

Ex New York City Cop and raspy vocalist EDDIE MONEY produced a slew of albums for Columbia Records (CBS in the UK) between 1978 and 1992. But his reputation as one the great Ian Hunter Rock 'n' Roller-types rests on his first four albums - which America's 'Rock Candy Records' have chosen to reissue in 2013 as 'Collector's Editions Remastered & Reloaded'.

I bought the vinyl LPs at the time and loved every good time minute of them - in fact I worked with a band in Dublin called 'Rogue Angel' who used to cover several of his tunes in their brill residency at Toner's Bar in Baggot Street (great memories). But frankly the quality of Money's songs began to taper off by his third platter "Playing For Keeps" in August 1980 and "No Control" in July 1982 wasn't a whole lot better. For me there's only ever been his rattling "Eddie Money" debut from late 1977 and this - it's brilliant and upbeat follow-up "Life For The Taking" released Stateside in January 1979. You 'can't keep a good man down' as they say - so here are the lifelike details...

USA released January 2013 - "Life For The Taking" by EDDIE MONEY on Rock Candy Records CANDY173 (Barcode 5055300356574) is a straightforward Remaster of the 1978 US LP with upgraded booklet and plays out as follows (40:41 minutes):

1. Life For The Taking

2. Can't Keep A Good Man Down

3. Nightmare

4. Gimme Some Water

5. Rock And Roll The Place

6. Maybe I'm A Fool [Side 2]

7. Love The Way You Love Me

8. Maureen

9. Nobody

10. Call On Me

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 2nd studio album "Life For The Taking" - released January 1979 in the USA on Columbia JC 35598 and March 1978 in the UK on CBS Records S CBS 83159. Produced by BRUCE BOTNIK (of The Doors fame) and Recorded/Engineered by ANDY JOHNS - it peaked at No. 17 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Musicians:

EDDIE MONEY - Lead Vocals, Piano and Harmonica

JIMMY LYON - Guitar

DAVID LINDLEY - Guitar on "Gimme Some Water"

LLOYD CHIATE and JOHN WHITNEY - Guitars on "Maybe I'm A Fool"

ALAN PASQUA and NICKY HOPKINS - Piano

GREGORY PHILLINGANES - Piano on "Maybe I'm A Fool"

JESSIE BRADMAN - Piano on "Rock And Roll The Place"

RANDY NICHOLS - Organ on "Rock And Roll The Place"

TOM SCOTT - Horns

LONNIE TURNER - Bass

TIM SHERIDAN - Bass on "Rock And Roll The Place"

GARY MALLABER - Drums

DAVE DANZA - Drums on "Rock And Roll The Place"

The 12-page booklet is pretty to look at - live photos from the period - repro's of Japanese and US singles, picture discs and new liner notes from HOWARD JOHNSON which include recent interviews with Eddie about that heady time (his debut had peaked at No. 39 but this album went Top 20 eventually peaking at No. 17 and lasting an impressive 26 weeks on the charts). Fans will know that only a couple of tracks from "Life For The Taking" have been available on a 'Greatest Hits' set as remasters - this is the first time the entire album has been done (ditto for the other three). There are no lyrics and its hugely disappointing that there isn't 'anything' extra but at least the Audio makes up for those shortcomings...

Experienced Audio Engineer JON ASTLEY (The Who, Pete Townshend, Tears For Fears, The Boomtown Rats, Bad Company and more) has handled the 24-bit Digital Remaster from original tapes at 'Close To The Edge' Mastering in Twickenham, England - and this sucker 'rocks' for all the right reasons. How good is it to hear songs like "Can't Keep A Good Man Down" and "Love The Way You Love Me" sound this good...

The album opens with the slow and weary-from-losing "Life For The Taking" - an Eddie Money original about his harsh upbringing in the big choke. Instant rush hits you with the fantastic 'rawk' of "Can't Keep A Good Man Down" - a song Money co-wrote with Dan Alexander of The Rockets and Chris Solsberg. This 'made some plans myself' thing kicks like a mule and that Jimmy Lyon Guitar solo roars out of your speakers ready to trample all over your apartment’s Feng Shui placements. The preposterously catchy "Nightmare" is a co-write Jimmy Lyon and features a riff many rock bands would nobble a close relative for. Upbeat riffage continues with Money's "Gimme Some Water" where our hero takes of guns and dead men on the Mexican Border (not that border rhymes with water you understand). Like a call to arms 'everybody' "Rock And Roll The Place" is a great Saturday Night booze and bands rocker and brings back great memories of doing just that in 1979.

After all the men-in-tight trousers Rock of the Side 1 - the flip-side opens with a disconcerting "Maybe I'm A Fool" - a stab at Rock-Soul that aims its Saxophone and Lush Strings firmly at the crossover Top 20 without really convincing either (arranged by Albhey Galuten). Things instantly improve with "Love The Way You Love Me" - a joyful Rock romp that actually has Soul in it - the Remaster lifting up that great solo. We enter Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes territory with the Tamla Motown bop of "Maureen" while its finishes with a wicked one-two sucker punch - a Funky "Nobody" and the big pleader ballad "Call On Me" where Eddie wants his girl to give him a tinkle on the blower when she's tired and feeling weak (any other time she can bugger off).

"Life For The Taking" only consolidated the strides Money made on his "Eddie Money" debut LP after years in the Rock 'n' Roll wilderness (he'd been gigging since 1974). Despite the lack of extras and that greedy full-price tag - this is a stone 5-star CD remaster and I recommend you 'Rock and Roll' your place with it right soon...

The January 2013 'Rock Candy Records' CD Remasters for EDDIE MONEY are:

1. Eddie Money (November 1977 debut LP) - Rock Candy CANDY172 (Barcode 5055300356567)

2. Life For The Taking (January 1979 2nd LP) - Rock Candy CANDY173 (Barcode 5055300356574)

3. Playing For Keeps (August 1980 3rd LP) - Rock Candy CANDY174 (Barcode 5055300356581)

4. No Control (July 1982 4th LP) - Rock Candy CANDY175 (Barcode 5055300356598)

"Gasoline Alley" by ROD STEWART (Inside 2002's The Universal/Chronicles 3CD Set 'Reason To Believe: The Complete Mercury Studio Recordings' - Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Take Me Back To The Gasoline Alley…"

Arguing the merits of Rod Stewart's 'Mercury Records Years' albums (1969 to 1974) is like saying a few of the Beatles albums from the Sixties were 'pretty good' and you should 'probably' buy some. What I'm getting at here is 'which' version of "Gasoline Alley" should you buy? And while I'm at it what about 1971's "Every Picture Tells A Story" or 1972"s "Never A Dull Moment" or even the lesser-seen "Sing It Again Rod" LP compilation from June 1973 that went to No. 1 but never seems to show on CD? I want to argue that the whole period was magical musically (even the disappointing "Smiler" from 1974 had its fab moments) and this is one of those occasions where you should forego the individual purchase and buy the bleeding lot.

There's a Remastered stand-alone CD for "Gasoline Alley" from 1995 with just the 9-tracks and the gorgeous UK artwork inside and out – an expensive but audiophile Mobile Fidelity Gold CD release from 2011 and a beautifully done Japanese SACD from 2014 - as well as a dizzying array of '5 album collection' Mini Box Sets - most of whom use the 'US' artwork. But I say go for this instead...

US and UK released in November 2002 (reissued January 2005) – "Reason To Believe: The Complete Mercury Studio Recordings" by ROD STEWART on Mercury/Universal/Chronicles 440 063 422-2 (Barcode 044006342221) is a 3CD set of Remasters that offers fans all six albums from the period along with rare 7" single edits and five outakes first released on a 1995 2CD retrospective. 

This 3CD set will allow fans to sequence his six albums (5 studio and 1 compilation) - "An Old Raincoat Won’t Let You Down" (known as "The Rod Stewart Album" in the USA), "Gasoline Alley", "Every Picture Tells A Story", "Never A Dull Moment", "Sing It Again Rod" (compilation with one new track "Pinball Wizard") and finally "Smiler" – his last studio LP for Mercury Records.

Disc 1 contains the first two LPs including "Gasoline Alley" (79:19 minutes):

1. Street Fighting Man

2. Man Of Constant Sorrow

3. Blind Prayer

4. Handbags And Gladrags

5. An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down [Side 2]

6. I Wouldn't Ever Change A Thing

7. Cindy's Lament

8. Dirty Old Town

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut LP "An Old Raincoat Won’t Let You Down" – released February 1970 on Vertigo VO 4 in the UK. It was called "The Rod Stewart Album" in the USA and its September 1969 release on Mercury SR-61237 featuring different artwork to the UK issue (same tracks). As this is effectively an American release – the booklet doesn’t picture the lovely 'photograph' gatefold of the UK artwork.

9. Gasoline Alley

10. It's All Over Now

11. Only A Hobo

12. My Way Of Giving

13. Country Comforts [Side 2]

14. Cut Across Shorty

15. Lady Day

16. Jo's Lament

17. You're My Girl (I Don’t Want To Discuss It)

Tracks 9 to 17 are his 2nd solo LP "Gasoline Alley" – released May 1970 in the USA on Mercury SR-61264 and September 1970 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 500. Produced by ROD STEWART and LOU REIZNER.

18. It's All Over Now – issued as a 7” single edit in the UK on Vertigo 6086 002 in September 1970 (the album track "Jo's Lament" was its B-side).

As you can see - with this set you also get the 7" single edit of "It's All Over Now" - something none of the individual "Gasoline Alley" CD releases offers. The packaging is tasty too and the Audio stunning. The 24-page booklet is housed in a three-way foldout card digipak with each flap featuring live photos (pictures beneath the see-through plastic trays also). AMY LINDEN provides the liner notes and there’s discography info on each track and overall recording credits. But the big news is the SUHA GUR remasters which are fantastic – full of presence and life and that raunchy feel Stewart got at the time. Lyrically and musically – there is so much richness here. Armed with a God-given set of tonsils, melodies that haunt and a way with observation - song after song smacks you over the head with greatness and smart choices. And all of it with that fantastic band of his - Ronnie Wood, Martin Quittenton, Ronnie Lane, Mick Waller, Kenny Jones and Ian McLagan - all dripping British Rock’n’Roll swagger that seemed to come so easily to them. The only real disappointment for me - especially with regard to artwork - is that this 3CD compilation is essentially an American release and therefore uses the 'US' artwork for "Gasoline Alley" and unfortunately the lovely British artwork (inside and out) is AWOL.

The opening song "Gasoline Alley" (co-written by Rod with Ron Wood of The Stones) is likely to reduce most ardent Rodders fans to mush within seconds - a plaintive and heartfelt ache for the simple times and even the grimy streets of old as depicted on the stippled gatefold cover. It's trite I know to call songs 'beautiful' but this one is and its been covered many times as proof (Elkie Brooks reminded people of its beauty in 1983 with synth version on A&M Records). And that Ron Wood bottleneck guitar and Stanley Matthews on Mandolin add so much too.

Recorded at Morgan Studios in London - there's a ramshackle feel to the "Gasoline Alley" LP from the off - an unplugged feel that lends the music an authenticity that the later polished Riva material abandoned (different times, different approaches). A nice addition on this set is the 3:37 minute 7" single edit of Bobby Womack's witty and caustic "It's All Over Now" - shorter and punchier that its 6:24 minute big brother on the album (Ian McLagan and Pete Sears plink away on the piano). Written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane for the Small Faces self-titled Immediate Records LP in 1967 – both Ronnie Lane and Kenny Jones join Rod on Vocals and Drums for his clever cover of "My Way Of Giving". Bob Dylan's gorgeous "Only A Hobo" was apparently a "Times They Are A-Changin'...'" outtake and Rod's version can only be described as magical. He takes the original melody's Folk elements and infuses it with that British Faces/Rod Stewart sound - lifting the air and the aching lyrics about 'lying in the gutter and dying with no name' into something so special.

Another clever choice is his Side opener - Elton John's "Country Comforts" taken from his "Tumbleweed Connection" album of October 1970. Rod makes the ballad feel like his own and is ably abetted by wonderful counterpoint vocals from Jack Reynolds as the song winds its way to the end. Rod's brilliant cover of "Cut Across Shorty" (written by Marijohn Wilkin and Wayne Walker) - an Eddie Cochran classic made almost unrecognisable with rattling acoustic guitar strings, Dick Powell on Violin and chunky Ron Wood Rock 'n' Roll guitar licks (and I love that acoustic fade out). "Lady day" is a wickedly good Rod Stewart original ballad with his 'north winds have made my face a little older' lyrics confessing. But there's a warmth to his affection towards his lady that's intensely moving - 'scared when I remember too much' - it's the kind of wonderful overlooked album gem that needs to be in your life - a 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' song I never tire of. And "Jo's Lament" is the same - another RS original that shows his amazing knack for a melody - all those acoustic guitar strums and bottleneck slides that warm your bones like an afternoon on a river. It ends on the fantastic Funk-Rock of "You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)" - a Dick Cooper, Beth Beatty and Ernie Shelby song that was done by Little Richard in 1967 on Okeh Records and Rhinoceros in 1968 on their self-titled debut LP on Elektra Records. A great way to end a great album...

To sum up - six whole albums, rare single sides and a batch of previously unreleased for under nine-quid is a bit of a no-brainer really.

Carry yourself back to the "Gasoline Alley" with the "Reason To Believe” 3CD set - a rare instance of quality and quantity combined - and of all of it wrapped up in that top-quality remastered sound…

PS: The first album gives you a superb keyboard contribution from a pre ELP Keith Emerson on "I Wouldn't Ever Change A Thing" - a brilliant song added to hugely by his playing. RIP Keith...