"Toys In The Attic" by AEROSMITH (1993 Columbia CD Reissue - Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Walk This Way...Talk This Way..."

Aerosmith's 3rd album "Toys In The Attic" was a vinyl monster stateside clocking up over 8-million LP sales - and from April 1975 starting a two and half year chart reign (128 weeks in total). Yet over here in Blighty most seemed utterly indifferent to those legions of long-haired men who bought this hard-rockin' snotty little git with mid-decade mid-American glee. Aerosmith didn't hit the UK charts until 1987 with "Permanent Vacation" – another anthem - only this time on Geffen Records and not their 1970ts spiritual home of Columbia. Even the mighty - and let's call it what it is - damn cool strut of "Walk This Way" didn't sell on 45 in the UK (CBS Records 4878) on release - which is some respects must have been down to lack of radio play (no such problem in the USA) – it wasn’t recognised until much later as a classic.

Forty-two years on though and "Toys In The Attic" stills rawks as they say in the very White House of 2017. And you just have to love its sheer balls-to-the-wall rock-out-with-your-knob-out impact - track after track with riffage Lemmy would have been proud of. And although this 1993 Columbia CD reissue/remaster is in desperate need of a packaging upgrade and some decent Bonus Tracks - it still boasts a stunning Don De Vito/Vic Anesini Remaster. So once more unto the rocking horses and used teddy bears - let's walk this way...

UK released 8 November 1993 (reissued several times since including September 2011) - "Toys In The Attic" by AEROSMITH on Columbia 474964 2 (Barcode 5099747496424) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 1975 album and plays out as follows (37:12 minutes):

1. Toys In The Attic

2. Uncle Salty

3. Adam's Apple

4. Walk This Way

5. Big Ten Inch Record

6. Sweet Emotion [Side 2]

7. No More No More

8. Round And Round

9. You See Me Crying

Tracks 1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "Toys In The Attic" - released April 1975 in the USA on Columbia PC 33479 and July 1975 in the UK on CBS Records S 80773. Produced by JACK DOUGLAS - the album peaked at No. 11 in the USA. "Adam's Apple" written by Steve Tyler - "Walk This Way", "Toys In The Attic" and "No More No More" written by Steve Tyler and Joe Perry - "Uncle Salty" and "Sweet Emotion" written by Steve Tyler and Tom Hamilton - "Round And Round" by Steve Tyler and Brad Whitford - "You See Me Crying" by Steve Tyler and D. Soloman - "Big Ten Inch Record" is a cover version of an old Fred Weismantel song recorded in 1953 by R&B artist Bullmoose Jackson on King Records.

AEROSMITH was:

STEVE TYLER - Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica and Percussion

JOE PERRY - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Acoustic and Slide, Percussion and Backing Vocals

BRAD WHITFORD - Lead and Rhythm Guitars

TOM HAMILTON - Bass (rhythm guitar on "Uncle Salty")

JOEY KRAMER - Drums and Percussion

Guests:

Scott Cushnie - Piano on "Big Ten Inch Record" and "No More No More"

Jay Messina - Bass Marimba on "Sweet Emotion"

The double-sided four-leaf foldout inlay is hardly the stuff of legends. They repro 'The Master Lab' Tape Box For Side 2 of the album - the rear sleeve with its recorded data and a two-page colour collage of Aerosmith memorabilia - but there's no new liner notes - the Cream and L.A. Times reviews that were used on stickers to sell the original vinyl album. For something that clocked up eight million sales in the USA alone - it's a bit of a let down. Everyone knows too that third American 45 - "You See Me Crying" b/w "Toys In The Attic" had a radically reduced 7" single edit on the A-side reducing the album cut of 5:12 down to 3:00 minutes. Surely along with some outtakes or live stuff - that could have been included as a 'Bonus'. But alas...

What we do get by way of compensation however is a stunning new 24-bit digital remaster from original tapes by DON DeVITO and Mastering Engineer supremo VIC ANESINI - an Audio transfer name I actively seek out when looking for exceptional CD Remasters. Anesini has had a long association with Sony and all things Columbia - Santana, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, Mott The Hoople, Janis Joplin, Carole King, The Jayhawks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mountain, Nilsson and many more. Bringing out the power of those riffs and just how tight the band were was always the priority with this most 'Hard Rock' of LPs - and the team behind this transfer have achieved that.

Coming at you like Montrose in 1973 - the sheer speed and attack of the mission-statement title-track "Toys In The Attic" is fantastic stuff - building and building into a frantic thrasher (you half wonder why someone didn't think it would make a good 45). Things calm down with "Uncle Salty" - where daddy got busted and mother's love for all the others didn't help much either (the guitars and vocals are so good). A nasty slide guitar opens "Adam's Apple" setting up a lady-luck rocker - guitars and vocals that would make The Black Crowes nervous (love at first bite baby). What can you say about "Walk This Way" - surely one of 'the' great Rock singles of the Seventies or any other decade for that matter - fun, irreverent and bursting out of your speakers with school bells and snotty guitars intent on kitties in the gym. Side 1 ends on a bit of Rhythm 'n' Blues fun complete with pumping Brass complimenting those guitars – a cover of Bullmoose Jackson's 1953 Rhythm & Blues hit "Big Ten Inch Record" that originally came out on King 4580. With Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra backing up the truly salacious lyrics - Bullmoose pushes the lyrical envelope - thrilling the ladies when he gets out his giant ruler-long talent (for the Blues you understand). You can image that Steve, Joe and the boys had a grin on their collective kissers when they recorded this.

Side 2 opens with the huge guitars of "Sweet Emotion" - another head-chugging winner given full power here on this amazing Remaster (and what about those guitar solos towards the end as they go off into another variant of the riff - wow). Acoustics finally rear their highly-produced heads in "No More No More" where the band sound like Boston's debut in 1976  - or is it the other way around. The piano is still in the back of the mix but at least I can kind of hear it now.

New Remaster or no - "Round And Round" is the one track on the album that sounds 'wrong' to me - that vocal all strangulated and too distant and that grungy guitar over 'there somewhere'. I suppose they recorded it that way on purpose - but it still sounds off. The big ballad finisher of "You See Me Crying" is five-minutes of weepy Aerosmith and it's not surprising to me that Columbia 3-10253 (with "Toys In The Attic" on the flipside) failed to dent the charts. It's one string-moment too far - in fact I feel some of Side 2 seriously lets the whole album down...

Boston's AEROSMITH would tear it up with their 4th platter "Rocks" in 1976 and "Draw The Line" in 1977 - but this is where their locker-room legend and guitar mayhem really started. 

Dude looks like a winner - and like most of their reissue catalogue - it's dirt-cheap too...

"Stage Fright" by THE BAND (2000 Capitol 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of their 3rd album from 1970) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Turned From The Sun...Saw Everyone...Searching..."

With two hugely influential albums already under their belt (1968's "Music From Big Pink" and 1969's "The Band") – it was time for Americana's pioneers to let the side down.

Some felt they did with "Stage Fright". I didn't. I've always loved this album. In fact it's quite probably biblically blasphemous and goat-sacrificial to say that studio platter number three for THE BAND is 'better' in places than its illustrious predecessors. But as Californication's Hank Moody would say to his agent Charlie the Runkalator as they hide even more scantily clad skanky hookers and a blizzard of cocaine from their long-suffering wives - "...I'm going to rock out with my cock out..."

Again - I love this album and this sweet-sounding 2000 CD Remaster only hammers that affection home all of 47 years later. Here are the details and The Shape It's In...

UK released September 2000 (August 2000 in the USA) - "Stage Fright" by THE BAND on Capitol 525 3952 (Barcode 724352539529) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows (71:57 minutes):

1. Strawberry Wine

2. Sleeping

3. Time To Kill

4. Just Another Whistle Stop

5. All La Glory

6. The Shape I'm In [Side 2]

7. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show

8. Daniel And The Sacred Harp

9. Stage Fright

10. The Rumor

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 3rd studio album "Stage Fright" - released August 1970 in the USA on Capitol Records SW-425 and October 1970 in the UK on Capitol Records EA-SW 425. Produced by DICK HIRTHE and Engineered by TODD RUNDGREN - it peaked at No. 5 in the USA and No. 15 in the UK LP charts.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Daniel And The Sacred Harp (Alternate Take)

12. Time To Kill (Alternate Take)

13. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (Alternate Mix)

14. Radio Commercial

THE BAND was:

ROBBIE ROBERTSON – Guitars and Vocals

RICHARD MANUEL - Vocals, Piano, Drums, Baritone Sax & Mouth Harp

GARTH HUDSON – Keyboards and Saxophones

RICK DANKO - Vocals, Bass, Violin & Trombone

LEVON HELM - Vocals, Drums, Mandolin & Guitar

Compiled for CD by Cheryl Pawelski and Andrew Sandoval - the 16-page booklet has fantastically comprehensive liner notes by ROB BOWMAN that feature interviews stretching back twelve years (from 2000), repros of the American Promo 45 for "Time To Kill" and "The Shape I'm In" on Capitol P-2870 as well as two photos of The Band on sofas (one at outtake from the LP shoot). There is discussion on Todd Rundgren's pivotal role as Producer giving the LP the polish their 2nd album "The Band" lacked in 1969. Both Glyn Johns and Rundgren mixed the record and this CD offers the album as it was meant to be – differing from the original Remaster by Capitol in 1990 and the subsequent audiophile issue by DCC in 1994. The new 24-bit remaster by ANDREW SANDOVAL and RON McMASTER gives the album the oomph it's needed. It's a triumph to my ears. Let's get to the music...

"Stage Fright" is a group dealing with and being cudgelled by fame. Recording in June 1970 over only two weeks – the ramshackle looseness (musicians and like minds enjoying themselves) that so warmed up the first two albums was already gone. Some felt the overall LP cold and dark and too bleakly personal in places – and it was short too at 35 odd minutes. But the music for me is key. It opens with "Strawberry Wine" by Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson – a rollicking accordion song about drinking with lyrics about never getting any peace of mine (climbing up the walls and laughing in the dark). "Sleeping" is sad for sure - but it’s beautiful too and the remaster has accentuated that lovely piano and Robertson's distant thinny guitar parts (lyrics from it title this review).

Things slide slightly with Robertson's "Time To Kill" - it's good but its also throwaway for me and the happy-wappy vibe Danko and Manuel try to vocally create feels forced. Nice axe work from Robbie on "Just Another Whistle Stop" and the bass on "All La Glory" is so damn clear now - a hymn from Robbie Robertson to his newly born daughter sung by Levon in that utterly unique voice of his (love that keyboard break - so subtle and pretty). "All La Glory" ends Side 1 on a high.

As I recall the 16-days in the jailhouse tale of monetary woe that is "The Shape I'm In" was relegated to the B-side of "Time To Kill" in the States (October 1970) - when I can't help feeling it was an obvious A with its pounding keyboard funk. In March 1971 the British side of Capitol got it right and issued "The Shape I'm In" with "The Rumor" as its flipside on Capitol CL 15675 - not that the public noticed. "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" was the kind of tune that would have sounded fresh on "Music From Big Pink" - here for some reason it feels old already. Better is "Daniel And The Sacred Harp" - a religious procession song sung as if its a love song to some in the Old Testament. There's beautiful sound on it - those slides and strummed acoustic. The album's title track "Stage Fright" remained a live staple for the band for years - culminating in 1979's "The Last Waltz" where it seemed to come into its own. Although some think it a downer - I've always found the very Harvest-sounding "The Rumor" to be a huge grower - that piano and guitar duetting and the vocals. And you can so hear today's Americana seeping out its every pore...

"...Should I come in there...with that back beat..." - the boys joke in some studio banter after a false start. Amidst the bonus tracks is a thrill for Band fans - an Alternate Mix of one of the album's strong points "Daniel And The Sacred Heart". The audio is gorgeous - clear Bass and Acoustic Guitar - less clutter than the finished version. I might actually prefer the new Alternate Mix to "Time To Kill" to the released version - and again on here with fabulous audio. Great guitar opens "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" where the Alternate has more pronounced vocals and brass - and the one-minute po-faced sounding "Radio Commercial" uses snippets from "Stage Fright", "Strawberry Wine" and "The Shape I'm In" to sell 'the third album from The Band on Capitol'...

I know some see it as a four-star record but with that renewed audio and those genuinely cool extras - "Stage Fright" is one of those occasions where you don't have to pay through the CD nose to get that great combo of top music, quality sound and a cheap price (their first two album outings are the same and mots are online for less than a fiver).

"...The storm is past...there's peace at last..." – Richard Manuel sang on the many mood shades of "Sleeping" – lost in his music – lost in the game. Lost or not - I've so enjoyed joining him there once again...

"You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" by SPOOKY TOOTH (2016 Universal/Island CD Reissue - Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Wild Fire..." 

Like Mott The Hoople and The Pretty Things - England's SPOOKY TOOTH have never really received the accolades they deserve. Between 1968 and 1974 they produced seven studio albums (six on Island - one on Goodear) as well as a posthumous Island Records 'Best Of' in 1976 - yet I defy even knowledgeable Rock types to name just two of those original LPs.

Their fifth studio album is the same. It came at Blighty in January 1973 with a Klaus Voorman sleeve and the delightful title of "You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" across both sides of the cover (an in-joke apparently amongst band members – a phrase they used in jest and not a mission statement). Their previous album "The Last Puff" (credited to Spooky Tooth featuring Mike Harrison) had come and gone in October 1970 and January 1973 was a long time to be off the release sheets. But even though the new platter featured both Mike Harrison and Gary Wright with future Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones bolstering up the ranks – very few took notice of the 8-track vinyl LP. In fact none of their Rock/Blues Rock albums ever bothered the British LP charts (not even a nostalgia 'Best Of' in 1976) and though founder member and songwriter Gary Wright did some commercial welly in the mid Seventies (especially in the USA with his "Dream Weaver" LP) - Luther Grosvenor and Mike Harrison had solo careers also but few noticed. The band is not even in Martin C. Strong's stunning 'Great Rock Discography' Books (and almost everyone is in there). And now the final facial slap (sock in the jaw)...

These new CD Reissues and Remasters on UMC's Universal/Island with truly superb Audio and a wad of good bonus tracks on most (not this one unfortunately) have already quietly slipped under the radar only two months after release in September and October 2016. Time to rectify this horrid anomaly on the part of an uncaring and post Christmas flabby public - here are the eerie dental details...

UK released 30 September 2016 - "You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" by SPOOKY TOOTH on Universal/Island 570 547-8 (Barcode 602557054781) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 8-track 1973 Island Records album and plays out as follows (35:12 minutes):

1. Cotton Growing Man

2. Old As I Was Born

3. This Time Around

4. Holy Water

5. Wild Fire [Side 2]

6. Self-Seeking Man

7. Times Have Changed

8. Moriah

Tracks 1 to 8 are their fifth studio album "You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" - released January 1973 in the UK on Island ILPS 9227 and May 1973 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4385. Recorded at Olympic, Island and Apple Studios - it was produced by GARY WRIGHT and SPOOKY TOOTH and the LP peaked at No. 84 in the USA but didn't chart in the UK.

SPOOKY TOOTH was:

GARY WRIGHT - Vocals, Organ and Piano

MIKE HARRISON - Vocals and Piano

MICK JONES - Lead Guitar

CHRIS STEWART - Bass

BRYSON GRAHAM - Drums

The 12-page booklet is good rather than great. Researched, co-ordinated and produced by MARK POWELL of England's much-revered reissue label Esoteric Recordings (have done wads of quality reissues from the Sixties and Seventies) – it’s missing stuff. There are several black and white group shots and photos of band members (Chris Stewart and Mick Jones) and a repro of that pencil drawing by Voorman of a woman with a rolling pin and a poor sucker under heel on the floor. But the colour photos of the band members on the US A&M Records LP are missing as are the lyrics that were printed the inner gatefold sleeve.

On the upside Powell details the band's history on Island Records (including stuff about The V.I.P's and Art) and then explains the arrival of Mick Jones into the ever-changing line-up and the re-emergence of Gary Wright as the principal songwriter (he penned all eight with co-writes on "This Time Around" and "Times Have Changed" with Mick Jones). The CD is coloured Pink when in fact it was a Orange Palm-Tree label by early 1973 (all the reissues I've bought in this series are like this - Pink labels regardless of the time frame) and there's a close-up photo of the album artwork 'symbol' beneath the see-through CD tray. But the big news is new PASCHAL BYRNE and BEN WISEMAN Remasters from original tapes - wonderful rocking sound on the chug of "Wild Fire" - even Soulful when those voices kick in on the piano-ballad "Holy Water". The real killer is the lack of outtakes from this most rewarding of Spooky's line-ups...and we never do find out who those female backing singers are...

I've always been surprised as the obscurity of this album - a really great Humble Pie-type Rock LP with Gary Wright and Mick Jones sounding like a precursor to Bad Company's explosive 1974 debut "Bad. Co". There are only eight tracks - but each either has a nasty Rock groove or a Soulful ballad – and both sides of his writing works. Humble Pie groovers include "Cotton Candy Man" where both Wright and Harrison share the vocals, the fabulous swagger of "This Time Around" and Side 2's opener "Wild Fire". Softer shades come through on the melodious "Old As I Was Born" before turning into a Funky groove with multi-layered vocals - and then there's the almost church-like "Holy Water" - a song where Wright is genuinely reaching for Soulfulness in a slow Rock song. A plaintive piano opens "Self-Seeking Man" which is soon joined by an aching vocal and again I'm reminded of Marriott circa A&M's "Humble Pie" in 1970 and "Rock On" in 1971. Shades of Leon Russell filter throughout the piano plaintive but majestic "Times Have Changed" - the LP ending on the electric piano Funk of "Moriah" - a sexy little wild and free six-minute groove with weird windy sounds at the end that's part Rare Earth, part Mott The Hoople, part Pink Floyd and all indefinable Spooky Tooth (nice).

"You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" is an album that cries out for re-discovery and like the recent Free Remasters (also September 2016) that came with storming Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Remasters - I'm going to have to own the lot of these Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman CD efforts for SPOOKY TOOTH.

Well done to everyone involved for giving ST the late dental polish they've deserved for so long. And as far as this 1973 album is concerned - sock me in the kisser one more time...

Reissue Titles for SPOOKY TOOTH in the 2016 Universal/Island CD Remaster Series:

1. It's All About (1968 Debut) - 30 Sep 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-1 (Barcode 602557054712) with 10 Bonus Tracks

2. Spooky Two (1969 2nd LP) - 7 Oct 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-3 (Barcode 602557054736) with 9 Bonus Tracks

3. Ceremony: An Electronic Mass (1969 3rd LP with Pierre Henry)

- 7 Oct 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-0 (Barcode 602557054705) with 6 Bonus Tracks

4. The Last Puff (1970 4th LP) - 7 Oct 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-5 (Barcode 602557054750) with 6 Bonus Tracks

5. You Broke My Heart...So I Busted Your Jaw (1973 5th LP) - 30 Sep 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-8 (Barcode 602557054781)

6. Witness (1973 6th LP) - 30 Sep 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-7 (Barcode 602557054774) with 1 Bonus Track

7. The Mirror (1974 7th LP) - 30 Sep 2016 CD release on Universal/Island 570 547-6 (Barcode 602557054767)

"Greatest Hits Vol. Two: The ABC-Dunhill/MCA Recordings" by BOBBY BLAND (1998 Universal/MCA CD Compilation - Erick Labson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

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"…You're A Link In My Chain…" 

Subtitled "The ABC-Dunhill/MCA Recordings" this 16-track 1998 USA-only CD compilation is a deceptive little bugger that packs a whole lot more punch than its naff title and sleeve would suggest. It covers the period 1973 to 1982 and therefore gives us some great-sounding remasters from a criminally under-represented part of Bland's extraordinary career.

Released July 1998 in the USA (2000 in the UK) - "Greatest Hits Vol. Two: The ABC-Dunhill/MCA Recordings" by BOBBY BLAND on Universal/MCA MCAD-11809 (Barcode 008811180928) is a 16-track CD compilation of Remasters and plays out as follows (69:33 minutes):

1. This Time I'm Gone For Good

2. Goin' Down Slow

3. I Wouldn't Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me)

4. Ain't No Love In the Heart Of The City

5. Yolanda

6. I Ain't Gonna Be The First To Cry

7. Today I Started Loving You Again

8. I Hate You

9. The Soul Of A Man

10. It Ain't The Real Thing

11. Sittin' On A Poor Man's Throne

12. Let The Good Times Roll [Live] with B.B. KING

13. You'd Be A Millionaire

14. Love To See You Smile

15. Recess In Heaven

16. Soon As The Weather Breaks

(US Album catalogue numbers)

Tracks 1 and 2 are from the LP "His California Album", 1973 on Dunhill 50163

Tracks 3 to 6 are from "Dreamer", 1974 on Dunhill 50169

Tracks 7 and 8 are from "Get Down With", 1975 on ABC 895

Tracks 9 to 11 are from "Reflections In Blue", 1978 on ABC 1018

Track 12 is from "Together Again...Live", 1976 on ABC-Impulse 9317

Track 13 is from "Sweet Vibrations", 1980 on MCA 5142

Track 14 is from "Come Fly With Me", 1978 on ABC 1075

Track 15 is from "Here We Go Again", 1982 on MCA 5297

Track 16 is from "I Feel Good, I Feel Fine", 1979 on MCA 3157

His 50s and 60's tracks have been done to death in the USA - and fabulous they are too - but I adore his Seventies Soul/Funk stuff more - and especially the two masterpieces that turned up on Probe Records in the UK in 1973 and 1974 - "His California Album" and "Dreamer". I've had OK-only reissues of these for years just to have the music and have dreamed of the day that either or both receive the DELUXE EDITION 2CD treatment - or even a Hip-O Select Box Set covering the full ABC/Probe years where I know the sound will be the business. 

Well this compilation goes a bit of a way towards that because it's remastered by one of Universal's top engineers ERICK LABSON (over 1000 audio restoration and remaster credits to his name) and the sound quality is gorgeous - really clean, muscular and a revelation on every track. The 12-page booklet has liner notes by long-time Blues and R'n'B historian and hero BILL DAHL whose done tons of work for Bear Family on their "Sweet Soul Music" series 1961 to 1975 (see indepth reviews for all 15 Volumes).

The slinky Steely Dan Funk Soul of "I Ain't Gonna Be The First To Cry" (lyrics from it title this review) is a joy - every instrument impressive - and of course that voice. "Today I Started Loving You Again" is another gem and the bluesy cover of Louis Jordan's "Let The Good Times Roll" with B.B. KING (live) is a welcome reminder of his illustrious R'n'B past. Sure it tapers off a bit towards the end and it could easily have had 2 more tracks - but as it stands - this overlooked and stunning-sounding MCA CD compilation is about ten dollars for US buyers and £5 for UK - and as such represents amazing value for money - a top Soul bargain.

Discover Bobby "Blue" Bland superb Soul period through "Greatest Hits Vol. Two" - and watch that phone dial light up as the bank manager begs you to stop spending money on his catalogue...

"She's Like A Swallow" by BONNIE DOBSON (2014 Big Beat CD Reissue - Nick Robbins Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The River That Never Runs Dry..." 

This mid-priced CD reissue from Ace’s subsidiary label Big Beat sees Bonnie Dobson’s rare US Folk debut album from 1960 remastered for the first time and reissued with it’s original track-by-track liner notes and a new interview with Bonnie conducted in 2014. Here are the wild mountain thyme details...

UK released December 2014 – "She's Like A Swallow And Other Folk Songs" by BONNIE DOBSON on Ace/Big Beat CDWID 324 (Barcode 029667432429) is a straightforward CD transfer and Remaster of her 1960 US album on Prestige International 13021 in Mono (46:09 minutes):

1. The Cruel War Is Raging

2. She’s Like A Swallow

3. The Silkie Of Sule Skerry

4. Across The Blue Mountain

5. The Prickle Holly Bush

6. Mistress Bond

7. Envoyons De L’Avant

8. Will Ye Go Laddie Go [Side 2]

9. Frankie Slide

10. Monsieur Le Cure

11. The Jam At Gerry’s Rock

12. The First Time

13. The Road To Grandmere

14. The Old Maid’s Lament

The 12-page booklet contains the original vinyl album’s track-by-track annotation on the history of the songs and a new interview with Bonnie on recording in Rudy Van Gelder’s then state-of-the-art studio at Englewood Cliffs in New Jersey (he was most closely associated with Blue Note). The album was apparently done in only 4 hours with just Bonnie and Acoustic Guitar – mostly it has to be said first takes. The audio remaster (in Mono) has been done by NICK ROBBINS at London’s Sound Mastering and is very clear. Yet despite Van Gelder’s magical name associated with the production – I’d have to say that the audio is good rather great – clear for sure – but the recordings sound rushed and a little fuzzy at times especially in the air around the guitar.

It’s an album of its time – Folk Traditionals sung by an earnest voice – history and heartbreak (“The Cruel War Is Raging” and “The Old Maid’s Lament”). I’d be the first to admit that its twee lone guitar/high voice Folk absolutely won’t be everyone’s cup of Darjeeling in 2015 - but for fans the remaster does highlight the clarity of her striking voice. Apart from the famous title track (lyrics from it title this review) - the best-known other tune here is probably “Will You Go Laddie Go” more commonly known as “Wild Mountain Thyme” – a Traditional brought to the USA by the McPeake Family of Belfast. Based on words by the Scottish Poet Robert Tannahill – the gorgeous air has been covered by many since the Fifties – Judy Collins and The Byrds in the Sixties – and faves of mine The Silencers in the Nineties and Kate Rusby in the Naughties. 

Note for everyone for sure – but fans will appreciate the presentation and the remaster...

"Rides Again" by JAMES GANG [featuring JOE WALSH] (2009 Japan-Only Geffen/Universal SHM CD Repro Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Ashes, The Rain And I…"

Dull as dishwater cover artwork or not - I've loved this frigging album for over 40 years now - and this gorgeous Japanese reissue has only brought that passion to a boil yet again. I wouldn't mind if it was anything new (it isn't). It's simply the remaster done by TED JENSEN in the States in 2000 slapped onto a new format and buffed up with repro artwork and an audiophile price tag - but I can't help myself. This dinky looking SHM-CD sits on my bulging shelf at home (I'm glad something's bulging in this house) along with the other Joe Walsh solo albums that followed his departure from THE JAMES GANG (also on SHM-CD). And I love them all to bits. I've always thought The James Gang were a bit special and I wouldn't be alone in this. Here are the bomber Medleys, Asshton Park Women and the Funk that numbers 49...

Released 22 April 2009 in Japan-Only on a SHM-CD in 5” Mini LP Repro Artwork -"Rides Again" by JAMES GANG on Geffen/Universal UICY-94059 (Barcode 4988005555083) breaks down as follows (35:13 minutes):

1. Funk No. 49

2. Asshtonpark

3. Woman

4. The Bomber (a) Closet Queen (b) Bolero (c) Cast Your Fate To The Wind

5. Tend My Garden [Side 2]

6. Garden Gate

7. There I Go Again

8. Thanks

9. Ashes, The Rain And I

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Rides Again" - released July 1970 in the USA on ABC Records S-711 and October 1970 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6253. Both countries sported a gatefold sleeve - this 5" repro artwork facsimiles the first pressing of the American vinyl LP with the colour painting of the band on the inner gatefold (and the "Bolero" credit in "The Bomber"). There's a 20-page booklet that has lyrics, some text in Japanese and little else. This is pretty much par for the course for these Japanese releases.

JAMES GANG was:

JOE WALSH - Guitars, Keyboards and Lead Vocals

DALE "BUGSLEY" PETERS - Bass and 6-String Guitar on "Ashes, Rain And I"

JIM FOX - Drums and Percussion

All tracks on the album are written by Joe Walsh except "Funk No. 49" which is a co-write between Walsh, Fox and Peters, "Closet Queen" within "The Bomber" is also a band co-write - while the final track "Ashes, The Rain And I" is a Joe Walsh/Dale Peters composition.

The SHM-CD format (Super High Materials) does not require a specific machine to play them on - they're simply a better form of disc created by JVC in 2008 to improve on the original CD format (unchanged since it was first put out 30 years ago). The general idea is that the sound on the SHM-CD is more defined and to my ears they do seem to extract more nuances from the transfer.

Original produced by BILL SZYMCZYK - the album's sound was supposed to be loud and in your face (as per the liner notes) - and it is on monsters like the stunning "Funk No. 49" and "The Bomber". But I've always found it to be so sweetly delicate too on softer tracks like "There I Go Again" (Pedal Steel played by RUSTY YOUNG of POCO) and the gorgeous "Tend My Garden". Speaking of "The Bomber" - fans will know that after initial pressings of the album the 3-part song was reduced down to 2-parts on subsequent pressings - losing the centre "Bolero" piece. So "The Bomber" went from 7:05 minutes to roughly 5:40 minutes. As this disc apes the American 2000 remaster - what you get is pressing No. 1 with the full 7:05 minute version. It's a shame someone didn't take the time to add on the 2-part edit as a bonus track - but if you want that version it's on the 1998 Repertoire 2CD set "The Best Of" on Repertoire REP 4671-WR (Barcode 4009910467121). Back to the three-part version we have - Walsh cleverly mixes in Ravel's classical "Bolero" and Vincent Guaraldi's jazz piece "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" into his own rock song so you get a seven-minute guitar pyrotechnics fest that ends Side One of the LP.

Side 2 is perfect to me - the near six-minute "Tend My Garden" segues into the two-minute bluesy acoustic ditty that is "Garden Gate" - gorgeous playing and it sounds wonderful on this CD. "Thanks" is lovely too but the album's undeniable second masterpiece is the finisher "Ashes, The Rain And I" - an acoustic song laden with fabulous string arrangements by JACK NITZSCHE. It sends me every time I hear and I've ended many's a 70's FEST CD compilation with it.

OK - you could argue that it's simpler to buy the 2000 CD for less than a fiver and be done with it - and if you want the cheaper option (still with great sound) - then that's the way to go. But as a fan - if I think I can get a few more nanoseconds of sonic greatness out of this sucker - then I'm gonna be the financial sucker and buy that dinky Japanese repro with its new-fangled format thingy. I have both versions - but I must confess that I play the SHM every time because of that extra detail and warmth.

The James Gang would enlist ace guitarists Dominic Troiano and Tommy Bolin for their next lot of LPs and start another chapter. But this - "Yer Album" and "Thirds" (all with Walsh) have always tickled my funny bone. Fantastic stuff and worth the few extra quid...

"Bang/Miami" by JAMES GANG [featuring TOMMY BOLIN] (2014 Beat Goes On CD Reissue – 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CLASSIC 1970s ROCK On CD - Exception Remasters  

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"…Like No Other…"

I've had the superb Repertoire 1998 "Best Of" 2CD retrospective of THE JAMES GANG for years now in order to have tracks from the 3 guitar players with the band - Joe Walsh, Dominic Troiano and TOMMY BOLIN - but that set only provided the bare bones when it came to TB's illustrious stay. Well at last - this very cool reissue gives fans both of the TOMMY BOLIN albums - and is presented in the usual classy BGO way (card slipcase, great remasters). Here are the wild horses, babes in the stables and pelicans in the pool...

UK released October 2014 – "Bang/Miami" by JAMES GANG on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1172 (Barcode 5017261211729) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and breaks down as follows (71:09 minutes):

1. Standing In The Rain

2. The Devil is Singing Our Song

3. Must Be Love

4. Alexis

5. Ride The Wind

6. Got No Time For Trouble

7. Rather Be Alone With You (A.K.A. Song For Dale)

8. From Another Time

9. Mystery

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Bang" - released September 1973 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7037 and January 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50028

TOMMY BOLIN - Guitar & Synth - Backing Vocals on "Standing In The Rain"

ROY KENNER - Lead Vocals, Percussion and Back-Up Vocals - Except on "Alexis" - which has Tommy Bolin on Lead Vocals

DALE PETERS - Bass, Fuzz Bass, Percussion and Piano and backing Vocals on "Standing In The Rain"

JIM FOX - Drums, Percussion and Piano on "Mystery"

10. Cruisin'

11. Do It

12. Wildfire

13. Sleepwalker

14. Miami Two-Step

15. Praylude/Red Skies

16. Spanish Lover

17. Summer Breezes

18. Head Above The Water

Tracks 10 to 18 are the album "Miami" - released July 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 36-102 and August 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 50068

TOMMY BOLIN - All Guitars & Lead Vocals on "Spanish Lover"

ROY KENNER - Lead & Backing Vocals

DALE PETERS - Bass, Fuzz Bass, Percussion and Piano and backing Vocals

JIM FOX - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards and Backing Vocals

ALBHY GALUTEN - Synthesizer on "Head Above The Water"

The 12-page booklet has liner notes by NEIL DANIELS - album credits, some photos and a brief history of the band - but the real news is a new 2014 remaster by ANDREW THOMPSON from tapes licenced from WEA. The short but simple way of putting it is that this CD rocks - muscle and clarity - it's all there (you could almost forgive the awful Atlantic artwork for both LPs).

"Bang" is dominated by the arrival of a huge talent - guitarist TOMMY BOLIN - aged only 22 at the time and personally recommended to the band by JOE WALSH. Iowa-born Bolin had cut his teeth with small American bands like Patch Of Blue, Zephyr (on Probe Records) and Energy before joining JAMES GANG (he would famously leave them too and move on to a short but brilliant stay with England's DEEP PURPLE).

It opens with the almost Montrose like "Standing in The Rain" and immediately the guitar leaps out at you. His fantastic slide playing comes Kossoff-like again on the slinky and menacing "The Devil Is Sing Our Song". "Must Be Love" brings up the boogie pace firmly into Foghat territory while Bolin takes lead vocals on "Alexis" - a number that starts out all acoustic pretty about a young girl in New Orleans but then towards the end launches into an electric guitar workout that is just stunning (reminds me of Craig Chaquico's blistering axework on "Ride The Tiger" - the opening track on Jefferson Starship's 1974 album "Dragonfly").

There was clearly a venture into top shelf Gregg Allman territory on the "Miami" opener "Cruisin' Down The Highway". It goes into chugging boogie with "Do It" and "Wildfire" where the band sounds not unlike an American version of Bad Company. I've always loved the beautiful keyboard "Praylude" lead in to "Red Skies" - reminds me of Joe Walsh on "Smoker" at his ambitious song-structure best (Bolin's delicate flicking up and down the strings as triangles tingle in the background is gorgeous). "Spanish Breeze" is an extraordinarily tender acoustic ballad ("her words were almost frightening...") - it has a loveliness and songwriting grace about it (co-written with Jeff Cook - lyrics above). "Summer Breezes" could have been a single and it ends on the plaintive "Head Above The Water".

"Maybe you'll get back on your feet again..." - Kenner sings on "Head Above The Water". Thomas Robert Bolin would be lost to us only two years after these albums were put out - he died aged only 26 in December 1976. At least this fantastic remaster celebrates his amazing sonic legacy with real style. Well done to all involved...