"Songs Of Love And Hate" from 1971 by LEONARD COHEN (Inside October 2011's "The Complete Studio Albums Collection" 11CD Box Set with New Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 1971... - Exceptional CD Remasters  

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1971 LP "Songs Of Love And Hate" on Columbia and CBS Records

Remastered inside "The Complete Studio Albums Collection"

"...Diamonds In The Mines..." 

As others have quite rightly commented - it's a triple-whammy - great music, great price and stunning remastered audio for Montreal's finest.

These eleven Leonard Cohen Columbia Records studio albums stretching from 1967's "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" through to 2004's "Dear Heather" are presently clocking in at less than two quid a pop (March 2017) - which given what's on offer here is utterly remarkable - 'new skin for the old ceremony' indeed. The only missing LP is April 1973's "Live Songs" because it's outside this box studio box set's remit.

His deeply sad passing in November 2016 saw the loss of yet another style-setting songsmith from back in the day – Canada's great mumbling lover man – Leonard Cohen. Always bigger in the UK and Europe than he was in Canada and the States - his deep tonal voice and tales of forlorn love struck a mighty chord in Blighty especially. Not for everyone for sure - but those who loved his articulate wallowing did so with a passion bordering on mania. Sisters Of Mercy named their band after a song on his 1967 debut - while everyone from Tori Amos and Jennifer Warnes to Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Neil Diamond, Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Joe Cocker, Eddie Kendricks, Don Henley, Nick Cave, Roberta Flack, James Taylor, Suzanne Vega, Peter Gabriel and Madeleine Peyroux (amongst many) has covered his lonesome pine tunes. Jeff Buckley practically owns the beautiful and ethereal "Hallelujah" and every Indie Movie its ever been featured in (a UK No 1 while Cohen was still with us). And all of this is yours for less than twenty-two UK pre-Brexit smackers.

Let's get to the various musical positions before someone out there in overpriced digital 'la la land' notices the wrong envelope...and in particular the wonderful third LP from 1971 – overlooked and unfairly forgotten...

UK released 9 October 2011 - "The Complete Studio Albums Collection" by LEONARD COHEN on Sony/Legacy 88697961772 (Barcode 886979617728) is an 11CD Box Set of New Remasters with a 24-page booklet that plays out as follows:

Disc 3 - "Songs Of Love And Hate" (1971) - 45:02 minutes:

1. Avalanche

2. Last Year's Man

3. Dress Rehearsal Rag

4. Diamonds In The Mine

5. Love Calls You By Your Name [Side 2]

6. Famous Blue Raincoat

7. Sing Another Song, Boys

8. Joan Of Arc

Tracks 1 to 8 are his 3rd studio album "Songs Of Love And Hate" - released March 1971 in the USA on Columbia C 30103 and in the UK on CBS Records S 69004 (Stereo only in both cases). Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it peaked at No. 145 in the USA and No. 4 in the UK.

Produced for Sony/Legacy by Steve Berkowitz and Bruce Dickinson - pages 2 to 5 of the 24-page booklet feature new liner notes from novelist and fan PICO LYER - while the remaining pages offer basic track lists, some musician credits and three or four black and white photos of Cohen during various stages of his career. It's nice but hardly great or in-depth. Excepting the gatefold of 1977's "Diary Of A Ladies' Man" - each album is in a singular card sleeve as per their original vinyl/CD releases - but there's no inserts or the mini booklet that accompanied "Songs Of Love And Hate" - that sort of thing (not reproduced in the booklet either). There's no real analysis of the albums in the booklet - hell they can't even be bothered to put the LP release dates anywhere (you get more info from my lists than you do in here).

But all of that goes out the presentation window when you clap your ears on the wonderful new Remasters. MARK WILDER and BRUCE DICKINSON are the Audio Engineers behind each album (all done at Battery Studios in New York) except "Dear Heather" which doesn't need any work and was originally mastered by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN (he did all the Polydor CD reissues for The Rolling Stones in 2009). Many of these albums have eluded Remaster for years - so it's a welcome Audio haul that's for sure. Let’s focus on 1971...

Producer Bob Johnston had twiddled the knobs for the one and only album by West in 1968 – the self-titled "West" on Epic BN 23860. For the "Songs Of Love And Hate" sessions Johnston brought in the Guitarist from West Ron Cornelius as the principal player (he’d also strummed on Dylan’s "New Morning" LP earlier in 1971). And along with Paul Buckmaster who’d arranged strings for Elton John and David Bowie – you also got Southern Rocker Charlie Daniels later of The Charlie Daniels Band contributing Guitar, Bass and Fiddle. The other element was Bubba Fowler – an Acoustic Folk Guitarist who had managed a lone album called "...And Then Came Bubba" on Columbia CS 9971 in 1970. He plays Bass, Acoustic and Banjo. Cohen in fact decided to dub his troop of players ‘The Army’ and would play live with most of them to Israeli Soldiers later that year on one of his many world-wandering forays. Last but not least - the second song on Side 1 - "Last Year’s Man" - also features the children’s voices of London’s Corona Choir to very moving effect.

It seemed that between the eighteen months since the last LP "Songs From A Room" in April 1969 – Cohen’s vocal range had dipped even lower. I say this because although the first two sparse albums get all the 4 to 5-star accolades - I find his deeper tone on this album to be the best of all that period. Lyrically too – whether it be the acoustic guitar tumble of the opener "Avalanche" or the six-minutes of "Dress Rehearsal Rag" – his words flowed like wise poetry – a very Dylanesque string of consciousness that was both sleepy and ever so slightly drugged-up. There is gorgeous audio on "Diamonds In The Mine" – where there are no grapes on the vine or chocolates in the box – an acidic growling song about Christians getting eaten and doctors sterilising needles (nice).

Things return to that pretty drone of his with "Love Calls You By Your Name" – where lyrics talk about open oceans and even more open veins – women in scrapbooks to be praised and blamed as Paul Buckmaster pours on those trademark strings. In 1986 Jennifer Warners would start the first of three tribute albums to LC by calling hers after the next famous song - "Famous Blue Raincoat" (check out the CDs for “I’m Your Fan” in 1991 and "Tower Of Song" in 1995). Corlynn Hanney and Susan Mussman are the female vocalists who provide those beautiful counterpoint vocals sailing over his story of Jane – while Buckmaster keeps the horns and strings so subtle and therefore so moving. "Famous Blue Raincoat" is worth the price of admission alone. I find the mock live feel to "Sing Another Song, Boys" a bit grating – but the six-minutes of "Joan Of Arc" is classic Leonard Cohen. The blood-spattered Crusader bemoans the war – wants a wedding dress – wants the night to sooth her – wants the mantle of heroine lifted. The remaster is gorgeous throughout this LP finisher that feels like Mike Oldfield on an Acoustic Guitar two years before forming the quieter passages in "Tubular Bells" (the two aforementioned ladies also add a beauty to this song).

It would be over three years until he returned with "New Skin For The Old Ceremony" in August 1974 where Cohen suddenly sounded like Dr. John from New Orleans.

"...I hear that you’re building your little house...deep in the desert..." – Cohen sings on the epic "Famous Blue Raincoat". Start building your love affair with this lovely-sounding album and great value CD Box Set...

PS: If you can’t locate a 1971 original LP - Music On Vinyl – the repressing wing of Columbia – put out a 180-grams remastered vinyl LP version of "Songs Of Love And Hate" in November 2009 (minus the booklet) on Music On Vinyl MOVLP036 (Barcode 5099703221916)...

"The Complete Studio Albums Collection" by LEONARD COHEN (October 2011 UK Sony/Legacy 11CD Box Set - Mark Wilder and Bruce Dickinson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 500 Others Is Available In My

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CLASSIC 1970s ROCK On CD - Exception Remasters  

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Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Diamonds In The Mine..."

As others have quite rightly commented - it's a triple-whammy - great music, great price and stunning remastered audio for Montreal's finest.

These eleven Leonard Cohen Columbia Records studio albums stretching from 1967's "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" through to 2004's "Dear Heather" are presently clocking in at less than two quid a pop (March 2017) - which given what's on offer here is utterly remarkable - 'new skin for the old ceremony' indeed. The only missing LP is April 1973's "Live Songs" because it's outside this box set's remit.

His deeply sad passing in November 2016 saw the loss of yet another style-setting songsmith from back in the day – Canada's great mumbling lover man – Leonard Cohen. Always bigger in the UK and Europe than he was in Canada and the States - his deep tonal voice and tales of forlorn love struck a mighty chord in Blighty especially. Not for everyone for sure - but those who loved his articulate wallowing did so with a passion bordering on mania. Sisters Of Mercy named their band after a song on his 1967 debut - while everyone from Tori Amos and Jennifer Warnes to Jeff Buckley, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Neil Diamond, Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Joe Cocker, Eddie Kendricks, Don Henley, Nick Cave, Roberta Flack, James Taylor, Suzanne Vega, Peter Gabriel and Madeleine Peyroux (amongst many) has covered his lonesome pine tunes. Jeff Buckley practically owns the beautiful and ethereal "Hallelujah" and every Indie Movie its ever been featured in (a UK No 1 while Cohen was still with us). And all of this is yours for less than twenty-two UK pre-Brexit smackers. Let's get to the various musical positions before someone out there in overpriced digital 'la la land' notices the wrong envelope...

UK released 9 October 2011 - "The Complete Studio Albums Collection" by LEONARD COHEN on Sony/Legacy 88697961772 (Barcode 886979617728) is an 11CD Box Set of New Remasters with a 24-page booklet that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 - "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" (1967) - 41:38 minutes:

1. Suzanne

2. Master Song

3. Winter Lady

4. The Stranger Song

5. Sisters Of Mercy

6. So Long, Marianne [Side 2]

7. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye

8. Stories Of The Street

9. Teacher

10. One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong

Tracks 1 to 10 are his Columbia Records debut album "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" - released December 1967 in the USA on Columbia CL 2733 (Mono) and Columbia CS 9533 (Stereo) and February 1968 in the UK on CBS Records BPG 63241 (Mono) and CBS Records S BPG 63241 (Stereo) - the STEREO mix is used. Produced by JOHN SIMON - it peaked at No. 80 in the USA and No. 13 in the UK.

Disc 2 - "Songs From A Room" (1969) - 36:15 minutes:

1. Bird On The Wire

2. Story Of Isaac

3. A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes

4. The Partisan

5. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy

6. The Old Revolution [Side 2]

7. The Butcher

8. You Know Who I Am

9. Lady Midnight

10. Tonight Will Be Fine

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Songs From A Room" - released April 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9767 (Stereo only) and in the UK on CBS Records M 63587 (Mono) and CBS Records S 63587 (Stereo) - the STEREO mix is used. Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it peaked at No. 63 in the USA and No. 2 in the UK.

Disc 3 - "Songs Of Love And Hate" (1971) - 45:02 minutes:

1. Avalanche

2. Last Year's Man

3. Dress Rehearsal Rag

4. Diamonds In The Mine

5. Love Calls You By Your Name [Side 2]

6. Famous Blue Raincoat

7. Sing Another Song, Boys

8. Joan Of Arc

Tracks 1 to 8 are his 3rd studio album "Songs Of Love And Hate" - released March 1971 in the USA on Columbia C 30103 and in the UK on CBS Records S 69004 (Stereo only in both cases). Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it peaked at No. 145 in the USA and No. 4 in the UK.

Disc 4 - "New Skin For The Old Ceremony" (1974) - 37:28 minutes:

1. Is This What You Wanted

2. Chelsea Hotel No. 2

3. Lover Lover Lover

4. Field Commander Cohen

5. Why Don't You Try

6. This Is A War [Side 2]

7. A Singer Must Die

8. I Tried To Leave You

9. Who By Fire

10. Take This Longing

11. Leaving Green Sleeves

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 4th studio album "New Skin In The Old Ceremony" - released August 1974 in the USA on Columbia C 33167 and in the UK on CBS Records S 69087. Produced by JOHN LISSAUER - it peaked at No. 24 in the UK (didn't chart in the USA).

Disc 5 - "Death Of A Ladies' Man" (1977) - 42:53 minutes:

1. True Love Leaves No Traces

2. Iodine

3. Paper-Thin Hotel

4. Memories

5. I Left A Woman Waiting [Side 2]

6. Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On

7. Fingerprints

8. Death Of A Ladies' Man

Tracks 1 to 8 are the album "Death Of A Ladies' Man" - released October 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 3125 and November 1977 in the UK on CBS Records S CBS 86042. Arranged and Produced by PHIL SPECTOR - the album peaked at No. 35 in the UK (didn't chart USA).

Disc 6 - "Recent Songs" (1979) - 53:26 minutes:

1. The Guests

2. Humbled In Love

3. The Window

4. Came So Far For Beauty

5. The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant)

6. The Traitor [Side 2]

7. Our Lady Of Solitude

8. The Gypsy's Wife

9. The Smokey Life

10. Ballad Of The Absent Mare

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Recent Songs" - released September 1979 in the USA on Columbia JC 36264 and in the UK On CBS Records 86097. Produced by LEONARD COHEN and HENRY LEWY - it didn't chart in either country.

Disc 7 - "Various Positions" (1985) - 35:32 minutes:

1. Dance Me To The End Of Love

2. Coming Back To You

3. The Law

4. Night Comes On

5. Hallelujah [Side 2]

6. The Captain

7. Hunter's Lullaby

8. Heart With No Companion

9. If It Be Your Will

Tracks 1 to 9 are his album "Various Positions" - released February 1985 in the USA on Passport PB 6045 and in the UK on CBS Records 26222. Produced by JOHN LISSAUER - it peaked at No. 52 in the UK (didn't chart USA).

Disc 8 - "I'm Your Man" (1988) - 41:00 minutes:

1. First We Take Manhattan

2. Ain't No Cure For Love

3. Everybody Knows

4. I'm Your Man

5. Take This Waltz [Side 2]

6. Jazz Police

7. I Can't Forget

8. Tower Of Song

Tracks 1 to 8 are the album "I'm Your Man" - released February 1988 in the USA on Columbia FC 44191 (LP) and Columbia CK 44191 (CD) and in the UK and Europe on CBS Records 460642 1 (LP) and 460642 2 (CD). Produced by LEONARD COHEN - it peaked at No. 48 in the UK charts (didn't chart USA)

Disc 9 - "The Future" (1992) - 59:42 minutes:

1. The Future

2. Waiting For The Miracle

3. Be For Real

4. Closing Time

5. Anthem

6. Democracy [Side 2]

7. Light As The Breeze

8. Always

9. Tacoma Trailer

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "The Future" - released November 1992 in the USA on Columbia CK 53226 (CD Only) and in the UK/Europe on Columbia COL 472498 1 (LP) and COL 472498 2 (CD). Various Producers (including Leonard Cohen) - it peaked at No. 36 on the UK charts (didn't chart USA).

Disc 10 - "Ten New Songs" (2001) - 52:47 minutes:

1. In My Secret Life

2. A Thousand Kisses Deep

3. That Don't Make It Junk

4. Here It Is

5. Love Itself

6. By The Rivers Dark [Side 2]

7. Alexandra Leaving

8. You Have Loved Enough

9. Boogie Street

10. The Land Of Plenty

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Ten New Songs" - released October 2001 in the USA on Columbia C 85953 (LP) and CK 85953 (CD) and in the UK/Europe on Columbia COL 501202 1 (LP) and COL 501202 2 (CD). Produced by SHARON ROBINSON with all songs arranged and co-written by Robinson with Leonard Cohen - it peaked at No. 143 in the USA and No. 26 in the UK.

Disc 11 - "Dear Heather" - 49:27 minutes:

1. Go No More A-Roving

2. Because Of

3. The Letters

4. Undertow

5. Morning Glory

6. On That Day

7. Villanelle For Our Time

8. There For You

9. Dear Heather

10. Nightingale

11. To A Teacher

12. The Faith

13. Live Track: Tennessee Waltz

Tracks 1 to 11 are his album "Dear Heather" - released November 2004 in the USA on Columbia CK 92891 (CD) and in the UK/Europe on Columbia COL 514768 2 (CD).

Produced for Sony/Legacy by Steve Berkowitz and Bruce Dickinson - pages 2 to 5 of the 24-page booklet feature new liner notes from novelist and fan PICO LYER - while the remaining pages offer basic track lists, some musician credits and three or four black and white photos of Cohen during various stages of his career. It's nice but hardly great or in-depth. Excepting the gatefold of 1977's "Diary Of A Ladies' Man" - each album is in a singular card sleeve as per their original vinyl/CD releases - but there's no inserts or the mini booklet that accompanied "Songs Of Love And Hate" - that sort of thing (not reproduced in the booklet either). There's no real analysis of the albums in the booklet - hell they can't even be bothered to put the LP release dates anywhere (you get more info from my lists than you do in here).

But all of that goes out the presentation window when you clap your ears on the wonderful new Remasters. MARK WILDER and BRUCE DICKINSON are the Audio Engineers behind each album (all done at Battery Studios in New York) except "Dear Heather" which doesn't need any work and was originally mastered by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN (he did all the Polydor CD reissues for The Rolling Stones in 2009). Many of these albums have eluded Remaster for years - so it's a welcome Audio haul that's for sure.

The first two platters made his name containing songs synonymous with that moaning Leonard Cohen voice - "Suzanne", "Sisters Of Mercy", "So Long, Marianne" and "Bird On The Wire" – a song so popular Tim Hardin named an entire album after it in 1971. The Stereo clarity on album gems like the Simon & Garfunkel acoustic "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" – or the weary army types aching to tell their story in "A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes" (that fuzz guitar) and the slaughtering of lambs in "The Butcher" where an only son doesn't like nor understand what daddy does for a day job - so it's off to meet up with an understanding man who will painlessly needle the pain away.

For the "Songs Of Love And Hate" sessions in 1971 Producer Bob Johnston brought in the Guitarist from West - Ron Cornelius - as the principal player (he’d also strummed on Dylan’s "New Morning" LP earlier in 1971). And along with Paul Buckmaster who’d arranged strings for Elton John and David Bowie – you also got Southern Rocker Charlie Daniels later of The Charlie Daniels Band contributing Guitar, Bass and Fiddle.

It seemed that between the eighteen months since the last LP "Songs From A Room" in April 1969 – Cohen’s vocal range had dipped even lower. I say this because although the first two sparse albums get all the 4 to 5-star accolades - I find his deeper tone on this album to be the best of all that period. Lyrically too – whether it be the acoustic guitar tumble of the opener "Avalanche" or the six-minutes of "Dress Rehearsal Rag" – his words flowed like wise poetry – a very Dylanesque string of consciousness that was both sleepy and ever so slightly drugged-up. There is gorgeous audio on "Diamonds In The Mine" – where there are no grapes on the vine or chocolates in the box – an acidic growling song about Christians getting eaten and doctors sterilising needles (nice).

Things return to that pretty drone of his with "Love Calls You By Your Name" – where lyrics talk about open oceans and even more open veins – women in scrapbooks to be praised and blamed as Paul Buckmaster pours on those trademark strings. In 1986 Jennifer Warners would start the first of three tribute albums to LC by calling hers after the next famous song - "Famous Blue Raincoat" (check out the CDs for “I’m Your Fan” in 1991 and "Tower Of Song" in 1995). Corlynn Hanney and Susan Mussman are the female vocalists who provide those beautiful counterpoint vocals sailing over his story of Jane – while Buckmaster keeps the horns and strings so subtle and therefore so moving. "Famous Blue Raincoat" is worth the price of admission alone.

Suddenly sounding like a drunk Dr. John has mated with an acidic Dory Previn – 1974's "New Skin For The Old Ceremony" opens with "Is That What You Wanted" where ghosts of every relationship he's every had haunt his present day fling. He remembers another lady well in the "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" – giving him hell on the unmade bed to the sound of a forlorn French horn. He would call a live set "Field Commander Cohen" in 2000 – throwing acid into diplomatic cocktail parties while elegant types engage in bored silver-bullet suicides (nice). My fave on this dark album is "I Tried To Leave You" where his lone Spanish guitar strums as he once again bemoans his fate – waking up beside her lithesome bod (what a guy).

Album number 5 "Death Of A Ladies' Man" provides the first 'oh dear' moment where he collaborated with the frankly potty Phil Spector. Despite heavy hitters like Bob Dylan, Alan Ginsberg and Bill Diex providing backing vocals on "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On" - while singer-songwriter, actress and Director Ronee Blakley stumped up Backing Vocals on "True Love Leaves No Traces", "Iodine" and "Memories" with Nino Tempo arranging "Iodine" and "I Left A Woman Waiting" – Phil Spector's typically heavy-handed and over-the-top production values did for the LP. He also claimed co-credit on every song (guns at dawn boys). Even the artwork seemed vaguely arrogant - sided by two lovelies in some Polynesian restaurant as all concerned are gradually lost post-desert in a blizzard of Peruvian dancing dust. In the USA in particular "Death..." was a commercial disaster coming in for some serious media derision, anger from a jaded and bewildered public and even had the artist himself publicly acknowledging its excesses some years later.

Cohen got back to 'humbled in love' songs for 1979's "Recent Songs" - a highly polished long album featuring a huge array of quality Latin sessionmen complimented by Garth Hudson of The Band on Piano, the Bassist Abraham Loboriel and Jennifer Warnes on Harmony Vocals. Of the later albums – like most I return to the sophisticated career rejuvenating "I'm Your Man" and dip occasionally into the ragged songs on "The Future" and beyond. But I must admit I go back now mostly to the forgotten record "Various Positions" – the birthing ground for the immortal "Hallelujah". Despite its 80ts production – I'm partial to "Dance Me To The End Of Love" which Madeleine Peyroux did so beautifully on her "Careless Love" CD. And of course you can't hear "Hallelujah" nowadays without thinking of Jeff Buckley and his fabulous "Grace" album. How Jeff stripped down that song and made it almost hymnal is astonishing. Cohen's "Various Positions" LP ends on the beautiful audio of "If It Be Your Will" - where Jennifer Warnes provides duet vocals that are so spot on – it's scary.

"...I sing this for the captain...for the heart with no companion...for the soul with no King..." – Leonard Cohen moaned on the deceptively lovely and moving "Heart With No Companion" in 1985 – just as he'd done in 1967 and would continue to do for decades more – always winning the crowd quietly - majestically.

A simply 'Best Of' or the 2CD 'Essential' set of Leonard Cohen Remasters will probably suffice for most. But this is one of those occasions where you can get so much more quality music for not a lot more outlay.

And you can’t help thinking that the great mumbler/chronicler of love and heartbreak would have liked that - and given his lowly finances in the later years - giggled at the irony of it too...

"Clouds In My Coffee - 1965 to 1995" by CARLY SIMON [feat Mick Jagger, James Taylor and Robbie Robertson] (1995 Arista 3CD Book Set - Ted Jensen Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 500 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

CLASSIC 1970s ROCK On CD - Exception Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of..."

Anyone whose bought or dipped their toes into the murky waters of the WEA/Rhino "Original Album Series" will know that these 5CD card slipcase Mini Box Sets offer an infuriating enticement – they’re cheap and musically plentiful for sure – but only some are Remasters – most not – and none of the dinky little buggers state it either way on the packaging (the EMI related ones do at least feature Remasters and they tell you so when you put them in your PC or Mac).

I mention all this because the Carly Simon "Original Album Series" set for her Elektra Years material 'isn't'. In fact for decades - her lengthy catalogue had conspicuously remained minus decent audio transfers. That is until this 56-Track Retrospective appeared in late 1995 from the company she was then signed to – Arista Records.

In the liner notes to "Clouds In My Coffee" (the Box Set takes it title from lyrics in her most famous song "You're So Vain") – Ace Engineer and all-round Audio Hero TED JENSEN (has done a huge swath of the Atlantic catalogue) makes a big deal about the fact that if the box set were to take place at all - he'd want the absolute best sources. And on the aural evidence presented to us here - the knob-twiddling Tedster got what he wanted. The transfers on this three-decade long retrospective are truly fabulous – and the Previously Unreleased/Rare Stuff actually worth owning.

Let’s get to the music. Here are the not-so-vain details...

US released 7 November 1995 (16 March 1996 in the UK) - "Clouds In My Coffee - 1965 to 1995" by CARLY SIMON on Arista 07822-18798-2 (Barcode 078221879828) is a 3CD 56-Track Long Book Set Of Remasters and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 - "The Hits" - 75:07 minutes:

1. Let The River Run (from "Working Girl" Soundtrack, 1988 on Arista)

2. You Belong To Me (from "Boys In The Trees", 1978 on Elektra, a co-write with Michael McDonald, James Taylor on Backing Vocals with David Sanborn on Alto Saxophone)

3. Nobody Does It Better (from "The Spy Who Loved Me", 1977 James Bond Soundtrack on United Artists, Carole Bayer Seger and Marvin Hamlisch song)

4. Coming Round Again (from "Coming Round Again", 1986 on Arista)

5. Jesse (from "Come Upstairs", 1981 on Warner Brothers)

6. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (from "Coming Round Again", 1986 on Arista)

7. You're So Vain (from "No Secrets", 1972 on Elektra - uncredited Backing Vocals by Mike Jagger of The Rolling Stones)

8. Touched By The Sun (from "Letters Never Sent", 1994 on Arista)

9. Haven't Got Time For The Pain (from "Hotcakes", 1974 on Elektra - feat James Taylor and Jimmy Ryan on Acoustic Guitars)

10. Better Not Tell Her (from "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - 1990 on Arista)

11. Legend In Your Own Time (from "Anticipation", 1971 on Elektra - feat Jimmy Ryan from the 60s Group The Critters on Guitar)

12. Mockingbird (from "Hotcakes", 1974 on Elektra - duet vocals with James Taylor - feat Robbie Robertson of The Band on Guitar, Dr. John on Organ with a Michael Brecker Saxophone Solo)

13. That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be (from "Carly Simon", 1971 on Elektra - Jeff Baxter on Guitar)

14. All I Want Is You (from "Coming Around Again", 1986 on Arista)

15. The Right Thing To Do (from "No Secrets", 1972 on Elektra)

16. Like A River (from "Letters Never Sent", 1994 on Arista)

17. Anticipation (from "Anticipation", 1971 on Elektra)

18. Give Me All Night (from "Coming Around Again", 1986 on Arista)

Disc 2 - "Miscellaneous & Unreleased" - 75:02 minutes:

1. Angel From Montgomery (Previously Unreleased 1972 Elektra Recording - a John Prine cover version)

2. Raining (Previously Unreleased 1990 and 1993 Recording - a Carly Simon song)

3. I'm All It Takes To Make You Happy (Previously Unreleased 1972 Elektra Recording - a Carly Simon song)

4. Easy On The Eyes (from the Soundtrack "This Is My Life", 1992 on Qwest, a co-write with Andy Goldmark)

5. Turn Of The Tide (from the Marlo Thomas and Various Artists LP "Free To Be...A Family", 1988 on A&M, a co-write with Jacob Brackman)

6. Libby (from "Another Passenger", 1976 on Elektra - features Glenn Frey of The Eagles on Guitar and Bill Payne of Little Feat on Keyboards)

7. Have You Seen Me Lately? (From "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - 1990 on Arista)

8. My New Boyfriend (from "Spoiled Girl", 1985 on Epic - features her sister Lucy Simon and Ron Taylor (Bleeding Gums in The Simpsons) on Backing Vocals)

9. Voulez-Vous Danser (from "Carly Simon's Romulus Hunt - A Family Opera", 1993 on Angel Records - a duet with Luretta Bybee)

10. The Night Before Christmas (from the "This Is My Life" Soundtrack, 1992 on Qwest)

11. Halfway 'Round The World (from "Letters Never Sent", 1994 on Arista)

12. Life Is Eternal (from "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - 1990 on Arista - a duet with Will Lee)

13. We Have No Secrets (from "No Secrets", 1972 on Elektra - features Lead Guitar by Jimmy Ryan from 60s group The Critters)

14. Why (from the Soundtrack "Soup For One", 1982 on Mirage - 4:06 minute album version)

15. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (from the 1992 Documentary "Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns", 1994 on Elektra Nonesuch)

16. Back The Way (from the "This Is My Life" Soundtrack, 1992 on Qwest)

17. Itsy Bitsy Spider (from "Coming Round Again", 1986 on Arista)

18. Play With Me (Previously Unreleased 1968 Recording - a Carly Simon song - Produced by John McClure)

19. My Luv Is Like A Red, Red Rose (from The Simon Sisters LP "The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille And Other Songs For Children",

1969 on Columbia - a Traditional Song cover version)

Disc 3 - "Cry Yourself To Sleep" - 73:01 minutes:

1. It Happens Everyday (from "Hello, Big Man", 1983 on Warner Brothers)

2. Boys In The Trees (from "Boys In The Trees", 1978 on Elektra - with James Taylor on Backing Vocals)

3. Julie Through The Glass (from "Anticipation", 1971 on Elektra - features Lead Guitar and Bass by Jimmy Ryan from 60s group The Critters)

4. Orpheus (from "Hello, Big Man", 1983 on Warner Brothers)

5. Never Been Gone (from "Spy", 1979 on Elektra - with Lucy Simon on Backing Vocals)

6. Happy Birthday (from "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - 1990 on Arista)

7. Devoted To You (from "Boys In The Trees", 1978 on Elektra - Duet Vocal with James Taylor)

8. Davy (from "Letters Never Sent", 1994 on Arista - Duet with Andreas Vollenweider)

9. Do The Walls Come Down (from "Coming Round Again", 1986 on Arista)

10. Danny Boy (from "My Romance", 1990 on Arista)

11. Dink's Blues (from The Simon Sisters LP "Cuddlebug (The Happiness Blanket)" - 1966 Stereo LP on Kapp Records)

12. We're So Close (from "Spy", 1979 on Elektra - with David Sanborn on Alto Saxophone)

13. Someone Waits For You (from the Soundtrack "Swing Shift", 1984 on Warner Brothers)

14. Born To Break My Heart (from "Letters Never Sent", 1994 on Arista)

15. Time After Time (from "My Romance", 1990 on Arista)

16. What Shall We Do With The Child? (From "Torch", 1981 on Warner Brothers - Jay Berliner on Guitars)

17. I've Got A Crush On You (from the Various Artists cover versions compilation "The Glory Of Gershwin", 1994 on Mercury)

18. Something Wonderful (from "My Romance", 1990 on Arista)

19. You're The Love Of My Life (from the "This Is My Life" Soundtrack, 1992 on Qwest)

20. I Get Along Without You Very Well (from "Torch", 1981 on Warner Brothers - Lee Ritenour on Guitars)

21. By Myself/I See Your Face Before Me (from "My Romance", 1990 on Arista)

The 48-page attached booklet is a seriously classy affair with loads of photos from her family archives with (not surprisingly) quite a few are (how shall we put it) liable to light a "Torch" of their own in her many admirers. The snap of Mum and Daughter on Page 8 is truly beautiful - outtakes from the "Anticipation" sessions and live shots. Special mention should also go to Bob Gothard's front cover and David Simon for Carly as a beaming young girl - a wonderfully alive snap that adorns the booklet's cover and acts as a picture Disc on CD1. After a long list of thank you moments and dedications from CS - there's "A Life Without Limits" essay by Steve Morse of The Boston Globe - followed by "Reflections From A Window On AOL" by Jim Armstrong and the usual reissue credits.

But the big news is the Audio - a seven-month archive trawl (with help from all the other labels) has been given 24-bit digital remasters by TED JENSEN at Sterling Sound. Now while the 80s and 90s stuff was always well produced anyway - the Elektra album cuts from the 70s are an absolute revelation. At last you can hear Jagger on those "You're So Vain" backing vocals - a clear as a bell Bass intro too - the band of sessionmen heavyweights on stuff like "You Belong To Me" and that gorgeous piano-intro to "The Right Thing To Do" followed later in the song by Carly harmonising with Lisa Strike and Vikki Brown - all of it is lovely and sweetly transferred. That same quality applies throughout - except maybe on the 1968 "Play With Me" recording which sounds very much like an acoustic demo done to impress say Tom Rush or Fred Neil. Other than that - the audio quality is remarkably good across the board. 

Disc 1 is the crowd pleaser and it’s easy to hear why four of the eighteen are from 1986's "Coming Round Again" - the huge synth opening of "All I Want is You" threatening to dislodge cabinet doors adjacent to your stereo. The sequencing is clever too - although I can't abide "Jesse" or the overdone Neil Diamond melodrama of "Touched By The Sun". A downside (if you could call it that) is that a lot of all three discs focus on 80s and 90s tracks - so you get that same plinking keyboard sound generic to the periods throughout and it can grate badly. What I wasn't expecting was the five Previously Unreleased tracks on Disc 1 to be so good - "Angel From Montgomery" is a Mom and Dad killing each other marital mayhem song from the pen of John Prine - a properly recorded outtake from the "No Secrets" sessions in 1972. But even better (and surely the real prize on here for fans) is the gorgeous "Rain" from 1990 - another outtake remixed and finished in 1995. It's as good as any of the released stuff. "I'm All It Takes To Make You Happy" is another from the "No Secrets" period. It comes with fey crowd noise, bottles clanking and a live feel around the music - but instead of helping a good song - it sort of does for it - still it's a find.

On the other Discs the Previously Unreleased "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" from the Ken Burns Documentary on Baseball provides a reason as to why Carly is adored - her fabulous voice. Its first half is pure Acapella - just her singing - the second sees her joined by Piano. The overall effect is wow. But I'm also drawn to the beautiful Robert Burns poem put to music on "My Luv Is Like A Red, Red Rose" - a tune that reeks of the romance she herself exudes when she sings (the Irish air "Danny Boy" is the same). The Elektra period "We Have No Secrets", "Legend In Your Own Time" and "Dedicated To You" provides you with tantalising glimpses into how good her first five albums could sound.

Itself already over 20-years old – the 3CD Book Set "Clouds In My Coffee" by Carly Simon has (like good sound in her catalogue) become a necessity if you want her music sounding ship-shape and tip-top (and Stateside it's cheap too). 

Fans will have to own it (if they don't already) and the uninitiated should seek out its aural glories wherever they can...

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"Original Album Series" by AMERICA (June 2012 Warner Brothers/Rhino 5CD Mini Box Set with Singular Sleeve Card Repro Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 500 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

CLASSIC 1970s ROCK On CD - Exception Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 
(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Ventura Highway In The Sunshine..."

I never did quite get why America and their Seventies albums are so derided in some quarters – they made a beautiful racket when they hit that CSNY Harmony Vocals sweet spot. Sure the later stuff could be a tad schmaltzy on occasion – but this dinky little treasure trove offers seekers of Soft Rock an awful lot of good over bad. And "Holiday" from 1974 and "Hearts" from 1975 had the steer-ship of fifth Beatle George Martin at the Producer controls – both huge records - Top 5 albums in their native USA.

There are a lot of miles to cover so once more my nameless horses unto the Ventura Highway...

UK released 11 June 2012 - "Original Album Series" by AMERICA on Warner Brothers/Rhino 8122797457 (Barcode 081227974572) is a 5CD Mini Box Set with Five Single Card Repro Sleeves. Some Remasters - Some Not – it plays out as follows:

Disc 1 "America" (46:43 minutes):

1. Riverside

2. Sandman

3. Three Roses

4. Children

5. A Horse With No Name

6. Here

7. I Need You [Side 2]

8. Rainy Day

9. Never Found The Time

10. Clarice

11. Donkey Jaw

12. Pigeon Song

Tracks 1 to 4, 6 and 7 to 12 are their debut 11-track album "America" - released December 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2576 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46093. When the song "A Horse With No Name" (originally a stand alone 7" single) became a US hit in early 1972 (eventually went to No. 1 as did the album) - "America" the LP was repressed using the same American catalogue but with that track slotted in on Side 1 between "Children" and "Here" making it a 12-track LP. It is this version that is represented here (the UK 11-track LP and even later represses never featured "A Horse With No Name"). Produced by AMERICA, IAN SAMWELL and JEFF DEXTER - it peaked at No. 1 on the US LP charts and No. 14 in the UK.

Disc 2 "Homecoming" (33:20 minutes):

1. Ventura Highway

2. To Each His Own

3. Don't Cross The River

4. Moon Song

5. Only In Your Heart

6. Till The Sun Comes Up Again [Side 2]

7. Cornwall Blank

8. Head & Heart

9. California Revisited

10. Saturn Nights

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second studio album "Homecoming" - released November 1972 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2655 and December 1972 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46180. Produced by AMERICA - it peaked at No. 9 in the USA and No. 21 in the UK.

Disc 3 "Hat Trick" (41:35 minutes):

1. Muskrat Love

2. Wind Wave

3. She's Gonna Let You Down

4. Rainbow Song

5. Submarine Ladies

6. It's Life

7. Hat Trick [Side 2]

8. Molten Love

9. Green Monkey

10. Willow Tree Lullaby

11. Goodbye

Tracks 1 to 11 are their 3rd studio album "Hat Trick" - released November 1973 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2728 and November 1973 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56016. Produced by AMERICA - It peaked at No. 28 in the USA and No. 41 in the UK.

Disc 4 "Holiday" (32:56 minutes):

1. Miniature

2. Tin Man

3. Another Try

4. Lonely People

5. Glad To See You

6. Mad Dog

7. Hollywood [Side 2]

8. Baby It's Up To You

9. You

10. Old Man Took

11. What Does It Matter

12. In The Country

Tracks 1 to 12 are their 4th studio album "Holiday" - released July 1974 in the USA on Warner Brothers W 2808 and July 1974 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56045. Produced by GEORGE MARTIN - it peaked at No. 3 in the USA (didn't chart in the UK)

Disc 5 "Hearts" (36:17 minutes):

1. Daisy Jane

2. Half A Man

3. Midnight

4. Bell Tree

5. Old Virginia

6. People In The Valley

7. Company [Side 2]

8. Woman Tonight

9. The Story Of A Teenager

10. Sister Golden Hair

11. Tomorrow

12. Seasons

Tracks 1 to 12 are their fifth studio album "Hearts" - released April 1975 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2852 and April 1975 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56115. Produced by GEORGE MARTIN - it peaked at No. 4 in the USA (didn't chart in the UK).

AMERICA was:

DEWEY BUNNELL - Lead Vocals and Guitars

GERRY BECKLEY - Guitars and Vocals

DAN PEEK - Bass, Acoustic Guitars and Vocals 

The elaborate tri-gatefold that came with "Homecoming" and the inners and inserts that came with "Hat Trick" and the others are all AWOL in the single sleeve card sleeves and apart from track lists on the generic coloured CDs - there is bugger all by way of info with these multiple packs. But that’s how all these "Original Album Series" sets are – cheap and cheerful. And as luck with have it – Warners have used the second pressing of "America" from 1972 so it includes the huge No. 1 hit "A Horse With No Name".

The Audio is a mixed bag of superlative vs. extremely good. Take "I Need You" on "America" or "To Each His Own" on "Homecoming" - I've had Remasters of these and the audio here is pretty much the same - very clear - beautiful really. However I have Remasters from the "The Definitive Collection" of "Muskrat Love" and the lovely "Sister Golden Hair” and it has to be said that the Remasters are way better than what's on offer here. If I were to break it down - I'd say the first two CDs sound exceptional while the final three are merely very good. But don't let that put you off – you're essentially getting an awful lot of quality here for a very small outlay – roughly of course two quid per album. To the music...

SIngles:

Excepting the non-album track "Everyone I Meet Is from California" (the B-side to "A Horse With No Name" on both sides of the pond) - this 5CD set gives you the A&B-sides of a whopping thirteen American singles - eight of which did the business in the Rock Charts. First up is the song that broke them - "A Horse With No Name" from January 1972 - that was followed in April 1972 with the ballad "I Need You" featuring the equally musical "Riverside" on the flipside – a No. 9 hit. "Ventura Highway" b/w "Saturn Nights" came in September 1972 and went one further to No. 8 (the A-side is surely one of their finest moments) - while "Don't Cross The River" b/w "To Each His own" reached a miserly No. 35 in February 1973.

The third album "Hat Trick" should have been a triumph but it produced a series of 4 x 7" single misses - beginning in March 1973 with "Only In Your Heart" b/w "Moon Song" - the first 45 to not chart. Given the hooky and commercial nature of "Muskrat Love" (paired with "Cornwall Blank" from the second album "Homecoming" on the B-side) - it's odd that the melody didn't light up the top ten in June 1973. Strike three came in November 1973 with "Rainbow Song" b/w "Willow Tree Lullaby" - another non-charter. Last was "Green Monkey" in March 1974 b/w "She's Gonna Let You Down" - but it marked loser number four.

But they were all quickly forgotten for July 1974's "Tin Man" from the new "Holiday" LP. With the album cut "In The Country" on the flipside - the annoyingly simple yet wildly catchy "Tin Man" was perfect American Radio fodder and gave them a rightful No. 4 chart hit. "Lonely People" b/w "Mad Dog" was released November 1974 and with time made No. 5 in early 1975. Their second Number One came with the much-loved "Sister Golden Hair" b/w "Midnight" - a huge hit in April 1975. "Daisy Jane" b/w "Tomorrow" from June 1975 went to No. 20 - but "Woman Tonight" b/w "Bell Tree" from October 1975 failed to ignite.

But where this 5CD set comes into it’s own is with those album tracks you 'never' hear. The debut alone has loads - the 'stop and see what I'm on about' song "Three Roses" - a wickedly infectious acoustic melody that still sounds amazingly fresh 46 years after the event. The strummed "Here" – the piano love song "I Need You" and the gorgeous "Never Found The Time" (very Mercury Years Rod Stewart in its own way) – will all probably elicit tears amidst men of a certain age. And that acoustic guitar build-up intro to "Donkey Jaw" sounds beautiful - and if it had the moniker Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on the LP label instead of America – would have been declared a ‘quit ravishing the land’ masterpiece by every journo for miles around.

Amongst the other four albums is the impossibly pretty familiar faces of "To Each His Own", the David Crosby vibes of "Moon Song" and the sheer soul-warming peacefulness of their John Martyn cover of "Head And Heart" on "Homecoming" (it was on Martyn's masterpiece "Solid Air" in February of 1973). They would even re-write "Everyone I Meet Is From California" as "California Revisited" although I prefer the simpler original (that song is available as a Remaster on "The Definitive Collection" 2CD set). The hankering "Wind Wave" from "Hat Trick" could easily have been a single (love those harmony vocals) and "Submarine Ladies" feels so Neil Young lonesome with that treated Harmonica. 

"It's Life" has one of the most ethereal and beautiful synth/guitar openings to any of their songs - while I've always liked the gorgeous string-instrumental "Miniature" that opens the "Holiday" album - very "Cinny's Waltz" on Tom Waits' 1977 Asylum album "Foreign Affair". And that strange guitar in the 'drinks on me' song "Hollywood" gives you a surprisingly sinister element – like hurt is lurking in that Californian clarion call to all naïve youngsters. And the so damned depressed "Sister Golden Hair" still strikes a chord - how many weddings has this been played at...

Alligator lizards in the air – hit by purple rain – thanks a lot son... With lyrics like this - America the Band was never cool or hip. And for sure even die-hard fans would have to admit that as the albums went on an uneasy easy-listening schmaltz started to creep in amidst those immaculate Production values and sweet Harmony Vocals.

But like Bread and the Eagles - they made music that reached out to millions of people - and on the evidence presented here - it's obvious why. Pick up this 5-disc "Original Album Series" reissue and discover why you still need Ventura Highway in the sunshine...