"Seven Bridges Road: The Complete Recordings" by STEVE YOUNG (May 2017 Ace Records CD Reissue - Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Stars In The Southern Sky..."

'Outlaw Country' - 'Country Rock' - these things were still being invented in 1972 when Reprise Records sneaked out MS 2018 in July of that year. Subsequently the misunderstood 'new' Country sound of "Seven Bridges Road" by Georgia's Steve Young received scant promotion or airplay and promptly whispered into the wind like a smoke trace from his Southern cigarette.

The tune itself wasn't new. Young had first recorded "Seven Bridges Road" as "7 Bridges Road" on his debut album "Rock Salt & Nails" released back in March 1969 on A&M Records SP 4177. Yet despite indifference shown by radio and public alike - other artists began to notice the warmth of the melody in the title song and soon a slew of covers followed. Joan Baez put it on her 1969 platter "One Day At A Time" - Rita Coolidge slotted "Seven Bridges Road" onto the flip-side of her "Ain't That Peculiar" single in 1971 - and then the big one nearly ten years later - the Eagles featured "Seven Bridges Road" as one of the exclusive tracks on their huge "Eagles Live" double-set in 1981 thereby allowing Steve Young to live off its royalties for decades after (other artists like Atlanta, Alan Jackson, Iain Matthews, Dolly Parton and more have also covered the plaintive tune).

His legendary second album "Seven Bridges Road" was in fact issued three times – and its complicated history needs some explanation. Released from his contract with an indifferent Reprise and picked up by a small enthusiastic independent - the second LP pressing came in July 1975 on Blue Canyon Records in the USA – that issue featuring two different songs on Side 1. But the rejiggered album again sold as little as its predecessor. Finally an almost complete overhaul arrived in August 1981 when Young re-recorded five of the songs for Rounder Records in the USA – but commercially – again no joy.

On top of that there was also a lone seven-inch single recorded before the album sessions with Ry Cooder co-producing. Promo-only – and rare as a conscience in Donald Trump's White House - it's also included here too. So bringing it all back to its Country home (so to speak) - that's where this excellent CD compilation from reissue champs Ace Records comes swaggering in. Here are the boozy, broody details...

UK released 26 May 2017 - "Seven Bridges Road: The Complete Recordings" by STEVE YOUNG on Ace Records CDCHD 1496 (Barcode 029667078825) is a 21-track CD compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (68:01 minutes):

1. Seven Bridges Road [Side 1]

2. My Oklahoma

3. The White Trash Song

4. I Begin To See Design

5. One Car Funeral Procession

6. Long Way To Hollywood

7. Many Rivers [Side 2]

8. Lonesome Or'ry And Mean

9. Come Sit By Me

10. True Note

11. Ragtime Blue Guitar

12. Montgomery In The Rain

Tracks 1 to 12 are his second studio album "Seven Bridges Road" - released July 1972 in the USA on Reprise Records MS 2081 (no UK issue). Produced by PAUL TANNEN - it didn't chart.

BONUS TRACKS:

13. The White Trash Song (1975 Re-Recording)

14. I Can't Hold Myself In Line (1972 Session Outtake, cover of a Merle Haggard song)

Tracks 13 and 14 were issued on the July 1975 USA LP reissue of "Seven Bridges Road" on Blue Canyon Records BCS 505. That LP was also issued in the UK October 1976 on Sonet Records SNTF 705. Removing tracks 3 and 4 on Side 1 of the 1972 version and replacing them with Tracks 13 and 14 will allow you to sequence that 1975 version. CHARLIE DANIELS is also listed as one of the 'pickers' on this version of the LP. 

15. Seven Bridges Road [1981 Re-record]

16. Down In The Flood [Bob Dylan cover]

17. Ballad Of William Sycamore [Steve Young song]

18. Wild Goose [Terry Gilkyson cover]

19. Days Of '49 [Bob Dylan song]

Tracks 15 to 19 are featured on the third pressing of "Seven Bridges Road" - released August 1981 in the USA on Rounder Records 3058. That 10-track variant of the LP can be sequenced as follows:

Side 1: 15, 12, 11, 6 and 16

Side 2: 17, 2, 18, 19 and 8

20. Down In The Flood (released as "Crash On The Levee")

21. The White Trash Song (released as "Sea Rock City (There's A High Tide A Risin')"

Tracks 20 and 21 released as a Promo-Only US 7" single on Reprise 0946 in 1972 – both sides recorded before the album and co-produced by ANDREW WICKMAN and RY COODER (Cooder on Bottleneck Guitar). No known stock copies exist.

The 16-page booklet with new liner notes by GARTH CARTWRIGHT make a good fist of explaining the complicated release history of the 1972 album as well as showing the artwork for all three releases (there's even a signed copy of the original repro'd on Page 3). DUNCAN COWELL has done the mastering and while the album sounds great with lovely clarity on those acoustic strums - the remixed 1981 Rounder material has a weird feel - like it was dubbed off the record. Bizarrely the 7" single (tracks 20 and 21) actually come out better and I'd swear that's Cooder's trademark Bottleneck style on "The White Trash Song" changed by some Reprise Records executive to read "Crash On The Levee" without the artists permission let alone knowledge (first time Young knew of it was when he saw a promo copy of the single - a 45 that was never apparently taken to stock copy issue). To the music...

The problem with albums of legend is that there are times when they actually have to live up that mythical reputation. I think Cartwright's assertion that Steve Young should be bandied about in the same breath as Gram Parsons or even Bob Dylan and Nick Drake is frankly stretching belief to the limit. Is this a masterpiece - I don't think so. But there are moments and songs on here when you can 'so' hear why that rep has built up across the years - the 'thinking about the muddy roads' and 'broken down cars in my yard' racing honky-tonkin' guitars of "The White Trash Song" - the lonesome Harmonica wail of "I Begin To See Design" where he never misses the night life now that marriage has made him a different man - and a fave of mine - the hard-hitting one-horse town anti-redneck sentiment of the brilliant "Long Way To Hollywood" (there ain't no banjo on Steve's knee but there's a burning song on his back).

But it's the ballads that cloy at your heart - "Lonesome Or'ry And Mean" where he's going to Shreveport on a Greyhound Bus but despite the freedom of the road is weary at the constant rootlessness - and the gorgeous Gram Parsons magic that's dripping off the simple but affecting "True Note" - a song where there are dues to pay in the real world even as the piano player echoes your pain every night in some neon'd bar. Most fans will love the Merle Haggard outtake "I Can't Hold Myself In Line" (an artist Young adored) that turned up on the Blue Canyon pressing in 1975 - full speed down the wrong road of life. I have to say that the 1981 tracks just feel wrong sound-wise despite a wonderful deep timbre having entered his voice - polished but missing that first flush of magic. And you wish the Alamo Tale of "Ballad Of William Sycamore" had actually been on the 1972 original...

You have to say that Ace has done it again - keeping alive a flame that should not have gone out. Steve Young died March 2016 in Nashville aged 73 - and despite the drinking, the broken marriages and legendarily erratic behaviour remains a mystery still and a genuine spirited hero for some.

The original "Seven Bridges Road" LP will only have you reach for "Rock Salt & Nails" (1969) and his other platters on RCA in the mid Seventies - and isn't that the best compliment you can give any reissue...

"Da Capo" by LOVE (May 2002 Elektra/Warner Strategic Marketing 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Mono and Stereo Mixes of the LP and One Bonus) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Comes In Colors..."

San Francisco's LOVE and their self-titled pop-orientated debut album "Love" tickled the American LP charts in May 1966 - eventually peaking at No. 57. And although their seismic second platter "Da Capo" fell to a lower No. 88 after a February 1967 release on Elektra Records - the musical leap forward and 180-degree style change couldn't have been more pronounced. And with it came plaudits.

Suddenly everyone began loving LOVE – restaurant tables became available – tabs were picked up and egos expanded along with their pupils. In fact in November of that same mercurial year - they would go one step further with what many feel is their real Sgt. Peppers, Electric Ladyland and In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda all rolled into one - the masterpiece that is "Forever Changes" from November 1967. And that’s where this deeply brill CD reissue steps in...

Back in the mists of 2002 (May to be precise) - in conjunction with Elektra Records and Warner Strategic Marketing - Rhino USA began an extensive LOVE reissue campaign and turfed out this nugget - the Mono and Stereo mixes of 1967's "Da Capo" bolstered up with one 'tracking session' outtake. She comes in colours indeed - here are the seven and seven details...

UK and USA released 27 May 2002 (reissued February 2005) - "Da Capo" by LOVE on Elektra/Warner Strategic Marketing 8122 73604-2 (Barcode 081227360429) offers the MONO and STEREO mixes of the 7-track 1967 album and one Bonus Track and plays out as follows (76:19 minutes):

1. Stephanie Knows Who [Side 1]

2. Orange Sides

3. ! Que Vida !

4. Seven & Seven Is

5. The Castle [Side 2]

6. She Comes In Colors

7. Revelation

Tracks 1 to 7 are the MONO MIX of their second studio album "Da Capo" - released February 1967 in the USA and UK on Elektra EKL 7-4005

Tracks 8 to 14 are the STEREO MIX of their second studio album "Da Capo" - released February 1967 in the USA and UK on Elektra EKS 7-4005. Produced by PAUL ROTHCHILD and Engineered by DAVID HASSINGER – the album peaked at No. 80 on the US LP charts (didn’t chart UK).

BONUS TRACK

15. Seven & Seven Is (Tracking Session)

LOVE was:

ARTHUR LEE – Lead Vocals and Guitar

JOHN ECHOLS – Lead Guitar

BRYAN MacLEAN – Guitar and Vocals

ALBAN "Snoopy" PFISTERER – Keyboards (Drums on "Seven & Seven Is" - aka "7 & 7 Is")

TJAY CANTRELLI – Saxophone and Flute

KEN FORSSI – Bass

MICHAEL STUART-WARE – Drums

The 16-page booklet is a properly informative and visually sweet thing to behold – ANDREW SANDOVAL providing the liner notes that include interviews with all the key players – Lead Guitarist Johnny Echols (bringing in new drummer Michael Stuart-Ware whilst keeping the original Love sticks man 'Snoopy' on Keyboards) and second guitarist Bryan MacLean (reminiscences of his days with the Byrds and Roger McGuinn) – and new Drummer Stuart-Ware on the entire album being premiered at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go Club on the Sunset Strip in L.A. on Christmas Eve 1966 prior to its February 1967 release the next year. There are superb colour photos of the band – psychedelic concert posters at the Fillmore (with The Sons Of Adam) and the Avalon Ballroom (with Captain Beefheart) as well as rare foreign picture sleeves of "Seven & Seven Is" and even the British orange Elektra Records label for "The Castle". Sandoval not only produced the release - he's been involved in the much-praised Small Faces and Kinks 2CD Deluxe Editions (over 10 titles) as well as the sensational Van Morrison 3CD retrospective from April 2017 - "The Authorized Bang Collection" (see separate reviews for them all).

Two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - DAN HERSCH (of Rhino Fame) and ANDREW SANDOVAL (larges amount of Grammy-nominated work for Universal) – have handled the transfers, restoration and remasters. This is a matter of personal choice - but for me the MONO mix of the largely acoustic "The Castle" lacks the colours and palette of the STEREO version – but the centralised sonic attack of "Seven & Seven Is" in MONO is fantastic and of course most closely resembles what we heard on those 45s all those years ago. Personally I’m going for the STEREO Mix every time. Either way – I love that the air around the instruments is still there – no dampening or muffled sound – nor is it trebled too much for effect. A great job done...

An almost roaring Arthur Lee opens Side with the very Doors-sounding "Stephanie Knows Who" - all Beefheart Guitar, Soft Machine Saxophone and 'yeah yeah' shouts from Arthur as the harpsichord plinkers away in the background. Things settle into the pretty "Orange Sides" - Tjay Cantrelli filling the gaps with Flute while Arthur sings of a girl who makes him happy in his weird croaking tones. It was put on the B-side of Elektra EK-45608 with the opener "Stephanie Knows Who" as the A-side. Far away from straight-up Psych "!Que Vida!" (complete with inverted exclamation marks) offers up another slice of cute 60ts West Coast pop - an organ note anchoring Arthur's ever so slightly fay lyrics about travel and exploration and visions of yourself and money killing everything of worth. But then you're clobbered with the assault that is "Seven & Seven Is" - surely the most difficult song to record on the album. Original drummer 'Snoopy' thrashes his kit as the frantic pace as Arthur gives it so 'ooh pip pip' hollers. It's a great slice of Love's particularly unique Psych Sound and comes complete with an explosion borrowed from one of Elektra's 20 sound effects LPs. The Bonus Track of it shows the in-studio frustration between both band and Producer as they tried to get those difficult rhythms down right.

I've always felt that the "Da Capo" album is a tale of two cities with Side 2 being my preferred slice of poisonous mushrooms. Apparently the live-show staple loosely called "John Lee Hooker" was a Blues Boogie ala Hooker 'n' Heat with a bit of The Allman Brothers Band thrown in. It could on occasion last an hour in some sweaty club with each player getting to stretch out and get 'loose man'. The idea for "Da Capo" was to make it a first-on-record sidelong jam - but renaming it "Revelation" - we have to settle for a piddling 18-minutes. But for me the triple whammy of "The Castle", "She Comes In Colors" and "Revelation" is brilliant and an overall inspiring and classy listen for a 1967 album.

"The Castle" is a speeding acoustic song about a mansion in the Lois Feliz Hills area of Los Angeles the boys lived in and comes with those unexpected Love key changes, harpsichords and brilliant musical moments. The layered and lovely "She Comes In Colors" is a clear LP highlight even if Arthur's 'England Town' lyrics sounds suspiciously like wishful thinking more than an actual visit to Blighty (it's also said the Stones 'borrowed' the song title for their "She's A Rainbow' amidst other things that were 'borrowed' by those thieving Brits). And then we get the fantastic 'everybody needs somebody to love' jam that is "Revelation". And I know it's indulgent and ambling and Love may owe The Doors, The Allmans, Canned Heat and the estate of John Lee Hooker some serious royalty cheques - but massive 18-minute whig out or not - I love it (check out that Tjay Cantrelli Saxophone solo in the last few minutes and the mad Harpsichord dash to the fade out – so brilliantly trippy).

Despite its five-star status amongst fans - is February 1967's "Da Capo" as good as November 1967's "Forever Changes" – I don’t really think so. But I think this is a superbly handled CD reissue of that extraordinary 1967 set of moments. 'My love she comes in colors' is right...

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"Spooky Two" by SPOOKY TOOTH (September 2016 Universal/Island 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Nine Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Better By You..."

With a sabre-rattling tune-rich debut in July 1968's "It's All About" already under their musical belt - it took only eight months for the British/American five-piece SPOOKY TOOTH to unleash what many feel is their best album - March 1969's imaginatively entitled "Spooky Two".

Germany's Repertoire Records made a decent stab at a CD Remaster in 2005 - but fans are going to need and love this new 2016 version expertly and sympathetically transferred by Audio Engineers Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman - two names who've graced oodles of much-praised reissues.

"Spooky Two" is just one amongst seven reissues covering their stay at Island Records from 1968 to 1973 before they moved to Good Ear Records in the mid Seventies amidst myriad personnel changes (see full list below) and I'll admit that I bought the whole lot on release in the UK with a genuine sense of newfound glee. Lost in my dream indeed - here are the scary dental details...

UK released 30 September 2016 (7 October 2016 in the USA) - "Spooky Two" by SPOOKY TOOTH on Universal/Island 570 547-3 (Barcode 602557054736) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of their 2nd studio LP from 1969 with Nine Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (72:25 minutes):

1. Waitin' For The Wind [Side 1]

2. Feelin' Bad

3. I've Got Enough Heartache

4. Evil Woman

5. Lost In My Dream [Side 2]

6. That Was Only Yesterday

7. Better By You, Better Than Me

8. Hangman, Hang My Shell On A Tree

Tracks 1 to 8 are their second studio album "Spooky Two" - released March 1969 in the UK on Island ILPS 9098 and August 1969 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4194. Produced by JIMMY MILLER and Engineered by ANDREW JOHN - it peaked at No. 44 in the USA (didn't chart UK). Uncredited musicians include JOE COCKER who sings backing vocals on "Feelin' Bad" - STEVE WINWOOD who plays piano on "I've Got Enough Heartache" and DAVE MASON who plays guitar on "That Was Only Yesterday" (Winwood and Mason were with Traffic at the time, another Island Records act).

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Feelin' Bad

10. I Can't Quit Her

11. Blues Town

Tracks 9 to 11 recorded 30 Sep 1968 for BBC Radio One's "Top Gear" Session in Mono. Produced by Bernie Andrews, first broadcast 6 Oct 1968

12. Something Got Into Your Life

13. When I Get Home

Tracks 12 and 13 recorded 13 November 1968 at London's Morgan Studio in Mono

14. Waitin' For The Wind (First Mix)

15. Lost In My Dream (First Mix)

16. Better By You, Better Than Me (First Mix)

Tracks 14 to 16 mixed 12 Feb 1969 at London's Morgan Studios

17. Pretty Woman

Track 17 is the non-album B-side to "That Was Only Yesterday", a Dutch 7" single released August 1969 on Island WIP 6058 in Mono. It's a cover of the A.C. Williams Blues song made famous by Albert King on his "Born Under A Bad Sign" LP on Stax Records in 1967.

SPOOKY TOOTH was:

MIKE HARRISON – Lead Vocals  and Keyboards

GARY WRIGHT – Lead Vocals and Keyboards

LUTHER GROSVENOR - Guitars

GREG RIDLEY - Bass

MIKE KELLIE - Drums

MARK POWELL - head honcho at Esoteric Recordings reissue label (part of Cherry Red) researched, co-ordinated and produced the reissue. His 12-page liner notes include new interviews with key players - the American Gary Wright and Brit boys Mike Harrison and Mike Kellie. You get period photos (black and white and colour), tour posters where ST shared the bill with other like-minded British bands Traffic and Family and a rare Euro picture sleeve for "Waitin' For The Wind" (German Island) with "Feelin' Bad" on the flipside. The recollections are fun and insightful with most admitting that "Spooky Two" is the album they are probably most proud off - a coherent whole only added to here with some crackalackin bonus tracks.

But the big news here is new 2016 Remasters from original master tapes by two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - PASCHAL BYRNE and BEN WISEMAN - names that have graced large numbers of reissues - the Strawbs, T. Rex, Audience, Unicorn, Help Yourself, Dada, Moody Blues, Procol Harum, Terry Riley and many more. This album feels like an amplified Free circa "Tons Of Sobs", "Free" and "Fire And Water" meets "Mr. Fantasy" Traffic - a combo of sound I'll take any day of the week. The drums opening to "Waitin' For The Wind" followed quickly by that organ and bass kick-in is absolutely monster - and from there is doesn't let up. A very tasty job done and it feels like that across the whole series...

Quite why the sexy Rock riffage of "Waitin' For The Wind" wasn't chosen for a second British 45 is anybody's guess - but I think a winning radio hook was missed out there (a Grosvenor, Wright and Harrison composition). The huge sound of melody and voices continues with the excellent "Feelin' Bad" where the liner notes now inform us that the equally gravel-laced larynx of Joe Cocker is adorning those backing singers alongside Mike Harrison - and if you listen hard enough - you can just about make out his distinctive Brummie rasp amidst the guys and gals. It's actually not surprising that the deeply Soulful "I've Got Enough Heartaches" got chosen as the LP's one and only UK 7" single in June 1969 (Island WIP 6060) - even if it was tucked away on the B-side of a non-album A-side written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin - "Son Of Your Father" - a song that would eventually turn up on album number four "The Last Puff" in 1970 with Gary Wright on Lead Vocals. Although the riffage for "Evil Woman" is 'rawk' with a capital 'r' (a cover of the Larry Weiss blues song first released by Guy Darrell in September 1967 on Piccadilly Records in the UK) - for me its clichéd lyrics and sentiment make it the most dated song on the LP (though many love it - especially that gee-tar solo towards the end).

The combo of Wright and Kellie penned both “Feelin’ Bad and I’ve Got Enough Heartaches” over on Side 1 but all of Side 2 is Gary Wright. He opens accounts with the trippy-psych-rock of the album's most famous cut - the wicked and cool "Lost In My Dream" - a tune where nightmares do battle with reality amidst floating organ, marching drums and Harrison's intense vocals – the Englishman channelling another Rock belter throughout - Steve Marriott of Humble Pie. In fact as an example of Sixties triptastic lysergic bombast - "Lost In My Dream" can't be beat. Things mellow into the Soundtrack sounding harmonica-wail of "That Was Only Yesterday" where she's gone for sure and our poor boy is wondering how he's gonna face the weekend (get the beers in son). Re-listening to it after all these years – I'd forgotten how good the song is and can easily hear why it was such a hit on German radio. None other than Judas Priest covered the choppy riff of "Better By You, Better Than Me" on their "Stained Glass" album in 1978 and it all ends on the acoustic-ethereal "Hangman, Hang My Shell On A Tree" - another waiting-to-die tune that builds and builds until it feels like a Spooky Tooth meets Humble Pie epic.

Even though they're in Mono - the three "Top Gear" tracks from September 1968 are well recorded (God Bless Bernie Andrews, RIP) and show a band that sounds 'so' Island Records - a mash-up between Free, Humble Pie and well - Spooky Tooth (the non-album track "Blues Town" is the rocking prize here). We get two surprisingly good album outtakes in Mono - the first "Something Got Into Your Life" being very Atomic Rooster in its heavy guitar tone while "When I Get Home" feels like a really good Family song and is the more cleverly melodic of the pair. The three 'first mix' variants of key album tracks will thrill long-time fans - subtle differences in all. And Spooky Tooth's cover of Albert King's "Pretty Woman" has been a sought-after European-only B-side rarity for decades – so how cool is it to see that forgotten flip-side back on CD here.

To sum-up - a great Spooky Tooth album given quality audio, good presentation and at least some Extra Tracks that actually warrant the moniker 'Bonus'. 1969's "Spooky Two" is no longer lost in anyone's dream. Well done to all involved in this superb CD reissue...

Reissue Titles for SPOOKY TOOTH 

In the 30 September 2016 (UK)/7 October 2016 (USA) 

Universal/Island CD Remaster Series

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

2. Spooky Two (1969 2nd LP) – on Universal/Island 570 547-3 (Barcode 602557054736) with 9 Bonus Tracks

3. Ceremony: An Electronic Mass (1969 3rd LP with Pierre Henry) - on Universal/Island 570 547-0 (Barcode 602557054705) with 6 Bonus Tracks

4. The Last Puff (1970 4th LP) - 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) - on Universal/Island 570 547-8 (Barcode 602557054781)

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

7. The Mirror (1974 7th LP) - on Universal/Island 570 547-6 (Barcode 602557054767)

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"Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS from 1970 and 1971 (April 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CLASSIC ROCK & POP 1970 to 1974 - Exceptional CD Remasters  

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"...Come On People Let Your Light Shine..."

Despite releasing seven quality albums between 1967 and 1972 on two huge record labels - RCA Victor and Warner Brothers - New York's 'The Youngbloods' and their principal songwriter Jesse Colin Young never really meant diddlysquat in the UK (where I live). The live albums "Rock Festival" and "Ride The Wind" were both given limited British releases in 1970 and 1971 on those tasty-looking WB Tan labels with the Raccoon Records logo up in the corner – but they elicited no real interest amongst the Blighty buying public - thereby leaving the third studio album disc offered to us here ("Good And Dusty" from late 1971) as a US-only release on original vinyl...

But this rather fabulous and timely reissue by England's Beat Goes On Records seems determined to correct the error of our frankly callous and musically myopic ways. What you get here are the first three of four albums they did with Warner Brothers/Raccoon Records – that trio issued in 1970 and two from 1971. The first and second platters are live sets as already mentioned (the third is studio) with the 2nd LP "Ride The Wind" actually recorded late November 1969 in New York but not released until July 1971.

The opening duo showcase the band in very different styles of play – bopping and ready to boogie like the audience shown on the rear sleeve of "Rock Festival" - while the second is stripped back and more Richie Havens Rock-Soulful Folk-Soul than standard Rock. And stylistically different or not (anyone looking for the 1969 pop hit "Get Together" should look elsewhere) - given the crude technology of the time - both records were expertly recorded even though they are largely live. Their final and fourth album "High On A Ridge Top" on Warner Brothers BS 2653/Raccoon No. 15 from December 1972 is unfortunately outside the remit of this release.

Beautifully remastered onto 2CDs and amped up with a classy card slipcase and expanded booklet - here are the rocky raccoons...

UK and USA released 14 April 2017 - "Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1284 (Barcode 5017261212849) offers 3LPs from 1970 and 1971 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (57:57 minutes): 

1. It's A Lovely Day [Side 1]

2. Faster All The Time

3. Prelude

4. On Beautiful Lake Spenard

5. Josiane

6. Sea Cow Boogie [Side 2]

7. Fiddler A Dram

8. Misty Roses

9. Interlude

10. Peepin' 'N' Hidin' (Baby What You Want Me To Do)

11. Ice Bag

Tracks 1 to 11 are their fourth album "Rock Festival" – recorded live between March and July 1970 - it was released October 1970 in the USA and December 1970 in the UK - both on Warner Brothers WS 1878/Raccoon No. 1. Produced by BOB MATTHEWS (Engineered by Betty Cantor of Grateful Dead fame) - it peaked at No. 80 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

12. Ride The Wind [Side 1]

13. Sugar Babe

14. Sunlight

Tracks 12 to 14 are Side 1 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Raccoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (63:24 minutes):

1. The Dolphin [Side 2]

2. Get Together

3. Beautiful

Tracks 1 to 3 are Side 2 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Racoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

4. Stagger Lee [Side 1]

5. That's How Strong My Love Is

6. Willie And The Hand Jive

7. Circus Face

8. Hippie From Olema No. 5

9. Good And Dusty

10. Let The Good Times Roll

11. Drifting And Drifting [Side 2]

12. Pontiac Blues

13. Moonshine In The Sunshine

14. Will The Circle Be Unbroken

15. I'm A Hog For You Baby

16. Light Shine

Tracks 4 to 16 are their sixth (fifth studio) album "Good And Dusty" - released December 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2566/Raccoon No. 9. No producer listed - it peaked at No. 160 in the USA (no UK release).

THE YOUNGBLOODS on all three albums were:

JESSIE COLIN YOUNG - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Bass and Kazoo

LOWELL 'Banana' LEVINGER - Guitars and Piano

JOE BAUER - Drums

EARTHQUAKE ANDERSON - Harmonica (only on "Good And Dusty")

MICHAEL KANE - Bass, French Horn, Vocals, Cornet (only on "Good And Dusty")

The card-slipcase adds a classy feel to the release (standard these last few years with BGO reissues) and the 12-page booklet features original album credits and a new appraisal of their legacy by noted Music Historian JOHN O'REGAN. He discusses their '67 to '72 recordings - post 80's and 90's reunions and Jessie Colin Young's subsequent solo career in Country Music - there's even the lyrics to the brilliant "Ride The Wind" live set and some black and white photos of the three and four-piece line-ups looking young, cheerful and waving enthusiastically at their adoring audience.

But the really big news here is superlative new Audio Transfers from licensed WEA tapes by BGO's resident Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I'm always wary of live sets especially from the Sixties and early Seventies where sound was problematical to say the least. Yet both of these sets and especially the Charlie Daniels Produced "Ride The Wind" LP have a clarity that defies their age big time. The studio album "Good And Dusty" is superb too and on tracks like the beautiful "Light Shine" (a return to the glory of the "Get Together" melody) – it’s spectacular. Let's get to the music...

Although "Rock Festival" is supposedly a 'live' LP of new material recorded at various venues like 'The Family Dog' in San Francisco and 'Barn' in Santa Clara - it's clear to me that the lead-off song "It's A Lovely Day" is a studio cut provided by Jessie Colin Young. Warner Brothers tried its pretty melody as a 45 in May 1971 with the LP finisher "Ice Bag" on the flipside - but Warner Brothers 7499/Raccoon S 4 didn't trouble too many charts (its UK equivalent on Warner Brothers K 16098 fared the same). While "Faster All The Time" is a good Levinger bopper - the one-minute "Prelude" and the near six-minutes of the keyboard instrumental "On Beautiful Lake Spenade" both feel like ambling wastes of time. Things improve with Colin Young's "Josiane" – another warm melody that I can’t help but feel should have been a studio cut. "Sea Cow Boogie" turns out to be 20-seconds of Bass-playing nonsense leading into a leery version of the Traditional boozing shanty "Fiddler A Dram". Saving the day comes a warmly recorded cover of Tim Hardin's "Misty Roses" - sung by Colin Young - it's a tiny bit hissy but incredibly intimate and touching in a way that none of the prior tracks do (first decent crown response too). Banjos ahoy for Banana’s "Interlude" – a two-minute instrumental that actually works. As if arriving from another album or a boisterous Chicken Shack gig over in London – they then offer us a Harmonica-warbling cover of Jimmy Reed’s "Peepin..." – great fun but wildly out of place with the rest of the record. We then go discordant Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart with two minutes of strained nonsense called "Ice Bag".

After the ragbag that is "Rock Festival" – the six long workouts of "Ride the Wind" come as a welcome relief. As I’ve already said – the second live record is more Rock-Soulful than standard Rock. Young singing, Banana hitting the keys, Bass solos that Funk with the drums – it feels like Richie Havens scatting in front of an appreciative crowd with a hip band of likeminded musicians backing him up. They deconstruct their own songs and offer them up in Funky new incarnations - the Fred Neil masterpiece "Dolphins" gets a moody work over too as does their sunshine slice of Sixties gloriana "Get Together". In my mind the album is the very definition of lost classic - and that Charlie Daniels Production is incredible - each keyboard note and cymbal tap leaping out of your speakers with clarity that defies its age. And Young's singing enters another place - Soulful as well as melodious. Hell - there are times when the finisher "Beautiful" feels like Phil Upchurch live on funky guitar with Al Kooper singing out front - Young urging the people to feel beautiful and reach out (yeah baby). 

Excepting four originals - "Hippie From Olema No. 5" by Lowell 'Banana' Levinger (it's actually a close re-write of Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee"), "Good And Dusty" by all four members of the band and two Jessie Collin Young entries in "Drifting And Drifting" and the lovely single "Light Shine" - the other nine tracks on the "Good And Dusty" studio album are all cover versions. Most are old Blues & R&B Classics - Lloyd Price's rabble-rouser "Stagger Lee" - the gorgeous pleading Soul of Roosevelt Jamison's "That's How Strong My Love Is" made famous by O.V. Wright and Otis Redding (a genuine highlight on here) - the Coasters Leiber & Stoller winner "I'm A Hog For You Baby" - Sonny Boy Williamson's Chess brawler "Pontiac Blues" - Leonard Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" made famous by Louis Jordan - the spiritual "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" in shimmering Staple Singers style - all rounded off with a sneaky take on the saucy "Willie And The Hand Jive" made infamous by Johnny Otis.

On top of all that is "Moonshine Is The Sunshine" - a Jeffery Cain song that initially turned up on his debut LP "For You" in 1970 on Warner Brothers WS 1880. All three of The Youngbloods had played on that album - only the second LP on the Raccoon Label imprint - and they repaid him by covering his song here. The other goodun on here is Carol Miller's lovely ballad "Circus Face" - Banana playing that Mandola so sweetly (I'm amazed this hasn't been covered more). The album's best moment comes last with Colin Young's lovely "Light Shine". Warner Brothers tried it as a 45 in March 1972 with the equally Soulful "Will The Circle Ever Be Broken" on the flipside - but despite the French horns, sweet guitar picking melody and the overall strength of both sides - Warner Brothers WB 7563 did no business.

As "Light Shine" plays out this gorgeous-sounding twofer - you're left with an abiding impression that even though some of the material isn't blazing and brilliant like the sun (that first album isn’t great) - there's an awful lot of genuine musical sunshine on these three albums that we clearly missed out on. More importantly The Youngbloods and their Warner Brothers output warrants a return to in 2017.

Well done to BGO for getting this wee lysergic Rock-Soulful nugget out there. "Good And Dusty" indeed...

"Van Halen" by VAN HALEN (July 2000 'Warners Remasters' CD Reissue of their 1978 debut album (also 2015 Reissue) - Chris Bellman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Eruption..."

I was working with a band in Dublin in 1978. We were young, open-minded and little dreamers like everyone else. I can vividly remember the visceral sense of Coolock excitement when we first laid our expanding ears on this sonic assault of "Van Halen" in Jimmy Meade's shed come-rehearsal-room - this guitar-brother from another deranged mother.

Although of course we didn't realise it at the time - the February 1978 debut "Van Halen" was a game changer - least not of all this came-out-of-nowhere plank-spanker called Eddie Van Halen. As his wild fret-work and harmonics came screaming out off the instrumental "Eruption" in yet another genius Ted Templeman production - the man who'd brought the world the beast that was "Montrose" back in 1973 and The Doobie Brothers "The Captain And Me" in the same year - I can remember all of us looking at each other. We were utterly gobsmacked. Like Hendrix and Rory Gallagher before them and later Stevie Ray Vaughan on another format - we stood there gawking at the vinyl LP turning around and around and wondered - how was this American cheeky-chappy getting those sounds out of his Cellotaped guitar? We didn’t know – nor did we know our hammer-ons from out hammer-and-nails – but we knew it was exciting and new and we wanted more of it.

I wish I could express the same excitement about this bog-standard 'Warner Remasters' CD of 2000 or its farcical reissue masquerading as a '2015 Remaster' when its bleeding obvious it's the same version done back in 2000. Here are devilish details and hammer-on comparisons...

UK released July 2000 - "Van Halen" by VAN HALEN on Warner Brothers 9362-47737-2 (Barcode 093624773726) in the 'Warner Remasters' Series is a straightforward CD transfer of the 1978 11-track Debut LP and plays out as follows (35:31 minutes):

1. Runnin' With The Devil [Side 1]

2. Eruption

3. You Really Got Me

4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

5. I'm The One

6. Jamie's Cryin' [Side 2]

7. Atomic Punk

8. Feel Your Love Tonight

9. Little Dreamer

10. Ice Cream Man

11. On Fire

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Van Halen" - released February 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3075 and April 1978 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56470. Produced by TED TEMPLEMAN - it peaked at No. 19 in the USA and No. 34 in the UK.

The gatefold slip of paper that acts as an inlay - does the basic necessities and bugger-all else. And while the CHRIS BELLMAN Remaster done at Bernie Grundman Mastering is fantastic stuff - only amplifying that amazingly loose yet precise Ted Templeman production - the overall feel here is one of what WB 'could get away with' without being downright insulting.

So what you have here is an incendiary five-star debut album - a genuine Rock helter Skelter - given a five-star Remaster but housed in two-star packaging. Van Halen fans did get a bit excited in 2015 when the band's website announced '2015 Remasters' but that issue on Warner Brothers 081227955243 (Barcode same) has exactly the same crappy slip of paper and 'no reference' anywhere to a new 2015 copyright date or remaster - so it's just the same bloody thing costing fans more wasted readies. Some have said the sound is slightly better - but when I had my copy I couldn't honestly hear it. However - and I must emphasise this - the Chris Bellman transfer (which as I say I'm sure has been used on both issues) is rocking - an absolute belter. Let's get to the music...

I may risk suggestions of a frontal lobotomy from fans for this - but if I'm completely honest I've never really liked "Runnin' With The Devil" as a tune. Compared to genius like the simple Rock riffage of "Little Dreamer" or the astonishing speed opening of "I'm The One" and the band just ripping into that 'Van Halen' sound - I've always thought "Runnin'..." ever so slightly naff. No such problems with the volcanic spew of "Eruption" - an excuse for guitar pyrotechnics - an instrumental that always takes me back to that moment in 1978 when we first pulled the tarpaulin sheet off this Harley Davison of a band. Followed by a truly fantastic 'rawk' version of The Kinks classic "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen put their unique stamp on a song that many thought too familiar by far. Re-listening to it now is a blast - and are Clara and Dee Dee (name-checked in the thank you credits) the girls who moan towards the end?

Titanic riffage continues with their own "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" - a genuinely great example of Hard Rock and a slayer of a single (and don't you just love that melodic solo). An amazing Side 1 ends with an amazing piece of show-stopping Eddie Van Halen playing on "I'm The One" – wild guitar soloing as Lee Roth 'ha ha ha's' his vocal way through typically humble lyrics about how all the ladies would be frankly privileged to have a bit of Dave's generous microphone-stand in their lives. Other goodies on Side 2 include "Atomic Kitten" which Warner Brothers put on the B-side of "You Really Got Me" in February 1978 - the debut Van Halen 7" single in the UK (Warner Brothers K 17107) and USA (Warner Brothers 8515). And of course that lethal one-two sucker punch that is "Little Dreamer" and the old-timey Rock 'n' Roll of "Ice Cream Man" - actually one of my fave-raves on the album.

To sum up - if you're buying a Remaster I'd suggest plumbing for the 2000 issue which is available online for peanuts. Or if so inclined and you’re willing to discover just how good Van Halen were - go for the 2013 six-disc box set "Studio Albums 1978-1984". It gives you the 2000 Remasters in six singular card sleeves with the very best of the Dave Lee Roth period for a nadge below fifteen quid. Included are the underrated covers-album "Diver Down" from 1982 and the huge "1984" LP with "Jump" and "Panama" that sent them global and Dave flying into the air with his fragrant tassels dangling in the wind.

"Atomic Punk" and "On Fire" - song-titles that sum up "Van Halen" - this beast of a record that astonishingly will be 40 years young in February 2018. Thanks for the party boys...

"To The Limit" by JOAN ARMATRADING (April 2016 Music On CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...In Your Loving Arms Again..."

Brummie lass Joan Armatrading (born in the West Indies but moved to the UK when she was 8) had been building a steady stream of classy British LP releases by the time she reached "To The Limit" in October 1978 - her sixth platter.

After her November 1972 debut "Whatever’s For Us" on Fly Records went largely unnoticed - her UK signing to A&M Records brought "Back To The Night" in April 1975 – an equally unsuccessful chart attempt but the first real indication of the monumental talent that would eventually unleash "Joan Armatrading" in August 1976 with the huge global hit "Love And Affection". That chart breakthrough was followed with the equally lovely "Show Some Emotion" album in September 1977 featuring the title track and "Willow".

I recall "To The Limit" at the time - the kind of album that bubbled under in 1978 rather than exploded. In fact since the tectonic impact of "Joan Armatrading" in late 1976 - it had seemed she was on a visible downward slide. "To The Limit" peaked at a respectable No. 13 in the UK - less than "Show Some Emotion" at No. 6 - but tellingly it stalled at No. 125 in the USA after it entered the charts there in November 1978. This feels like a shame to me because I've always thought "To The Limit" to be a wee bit of an overlooked gem in her long and impressive catalogue.

And that's where this 'Music On CD' reissue comes stomping in. As far as I recall the last remaster of the whole album was 2004 (quickly deleted) with some of the songs turning up on the 1996 "Love And Affection" 2CD anthology that had Roger Wake Remasters. The album has been notoriously difficult to find on CD at anything other than exorbitant prices – so this rather tasty looking reissue is a godsend for fans and the plain curious. And it sounds utterly fantastic too. Here are the unlimited details...

UK released April 2016 - "To The Limit" by JOAN ARMATRADING on Music On CD MOCCD13291 (Barcode 0600753605165) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 10-track 1978 LP that plays out as follows (41:20 minutes):

1. Barefoot And Pregnant [Side 1]

2. Your Letter

3. Am I Blue For You

4. You Rope You Tie Me

5. Baby I

6. Bottom To The Top [Side 2]

7. Taking My Baby To Town

8. What Do You Want

9. Wishing

10. Let It Last

Tracks 1 to 10 are her sixth studio album "To The Limit" - released October 1978 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64732 and November 1978 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4732. Produced by GLYN JOHNS - it peaked at No. 13 in the UK and No. 123 in the USA.

JOAN ARMATRADING - Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar

PHIL PALMER - Lead Electric Guitar

RED YOUNG - Piano

DICK SIMMS - Organ & Accordion

QUITMAN DAVIS - Lyricon

DAVE MARKEE - Bass

HENRY SPINETTI - Drums 

The 'Music On CD' label is a bit of a strange one. They started out as I recall being 'Music On Vinyl' - the go-to reissue label for all of the Sony product on VINYL - quality 180-gram represses with remasters. But in 2014 the Europe-Pressed CD label began reissuing albums from a huge array of labels and now have over 220 titles in their canon (most are under the Universal umbrella of labels). All their releases come in those natty-looking rounded-corner 'super jewel cases' and for "To The Limit" you also get an 8-page booklet that essentially reproduces the inner sleeve of the 1978 LP - lyrics to the songs - a couple of photos and musician credits - but nothing else - no new liner notes nor any mention of mastering and from what. Credit or no - the audio on this CD is truly glorious - Glyn Johns' original production values shining through - "What Do You Want" sounding audiophile good and stupendously moving for it. 

While the compilations always go for the catchy jaunt of "Barefoot And Pregnant" and the hip Reggae rhythms of "Bottom To The Top" – the hidden album gems of "Baby I" and "What Do You Want" are fantastic songs – full of truth and yes – hurting – a relationship on the rocks – slipping away – even lost. Throw in the sexy acoustic guitar and strangulated synth soloing of "Am I Blue For You", the deceptive groove of “Wishing” and the "Love And Affection" acoustic vibe of "Let It Last" bolstered up with gorgeous accordion and piano notes that compliment rather than intrude as it builds towards a triumphant conclusion (let it last until we die) – and the whole record starts to feel like an overlooked nugget. "To The Limit" is not a masterpiece - but it is chock-full of great songs that still stand up and crucially still get to you.

She would go slightly pop with "Me Myself I" in May 1980 - an album that would storm up No. 5 in the UK and return her to the radio and real chart success Stateside (it peaked at No. 28 – her best showing their). But for many her trio of "Joan Armatrading", "Show Some Emotion" and "To The Limit" from 1976, 1977 and 1978 represent an artistic and emotional high that stings, swoons and ultimately elevates.

I'm off now to check out the first "Outlaws" album (originally 1975 on Arista) and "Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" (originally 1969 and 1970 on Columbia and CBS Records) - both of which have been recently reissued by Music On CD with Remasters.

In the meantime go back in time forty years to 1978 again and take this excellent Joan Armatrading album back 'in your loving arms again'...