"City Of Gold/...Beautiful Lies You Could Live In." by TOM RAPP/PEARLS BEFORE SWINE (April 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Raindrops..."

"...Raindrops..."

With his weedy sub Bob Dylan "Nashville Skyline" voice, Leonard Cohen narratives about dumb raindrops (what would they know), butterflies flying too close to the flame and the skinned-our-knees growing-up weeping of "Seasons In The Sun" (the Jacque Brel/Rod McKuen tune made famous by Terry Jacks) - all served up with a dash of Country Dobro - New York's Tom Rapp and his band Pearls Before Swine have always divided listeners.

His songs are part Mickey Newbury, part Paul Siebel, part Steve Young, part Tim Rose and of course part Bob Dylan. That’s the good news. But on top of that name-check list of songwriting cool - Rapp's songs can also be part schlock and at times genuinely cloying and fay.

However - no matter what way you describe Tom Rapp's music and especially if you're a fan - England's Beat Goes On Records have come to your reissue rescue with this superb-sounding CD Remaster of two rare Folk-Rock albums both released on Reprise Records USA in 1971 - "City Of Gold" in April and "...Beautiful Lies You Could Live In." which came in late December. Let's get to the details...

UK released 7 April 2017 (14 April 2017 in the USA) - "City Of Gold/...Beautiful Lies You Could Live In." by TOM RAPP/PEARLS BEFORE SWINE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1285 (Barcode 5017261212856) offers two LPs from 1971 Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (61:04 minutes):

1. Sonnet No. 65 [Side 1]

2. Once Upon A Time

3. Raindrops

4. City of Gold

5. Nancy

6. Seasons In The Sun [Side 2]

7. My Father

8. The Man

9. Casablanca

10. Wedding

11. Did You Dream Of

Tracks 1 to 11 are the album "City Of Gold" - released April 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6442 (no UK release). PRODUCED by TOM RAPP - it didn't chart. All songs by Tom Rapp except "Nancy" by Leonard Cohen, "Seasons In The Sun" by Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen and "My Father" by Judy Collins. "Sonnet No. 65" is Shakespeare's words put to TR music. Lead Vocals by Rapp except on "The Man" by David Noyes and "My Father" by Elisabeth Rapp.

12. Snow Queen [Side 1]

13. A Life

14. Butterflies

15. Simple Things

16. Everybody's Got Pain

17. Bird On A Wire [Side 2]

18. Island Lady

19. Come To Me

20. Freedom

21. She's Gone

22. Epitaph

Tracks 12 to 22 are the album "...Beautiful Lies You Could Live In." - released December 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6467.

As ever the outer card slipcase adds a touch of class to this BGO CD reissue and a 12-page booklet with new JOHN O’REGAN liner notes gives all the details you’ll need on Rapp's stay with New York folkies Pearls Before Swine. But the real deal here is a gorgeous remaster from licensed tapes by BGO's resident engineer - ANDREW THOMPSON. This CD has lovely sound reflecting the quality of the original Reprise Records recordings. Very sweet...

After four albums with the band Pearls Before Swine - "One Nation Underground" and "Balaklava" on ESP Disks in 1967 and 1968 and then two more on Reprises Records in 1969 and 1970 - "These Things Too" and "The Use Of Ashes" - their fifth platter "City Of Gold" became the first to feature the moniker Tom Rapp/Pearls Before Swine. The album drew on New York and Nashville sessions done in the autumn of 1970 that included guitarist Mac Gayden, Bassist Norbert Putnam and Drummer Kenny Buttery of the Polydor Records Country-Rock band Area Code 615.

Most of the short acoustic-based songs on "City Of Gold" are Rapp originals done in a very soft US Folk style with Rapp's Dutch wife Elisabeth taking lead vocals on the Judy Collins cover "My Father" and band member David Noyes fronting the rather oddly upbeat "The Man" – a jaunty holy-roller that feels weirdly out of place actually. Highlights include "City Of Gold" - a Fiddle and Dobro hoedown - and the 'Lay Lady Lay' melody of "Did You Dream Of". Others include a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Nancy" - Rapp's voice uncannily close to his hero and obvious songwriting inspiration LC (the full title for "Nancy" is "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" and is from Cohen's second album – April 1969's "Song From A Room"). But the less said about the awful cringe-cack that is "Seasons In The Sun" – the better.

For me the second platter on offer here "...Beautiful Lies You Live In." is a big leap forward over its strictly three-star predecessor. With that gushingly Raphaelite-romantic "Ophelia" artwork (a John Everett Millais painting) – the album is more James Taylor meets early Ronnie Lane than the Psych-Folk that Pearls Before Swine had been associated with in the late Sixties. Unlike the coy "Seasons Of The Sun" on the first LP – "A Life" opens platter number two with a genuine homely feel – his band and wife tight as the melody soothes like a good Ryan Adams ballad. In fact the album "...Beautiful..." effectively feels like a Tom Rapp solo album in all but name as he's joined by sessioned players like guitarist Amos Garrett and keyboard player Bob Dorough. Rapp does his best Dylan impression on "Everybody's Got Pain" where he and his wife are suggesting the fog will eventually lift one day. But my poison here is an extraordinarily Soulful take on that old Cohen chestnut "Bird On A Wire" where Rapp finally sounds passionate and committed – like a young Johnny Cash tearing into a song and a set of words that have reached deep into his psyche.

Tom Rapp will not be for everyone for sure and his need to be Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan's lovechild is obvious. But there are tunes to be loved here and if you're a fan – you will need that superb new audio.

"...Simple things will do..." he sang back in 1971. And you have to say that this superbly presented Beat Goes On CD reissue gets that mantra right...

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"Move Into The Light: The Complete Island Recordings 1969-1971" by QUINTESSENCE (April 2017 Esoteric Recordings 2CD Anthology - Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Letters To Infinity..."

Time wounds all heals. Time will tell. It's time to stop talking about time.

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In tandem with free festivals, coloured bread and promiscuous sex - in the late 60ts and early 70ts Notting Hill Gate's Quintessence were at the forefront of the Indian Eastern-Mysticism craze that was sweeping the UK and everywhere else for that matter. Suddenly we were all idealistic hippies - obsessing over joss sticks, fat scented candles, tie-dye shirts, bellbottom pants, beads, bangles, peace-symbols and travels to Goa with a stick of gum in your jeans, a begging bowl in your hand, a flower in your hair and a seriously dopey smile on your face (shoes and bras optional).

I suppose it is way too easy to slag off those doe-eyed days of mushroom madness (I was a fan myself and have the embarrassing tassel-shirt photos to prove it) - but in the blunt and brutal light of 2017 - musically not everything that emerged from marijuana clouds in Notting Hill Gate has weathered the decades that well. Having said that and despite as I say the absolutely dated nature of some of these recordings – if you crave lavish artwork, counter-culture ideas, meandering Sitars and Tablas and Tamboura notes all mixed up into a flute-driven ganga-soaked Shiva-Rock – then there is much to love and cherish on offer here. Hell there’s even a bit of Hawkwind drone madness in the guitar passages of album number two...

On top of that this surely has to be the most sumptuous and best-sounding 2CD anthology of the Quintessence legacy to date - brought to us with Hindu Love Oneness by those blissed-out but talented folks over at Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings (stop smoking those chubby roll-your-owns boys). Time to sort out your Raja Rams from your Hare Hares. Here are the Swami details...

UK released 28 April 2017 (5 May 2017 in the USA) - "Move Into The Light: The Complete Island Recordings 1969-1971" by QUINTESSENCE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22584 (Barcode 5013929468443) is a 2CD anthology of Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (65:49 minutes):

1. Giants [Side 1]

2. Manco Capac

3. Body

4. Gange Mai

5. Chant  [Side 2]

6. Pearl And Bird

7. Notting Hill Gate

8. Midnight Mode

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "In Blissful Company" - released November 1969 in the UK on Island ILPS 9110 Q (No US release). Produced by JOHN BARHAM - it didn't chart. The UK album was released in a gatefold 12-page-booklet sleeve (said to have been one of the most expensive made at the time) - all of which is reproduced in the CD booklet.

9. Move Into The Light

10. Notting Hill Gate

Tracks 10 and 9 are the non-album A&B-sides of a UK 7" single released October 1969 on Island WIP 6075

11. Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Guaranga

12. Sea Of Immortality

13. High On Mt. Kailash (Excerpt from Opera)

14. Burning Bush (Live)

15. Shiva's Chant

Tracks 11 to 15 are Side 1 of their second studio album "Quintessence" - released June 1970 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9128 (no US Release). Produced by JOHN BARHAM - it peaked at No. 22 on the UK LP charts.

Disc 2 (69:23 minutes):

1. Prisms

2. Twilight Zones

3. Maha Mantra

4. Only Love

5. St. Pancras (Live)

6. Infinitum

Tracks 1 to 6 are Side 2 of their second studio album "Quintessence" - released June 1970 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9128 (no US Release). Produced by JOHN BARHAM - it peaked at No. 22 on the UK LP charts.

7. Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Guaranga (Live)

Track 7 exclusive to the UK Island Records label sampler double-album "Bumpers" - released October 1970 on Island IDP 1.

8. Dive Deep [Side 1]

9. Dance For The One

10. Brahman

11. The Seer [Side 2]

12. Epitaph For Tomorrow

13. Sri Ram Chant

Tracks 8 to 13 are their 3rd studio album "Dive Deep" - released March 1971 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9143. Produced by QUINTESSENCE except for "Brahman" by JOHN BARHAM - it peaked at No. 34.

The 24-page booklet is a feast for the eyes. Fans will know that as much as their sound - the sheer visual opulence of the Quintessence albums on Island were enough to get you interested. Esoteric have smartly repro'd the 12-page booklet of black and white photos that centred the inner gatefold sleeve of "In Blissful Company" - said at the time to be the most expensive sleeve ever made - certainly at the independent Island Records. The colour gatefold inner of "Quintessence" is here (candles, mirrors and long white gowns ahoy) as are superb new liner notes from noted writer MALCOLM DOME that include interviews with the key players - Shiva Shankar (Australian vocalist and flutist Phil Jones) and Maha Dev (Dave Codling on Guitar) with reminiscences from Jeremy 'Jake' Milton - formerly the drummer with Junior's Eyes.

But the big news is new 2017 Remasters from original tapes by PASCHAL BYRNE - a name that's been on a huge number of quality reissues - East Of Eden, Fairport Convention, Gordon Giltrap, John Kongos, Man, John Martyn, John Mayall, Mike Oldfield, Spooky Tooth, Taste, T. Rex and many more. There is huge presence on those live guitar-tracks like "Burning Bush" on the second LP and power on those droning sitar songs like "Midnight Mode" on the debut. The soft and quieter passages on the near eleven-minute "Dance For The One" from the third album are beautifully clear too. A nice job done overall...

Things don't have the most promising of starts with "Giants" - Shiva's voice as deadpan as it can get. But things improve with "Manco Capac" - a Bass and Flute opening clear as a bell as the singer goes on about spaces and spirits. The pace steps up into really interesting on "Body" - a trippy floating song that trashes about with guitars and flutes - shadows of "Nursery Cryme" Genesis in those strums. But I must admit my heart lies in Side 2's "Notting Hill Gate" - a catchy little sucker and a dead-ringer for a single (it turned up on the "Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal" 3CD Box Set from 2005 covering Island Records more eclectic years) - and the fabulous nine minutes of "Midnight Mode" where halfway through the song – it just goes into four minutes of Sitar-droning - the most brill trippy sound that you’ve ever heard - filling your living room like a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab recording of a Buddhist monastery at lunchtime.

The songwriting seem to take a leap forward with the excellent "Quintessence" album of June 1970 - their first platter to chart in Blighty. "Sea Of Immortality" sounds huge but even better is the crickets/chant song that is "High On Mt. Kailash (Excerpt from Opera) - a swirling drone of Sitars and echoed voices singing in Indian - all of it sounding sexily mystical. The short but pretty "Shiva's Chant" is another winner - itself quickly followed by the echoed flutes of "Prisms" - a stunner for all those sampler fiends out there. "Twilight Zones" speaks of echoes and reflections in the cosmos while "Maha Mantra" is exactly what it sounds like – a live recorded of ‘Hare Hare Krishna’ chanting by devotees banging their Tablas and shaking their bells as they shuffle past the suits going into Oxford Street’s HMV to buy Britney Spears. Another highlight is the almost Gong guitars of "St. Pancras" recorded at the same March 1970 gig that gave up the live version of "Jesus, Buddah, Moses, Guaranga" on the "Bumpers" double-album label sampler. "Infinitum" ends the LP on layered voices giving it some serious '2001: A Space Odyssey' outtakes.

After the head-first dip into Eastern sounds on "Quintessence" - the acoustic "Dive Deep" takes you by surprise - a love so sweet - it will make us all high. Way better is what I think is their masterpiece - the complicated, layered and beautiful in parts "Dance For The One" - a song that captures all the best parts of the band. And the Remaster rocks. "Brahman" offers more audio delight - guitars strumming as the singer informs us of fathomless fountains and worlds within our reach. "Epitaph For Tomorrow" opens well but soon descends into eight-minutes of hippy-enlightenment that feels more Association pop than Quintessence insights. The eight minutes of "Sri Ram Chant" is fantastic - great sound - rich soundscapes - that unique swirl they got as the Vena and Tabla combined with voices singing Indian chants - calls for Universal love.

For sure Quintessence will not be for everyone and there are those who will snigger and poo-poo both them and the times they reflected. But as I said before - there is so much to love here and Esoteric Recordings are to be praised for having the Third Eye balls to put it out there - and in such style too.

Move into the light. I think I’ll move into my man cave with my good buddy - Shiva-Rock...

"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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