"In The Land Of The Grey And Pink" by CARAVAN (February 2001 Universal/Decca 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue - Paschal Byrne Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Grumbly Grimblies..."

It seems strange even now that in midst of spring 1971 (April to be exact) when all things Prog Rock really began to explode - that the release of Caravan's third and most beloved of album's "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" effectively tanked.

In fact Canterbury's finest (and Decca for that matter) would have to wait until album number seven "Cunning Stunts" to see some chart action - and even then it did so for one week in August 1975 at No. 50 and then buggered off again (they made a similarly anaemic entry in the States managing only No. 134 with the same LP). The band had played huge festivals in Europe after their second delightfully-titled platter from September 1970 "If I Could Do It All Again, I'd Do It All Over You" and built up a steady and fiercely loyal following at home in Blighty.

And while the Side Two 23-minute opus "Nine Feet Underground" is most definitely Proggy in nature - parts of Side One are more Pop than Avant Garde and even (dare we say it) 'pleasant'. Which is I suspect why the album has stuck in so many people's hearts ever since and remained on Decca and Universal's catalogue for nearly five decades now. So a little like Camel – Caravan have always skirted around the danger zones of success instead of kicking the doors in like Yes, ELP and Genesis did in those halcyon years of the early Seventies.

So what do you get? This quietly uplifting album still sounds poignant and wonderfully eccentric in a very English kind of way – here given a storming CD Remaster, genuinely decent Bonus Tracks and a hefty playing time. As the original Deram LP sleeve note royally pronounced on the 'Deluxe Edition' gatefold inner (the boys ambling over some hill somewhere with their hands raised in the air like some drugged-up pied-pipers) - "...Those of you who haven't heard the group before are in for a very enjoyable initiation." Amen to that baby - let's get to the grumbly grimblies...

UK released February 2001 - "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" by CARAVAN on Universal/Decca 8829832 (Barcode 042288298328) is a Reissue CD Remaster of their third album from 1971 with Five Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (74:45 minutes):

1. Golf Girl [Side 1]

2. Winter Wine

3. Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)

4. In The Land Of Grey & Pink

5. Nine Feet Underground [Side 2]

A 22:40-minute track consisting of the following sections:

Nigel Blows A Tune/Love's A Friend/Make It 76/Dance Of The Seven Paper/Hankies/Hold Grandad By The Nose/Honest I Did!/Disassociation/100% Proof 

Tracks 1 to 5 are their third studio album "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" - released April 1971 in the UK on Deram SDL-R 1 and July 1971 in the USA on London PS 593. Produced by DAVID HITCHCOCK – it didn’t chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

6. I Don't Know Its Name (alias "The Word")

7. Aristocracy

8. It's Like To Have A Name Next Week (Instrumental of "Winter Wine")

9. Group Girl (First Version of "Golf Girl" with Different Lyrics)

10. Disassociation/100% Proof (New Mix)

Tracks 6 to 10 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CARAVAN was:

RICHARD SINCLAIR - Bass  and Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

PYE HASTINGS - Electric and Acoustic Guitars and Vocals

DAVID SINCLAIR - Organ, Piano, Mellotron, Harmony Vocals

JIMMY HASTINGS - Flute, Tenor Sax and Piccolo

DAVE GRINSTEAD - Cannon, Bell and Wind

RICHARD COUGHLAN - Drums and Percussion

The 12-page booklet features all the relevant original LP/reissue CD details these Decca reissues do - illuminated even further by superb MARK POWELL liner notes (he runs the Prog and Avant Garde specialist reissue label 'Esoteric Recordings' for Cherry Red) alongside Trade adverts for the album, a Scarborough concert poster from December 1971 with guests Hookfoot and DJ Compere John Peel, period photo and a repro of the inner sleeve's liner notes. Powell's liner notes detail the band's history from 1968 up to the fourth album "Waterloo Lily" and includes contributions from band members Pye and Hastings. It's all very well done - as is the wonderfully clear and meaty Remaster from original tapes by PASCHAL BYRNE. Those Sinclair keyboard flourishes as you get into the first nine-minutes of the epic "Nine Feet Underground" over on Side 2 are really punchy - the notes rising and falling with clarity as they sail out of your speakers. To the music...

The opening salvo of Canterbury whimsy "Golf Girl" was used as a Caravan representative track on the superb 2002 Universal Box Set "Legend Of A Mind - The Underground Anthology" (see separate review) and it's easy to hear why. With his preppy voice and lyrics about girls handing out cups of tea as he fancies a swing at her putting area - it's five minutes of cool swinging Mellotron-Rock-Pop. The acoustic guitar and vocal combo that opens the near eight-minutes of "Winter Wine" is gorgeous (a great transfer) and when the band kick-in - the punch is huge. Dragons roamed the land and knights in armour saved damsels in distress - "Winter Wine" has always been a smoking dream of a tune - nymphs dancing as the high-hats patter - young men dreaming of things to come (and don't you just love those piano roles as he sings 'you're close to me' followed by that brilliant-sounding organ solo). The 3-minute ditty "Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" is alarmingly Pop - like Caravan had suddenly become Marmalade by way of Sparks and 10cc.

Those mumbling voices that open the title track "In The Land Of Grey & Pink" are a little clearer now - Acoustic Guitars then introducing nasty grumbling grimblies climbing down your chimney - a lovely piano solo soothing your worst 'there are monsters in the stacks' fears. Speaking of which - you would think that a 22:40-minute song consisting of large amounts of keyboard soloing would test even the most committed - but the monster that is "Nine Feet Underground" confirms the flashes of brilliance evident in the instrumental passages of "Winter Wine" and more on Side 1. And it just has that 'Caravan' sound that I love so much - brilliant stuff.

I'm amazed at the quality of the Unreleased Material - great saxophone work on "I Don't Know Its Name..." - a six-minute ambler tune similar to "Winter Wine" recorded December 1970 at AIR Studios in London. "Aristocracy" opens with a few words of studio banter - another outtake recorded 14 December 1970 - falsetto vocals making them sound like The Moody Blues sniffing helium gas. But for me (and fans) the instrumental variant of "Winter Wine" is so damn cool - Sinclair humming the melody in lieu of actual lyrics - clashing symbols and shivering notes trundling along as they flesh out the tune - a fab keyboard solo awaiting you as it boogies to a finish. It's eight minutes of Caravan composing - at work - and its genuinely fascinating stuff.

Great album, fond memories, kicking audio and a cheap-as-chips price tag. Yummy. In the pink on this one - yes...

The UK and Europe 2000 to 2002 Universal CD

'Extended Edition' Reissues and Remasters for CARAVAN include:

1. "Caravan" (February 1969 Debut LP)

Released April 2002 on Universal/Verve Forecast 8829522 (Barcode 042288295228) - features Mono and Stereo LP Versions and A Bonus Track

2. "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" (September 1970)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Decca 8829682 (Barcode 042288296829) with Four Bonus Tracks

3. "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" (April 1971)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Decca 8829832 (Barcode 042288298328) with Five Bonus Tracks

4. "Waterloo Lily" (May 1972)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Decca 8829822 (Barcode 042288298229) with Three Bonus Tracks

5. "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night" (October 1973)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Deram 8829802 (Barcode 042288298021) with Five Bonus Tracks

6. "Caravan & The New Symphonia" (April 1974)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Decca 8829692 (Barcode 042288296928) with Four Previously Unreleased

7. "Cunning Stunts" (July 1975)

Released February 2001 on Universal/Decca 8829812 (Barcode 042288298120) with Three Bonus Tracks

8. "Where But For Caravan Would I"

A 2CD Anthology Covering 1968 to 1975 - released July 2000 on Decca 524 755-2 (Barcode 731452475527) includes Previously Unreleased material

"(Music Inspired By) The Snow Goose" by CAMEL - May 1975 UK LP on Decca/Gama Records (June 2002 UK Universal/Decca 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue - Paschal Byrne Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Rhayder Takes Flight..."

Camel's self-titled debut album from February 1973 had clocked up modest sales of 5000 within its first year of UK release (MCA Records MUPS 473) and their better recorded and presented second platter "Mirage" from March 1974 (Deram SML 1107) did considerably better - even denting the Top 200 in the USA at No. 149 in November of that year (prompting a US tour).

But it was their third LP "The Snow Goose" - an instrumental concept album with 'music inspired by' Paul Gallico's 1941 short story and presented in a classy laminate sleeve (with insert) that turned them into genuine Prog Rock stars and saw Camel finally make a chart presence in the UK (albeit at a modest No. 22). Let's allow the caged bird to sing...

UK released June 2002 - (Music Inspired By) "The Snow Goose" by CAMEL on Universal/Decca 8829302 (Barcode 042288293026) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1975 album with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (67:54 minutes):

1. The Great Marsh [Side 1]

2. Rhayder

3. Rhayder Goes To Town

4. Sanctuary

5. Fritha

6. The Snow Goose

7. Friendship

8. Migration

9. Rhayder Alone

10. Flight Of The Snow Goose [Side 2]

11. Preparation

12. Dunkirk

13. Epitaph

14. Fritha Alone

15. La Princesse Perdue

16. The Great Marsh

Tracks 1 to 16 are their third studio album (Music Inspired By) "The Snow Goose" - released May 1975 in the UK on Decca/Gama Records SKL-R 5207 and July 1975 in the USA on Janus Records JXS 7016 (reissued in 1977 on Passport Records PB 9856). Produced by DAVID HITCHCOCK - the album peaked at No. 22 on the UK charts and No. 162 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

17. Flight Of The Snow Goose (Single Edit - 2:05 minutes)

18. Rhayder (Single Edit)

Tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of a May 1975 UK released 7" single on Decca F R 13581

19. Flight Of The Snow Goose (Alternate Single Edit - 2:49 minutes)

20. Rhayder Goes To Town

21. (a) The Snow Goose (b) Freefall

Tracks 20 and 21 recorded live at The Marquee in London, September/October 1974 - Tracks 17 to 21 all Previously Unreleased on CD

CAMEL was:

ANDREW LATIMER - Acoustic, Electric and Slide Guitars, Flute and Vocals

PETER BARDENS - Organ, Electric Piano, Piano, Mini Moog Synthesiser, Pipe Organ, Acoustic Piano, ARP Odyssey and Vocals

DOUG FERGUSON - Bass

ANDY WARD - Drums, Vibes and Percussion

The first UK CD incarnation of "The Snow Goose" came on Deram 800 080-2 as a Digital Remaster in July 1988 and I had that issue for years - here the audio is notably uplifted - the keyboards and David Bedford orchestral arrangements on "La Princesse Perdue" just beautifully rendered. PASCHAL BYRNE - an Audio Engineer of serious experience - has done the honours here and it's a sweetly warm and musical job done. The 8-page booklet has liner notes from MARK POWELL (later of Esoteric Recordings) that features the usual period photos, an advert for the American issue that dropped the moniker 'Music Inspired By' for just "The Snow Goose", a Decca advert for the album and a tour with guitarist Michael Chapman and the whole thing dedicated to Peter Bardens who had only just passed away in late January 2002 as the reissue was going to press. It's nicely done and the Bonus Tracks are just that - genuine Extras for Camel fans - the period live tracks and the rare single-edits all new-to-CD. Let's get to the music...

The album was conceived and written in a cottage in Devon and in the autumn of 1974 the band toured the new material culminating in two shows at London's Marquee in September and October. Decca recorded some of those performances and they appear as Bonus Tracks on this CD for the first time.

Camel's "Snow Goose" is an album that requires listening - a slice of Prog that creeps up on you with its beauty. David Hitchcock's production values shine as we fade into "The Great Marsh" - floating ethereal like the magnificent birds near water and reeds. "Rhayder" and "Rhayder Goes To Town" are the first flourishes of brilliance from guitarist Andrew Latimer - the latter allowing gorgeous Spanish Acoustic guitar passages to flow into complimentary Mini Moog moments from Peter Bardens (I'm so reminded of Dave Greenslade's band here and especially "Bedside Manners Are Extra".

And as "Fritha” segues into "The Snow Goose" that lead electric guitar sounds amazing - the bass and organ that follow warm and clear too.  Over on Side 2 both "Flight Of The Snow Goose" with its very Prog keyboard fade-in alongside the floating guitars, flutes and ooh-voices of the gorgeous "Preparation" stake out the album's greatness - melody swirling around inside all that birdy concept stuff - music that sounds as beautiful as its subject matter.

A quality album then given an even better lease of life on this exceptional CD Reissue and Remaster - and it's only four squid. Time to fly indeed...

"Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972" by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (November 2014 Rhino 4CD Box Set - Dan Hersch and Brian Kehew Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Distant Cousins…There's A Limited Supply…

...We're Down to Dozens...And Here's The Reasons Why..."

"Sun Zoom Spark" takes its title from a track on the wonderfully bat-shit "Clear Spot" album from 1972. But by my calculations, the last time CD remasters were applied to Captain Beefheart's hugely sought after trio of Seventies albums listed below was over 20 years ago (in 1993 I believe). 

So this 2014 reissue box set of 4CDs by Rhino Records of the USA with its truly fabulous sonic overhaul has been long overdue and is made all the more exciting by Previously Unreleased goodies on Disc 4. Makes me want to booglarize my big toe right quick and grow fins. But before we get all metaphysical on yo ass - here are the Smithsonian Institute Blues, Golden Birdies and Big-Eyed Beans from Venus...

UK released Monday 17 November 2014 - "Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972" by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART on Rhino R2 541728 (Barcode 603497905553) is a 4CD Box Set of Remasters that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (38:48 minutes):

1. Lick My Decals Off, Baby

2. Doctor Dark

3. I Love You, You Big Dummy

4. Peon

5. Bellerin' Plain

6. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop

7. Japan in A Dishpan

8. I Wanna Find A Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go [Side 2]

9. Petrified Forest

10. One Red Rose That I Mean

11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie

12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig)

13. Space-Age Couple

14. The Clouds Are Full Of Wine (Not Whiskey Or Rye)

15. Flash Gordon's Ape

Tracks 1 to 15 are the album "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" - his fourth album first released October 1970 in the USA on Straight/Reprise RS 6240 and January 1971 on Straight STS 1063 in the UK.

Disc 2 (35:59 minutes):

1. I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby

2. White Jam

3. Blabber 'n Smoke

4. When It Blows Its Stacks

5. Alice In Blunderland

6. The Spotlight Kid [Side 2]

7. Click Clack

8. Grow Fins

9. There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evenin' Stage

10. Glider

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 5th studio album "The Spotlight Kid" - released February 1972 in the USA on Reprise Records RS 2050 and Reprise K 44162 in the UK

Disc 3 (37:30 minutes):

1. Low Yo Yo Stuff

2. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man

3. Too Much Time

4. Circumstances

5. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains

6. Sun Zoom Spark

7. Clear Spot [Side 2]

8. Crazy Little Thing

9. Long Neck Bottles

10. Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles

11. Big Eyed Beans From Venus

12. Golden Birdies

Tracks 1 to 12 are his sixth studio album "Clear Spot" - released November 1972 in the USA on Reprise MS 2115 and February 1973 in the UK on Reprise K 54007

Disc 4 "Out-Takes 1970 to 1972" (46:39 minutes):

1. Alice In Blunderland (Alternate Version) [3:55 minutes]

2. Harry Irene [3:33 minutes]

3. I Can't Do This Unless I Can Do This/Seam Crooked Sam [2:00 minutes]

4. Pompadour Swamp/Suction Prints [4:23 minutes] - see NOTE

5. The Witch Doctor Life (Instrumental Take) [5:27 minutes]

6. Two Rips In A Haystack/Kiss Me My Love [2:38 minutes]

7. Best Batch Yet (Track) Version 1 [2:18 minutes]

8. Your Love Brought Me To Life (Instrumental) [3:11 minutes]

9. Dirty Blue Gene (Alternate Version 1) [2:52 minutes]

10. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man (Early Mix) [3:59 minutes]

11. Kiss Where I Kain't (Instrumental) [2:44 minutes]

12. Circumstances (Alternate Version 2) [3:23 minutes]

13. Little Scratch [2:57 minutes]

14. Dirty Blue Gene (Alternate Version 3) [3:03 minutes]

All Tracks Previously Unreleased. Note: "Pompadour Swamps" appeared on the Virgin Records LP "Bluejeans And Moonbeams" LP in November 1974 - but the music is an early version of "Suction Prints" which later appeared on the Virgin Records LP "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)" in February 1980.

The Box Set (using his own paintings as cover art) is shaped a little like a 7" single set with the sepia-printed 20-page booklet inside and four 5" Card Repro Sleeves inlaid into a centred hollow with a red ribbon to pull them out with ease. The fourth disc not surprisingly utilizes one of his paintings as its artwork - a pastel from 1970 called "Button Down Fashion Bow". Each of the three album repro sleeves is of a very high quality with clear facsimiles of the colour artwork front and rear (no gatefolds). A real nice touch is that "The Spotlight Kid" has the lyric insert that came with original copies of the vinyl album and "Clear Spot" has its outer plastic envelope (I'd put the naked CD in a protective to avoid scratching).

The Box has been produced by STEVE WOOLARD and BILL INGLOT (a long time associate remaster engineer for Rhino) and inspired by TIM FRASER-HARDING. The hugely experienced DAN HERSCH carried out the remasters at D2 Mastering in LA with the "Out-takes" done by BRIAN KEHEW at Timeless Studios in North Hollywood. The remasters are sensational to my ears - full of life and presence - both men are to be praised for their work on this.

The booklet I'm glad to say is a classy affair. The size of a 7" single - it foregoes track lists and time-wasting for an essay called "The Sky Ran Down My Pencil" by RIP RENSE which features extracts from Beefheart interviews, Magic Band Trombonist Fowler, Guitarist Morris Tepper, Eric Feldman - celebrities and admirers like Matt Goening of The Simpsons, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, the famous reviewer Lester Bangs from The Rolling Stone and there's even a wicked poem on Don by none other than TOM WAITS on Page 11. There's a witty quote on the side of the box too. But let's get to the real deal - the sonic wallop...

I'm probably going to elicit the wrath of legions, mental health enquiries and many sharp instruments rammed up the softer parts of my elderly person's flabby behind by saying that I've always found the 1969 double-album "Trout Mask Replica" 'hard going'. I say this because the 1971 single-album follow up "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" (after Replica quite possibly the best album title ever in the Universe) feels like "Trout" Part 2. And for this (spurious I know) reason - its fifteen short 'n' gangly discordant vignettes frankly do my brain in. But - and this is not up for debate or grabs - fans who've been listening to the 1993 "Decals" CD version are going to have their grey matters fried this time around because the new DAN HERSCH remaster sounds unbelievable - fantastically detailed and vibrant - bringing new layers to the music that simply wasn't there before. Comparing the new remaster of say "Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop" to its previous version is like comparing a Derby Car wreck to a James Bond's Aston Martin Vanquish - the mad Tom Waits rhythms of "Smithsonian" is the same.

Things go from great to frigging stratospheric on "The Spotlight Kid". There is slight hiss around the opening guitars of "I'm Gonna Booglarize You" for sure - but Mother-of-God when they kick in - the power of the riffage is just HUGE. And then his fantastic voice comes out of the speakers and I'm gone baby gone. The clarity of the pitter-pattering drums and vibes on "Blabber 'n' Smoke" is fantastic and his vocals just 'there' like never before. The same applies to the instrumental "Alice In Blunderland" with that manic Winged Eel Fingerling guitar solo. And I've waited near four decades to hear the harmonica/piano/guitar battle of "Click Clack" sound this good - and that harmonica wailing on "Grow Fins" ("I'm gonna take up with a mermaid...") - wowser!

Then it's on to my favourite album of his and one of the great-unsung masterpieces of the Seventies - the fabulous "Clear Spot". "Nowadays..." sounds amazing - full of life - while you see why people like Everything But The Girl covered the beautiful "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains". The title track rocks and Zoot Horn Rollo's guitar on "Big Eyed Beans From Venus" slides across your speakers like a snake with a Gibson strapped on (lyrics from it title this review). The lovely vibe "Too Much Time" has is now amplified and not over trebled for the sake of it. Great.

The "Out-Takes 1970 to 1972" disc opens strongly with a kicking version of the instrumental "Alice In Blunderland" - wonderful clarity too (no crappy demo feel). He then gets tender on "Harry Irene" and Harmonica Boogie on the short but cool "obscene cookie Sam" song "I Can't Do This..." There's fantastic opening guitar riffing on "Pompadour Stomp" while we get some "right on" dialogue at the beginning of mid-paced instrumental "The Witch Doctor Life". It's Tom Waits time again with "Two Rips In A Haystack" which features his trademark growl vocals sounding not unlike a white Howlin' Wolf. Because I'm so familiar with the realised song - the early mix of "Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man" is utterly brilliant to me - that chug of the brass and guitars have subtle differences - so damn cool. The instrumental "Kiss Where I Kain't" is a fast boogie number that could so easily have been on either "Spotlight" or "Clear Spot". In fact listening the whole of Disc 4 - it feels like the album that should have maybe followed "Clear Spot".

The word genius is liberally bandied about in music - but in truth there's only been a few out-and-out genuine contenders - and the mighty Don Van Vliet was/is one of them. And isn’t it so good to see Rhino return to reissue form and give Captain Beefheart's recorded legacy such a tasty makeover. "Dawned on me man..." - what a winner - and for me a clear reissue of the year 2014.

Rest with the angels and your paintbrushes you anarchic peach...

"Get Down/Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" by CATFISH (December 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 2CDs (No Extras) - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 1 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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"...All Your Sweet Loving..."

Imagine singer Bob "The Bear" Hite of Canned Heat meets guitarist Leslie "The Mountain" West of Mountain at the 'Get High, Get Naked and Get Down Balls To The Wall Boogie Festival' of 1970 - and they have a love child. In their Festival Tent of Shared Greasy Oneness they stare down affectionately at the little critter writhing about with a cigarette in his mouth, a quiff on his head, lifetime membership cards for the Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin’ Wolf fan clubs and a Fender Stratocaster surgically attached to his hands and think - I know - let's call him 'Catfish'...

Detroit's Catfish were a down and dirty Blues Boogie band out of the Motor City of extraordinary power (especially live as evidenced by the second platter on offer here). They managed only two albums on Epic Records (CBS Records in the UK and Europe) - one studio set "Get Down" from March 1970 and one live album made up of almost entirely new material not surprisingly called "Live Catfish..." in April 1971.

Somewhere in-between the musical markers of Canned Heat, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and Mountain - their bluster and blunder approach wasn't all Shakespeare or even sophisticate Blues for sure - but it was real and at times joyous. And when their spiritual leader and principal songwriter BOB HODGE sang - he came over like the son of Otis Redding on a good day (maybe not as good as Eddie Hinton but close) - while his Catfish band regularly crushed it on the guitar and amped-up organ. These guys made a formidable 70ts Rock-Blues clamour.

There's a lot to like here and a 300-Pound Fat Mama to negotiate - so let's get to the Mississippi River and bathe...

UK released 15 December 2017 - "Get Down/Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" by CATFISH on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1308 (Barcode 5017261213082) offers 2LPs newly Remastered onto 2CDs (no extras) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (44:48 minutes):

1. Catfish [Side 1]

2. The Hawk

3. No Place To Hide

4. 300 Pound Fat Mama

5. Love Lights [Side 2]

6. Coffee Song

7. Tradition

8. Sundown Man

9. Reprise: Catfish/Get High, Get Naked, Get Down

Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "Get Down" - released March 1970 in the USA on Epic Records BN 26505 and April 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 64006. Produced by KEN COOPER - It didn't chart in either country.

CATFISH was:

BOB HODGE - Lead Vocals and Guitar

MARK MANKO - Lead Guitar

HARRY PHILLIPS - Keyboards

RON COOKE - Bass

JIMMY OPTNER - Drums

Disc 2 (45:02 minutes):

1. Nowhere To Run [Side 1]

2. Money (That's What I Want)

3. 300 Pound Fat Mama

4. Mississippi River [Side 2]

5. Letter To Nixon

6. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

Tracks 1 to 6 are their second and last album "Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" - released April 1971 in the USA on Epic Records E 30361 and in the UK on CBS Records S 64408. Recorded at Eastowne Theatre in Detroit and Produced buy JOHN HILL - it failed to chart in either country.

CATFISH was:

BOB HODGE - Lead Vocals and Guitar

DALLAS HODGE - Lead Guitar

HARRY PHILLIPS - Keyboards

DENNIS CRANNER - Bass

JIM DEMERS - Drums

The 12-page inlay has the usual original album credits, some black and white photos of Bob and the Band and superb new liner notes from BGO regular JOHN O'REGAN. But the big news is a new ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster. The last time I heard "Get Down" it was on some muddy Special Products CD by Sony out of the States in the early Nineties as I recall - and for such a crudely recorded in-your-face record - left a little bit to be desired. Not exactly audiophile heaven, here the beef is back because each CD rooks. Tracks like the lengthy Blues chug of "300 Pound Fat Mama" has real power now.

The 9-track "Get Down" debut featured all original material - Bob Hodge penning "The Hawk", "300 Pound Fat Mama", "Love Lights", "Coffee Song" and "Sundown Man" whilst co-writing "No Place To Hide" and "Tradition" with Lead Guitarist Mark Manko. The other two are band compositions with someone called T. Carson. You might be fooled on hearing the opening "Catfish" that you somehow stumbled on some bad Country Rock album - a sort of poor man's Creedence - but things pick up with "The Hawk" and "No Place To Hide" - guitar boogies pieces ala Canned Heat. Call me the hawk - take care of business - Hodge roars - "No Place To Hide" featuring the piano and organ soulfulness of Harry Phillips. But Side 1 belongs to the 8-minute "300 Pound Fat Mama" where Hodge sounds like Albert King meets Little Milton as he 'yeahs all the way through this fabulous slow Blues work out. She goes down to Detroit on a Sunday afternoon - he tells us as dirty-sounding Steppenwolf-type guitars sneak past his 'love ya, love ya' chants. But hero of the hour is again Phillips who lays down some fabulous Barroom rolls on the old upright only to follow that with some cool Graham Bond organ licks - a bar-band in your living room (lyrics from the song title this review). There are even moments when he sings 'out on that corner, messing around' when he sounds like a demented Captain Beefheart digging deep into the Blues.

It's easy to hear why Epic tried a 3-minute edit of "Love Lights" as a precursor 7" single for the album in December 1969 (Epic 5-10568 with an edit of the album's "Tradition" on the flipside) - it feels like Joplin's Big Brother & The Holding Company only fronted by a man - Hodge giving it some 'yeah yeah yeah' as he just can't stand the pain and he gets down on his knees and he prays to a God that ain't listening. The short and funny sounding "Coffee Song" is the kind of witty-ditty that must have seemed like fun at the time but seems like a waste of space now. Better is the straight-up Ten Years After rolling and tumbling boogie-riffage of "Tradition" where Bob is going to Louisiana - gotta get there right away - there's a sweet little mama on the other side of the bay he tells us with some urgency (we understand William - we do). The album's raucous medley let's rip with guitars - Catfish going ape as they "Get High, Get Naked and Get Down".

Hearing the debut leaves you with a clear signal - these guys must have been a festival sensation 'live' - and they were. Supporting bands like Black Sabbath, Canned Heat and even Ted Nugent - "Live Catfish" finally realises the potential of the debut. Only "300 Pound Fat Mama" is highlighted from the first album (here turned into an absolutely barnstorming 14-minute Blues-Rock epic) - the other five are new and include two wildly revamped Blues Rock versions of Motown classics - Martha & The Vandella's "Nowhere To Run" and Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Over on Side 2 the Hodge-penned "Mississippi River" and a lengthy rant "Letter To Nixon" show both his love for the Blues and his generation’s rage at the murderous politics of the time ("I wrote Nixon - he didn't write back..."). It ends with a fast 'n' bulbous snort through Jerry Lee's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" – party animal time.

CATFISH were rough and tumble and their down-home unsophisticated sound will not be for everyone - but for those who dig the sheer 'out there' and 'in your face' Blues Boogie of Canned Heat or Ten Years After - there is much to slaver over here. Well done to BGO of the UK for getting them out there at last and in decent sounding form too...