"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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"...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...

"It Shall Be: The Ode & Epic Recordings 1968-1972" by SPIRIT (March 2018 Esoteric Recordings 5CD Box Set - Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Dream Within A Dream..."

Now here's something a bit tasty. Five studio albums in Stereo including their debut in Mono for the first time, a rare Mono Soundtrack from 1969 to Jacques Demy's film "Model Shop" that few remember (it starred Anouk Aimee and Gary Lockwood, was about Los Angeles and remained unreleased musically until Sundazed reissued it in early 2005), the original Stereo Mix of the second album, all the straggler outtakes and session pieces from the 1991 "Time Circle..." 2CD retrospective and the Bonus Cuts from the 1996 Bob Irwin/Vic Anesini Remasters of the albums, Single Sides and more (check out those eye-popping total playing times on CD1 and 2). 108-Tracks across 5CDs. It shall be indeed.

And I love that Randy California story of how he met Jimi Hendrix at the back of a Village Record Shop in New York when he was only 15 (Manny's Music on West 48th Street) just before the God of Guitar was about do his first gig. The two bonded on first eye contact and Randy played with Jimi for 3 months at $7 a night whereupon as legend would have it - it was Hendrix who famously renamed him Randy California as there was someone else in the band called Randy Texas (young Randy thereafter forever waving goodbye to his real surname of Wolfe). Hendrix was then discovered by the savvy Chas Chandler, brought to England to become a star - but Randy was too young to travel and had to stay in the USA to finish his schooling. The band Spirit is full of such stories – great music, great ideals but perhaps not the greatest of luck commercially. A dream within a dream - It certainly was.

There's a mountain of detail to wade through - so let's have at the five and seven dreams...

UK released Friday, 18 March 2018 - "It Shall Be: The Ode & Epic Recordings 1968-1972" by SPIRIT on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 52619 (Barcode 5013929471948) is a 5CD 108-Track Clamshell Box Set of New Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (79:44 minutes):

1. Fresh Garbage [Side 1]

2. Uncle jack

3. Mechanical World

4. Taurus

5. Girl In Your Eye

6.  Straight Arrow

7. Topanga Windows [Side 2]

8. Gramophone Man

9. Water Woman

10. The Great Canyon Fire in General

11. Elijah

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Spirit" in 'STEREO' - released January 1968 in the USA on Ode Records Z12 44004 and June 1968 in the UK on CBS Records S 63278. Produced by LOU ADLER - it peaked at No. 31 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). NOTE: the previously unreleased on CD 'MONO' mix of the album (Ode Records Z12 44003 and CBS Records 63278) is presented on CD4 for the first time - along with other outtakes from the 1967 sessions that appeared on Spirit compilations.

12. I Got A Line On You [Side 1]

13. It Shall Be

14. Poor Richard

15. Silky Sam

16. The Drunkard

17. Darlin' If

18. It's All The Same [Side 2]

19. Jewish

20. Dream Within A Dream

21. She Smiled

22. Aren't You Glad

Tracks 12 to 22 are their 2nd studio album "The Family That Plays Together" - released December 1968 in the USA on Ode Records Z12 44014 in Stereo (only) and June 1969 in the UK on CBS Records M 63523 in Mono and CBS Records S 63523 in Stereo - the ORIGINAL STEREO Mix is used here (outtakes from the album sessions appear on CD5). Produced by LOU ADLER - it peaked at No. 22 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (83:19 minutes):

1. The Moving Van

2. Mellow fellow

3. Now Or Anywhere

4. Fog

5. Green Gorilla

6. Model Shop I

7. Model Shop II

8. The Rehearsal Theme

9. Song For Lola

10. Eventide

11. Coral

12. Aren't You Glad

Tracks 1 to 12 were recorded in 1968 in-between the second and third album (in Mono) and used in the 1969 Jacques Remy film soundtrack to "Model Shop". The music including unreleased material (Tracks 2, 4 to 6 and 10 to 12) was finally issued February 2005 on Sundazed/Sony Music SC 6095 (Barcode 090771619723) as the 12-tracks presented above. 

13. Dark Eyed Woman [Side 1]

14. Apple Orchard

15. So Little Time To Fly

16. Ground Hog

17. Cold Wind

18. Policeman's Ball

19. Ice [Side 2]

20. Give A Life, Take A Life

21. I'm Truckin'

22. Clear

23. Caught

24. New Dope In Town

Tracks 13 to 24 are their 3rd studio album "Clear" - released July 1969 in the USA on Ode Records Z12 44016 in Stereo (only) and October 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63729 in Stereo. Produced by LOU ADDLER - it peaked at No. 55 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 3 (77:30 minutes):

1. Prelude - Nothin' To Hide

2. Nature's Way

3. Animal Zoo

4. Love Has Found A Way

5. Why Can't I Be Free

6. Mr. Skin

7. Space Child [Side 2]

8. When I Touch You

9. Street Worm

10. Life Has Just Begun

11. Morning Will Come

12. Soldier

Tracks 1 to 12 are their 4th studio album "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" - released November 1970 in the USA on Epic E 30267 and February 1971 in the UK on Epic S EPC 64191. Produced by DAVID BRIGGS - the album peaked at No. 63 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

13. Rougher Road - Previously Unreleased "Twelve Dreams..." session outtake that first appeared on the November 1996 CD reissue as a Bonus

14. Chelsea Girls [Side 1]

15. Cadillac

16. Puesta Del Scam

17. Ripe And Ready

18. Darkness

19. Earth Shaker [Side 2]

20. Mellow Morning

21. Right On Time

22. Trancas Fog-Out

23. Witch

Tracks 14 to 23 are their 5th studio album "Feedback" - released March 1972 in the USA on Epic Records KE 31175 (Gatefold Sleeve) and June 1972 in the UK on Epic Records EPC 64507. Produced by DAVID BRIGGS - it peaked at No. 63 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK)

Disc 4 (76:01 minutes):

1. Fresh Garbage [Side 1]

2. Uncle jack

3. Mechanical World

4. Taurus

5. Girl In Your Eye

6.  Straight Arrow

7. Topanga Windows [Side 2]

8. Gramophone Man

9. Water Woman

10. The Great Canyon Fire in General

11. Elijah

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Spirit" in 'MONO' - released January 1968 in the USA on Ode Records Z12 44003 and June 1968 in the UK on CBS Records 63278. Produced by LOU ADLER - it peaked at No. 31 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). NOTE: the STEREO mix of the album is presented on CD1 - the mono mix here for the first time.

12. Veruska

13. Free Spirit

14. If I Had A Woman

15. Elijah (Alternate Take)

Tracks 12 to 15 were first released as Bonus Tracks in 1996 on the CD Remaster/Reissue of "Spirit" - Epic/Legacy 485175 2 (Barcode 5099748517524)

16. I Got A Line On You ("Time Circle" Mix)

17. It Shall Be ("Time Circle" Mix)

18. Poor Richard ("Time Circle" Mix)

19. Silky Sam ("Time Circle" Mix)

Tracks 16 to 19 first appeared on the 1991 2CD retrospective "Time Circle (1968-1972)" on Epic/Legacy 471268 2 (Barcode 5099747126826)

Disc 5 (70:19 minutes):

1. Scherozode ("Time Circle" Mix)

2. All The Same ("Time Circle" Mix)

3. A Dream With A Dream ("Time Circle" Mix)

4. Aren't You Glad ("Time Circle" Mix)

5. Eventide ("Time Circle" Mix)

6. Model Shop Theme ("Time Circle" Mix)

7. Green Gorilla ("Time Circle" Mix)

8. Rehearsal Theme ("Time Circle" Mix)

Tracks 1 to 8 from the 1991 "Time Circle (1968-1972)" 2CD Retrospective

9. Fog

10. So Little To Say

11. Mellow Fellow

12. Now Or Anywhere

13. Space Chile

Tracks 9 to 13 recorded for "The Family That Plays Together" Sessions in 1968 - released as Bonus Tracks on the 1996 reissue CD of that album on Ode/Epic/Legacy 485174 2 (Barcode 5099748517425)

14. Fuller Brush Man

15. Coral

Tracks 14 and 15 recorded for "Clear" Sessions in 1969 - released as 2 of the 4 Bonus Tracks on the 1996 reissue CD of that album on Ode/Epic/Legacy 484416 2 (Barcode 5099748441621)

16. 1984

17. Sweet Stella Baby

Tracks 16 and 17 were the A&B-sides of a non-album US 7"single released December 1969 on Ode Records ZS7 128. Also released 2 of the 4 Bonus Tracks on the 1996 reissue CD of that album on Ode/Epic/Legacy 484416 2 (Barcode 5099748441621)

18. Animal Zoo (Mono Single Version)

19. Red Light Roll On (Mono Single Version)

Tracks 18 and 19 are the A&B-sides of a non-album US 7" single released July 1970 on Epic Records 5-10648. Also released as two of the four Bonus Tracks on the 1996 reissue CD of "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" on Epic/Legacy 485173 2 (Barcode 5099748517326)

20. Morning Will Come (Alternate Mono Mix)

Track 20 released as one of the four Bonus Tracks on the 1996 reissue CD of "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" on Epic/Legacy 485173 2 (Barcode 5099748517326). NOTE: the fourth Bonus track from the "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" CD reissue was "Rougher Road" and is Track 13 on Disc 3.

SPIRIT was (all albums except "Feedback"):

RANDY CALIFORNIA - Guitars

JOHN LOCKE - Keyboards

MARK ANDES - Bass & Vocals

JAY FERGUSON - Vocals & Percussion

ED CASSIDY - Drums and Percussion

"Feedback" album only:

JOHN LOCKE - Keyboards

ED CASSIDY - Drums & Percussion

AL STAEHELY - Lead Vocals and Bass

J. CHRISTIAN STAEHLEY - Guitar & Vocals

While the 20-page booklet is pretty enough and has MALCOLM DOME liner notes - period photos and so forth (the "Model Shop" film poster, sleeve repros etc) - it actually feels rather slight somehow given that there's six albums worth of material here. The LPs are discussed but none of the extras - the five singular card sleeves might have served the set better if they used the five studio albums as artwork so we don't find ourselves missing the mighty "Twelve Dreams..." or "Feedback" in their Gatefold Sleeves. On the rear of each card there are band photos, the CDs are picture discs too and the booklet's last page uses the rear sleeve of the "Clear" LP as its artwork.

But that aside - I'm digging the new BEN WISEMAN Remasters - tapes licensed from Sony Products. I had the Vic Anesini/Bob Irwin versions from 1996 - two Audio Engineers I love - and I'd have to say that here even though the difference is slight - I'm noticing it in the bottom end. Those Marty Paich arranged strings on the instrumental "Taurus" on the debut are wonderful  (hello Jimmy - got an acoustic guitar opener sequence you need) and the ah-ha-ha opening of "Mr. Skin" on "Twelve Dreams..." as well as the fade-out echoed brass is as good as the Mobile Fidelity CD I had decades ago. I'd still prefer the Stereo Mix to the Mono when it comes to the treated Sitars on the debut's wicked and cool "The Girl In Your Eye". And the whole recorded shebang is here too. Let's get to the space children...

Famously "Fresh Garbage" from the wonderfully confident self-titled debut was on the early playlists of the newly formed Led Zeppelin while the Acoustic guitar notes in the instrumental "Taurus" bear an uncanny resemblance to the opening acoustic-guitar passage in "Stairway To Heaven". And given their Houses of the Unholy penchant for nicking other people's tunes on all of the first four albums - this similarity landed them in court in 2004 over copyright infringement (Zep won - much to Randy's decades-long chagrin). There's a wonderful rolling Byrds feel to "Straight Arrow" while Randy gets to stretch out Bloomfield-style on "Topanga Windows". Tracks like "Gramophone Man" and "Water Woman" would have enamoured them to Jefferson Airplane fans and you have to love those counterpoint vocals. Both "The Great Canyon" and "Elijah" show experimentation and how good a songwriter Jay Ferguson was - the latter being one of those cool so-60ts instrumentals that's part Rock, part Jazz-Fusion and very 'Spirit' in its eleven-minute's long 'we don't care if it isn't commercial' structure. Great audio too...

Sexily Hitsville and cool into the bargain - "I Got A Line" opened the second album and their singles account proper. Feeling like Spirit had suddenly arrived - Randy California's Motown-Rock-Soul song hit No. 25 in the States on Ode ZS7 115 (the album's "She Smiled" was the flipside – a pretty flowers-in-her-hair ballad over on Side 2). The record just gets better with "It Shall Be" a co-write between Randy and Keyboardist John Locke - one of my favourites of their early tracks (Marty Paich arranged the Horns but we still don't know whose playing the flute). Jay Ferguson's "Poor Richard" runs into his "Silky Sam" - a talkative nutter and a travelling salesman immortalised in each song. I love the string arrangements on "The Drunkard" (a drunk missing his daughter's message) while the Randy California penned "Darlin' If" has more to do with Buffalo Springfield than Spirit. Things go to grungy boogie with Randy and Ed Cassidy's "All The Same" while the weirdly wonderful "Jewish" is a Psalm put to Space Rock (dig those twinned guitars). But my fave-crave is "Dream Within A Dream" - a Jay Ferguson song – slipping off his mortal coil for trippy Californian Rock and enjoying the process of both. "The Family That Plays Together" ends with Ferguson's equally ambitious "Aren't You Glad" - five and half minutes of slow piano and guitar rock - the kind of tune that has an epic feel as those strings come floating in and Randy let’s rip on that 48th Street guitar.

The Mono Audio gives the short but hugely interesting instrumentals on "Model Body" a very focused urgency. "The Moving Van" and "Mellow Fellow" feel like Spirit have merged with The Doors and gone off on an early Santana experimental guitar trip - whilst the guitar chug of "Green Gorilla" (one of the few tunes with some singing) is way cooler than it had any right to be. The near six-minutes of "Song For Lola" is a blast - a mixture of echoed Bass lines, shimmering vibes, empty spaces and plaintive-gumshoe piano notes - like its Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd searching for a tune. Hell even the five and a half-minute demo of "Aren't You Glad" is truly excellent as a Bonus - tremendous guitar soloing over a slinky keyboard refrain. Many people rate 1969's rocking "Clear" as placement number two behind "Twelve Dreams..." (I think they’re equal) and on hearing tracks like the superb "Dark Eyed Woman" and the sexy "So Little Time To Fly" – both show how much the guitar prowess had come on. "Ground Hog" sounds amazing as it opens – those flicked Bass notes to the left and the layered vocals to the right. Ferguson could surprise with the tender and lonesome-lovers vibe to "Cold Wind" – the same with the hugely evocative instrumentals "Clear" followed by Locke’s piano-lounge-room-sexy "Caught" both feeling like something off of a particularly effective John Barry soundtrack. "Give A Life, Take A Life" is fantastic 60ts Rock-Pop – a rare co-write between Producer Lou Adler and Randy California.

For me "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" has always been their zenith. "Prelude - Nothin' To Hide" is a wickedly good opener showcasing the Bluesy slide guitar of Randy California arising out of an Acoustic beginning. Its 3:43 minutes is full of clever chords, vocal layering and that unexpected slide break (funky) - it's lyrics about being "married to the same bride" sounding racy without knowing why. The acoustic balladry of "Nature's Way" comes as a melodic calmer after all the preceding speaker-to-speaker riffage. "Nature's Way" is a short but gorgeous song and one I return to again and again. It's followed by the album's lead off single "Animal Zoo" - the 7" Mono Single Mix of which is a Bonus Track. You can hear why Epic picked it's upbeat rhythms as an album taster - that hooky beat, the Bass break and Keyboard interlude making it more musically interesting that most anything else on the scene at the time. And as they sing "...much too fat...and a little too long..." during the sound-effect fade out in their best Todd Rundgren mad hatter voices - it had a 'Spirit' sound.

"Love Has Found A Way" floats in with speeded up guitar sounds floating over clever melodic vocal lines - sort of Frank Zappa with a melody at its vibe core. The one-minute and acoustic "Why Can't I Be Free" feels like a beautiful plea for peace of mind as it swirls around in a haze of marijuana. But then we get Side 1's other masterpiece - the brill "Mr. Skin" - it's fantastic choppy beat benefitting from Brass Arrangements done by David Blumberg. Epic in Britain gave it a belated 7" single release in February 1973 with "Nature's Way" on the B-side (Epic S EPC 7082).

Side 2 opens with probably my fave instrumental by them – the trippy brilliance of “Space Child” – a piano floater with superb sound scapes and ideas. We then get wickedly good speaker-to-speaker guitar in the driving "When I Touch You" - a Jay Ferguson song that already has Jo Jo Gunne in it - the band he would form after Spirit with Mark Andes and his brother Matthew. "Street Worm" could easily be "Stand Up" or "Benefit" Jethro Tull - a very catchy Guitar/Piano duo back up Ferguson's wailing about 'not making any deal' with the man. Things go seriously melodic with the beautifully produced "Life Has Just Begun" - an acoustic builder where all their voices are featured to great effect (wonderful remaster). The album goes into its only Rock 'n' Roll boogie in the shape of "Morning Will Come" (lyrics from it title this review) cleverly offset by the faded-in Elton John-type piano of "Soldier" - a serious song giving huge power by the pipe organ Producer David Briggs recorded for the finisher. It rounds off an album that just grows and grows with each listen...

I had expected the Bonus Tracks to be throwaway - but if anything the Previously Unreleased Byrds-sounding "Rougher Road" is a bit of a gem. The single mix of "Animal Zoo" has a visceral punch in Mono - not so sure about the Alternate Mono Mix of "Morning Will Come" which I think loses its power compared to the finished Stereo LP cut. The 'tapes rolling - this is Take No. 1' dialogue at the beginning of the non-album B-side "Red Light Roll On" only adds to its excellence (shame there appears to be no Stereo variant of this wicked groover). The extras elsewhere are all good too.

Ok you could argue that the weak "Feedback" album lets the side down (four stars for that alone) and others have moaned about the card sleeve presentation (I think they are fine). But whatever way you look at it – Esoteric Recordings have stumped up yet another goody here. And if ever a band deserved reappraisal – there surely SPIRIT shall be that band...