"Hotel California: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition" by EAGLES - December 1976 Album on Asylum Records (November 2017 UK Elektra/Asylum 2CD Reissue - CD1 1999 Remaster - CD2 2017 Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 145 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

MORE THAN A FEELING 

1976

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

Just Click Below To Purchase (No Cut and Paste Crap)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MORE-THAN-FEELING-All-Guide-Exceptional-ebook/dp/B0BGT69MVZ?crid=1RTTPB6MEK9Y7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aCLqQD_0x4Xc4Kd7CEKllFnbfqhZ11PdMT_72etNzX9uk4_p_dYzE7ix7BD2qIIrl8-pAv90HElKfIB-_ZesIaS7TKJ-pDCFTgEP2k9aFX6a08GeBKgOKqyKHE6gcf0WacJEY4AKfVHlvo1EyZXb-psq6hf7c8WNvfvSSQUcNdP73WQfDavTWOHn5u81XeWCHJ47XMXWJqovt2Cx2c7BHgnvhCDYy23xFnpilpsAe90.T6uf-EhIxX_KJ8LfLu5E7Pk739m39vwP0A9sw0LfGno&dib_tag=se&keywords=more+than+a+feeling+mark&qid=1717663975&sprefix=more+than+a+feeling+mark%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-4&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=02abe7807076077061be2311e2d581b1&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

"...Passage Back To The Place I Was Before..."

There's something about THE EAGLES that occasionally gets my goat. Don't get me wrong - as a Seventies kid - I lived and breathed the band and this music like so many of my pals. But on CD reissue - this quintessential Americana Country-Rock band have always seemed greedy to me - just two shades short of rip-off city. And I'm afraid this '40th Anniversary Expanded Edition' 2CD Reissue of "Hotel California" does feel like yet another cash-in on a monster album. Having said all of that, infuriatingly, there is much to love here...

First up - they can't even get the date right. December 2016 would have been the '40th Anniversary' and not November 2017 - a whole year late. Second – although the 'Original Album' is a superb Bernie Grundman Remaster – it was done over 17 years ago in 1999 - so there's no upgrade or anything new studio-wise. There's no outtakes, no lyrics, no original poster repro, no inner repro, not even a dedication to Glenn Frey whose horrible passing in January 2016 took everyone by surprise and saddened so many. And although the expanded booklet looks pretty enough in places (see photos supplied) it's over in seconds and hasn't bothered with piddly little things like liner notes or even a posted history of the copy-shifting beast of an album so newbees can get an inkling of its place in Rock's History.

Over on the PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED CD2 things are at least new - the HC band line-up with Joe Walsh on fire - but again we learn it's a truncated disc! You get a well-recorded and exciting live gig from October 1976 taped across three days at the LA Forum which debuted tracks like "Hotel California" and "New Kid In Town" as well as containing other concert killers like Walsh's "Funk 49" from his James Gang days. But we now know that there's more to the concert - yet it's only available on the lavish and ludicrously expensive 'Super Deluxe' Edition. So all tongue-lashing and finger-wagging aside - is this 2CD worth having at all - I'd still argue yes! The album is a gem of course, but that second disc has fantastic-sounding Eagles live material - Joe Walsh with the band - their playing and singing is immaculate. So here are the not-so-new details from the not-so-new kid on the block...

UK and Europe released Friday, 24 November 2017 - "Hotel California: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition" by THE EAGLES on Elektra/Asylum 081227933234 (Barcode 081227933234) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster. BERNIE GRUNDMAN remastered the Original 1976 Album in 1999: a team of Engineers in 2017 (see list below) have handled the unreleased Live Concert from October 1976 on CD2.

Disc 1 – "Hotel California" - The Original Album (43:27 minutes):

1. Hotel California [Lead Vocals, Don Henley] – Side 1

2. New Kid In Town [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

3. Life In The Fast Lane [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

4. Wasted Time [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

5. Wasted Time (Reprise) [Instrumental] – Side 2

6. Victim Of Love [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

7. Pretty Maids All In A Row [Lead Vocals, Joe Walsh]

8. Try And Love Again [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

9. The Last Resort [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth and biggest selling album "Hotel California" – released December 1976 in the USA on Asylum 7E 1084 and in the UK on Asylum K 53051 - Produced by BILL SZYMCZYK. It went to Number 1 in both countries and has subsequently sold over 30 million copies. "New Kid In Town", "Hotel California" and "Life In The Fast Lane" were all US 45s in December 1976, March and May 1977 – with both "New Kid In Town" and "Hotel California" hitting the coveted No. 1 spot.

Disc 2 – "Live At The Los Angeles Forum, October 20-22, 1976" (48:38 minutes)

1. Take It Easy [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

2. Take It To The Limit [Lead Vocals, Randy Meisner]

3. New Kid In Town [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

4. James Dean [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

5. Good Day In Hell [Lead Vocals, Glenn Frey]

6. Witchy Woman [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

7. Funk No. 49 [Lead Vocals, Joe Walsh]

8. One Of These Nights [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

9. Hotel California [Lead Vocals, Don Henley]

10. Already Gone [Lead Vocals, Glenn Fry]

Original Production by Bill Szymczyk - Reissue Produced by Don Henley and Richard F.W. Davis - Mixed by Jeff Balding at Sonic Boom Room, Assistant Engineers Matt Coles and Zack Johnson with Additional Engineering by Kell Katero, Alan Black and Tom Scott.

The three-way foldout card digipak has blurry repro photos of the original artwork and both CDs reflect the iconic label artwork. The 16-page booklet has ‘Rare Photos and Memorabilia’ pictured – concert posters, ticket stubs, the ’77 Tour Program cover, a Trade Advert from the summer of 1978 as they toured July and August as well as period live photos of the famous line-up. The BERNIE GRUNDMAN Remaster has always been great – only amplifying an already beautifully recorded album. And you forget how good tracks like Joe Walsh’s "Pretty Maids All In A Row", Randy Meisner’s "Try And Love Again" and the magnificent Don Henley/Glenn Frey compositions of "Wasted Time" and "The Last Resort". Band fave and almost sixth Eagle J.D. Souther gets two credits – one for the impossibly catchy "New Kid In Town" and a co-write with Felder, Henley and Frey on the hard-hitting guitar-chug of "Victim Of Love". The big surprise comes with how good Disc 2 is...

The Audio for instance on the live "New Kid In Town" is fantastic - almost a good as the album version - plus of course it has a 'newness' to it - the band debuting it for an ecstatic hometown crowd two months the album hit the shops. The guitar solos are almost note-for-note perfect and the group harmonies are superlative. I suspect "James Dean" was the opening song - Walsh ripping into that trademark guitar sound of his - Meisner harmonising with Frey while Felder licks away on his axe - Walsh following in that stunning two-guitar combo they had. Huge slide guitar kicks "Good Day In Hell" into Boogie Mode while stretching back to the 1972 debut album "Witchy Woman" slinks into the set with the first lead vocal from Don Henley. It has meaty guitar solos coursing in its veins as they run alongside that tom-tom beat. What you also notice is that although Timothy B. Schmit had a gorgeous lead and harmony voice with the later line-up - unsung hero here is Randy Meisner's high falsetto that adds so much to a lot of the tracks as he harmonises with either Frey or Henley.

Joe Walsh breaks up the Folk-Rock and Americana repertoire with his stunning "Funk No. 49" - a guitar chomping Funk-Rocker that livens up proceedings before they give the crowd the number-one hit they crave - "One Of These Nights" - Henley oohing and aahing and coming up behind you - searching for an angel in white. Felder and Walsh give it some fab guitar pings as the song romps home - Henley sounding uncomfortable with those impossibly high notes. Even without introduction "Hotel California" elicits cheers from a crowd who are clearly digging the multiple guitars and brilliant words. This could be Heaven or this could be Hell, Henley sings - luckily this is an audio in-between. The duet guitars are wildly impressive - Henley finally getting his amazing voice around lyrics he actually likes and believes in – but there are moments when the in-and-out audio mix just seems to lose it a tad. The band then brings the whole thing to a rip-roaring guitar-wailing finish with the bopping rocker "Already Gone" – feeling strong and singing a victory song.

I suppose you could argue that "The Studio Collection" 6CD Mini Box Set (1972 to 1979) is a far better way to spend your money - all those great hits and the one in-between that you've forgotten. But if you must own a snazzy variant of "Hotel California" - then this belated 40th Anniversary twofer will make your diddly-daddy happy...his expanded waistline digging this expanded edition...

"Atlantic Rock & Roll Series" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (July 2017 UK/EU Atlantic/Stateside 6CD Mini Box Set of Remasters with Mini LP Repro Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Hundreds Of Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, RHYTHM 'n'BLUES & ROCK 'n' ROLL
Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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

"...The Sun Comes Shining Through..."

A little explanation is due on this one. Issuing original Jazz, Blues and especially Rhythm 'n' Blues music - Atlantic Records had been around a decade when they launched this series of six themed albums in July 1957 (all six albums in the same month - this July 2017 6CD reissue is a 60th Anniversary celebration of that). Trying of course to cash in on the rave-craze that had been sweeping the USA and the world since Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" LP on Decca Records in December 1955 – the generic series title Rock 'n' Roll was however a bit of a porky pie.

In truth Atlantic Records had very little to do with Rock & Roll as we now know it (Atlantic was one of the premium race music labels of the day). But that hasn't stopped this legendary series of six LPs from being treasures – all of which are listed between two hundred and four hundred dollars as collectable vintage vinyl. By the time October 1957 had come round - Atlantic were offering these long-playing platters to US dealers at knocked-down rates and thus many of these affordable gems made there way to Blighty as imports where hungry white kids were gagging for the real deal - black singers and bands playing the originals - Rhythm 'n' Blues with a bop and a driving beat and not saccharine covers of Little Richard songs by the likes of Pat Boone.

This UK/EU-issued '60th Anniversary' "Atlantic Rock & Roll Series" 6CD 84-Track Mini Box Set Reissue from July 2017 on Atlantic/Stateside 0081227934354 (Barcode 0081227934354) offers you the six 14-track themed albums in the 'Rock & Roll' Series (straightforward reissues, no extras) as exact repros in 5" card sleeves of the July 1957 US LPs with the original artwork front and rear (see photos below). It's accompanied by a fairly functionary 12-page booklet with new liner notes from Florence Joelle Halfon - most of which is taken up with more detailed tracks lists of the LPs and a picture of the album's front artwork at the top of the page. Each Mono album was comprised of 7" hit singles and their flipsides - some stretching back as far as 1953 and 1954 - along with a couple of new stragglers thrown in to entice buyers of the day. A nice touch too is that the CD labels actually reflect (in a way) the Black & Silver coloring of the those sought-after 50ts originals.

You get  "Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters" on Atlantic 8003 (37:22 minutes), "Ruth Brown" on Atlantic 8004 (38:05 minutes), "Joe Turner" on Atlantic 8005 (39:05 minutes), "Ray Charles" on Atlantic 8006 (41:38 minutes), "La Vern Baker" on Atlantic 8007 (38:21 minutes) and "Ivory Joe Hunter" on Atlantic 8008 (38:06 minutes). In the case of Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters, Ray Charles and Ruth Brown - these long-plays were their debuts on the album's market. For Ivory Joe Hunter and LaVern Baker, "Rock & Roll" was their second album, whilst the older Big Joe Turner (even as early as 1957) saw "Rock & Roll" as album number three. 

As you can see from the total playing times provided above - as original albums they must have been a total blast - but as present day CD compilations they come up a tad short in terms of chock full of goodies. But don't let this put you off. Each unbreakable long player acts as a sort of mini 'Best Of' and the Remastered Mono Audio is spiffing. You also have to take the 'Rock & Roll' Series title with a pinch of musical salt. The music offered here is mostly Rhythm 'n' Blues - and even as you play the opening Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters tracks - Crooner tunes and Vocal Group slowies will come at you too.

The outer box is pretty - as are the card sleeves within and the 'Atlantic Records' label bag pictured on Page 2 of the booklet - but as you can't read the actual liner notes on the rear of each album (penned by Guy Remark). It might have been smarter to reproduce those in the booklet instead of track lists that are already on the rear of the box. The AUDIO is superb however - Remastered versions - all very clean and full of life a full 60 to 65 years after the event. I got my copy secondhand for eight quid - which with post cost me about a tenner - way better than the rather greedy eighteen pounds price tag for one as new.

And musically what these albums lack in hair-gelling Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley excitement - they more than make up for in boppin' R 'n' B and dancefloor Blues shufflers. The La Vern Baker, Ray Charles, Ruth Brown and Big Joe Turner records especially are fantastic fun and properly great listens. And for nostalgia nuts like me (lads of a certain age) - I can't resist that iconic artwork - LPs I've admired and loved for most of my life.

"Flip, Flop & Fly" as the might Joe Turner sang. As a lifetime fan of this stunning record label and a huge lover of Fifties Blues, Rhythm 'n' Blues and Vocal Groups - you could say that the lack of extras here is a tad disappointing and as a voracious collector of the label there's not a lot I don't already have. But as a newcomer - I absolutely envy you the journey...

"Mirage" by CAMEL - March 1974 UK Second Album on Decca/Gama Records featuring Andy Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward (June 2002 UK Universal/Decca 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE /CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Lady Fantasy..." 

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 launched the band into a Prog Rock landscape dominated by giants like Yes, ELP and Genesis. But it was their third LP "(Music Inspired By) 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).

The success of album number three also made fans and newcomers alike look back to their equally good second platter - "Mirage" from March 1974 on Decca/Gama SML 1107 with its striking artwork and lengthy Progtastic tracks. Sales wise "Mirage" did considerably better than the debut in the UK even if it hadn’t exactly stormed the citadel when it came to chart placing (it didn’t register). Now considered by fans as a bit of a classic (even if the public didn’t see it at the time) - "Mirage" did however dent the Top 200 in the USA at No. 149 in November of 1974 prompting a US tour and enough momentum for them to get to "The Snow Goose" where real success lay. Speaking of stepping stones and stepping on toes - the UK artwork for "Mirage" had to hastily withdrawn after the Camel Cigarette company complained about unauthorised use of their famous brand logo - so the Janus Records LP was released in the USA in different artwork - pictured on Page 6 of the booklet.

Always somehow in the shadow of its more famous follow ups "Music Inspired By The Snow Goose" in 1975 and "Moonmadness" in 1976 - "Mirage" is ripe for rediscovery. So let's get Shimmering in the Nimrodel (if you know what I mean)...

UK released June 2002 - "Mirage" by CAMEL on Universal/Decca 8829292 (Barcode 042288292920) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1974 album with Four Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (68:08 minutes):

1. Freefall [Side 1]

2. Supertwister

3. Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider

4. Earthrise [Side 2]

5. Lady Fantasy: Encounter/Smiles For You/Lady Fantasy

Tracks 1 to 5 are their second studio album "Mirage" - released March 1974 in the UK on Decca/Gama Records SML 1107 and November 1974 in the USA on Janus JXS 7009 in different artwork. It was reissued 1977 on Passport Records PB 9855 in the original UK artwork (the original US artwork is pictured on Page 6 of the booklet). Produced by DAVID HITCHCOCK - the album peaked at No. 149 in the USA (didn’t chart UK)

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

6. Supertwister (Recorded Live at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)

7. Mystic Queen (Recorded Live at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)

8. Arubaluba (Recorded Live at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)

9. Lady Fantasy: Encounter/Smile For You/Lady Fantasy (Original Basing Street Studios Mix)

CAMEL was:

ANDREW LATIMER - Guitars, Flute and Vocals

PETER BARDENS - Organ, Piano, Mini Moog Synthesiser and Vocals

DOUG FERGUSON - Bass

ANDY WARD - Drums and Percussion

PASCHAL BYRNE - an Audio Engineer of serious experience - has done the tape transfer honours here and like the others in this 2002 series 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 of the boys in various long-haired serious-muso poses as well as the cartoon artwork for the US LP that seemed to depict a Gryphon type flying dragon perched for action on some moon landscape. The CD re-release is dedicated to Keyboardist 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 three live tracks from a 1974 Marquee gig and an alternate version of the 13-minute "Lady Fantasy" centrepiece on Side 2. Let's get to the music...

A swirling bank of keyboard drones introduces a pounding Bass line as the Side 1 opener "Freefall" unfolds whereupon a very Crimson-like guitar jab soon morphs into men with beards getting Prog Rock about snowflakes falling helplessly to the ground (Andy Latimer’s fretwork shines throughout). Things become very Focus with the three-minute instrumental "Supertwister" - Latimer giving it some flute flourishes as Bardens underpins his note warbles with smoochy keyboards - what you might call 'pretty' Prog. One of the album's centrepieces end's Side 1 - nine-minutes and sixteen seconds of "Nimrodel". It's first part "Procession" does exactly what it says on the tin - a marching rhythm - but that segues into a gorgeous combo of Mellotron and Guitar - Bardens warbling about a 'land beyond the night' (the lane at the back of The Clissold Arms in Finchley mate) only to hurtle towards its otherworldly finish with a heavy synth line and an echoed guitar solo.

Side 2 commences with the near seven-minute "Earthrise" - an instrumental that for me represents excess rather than success - soloing for the sake of it. Which brings us to the LPs big moment - all 12:43 minutes of "Lady Fantasy" - a band composition broken into three parts - its famous opening keyboard repeats and Crimson guitars virtually defining Prog in one minute flat. The monster soon settles into some bippity-boppity keyboards and a tune about a lady he can never hold (reminds me of you). The part I like most is the mellow guitar break at 5:17 - beautifully played and recorded. The 'Original Basing Street Studios Mix' Bonus Track has subtle differences and the live tracks are amazingly well recorded and played. 

"Mirage" isn't a masterpiece - but it's a quality album given an even better lease of life on this exceptional CD Reissue and Remaster - and it's only four squid into the bargain. Seeing double indeed...

"The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" - A Review of the 2018 Film by Mark Barry...

"The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society"

A Review of the 2018 Film

https://youtu.be/HTDNGv61-Dk

"...This One May Work Its Magic On You..."

I can understand how someone could find "The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society" twee and even a tad schmaltzy. But the audience I saw it with loved the movie and wiped away a few tears as the credits rolled.

Defying her extraordinary beauty so it doesn't work against her like she did in "Darkest Hour" - once again actress Lily James shows what she can do when given a leading role. She is properly great as author Juliet Ashton – a young female novelist in London post WWII doing a small book tour she doesn’t believe in to pay the bills. Using the pseudonym Izzy Bickerstaff – she is a dreamer that longs for real connection. Her literary agent offers a lifeline when she is suddenly commissioned to do a story for the Times Newspaper. Ashton will travel to Guernsey to investigate a group of like-minded word-lovers who used a book club to survive the slow drain of all freedoms as the Nazis occupied the Chanel Island in 1941. What she doesn’t expect is friendship, life-changing stories that will inspire a book and the unconditional love of those who had to endure years in servitude whilst now struggling with the consequences, the strange aftermath they find themselves lumbered with.

It helps that the clever story and cast are perfectly matched - Matthew Goode as her literary agent Sidney Stark whose more than a little in love with his own client - Glen Powell as her well-to-do American soldier Mark Reynolds who has put a huge sparkler on his beau's index finger (although she proclaims her love for him she seems unwilling to wear it once she gets to the English Chanel island and meets a local farmer she's been corresponding with) - and Dutchman Michael Huisman as the handsome and goodhearted islander pig-farmer Dawsey Adams who feels a kindred spirit with the English lass from London – a gal with a hankering for Jane Austen and Charles Lamb and can quote whole passages to prove it.

Other notables are Jessica Brown Findlay as the feisty Elizabeth McKenna whose heart and compassion have her taken away by the Germans leaving behind a trail of secrets and wounded hearts - Ireland's Bronagh Gallagher as the embittered religious zealot landlady who seeks to poison Juliet Ashton's enquiries into what really happened to Elizabeth - and especially Penelope Wilton as the frail hurt-to-her-core Amelia Maugery - a woman who has lost too much to the enemy and is unwilling to retell their island stories of occupation for fear of more of the same. Throw in great parts for Katherine Parkinson as the naive and yet magical Isola Pribby and Tom Courtenay as the big softy postmaster Eben Ramsey - and you're firmly in the silver-haired arena of movies. Special mention should also go to little Florence Keen who almost steals the show as the child Kit who looks up to handsome farmer Dawsey and calls him 'dad'. The flashbacks to WW II and then forward to a post-war island one year after work well and are at times amazingly informative - giving insights into a side of that very British War that is rarely discussed.

For sure there are those who will cringe at ah-shucks humour, poo-poo the good-looking leads as unrealistic representations of ordinary folk despite Huisman and James’ fabulous onscreen chemistry, find factual continuity errors and wonder at the sheer size of Lily James' costume wardrobe when she packed one case with some typing pages, an ink fountain pen, wool hats and a possible pair of lacy knickers. But that rather distantly cold assessment does this lovely little movie a massive disservice. Using a team of three screenplay writers - Director Mike Newell has taken a beloved book and done it proud - even if the fishing harbour and town scenes framed by Zac Nicholson's cinematography come over at times like a Downton Abbey Reunion or that Ridley Scott Hovis Advert cranked up to two hours instead of two minutes. And anyone who loves books and the connections they make will quietly quiver inside with page-turning delight as the scenes unfold and favourite booky discussions take centre stage – by the end probably succumbing to an urgent need to crack open a classic right quick.

The accusations of triteness, nostalgia stroked and throwbacks to a simple-life world that no longer exists probably have a real-world point - but bugger them all and knob to their cynicism. There's heart in this film, pathos, sadness, bravery, romance, gentle wit and ultimately a satisfying redemption of sorts. And the audience I was with 'felt it all'.

2018's "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" is a gorgeous big-screen watch - an uplifting story - and another win for seriously good writing, direction and ensemble casting. I urge you to seek out this audience-warming gem of a movie...

"Nighthawks At The Diner" by TOM WAITS - 1975 2LP Live Set of New Material on Asylum Records (March 2018 Anti Records CD Reissue - Waits/Brennan/Lyman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00004Y6O1&asins=B00004Y6O1&linkId=77a8e853d434ff590d2996ad28f16fbb&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book 

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves 

(No Cut And Paste Crap) 

"...Precipitation Is Expected..."

Tom Waits had opened his musical account on America’s Asylum Records with two fabulous singer songwriter albums in the shape of 1973's "Closing Time" followed fast by another equally understated masterpiece - "The Heart Of Saturday Night" from 1974. Dripping with Americana – his louche barstool growl conjured up Bukowski stumbling out of some seedy 43rd Street watering hole into the harsh inner city morning glare – an emotionally-battered bum with a bottle of bourbon in one hand, a packet of Lucky Strikes in the other and some hookers initials carved into his arm with the rusty lid of an Campbell's Tomato Soup tin.

TW's next move was a clever one – an entire double-album of new material recorded live across two days in late July 1975 at NYC's Record Plant in front of an invited audience. Waits sets the scene during the Intro pretending its Raphael's Silver Cloud Lounge as the crowd is treated to the scoop Betty Boop and a Los Angelinos 'emotional weather forecast'. This live setting allowed the music a fabulous looseness – a jazzy sleaze hovering over great new songs – all crammed with his pawnshop suit persona and Gatling Gun wit shining ("...I'm so horny the crack of dawn better be careful round me..."). Although the lounge lizard slumped over a piano amidst plumbs of smoke from a well-filled ashtray routine wasn't exactly new - you can literally feel the enrapt audience both loving and discovering someone special in front of them – perhaps even hearing something and someone unique.

The album has had a limited compact disc history. To my knowledge "Nighthawks At The Diner" was reissued onto CD as far back as 1989 in the USA, Europe and the UK (WEA 960 612-2) along with the rest of his Asylum Records catalogue. Mostly non-remasters – it has remained there ever since. The 1998 version on Asylum 7559-60620-2 is essentially another reissue of that original lacklustre version. Only one track - "Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson)" - has ever been remastered from the 2LP set – featuring on the November 2001 CD compilation "Used Songs" (see review). This is the first time the whole enchilada has received a digital dust-off – and what a revelation it is.

March 2018 now sees Anti Records of the USA reissue his entire Asylum Records seven-album catalogue from 1973 to 1980 on Remastered CDs, DLs and 180-Gram LPs – Anti being his musical home since his "Mule Variations" set won awards galore in 1999. But even though these Remastered CDs are priced at just under a tenner in the UK (and the corresponding dollar rate in the USA) – knowing what Anti could have been given us and outside of the sound – they’re disappointingly bare bones.

Each CD is housed in a faded card digipak, has a picture disc of sorts, a booklet and new Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan/Karl Derfler supervised tape transfers – mastered in turn by Peter Lyman at his Infrasonic Mastering Studios in California (a renowned studio with Grammy award-winners on their resume). Although the disc is a picture CD (at the microphone with his hat on for Nighthawks)  – when you open the digipak you're confronted with nothing - no photo on the left and nothing beneath the tray on the right. As with the booklet for "The Heart Of Saturday Night" – there are no new liner notes, no history (not even a catalogue number for the original release) and worse not a single extra track when these reissues have been screaming out for deluxe editions for years. At least the 20-page booklet allows you to slaver over page after page of lyrics that even 40-years after the event seem amazing. The 2LP set will also to be released on 180-GRAM VINYL in May 2018 with a download code built in (see list below).

So what do you get from your CD...what have the Naugahyde booths been whispering to the Stolly brunettes and Vermouth blondes...

UK and EUROPE released Friday, 23 March 2018 - "Nighthawks At The Diner" by TOM WAITS on Anti 7567-2 (Barcode 8714092756722) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 18-Track 1975 double-album originally on Asylum Records and plays out as follows (73:40 minutes):

1. (Opening Intro) [Side 1]

2. Emotional Weather Report

3. (Intro)

4. On A Foggy Night

5. (Intro)

6. Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson)

7. (Intro) [Side 2]

8. Better Off Without A Wife

9. Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)

10. (Intro) [Side 3]

11. Warm Beer And Cold Women

12. (Intro)

13. Putnam County

14. Spares Parts 1 (A Nocturnal Emission)

15. Nobody [Side 4]

16. (Intro)

17. Big Joe And Phantom 309

18. Spare Parts II And Closing

Tracks 1 to 18 are his third album "Nighthawks At The Diner" (a 2LP set) - released October 1975 in the USA on Asylum Records 7E-2008 and December 1975 in the UK on Asylum SYSP 903 (reissued June 1976 on Asylum K 63002). Produced by BONES HOWE with all songs written by Tom Waits except "Big Joe And Phantom 309" by Tommy Faile and "Spare Parts 1 (A Nocturnal Emission)" by Chuck E. Weiss - it peaked at No. 164 on the US LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).

TOM WAITS - Vocals on all Tracks, Piano on Tracks 6, 8, 11, 13 and 15, Guitar on Tracks 4 and 17

MIKE MELVOIN - Piano on Tracks 2, 4, 9, 14 and 18, Electric Piano on Tracks 6, 8, 11 and 13

PETE CHRISTLIEB - Tenor Saxophone

JIM HUGHART - Upright Bass

BILL GOODWIN – Drums

The digipaks each come with a generic 'Newly Remastered with Waits/Brennan' sticker (Kathleen Brennan is his wife). But when you open this one only to be confronted by blank spaces on both sides and naught new - it all feels staggeringly lazy. Worse - instead of being a celebration of this American songwriter's magnificent catalogue – it comes across the same way the Neil Young reissues did – what could be gotten away with instead of giving fans something to get their teeth into. The inevitable 'unreleased stuff' Box Set will follow on Anti no doubt - thereby costing fans more dosh and yet another purchase. But let's concentrate on what is awesome - the amazing Audio...

Like all the others in the 2018 series - this CD is incredible sounding – Mastering Engineer PETER LYMAN having brought out every nuance of the original quality Production job done by Bones Howe back in July 1975 when the double-album was recorded in front of an invited audience. Every song feels new and up for grabs – the atmosphere tingling as he schmoozes from littered streets to boozy bars.

Waits shuffles into his seat, huffs, then the witty rapport begins and immediately the crowd are in his grasp. In "Emotional Weather Report" we're told of tornado watches issued early Saturday morning in case his heart explodes, precarious fronts coming at the northern portion of his mental health and a pressure ridge extending from his baby's cheeks down to the vice grips on his loins. The crowd whoops and hollers as "On A Foggy Night" leaves our hero stranded in nowheresville with no sign of a gas station for miles. The fantastic "Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson)" paints those nighthawks at the diner – Formica table, slice of toast, hash browns and refilled coffee as the singer tells us "...I'm a refugee from a disconcerted affair as the lead pipe morning falls and the waitress calls..."

The Hopper Painting personalities that fill his stories continue with "Better Off Without A Wife" where bachelors and bowery bums howl at the moon and curse trumpet players who have a way with the ladies. There are so many lyrics to the eleven and half minutes of "Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)" - they take up nearly four and half pages in the booklet - more tales of hustlers over at Chubb's Pool & Snooker Hall - Tom quickly eyeballing the scene with his lips around a bottle neck and his foot on the throttle. The band has taken a break - so something by Tammy Wynette is on the joint’s jukebox in "Warm Beer And Cold Women" where the moon rises and men with tattoos drink deep as they eye the girls giggling over by the fluorescent tubing. Two-lane asphalt roads bristle with Stratocaster Guitars slung over the shoulders of small town Machiavelli types in the brilliant "Putnam County" while his cover of the countryish "Big Joe And Phantom 309" shows his love of storytelling and America's underdogs. I love it to bits...

So – storming great audio and musically the album is a stone five-star singer-songwriter winner - but naught a lot else. Fans will have to own them for sure given the sonic upgrade – but it’s just such a shame that Anti Records haven’t risen to his now legendary status and provided us with something actually worth getting giddy about - especially when it comes to an artist that so many of us have adored for so long.

Tom Waits' third "Nighthawks At The Diner" has always been the runt of his mighty litter somehow - a forgotten artefact – the kind of Seventies artistic splurge they really don't make anymore. But like so much of his fantastic output this twofer-onto-1CD is something that needs to be celebrated. Much like the great man himself. Yet another to buy and enjoy...

TOM WAITS - 2018 Reissue Series of CDs, LPs and Downloads on Anti Records

All CDs are in Card Digipaks, come with Booklets and Pic CDs but No Extras

"Closing Time" and "The Heart Of Saturday Night" released Friday, 9 March 2018 - the others released Friday, 23 March 2018

1. "Closing Time" (1973) – CD on Anti 7565-2 (Barcode 8714092756524)

LP released 9 March 2018 on Anti 7565-1 (Barcode 8714092756517)

2. "The Heart Of Saturday Night" (1974) – CD is on Anti 7566-2 (Barcode 8714092756623)

LP due 18 May 2018 on Anti 7566-1

3. "Nighthawks At The Diner" (1975 Live Double Album onto 1CD) - Anti 7567-2 (Barcode 8714092756722)

2LP Set due 18 May 2018 on Anti 7567-1

4. "Small Change" (1976) - Anti 7568-2 (Barcode 8714092756821)

LP due 8 June 2018 on Anti 7568-1

5. "Foreign Affairs" (1977) - Anti 7569-2 (Barcode 8714092756920)

6. "Blue Valentine" (1978) - Anti 7570-2 (Barcode 8714092757026)

7. "Heartattack And Vine" (1980) - Anti 7571-2 (Barcode 8714092757125)