"Stax Singles Volume 4: Rarities & The Best Of The Rest" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (February 2017 USA Craft Recordings/Stax 6CD Brick Block Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Deep Down Inside..."

Having bought, loved and reviewed in-depth the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Brick Block Reissue Versions of Volumes 1 to 3 in this extraordinary Stax Records Singles Series (originally issued in 12" x 12" Boxes in 1991, 1993 and 1994) - it's taken some time for my rotund tum-tum to get its wriggle-lines around this latest additional tome from Craft Recordings - "Stax Singles Volume 4" - issued February 2017.

Offering die-hard punters 145 Tracks beautifully Remastered by JOE TARANTINO and ROGER ARMSTRONG onto 6CDs (also in a Brick Block Box Set) – it comes accompanied by an 80-page booklet with 4 new essays from compilation producers and Soul aficionados BILL BELMONT, ROB BOWMAN and ALEC PALAO. The music hits many genres outside of the straight-up Stax Soul contained in the first three volumes. Now we get Country, Blues, Rock, Pop, Easy Listening, Gospel and of course liberal doses of 60ts and 70ts R&B, Funk, Rare Groove and Deep Soul. The awful Disc 4 which concentrates on the 'Enterprise' label offshoot lets the side down terribly - coming over like some poor man's Burt Bacharach rejects listen - track after track of saccharine pap with only three or four uplifters.

Info: although the 80-page mini booklet is chock-full of info, photos of those gorgeous American 7" single labels and period memorabilia - the track-lists from Page 5 onwards take the lazy way out and don't actually tell you what the singles are B-sides to? So for collectors I've provided that info in this review for the first time. There's a ton of sexiness (and some clunkers) to wade through, so let's have at those 45 details...

US released 7 February 2017 - "Stax Singles Volume 4: Rarities & The Best Of The Rest" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Craft Recordings/Stax CR00043 (Barcode 888072029712) is a 6CD Brick Block Box Set with 145-Tracks. All catalogue numbers and release dates listed below are for US 7" singles on Stax Records and its label offshoots – Ardent, Chalice, Enterprise, The Gospel Truth, H.I.P., Satellite, Truth, Volt and We Produce and it plays out as follows:

Disc 1 - 29 Tracks from 1960 to 1968 (72:09 minutes):

1. Deep Down Inside - CARLA & RUFUS (August 1960 on Satellite 102, B-side to "Cause I Love You")

2. Yeah, Yea-ah - RUFUS and FRIEND (June 1961 on Atco 45-6199, B-side to "I Didn't Believe")

3. All The Way - PRINCE CONLEY (July 1961 on Satellite S-108, B-side to "I'm Going Home")

4. I'll Never Give Her Up (My Friend) - THE CANES (April 1962 on Stax S-123, B-side to "Why Should I Suffer With The Blues")

5. Just Enough To Hurt Me - THE ASTORS (July 1963 on Stax S-139, B-side to "What Can It Be")

6. I Found A Brand New Love - EDDIE KIRK (September 1963 on Volt 111, B-side to "Them Bones")

7. Fine And Mellow - RUFUS THOMAS (September 1963 on Stax S-140, B-side to "Walking The Dog")

8. Fannie Mae - BOOKER T. & THE MG'S (December 1963 on Stax S-142, B-side to "Mo' Onions")

9. Sassy - FLOYD NEWMAN (December 1963 on Stax S-143, B-side to "Frog Stomp")

10. I Want To Get Married - RUFUS THOMAS (January 1964 on Stax S-144, B-side to "Can Your Monkey Do The Dog")

11. That's The Way That It Goes - BOBBY MARCHAN (January 1964 on Volt 45-113, B-side to "You Won't Do Right")

12. Shake Up - THE COBRAS (March 1964 on Stax S-148, B-side to "Restless")

13. You Belong To Her - BARBARA AND THE BROWNS (March 1964 on Stax S-150, B-side to "Big Party")

14. Watchdog - DOROTHY WILLIAMS (June 1964 on Volt 45-118, B-side to "Closer To My Baby")

15. Free For All - BARACUDAS (December 1964 on Volt 123, B-side to "Yank Me (Doodle)") - Both sides are instrumentals

16. I Don't Want Trouble - BARBARA AND THE BROWNS (January 1965 on Stax S-164, B-side to "My Lover")

17. Sweet Thing - GORGEOUS GEORGE (February 1965 on Stax S-165, B-side to "Biggest Fool In Town")

18. I Found Out - THE ASTORS (May 1965 on Stax S-170, B-side to "Candy")

19. We're Tight - RUFUS & CARLA THOMAS (August 1965 on Stax S-176, B-side to "When You Move You Lose")

20. Chicken Scratch - RUFUS THOMAS (September 1965 on Stax S-178, B-side to "The World Is Round")

21. Weak Spot - RUBY JOHNSON (March 1966 on Volt V-133, B-side to "I'll Run Your Hurt Away")

22. Talkin' Bout True Love - RUFUS THOMAS (September 1966 on Stax 45-200, B-side to "Sister's Got A Boyfriend")

23. If You Give Up What You Got (You'll See What You Lost) - MABLE JOHN (November 1966 on Stax S-205, B-side to "You're Taking Up Another Man's Place")

24. A Small Portion Of Your Love - SAM and DAVE (January 1967 on Stax S-210, B-side to "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby")

25. Keep On Keeping On - RUBY JOHNSON (April 1967 on Volt 45-147, B-side to "If I Ever Needed Love (I Sure Do Need It Now)")

26. Greasy Spoon - RUFUS THOMAS (June 1967 on Stax S-221, B-side to "Sophisticated Sissy")

27. Left Over Love - MABLE JOHN (September 1967 on Stax S-234, B-side to "Don't Hit Me No More")

28. Girl, You Have My Heart Singing - OLLIE & THE NIGHTINGALES (February 1968 on Stax S-245, B-side to "I Got A Sure Thing")

29. Don't Get Caught - MABLE JOHN (March 1968 on Stax 45-249, B-side to "Able Mable")

Disc 2 - 25 Tracks from 1968 to 1971 (75:22 minutes):

1. I'm So Glad You're Back - SHIRLEY WALTON (January 1968 on Enterprise 45-001, B-side to "I Was Born To Love You")

2. We've Just Been Feeling Bad - DELANEY & BONNIE [Bramlett] (May 1969 on Stax STA 0003, B-side to "It's Been A Long Time Coming")

3. I Don't Know - LINDA LYNDELL (June 1968 on Volt VOA-4001, B-side to "What A Man")

4. Love-Eye-Tis - JUDY CLAY & WILLIAM BELL (July 1968 on Stax STA-0005, B-side to "Private Number")

5. Remove These Clouds - JUDY CLAY (September 1968 on Stax STA-0006, B-side to "Bed Of Roses")

6. Stay With Us - THE STAPLE SINGERS (August 1968 on Stax STA-0007, B-side to "Long Walk To D.C.")

7. So Hard To Get Along With - RUFUS THOMAS (August 1968 on Stax STA-0010, B-side to "Funky Mississippi")

8. I Like What You're Doing To Me - JEANNE AND THE DARLINGS (September 1968 on Volt VOA-4005, B-side to "It's Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)")

9. Over Easy - BOOKER T. & THE MG'S (October 1968 on Stax STA-0013, B-side to "Hang 'Em High")

10. Shouldn't I Love Him - MABLE JOHN (November 1968 on Stax STA-0016, B-side to "Running Out")

11. Left Over Love - WILLIAM BELL & JUDY CLAY (November 1968 on Stax STA-0017, B-side to "My Baby Specializes")

12. Sweet Things You Do - JIMMY HUGHES (January 1969 on Volt VOA-4008, B-side to "Let 'Em Down Baby")

13. Grab A Handful - ART JERRY MILLER (March 1969 on Enterprise ENA-9002, B-side to "Finger Lickin' Good")

14. Consider Me - EDDIE FLOYD (May 1969 on Stax STA-0036, B-side to "Don't Tell Your Mama (Where You've Been)")

15. Soul Clap '69 - BOOKER T. & THE MG'S (May 1969 on Stax STA-0037, B-side to "Mrs. Robinson")

16. Standing In The Need Of Your Love - JEANNIE AND THE DARLINGS (June 1969 on Volt VOA-4015, B-side to "It's Time To Pay For The Fun (We've Had)")

17. I Thank You - THE BAR-KAYS (February 1970 on Volt VOA-4033, B-side to "Song And Dance")

18. Make It Good - THE SOUL CHILDREN (February 1970 on Stax STA-0062, B-side to "Hold On, I'm Coming")

19. I'll Be Your Anything - OLLIE AND THE NIGHTINGALES (March 1970 on Stax STA-0065, B-side to "Bracing Myself For The Fall")

20. Let Me Ride - WILLIAM BELL (July 1970 on Stax STA-0070, B-side to "Lonely Soldier")

21. Sunday Sermon - BOOKER T. & THE MG'S (May 1070 on Stax STA-0073, B-side to "Something")

22. Hi De Ho (That Old Sweet Roll) - CARLA THOMAS (September 1970 on Stax STA-0080, B-side to "I Loved You Like I Love My Very Life")

23. A Love Affair That Bears No Pain - SHACK [William] (November 1970 on Volt VOA-4051, B-side to "Too Many Lovers")

24. Just A Little Overcome - THE NIGHTINGALES (May 1971 on Stax STA-0091, B-side to "I Don't Want To Be Like My Daddy")

25. Mannish Boy - THE NEWCOMERS (July 1971 on Stax STA-0099, B-side to "Pin The Tail On The Donkey")

Disc 3 - 21 Tracks from 1971 to 1975 (74:59 minutes):

1. Let Love Fill Your Heart - ILANA (August 1971 on Volt VOA-4064, B-side to "Where Would You Be Today")

2. Ridin' On Love's Merry-Go-Round - THE SOUL CHILDREN (August 1971 on Stax STA-0102, B-side to "Got To Get Away From It All")

3. I Can't Win For Losing - HOT SAUCE [Lead Vocals Rhonda Washington] (September 1971 on Volt VOA-4067, B-side to "I'll Kick A Brick (About My Man)")

4. Ain't Nobody Like My Baby - LEE SAIN (March 1972 on We Produce XPA-1806, B-side to "She's My Old Lady Too") - miscredited in booklet as

 1086

5. Echoes From The Past - HOT SAUCE (March 1972 on Volt VOA-4076, B-side to "Bring It Home (And Give It To Me)")

6. Did My Baby Call - THE MAD LADS (March 1972 on Volt VOA-4080, B-side to "Let Me Repair Your Heart")

7. Baby I'm-A Want You - ISAAC HAYES and DAVID PORTER (April 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9049, B-side to "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)")

8. Pick Up The Pieces - JEAN KNIGHT (July 1972 on Stax STA-0136, B-side to "Helping Man")

9. Stop Teasing Me - JOHNNIE TAYLOR (August 1972 on Stax STA-0142, B-side to "Stop Doggin' Me")

10. Type Thang - ISAAC HAYES (September 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9058, B-side to "Theme From The Men (instrumental)")

11. In Love With You - JOHN GARY WILLIAMS (September 1972 on Stax STA-0146, B-side of "My Sweet Love")

12. Since I Lost My Baby's Love - MAJOR LANCE (December 1972 on Volt VOA-4085, B-side to "Ain't No Sweat")

13. Mama's Baby (Daddy's Maybe) - HOT SAUCE (February 1973 on Volt VOA-4089, B-side to "What Do You See In Her?")

14. Poem On The School House Wall - THE SOUL CHILDREN (June 1973 on Stax STA-0170, B-side to "Love Is A Hurtin' Thing")

15. That Makes Christmas Day - RUFUS THOMAS (December 1973 on Stax STA-0187, B-side to "I'll Be Your Santa Baby")

16. What's Your Thing - THE STAPLE SINGERS (April 1974 on Stax STA-0213, B-side to "Whicha Way Did It Go" by Pops Staples)

17. Yes Sir Brother - SHIRLEY BROWN (August 1974 on Truth TRA-3206, B-side to "Woman To Woman")

18. Funny - HOT SAUCE (January 1975 on Volt VON-4114, B-side to "I Can't Let You Go")

19. Let's Make A Deal - FREDERICK KNIGHT (January 1975 on Truth TRA-3216, B-side to "I Betcha Didn't Know That")

20. Can't Give You Up (I Love You Too Much) - THE GREEN BROTHERS (January 1975 on Truth TRA-3219, B-side to "Dy-No-Mite (Did You Say My Name)")

21. Just Ain't No Love (Without You Here) - JOHN GARY WILLIAMS (May 1975 on Truth TRA-3227, B-side to "Come What May")

Disc 4 - 22 Tracks from 1969 to 1975 (70:10 minutes):

1. The Ballad Of Otis B. Watson - SID SELVIDGE (September 1969 on Enterprise ENA-9005, A-side, written by Don Nix)

2. Black Hands White Cotton - THE CABOOSE (May 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9015, A-side, No. 79 on Pop Charts)

3. Love's Not Hard To Find - DALLAS COUNTRY (July 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9016, B-side to "Small Vacation", written by Don Nix and Ramsey Horton)

4. April - CASPER PETERS (August 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9018, B-side to "Find My Way", written by Don Nix)

5. Reaching For A Rainbow - CLARK SULLIVAN (September 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9022, A-side)

6. I Wanna Be Your Baby - BILLY ECKSTINE (September 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9025, B-side to "Name Of Your Sorrow", written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter)

7. Why Did It Take So Long - CHUCK BORIS (August 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9023, A-side)

8. Why Did It Take So Long - BARBARA LEWIS (November 1970 on Enterprise ENA-9027, B-side to "Ask The Lonely")

9. Gypsy - FINLEY BROWN (August 1971 on Enterprise ENA-9035, A-side)

10. Slip Away - O.B. McCLINTON (February 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9044, A-side)

11. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby - BILLY ECKSTINE (March 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9046, A-side)

12. Good Times Are Coming - BEN ATKINS (April 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9048, B-side to "Day By Day")

13. Some Other Man - RIVER CITY STREET BAND (June 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9052, A-side)

14. Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You - O.B. McCLINTON (September 1972 on Enterprise ENA-9059, A-side - No. 37 on the Country charts)

15. Would I Be Better Gone? - BIG BEN (February 1973 on Enterprise ENA-9061, A-side)

16. Black Cat Moan - DON NIX (April 1973 on Enterprise ENA-9067, A-side - a Don Nix song)

17. She's A Friend Of Mine - DON NIX (October 1973 on Enterprise ENA-9083, A-side- a Don Nix song)

18. Rock N' Roll Warning - LARRY RASPBERRY And THE HIGHSTEPPERS (April 1974 on Enterprise ENA-9099, A-side)

19. Conquistadores '74 - CHICO HAMILTON (June 1974 on Enterprise ENA-9102, A-side - a Chico Hamilton song)

20. The Way I'm Needing You - CLIFF COCHRAN (June 1974 on Enterprise ENA-9103, A-side)

21. Let's Get Together - CONNIE EATON (July 1974 on Enterprise ENA-9105, A-side)

22. The Way I'm Needing You - KAREN CASEY (April 1975 on Enterprise ENA-9111, A-side - Produced by Donald 'Duck' Dunn of Booker T. & The MG's)

Disc 5 - 26 Tracks from 1966 to 1974 (72:01 minutes):

1. Stop, Quit It - THE POOR LITTLE RICH KIDS (December 1966 on H.I.P H-102, B-side to "She's The Best Girl In Town")

2. Cigarettes - LONNIE DUVALL (April 1967 on H.I.P. Records H-104, A-side)

3. It's Mighty Clear - THE POOR LITTLE RICH KIDS (Cancelled December 1966 US 45 on H.I.P. H-105, intended B-side to "I Who Have Nothing")

4. Warm City Baby - THE HONEY JUG (June 1967 on H.I.P. H-106, A-side)

5. For A Little While - THE GOODIES (August 1967 on H.I.P. H-109, A-side)

6. For Your Love - THE HONEY JUG (August 1967 on H.I.P. H-110, A-side)

7. Groovy Day - KANGAROO'S (1968 on H.I.P. H-113, A-side)

8. And I Love You - BOBBY WHITLOCK (June 1968 on H.I.P. HIA-8001, B-side to "Raspberry Jug")

9. Smell Of Incense - SOUTHWEST F.O.B. (September 1968 on H.I.P. HIA-8002, A-side, No. 56 on the Pop Charts)

10. Condition Red - THE GOODIES (November 1968 on H.I.P. HIA-8005, A-side, No. 46 on the Pop Charts)

11. Family Portrait - BILLY LEE RILEY (October 1968 on H.I.P. HIA-8006, A-side)

12. The Children Have Your Tongue - THIS GENERATION (December 1968 on H.I.P. HIA-8007, A-side)

13. Show Me Your Soul - BILLY LEE RILEY (February 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8011, A-side)

14. Day In And Out - THE WATERS (March 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8012, A-side)

15. Hey Jack (Don't Hijack My Plane) - THE VILLAGE SOUND (March 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8013, A-side)

16. Cool My Desire - THE CHEQUES (April 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8014, A-side)

17. Goodies - THE GOODIES (June 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8016, A-side)

18. Miss Rita Famous - PARIS PILOT (October 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8017, A-side)

19. Someone Something - THE KNOWBODY ELSE (October 1969 on H.I.P. HIA-8020, B-side to "Let Us Pray")

20. Feel Alright - CARGOE (July 1972 on Ardent ADA-2901, A-side)

21. In The Street - BIG STAR (August 1972 on Ardent ADA-2902, B-side to "When My Baby's Beside Me")

22. I Love You Anyway - CARGOE (January 1973 on Ardent ADA-2903, A-side)

23. Say What you Mean - THE HOT DOGS (October 1973 on Ardent ADA-2906, A-side)

24. O My Soul - BIG STAR (April 1974 on Ardent ADA-2909, A-side)

25. I Walk The Line - THE HOT DOGS (May 1974 on Ardent ADA-2910, A-side, a Johnny Cash cover)

26. September Gurls - BIG STAR (May 1974 on Ardent ADA-2912, A-side)

Disc 6 - 22 Tracks from 1965 to 1974 (74:09 minutes):

1. Assassination - DIXIE NIGHTINGALES (November 1965 on Chalice 102, A-side)

2. Hush Hush - DIXIE NIGHTINGALES (November 1965 on Chalice 102, B-side to "Assassination")

3. I Don't Know - DIXIE NIGHTINGALES (1966 on Chalice 103, A-side)

4. Wade In The Water - THE STARS OF VIRGINIA (1966 on Chalice 104, A-side)

5. Forgive These Fools - DIXIE NIGHTINGALES (1966 on Chalice 105, A-side)

6. Our Freedom Song (Free At Last) - THE JUBILEE HUMMINGBIRDS (1966 on Chalice 106, A-side)

7. Press My Dying Pillow - THE JUBILEE HUMMINGBIRDS (1966 on Chalice 106, B-side to "Our Freedom Song (Free At Last)")

8. God's Promise - THE PATTERSONAIRES (1966 on Chalice 107, A-side)

9. Hello Sunshine - REV. MACEO WOODS and THE CHRISTIAN TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR (October 1969 on Volt VOA-4025, A-side, No. 28 on the R&B Charts)

10. Tryin' Times - ROEBUCK "POP" STAPLES (March 1970 on Stax STA-0064, B-side of "Black Boy")

11. His Love Will Always Be - TERRY LYNN COMMUNITY CHOIR (May 1972 on The Gospel Truth GTA-1020, A-side)

12. Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You (Don't Let The Devil Fool You) - REVEREND W. BERNARD AVANT JR., and THE ST. JAMES GOSPEL CHOIR (May 1972 on The Gospel Truth GTA-1203, A-side)

13. There's Gonna Be A Showdown - THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (June 1972 on The Gospel Truth GTA-1204, A-side)

14. That Will Be Good Enough For Me - THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (June 1972 on The Gospel Truth GTA-1204, B-side to "There's Gonna Be A Showdown")

15. The Magnificent Sanctuary Band (Marching For The Man) - REVEREND MACEO WOODS and THE CHRISTIAN TABERNACLE CONCERT CHOIR (March 1972 on The Gospel Truth GTA-1205, A-side)

16. Better Get A Move On - LOUISE McCORD (July 1972 on Gospel Truth GM-01030-PL, A-side, Promo-Only)

17. Satisfied - CHARLES MAY & ANNETTE MAY THOMAS (January 1973 on Gospel Truth GTA-1206, A-side)

18. I Got To Be Myself - THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (March 1973 on Gospel Truth GTA-1208, A-side, No. 31 on the R&B charts)

19. He Included Me - THE PEOPLE'S CHOIR OF OPERATION PUSH UNDER THE DIRECTION OF REVEREND MARVIN YANCY (September 1973 on Gospel Truth GTA-1210, A-side)

20. We're The Salt Of The Earth - THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (May 1974 on Gospel Truth GTA-1216, A-side)

21. Reflections - LOUISE McCORD (October 1974 on Gospel Truth GTA-1217, A-side)

22. Ain't No Need Of Crying - THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (October 1974 on Truth TRA-3210, A-side, No. 61 on the R&B charts)

Content: the usual big Stax Soul names are all here - Booker T. & The MG's, Rufus Thomas, William Bell and Judy Clay, Mable John, Ollie And The Nightingales, The Staple Singers, Jimmy Hughes, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes (and David Porter), Johnnie Taylor, The Bar-Kays, Barbara Lewis, Major Lance, Jean Knight, The Mad Lads, The Soul Children and many more. But it comes as a shock to see Rock acts like Big Star, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Bobby Whitlock and Don Nix nestling alongside white obscuro Pop acts like The Caboose, The Knowbody Else and The Cheques. There's Jazz with Art Jerry Miller and Chico Hamilton while crooner Billy Eckstine and Rock ‘n’ Roller Billy Lee Riley addle up to rarely seen Deep Soul types like William Shack, Shirley Walton, The Newcomers and the funky-funky Gospel grooves of The Rance Allen Group.

Between their debut 45 in 1959 and final releases towards the end of 1975 – Stax Records and its subsidiary labels issued over 600 sevens – enough to full 30CDs full of flipsides. So compiler and Stax scholar Rob Bowman has chosen just 75 for Discs 1 to 3 – agony he tells us in the liner notes – but also justified choices because he maintains they're comparable to any other company's A's – and he'd be right. Every disc here is a revelation. Part of the joy too is of course the 'dip in and find out what's cooking' element. So much of this music is obscure and forgotten when it absolutely shouldn't be. That's the good news. The bad is that Disc 4 has some truly awful stuff on it and Disc 5 goes so off-kilter that some may find the listen a tad underwhelming and out of sorts. Disc 4's 22-Tracks of A's and B's are dedicated entirely to the 'Enterprise' label offshoot that began in 1968 and took its name from the popular Star Trek TV Series and its Starship Enterprise (to boldly go where no other label had gone before etc - most of its output didn't go anywhere). Disc 5 goes into the Rock, Rock 'n' Roll and Country oddities that turned up on more offshoots – the H.I.P. and Ardent labels - while Disc 6 gives us a 22-track exploration of the label's deep Gospel leanings – tracks that appeared on the Chalice, The Gospel Truth and Truth labels (as well as one or two on Stax and Volt). It's an amazing haul whatever way you look at it.

Specifics: to see B-sides like Judy Clay & William Bell's "Love-Eye-Tis", The Staple Singers' "Stay With Us" and the Love, Freedom and Peace of "What's Your Thing" (written by Mack Rice), Ilana's Northern Soul heartache-filled monster "Let Love Fill Your Heart" (as amazing as the grooving A-side "Where Would You Be Today"), the Pops Roebuck Staples cover of Donny Hathaway's "Tryin' Times" and even something as ordinary as Isaac Hayes' "Type Thang" (from 1972) finally get centre stage on CD is a thrill (I've been after these elusive buggers for digital decades).

But what also impresses more than the sheer scale of music on offer here (Discs 1 to 3) is the quality of it. It seems that when it came to Atlantic, Motown and Stax Records - the flip sides were just as nasty/cool as the plug-sides. Take Lee Sain's fabulous torch-ballad "Ain't Nobody Like My Baby" as he reliably informs us that ordinary words can't describe his woman or Jean Knight's funky "Pick Up The Pieces" sounding like a solid follow-up to "Mr. Big Stuff" or Major Lance's joyful buckets-of-tears dancer "Since I Lost My Baby's Love" – all fabarooney. Stunning songwriter Bettye Crutcher provides "Mama's Baby (Daddy's Maybe)" for Rhonda Washington as Lead Singer with Hot Sauce - a great keyboard/brass funky dancer (keep your woman sweet). She excels again on the gorgeous ballad of "Funny" - an “I'm over you baby” smoocher that will burrow its way into your heart. Genuine sensations come with not one but two barnstormers from The Soul Children featuring the staggering guttural vocals of John Colbert (known as J. Blackfoot) and Anita Louis on "Ridin' On Love's Merry-Go-Round" and the fantastic "Poem On The School House Door" - Rob Bowman describing their output as something that '...ranks with the greatest deep soul records ever released.'

After the sheer Soul high of Discs 1 to 3 - the fourth CD comes as a massive disappointment - an array of truly awful Pop cack. It opens with "The Ballad Of Otis B. Watson" from Sid Selvidge - a sort of Terry Jacks and Jimmy Webb schmaltz tune about someone's relative dying. The white-boy Rock-Funk band The Caboose and their right-on glory-glory hallelujah "Black Hands White Cotton" actually made No 79 on the US Pop charts - but its live audience overdub and fay earnestness sounds cringing and false now. Unfortunately the Don Nix connection to both the Dallas County and Casper Peters tracks does little to rescue them from their awful saccharine nature. Poor old Billy Eckstine has a set of backing singers inflicted on his "I Wanna Be Your Baby" as he tries to croon sincerely through a rare miss by the duo of Isaac Hayes and David Porter. A moment's respite comes in the Three Dog Night/Steppenwolf Rock of Finley's Brown's heavy-heavy "Gypsy" but again it feels like black people trying to do Led Zeppelin three years after the event and not really knowing how. But Country boy O.B. McClinton and his ludicrously bad cover of Clarence Carter's "Slip Away" comes dangerously close to ending up on a Kenny Everett LP for 'worst records ever made'.

Disc 5 first concentrates on the H.I.P. Records implant for its first 19-tracks - the Memphis Sound of Stax blatantly going after the British Invasion audience with Pop, Bubblegum, Girl Groups and even some Freakbeat. Tracks 20 to 26 wrap up Disc 5 with the Ardent Label featuring the mighty Big Star. Back to HIP - Lonnie Duvall's "Cigarettes" is excellent 60ts Pop but the unreleased "It's Mighty Clear" by The Poor Little Rich Kids is a sub-Byrds knock-off. Better is the great harmonies in "Warm City Baby" by The Honey Jug and the label's bestsellers - the girl group The Goodies and their very Motown shuffler "For A Little While". Psych and Freakbeat fans will dig the out-there take by The Honey Jug on Graham Gouldman's Yardbirds gift "For Your Love" - a guitar and organ swirl that is a million miles removed from everything Stax was about. Even cooler is a cover of The West Coast Pop Art Ensemble tune "Smell Of Incense" by Southwest F.O.B. that actually went to No. 56 on the US Pop charts in September 1968. Motorbike take-me-with-you Girl Group drama comes roaring in with "For Your Love" where some hipster crashes his chopper before our sweet-gal can jump on the rear. The flying saucer Rock ‘n’ Roller Billy Lee Riley finally gets a half decent tune with "Family Portrait" where he comes across as a snarling Leon Russell moaning about marital chicanery. Other winners include This Generation getting their teeth into a good groove and message with "The Children Have Your Tongue" - fuzz-guitars and Pop colliding on "Day In And Out" by The Waters while The Cheques need some aqua chucked over their warbling Hammonds on the groovy "Cool My Desire" (only you can put out the fire). The Knowbody Else cut an impressive dash with their busy "Someone Something" - a sort of combo between and Northern Soul and Freakbeat Fuzz - while Cargoe give it some cool Who-driven Power Pop with "Feel Alright" and gorgeous harmonies on "I Love You Anyway". The three Big Star cuts only add candy to a particularly tasty musical cake.

Disc 6 is exclusively Gospel, Freedom songs and Deep Soul often with a slow Bluesy feel (yum yum). It opens with "Assassination" - a deeply felt funereal recounting by The Dixie Nightingales of Bobby Kennedy's horrible murder. The boys then get all marching Staple Singers with the B-side "Hush Hush" too (great female/male split vocals). The Stars Of Virginia insert some superb R&B Swing into the traditional "Wade In The Water" imbibing their rendition with a very Blind Boys Of Alabama soulfulness. Simple and beautiful "Our Freedom Song (Free At Last)" by The Jubilee Hummingbirds is as heartfelt as anything you've ever heard about MLK and buses in Alabama - justice and equality for all. In fact most of the Chalice label stuff is so rare - I don't think I've heard any of this - and Tarantino has done a great mastering job on tapes that have to be showing their age. By the time I get to Pops Staples magnificent cover of Donny Hathaway's "Tryin' Times" - a criminally forgotten solo-single B-side to "Black Boy" from March 1970 - and the gorgeous "His Love Will Always Be" with Terry Lynn giving it some staggering Soul - I'm (forgive the pun) in Seventh Heaven. That Louise McCord winner "Better Get A Move On" is so good that it was reissued by Ace's BGP Records in 2003 on a split UK 7" single with Otis and Carla on the A (BGPS 019).

To sum up - for sure Disc 4 covering Enterprise Records lets the whole magnificent enterprise down terribly (docked a star for that). But the rest of it is the very stuff of 'Reissue Of The Year' par excellence. I got my copy for just under fifty quid and I'm only smarting that Discs 1 to 3 were not extended by three more!

Dig in Soul lovers everywhere and celebrate Stax Records and The Gospel Truth (yet again). Huge kudos to all involved...and another winner from Craft Recordings

"Planet Mod: Brit Soul, R&B & Freakbeat From The SHEL TALMY Vaults" by SHEL TALMY [Various Artists] (April 2018 Ace/Big Beat CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Going Out Tonight..."

Tempted by the fruits of the Various Artists CD compilation "Making Time: A Shel Talmy Production" released a year earlier by Ace/Big Beat Records in April 2017 (see my review) - I lunged slippers-first in my New Breed duds at this April 2018 Big Beat follow-up CD. This time Ace focus 24-Tracks on Shel Talmy's Production credits for the hugely collectable but short-lived British label 'Planet Records' (almost all tracks are from 1966 to be specific).

All the right names and slants are here - compiled by ALEC PALAO with his usual plethora of fantastically detailed liner notes (cool period photos and memorabilia etc) - Nick Robbins mastering, mega rarities making their digital debut and a whopping 15 of the 24-track haul 'Previously Unreleased'. And as you see from the wildly eclectic artist-list provided below by yours truly - there's a world of cool 60ts music to get through and much to discuss. So once more my mod-dancing pasty-faced groovalicious Banditos unto the Daddy Longlegs and Gamma Goochie (if you catch my drift)...

UK released Friday, 27 April 2018 - "Planet Mod: Brit Soul, R&B And Freakbeat From The SHEL TALMY Vaults" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Big Beat CDWIKD 336 (Barcode 029667085120) is a 24-Track Mono CD Compilation that plays out as follows (60:11 minutes):

1. Daddy Longlegs (Alternate Version) - THE UNTAMED (first issued on the 2000 CD compilation "The Best Of Planet Records: A Shel Talmy Production" on RPM Records RPM 215)

2. Unto Us (Demo Version) - THE NEW BREED (2018, Previously Unreleased)

3. Searching - THE SOUL BROTHERS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

4. Mai Lee - JOHN LEE HOOKER (May 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 114, A-side)

5. Call Me Girl - THE THOUGHTS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

6. Take My Tip (Alternate Take) - KENNY MILLER (2018, Previously Unreleased)

7. I'll Never Fall In Love Again - JOHN LEE'S GROUNDHOGS (January 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 104, A-side)

8. Don't Let It Be - THE TRIBE (2018, Previously Unreleased)

9. Why Do You Stand In My Way - THE PROS & CONS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

10. Have You Ever Had The Blues (Alternate Take) - RAY GATES (2018, Previously Unreleased)

11. I'm Leaving - THE UNTAMED (2018, Previously Unreleased)

12. Too Much Of A Woman - THE CORDUROYS (December 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 122, B-side of "Tick Tock")

13. Goodbye Girl - THE PREACHERS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

14. The Skip (Alternative Version) - GOLDIE & THE GINGERBREADS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

15. Pretty Girl - THE THOUGHTS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

16. Stone Crazy - SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS (First issued on the January 2017 CD compilation "The Planet Sessions" on Ace Records CDCHD 1493)

17. Over You Baby - JOHN LEE'S GROUNDHOGS (January 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 104, B-side of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again")

18. Life's Too Good To Waste - TONY CHRISTIE AND THE TRACKERS (1966 UK 7" single on CBS Records 202097, A-side, A Barbara Ruskin song)

19. The Gamma Goochie - THE TRIBE (February 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 108, A-side)

20. Broken Truth - A WILD UNCERTAINTY (October 1966 UK 7" single on Planet Records PLF 120, B-side of "A Man With Money")

21. Mary Ann - THE PROS & CONS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

22. Think - THE TOTAL (2018, Previously Unreleased)

23. I'm Going Out Tonight - THE UNTAMED (First appeared on the 2001 CD compilation "Gimme Gimme" on RPM Records RPM 223)

24. Goodbye So Long - THE SOUL BROTHERS (2018, Previously Unreleased)

All tracks are in MONO

Fifteen tracks are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - they are Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 24

JOHN LEE'S GROUNDHOGS featured TONY McPHEE on Guitar, PETE CRUICKSHANK on Bass and KEN PUSTELNIK on Drums

Who would become 60ts and 70ts Blues-Rock band THE GROUNDHOGS

The 20-page booklet is a typically splendiferous affair - pictured are uber rare release-sheets for The Tribe's single "The Gamma Goochie" (4 Feb 1966), John Lee's Groundhogs and their version of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" (21 Jan 1966), an I.B.C Studios Acetate for The Pros & Cons unreleased "Mary Ann", a gorgeous colour picture sleeve from Germany on Hit-Ton Records for John Lee Hooker's "Mai Lee", Planet Records publicity calling cards for The Thought, A Wild Uncertainty and The Untamed, an outtake photo of Screamin' Jay Hawkins with his wife Ginny, a snap of the mighty Hook with his guitar backstage at The Twisted Wheel in 1964, and a mastertape from a November 1966 session.

Paulo is the kind of geezer who has way too much knowledge but thankfully his enthusiasm and love for this music never abates. Who else would know that Danny Alexander joined Liverpool's 'The Thought' for their European Tour in 1967 and is this fellow Scouser who sings lead on "Call Me Girl" and a roaring version of The Easybeats "Pretty Girl" - both tracks unreleased (slated as the follow-up to the hugely collectable "All Night Stand" single).

NICK ROBBINS has mastered the compilation and considering the vintage - it's a bang-up Mono job. Most of these cuts are dripping with that hard-hitting Kinks garage sound – groovers and boppers – and some like the unreleased "Searching" by The Soul Brothers would have been hit-record material in 1966. OK – this CD doesn’t contain those mythical darlings of Mod – The Creation – and not everything on here (strictly speaking) has Talmy’s involvement (they admit this). But as Paulo’s notes point out – his fingers and choices are all over every cut. Frankly though – when I’m grooving to the fabulous bopper-cool Alternate Take of "Take My Tip" (dig those brass jabs) by Kenny Miller or the Hammond sexy Boogaloo instrumental "The Skip" by Goldie & The Gingerbreads (another Previously Unreleased Alternate) – I don’t care about strict rules – this stuff is wickedly good.

Tony McPhee and Groundhogs fans now get both the A&B-sides of their second UK 45 on Planet PLF 104 from January 1966 – a £100-plus R&B rarity that often sells for way more (if you can find a copy). The Pros & Cons get two unreleased poppers - "Why Do You Stand In My Way" and "Mary Ann" – the first being a rather weedy Beatles copy with the second being better. Far better is "Have You Ever Had The Blues" – Ray Gates wrapping his Chris Farlowe/Jackie Wilson vocals around a great cover of a Lloyd Price song. The Untamed catch the Southbound train on "I'm Leaving" whilst getting piano-rowdy on the dancer "I'm Going Out Tonight" – our hero telling his baby that he’s going to have a drink or two and call up some girls he knows (that’ll show lad for sure). I can't get over how good the unreleased Soul Brothers finisher is - "Goodbye So Long" - a 'hey hey hey' shuffle that will have Mod dancers wishing it was on a 45 they could hunt down and salivate over.

"...You're Too Much Of A Woman! Hey Now! Oh Lord!" - The Corduroys tell us earnestly on "Too Much Of A Woman" - testifying their groovy passion. 

A rather fantastic little compilation in my books - well done to all involved...

"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...

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"...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...

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"...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...

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CADENCE /CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
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"...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...