"One-Way Glass: Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz & Funky Folk 1968-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (August 2017 RPM Records 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

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

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

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

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"...Out Of Nowhere..."

Weird, adventurous, cool, surprising yet forgotten, brilliant yet often unknown, sometimes crap and even risible - but at other times as Funky as a loved-up Bishop Curry on biblical-speed at a Royal Wedding. I love Box Sets like "One Way Glass..." – it’s not all undiluted James Brown vs. Deep Purple crossover genre-genius for sure - but when its Funky Breaks are good – man they’re shockingly so...

Spanning 1968 to 1975 and offering 58 tracks across 3CDs - "Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz & Funky Folk" is a catchall that goes so deep that even fairly knowledgeable types like yours truly here might look at the artist names on any of these near-eighty-minute CDs and shout 'who the hell are they?' Most are British Rock bands with great players that tapped into their Bad Soulful American Selves on throwaway B-sides and album fillers – getting down with the Groove be it on Mellotron or Wah Wah Pedal. Some are well known names but most were very much on the fringes and get a long overdue outing here.

But for me that's what makes this superb RMP Records anthology such a winner is the dip and discover factor - and all of it presented with knowledge, enthusiasm and even glee (a 42-page jam-packed booklet) and Audio that does well with ancient tapes. There is a heap of Hard Stuff to wade through - so once more my Burning Red Ivanhoes unto the Fat Mattress, Skin Alley and Jody Grind (and that's just the Pesky Gee)...

UK released 25 August 2017 (1 September 2017 in the USA) - "One Way Glass: Dancefloor Prog, Brit Jazz and Funky Folk 1968-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on RPM Records RPMBX 537 (Barcode 5013929553705) is a 58-Track 3CD Clamshell Box Set of Remasters with a 42-Page Booklet and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (79:04 minutes):

1. One Way Glass - TRIFFLE (from the December 1970 UK LP "First Meeting" on Dawn DNLS 3017 – a Manfred Mann Chapter Three cover version – for Triffle see also Track 11, Disc 3)

2. Elegy - COLOSSEUM (from the November 1969 UK LP "Valentyne Suite" on Vertigo VO1)

3. Man From Afghanistan - CURTISS MULDOON (from the October 1971 UK LP "Curtiss Muldoon" on Purple Records TPS 3501)

4. 3D Mona Lisa - PAUL BRETT'S SAGE (from the October 1970 UK LP "Paul Brett Sage" on Pye NSPL 18347)

5. Home Is Where I Belong - QUICKSAND (from the 1973 UK LP "Home Is Where I Belong" on Dawn DNLS 3056)

6. Somethin' You Got - SECOND HAND (from the April 1971 UK LP "Death May be Your Santa Claus" on Mushroom 200 MR 6)

7. Get One Together - PALADIN (from the April 1972 UK LP "Charge!" on Bronze ILPS 9190 - see also Track 2 on Disc 3)

8. Cold Wall Of Stone - FAT MATTRESS (Recorded 1969 and Previously Unreleased at the time - first appeared in 1992 on Sequel NEX CD 192 as a Bonus Track - a UK CD Reissue of their 1969 Polydor Records debut album "Fat Mattress" - see also Track 5 on Disc 3)

9. Libel - HARD STUFF (from the March 1973 UK LP "Bolex Dementia" on Purple TPSA 7507)

10. Sanctuary - GRAVY TRAIN (Non-album B-side to "Climb Aboard The Gravy Train (And Get On To A Good Thing)", a stand-alone July 1975 UK 7" single on Dawn DNS 1115)

11. City Of Darkness - THE WEB (from the August 1968 UK Stereo LP "Fully Interlocking" on Deram SML 1025 - see also Track 15 on Disc 3)

12. Out Of Nowhere - PATRICK CAMPBELL-LYONS (from the February 1973 UK LP "Me And My Friend" on Sovereign SVNA 7258)

13. The Bitch - THE GASOLINE BAND  (from the May 1972 UK LP "The Gasoline Band" on Cube HIFLY 9)

14. I Saw An Angel - PENTANGLE (B-side to the May 1969 UK 7" single "Once I Had A Sweetheart" on Big T Records BIG 124)

15. Ricochet - JONESY (and abridged edit of a track on their "On This New Day" LP issued as an A-side in January 1973 on Dawn DNS 1030)

16. Revolution's Death Man - EDWARDS HAND (from the 1970 UK LP "Stranded" on RCA Victor SF 8154)

17. Macumbe - BOND & BROWN [Graham Bond and Pete Brown] (Track 2 on Side 1 from the July 1972 UK 3-Track 7" EP "Lost Tribe" on Greenwich Gramophone Company GSS 104)

18. Henry - CMU (from the June 1971 UK LP "Open Spaces" on Transatlantic TRA 237)

19. Sunburnt Virgin Trousers - KNOCKER JUNGLE (from the 1970 UK LP "Knocker Jungle" on Ember NR 5042)

20. Cubano Chant - CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the November 1969 UK Stereo LP "Plays On" on Parlophone PCS 7084)

21. She's My Sister - OPEN ROAD (from the August 1971 UK LP "Windy Daze" on The Greenwich Gramophone Company GSLP 1001)

22. The Lord Doesn't Want You - THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN (Recorded 1969, Previously Unreleased at the time)

Disc 2 (79:29 minutes):

1. I've Got My Mojo Working - MELANIE (from the October 1975 UK LP "Sunset And Other Beginnings" on Neighborhood NBH 69168)

2. Eyeballs - BLUE MINK (from the April 1974 UK LP "Fruity” on EMI Records EMC 3021)

3. Celebration - CHILLUM (Recorded 1971, not originally released)

4. Confusions About A Goldfish - JOHN KONGOS (from the 1969 UK LP "Confusions About A Goldfish" on Dawn DNLS 3002 - see also Track 1 on Disc 3)

5. Skin Alley Serenade - SKIN ALLEY (from the December 1972 UK LP "Two Quid Deal?" on Transatlantic TRA 260 - see also Track 10 on Disc 3)

6. Little Message - JODY GRIND (from the November 1969 UK LP "One Step On” on Transatlantic TRA 210)

7. Weren't Born A Man - DANA GILLESPIE (from the December 1973 UK LP "Weren't Born A Man" on RCA Victor APL1 0345)

8. Drinking My Wine - HARDIN & YORK (from the November 1969 UK Stereo LP "Tomorrow Today" on Bell SBLL 125)

9. She's Mine, She's Yours - JUICY LUCY (from their November 1969 debut UK LP "Juicy Lucy" on Vertigo VO 2 - see also Track 12 on Disc 3)

10. Avez-Vous Kaskelainen? - BURNIN' RED IVANHOE (from the November 1971 UK LP "W.W.W." on Dandelion 2310 145)

11. Message To Mankind - DEMON FUZZ (from the November 1970 UK LP on Dawn DNX 2504)

12. Closer To The Truth - ALAN JAMES EASTWOOD (A-side of a September 1972 stand-alone UK 7" single on President PT 379)

13. Wake Up My Children - SIREN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Siren" on Dandelion S 63755)

14. The Devil Made Me Do It - CURTIS KNIGHT ZEUS (A-side of January 1974 UK 7" single on Dawn DNS 1049 - also on the German-only LP "Sea Of Time")

15. Hilary Dickson - ATLANTIC BRIDGE (Track 2 on Side 1 of the 3-Track January 1971 UK 7" EP "I Can't Lie To You” on Dawn DNX 2507)

16. Sly Willy - BLUE BEARD (from the 1971 UK LP "Blue Beard” on Durium D 30-214)

17. Mean Old Man - JOAN ARMATRADING (from the November 1972 UK debut LP "Whatever's For Us" on Cube HIFLY 12)

18. Funky - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (from the withdrawn 1970 US LP "Funky" on Date Records TES 4021)

19. In The Beginning - THE FOUNDATIONS (A July 1970 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17956, instrumental B-side to "I'm Gonna Be A Rich Man")

Disc 3 (79:12 minutes):

1. He's Gonna Step On You Again - JOHN KONGOS (from the November 1971 UK LP "Kongos" on Fly Records HIFLY 7, also a UK chart single that peaked at No. 3)

2. Bad Times - PALADIN (from the May 1971 UK LP "Paladin" on Bronze ILPS 9150)

3. Instant Whip- THE TREMELOES (Non-Album B-side of "(Call Me) Number One", an October 1969 UK 7" single on CBS 4582)

4. The Rock - ATOMIC ROOSTER (an Instrumental from their September 1971 album "In Hearing Of" on Pegasus PEG 1 - also the B-side to the No. 3 chart UK 7" single "The Devil's Answer")

5. Margarita - FAT MATTRESS (Recorded 1969 and Previously Unreleased at the time - first appeared in 1992 on Sequel NEX CD 192 as a Bonus Track - a UK CD Reissue of their 1969 Polydor Records debut album "Fat Mattress" - see also Track 8 on Disc 1)

6. Gesolreut (Live) - SOFT MACHINE (from the February 1973 2LP set "Six" on CBS Records S 68214)

7. Some Kind Of Beautiful - BRIDGET ST. JOHN (from her July 1974 UK LP "Jumble Queen” on Chrysalis CHR 1062)

8. House On The Hill - AUDIENCE (from their November 1969 UK Debut LP "Audience" on Polydor 583 065)

9. Indian Rope Man - NOIR (from the November 1971 UK LP "We Had To Let You Have It" on Dawn DNLS 3029 - a Richie Havens cover)

10. So Many People - SKIN ALLEY (from the December 1972 UK LP "Two Quid Deal?" on Transatlantic TRA 260 - see also Track 5 on Disc 2)

11. Alibi Annie - TRIFFLE (from the December 1970 UK LP "First Meeting" on Dawn DNLS 3017 - see also Track 1 on Disc 1)

12. I'm A Thief - JUICY LUCY (Non-Album B-side to "Pretty Woman", a stand-alone UK 7" single released December 1970 on Vertigo 6059 015 - see also Track 9 on Disc 2)

13. Travelling Like A Gypsy - HANSON (from the December 1973 UK LP "Now Hear This" on Manticore K 43507)

14. Looking For The Red Label - FAIR WEATHER (B-side to "Lay It On Me", a May 1971 UK 7" single on RCA Neon NE 1001)

15. I'm A Man - THE WEB (1968 Recording Previously Unreleased at the time - a Spencer Davis Group cover - see also Track 11 on Disc 1)

16. Pigs Foot - PESKY GEE (from the August 1969 UK LP "Exclamation Mark" on Pye NSPL 18293)

17. One Way Glass - JOHN SCHROEDER ORCHESTRA featuring Chris Thomas (a November 1971 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 45108, Non-Album Track, A-side, a Manfred Man Chapter Three cover version)

Compiled and co-ordinated by JOHN REED and MARK STRATFORD (with help from good eggs like Dave Timperley over at Cherry Red Records) – the 44-page booklet is amazing – a feast of knowledge, album covers, 45 label repros, trade adverts and of course rare photos of artists who are so underground they may have dirt in their mouths. Fluid Mastering has done the transfers and as Cherry Red has remastered much of this in the last ten years – it’s not surprising to find that the music audio is uniformly great. To the music of hairy-men secretly longing to be the Average White Band...

Disc 1: Triffle and their brass-funky "One Way Glass" give the anthology its name - an in-the-background guitar suitably distant as the backbeat gets laid down. Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith trade licks in the bopping Colosseum track "Elegy" while somebody with an itch in Curtis Maldoon is waiting for the "Man From Afghanistan" - a surprisingly cool 'waiting for the man' groove. Flute-Folk-Rock drives the excellent "3D Mona Lisa" - a guitar-chugger by Paul Brett Sage featuring some great fretwork and frantic Small Faces-type vocals. (Songwriter and Guitarist) Terry Davis features prominently on "Home Is Where I Belong" - a genuine highlight on a jam-packed Disc 1. We enter the valley of weird and silly voices tagged onto a Prog Funky beat with the very Greenslade-sounding Second Hand. Another winner on here is Noel Redding's Fat Mattress and their sexy "Cold Wall Of Stone" - Steve Hammond's guitar and Neil Landon's vocals highlights on an outtake from the first album that only saw the light of day in 1992 as a CD Bonus Track. Other notables are the piano-funky instrumental "Out Of Nowhere" by Nirvana’s Patrick Campbell-Lyons (entirely unrepresentative of the album’s overall singer-songwriter sound – see separate review) and the Folk-Rock cool of Pentangle’s groovy double-bass rhythms in "I Saw An Angel".

Disc 2 opens with a shocker - Melanie Kafka getting Funky as she gets her Mojo working (even if it won't work on the man she wants) - a fantastic groover from 1975 when her albums were probably being ignored. Equally shocking is the hard-hitting Labelle meets Sly Stone Funk of Blue Mink's "Eyeballs" - a truly brilliant Bass-Pounding Beast as inspirational singers Roger Cook and Madeline Bell get up to their eyeballs in backbeats and love. Chillum's "Celebration" is certainly funky but as a five-minute instrumental it feels a tad laboured. South African John Kongos gets the first of two entries - the title track from "Confusions About A Goldfish" being his intro - with lyrics flitting about wildly - from Thalidomide to Thanksgiving to the worries of a goldfish in a room we call the World (it's a good groove but "He's Gonna Step On You Again" over on Disc 3 annihilates it). Skin Alley's "Skin Valley Serenade" also promises much but like Chillum's entry feels overly-long and tired. Jody Grind's "Little Message" on the other hand has a fab organ vs. guitar battle going on throughout its pounding stay. Things also pick up with Dana Gillespie's 'Son Of A Preacher Man' groovy "Weren't Born A Man" - as cool as Lou Reed in 1973. Another Disc 3 highlight surely has to be superbly groovy "Drinking My Wine" by Hardin & York - Eddie Hardin and Pete York - both ex The Spencer Davis Group. And I've always been a sucker for the fantastic slide-guitar Blues Boogie sound of Juicy Lucy - vocalist Ray Owen howling and snarling out those sleazy lyrics while ace-supremo Glenn Ross Campbell goes all Johnny Winter on his guitar to truly hair-raising effect. Other notables include the go-go 60ts throwback chug of "Sly Willy" by Blue Beard – the acoustic attack of a young and angry Joan Armatrading on "Mean Old Man", the Flute-Cool Richie Havens-sounding emotional world of "Closer To The Truth" by Alan James Eastwood and a rare outing for the Chicago/BST sounding Jazz-Rock album you never see by The Spencer Davis Group – the withdrawn "Funky" LP on America's Date Records.

Disc 3 features the fantastic Malo/Santana Latin-Rock Fusion of Paladin's frantic "Bad Times" - a huge nine-minute Funk Monster that starts out slowly in 'Oye Coma Va' mode but then builds into a full-on tearaway Boogie with Drums and Guitars battling it out. Shocker-city comes with a B-side from The Tremeloes of all things - the funky instrumental "Instant Whip" with Drummer Dave Munden letting rip on some strangled Screaming Jay Hawkins yelps whilst guitarist Rick Westwood gives it some fantastic guitar chops throughout. I've raved before about the superb Atomic Rooster B-side "The Rock" (flip to "The Devil's Answer") - an instrumental guitar/keyboard/brass groover that's tucked away on one of the era's biggest Prog Rock LPs - 1971's "In Hearing Of..." Surprises come at you in the shape of Soft Machine finding their inner Mahavishnu Funk on the instrumental "Gesroleut" but Bridget St. John's "Some Kind Of Beautiful" is a tad too fey for its own good. Better is "Indian Rope Man" by Noir - a Richie Havens song from his 1969 double-album "Richie P. Havens, 1983" that seemed to produce a long line of covers that rocked as much as the original. And Skin Alley don’t disappoint with their Focus-sounding Flute-Rock-Funky "So Many People". And on it goes...

A huge haul and even for a know-all like me – some amazing finds in genres I love – music I make CD compilations of when Beelzebub is not looking.

Don’t let the vertigo-inducing up-the-side-of-glass-tower-buildings-artwork put you off – there is so much in here to savour and discover. And I'm thinking that somebody in Royal Circles should drop a sword on John Reed’s shoulder for his musical services to ageing Prog hooligans everywhere and their groove-aroused Zimmer frames. Or better still – punish him with four days chained to the pulpit of Bishop Curry after he’s read the Financial Times. That'll teach the little Funky Folker...

Fabtastic Flutes and then some. Recommended...

"Captured Angel/Nether Lands" by DAN FOGELBERG (July 2007 Beat Goes On 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 2 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters

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

Folk, Folk Rock, Country Rock, Reggae, Punk and New Wave

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"...Oil On Canvas…Couplets And Stanzas..."

I have to say that Beat Goes On of the UK have done a solid by Dan Fogelberg’s excellent recorded output – their remasters of his Seventies classics have been utterly superb – and this 2nd volume in that series is no different.

UK released July 2007 - "Captured Angel/Nether Lands" by DAN FOGELBERG on Beat Goes On BGOCD 764 (Barcode 5017261207647) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster that comes in a card slipcase and features Dan Fogelberg's third and fourth studio albums from the Seventies "Captured Angel" (1975) and "Nether Lands" (1977). It plays out as follows...

Disc 1 (38:04 minutes):

1. Aspen/These Days [Side 1]

2. Come And Goes

3. Captured Angel

4. Old Tennessee

5. Next Time [Side 2]

6. Man In The Mirror

7. Below The Surface

8. Crow

9. The Last Nail

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 3rd album “Captured Angel” first issued in the USA in September 1975 on Full Moon PE 33499 and November 1975 in the UK on Epic S EPC 69189.

Disc 2 (45:31 minutes):

1. Nether Lands [Side 1]

2. Once Upon A Time

3. Dancing Shoes

4. Lessons Learned

5. Loose Ends

6. Love Gone By [Side 2]

7. Promises Made

8. Give Me Some Time

9. Scarecrow’s Dream

10. Sketches

11. False Faces

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 4th LP released May 1977 in the USA on Full Moon Records PE 34185 and June 1977 in the UK on Epic EPC 81574.

The 20-page booklet is excellent – all artwork reproduced, lyrics to both albums, full credits and liner notes by noted writer JOHN TOBLER. With the outer card wrap – it’s a classy presentation. But the big news for fans is the fabulous remasters. ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Mastering in London has done the deed (he’s handled large numbers of BGO’s reissues) and his transfers on this 2CD set are beautifully handled. But to the music…

Following the stunning Joe Walsh produced “Souvenirs” in 1974 was always going to be hard (it charted at 17 in the States) and in some ways I still remember “Captured Angel” as being a disappointment when I bought it as a teenager (it reached Number 23). It opens however with a strong double – the strings of "Aspen" segueing into the Country Rock of "These Days" which is followed by the very pretty "Comes And Goes" (a firm fan fave). The title track and its Side 1 finisher "Old Tennessee" sound nice but lack any real killer melody for me.

Things pick up with the piano and Al Perkins Pedal Steel of “Next Time” which could have been an Eagles song. Both “Man In The Mirror” and “Below The Surface” go down the countrified route again - while “Crow” really benefits from the remaster with slide guitars beautifully alive in the mix all of a sudden. “The Last Nail” goes all Eagles again and the remaster brings his stunning multi-instrumental prowess out of the mud – very good indeed.

Things got very melodramatic with 1977’s “Nether Lands” – and not in a good way. The opening title track is swamped with huge strings and orchestral stuff that just feels heavy handed. Things improve with the Country Rock of “Once Upon A Time” now sounding so good and the pretty accordion piece “Dancing Shoes”. Again the shadow of the Eagles surfaces with “Lessons Learned” which sounds like “The Best Of My Love” (fabulous remaster too). “Love Gone By” is trying too hard with its pseudo Rock and Roll franticness - but “Promises Made” which sounds ‘so’ Dan Fogelberg redeems things. It ends with the echoed piano of “Sketches” and the excellent big finisher “False Faces” (a true nugget in his song catalogue – lyrics from it title this review). 

He would hit paydirt with 1979’s “Phoenix” and really open out with “The Innocent Age” double in 1981 (featuring a rare duet vocal appearance by Joni Mitchell on the track "Nexus").

I posted a note on Fogelberg’s website when he sadly succumbed to cancer in December 2007 - yet another teenage hero of mine gone to the great gig in the sky.

Well - now Dan is free - and this beautiful-sounding 2CD reissue does his musical legacy proud...

"Three Six Nine! The Best Of Shirley Ellis" by SHIRLEY ELLIS (April 2018 Ace Records CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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SOUL, FUNK and JAZZ FUSION On CD - Exception Remasters  

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"...Back Track..."

Everything about this CD is right - the beautifully laid-out booklet with genuinely informational and affectionate liner notes from HARRY YOUNG (stunning photos many in colour) - the first time on CD nature of much of the material - Sixties Soul etc. There's just one problem for me - the music is uniformly awful.

UK released 27 April 2018 - "Three Six Nine! The Best Of Shirley Ellis" by SHIRLEY ELLIS on Ace CDTOP 1516 (Barcode 029667087728) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of NICK ROBBINS Remasters (64:07 minutes total playing time).

1. The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)

2. The Name Game

3. The Nitty Gritty

4. Don't Let Go

5. Takin' Care Of Business

6. Such A Night

7. Get Out

8. Kansas City

9. (That's) What The Nitty Gritty Is

10. Bring it On Home To Me

11. C.C. Rider

12. I Never Will Forget

13. I See It, I Like It, I Want It

14. The Puzzle Song (A Puzzle In Song)

15. Ka Ta Ga Ta Boom Beat

16. One Sour Note

17. You Better Be Good World

18. Ever See A Diver Kiss His Wife While The Bubbles Bounce About Above The Water?

19. Birds, Bees, Cupids And Bows

20. Soul Time

21. Waitin'

22. Sugar, Let's Shing-A-Ling

23. Back Track

24. Yes I'm Ready

Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16 and 17 are in MONO - all others in STEREO

Shirley Ellis had three huge chart hits "The Nitty Gritty", "The Name Game" and "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" - but her first LP and single was inflicted with the then clever idea of audience rants and raves (a live vibe) - probably cool at the time but it now feels so dreadfully dated and there's seven or eight tracks of it. Throw in that much of the rest of the material feels like sub-standard Soul ravers made to measure be it Salsa or Calypso or whatever dance trend was tearing up the dancefloors at the time - and song-after-gimmick-song massively underwhelms.

Take the Christmas record "You Better Be Good, World" with its 'Peace Be Unto You' lyrics and warbling vocals - it's just dire Sixties Pop. Despite her fantastic looks and likeable persona - her voice is also only good but not great. Only the single "Get Out" or the raver "Birds, Bees, Cupids And Bows" and the genuinely Northern Soul-exciting "Soul Time" liven proceedings. I feel like a ham saying this - but I found most of it hard going instead of a newly discovered thrill.

I love Ace Records and their Soul Reissues are par-excellence and always have been. But in this case I urge Soul Fans and interested parties to nab a listen to the whole disc first before purchase because for me this is only saved by tracks I already have...

"I've Got A Reason/Dance A Little Light/I Still Have Dreams" by RICHIE FURAY and Band - 1976, 1978 and 1979 Albums (October 2017 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation - 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

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"...A Little Light..."

When I worked at London's Reckless Records in both the Islington and Berwick Street Soho stores - Richie Furay albums were strictly a 'no-no' as a buy-in - pure pound fodder that would be reduced month-after-month until in the end - we'd remove them. And unfortunately on the musical strength of this otherwise exemplary-sounding Reissue – it’s all too easy to hear why.

But that doesn't stop the co-founder of Buffalo Springfield and Poco from having his mid-Seventies Country Rock/Yacht Rock admirers. And fans are going to love this superb-sounding Beat Goes On Reissue of his first three Solo LPs Remastered onto 2CDs – finally making available albums with some high profile guest artists that have long been off the digital radar. Here are the reasonable details...

UK released 6 October 2017 (1 January 2018 in the USA) - "I've Got A Reason/Dance A Little Light/I Still Have Dreams" by RICHIE FURAY on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1310 (Barcode 5017261213105) offers 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs housed in a card slipcase and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (37:38 minutes):

1. Look At The Sun [Side 1]

2. We'll See

3. Starlight

4. Gettin' Through

5. I've Got A Reason

6. Mighty Maker [Side 2]

7. You're The One I Love

8. Still Rolling Stones

9. Over And Over Again

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut solo LP "I've Got A Reason" credited to THE RICHIE FURAY BAND - released August 1976 in the USA on Asylum 7E-1067 and August 1976 in the UK on Asylum K 53043. Produced by BILL SCHNEE and MICHAEL OMARTIAN - it peaked at No. 150 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). All songs written by Richie Furay except Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 9 which are co-writes with the band's keyboardist Tom Stipe. Michael Omartian arranged the Strings on Tracks 3 and 6 whilst David Diggs arranged Tracks 1 and 5.

Disc 2 (75:56 minutes):

1. It's Your Love [Side 1]

2. Your Friends

3. Ooh Dreamer

4. Yesterday's Gone

5. Someone Who Cares

6. Dance A Little Light [Side 2]

7. This Magic Moment

8. Bittersweet Love

9. You Better Believe It

10. Stand Your Guard

Tracks 1 to 10 are his second solo album "Dance A Little Light" (credited to RICHIE FURAY) - released January 1978 in the USA on Asylum 6E-115 (no UK release). Produced by JIM MASON - it didn't chart. Guests include David Cassidy, Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles, Chris Hillman of The Byrds, Rusty Young and George Grantham of Poco, Al Perkins of Stephen Stills' Manassas and Victor Feldman

11. Ooh Child [Side 1]

12. Lonely Too Long

13. Island Love

14. Come On

15. I Was A Fool

16. I Still Have Dreams [Side 2]

17. Satisfied

18. Headin' South

19. Oh Mary

20. What's The Matter, Please?

Tracks 11 to 20 are his third solo album "I Still Have Dreams" (credited to RICHIE FURAY) - released September 1979 in the USA on Asylum 6E-231 (no UK release). Produced by VAL GARAY - it didn't chart. Guests include Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Waddy Watchel and Craig Doerge - all of the Jackson Browne Band, Timothy B. Schmit of Poco and The Eagles, Randy Meisner of Poco and The Eagles, Craig Fuller of The Pure Prairie League (and later Little Feat) and John David Souther.

The card slipcase is classy looking and the 24-page booklet features JOHN TOBLER liner notes that touch of Furay's many-dappled musical history - The Au Go Go Singers (with Stephen Stills), then to Buffalo Springfield, then to Poco, then to The Souther-Furay-Hillman Band and finally his first solo effort in 1976 with "I've Got A Reason". It also features all recording credits as well as band photos – thorough if not a little too reliant on his past history. Beat Goes On's resident Audio Engineer wizard ANDREW THOMPSON has Remastered all three albums (1976, 1978 and 1979 all on Asylum Records) with his usual deftness and skill. These records sound amazing on these new CDs - big Production values brought out in a sympathetic transfer. To the music...

I've Got A Reason's opener the 5:08 minutes of "Look At The Sun" is the first of four co-writes with the band's keyboardist Tom Stipe (the other three are "Starlight", "Gettin' Through" and "Over And Over Again") and for me is easily the best track on a patchy debut album. This Side 1 opener is epic Yacht Rock - his vocals strong and passionate as the melody swoops and dives (it comes complete with a fab string arrangement courtesy of David Diggs). Furay plays Guitar and sings Lead Vocals on all, Tom Stipe plays Keyboards, Jay Truax plays Bass and John Mehler the Drums. The three provide great harmony vocals on the boppy "We'll See" and give it some Eagles on the schmaltzy "Starlight" - a song that hopes to be an epic ballad but never really gets there. Speaking of the bird-boys, "Gettin' Through" goes after "Already Gone" or even "Breaker Breaker" by The Outlaws - but again for me - feels cheesy instead of genuinely exciting. The next best track on here is Side 2's "Mighty Maker" - his Christian beliefs already manifesting themselves in a heartfelt song (gorgeous string arrangements from co-Producer Michael Omartian). The cod reggae-rhythms of "You're The One I Love" are awful and best forgotten as are the sub-Eagles slide-guitars of "Still Rolling Stones". It ends with another non-song "Over And Over Again" - a piano plodder that feels like bad Air Supply.

LP No. 2 opens with the chipper "It's Your Love" - a co-write with Lead Guitarist Virgil Beckham that clearly goes after that Robbie Dupree sound but only half gets there. "You Friends" features none other than David Cassidy on Backing Vocals along with his fellow Poco-pal and soon to be an Eagle - Timothy B. Schmit. Jim Messina (of Loggins and Messina) provides the Guitar Solo and Timothy B. Schmit sings more Backing Vocals on "Ooh Dreams" - another schlock song. Unfortunately "Someone Who Cares" and a trite cover of "This Magic Moment" are symptomatic of a record loaded down with cheese - with only the rocking "Dance A Little Light" providing some brief relief. LP No. 3 opens with the strummed "Oooh Child" -as Yacht Rock as it gets but not in a good way (Randy Meisner of the Eagles guests). Waddy Watchel injects a great slide guitar solo into "Come On" - but the rest of the record feels like insipid instead of inspiring.

In 2018 it's not really difficult to hear why Furay's albums (especially those second and third platters) didn't sell - there's no tunes worth getting excited about and the promise of the better bits on the 1976 debut never realised into something better. Still, fans will love the Top Audio and Presentation. Others are advised to get a listen first...