"Clint Eastwood/Many Moods Of The Upsetters" by THE UPSETTERS featuring Lee 'Scratch' Perry (April 2019 UK Doctor Bird Records Compilation – 2LPs onto 2CDs Plus 24 Bonus Tracks From The Period Involving Producer Lee Perry – Andy Pearce Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Rightful Ruler..."

In the world of Reggae (especially Jamaican Reggae) – two names elicit a certain knee-trembling excitement amidst arthritic old-fart collectors like me. And this fabulous April 2019 Doctor Bird Records 2CD reissue out of the UK offers up truck loads of both – the magical Pama Records label - and the wonder-kid Producer and Arranger, the rightful ruler himself - Lee 'Scratch' Perry. It’s enough to make me throw my spaghetti at a Western. So what’s on offer partner?

For a few dollar more you get two hugely sought-after British-issued Pama Records LPs from 1969 and 1970 (pricey and so rare on original vinyl) bolstered up with a whopping 24 Bonus Tracks featuring period productions by Perry, much of it making its digital debut after half a century in genre obscurity (48 tracks in all remastered by top Audio hero Andy Pearce). Time to don the poncho, holster the pistols, spit on mangy dogs and get to the big shots within...

UK released Friday, 5 April 2019 (12 April 2019 in the USA) - "Clint Eastwood/Many Moods Of The Upsetters" by THE UPSETTERS (featuring LEE 'SCRATCH' PERRY) on Doctor Bird Records DBCDD-034 (Barcode 5013929273436) offers 2 x 12-Track LPs from 1969 and 1970 originally on Pama Records (UK) Remastered onto 2CDs with A Further Twenty-Four Period Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (62:36 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 are "Clint Eastwood" by THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK MONO LP on Pama Records PSP-1014)

Tracks 5 and 10 exclusive to the LP, other 10 tracks were UK 45s as noted

Side 1:

1. Return Of The Ugly - THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 18, A)

2. For A Few Dollars More - THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 12, A)

3. Prisoner Of Love - DAVE BARKER (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 20, A - for B see Track 19 Disc 2)

4. Dry Acid - COOL STICKY & THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 19, A)

5. Rightful Ruler - U ROY with COUNT OSSIE & THE UPSETTERS

6. Clint Eastwood - THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 21, A)

Side 2:

7. Taste Of Killing - THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 13, A)

8. Selassie - THE REGGAE BOYS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 19, B-side to "Dry Acid" - see Track 4 for A)

9. What Is This (Ba Ba) - THE REGGAE BOYS (1969 UK 7" single on Gas GAS 135, A - original credited as "Ba Ba")

10. Ain't No Love (aka I've Never Found A Girl) - WINSTON HOLNESS

11. My Mob - THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 13, B-side of "Taste Of Killing", for A-Side, see Track 7)

12. I've Caught You - COOL STICKY & THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 18, B-side of "Return Of The Ugly", for A-side, see Track 1

BONUS TRACKS – DISC 1:

13. Down In The Park - THE INSPIRATIONS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 11, A)

14. Strange Whisperings - THE WEST INDIANS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 16, A)

15. Hard To Handle - CARL DAWKINS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 16, B-side of "Strange Whisperings" by The West Indians - for the A-side, see Track 14

16. (No) Not Me - THE ETHIOPIANS (1968 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB-1172, A - credited as "Not Me")

17. Facts Of Life - THE MELLOTONES (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 18, A, for B-side, see Track 20)

18. Can't Get No Peace - MONTY MORRIS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 12, B-side of "For A Few Dollars More" by The Upsetters, for A-side see Track 2 on Disc 1)

19. Freedom Train - ERNEST WILLIAMS (1969 UK 7" single on Crab CRAB 17, A)

20. I'll Be Waiting - THE TERMITES (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 18, B-side to "Facts Of Life" by The Mellotones, for A-side, see Track 17 on Disc 1)

21. Love Oh Love - THE INSPIRATIONS (1969 UK 7" single on Camel CA 11, B-side of "Down In The Park", for A-side, see Track 13 on Disc 1)

22. A Broken Heart - BUSTY BROWN (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 10, A)

23. Cut Down (On Your Speed) - THE ETHIOPIANS (1969 UK 7" single on Doctor Bird DB-1172, B-side of "Not Me", for A-side, see Track 16 Disc 1)

24. Anyway - LLOYD DOUGLAS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 6, B-side of "I Can't Take It Anymore", for A-side, see Track 2 on Disc 2)

Disc 2 (63:52 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 are "Many Moods Of "The Upsetters"" (1970 UK STEREO LP on Pama Economy SECO 24 in Stereo)

Tracks 1 and 4 to 12 are exclusive to the LP - Tracks 2 and 3 were also British 45s as noted below

Side 1:

1. Exray Vision - THE UPSETTERS

2. I Can't Take It Anymore - DAVID ISAACS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 6, A, B-side is Track 24 on Disc 1)

3. Soul Stew - THE UPSETTERS credited as MEDETATORS on the original 45-label (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 23, B-side to "Ram You Hard" by John Lennon and The Bleechers, for A-side, see Track 21 on Disc 2)

4. Low Lights (I'll Be Waiting) - THE UPSETTERS

5. Cloud Nine - CARL DAWKINS

6. Beware Fade - THE UPSETTERS

Side 2:

7. Serious Joke - THE UPSETTERS

8. Goosy - PAT SATCHMO

9. Prove It - THE UPSETTERS

10. Boss Security - PAT SATCHMO

11. Mean And Dangerous - THE UPSETTERS

12. Games People Play - THE UPSETTERS

BONUS TRACKS - DISC 2:

13. Set Me Free - DAVE BARKER & THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 25, A - credited on original 45s as "Shock Of Might (Vocal)" but is "Set Me Free”)

14.  Tribute To A King - BUSTY BROWN (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 10, B-side to "Broken Heart", for A-side, see Track 22 Disc 1)

15. Lennox Mood - LENNOX BROWN & UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 21, B-side of "Clint Eastwood", for A-side, see Track 6 Disc 1)

16. You Betray Me - DAVE BARKER & THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 22, A)

17. Never Get Away (Caught You Red-Handed) - ERIC DONALDSON & THE WEST INDIANS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 9, B-side to "Hello Dolly" by Pat Satchmo, for A-side, see Track 22 Disc 2)

18. Feel The Spirit - THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 27, B-side of "The Result", for A-side, see Track 23 Disc 2)

19. Soul Juice - BUSTY BROWN & THE UPSETTERS (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 20, B-side to "Prisoner Of Love", for A-side, see Track 3 Disc 1)

20. Will You Still Love Me (Tomorrow) - DAVE BARKER & THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 22, B-side to "You Betray Me", for A-side see Track 16 Disc 2)

21. Ram You Hard - JOHN LENNON and THE BLEECHERS (1970 UK 7"s single on Punch PH 23, A-side, for B-side "Soul Stew" by THE UPSETTERS credited as MEDETATORS, see Track 3 Disc 2)

22. Hello Dolly - PAT SATCHMO (1969 UK 7" single on Punch PH 9, A, for B-side see Track 17 Disc 2)

23. The Result - THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 27, A, for B-side see Track 18 Disc 2)

24. Shocks Of Mighty [aka Hit Me Back] - DAVE BARKER & THE UPSETTERS (1970 UK 7" single on Punch PH 25, B-side to "Shock Of Might (Vocal)" on the original 45 but the song is "Set Me Free", for A see Track 13 Disc 2)

The 12-page booklet is the usual feast of memorabilia - the Side 1 and 2 labels of the two rare LPs on Pama and Pama Economy are pictured on Page 2 (not things you see every day of the week). There are black and white photos dotted throughout the text of key players like Eric Morris, The Inspirations, Lee Perry with The Pioneers, Eric Donaldson and of course LP himself. You get two full-page displays of those gorgeous Punch, Camel, Doctor Bird and Gas Records single labels (nine to each page) – British-pressed 45 rarities with their mottled punch-hold centres that are so hard to find. DAVID KATZ provides the superb liner notes – deep level info on both albums and the manic two years that surrounded them, Lee Perry’s early career of brilliance, legacy and so on. And finally there is an advert on the rear inlay of some of the DB releases mentioned in my list below.

New mastering comes by way of my fave Engineer ANDY PEARCE – a gent with a huge Rock catalogue to his name and now, a huge spread of these new Trojan and related releases as well. But even with the best will in the world, almost all of this was recorded in Aunty Flo's Bargain Bucket Basement Studio for three schillings and no pence when there wasn't an electricity-black-out. Anyone expecting Audio miracles can look elsewhere - but given that - when the volume knob goes up - the power and sheer atmosphere of this infectious music is both cool and fabulous. For sure, the audio here is not anything like the whack a body gets off the original British-pressed 45s, and some titles are so rare there are no tapes and the notes admit vinyl dubs, but even then – this is the best I've ever heard these recordings sound. You may to adjust your Supertramp expectations down to 2 on a scale of 10 – but these rarities have been sympathetically handled by a label that gives a monkeys. To the aces and the braces...

Turning up sometime in late 1969 - the Mono "Clint Eastwood" album features 10 singles from Pama's subsidiary labels Punch, Camel and Gas with two newbees tagged on, one to each side. And like Trojan's popular LP "Return Of Django" - Pama's album title was blatantly tapping into the Sergio Leone spaghetti western film craze taking cinemas by storm (Lee calling Mister Eastwood his favourite cowboy). Perry's rhythm section (also known as The Hippy Boys) consisted for the most part of Glen Adams and Alva 'Reggie' Lewis on Organ, Guitar and Vocals with Bassist Aston 'Family Man Barrett and his Brother/Drummer Carlton Barrett. Side 1's opener "Return Of The Ugly" gives us the familiar Skinhead rhythms - an organ shuffling alongside a vocalist giving it some "...ah ha..." every few seconds. We're helpfully informed on the next Upsetters cut that for a few dollars more we can be lying on the floor (how very thoughtful of them), while Dave Barker has a seriously good stab at cult Soul Vocalist on his "Prisoner Of Love" - a commercial slice of wickedness that should have broken through to the Pop charts. U Roy and Peter Tosh lend Tribe of Juddah vocals to "Rightful Ruler" but my fave cuts are the vocally-sporadic instrumentals "My Mob" and "Dry Acid" - driving organ dancers - the former with Bad Manners type 'pick it up, pick it up' scat vocals.

Of the exclusive LP cuts, Winston Holness's "Ain't No Love" turns out to be a reggae slant on the Eddie Floyd Stax Records classic "I've Never Found A Girl (That Loves Me Like You Do)" that does the original proud. But again (as with so many of these chocker 2CD sets) - the Bonuses from 13 to 24 are shockingly good and I'd argue a better LP that the issued one. The "Love Me Two Times" Top A&B-side Single Award goes to Eric Donaldson's sweet vocals fronting The West Indians on their "Strange Whisperings" b/w a very cool cover of Otis Redding's sure "Hard To Handle" on the flip-side by Carl Dawkins (Camel Records CA 16 from 1969). Disc 2 simply coughs up a further hour and a bit of the same feel-the-spirit Reggae and Ska and many in Stereo - sweet.

I'm eating up these Doctor Bird 2CD reminders (as I’m sure other fans are too) and this is easily another winner/reissue of the year. Recommended big time...

2017 and 2018 Doctor Bird Records CD Reissues
(Featuring Larges Amounts of Trojan Records, Treasure Isle, Pama 60s & 70s etc)

1. BOB ANDY & MARCIA GRIFFITHS - Young, Gifted And Black/Pied Pier (May 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-014 - Barcode 5013929271432)

2. ERROL BROWN/THE REVOLUTIONAIRES – Dubb Everlasting/Dub Expression [1977 and 1978 High Note 2LPs on 1CD] (November 2017, Doctor Bird DBCD-07 – Barcode 5013929270732)

3. DAVE & ANSEL COLLINS – Double Barrel (June 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-016 - Barcode 5013929271630)

4. DESMOND DECKER & THE ACES – Action!/Intensified (August 2018 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCD-025 – Barcode 5013929272538)

5. DESMOND DEKKER – You Can Get It If You Really Want (September 2018 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-015 - Barcode 5013929271531)

6. DESMOND DEKKER – Double Dekker [1973 UK 2LP set onto 1CD] (November 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-018 – Barcode 5013929271838)

7. PHYLLIS DILLON – One Life To Live (September 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-021 – Barcode 5013929272132)

8. ETHIOPIANS – Reggae Power/Woman Capture Man (January 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-10 – Barcode 5013929271036)

9. MARCIA GRIFFITHS – Naturally/Steppin’ [1978 and 1979 2LPs on 1CD] (August 2017 CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-002 – Barcode 5013929270237)

10. DERRICK HARRIOTT & THE CRYSTALITES – Psychedelic Train (October 2017 CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-05 – Barcode 5013929270534)

11. HARRY J. ALL STARS - Liquidator (June 2008 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-012 - Barcode 5013929271234)

12. JUSTIN HINDS & THE DOMINOES – From Jamaica With Reggae (February 2018 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-09 – Barcode 5013929270930)

13. THE KINGSTONIANS – Sufferer (September 2017 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-03 – Barcode 5013929270336)

14. THE MAYTALS – Monkey Man/From The Roots (July 2018 2LPs on 1CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-017 – Barcode 5013929271739)

15. THE PIONEERS – Long Shot/Battle Of The Giants (September 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-019 – Barcode 5013929271937)

16. THE UNIQUES - Absolutely The...Uniques (January 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-011 - Barcode 5013929271135)

17. THE UPSETTERS – The Upsetter/Scratch The Upsetter Again (October 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-022 – Barcode 5013929272231)

18. THE UPSETTERS – Return Of Django/Eastwood Rides Again (May 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-013 - Barcode 5013929271333)

19. VARIOUS – Dancing Down Orange Street [Trojan 1969 LP] (September 2017 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-04 – Barcode 5013929270435)

20. VARIOUS – Gay Feet, Every Night (October 2017 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-06 – Barcode 5013929270633)

21. VARIOUS – Greater Jamaica Moonwalk Reggae/Reggay At Its Best (October 2018 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-030 – Barcode 5013929273030)

22. VARIOUS – Hot Shots Of Reggae (November 2017 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-08 – Barcode 5013929270831)

23. VARIOUS – King Size Reggae (November 2018, Doctor Bird DBCD-026 – Barcode 5013929272637)

24. VARIOUS – No More Heartaches/What Am I To Do? [2LPs from 1969 and 1970 onto 1CD] (August 2017, Doctor Bird DBCD-01 – Barcode 5013929270138)

25. VARIOUS [Duke Reid and Treasure Isle Productions] – Soul Of Jamaica/Here Comes The Duke (August 2018 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-024 – Barcode 5013929272439)

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2019 Doctor Bird Records CD Reissues

1. ROLAND ALPHANSO & THE ORIGINAL ORCHESTRA – ABC Rock Steady (April 2019 Expanded 2CD Set with 43 Bonus Tracks, Doctor Bird DBCDD-023 – Barcode 5013929272330)

2. DENNIS BROWN – Just Dennis/Deep Down (April 2019 2CD Expanded Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-027 – Barcode 5013929272736)

3. ERROL BROWN & THE REVOLUTIONARIES – Culture Dub & Medley Dub (12 July 2019 2CD Expanded Set with 25 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-038 – Barcode 5013929273832)

4. ERROL BROWN & THE SUPERSONICS – The Treasure Dub Albums Collection (13 September 2019 2CD Expanded Set with Eight Previously Unreleased, Doctor Bird DBCDD-043 – Barcode 5013929274334)

5. ALTON ELLIS – Greatest Hits/Mr. Soul Of Jamaica [known as Greatest Hits in the UK] (11 October 2019 Expanded 2CD Set with 47 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-045 – Barcode 5013929274532)

6. THE ETHIOPIANS – Engine No. 5 (17 May 2019 1CD Expanded Set with 17 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCD-035 – Barcode 5013929273535)

7. THE GAYLADS – Fire And Rain (14 June 2019 1CD Expanded Set with 13 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCD-036 – Barcode 5013929273634)

8. JOHN HOLT – Like A Bolt (January 2019 Expanded CD, Doctor Bird DBCD-029 – Barcode 5013929272934)

9. THE MELODIANS – Rivers Of Babylon (9 August 2019 Expanded 1CD Set with 15 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCD-041 – Barcode 5013929274136)

10. DERRICK MORGAN – Moon Hop/Derrick Morgan In London (April 2019 Expanded 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-032 – Barcode 5013929273238)

11. DERRICK MORGAN – Derrick Morgan And His Friends (12 July 2019 Expanded 2CD Set with 24 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-039 – Barcode 5013929273931)

12. SONIA POTTINGER – Put On Your Best Dress: Ska & Rock Steady 1966-1967 (14 June 2019 Expanded 2CD Set with 35 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-037 – Barcode 5013929273733)

13. LORD TANAMO & FRIENDS – Festival Jump-Up [1965] (15 November 2019 Expanded 2CD Reissue of 1965 LP with 40 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-046 – Barcode 5013929274631)

14. LINVAL THOMPSON – The Linval Thompson Trojan Roots Album Collection - Including two LPs by Big Joe And The Trinity called "African Princess" and "Rock In The Ghetto" and one Linval Thompson LP called "I Love Marijuana" (11 October 2019 Expanded 2CD Set with 10 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-044 – Barcode 5013929274433)

15. LINVAL THOMPSON & THE REVOLUTIONAIRES – Negrea Love Dub/Outlaw Dub [1978 and 1979] (15 November 2019 Reissue featuring 2LPs onto 1CD (no bonus), Doctor Bird DBCD-047 – Barcode 5013929274730)

16. THE UPSETTERS featuring LEE 'SCRATCH' PERRY – Clint Eastwood/Many Moods Of The Upsetters (April 2019 2CD Expanded Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-034 – Barcode 5013929273436)

17. VARIOUS – The Down Town Albums Collection [Down Town Label] (February 2019 2CD Set, Doctor Bird Records DBCDD-020 - Barcode 5013929272033)

18. VARIOUS – Gay Jamaican Independence Time – Boom Sha-Ka-La (17 May 2019 2CD Expanded Set with 35 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-028 – Barcode 5013929272835)

19. VARIOUS – Greatest Jamaican Beat... (March 2019 2CD Set, Doctor Bird DBCDD-033 – Barcode 5013929273337)

20. VARIOUS – Independence Jump Up Calypso (9 August 2019 2CD Expanded Set with 46 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-040 – Barcode 5013929274037)

21. VARIOUS – The Treasure Isle Ska Albums Collection (January 2019 2CD Set [4LPs and more], Doctor Bird DBCDD-031 – Barcode 5013929273139)

22. VARIOUS – You Can’t Wine/Music Alone Shall Live (13 September 2019 2CD Expanded Set with 33 Bonus, Doctor Bird DBCDD-042 - Barcode 5013929274235)

"Yes" by YES [1969 Debut LP] (January 2003 UK Elektra/Rhino 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue – Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Beyond And Before..."

I remember as a young lad opening up the gatefold of the wildly exotic Atlantic Records 588 190 (why is that always such a brill thing) and reading Tony Wilson’s liner notes. Respected journo, he enthused that Melody Maker magazine had asked him what two top bands he would pick for 1969 – one was LED ZEPPELIN and the other was of course – YES (both signed to the canny American label). I think the lad was on to something...

Personally I've always thought their first two albums wildly underrated and under appreciated (most fans want to begin their catalogue with 1971's brilliant "The Yes Album" and i can understand that). But like the "Time And A Word" CD Reissue and Remaster [their 2nd platter from 1970] - I'd argue that the six 'Bonus Tracks' on this 2003 Elektra/Rhino CD Remaster of "Yes" (four of which are unreleased) lift proceedings into the realms of essential purchase for fan and newcomer alike. Here are the positive details...

UK released January 2003 (reissued August 2008 and April 2013) - "Yes" by YES on Elektra/Rhino 8122-73786-2 (Barcode 081227378622) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Six Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (79:48 minutes):

1. Beyond And Before [Side 1]

2. I See You

3. Yesterday And Today

4. Looking Around

5. Harold Land [Side 2]

6. Every Little Thing

7. Sweetness

8. Survival

Tracks 1 to 8 are their Debut studio album "Yes" - released 25 July 1969 in the UK on Atlantic Records 588 190 (reissued December 1971 on Atlantic K 40034) and 15 October 1969 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8243. The US issue had different artwork to the UK variant - the first page of the booklet uses the UK artwork (centred YES logo) whilst the last page uses the US cover (a colour photo of the 5-piece band standing amidst statues).

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Everydays (Single Version) – October 1969 UK 7” single on Atlantic Records 584298, Non-Album Version, B-side to "Looking Around"

10. Dear Father (Single Version No. 2) - PREVIOUSLY UNISSED

11. Something’s Coming – 4 July 1969 UK 7” single on Atlantic 584280, Non-Album B-side to "Sweetness"

12. Everydays (Early Version) - PREVIOUSLY UNISSED

13. Dear Father (Early Version No. 1) - PREVIOUSLY UNISSED

14. Something’s Coming (Early Version)  - PREVIOUSLY UNISSED

For their Debut Album YES was:

JON ANDERSON - Leads Vocals and Incidental Percussion

PETER BANKS - Lead Guitars and Backing Vocals

TONY KAYE - Keyboards (Organ and Piano)

CHRIS SQUIRE – Bass and Backing Vocals

BILL BRUFORD – Drums and Vibes

The first remaster of this album in November 1994 simply presented fans with the 8-track album and as it was a US based reissue - it used the American colour artwork. This new 2004 stab at it goes back to the British artwork and design of Bryan Lasley (the US variant is on the last page of the booklet) and adds on six tasty Bonus Tracks, four of which are Previously Unissued in the USA. The 16-page booklet has detailed and informative liner notes from MIKE TIANO and the text is peppered with colour/black and white period photos of the band as well as rare picture sleeve for Sweetness. Pages 2 and 14 recreate the inner gatefold artwork of the UK plum label 1969 original, while the rare lyric insert that came with original vinyl issues is featured towards the end. But the big news here is a new DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT CD Remaster at Digiprep from original master tapes and they've done a sterling job - full, alive and coming at you with real presence.

Grapefruit Records of the UK - the new darlings of 3CD reissues covering this period - featured the Side 1 opener "Beyond And Before" in their May 2019 mini box set "Lullabies For Catatonics: A Journey Through The British Avant-Pop/Art Rock Scene 1967-1974" and its easy to hear why. Their cover of The Byrds "I See You" smacks of Yes hijacking that hooky sound but still has enough to make it exciting and feel like something new and brill is emerging. Pretty and even beautiful describes the gentle strum of "Yesterday And Today" – the audio warm and lovely. Something on a lost melodic gem in their canyon on an album so often associated with the early Prog of the very Yes  "Looking Around". Speaking of which...

Their debut produced two wildly un-commercial UK 45s - "Sweetness" b/w "Something's Coming" in July 1969 on Atlantic 584280 and "Looking Around" b/w "Everydays" in October 1969 on Atlantic 584298 - the second reputedly withdrawn after zero interest. I can remember decades back when these orange label 7" singles would command £40 for the first and say £60 for the second, especially because of their non-album B-sides pre CD. But in 2019 they're probably four times that amount and if actual mint issues came up for public grabs (especially "Looking Back"), they’d be auction items rather than set sale. Both are featured in the bonus tracks and cool inclusions.

The Side 2 opener "Harold Land" is superb and I used to think it like Nursery Cryme by Genesis – only recorded months earlier. The acoustic guitar over to the left is clear as Jon sings of marching soldiers and holding the thin blue line. While the Byrds cover on Side 1 stayed mostly faithful - Yes rightly screw around with The Beatles cover of "Every Little Thing" (originally on their fourth UK platter "Beatles For Sale" in 1964). Half way through they come up with that familiar vocal refrain - a clever set of counterpoints as the guitars and drums punch and swirl. "Sweetness" is just over four minutes of Prog meets melody - sweetness stirred with a spoon - a very 1969 love-song wrapped up that Yes-ness sound. "Survival" points towards the multiple-song-parts of "The Yes Album" - huge thumping bass notes - guitars and keyboards dancing – until it suddenly fades into something entirely new and unexpected – gorgeous stuff and a genuinely great way to end the album.

The 1970 "Time And A Word" second LP (with orchestra) would continue the musical search for 'that sound' which they would finally realise in the 1971 game-changer "The Yes Album" - a band arriving and unleashing their potential. "...Somewhere in a field a life begins..." and "...yesterday's endings will tomorrow's life give you..." - Jon Anderson sang on "Survival". For sure "Yes" is only a start, but man what an opening Starship Trooper...

PS: This 2003 Remaster variant of "Yes" including the Six Bonus Tracks also turns up inside "The Studio Albums 1969-1987" Box Set which is amazing value for money and includes repro artwork but not the booklet...

"The Velvet Underground & Nico" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (June 2002 UK Universal/Polydor 2CD ‘Deluxe Edition’ Reissue – Bob Ludwig and Jeff Willens Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 364 More Like It

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"...He's Got The Works..."

I can think of only two other albums like The Velvet Underground's debut that have influenced so much and so many - and had such a staggering and lasting cultural impact - "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles and "Never Mind The Bollocks..." by The Sex Pistols. When I worked at Reckless in the West End we kept at least 100 copies of the Velvet's debut on new 180grams reissue vinyl for eager punters to snap up on a daily basis - without question the biggest selling reissue album we ever had. No other LP short of Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" or Nirvana's "Nevermind" has had such a devoted and long-lasting following.

And for those who can't afford (nor want) the Super Deluxe 6-Disc version that came out in October 2012 - this 2CD Deluxe Edition gives a scratchy arm all the needles it'll need. Here are the Femme Fatales and Andy Warhols...

Released June 2002 - "The Velvet Underground & Nico: Deluxe Edition" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO on Universal/Polydor 314 589 624-2 (Barcode 731458962427) is a 2CD Deluxe Edition with the Mono and Stereo Versions of the album with Nine Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (60:18 minutes):

1. Sunday Morning

2. I'm Waiting For The Man

3. Femme Fatale [Vocals by Nico]

4. Venus In Furs

5. Run, Run, Run

6. All Tomorrow's Parties [Vocals by Nico]

7. Heroin [Side 2]

8. There She Goes Again

9. I'll Be Your Mirror

10. The Black Angel's Death Song

11. European Son

Tracks 1 to 11 are the STEREO VERSION of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" - their debut album released March 1967 in the USA on Verve V6-5008 and November 1967 in the UK on Verve SVLP 9184 [For Mono Variant see Disc 2]

12. Little Sister

13. Winter Song

14. It Was A Pleasure Then

15. Chelsea Girls

16. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

Tracks 12 to 16 are from "Chelsea Girl"- the solo debut album by NICO released October 1967 on Verve V6-5032 (Stereo) and finally released in the UK in September 1971 on MGM Select 2353 025 (Stereo)

Disc 2 (77:33 minutes):

1. Sunday Morning

2. I'm Waiting For The Man

3. Femme Fatale [Vocals by Nico]

4. Venus In Furs

5. Run, Run, Run

6. All Tomorrow's Parties [Vocals by Nico]

7. Heroin [Side 2]

8. There She Goes Again

9. I'll Be Your Mirror

10. The Black Angel's Death Song

11. European Son

Tracks 1 to 11 are the MONO VERSION of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" released March 1967 in the USA on Verve V-5008 and November 1967 in the UK on Verve VLP 9184 [For Stereo Variant see Disc 1]

12. All Tomorrow's Parties (Single Version),

13. I'll Be Your Mirror (12 and 13 issued July 1966 as the A&B-sides of a US 7" single on Verve VK-10427. Both tracks feature NICO on Lead Vocals, are in MONO and were not issued in the UK as a single. "I'll Be Your Mirror" the 'single version' features an alternate ending to the cut on the LP)

14. Sunday Morning (Single Version)

15. Femme Fatale (Single Version) (14 and 15 issued December 1966 as the A&B-sides of a US 7" single on Verve VK-10466. "Femme Fatale" features NICO on Lead Vocals, is in Mono and was not issued in the UK)

Compiled by BILL LEVINSON and remastered by BOB LUDWIG and JEFF WILLENS - they've done a fantastic job with an album that is notoriously lo-fi on purpose (Produced by Andy Warhol with Nico credited as a 'Chanteuse'). The foldout flaps of the digipak feature reviews of the album from various trade papers of the time, album credits, suitably blurry photos of the band beneath the see-through trays and a 28-page booklet that has classy black and white snaps of the group's famous shows (mostly live shots) and some studies of Nico. The Dave Thompson liner notes (Pages 3 to 12) go deep into the album's explosive history, there's lyrics to all the songs and original US issues (Universal 314 589 624-2) even has a 'peelable' banana on the front flap to repro the rare first pressings on vinyl (now worth a King's ransom).

Flower-power ladies, loved up hippies and peace-in-our-time acid droppers got the fright of their lives when "The Velvet Underground & Nico" was released in the spring of 1967. It painted a seriously dark picture of a counter-culture that was already writhing in sweaty withdrawal. Drugs and their all-pervasive effect of everything you hold dear permeates almost every song  - scoring them ("I'm Waiting For The Man"), doing them ("Venus In Furs") and then selling your body and eventually your soul to get more ("Run, Run, Run"). And all of this despair is wrapped up in jagged melodies, droll voices (American and German) and distorted guitars that sound like they're being tortured by CIA operatives determined to find a Communist. 

But I suspect that like "Bollocks" - the real reason the album has endured so long is precisely because it's so brutally honest - where one track is actually called "Heroin" - and the others barely disguise such a controversial subject matter. And yet there's inexplicable prettiness too - the gorgeous opener "Sunday Morning" sung by Lou Reed as if he hasn't a care in the world - while Nico scores massively with three vocal beauties - "Femme Fatale", the ragged piano of "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the delicate "I'll Be Your Mirror". Even now it's an extraordinary piece of work and 'influential' barely touches on its true impact down through the decades. It also has something you can't invent - it's effortlessly cool...

Of the two versions I actually find the MONO mix to be more powerful and direct (unavailable since its 1967 release) - the wild soloing of "Heroin" is so stunning and the jangly guitar of "There She Goes Again" much cleaner as it escapes your speakers. And with Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed and John Cale all contributing to the NICO solo tracks - it's hardly surprising they bookend Disc 1. The flute and dry nature of "Chelsea Girls" with "Bridget all wrapped in foil..." matches the Velvets album perfectly while the eight-minutes of the (admittedly hissy) "It Was A Pleasure Then" feels just as druggy as anything on the "Banana Peel" debut.

Will we ever know its like again? Will I ever find an unpeeled 'banana sleeve' in a dollar bin or carboot sale - no is the answer. But at least with this superb Universal DE Edition you can get to understand what all the fuss and iconography is about.

"$26 in my hand...more dead than alive..." Lou Reed sings on "I'm Waiting For The Man". 

Well in 2019 you'll get your fix for a lot less now - and in this case - it's worth every blood red cent...

"The Velvet Underground" [1969 3rd LP] by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (November 2014 UK UMC/Polydor '45 Anniversary Remaster - The Val Valentin Mix' Single CD Reissue – Bill Levenson, Jaime Feldman and Kevin Reeves Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I'm Set Free..."

"All You Need Is Love..." - The Beatles said. I'd agree (mostly). Except perhaps when it comes to the muddy cash-grab quagmire that is big-league-albums by hugely influential bands.

With the 45th and 50th anniversaries of 1967, 1968, 1969 and next year 1970 passing us by sequentially - in my not so humble opinion, Velvet Underground fans (like everyone else) have been hit with a plethora of dubious Multiple-Disc Sets. The all-encompassing definitive issue (until next time that is) will have the Stereo Mix – the Mono Mix – padded packaging and unreleased Live /Acetate stuff that given the audio cacophony which was The VU is either unlistenable or barely rises above interesting - tracks you'll play once in other words and never feel the need to again.

So for Art-Rock platter number three - "The Velvet Underground" issued March and April 1969 respectively on MGM Records USA and UK - I'd stick my foot in Door No. 1. The simple single-CD '45th Anniversary Remaster - The Val Valentin Mix' is all you need. You get great remastered audio from a team of three who took care - a half decent booklet of 12-pages that isn't the gatefold slip of paper of old (the inlay isn’t perfect for sure but it is better than what was on offer before) - and best of all - "The Velvet Underground" is generally available brand new for less than a fiver from many online retailers. To the quietly majestic music and those pale blue eyes...

UK released 24 November 2014 - "The Velvet Underground: 45th Anniversary Remaster - The Val Valentin Mix" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Single-CD Reissue of their 1969 third album on UMC/Polydor 0602547038661 (Barcode 602547038661) plays out as follows (43:53 minutes):

1. Candy Says [Side 1]

2. What Goes On

3. Some Kinda Love

4. Pale Blue Eyes

5. Jesus

6. Beginning To See The Light [Side 2]

7. I'm Set Free

8. That's The Story Of My Life

9. The Murder Mystery

10. After Hours

Tracks 1 to 10 are their third studio album "The Velvet Underground" - released March 1969 in the USA on MGM Records SE-4617 and April 1969 on MGM Records CS 8108 in STEREO (reissued November 1971 in the UK on MGM Select 2353 022 with different artwork). The album was recorded Nov/Dec 1968 at the T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood, California. 

A team of three renowned names have handled the transfers - Supervision by BILL LEVENSON and JAMIE FELDMAN with Mastering by one of Universal's long-standing Audio Engineers KEVIN REEVES. Reeves has done huge swathes of the UMC catalogue over the last two decades - I think its literally over 300 credits including large amounts of multiple-genres in the 'Originals' series. He's hits the tapes for Audio Fidelity as well. In fact if his name is on it, like say Vic Anesini over at Sony/BMG or Erick Labson for Chess or Ellen Fitton for Motown and so on - I want it. My battered original LP (and manky reissue for that matter) have never sounded this good.

The booklet is a pleasing 12-pages but its entirely pictures and posters, gigs with harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite at the Avalon Ballroom, jangling and Prog Rock-ing with The Byrds and England's Colosseum in Boston, headlining The Hilltop Festival in Mason, New Hampshire, sharing with The Chapter Five at Springers in Portland, November 21, 1969 - even a ticket stub from The Whisky A Go Go on the credits page looking like a naught remnant from the past. There aren't any liner notes per say which for an Anniversary Reissue is bizarre - no history - no sense of its place - zip - damn shame that. But for a fiver, overlook it, because the music is worth it.

Disarming, perhaps even menacing, the Side 1 opener "Candy Says" oozes genuine pain and hurt – I need the quite places, if I could walk away from me, Lou Reed sings – the remaster gorgeous too. Back to more frantic frenetic territory with "What Goes On" – those LR guitars sounding like a 1967 Byrds session where everyone has dropped something small, lysergic and purple and said to hell with it – let’s distort those axes. And again the hypnotic drone sound – so influential – you can literally hear Roxy Music and their 1972 debut on Island Records coming in the distance (Ferry covered the song on his 1978 solo LP "The Bride Stripped Bare").

Sloppy and yet rumbling like a volcano about to erupt – suddenly the guitars of "Some Kinda Love" are fantastically clear as they do battle in each speaker. Combines the absurd with the vulgar – indeed the possibilities are endless in this cleaned up movie. One of my absolute VU faves – the gorgeous and emotionally delicate "Pale Blue Eyes" is thrilling to hear in such clarity. And I love the articulacy of linger-on lyrics like, "...thought of you as my mountain top...thought of you as my peak...thought of you as everything...I've had but couldn't keep..." Lou Reed then ends Side 1 with the let-me-find-a-purpose prayer to "Jesus" – a song I've always felt was not-so-secretly about drugs and a sincere plea for a willpower tunnel of light somewhere up in the distance.

Strumming its melodic way out of your speakers from Side 2 is the here-we-go-again "Beginning To See The Light" – a tune that feels like the morning after "Jesus" when the cravings return and the snarl of sarcasm takes over. I've always love that doubled vocal in the opening lines of "I'm Set Free" – underpinning the emotion and the off-the-cuff guitar solo that seems to be receding into some black hole it can’t get out of. "I'm Set Free" is brilliant VU - lovely yet tainted with their peculiar brand of shiny leather corruption. The jaunty rat-a-tat of "That's The Story Of My Life" is followed by a barrage of voices and poetry in "The Murder Mystery" - Mo Tucker's fay vocal like Nico's younger sister. She continues to sing on the closer "After Hours" - possibly a tad too whimsical for the hurt beauty that's preceded it. 

Always somehow forgotten after the explosive 1967 game-changer debut with Nico – VU's third however has always felt like a classic to me - even a forgotten one despite its chart placing of No. 15 in the USA (its dullard artwork and unimaginative name did it no favours). And in 2019 - a full 50 years on - they still sound otherworldly like say My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins - like a band from the future giving us a lyrical and musical nod so we can prepare for the next stage. 

Amazing stuff and so damn cool too. And available my children of Reed, Morrison, Yule & Tucker & Co. (a team of lawyers in California specialising in misery) for only a skydiver...

"Cosa Nostra Beck-Ola" aka "Beck-Ola" by THE JEFF BECK GROUP [feat ROD STEWART] (October 2006 UK Epic/Legacy 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...All Shook Up..."

While the Magritte painting of an apple on the front cover artwork roared "Beck-Ola" as the title to his second solo album after The Yardbirds - the flip-back rear and black and silver Columbia Records labels rather confusingly credited the LP as "Cosa Nostra Beck-Ola" by Jeff Beck and not a more accurate The Jeff Beck Group.

In fact, when you read the highly enlightening liner notes to this brilliant CD reissue (JB remembers with brutal precision) – it's a small wonder according to our main man that either album made it out anywhere. By his own admittance – his 1968 "Truth" album debut was recorded in four days flat while number two pushed out the studio recording time boat to a whopping six days in April 1969, both produced by Mickie Most who seemed hell-bent on moulding the pretty ex Yardbirds Guitarist Jeff Beck into the next David Cassidy popping out "Hi Ho Silver Lining" pop ditties until he puked - whilst at the same time being utterly contemptuous of the Hard Rock/Blues Rock Jeff Beck along with Zeppelin were creating in Blighty in that stunning year (1969).

The short 7-track record only materialised because a second US tour was imminent and new material was needed to support that trek – but they’d nothing. So out come the Elvis Presley covers – the instrumental jams, a throw in from Rod and Ronnie, a love song to his absent gal from Nicky and the beast is cobbled together with you suspect Victor Frankenstein standing over an acetate of SCX 6351 shouting "It's Alive! It's Alive!"

But my God look at this band – 50 years on and the line-up still raises hairs just looking at it. The barnstorming extraordinaire lungs of Rod Stewart, future Faces pal and Rolling Stones guitar man Ronnie Wood as the rhythm section Bass Player, the demure but brilliant sessionman Nicky Hopkins on keyboards (he didn’t do live too well), JB on Guitars of course and the uncouth Keith Moon madman that was Tony Newman on Drums. On paper it had the makings of a truly ginormous super-group like say Blind Faith or Derek & The Dominoes. But tempers, personality clashes, egos, mercurial talent and musical direction kiboshes (not playing Woodstock because they weren’t together enough as a band) quickly ripped the whole wild child apart. But cobbled together or not – and with four brilliant outtakes that elevate this disc properly upwards - man what a recorded legacy. Let's get all shook up...

UK released 10 October 2006 - "Cosa Nostra Beck-Ola" aka "Beck-Ola" by THE JEFF BECK GROUP on Epic/Legacy 82876 77351 2 (Barcode 886919829822) is an 'Expanded Edition' Digitally Remastered CD with Four Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (48:41 minutes):

1. All Shook Up [Side 1]

2. Spanish Boots

3. Girl From Mill Valley

4. Jailhouse Rock

5. Plynth (Water Down The Drain) [Side 2]

6. The Hangman's Knee

7. Rice Pudding

Tracks 1 to 7 are his second studio LP "Cosa Nostra Beck-Ola" aka "Beck-Ola" by THE JEFF BECK GROUP - released July 1969 in the UK on Columbia SX 6351 (Mono) and Columbia SCX 6351 (Stereo) and August 1969 in the USA on Epic BN 26478 (Stereo Only). Produced by MICKIE MOST - it peaked at No. 15 in the US LP charts and No. 39 in the UK. It was reissued September 1971 in the UK as "The Most Of Jeff Beck" in different artwork on EMI's budget label Music For Pleasure MFP 5219. The CD uses only the STEREO mix.

BONUS TRACKS (All Previously Unreleased, PETER MEW mixes done in April 2003):

8. Sweet Little Angel

(B.B. King cover version recorded live in the studio 19 Nov 1968 at Mirasound Studios in New York, second version recorded that day with Mick Waller from the "Truth" line-up on Drums)

9. Throw Down A Line

(Hank Marvin cover recorded at Trident Studios, London, 7 February 1969)

10. All Shook Up (Early Version)

(Presley cover recorded at Abbey Road, London, 8 January 1969 – between the third and final album version)

11. Jailhouse Rock (Early Version)

(Presley cover recorded at De Lane Lea Studios early April 1969 on 4-Track)

The 16-page booklet isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen but it is very, very informative – sporting new liner notes from noted writer and music historian CHARLES SHAAR MURRAY with full-on contributions from the Guitar Maestro himself. You get black and white photos of JB in the studio and at Fillmore West in 1968 - Rodders in full microphone manhandling pose and another one of him looking ill at ease with a guitar strapped around him (what do I with this). JB recalls that Nicky Hopkins had a girlfriend at Mill Valley so he dedicated that song to her and his viewing of Drummer Newman tearing it up with Little Richard and Gene Vincent – convinced him that Tony was just the right kind of thug for the job of turning Motown into Rock-Soul or something thereabouts. The CD label has a pic of JB on it and the Rene Magritte painting of 'La Chambre d'Ecoute' that adorns the front sleeve of the album is used as the back inlay beneath the see-through CD tray.

Sony's long-standing Audio Engineer VIC ANESINI handles the LP while EMI/Abbey Road Sound Boffin PETER MEW carried out the fantastic remixes and Remasters on the unreleased session outtakes. Anesini has done hugely prestigious names – Presley, Paul Simon, Santana, Mott The Hoople, Nilsson, Spirit and loads more and his magic touch has brought all that latent power to the fore. This CD Rocks - threatening almost all of the time to get snotty, rowdy and salacious with your amp and speakers.

Keeping to his liner-notes promise of 'heavy music' contained within but in a new/old sort of hybrid form - Beck gets proceedings under way with a kick-em-in-the-teeth near five-minute cover of the Elvis classic "All Shook Up". Even the Early Version in the Bonuses feels electric - Rod in stunning vocal form repeating phrases and singing the song like its new. You can hear Beck, Hopkins and especially Wood on the Bass swinging as Rod roars "I'm in the mood for love..." with a proper swagger. Then it gets even heavier - Ronnie, Jeff and Rod getting writing credits on the ragged rocker "Spanish Boats". Rod got a day job in Bethlehem while Beck distorts that guitar and the ensemble kicks in just before two minutes with the impact of a truck (love that guitar vs. piano battle that ends the all-over-the-place Production). After the snot-nose statements of the two lead-in tracks, Nicky Hopkins gorgeous love song "Girl From Mill Valley" comes on like a magical instrumental interlude (I put on CD compilation as a sort of chill pill). But then its back to rocking business as they end Side One with "Jailhouse Rock" - a rough and ready version with Rod almost lost in the echoed vocals but Beck displaying hair-raising guitar chops (God what they must have been like live when they were ripping this sucker out).

Side 2 gives us some fab Alex Harvey dangerous and menacing riffage in "Plynth (Water Down The Drain)" – Hopkins, Wood and Rod credited as the writers. The Faces would return to it in a radically different slide-guitar form as "Around The Plynth" on their 1970 debut album "First Step" (the "Five Guys Walk Into A Bar..." Box Set for Faces contains an equally slasher take from a 1970 BBC Session version). All five get writing credits for the heavy-heavy bludgeon that is "The Hangman’s Knee" – a prison cell and lawyers tale of woe punctured by grungy guitar work from an unleashed JB. The 7:22 instrumental minutes of "Rice Pudding" was recorded 19 April 1969 and if any one track on the album screams Heavy Hard Rock – then this guitar-wailing drum-whacking riff-beast is it. But then at 3:18 minutes it cleverly mellows into Hopkins piano accompanied by long low slide notes from Beck panning from speaker to speaker until it eventually returns to the opening guitar slash. Even now it’s a bruiser – the kind of song that would be difficult to make in 2019 – and maybe that’s why I admire its ragged audio tangents so much (fantastic musicality in that fade out passage)...

As I've already pointed out, the Bonus Cuts elevate this CD Reissue into the stratosphere. Opening with an absolute blinder – a huge Blues take on B.B. King's "Sweet Little Angel" – Rod is in storming $20 bill form while the Beck led band sounds like the only serious rival Led Zeppelin ever had (shockingly good stuff). Even though he barely masks his loathing for Mickie Most and his Pop Single attempts - I like "Throw Down A Line" - not nearly as bad a tune as JB seems to think it is. The four-track "Jailhouse Rock" early version is tripping–over-itself ragged and I love it for that – ending a great sounding CD reissue on a high.

Beck would morph his musical journey into Prog Rock mixed with Jazz-Funk-Soul instrumentals that would by the George Martin Produced "Blow By Blow" and "Wired" LPs in 1975 and 1976 take the world by storm (check out his Stevie Wonder written Syreeta cover of "'Cause We Ended As Lovers" on "Blow By Blow"). But this is where the rough boy started, and 50 years on, this Granny Smith still slaughters...

"Horn Rock & Funky Guitar Grooves 1968-1974" by VARIOUS (26 July 2019 Ace/BGP CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Toe Hold..."

I love a compilation like this - clever choices - great sound - discoveries. I'll even forgive the rather uninspiring artwork because those sexy bearded men with non-arthritic knees and disturbingly alluring butt wiggles over at Ace Records (using their Beat Goes Public label imprint) have only gone and done my nut it again.

This is a wickedly good single CD vaults-trawl that even sports an unissued nugget from Texan Donnie Brooks very much in the early Blood, Sweat & Tears vs. Chicago vein and a no-one knows-nothing-about recording from Frank Slay’s Claridge Records that deserves its day in the sun. There's a lot of Soulful Rock and horny horns to wade through here, so let's get at it my Funkalicious admirers...

UK released 26 July 2019 - "Horn Rock & Funky Grooves 1968-1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records/BGP CDBGPD 311 (Barcode 029667094825) is a 17-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (66:01 minutes):

1. Buddy's Advice - PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND (fifth studio album "Keep On Moving" from October 1969 (USA) on Elektra EKS 74053 - Buzzy Feiten song)

2. Toe Hold - AL KOOPER (from his debut solo album "I Stand Alone" from February 1969 on Columbia CS 9718)

3. It's Been A Long Time Coming - DELANEY & BONNIE (May 1968 US 7" single on Stax STA-0003, later issued on their debut album "Home" released August 1969 on Stax STS-2026 (USA) and March 1970 (UK) on Stax SXATS 1029)

4. Understanding - COLD BLOOD [featuring Lydia Pense] (from their December 1970 second album "Sisyphus" on Atlantic/San Francisco SD 205)

5. One Fine Morning (LP Version) - LIGHTHOUSE (fourth studio album "One Fine Morning" released July 1971 (USA) on Evolution Records 3007 and October 1971 (UK) on Vertigo 6342 010)

6. Roller Coaster - BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS (September 1973 US 7" single on Columbia 4-45937, A-side - also on the August 1973 sixth US LP "No Sweat" on Columbia KC 32180 and CBS Records 65275 (UK))

7. Clever Girl - TOWER OF POWER (from their May 1973 US Debut LP "Tower Of Power" on Warner Brothers BS 2681)

8. Blow Your Mind - DONNIE BROOKS (Previously Unissued 1970 Recording, 2019)

9. Run Back To Mama - CHASE [featuring Bill Chase] (from their April 1974 third album "Pure Music" on Epic KE 32572)

10. Tuane - HAMMER (from their November 1970 debut album "Hammer" on Atlantic/San Francisco SD 203)

11. Somebody Oughta' Turn Your Head Around - CRYSTAL MANSION (from their August 1972 US LP "Crystal Mansion" on Rare Earth R 540L)

12. Clown (Part 1) - THE FLOCK (September 1969 edited into two parts FRENCH 7” single on CBS 6965 (A-side is 3:15 minutes) – also part of the full "Clown" track on their debut album "The Flock" issued September 1969 in the USA on Columbia Records CS 9911 (Stereo) and April 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 63733)

13. Gypsy Boy II - TOBIAS WOOD HENDERSON (from the 1971 album "Blue Stone" on Pulsar Records 10605)

14. Shoes - BLACK MAGIC (Previously Unissued Claridge Records recording, 2019)

15. Make Your Move - THE ELECTRIC FLAG (from the 1974 LP "The Band Kept Playing" on Atlantic SD 18112)

16. Boomp, Boomp, Chomp - THE SONS (from their November 1969 second album on Capitol Records SKAO-332 called "The Sons" – The Sons Of Champlin (featuring Bill Champlin) now credited as The Sons)

17. Aunt Marie - AMERICAN SOUND LTD (1968 US 7" single on Pearce 5841, A-side)

The 20-page booklet features track-by-track info on the 17 cuts by noted writer and Soul/Funk expert DEAN RUDLAND. As ever his knowledge comes shining through and does his level-headed appraisal - the text peppered with shots of album sleeves you rarely ever lay eyes on (Butterfield, Tower Of Power and Lighthouse getting a colour page each) and a couple of tasty US 45s on Stax and Columbia (Delaney & Bonnie and Al Kooper). Audio is care of Ace's long-standing sound-man NICK ROBBINS and given that 95% of it comes from major labels - each track is ballsy and full - proper power when the brass comes brandy-glass rattling into your living room.

Written & Arranged by Buzzy Feiten and Produced by songsmith and all-round catalyst Jerry Ragovoy - the track selection opens strongly with "Buddy's Advice" - Paul Butterfield smart enough to know that the Blues-Rock medium was already too limiting by 1969 - so for album number five, he Funks it up and Soul sympathiser Ragovoy delivers the audio wallop. You're then nailed with a Stateside threesome - ex Blood, Sweat & Tears Al Kooper, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Leon Russell pals Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett and the truly fantastic Cold Blood sporting the gutteral layrinx of Lydia Pense - a woman who might worry Janis Joplin, Maggie Bell and Elkie Brooks (in that order). Kooper's cover of the Isaac Hayes and David Porter penned "Toe Hold" (previously done by Sam & Dave, Johnnie Taylor and Sharon Tandy) is a smart choice. The backing band that can swing is Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde" troupe, the arrangements are by Jazz Trumpeter Don Ellis (cutting a rug over on Charles Taylor's CTI Records at the same time) and backing vocalists The Blossoms giving it the girl power the Soulful cut needs. Cold Blood have always been a lust of mine - their cover of Donny Hathaway's "Valdez In The Country" surely a contender for Volume 2.

Lighthouse even got their fourth album "One Fine Morning" a Blighty release on Vertigo Records in October 1971 hoping to mimic their home country Canadian success of No. 2 (on GRT Records) and a more modest No. 80 on the US LP charts (Evolution Records). But probably because the black-and-white swirl record company was perceived as a 'difficult' Prog Rock label - nobody fell for their Fusion Rock (time to change that).

The compilation then cleverly goes past the usual choices for Blood, Sweat & Tears (their first three albums, the second and third of which peaked at No. 1 in America) and instead opts for a tune when the public had effectively stopped liking them - the cool "Roller Coaster". Coupled with the fab Tower Of Power and a Keith Olsen produced session in 1970 for Donnie Brooks - things continue well with Bill Chase's "Run Back To Mama" - the ex Maynard Ferguson trumpeter and his band sounding like they’ve been gargling old-school B, S & T. platters for breakfast.

Neither of the Hammer or Crystal Mansion cuts actually feature funky horns, but are guitar-driven monsters that 'feel' like they do. The first I heard of the brilliant scatted "Tuane" track was on Disc 2 of Rhino's fabulous 4CD Box Set "What It Is!" - a 2006 deep dive into Atlantic's vaults and associated labels looking for Rare Grooves. The song was supposed to have lyrics but band member Johnny De just scatted along with the backing track and they realised it was a winner sans words. The Crystal Mansion cut has the feel of a Rock Band that deep down wants to be the Average White Band or Mother's Finest when they grow up and their chandeliers drop.  And on it goes to a French single edit by The Flock and a Funk 45 most people will never see on Pearce Records 5841 (out on Kansas) by the cool sounding American Sound Ltd telling you about a hip relative to the sound of manic brass punctuations.

American Rock gets back to its soulful roots...the blurb on the rear inlay to CDBGPD 311 states. And I’d like to thank Ace for reminding us of that and being a credit to the reissuing community. Recommended...