"Ain't No Saint: 40 Years Of..." by JOHN MARTYN Including Tracks from the Albums "London Conversation" (1967), "The Tumbler" (1968), "Stormbringer!" and "The Road To Ruin" (1970), "Solid Air" (1973), "Sunday’s Child" (1975), "One World" (1977) and more - featuring Members of Free and Led Zeppelin (September 2008 Universal/Island 4CD Box Set – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"…It's All For The Love Of You…"

September 2008's "Ain't No Saint..." 4CD box set offers up 61 tracks across a 40-year career (over 30 are previously unreleased). The 36-page booklet is a bit slapdash with regard to exacting details - so I've deciphered all the info contained within and without - and can now provide the following detailed breakdown for Universal-Island 530 798-7 (Barcode 600753079874):

Disc 1 (75:51 minutes):

1. Fairy Tale Lullaby (from "London Conversation", 1967)

2. Sing A Song Of Summer (from "The Tumbler", 1968)

3. Stormbringer (from "Stormbringer", 1970) John and Beverley Martyn

4. Tree Green (from "The Road To Ruin", 1970) John and Beverley Martyn

5. Head And Heart (from "Solid Air", 1973)

6. In The Evening (a "Solid Air outtake, also on the 2009 2CD DELUXE EDITION)

7. Solid Air (an Alternate version, also on the 2009 2CD DELUXE EDITION)

8. Keep On (a "Solid Air outtake, also on the 2009 2CD DELUXE EDITION)

9. The Glory Of Love (a "Solid Air outtake, also on the 2009 2CD DELUXE EDITION)

10. Go Down Easy (from "Solid Air", 1973)

11. Ain't No Saint (an "Inside Out" outtake, an instrumental)

12. Fine Lines (from "Inside Out", 1973)

13. Eight More Miles (a "Sunday's Child" outtake)

14. Call Me Crazy (from "Sunday's Child", 1975)

15. Black Man At The Shoulder (a "One World" outtake)

16. All For The Love Of You (a "One World" outtake)

17. Working It Out (a "One World" outtake)

18. Couldn't Love You More (from "One World", 1977)

6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 to 17 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Disc 2 (79:29 minutes):

1. Advertisement (30-second Radio Spot for the March 1977 'Best Of' Island Records compilation "So Far So Good")

2. Small Hours - Instrumental [originally known as "Space Peace"] (a 10:18 minutes Alternate version, also on the 2004 2CD DELUXE EDITION of "One World"]

3. In Search Of Anna [credited on the box as "Anna"] (a 1979 Australian-only 7" single on Island Records K7450. Theme to a movie of the same name)

4. Lookin' On (from "Grace And Danger", 1980)

5. Amsterdam (from "Glorious Fool", 1981)

6. Hung Up (from "Well Kept Secret", 1982)

7. Acid Rain (from "Sapphire", 1984)

8. Who Believes In Angels (from "Piece By Piece", 1986)

9. The Apprentice (from "The Apprentice", 1990)

10. Hole In The Rain (from "Cooltide", 1991)

11. One World (alternate version from the re-recordings compilation "Couldn't Love You More", 1992)

12. Sunday's Child (a 1992 re-recording, an Alternate version)

13. Carmine (from "And.", 1996)

14. The Sky Is Crying (an Elmore James cover from "The Church With One Bell", 1998)

15. So Sweet (from "Glasgow Walker", 2000)

16. Back To Marseilles (from "On The Cobbles", 2004)

1 to 3 and 12 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Disc 3 (77:37 minutes):

1. Bless The Weather (Live at the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, 22 August 1973)

2. Make No Mistake (Live at the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, 22 August 1973)

3. So Much In Love With You (Live at Leeds University, 13 February 1975)

4. Spencer The Rover (Live at Leeds University, 13 February 1975)

5. My Baby Girl (Live at Leeds University, 13 February 1975)

6. You Can Deliver (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 16 March 1975)

7. Solid Air (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 16 March 1975)

8. I'd Rather Be The Devil (Devil Got My Woman) (a Skip James cover, Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 16 March 1975)

9. Outside In (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 16 March 1975)

10. Advertisement (18-second Radio Spot for a Sunday Night concert in Birmingham)

11. Big Muff (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 21 November 1977)

12. One Day Without You (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 21 November 1977)

1 to 12 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Disc 4 (79:44 minutes):

1. Dealer (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 21 November 1977)

2. Smiling Stranger (Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London, 21 November 1977)

3. Johnny Too Bad (Live at BBC Bristol for "A Little Night Music" Television Show, 12 August 1981)

4. Hurt In Your Heart (Live at BBC Bristol for "A Little Night Music" Television Show, 12 August 1981)

5. John Wayne (Live at The Montreaux Jazz Festival, 18 July 1986)

6. Angeline (Live at The Montreaux Jazz Festival, 18 July 1986)

7. Mad Dog Days (Live at The Montreaux Jazz Festival, 18 July 1986)

8. The Moment (Live at The Town & Country Club, London, 12 November 1986)

9. Fisherman's Dream (Live at The Town & Country Club, London, 12 November 1986)

10. Sweet Little Mystery (Live at BBC Television Show "Later With Jools Holland", 5 November 1992)

11. May You Never  (Live at the BBC Television Show "Later With Jools Holland", 5 November 1992)

12. Step It Up (Live at the BBC Television Show "Later With Jools Holland", 1 June 1996)

13. Sunshine's Better (Live at the "Andy Kershaw Show" for BBC Radio 1, 12 August 1996)

14. On For The Road (Live at BBC Television Show "Later With Jools Holland", 14 May 2004)

15. Over The Hill (Live at the BBC's "Radio 2 Folk Awards" Show, 6 February 2008)

1 to 15 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED; 15 features JOHN PAUL JONES of LED ZEPPELIN on Mandolin

The first 2 CDs provide a career retrospective of at least one song from all 22 of his studio albums (1967 to 2004) while Discs 3 and 4 are entirely made up of live and unreleased performances (1973 to 2008). The whole set has been remastered by PASCHAL BYRNE who did such a beautiful job on 2009's DELUXE EDITION of "Solid Air" (see separate review) - and the audio quality here is equal to that gem - especially on the earlier more folky tunes - warm and airy - just a gorgeous listen.

JOHN HILLARBY, long-time archivist and friend of Martyn has written the liner notes and cherry-picked the tracks. And while some of the choices are inspired (the rarely heard "Hung Up" from Well Kept Secret), others left me cold - even baffled. Why the ordinary "Back To Marseilles" from 2004's "On The Cobbles" when you could have ended disc 2 with "Goodnight Irene" with Mavis Staples. And do we need yet another 1992 alternate take of "Solid Air" (even if it is previously unreleased) when the live version of it on 1981's "Philanthropy" trashes it so completely. And why not decent tracks off "Piece By Piece" like "Lonely Love" or the title track or even a remaster of "Tight Connection To My Heart" - a rare non-album Dylan cover version on the "Angeline" CD single from 1986? Box sets are made for these sorts of things.

But there are gobsmacking gems on here to entice even the most weary listener; the ultra-rare and excellent "In Search Of Anna" - an Australian-only 7" single from 1979 finally gets a CD release - while "In The Evening" and "All For The Love Of You" (lyrics above) represent truly beautiful outtakes from "Solid Air" and "One World" respectively. And I never tire of "Hole In The Rain", "Carmine" or "So Sweet". His Nineties and 2000's stuff is superlative and never given enough room to shine.

Disc 3 and 4 are a mixed bag of the lovely (deliciously delicate versions of "Angeline" and "Sunshine's Better") running alongside the indulgent (13 minutes of "Inside Out") and the manic, but strangely powerful "John Wayne". And these live tracks also show a side to Martyn that needed serious acknowledgment - his ability with a full band to morph his older folk-acoustic songs into full-on modernized soulful versions which were often just as good as the originals - just updated in a fashion. It ends with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin joining him on Mandolin on "Over The Hill" at the BBC's Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2008 - you can feel the audience's affection.

So there you have it - although "Ain't No Saint" is sometimes sloppy and disappointing in places - it's utterly captivating and life affirming too. And with his sad passing in early 2009 - you'll be glad you invested in it and left with a poignant feeling of true greatness lost...

"In The Wind/Are You Ready For This?/New Magic/What The World Needs Now Is Love" by JACKIE DeSHANNON – Albums from 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968 on Imperial Records in Stereo (with some tracks in Mono) (March 2015 Beat Goes On Reissue – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Top Of That Hill..."

Beat Goes On of the UK (BGO) touched on Jackie DeShannon's fab Sixties output back in August 2005 when they combined her "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" album (1964 on Liberty Records) with her 3^rd LP "This Is Jackie DeShannon" (1965 on Imperial Records) plonking both onto 1 CD (Beat Goes On BGOCD 684).

This complimentary 2015 two-disc set gives us four STEREO albums on Imperial put onto 2CDs and all of it in their customary tasty reissue style (card wrap, extensive booklet, quality remasters of Stereo and Mono mixes). Here are the details and the love what the world needs right now…

UK released March 2015 – "In The Wind/Are You Ready For This?/New Magic/What The World Needs Now Is Love" by JACKIE DeSHANNON on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1176 (Barcode 5017261211767) offers 4LP Remastered onto 2CDs and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (62:03 minutes):

1. Blowin’ In The Wind

2. Walkin’ Down The Line

3. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

4. If I Had A Hammer

5. Jailer Bring Me Water

6. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down

7. Needles And Pins [Side 2]

8. Little Yellow Roses

9. 500 Miles

10. Oh Sweet Chariot (Mono)

11. Puff (The Magic Dragon)

12. Don’t Turn Your Back On Me

Tracks 1 to 12 are her 4^th album "In The Wind" – released 1965 in the USA on Imperial LP-9296 (Mono) and LP-12296 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used except for track 10 "Oh Sweet Chariot"

13. I Can Make It With You

14. Music And Memories

15. Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Mono)

16. Are You Ready For This

17. To Be Myself (Mono)

18. Love Is Leading Me

19. Windows And Doors (Mono) [Side 2]

20. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me

21. So Long Johnny

22. To Wait For Love (Is To Waste Your Life Away)

23. Call Me

24. Find Me Love

Tracks 13 to 24 are her 5^th album "Are You Ready For This?" – released 1966 in the USA on Imperial LP-9328 (Mono) and LP-12328 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used except for tracks 15, 17 and 19 - which are Mono.

Disc 2 (68:05 minutes):

1. Come On Down (From The Top Of That Hill)

2. The Carnival Is Closed Today

3. I'll Be Seeing You

4. A Sunday Kind Of Love

5. The Wishing Well (from the motion picture Hawaii) (Mono)

6. Night And Day

7. I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do

8. Time

9. A Proper Girl

10. Where Does The Sun Go?

11. That's The Name Of The Game

12. Poor Someone

Tracks 1 to 12 are her 6^th album "New Image" – released 1967 in the USA on Imperial LP-9344 (Mono) and LP-12344 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used except for track 5 - which is Mono.

13. What The World Needs Now Is Love

14. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (Lo Che Non Vivo)

15. It's All In The Game

16. So Long Johnny

17. Changin' My Mind

18. Windows And Doors (Mono)

19. A Lifetime Of Loneliness

20. Everything Under The Sun

21. To Wait For Love

22. Where Does The Sun Go?

23. Little Yellow Roses

24. Call Me

Tracks 13 to 24 are her 7^th album "What The World Needs Now Is Love" – released 1968 in the USA on Imperial LP-12404 (Stereo only) except for Track 18 – which is Mono.

The 16-page booklet has superb liner notes by noted writer and musicologist JOHN TOBLER as well as album credits, black and white publicity photos and original LP liner notes where available. Between it and the card wrap – you get a very classy feel to this reissue. But the real goodies come with the Stereo mixes of the albums which sound utterly brill thanks to quality remasters from BGO’s resident go-to Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I’ve sung this guy's praises before and he's done the business by these records. There are (as you can see from above) some instances where the Mono take is replaced by the Stereo version and the audio definitely takes a dip for the worse – but these Universal licenced tapes are clearly in great shape.

With the winds of change and social upheaval going through American society like a dose of salts – it’s clear that like so many others - the wallop of Bob Dylan's albums and his thought-provoking consciousness hit out Jackie hard. She opens "In The Wind" with no less than three Dylan covers in a row sounding like she means every word – then taps into Pete Seeger's "If I Had A Hammer" and Eric Von Schmidt's "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" (another Dylan favorite complete with harmonica fills that ape BD's style). Even Bobby Darin's "Jailer Bring Me Water" is made to sound like a Folky anthem. I could probably live without her saccharine cover of Peter, Paul and Mary's "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and the Mono cut of the Traditional "Oh Sweet Chariot" doesn’t do much for me either. Better is her lone composition on the album "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" – an excellent and hooky Pop hit that would give Goffin and King a run for their Brill Building money. Vanguard Records folky Hedy West provides the lonesome and lovely "500 Miles" - another highlight on a very strong album.

Returning to the melodrama of Phil Spector strings and girls – the “Are You Ready For This?” LP opens strongly with the Dusty Springfield sounding “I Can Make It With You” (another winner penned by Chip Taylor). But the album sees DeShannon’s songwriting talent start to shine through big time. The title track “Are You Ready For This?” is the first of four self-penned songs to kick in (“To Be Myself”, “Love Is Leading Me” and “Find Me Love” are the other three) which combined with “Windows And Doors”, “So Long Johnny” and “To Wait For Love” by Bacharach and David – give the album a strong edge by virtue of such strong material. “To Be Myself” and “Love Is Leading Me” give a musical nod towards the girl group sound of Motown and are so catchy – she even gives it a brassy stab at Tony Hatch’s “Call Me” - a huge hit in the UK for Petula Clark.

Things take a more decidedly Pop turn with the “New Image” album – very upbeat and cheery in that Summer Of Love kind of a way – epitomised by the opener “Come On Down (From The Top Of That Hill)”. The audio quality on “The Carnival Is Closed Today” is truly fabulous. Things getting decidedly soppy with “A Sunday Kind Of Love” but “The Wishing Doll” is dreadful film dross (made worse by dreary Mono). Things pick up with her chipper version of Cole Porter’s “Night And Day”. Both “Time” and “Poor Someone” are great upbeat/mid-tempo Sixties Pop but even better are her own two contributions – “Where Does The Sun Go?” and “That’s The Name Of The Game”.

Probably her most famous and beloved song – Bacharach & Davids "What The World Needs Now Is Love" still has that eternally optimistic Sixties magic about it. Another B&D winner comes in the shape of "So Long Johnny" while her own "Where Does The Sun Go?" gets another version that is so Bobbie Gentry in its delivery. "Little Yellow Roses" (with surprisingly deep lyrics) and Hatch's "Call Me" end it in style.

It's not all genius of course but for lovers of Jackie DeShannon and her Sixties Sound this is yet another great reissue from BGO. Fans should dig in right away and enjoy – especially given the superb audio and presentation…

"Tabernakel/Eli" by JAN AKKERMAN [of Focus] with KAZ LUX - Albums from 1974 and 1977 featuring Bassist Tim Bogert and Drummer Carmine Appice (October 2015 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 2LPs onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...A Galliard..."

Virtuoso guitarist JAN AKKERMAN made his name as the principal axeman for the Dutch Prog Rock group FOCUS – a band that many's a spotty teenager bought on Polydor Records back in the early 70ts (especially 1971's "Moving Waves" and 1972's epic double album "Focus III"). After a few belated LP releases featuring 60ts material on Imperial and Harvest – his 3rd solo album "Tabernakel" from early 1974 on Atlantic Records showed where his heart really lay – ancient songs played on ancient instruments but in a very Classical/Seventies Prog Rock kind of way (Jeff Beck's musical buddies Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice guest on Bass and Drums on two tracks). 

Akkerman even returns to his old Focus haunts with a new version of their instrumental hit – "House Of The King" - the B-side of "Sylvia" in December 1972. Coupled with a later album set called "Eli" that he did with the Dutch Blues vocalist Kazimir Lux in 1977 – this beautifully transferred Beat Goes On CD offers fans both albums in their entirety. Here are the lute-playing Minstrels in the Gallery...

UK released October 2015 – "Tabernakel/Eli" by JAN AKKERMAN and KAZ LUX on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1208 (Barcode 5017261212085) is a 2LPs onto 1CD Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows (76:22 minutes):

1. Britannia by John Dowland [Side 1]

2. Coranto For Mrs. Murcott by Francis Pilkington

3. The Earl Of Derby, His Galliard by John Dowland

4. House Of The King

5. A Galliard by Anthonie Holborne

6. A Galliard by John Dowland

7. A Pavan by Thomas Morley

8. Javeh

9. A Fantasy by Laurencini Of Rome [Side 2]

10. Lammy

(i) I Am

(ii) Asleep, Half Asleep, Half Awake

(iii) She Is

(iv) Lammy, We Are

(v) The Last Will And Testament

(vi) Amen

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Tabernakel" – released January 1974 in the UK on Atlantic K 40522 and February 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7032. Bass and Drums by Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice on Track 4 and 10.

11. Eli [Side 1]

12. Guardian Angel

13. Tranquillizer

14. Can't Fake A Good Thing

15. There He Still Goes [Side 2]

16. Strindberg

17. Wings Of Strings

18. Naked Actress

19. Fairytale

Tracks 11 to 19 are the album "Eli" by JAN AKKERMAN & KAZ LUX – released January 1977 in the UK on Atlantic K 50320 and in the USA on Atlantic SD 18210

There’s the card slipcase on the outside that lends these Beat Goes On CD reissues a little class – and on the inside a 16-page booklet with full album credits, some black and white photos and new liner notes on Akkerman and the albums by noted writer NEIL DANIELS. The gorgeous (if not a teensy bit hissy) Audio is courtesy of new 2015 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters licensed from WEA. Not surprising therefore given the purity of the instruments and the air around them (lots of acoustic madrigal strumming) that the Geoffrey Haslam original production values get to shine. This is a lovely sounding CD – and the combo of high-strung guitars and orchestral arrangements was always going to impress.

Firstly - the album "Tabernakel" isn't "Hocus Pocus" or even "Sylvia" - those looking for that should revert to the Focus catalogue. "Tabernakel” features instrumentals hankering back to ye Olde Englande – madrigals and galliards – beautifully played and produced. Both "Britannia" and "The Earl Of Derby" show his amazing playing credentials straight away and impressive they are too. Despite probably seeming like a good idea at the time - there's a rather pointless and not very good 'guitars and strings' cover version of the Focus hit "House Of The King" - the first of two tunes on the album to feature Jeff Beck's regular sidemen – Bassist Tim Bogert and Drummer Carmine Appice (the other is the epic "Lammy"). Far prettier is the simple acoustic strumming of two jolly ancient England pieces - "A Galliard by Anthonie Holborne" and "A Galliard by John Dowland".

"A Pavan by Thomas Morley" features the most exquisite acoustic guitar playing anchored and beautifully accompanied by a full string section of maybe 15 musicians (concert master Gene Orloff). The same lush orchestra sophistication applies to the Side 1 finisher "Javeh" – only this time with a more overtly Spanish flamenco feel in between the swooning Oboe and Violins. But Side 2 is dominated by the six-part "Lammy" which runs to just over 14 minutes. Bogert and Appice add rhythm spunk to the centre portions and Akkerman plays a mean Funk and Prog Guitar and even a very cool Lute made to sound somehow like a Sitar. During the Guitar/Drums battle before that huge organ and chorus of ELP doomy voices comes in – "Lammy" is Seventies Prog Rock at its very best.

But all of the goodwill built up by the accomplished "Tabernakel" LP goes out the Proggy window with the mostly mediocre and confusing "Eli" album where Akkerman lets Dutch vocalist Kazimir Lux loose on almost all of the songs to largely awful results. They also try to Funk things up all over the place but in most cases (not all) the record just fails to ignite in any real way. Lux has a good voice rather than a great one - when what was needed was Joe Cocker – so no amount of echo on "Eli" is going to save the song. The almost spoken "Strindberg" is ruined by his sub Nilsson nasally vocals and a weirdly poor production - especially after the spectacular "Tabernakel" LP. The fusion-funk of "Guardian Angel" at least has a good vocal while the slinky "Tranquillizer" trundles along with treated guitars that amble instead of impressing. It's not all bad - that old playing magic gets to shine on the lovely "Wings Of Strings" while Lux's own "Can't Fake A Good Time" is probably the best track on the album – properly funky like late 70ts Robin Trower. But the album ends on another ambling instrumental called "Fairytale" which is pleasant at best.

For me that 1977 LP seems out of place here and kind of lets the audio side down too (iffy Production) – but fans will absolutely love the "Tabernakel" LP on CD with such classy presentation too. Worth the price of admission alone I think...

"After Bathing At Baxter's" by JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Third Album from December 1967 in Stereo on RCA Victor Records - featuring Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden (August 2003 RCA/BMG Heritage CD Reissue – Bob Irwin Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...My Love Talks To Winking Windows..."

Popping more than balloons in the public parks of Sixties San Francisco – I'm sure she did mate. A visionary time – genius – indulgent knob – take your pick. I suppose in the 52-year comfort-zone of 2019, it's so easy to be pass-remarkable about the year 1967 and its hallucinogenic words, third-eye thinking and peaceful ideals. The Summer of Love – Flower Power – letting it all hang out – rebelling against the man, man - and all that. And yet if you ever wanted proof-positive of how to argue that 'experimentation and drug-taking indulgence will produce brilliance' – then a listen to the Airplane's out-there third album "After Bathing At Baxter's" from November of that astonishing year will settle it for you. It's bonkers – it's brill – it's gobbledegook (try listening to the second track "A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly" and not laugh/cringe). For better or worse "After Bathing At Baxter's" is a truly evocative time capsule into that musically explosive year – echoes that still inform our listening peccadillos to this day.

Let’s frame the picture first. Jefferson Airplane had exploded onto the East Coast music scene in 1965 and their cutesy Byrds-like debut "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off" had hit the shops in August 1966 to critical acclaim and a respectable debut chart position. But the second platter "Surrealistic Pillow" and its two top-ten smash singles "Somebody To Love" and the trippy "White Rabbit" made them cultural icons and commercial stars (the LP shifted a million copies) with a public and record company eager for more come album number three – more hits – more controversy – more madness. But already feeling artistically strangled and deliberately eschewing the perceived commercialism of the day (consolidate your fan base and simply give them more of what they want) – the San Francisco band holed up in the studio for nearly six months and on RCA’s dime made the music they wanted without the boffins in ten-gallon hats and Crimplene slacks knowing what was going on. Probably just as well they weren’t listening to the nine-minute hippy-fest that is "Spare Chaynge" where Bassist Jack Casady, Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and Drummer Spencer Dryden have a wee bit of an instrumental wig-out while blissfully unaware RCA Victor hick-types foot the not inconsiderable bill. Even the LP sleeve was cryptic – you had to turn over the front cover to see what words the cartoon-drawn Fred Flintstone Whacky Races Jefferson Airplane was hauling on its trailing banner - "After Bathing At Baxter's" (the LP’s title is words from a Gary Blackman poem reproduced on the inner sleeve of original albums) – complete with an environmental message amidst the modern-day detritus splattered about the city below – ‘Every Litter Bit Helps’. And its eleven songs were also broken up into five thematic bits with weirdly-worded banner-headings like "Streetmasse" and "Shizoforest". Yeah man…

Co-founder Marty Balin and leading songwriter light on the "Takes Off" debut and its follow-up "Surrealistic Pillow" allegedly found the experimental jams and sessions gruelling and even distasteful - leaving Grace Slick and Paul Kantner to step forward and provide seven of the eleven songs with the remainder of the band improvising the rest (Balin has only one credit on the LP – a co-write with Kantner on "Young Girl Sunday Blues)".  When it hit Billboard in late December 1967 - the public were amused and disinterested in equal measure with "…Baxter's" stalling at No. 17 whereas "Pillow" had busted No. 3 with ease. But time and distance has shown that their artistic freak-out had merit – especially when you take into account the equally cool and brilliant "Crown Of Creation" album that followed in 1968. Let’s get stuck into those wild tymes of the year before…here are the pooneils…

UK released August 2003 (July 2003 in the USA) - "After Bathing At Baxter's" by JEFFERSON AIRPLANE on RCA/BMG Heritage 82876 53225 2 (Barcode 828765322522) is an Expanded Edition 'Original Masters' CD Reissue with Four Bonus Tracks (three of which are Previously Unissued) and pans out as follows (68:30 minutes);

"Streetmasse" [Side 1]

1. The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil

2. A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly

3. Young Girl Sunday Blues

"The War Is Over"

4. Martha

5. Wild Tyme (H)

"Hymn to an Older Generation"

6. The Last Wall of the Castle

7. rejoice

"How Suite It Is" [Side 2]

8. Watch Her Ride

9. Spare Chaynge

"Shizoforest Love Suite"

10. Two Heads

11. Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon

Tracks 1 to 11 are their third studio album "After Bathing At Baxter's" - released November 1967 in the USA on RCA Victor LOP-1511 (Mono) and December 1967 in the UK on RCA Victor RD 7926 (Mono) and SF 7926 (Stereo). The STEREO Mix is used for this CD reissue.

BONUS TRACKS:

12. The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil [Live – Long Version]

13. Martha [Mono]

14. Two Heads (Alternate Version)

15. Things Are Better In The East (Demo Version)

Tracks 12, 14 and 15 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Track 13 is the B-side of the US 7” single to "Watch Her Ride" released December 1967 on RCA Victor 47-9398

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE was:

GRACE SLICK – Lead Vocals, Keyboards

JORMA KAUKONEN - Lead Guitars and Vocals

PAUL KANTNER – Lead, Rhythm Guitars and Vocals

MARTY BALIN – Lead and Backing Vocals

JACK CASADY - Bass

SPENCER DRYDEN – Drums, Vocals, Piano, Organ and Percussion

The 12-page liner notes are courtesy of band-expert and uber-fan JEFF TAMARKIN who authored "Got A Revolution! The Turbulent Flight Of Jefferson Airplane" issued on Atria Books the same year as the CD reissues (2003). The colour photo and handwritten song list that adorned the inner gatefold is spread across the two centre pages - but the cartoons-and-poem inner that came with original LPs is rather sloppily absent and without explanation. There are a couple of black and white photos of the band (from the sessions) and the usual reissue credits. Pieced together from insider interviews - his explanation of the album's recording history across six crazy months is affectionate and genuinely informative - even if he rather conveniently omits that other cultural sensation happening across the sea in Blighty (Sgt. Peppers released 1 June 1967 and dominating the rest of that year right into December) – an LP that would surely have had an impact on the band’s working process and thinking. Page 11 of the booklet also seems to want us to believe the album's US catalogue number was LSP-4545 - when it wasn't (that's a Seventies repress as I recall). But apart from these glitches mostly Tamarkin makes a good argument as to why fans love "…Baxter's" so much – it's true 'Plane' – dancing to the piper at the gates of their own SF dawn (with less smog and rain). But the big news here is a BOB IRWIN Remaster from original tapes – bringing the STEREO mix to life – and for me the amazing quality of the four Extras which feel like just that – like actual bonus material (three are unreleased).

Edited down to a more manageable 4:35 minutes from what now appears to have been a near 12-minute session - the album opens on the wailing guitar of Paul Kantner's "The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil". Both Kantner and Slick trade oohs and aahs as the song finds its strange guitar groove. RCA tried it as a 45 prior to the album's release in September 1967 on RCA Victor 47-9297 with Side 2's "Two Heads" as the flipside - but it only managed a No. 42 placing on the American singles charts. It's followed by the mad voices of "A Small Package..." probably the most insufferable track on the album - a one and half minute indulgence of 'no man is an island' wit (he's a peninsula). Things pick up big time with the Balin/Kantner offering "Young Girl Sunday Blues" - a wicked groove you wish would go on longer (nice solo from Kaukonen).

Part 2 of 5 offers us "Martha" - another winner from Kantner - all acoustic guitars and collaborative vocals - it's one of my favourites on the record (the Mono version used on the 45 is one of this CD's bonus tracks). The band starts to really cook on "Wild Tyme" - a guitar-hooky Kantner rocker where everything is changing around them and singer Grace Slick reliably informs us that "...I'm doing things they haven't even named yet..." (nice). Jorma Kaukonen provided the 'teach me how to love' guitar-bop that is "The Last Wall of the Castle" - where halfway through he lets rip on a seriously gnarly solo (maybe Neil Young was listening to this over in the ranks of Buffalo Springfield). Grace then discusses "Ulysses" by James Joyce in her decidedly weird yet wonderful "rejoice" - a piano-jaunt that somehow manages to be sinister as she sings words like 'throw up on his leg' and a 'crotch that amazes'. I can only imagine what RCA executives must have made of "Spare Chaynge" - a nine-minute Avant Garde Prog Rock moment complete with its own funny spelling and deliberate difficulty. The final two "Two Heads" and "Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon" must have offered solace in that they might be called actual 'tunes'. And off the Bonus Cuts - I'm loving the demo-delicacy of "Things Are Better In The East" - an original take of a song that would eventually morph into "Two Heads".

Studio set No. 4 "Crown Of Creation" was delivered in September 1968 and again featured an even more breathtaking leap forward (rightly revered back in the day and still is now). They really had lived up to that space-age-music moniker foisted on them by RCA Records on the rear cover of their 1966 debut album – here comes the 'Jet Age Sound'.

But despite many five-star appraisals other than mine – I’m fairly certain that re-listening to Jefferson Airplane and their "After Bathing At Baxter's" album in 2018 will have the now-generation scratching their heads and fearing for our sanity and judgement - an acquired taste – like Balsamic Vinegar Crisps or the Metric System. But as the poster on the original US album cover proclaimed - "Consume!" – and for once I’m with the cartoonist…