CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS for CD Volume 3 - "The Path Even Less Taken Than The First Two Paths" - A List of Not So Obvious BUDGET BUYS by AMAZON Hall Of Fame Reviewer Mark Barry...

22 November 2019
I get asked a lot (via e-mail) to advise on gifts (especially music titles). 
This list is for those on a budget but still looking for quality 
and maybe even a bit of quantity into the 3CD bargain...

CD PRESENTS FOR CHRISTMAS 2019 Volume 3

BEST BUDGET BUYS

HIDDEN AMAZON GEMS... 

Given that there are so many 'Best Of' and 'Anthology' CD sets for such a wide spread of music artists and genres, it can be a little hard to see the wood for the chaff and re-records. 

For this post, I'm focusing on DEMON and EDSEL Records and their "Gold" 3CD Anthology Sets via their budget label imprint CRIMSON. So far there's been over 20 Titles (and counting) released across 2018 and 2019...

These are cheap and cheerful, usually pitched at six quid or less, but quietly feature those Edsel Remaster of old usually a hugely generous 40 to 60 tracks. Acts from the Seventies include Kiki Dee, Labi Siffre, Mungo Jerry, Brotherhood Of Man, Chas and Dave, T.Rex with Marc Bolan, Boney M, Bay City Rollers and more - with the Eighties and Nineties featured by Belinda Carlisle, Shalamar, Hank Marvin, 5 Star, M People, Ace Of Base and Micheal Bolton. 

The 3-way card flaps credit the album or 45 on a track-by-track basis so don't expect a booklet in any (these are not Box Sets as Amazon often mistakenly credits them as). But with this much quality music on display in pretty packs and at such a low price - these "Gold" 3-disc sets offer a chance to explore artists you know by name but probably don't know the hidden gems in their back catalogue (Labi Siffre, Kiki Dee, T.Rex etc). 

Here are some of those titles - simply click the logo below for today's price and in some cases, you'll notice some are even cheaper on site...

CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS for CD Volume 2 - "The Path Even Less Taken" - A List of Not So Obvious BUDGET BUYS by AMAZON Hall Of Fame Reviewer Mark Barry...

22 November 2019
I get asked a lot (via e-mail) to advise on gifts (especially music titles). 
This list is for those on a budget but still looking for quality 
and maybe even a bit of quantity into the 3CD bargain...

CD PRESENTS FOR CHRISTMAS 2019 Volume 2

BEST BUDGET BUYS

HIDDEN AMAZON GEMS... 

Given that there are so many 'Best Of' and 'Anthology' CD sets for such a wide spread of music artists and genres, it can be a little hard to see the wood for the chaff and re-records. For this post, I'm focusing on SONY/BMG Music and their "Real...Ultimate Collection" 3-CD sets. Sony began theirs as far back as 2011, but have upped the numbers considerably across 2018 and 2019.  

Sony/BMG's catalogue of labels is vast - Columbia Records (USA) and CBS Records (UK), Epic, Philadelphia International, Kirshner, Portrait, RCA Victor, Monument and loads more. 

Across the decades huge swathes of their Rock, Pop, Soul, Country, Rhythm and Blues, Easy Listening, Male and Female Vocalists, Latin, Swing Jazz and Folk output has been remastered onto single CDs and multiple Box Sets (using their LEGACY imprint) by great Audio Engineers like VIC ANESINI, GREG CALBI and BERNIE GRUNDMAN. For huge artists like say Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Santana, Paul Simon and more still selling strong - Sony puts their considerable output onto "The Essential" Series - usually double CDs priced about £10 or more. 

But there are other artists who don't sell in such numbers but still have catalogues that can often stretch back to the Fifties and Sixties (Johnny Cash, Eartha Kitt, Roy Orbison, Nilsson, John Barry) and those from the Seventies like say Earth, Wind and Fire, Bill Withers or Carole King and on into the 80s and 90s with Clannad and the Gipsy Kings. 

For these, Sony/BMG has put out 3CD digipaks called "The Real John Barry - The Ultimate John Barry Collection" (see my review), "The Real Carole King", "The Real Dean Martin", "The Real Doris Day" and some genre compilations on "Folk, "Country" and "Blues". 

They are cheap and cheerful, usually pitched at six quid or less, but quietly feature those Legacy remaster engineers I've mentioned and a hugely generous 40 to 60 tracks. The 3-way flaps barely credit the release date so don't expect a booklet in any, but with this much quality music on display in pretty packs and at such a low price - these "Real" 3-disc sets offer a chance to explore artists you know by name but probably don't know the hidden gems in their back catalogue. 

They even have one for Bob Dylan, the Johnny Cash title offers an astonishing 88 Columbia songs for four quid, Bacharach and David lift up the Dionne Warwick entry, stunning mixture of legends on the multi-artist "Blues" mannish boy set, can't get over the songwriting talent of Carole King, the Miles Davis triple currently gives you 30 for three pounds and Philly's Teddy Pendergrass has cuts for when he was one of the lead vocalist with Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. And the Bill Withers/Isley Brothers sets are wall-to-wall Soul-Funk class. All Tasty! 

Here are the bulk of the SONY titles in "The Real..." Series. Simply click the logo below for today's price and in some cases, you'll notice some are even cheaper on site...

CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS for CD Volume 1 - "The Path Less Taken" - A List of Less Obvious Buys by Amazon Hall Of Fame Reviewer Mark Barry...

I get asked a lot (via e-mail) to advise on gifts (especially music titles), so here goes...
I've reviewed most of these so look up the Index below for more details...

CD CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR 2019 Volume 1

OFF-THE BEATEN-TRACK GIFT SUGGESTIONS

HIDDEN AMAZON GEMS... 

For the Soul nutter in your life, a genius selection of 20 iconic albums stretching from the early Sixties through to the early Seventies - each remastered and each in a natty card repro sleeve. Obvious choices (Otis, Aretha, Pickett and so on) but its the slices in-between that are such great discoveries like Donny Hathaway and Howard Tate...about £30...

Stunning Double-Album from Elton in 1973 (originally on DJM Records)  - Reissued and Remastered onto a DELUXE EDITION 2CD Set. Features the entire double on Disc 1 - new duet and collaboration recordings on CD2 with a live gig from the day...and only £7.89...

Was to be Zeppelin's vocalist before Plant nabbed the best job - Terry Reid is one of those fantastic British singers that can wow you (still gigs to this day). Think Steve Marriott meets Gary Holton (of The Heavy Metal Kids) with the Soulfulness of say Joe Cocker or Robert Palmer. This 5CD Series has a lot of hidden gems in it - and this is one of them. Albums from 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977 and 1991. Around eleven quid or less...

Vastly underrated American Icon - what puts this 'Best Of' for John 'Cougar' Mellencamp into the winner catagory is the excellence of the two exclusive songs "Thank You" and "Walk Tall" alongside storming Remasters of a huge range of album tracks you don't know but should...only six quid and less in certain places...

Shockingly good value for money considering the sheer class of this - all her best Atlantic Records singles (including rare but beautiful B-sides like "Pledging My Love/The Clock") on a 2CD kicker. 

Less than a fiver!

There is a 2-Disc Deluxe Edition of this but this 1CD variant is all you need. Again much of his Eighties material has remained infuriatingly untouched as far as decent remasters go (excepting expensive and deleted Mobile Fidelity titles) - so this lot expertly transferred by Stephen Marcussen (who did The Stones Seventies catalogue) offers crafted goody after crafted nugget. Six quid and less in the right places...

While "Jagged Little Pill" remains many people's fave by ALANIS MORISSETTE (and a 90s icon) - she made a few after that didn't go down so well. So this absolute nugget from 2004 kind of got lost through the years. It's a stunning and positive rocker of an album where songs like "Excuses" and "Knees Of My Bees" are lyrically and musically brilliant (pain and joy in equal measure). Yours for less than four quid and under a £1 in places...

It hit many so hard when Soundgarden/Audioslave's awesome singer CHRIS CORNELL finished with the world in May 2017 aged only 52 - but this gem remained. Possessed of a way with Acoustic Guitar melodies and a set of vocal pipes that would make Robert Plant and Brian Johnson nervous - for such a hurt man - he produced incredibly uplifting and soul-touching music. Like Stevie Ray Vaughan - his loss rankers even now. Give this a try...less that six quid...

Five more DAD ROCK choices from Universal's 2CD DELUXE EDITION Series - fabulous remasters and all now the cheapest they've ever been...

More DAD ROCK but from Sony's LEGACY EDITION 2CD Series - again great remasters and some surprising bargains/forgotten albums...

CD BOX SETS THAT ROCK BUT WON'T COST YOU A LIMB LET ALONE A ROLL...

EAGLES. Their six studio albums from the self-titled 1972 debut (with "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling") to that final effort before break up "The Long Run" in 1979 with Joe Walsh ("Heartache Tonight"). Each in those natty card repro sleeves (all remasters) and properly great value for money. Just over two quid per disc, hits and forgotten gems like the gorgeous Acoustic Folk of "My Man" on the massively underrated "On The Border" LP, the Bernie Leadon instrumental "Journey Of The Sorcerer" used in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (on "One Of These Nights") and Timothy B. Schmit's vocals on "I Can't Tell You Why" alongside Don Henley on "The Sad Cafe" and Walsh on "In The City" - all on "The Long Run".

BYRDS. Staggering music and such amazing value for money - 13 albums (one a double) and wads of Bonus Material - beautiful Vic Anesini Remasters - Card Repro Sleeves - chunky booklet rammed with tidbits and memorabilia. This used to sell for up to £50 and more - now less than £29 new and on your door...

"Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" by VARIOUS [Decca and Deram Labels] featuring Bill Fay, The End, Bulldog Breed, T2, Caravan, Leafhound, Granny’s Intentions, Johnny Almond Music Machine, Trapeze, Moody Blues, Savoy Brown, Daryl Way and more (January 2003 Universal/Decca 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

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

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

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

Just Click Below To Purchase

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

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"…Voodoo Forest…"

With a hefty 40-tracks stretching from 1967 to 1976 - as I recall this was the first of those dinky little 3CD mini box set label-retrospectives that UNIVERSAL began putting out with alarming regularity at the beginning of the Naughties. But what it oddly doesn’t say in the Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology title (or anywhere on the box for that matter) is that 29 of those slices of Psych/Prog/Hard Rock madness come from Decca’s Progressive Rock label imprint DERAM. So it’s essentially a DERAM retrospective (the other 11 tracks are on Decca and the Threshold label).

And with the experienced compiling team of MARK POWELL and engineer PASCHAL BYRNE behind the overall presentation – you get clever track choices, fantastically knowledgeable liner notes and uniformly great sound. There’s so much to discover on here and it isn’t all unlistenable proggy knob either. So here are the details for the Voodoo Forest, Granny’s Intentions and Cheerful Insanity. And just to wash those all down - a Nymphenburger on the Hellbound Train while you Jig-A-Jig with a Funky Nomad Tribe (if you know what I mean)…

UK-released January 2003 – "Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Universal/Decca 5857832 (Barcode 0731458578321) is a 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 – card sleeve pictures The Bulldog Breed (77:04 minutes):

1. Legend Of A Mind [1974 Remix] – THE MOODY BLUES (originally a track on their 3rd album from July 1968 "In Search Of The Lost Chord" on Deram SML 717 – this version is the 1974 remix from the double-album compilation "This Is The Moody Blues" released November 1974 in the UK on Threshold MB 1-2)

2. Screams In The Ears – BILL FAY (August 1967 UK 7" single on Deram DM 143, A-Side. Note: the non-album B-side "Some Good Advice" is on the "Strange Pleasures" 3CD Box from 2008 – see separate review)

3. Suite No. One – GILES, GILES & FRIPP on the LP "The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles & Fripp" released September 1968 in the UK on Deram DML 1022 (Mono) and SML 1022 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used. The track is written by Robert Fripp and along with Pete and Michael Giles later became KING CRIMSON)

4. Introspection – Part One – THE END (on the UK album "Introspection" released November 1969 on Decca LK-R 5015 (Mono) and SKL-R 5015 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

5. I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes – TEN YEARS AFTER (on their debut LP "Ten Years After" released October 1967 on Deram DML 1015 (Mono) and SML 1015 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

6. Austin Osmanspare – BULLDOG BREED (on the UK album "Made In England" released January 1970 on Deram Nova DN 5 (Mono) and SDN 5 (Stereo) - Stereo mix is used. Band featured BERNARD JINKS and KEITH CROSS who went on to form T2 (see track 11 on Disc 1). Cross also teamed up with Peter Ross and produced a lovely folky type album on Decca Records called "Bored Civilians" (see separate review))

7. The Song Of McGuillicudie The Pusillanimous – EGG (on the UK album "Egg" released March 1970 on Deram DN 14 (Mono) and SDN 14 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

8. Voodoo Forest – JOHNNY ALMOND MUSIC MACHINE (on the UK album "Patent Pending" released July 1969 on Deram DML 1043 (Mono) and SML 1043 (Stereo) - Stereo mix used.)

9. Nymphenburger – EAST OF EDEN (on their 2nd UK LP "Snafu" released February 1970 on Deram DML 1050 (Mono) and SML 1050 (Stereo) – Stereo mix Used)

10. Once Upon A Hill/Put That In Your Pipe & Smoke It – AARDVARK (on their only album "Aardvark" released March 1970 on Deram DN 17 (Mono) and SDN 17 (Stereo) – Stereo mix used)

11. No More White Horses – T2 (on the UK album "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" released July 1970 on Decca SKL 5050 (Stereo). Bernard Jenkins and Keith Cross of T2 were formerly in Bulldog Breed – see track 6 Disc 1)

12. Hello Hello – CARAVAN (the B-side of "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" – a UK 7" single released August 1970 on Decca F 13063. It's a non-album 7" single mix – the album version is on their 2nd UK LP "If I Could Do It All Again, I'd Do It All Over You" released September 1970 on Decca SKL 5052 (Stereo) – later reissued in 1971 on Deram SDL-R 1)

13. Freelance Fiend – LEAFHOUND (on their lone UK LP "Grower Of Mushrooms" released October 1971 on Decca SKL-R 5094. On the rarest Hard Rock Progressive albums ever – listed at £2500 – sells for more)

14. Nutmeg, Bitter Sweet – GRANNY'S INTENTIONS (an instrumental on their lone UK LP "Honest Injun" released March 1970 on Deram SML 1060 (Stereo))

15. The Witch – THE RATTLES (A-side of a July 1970 UK 7" single on Decca F 23050)

16. Still As Stone – THE ALAN BOWN (June 1969 UK 7" single on Deram DM 259, A-side. The band featured JESS RODEN on Lead Vocals)

Disc 2 – card sleeve pictures The Keef Hartley Band (77:17 minutes):

1. Maybe Someday – HUMAN BEAST (on their lone UK album "Volume One (Instinct)" released August 1970 on Decca LK 5053 (Mono) and SKL 5053 (Stereo) – Stereo mix used)

2. Chauffeur – BLACK CAT BONES (on their UK LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" released February 1970 on Deram DN 15 (Mono) and SDN 15 (Stereo) – Stereo mix is used. Featured members of Leafhound (Pete French, Derek Brooks, Mick Halls and Keith Young) and Foghat Guitarist Rod Price as well as Brian Short on Vocals. The original line-up of the band featured Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke of Free but they departed before the album was recorded)

3. Tomorrow Morning – PACIFIC DRIFT (on their lone UK LP "Feelin' Free" released January 1970 on Deram DN 13 (Mono) and SDN 13 (Stereo) – Stereo mix is used)

4. The Unknown Years – ZAKARRIAS (their only UK LP "Zakarrias" released October 1971 on Deram SML 1091 – rare LP – listed at £800)

5. Free To Be Stoned – CLARK-HUTCHINSON (on their album "Retribution" released October 1970 on Deram SML 1076. Features Andy Clark on Keyboards and Lead Vocals and Mick Hutchinson on Guitar)

6. Cemetery Junction Part One and Two – ROOM (on the LP "Pre-Flight" released November 1970 on Deram SML 1073. Listed at £900)

7. Roundabout – KEEF HARTLEY BAND (on the LP "Overdog" released April 1971 on Deram SDL 2)

8. Question [Full Album Version] – THE MOODY BLUES (on the album “A Question Of Balance” released August 1970 on Threshold THS 3)

9. Love Like A Man [Full Album Version] – TEN YEARS AFTER (on their 5th album “Cricklewood Green” released April 1970 on Deram SML 1065)

10. Jig-A-Jig – EAST OF EDEN (May 1970 UK 7" single on Deram DM 297. Charted April 1971 – non-album track – an instrumental. Its B-side "Marcus Junior" is on the "Strange Pleasures" 3CD Box Set from 2008 – itself a non-album version)

11. Golf Girl – CARAVAN (on the UK album "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" released April 1971 on Deram SDL- 1)

12. Boulders On My Grave – MELLOW CANDLE (on their lone LP "Swaddling Songs" released April 1972 on Deram SDL 7. Listed Rarity £2000+)

13. Theme Song/En Route/Theme Song (Reprise) – KEEF HARTLEY BAND (as per 6)

Disc 3 – card sleeve pictures Savoy Brown (77:02 minutes):

1. Hellbound Train – SAVOY BROWN (on the UK album "Hellbound Train" released February 1972 on Decca TXS 107)

2. Stranded (Including Effervescent Psycho Novelty No. 5) – KHAN (on the UK album "Space Shanty" released June 1972 on Deram SDL-R 11. Band features STEVE HILLAGE and DAVE STEWART of GONG)

3. The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes – THIN LIZZY (on their 2nd album "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" released March 1972 on Decca TXS 108. Phil Lynott, Eric Bell, Brian Downey Jr. line-up)

4. Seafull – TRAPEZE (on their 2nd UK LP "Medusa" released November 1970 on Threshold THS 4)

5. C'Lu Thlu – CARAVAN (on the UK album "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night" released October 1973 on Deram SDL-R 12)

6. Whisky In The Jar – THIN LIZZY (their 2nd UK 7" single released November 1972 on Decca F 13355 and known as the 'full version' at 5:48 minutes. Both the A&B-side "Black Boys On The Corner" were non-album at the time. The A (no 'e' in the whiskey) is based on a Traditional Irish air from 1729)

7. Lady Fantasy: Encounter/Smiles For You/Lady Fantasy – CAMEL (on their 2nd UK LP "Mirage" released March 1974 on Deram SML 1107)

8. Spend My Nights In Armour – PETE BROWN & FRIENDS (recorded 25 February 1974 at Decca Studios – remixed and remastered for this release in 2001 – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED. Track features both JEFF BECK and JACK BRUCE. [Note: there is a ‘mix’ on the UK double LP "Before Singing Lessons 1969-1977" released in 1987 on Decal Records KIKD 7 – but it's a different version])

9. Propositions – CURVED AIR (on the album "Curved Air Live" released February 1975 on Deram SML-R 1119)

10. Air Born – CAMEL (on the album "Moonmadness" released April 1976 on Decca TXS 115)

11. The Enjoy – DARYL WAY’S WOLF (on the album "Night Music" released November 1974 on Deram SML 1116)

The 3CDs are housed in individual colour card sleeves within a clamshell box – but what most impresses is the fabulous 48-page mini booklet crammed with publicity photos, trade adverts for LPs and singles (28 schillings and 6 pence! for an LP in early 1970), those great sleeves with their whacky artwork etc. Each artist is dealt with in alphabetical order (rather than how they’re laid out on the CDs) – Mark Powell's essays on Irishmen Granny Intentions (who once boasted Skid Row guitarist Gary Moore) or the obscure Bulldog Breed for instance mix facts with warmth. It’s properly in-depth and imbibes the music with a newfound respect. And the PASCHAL BYRNE remasters are just superb – familiar stuff like Savoy Brown, Thin Lizzy and East Of Eden all sounding spiffing. A lot of this is new to CD too…

Musically it flits all over the place – one minute you're in the presence of Jazz Guitar scales with Giles, Giles & Fripp – properly grungy hard rock like Leafhound (you can so see why its worth all that dosh), slow and slick Blues boogie with Ten Years After on the stunning "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" and then trippy Saxophone and Vibe moods with Johnny Almond Music Machine. God help us there’s even a chart hit on Disc 1 with "The Witch" by The Rattles – a German band fronted by screaming vocalist Herbert Hildebrandt. It sold over a million copies across Europe and the UK – reaching number 11 on our charts. Yum yum…

Things begin to get seriously interesting on Disc 2 with a double-whammy of musical brilliance – "Tomorrow Morning Brings" by PACIFIC DRIFT and “The Unknown Years” by ZAKARRIAS both sounding like acoustic Aphrodite’s Child – very good indeed and cool too. The Zakarrias album is impossibly rare (listed at £800). There’s then a serious piece of rocking brilliance – the wild "Free To Be Stoned" by CLARK-HUTCHINSON when guitarist Mick Hutchinson just lets it Ted Nugent rip for eight minutes – it's unbelievably good as Andy Clark stutters and moans through it (check out You Tube footage of this). I love the funky as Tom Selleck’s moustache Thin Lizzy cut "The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes" (another Phil Lynott winner). It runs to 7:06 minutes - but I edit it to begin at 1:20 and end at 5:52 thereby isolating that fantastic Eric Bell Funk-Rock portion in its centre. And shockingly good too is Curved Air's "Propositions" off the lesser-heard "Live" set – Fusion Rock at its brilliant best (reminds of the Mahavishnu Orchestra live set from 1973 "Beyond Nothingness And Eternity"). And how good is to hear bands like Trapeze (on the Moody Blues label Threshold) finally get a bit of airtime – their slow groove guitar fest "Seafull" is excellent. And what can you say about the utterly extraordinary Mellow Candle album "Swaddling Songs" – a genius fusion of Irish Folk with Rock and Kate Bush vocals/arrangements. "Boulders On My Grave" sent collectors into frenzies. Esoteric reissued the whole album on a beautiful remaster CD in 2008 (see my separate review).

So there you have – mad, bad and frightfully dangerous to know. Only people as mad as the English and the Irish would produce music this interesting and arresting – still grabbing us by the short and curlies all these decades later.

A fantastic reissue - you feel real care went into the compiling and making of "Legend Of A Mind…" and I for one am glad they took the time to expand my addled mind…