"Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star" by THE KINKS - 1972 2LP Set on RCA Victor Records (3 June 2016 UK/Europe RCA/Legacy 2CD LEGACY EDITION with 17 Bonus Tracks – Vic Anesini Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Unreal Reality..."

In a new interview conducted with renowned writer David Fricke in 2016 - principal songwriter RAY DAVIES and heart of THE KINKS, explains things used to be easier. Back in their 60ts heyday, the famously caustic British band would tour the States for maybe three weeks – but in 1972 after a prolonged four-year absence from American stages – gigging lasted nearly three months. Five lads in their mid-20s grinding through day-after-day of "...anonymous hotels, fleeting acquaintances and desperate homesickness..." atop product demands (give us an album a year or else) and the usual daytime radio promotions from people pretending to be interested. But that touring strain see-sawing with up and down emotions, creative splurges and a triumphant March 1972 live-sets at New York's Carnegie Hall (Sides 3 and 4 of the original double-album) set up what many now feel is one of the band's truly great 70ts pieces - the 2LP "Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star" (actually shortened to just "Everybody's In Showbiz" for American copies). For sure, it was not greeted with genuflection at the time by everyone – well in show-biz – but time has been kinder to the difficult Seventies.

As legend would have it and with titles like "Sitting in My Hotel Room", "Motorway" and "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues" - the double album was to be a concept piece and film about life on the road for our Celluloid Heroes initially entitled "The Colossal Shirt". Named after an elaborately embroidered cowboy shirt Ray Davies wore on stage most nights during late 1971, this (wisely discarded) moniker was in itself a line taken from John Schlesinger's 1969 film masterpiece "Midnight Cowboy" starring Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman and Brenda Vaccaro. There is a filmic quality to the songs and especially the deep and voluminous amount of lyrics – which brings us to this rather fab 2016 twofer reissue on RCA/Legacy as a LEGACY EDITION.

Fans will know that the last decent digital go at "...Show-Biz..." was the expensive and now deleted US Box Set "RCA Years" – six SACD Remasters by Bob Ludwig and Alan Silverman issued 31 October 2006 on Koch Records. That variant turned up two new previously unreleased live tracks from the original March 1972 gigs at Carnegie Hall that made up Sides 3 and 4 of the original double - "'Til The End Of The Day" and "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina". This new definitive June 2016 'LEGACY EDITION' gives us those two bonuses back again (Tracks 1 and 12 on CD2) along with a juicy 15 more Previously Unreleased cuts on that same disc. The 21-track double-album from 1972 is on CD1 with the whole twofer shebang newly remastered by ace Audio Engineer VIC ANESINI - a name many admire and trust. Long-time Kinks catalogue associate ANDREW SANDOVAL put the package together (he did all the Deluxe Editions for Universal covering their Pye Years) and is even issued on VINYL as a truncated 3LP set (see below). Here are the finite details...

UK released 6 June 2016 (same date USA) - "Everybody's In Show-Biz" by THE KINKS on RCA/Legacy 88875112362 (Barcode 888751123625) is a LEGACY EDITION 2CD Reissue and Remaster with Fifteen Previously Unreleased Tracks (Plus Two 2006 Rarities) that plays out as follows:

Disc One THE ORIGINAL ALBUM (71:19 minutes):

1. Here Comes Yet Another Day [Side 1]

2. Maximum Consumption

3. Unreal Reality

4. Hot Potatoes

5. Sitting In My Hotel

6. Motorway [Side 2]

7. You Don't Know My Name

8. Supersonic Rocket Ship

9. Look A Little On The Sunny Side

10. Celluloid Heroes

11. Top Of The Pops (Live) [Side 3]

12. Brainwashed (Live)

13. Mr. Wonderful (Live)

14. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues (Live)

15. Holiday (Live)

16. Muswell Hillbilly (Live) [Side 4]

17. Alcohol (Live)

18. Banana Boat Song (Live)

19. Skin And Bone (Live)

20. Baby Face (Live)

21. Lola (Live)

Tracks 1 to 21 make up their tenth album "Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star" - a 2LP set released 26 August 1972 in the USA as "Everybody's In Showbiz" on RCA Victor VPS-6065 and 2 September 1972 in the UK as "Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star" on RCA Victor DPS 2035. It didn't chart in the UK, but peaked at No. 70 in the USA.

Disc Two BONUS TRACKS (62:22 minutes):

1. 'Til The End Of The Day (Live)

2. You're Looking Fine (Live)

3. Get Back In Line (Live)

4. Have A Cuppa Tea (Live)

5. Sunny Afternoon (Live)

6. Muswell Hillbilly (Live)

7. Brainwashed (Live)

8. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues (Live)

9. Holiday (Live)

10. Alcohol (Live)

11. Complicated Life (Live)

12. She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina (Live)

13. Long Tall Shorty (Live)

14. History (Studio Outtake)

15. Supersonic Rocket Ship (Alternate Mix)

16. Unreal Reality (Alternate Mix)

17. Sophisticated Lady (Rehearsal For Early Version of "Money Talks")

Tracks 1 and 12 first appeared as Previously Unreleased Album Outtakes on the "RCA Years" 6xSACD Box Set issued 31 October 2006 in the USA on Koch Records VEL-CD-79821 (Barcode 634677982125)

Tracks 2 to 11 and 13 to 17 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED [15 in total]

Tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 recorded 2 March 1972 at Carnegie Hall, NYC

Tracks 3 and 13 recorded 3 March 1972 at Carnegie Hall, NYC

Track 14 recorded 1 March 1972 at Carnegie Hall, NYC

Track 15 recorded 9 February 1972 at Morgan Studios, Willesden in London

Track 16 recorded 1 June 1972 at Morgan Studios, Willesden in London

Track 17 recorded 22 March 1973 at Morgan Studios, Willesden in London

There is a 3LP VINYL variant of the 6 June 2016 'Legacy Edition' of "Everybody's In Show-Biz" by THE KINKS on RCA/Legacy Edition 88875193561 (Barcode 888751935617). It puts the double-album on Discs 1 and 2 with a truncated third LP containing 9 of the 17 cuts on the second disc of the 2CD Legacy Edition set. Using Disc Two above, the nine song titles on LP3 are, Side 1: Tracks 1 to 5, Side 2: Tracks 11, 13, 14 and 15. Fans will note that Side 1 of the third LP is live while Side 2 has alternate mixes of album tracks including the recently discovered studio outtake, "History".

The 28-page booklet recreates the lyrics that adorned the inner gatefold whilst the new DAVID FRICKE liner notes feature a Ray Davies interview and the text peppered with live photos of the band as they toured the USA, magazine reviews and a two-page memorabilia spread towards the end. There is a repro of the rare Dutch picture sleeve for the 45 "Celluloid Heroes" b/w "Hot Potatoes" on Page 12 and of course full track-by-track credits on the last pages. But the big news is the VC ANESINI Remasters – an Audio Engineer who is normally associated with Sony/BMGs vast back catalogue – Elvis Presley, Paul Simon, Santana, Byrds, Nilsson, Mott The Hoople, Moby Grape, Laura Nyro, The Jayhawks, Simon and Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Spirit and many more. He’s done a bang-up job here because this is the best I’ve heard these recordings sound. Let’s get to the miserable mattresses...

In the Glam Rock/Prog Rock landscape of approaching summer 1972 , I suppose you couldn't blame RCA for trying the Caribbean Islands friendly rhythms of "Supersonic Rocket Ship" as a lead-off 7" single. Released May 1972 in the UK with another album cut "You Don't Know My Name" as its B-side (RCA Victor RCA 2211) - it didn't raise pulses let alone booties on the dancefloor. Far better but inexplicably late to the party after the double-album's release (2 Sep 1972 in Blighty) - RCA went again with a firm fan fave-rave in late November 1972, the full 6:02 minutes of "Celluloid Heroes" b/w "Hot Potatoes" on the flip. This wistfully strummed winner opens with "Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star...In every house and on every street...their names are written in concrete..." Even now it seems absolutely extraordinary that this singalong ballad was ignored - a commercial 45 failure that shouldn't have been and therefore I suspect grated even worse. And I suppose if you were to niggle even more (especially given the playing-time room on Disc Two), RCA could have included the American 45 edit of "Celluloid Heroes" on this Legacy Edition which running at 4:39 minutes is also said to be a remix according to some sources - but alas.

Optical illusions as far as the eyes can see, bemoans Ray on the New Orleans brass of "Unreal Reality" (not one of his best I think) - while our hero sits thinking of the countryside in "Sitting In My Hotel" - watching the world go by - perhaps thinking of The Beatles with those brass overlays in the mix. He's got no time to use the John in the sexy guitar/harmony vocal opener "Here Comes Another Day" and its very hard to please the people all the time in the decidedly acidic "Look A Little On The Sunny Day" where Ray advises what you need to be a success in pop is a 'happy wappy song'.

I suppose what threw people was the 'live' Sides 3 and 4, where it feels like a different band to me at times and on a different emotional tip. Things open up with a kicking "Top Of The Pops" where Ray reckons this songwriting thing might turn into a steady job with some help from the BBC and the NME (don't count your chickens Douglas). But what gets me even now is that you can 'feel' the band is on fire with songs like "Holiday" - like they know they've got the metrial if only they can get someone to listen to it - even if some of the other tunes feel just a tad too flippant – like the show is more a Jethro Tull-ish pantomime than a Rock concert. Speaking of "History", the unheard studio cut is 5:20 minutes of primo 'dirty hotel' Kinks that compliments an Alternate Mix of "Supersonic Rocket Ship" where the feel is more McGuinness Flint and Slim Chance strummed banjo and mandolin than the steel drums that seep through the LP version.

"Everybody's In Show-Biz" is a really cool 2CD Legacy Edition in THE KINKS reissue catalogue (I've also reviewed "Muswell Hillbillies") - and it's currently selling for less than eight squid on Amazon (December 2019, use the Barcode provided above to locate the correct issue). 

Time to dig in again methinks and reassess this misunderstood and ignored silver screen of the Seventies...

"Eat A Peach" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND – Double-Album from February 1972 on Capricorn Records – Featuring Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson (October 1997 UK Capricorn Classics CD Reissue – Suha Gur Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Dedicated To A Brother..."

Always somehow the dribbling younger brother to the puff-chested mighty older sibling of "...Live At Fillmore East" from 1971 (their real breakthrough moment) - February 1972's double-album farewell to the cruelly taken Duane Allman is nonetheless the Allmans classic I return to more than even "Brothers And Sisters" (a 1973 LP I adore). 

Like most guys of my age, I love a good double-album. And here it sits in a Bezos warehouse for a paltry three quid in a top notch CD remaster – soiled, unloved and forgotten like a December 2019 election manifesto promise to lob untold billions with financial abandon at some tiresomely worthy cause or other (like pesky nurses wanting a proper wage or those women with whiskers wanting a new pair of slippers come the cold spell). Oh dear...let's get to the mountainous jams my desert-island darlings...

UK released 14 October 1997 (reissued July 1998) - "Eat A Peach" by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND on Capricorn 531 261-2 (Barcode 731453126121) is part of their 'Capricorn Classics' Remastered CD Series and offers the entire 9-Track February 1972 part Live/part Studio double-album onto 1 CD. It plays out as follows (69:56 minutes):

1. Ain't Wastin' Time No More [Side 1]

2. Les Brers In A Minor

3. Melissa

4. Mountain Jam (Theme From "There Is A Mountain") [Sides 2 and Side 4 - see Notes]

5. One Way Out [Side 3]

6. Trouble No More

7. Stand Back

8. Blue Sky

9. Little Martha

Tracks 1 to 9 make up the double-album "Eat A Peach" - released February 1972 in the USA on Capricorn 2CP 0102 and in the UK on Capricorn K 67501.

NOTES: On the original vinyl 2LP set the live "Mountain Jam" was spread across Side 2 and 4 clocking in at 19:37 and 15:06 minutes respectively; on this Capricorn Classics CD reissue it has been amalgamated into one track at 33:41 minutes and placed as Track 4 overall. Tracks 4, 5 and 6 were recorded live at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East venue in New York – the other six studio cuts at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. Produced by TOM DOWD - the double-album peaked at No. 4 in the US LP charts in 1972 (didn't chart UK).

THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND was:

GREGG ALLMAN - Lead Vocals, Organ, Piano

DUANE ALLMAN - Lead and Slide Guitar (Tracks 4 to 8, Acoustic Guitar on Tracks 8 and 9)

DICKEY BETTS - Lead and Slide Guitars (Tracks 1 to 9 - Acoustic Guitar on Track 9)

BERRY OAKLEY - Bass

BUTCH TRUCKS - Drums and Percussion (Tracks 1 to 6 and 8)

JAI JOHANNY JOHANSON - Drums and Congas (Tracks 1, 2 and 7 - Drums only on Tracks 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)

The three-leafed double-side foldout inlay reproduces the Jim Holmes and David Powell painting artwork that graced the inner gatefold along with those song-by-song musician credits/original double-album recording data details that were on the insert. There are no new liner notes - mores the pity. The see-through CD spine sports the Capricorn Classics Logo, as does the inlay beneath the CD tray. Adequate but not too much to write home about for sure – still the SUHA GUR Remaster is superb - especially on those cool studio cuts like "Stand Back", "Melissa" and the short but gorgeous acoustic farewell from Duane - "Little Martha".

April 1972 saw the slick sliding peach that is the Side 1 opener "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" issued as a US 45 on Capricorn CPR 0003 with Gregg's truly lovely "Melissa" as its flipside. Personally, I can't help thinking that "Melissa" would have been the better A - but whatever way you look at musical history - in my book - CRP 0003 is one those fabulous 45s where both sides rock - where both sways are equally brill. The gargantuan "Mountain Jam" is either a test-your-patience moment or testament to their Blues-Rock genius - probably a bit of both if truth be told. For sure in 2019 it's a brave soul indeed who can last the half-hour in full - but I still love it - especially Duane's playing that starts to explode from about 8 minutes in and that interplay between him and Betts. Betts would of course come to songwriting fruition with stuff "Jessica" on the Brothers And Sisters LP in 1973, but you can so hear how in 1972 he was already the unsung hero in the band overshadowed by his buddy's loss (he contributed "Blue Sky"). Their cover of Elmore James' "One Way Out" and the Muddy Waters classic "Trouble No More" allow the trio of guitar players to strut their rockin' Bluesy stuff. Gregg and Berry Oakley co-write the fab "Stand Back" - a Rock band in the 70ts getting funky while the album ends on the beautiful duetting acoustic guitars of Gregg and Dickey - 2:07 minutes of sweetness in "Little Martha".

You can't help think that between 1970 and 1973 - this Southern Boogie Rock band were on fire and of course led the way for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Grinderswitch and even The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Few bands could produce two double albums year after year that remain essential to this day - but then the combo of talent that was The Allman Brothers Band was always that little bit special...

"Hats" by THE BLUE NILE (2019 Confetti Records Reissues – March 2019 2CD set and November 2019 1LP Set – Remastered by Producer Calum Malcolm with The Blue Nile) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...I Know A Place...Where Everything's Alright..."

It won't have escaped BN fans that these 2019 versions on Confetti Records for The Blue Nile's magisterial "Hats" album (originally issued October 1989 on Linn Records in the UK) are actually 'remastered reissues'.

Released March 2019, the 2CD variant is an exact re-run of the November 2012 reissue on Virgin/Linn Records – the one that came with six rarities on Disc 2 (see listings below). But the big news for Audiophiles and Vinyl Buffs in general is a November 2019 straightforward LP Repress on 180 Grams Vinyl - unfortunately minus the six Bonus Tracks that come with the second CD. The last LPs issued in 2013 and 2014 sold out in minutes, the original 1989 pressing on Linn can pass hands for up to a hundred quid – so this 2019 LP repress is mightily welcome – especially on an album that is so exquisite, it regularly tops people’s all-time fave lists everywhere. 

For the purposes of location (on Amazon/elsewhere) – here are the Confetti 2019 details...

The March 2019 UK 2CD variant of "Hats" by THE BLUE NILE issued on Confetti Records BLUECD2 is Barcode 5052442014942 - available for about £14 using the Barcode number provided above. The LP variant for "Hats" was issued 29 November 2019 and is a worldwide limited edition of 1000 copies on Confetti BLUELP002 - Barcode 5052442016205. 

29 Nov 2019 has also seen Confetti reissue Vinyl copies of the 1984 debut "A Walk Across The Rooftops" and the "Hats" follow up on Warner Brothers from 1996 "Peace At Last" – they are on BLUELP001 and BLUELP003 respectively – Barcodes 5052442016199 and 5052442016212. All three titles are straightforward LP transfers on 180 Grams Heavy Vinyl with no extras or inners. 

Now to the music of "Hats" (I’ve used my 2012 review)... 

Little will prepare fans for this beautifully remastered reissue - sonically up there with the very best 2012 has to offer. Here are the finite details...

Released Monday 19 November 2012 in the UK - "Hats" by THE BLUE NILE on Virgin/Linn Records LKHCDR 2 (5099901730029) is a 2CD Remaster/Reissue and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (38:48 minutes):

1. Over The Hillside

2. The Downtown Lights

3. Let's Go Out Tonight

4. Headlights On The Parade [Side 2]

5. From A Late Night Train

6. Seven A.M.

7. Saturday Night

Tracks 1 to 7 are their second album "Hats" - released October 1989 on LP, MC and CD in the UK on Linn Records LKH 2. The first CD issue carried with it a single page inlay with virtually no details and sound quality that was good rather than great. This is the first remaster of the album - handled by Calum Malcolm (a member of the original line-up and long-time Producer for the group) along with Band members Paul Buchanan and Robert Bell (US customers should use the barcode number provided above to get the right issue when searching on Amazon.com).

Like the other title in this reissue campaign (their debut "A Walk Across The Rooftops" from 1984) - the remaster is again breathtaking. The danger would have been to amp everything up - but it's not like that. It's subtle, clean and beautifully realized. "Hats" was put out initially on Linn Records - Linn were (and still are) a high-end turntable manufacturer - and audio quality is their 'thing'. Well those initial production values have served this subtle remaster well - because the detail now is fantastic.

As the echoed drums of "Over The Hillside" fade in with that synth and drums - the smack is immediate - 'so' sweet. It continues with the album's first hit "The Downtown Lights" (later covered by Rod Stewart and Annie Lennox) - when the guitars begin to crescendo towards its six and half minute end - it's so much more powerful. But then comes the album's first real moment of magic - the hurting yet gorgeously romantic "Let's Go Out Tonight" - a song I've seen people cry to when I was at their live gigs. The slow trumpet and acoustic sounds swirl around the room - "...why don't you say...what's so wrong tonight..." - beautifully done - a song that was old now made new again (lyrics from it title this review).

The kick out of the bopping "Headlights On The Parade" is again amplified - especially the bass and walls of synth-counter-melodies that arrive when Buchanan sings the chorus. But then comes the two album sleepers which in my opinion benefit the most from this sonic upgrade - "From A Late Night Train" and "Seven A.M." - their ethereal and aching nature suddenly feel more poignant than ever - so deftly handled. And last - probably everyone's favourite - the impossibly gorgeous "Saturday Night". By now my stroke-addled eyes are bloodied and the cheeks puffy - I'm mush for this song. I fell in love with my wife and partner of 23 years to this melody - walking down streets with my Sony Discman singing "...an ordinary girl...can make the world alright...meet me outside the cherry lights...you and I walk away..." I defy the hardest of hearts not to be moved by it.

But again (like "A Walk Across The Rooftops") the packaging and bonus disc are a combination of missed opportunities and genuine discoveries. The minimalist gatefold card digipak is pretty for sure (the internal flaps are the plain blue colour of the sleeve too) - but the 16-page booklet is fluffy and vague rather than being informative. There's a series of colour photos from the time - but with no history - no liner notes - no lyrics - no input from the band - not even any real info on the 'bonus' stuff (the last page literally). Frankly - an acknowledged masterpiece like "Hats" deserved a little more effort than this. But things improve a lot with some shocking new discoveries on the 'bonus disc'...

Disc 2 - Bonus Disc (33:19 minutes):

Exclusions first - the 'Bob Clearmountain Remix' of "Headlights On The Parade" and the beautiful duet with Rickie Lee Jones on "Easter Parade" (both tracks on the 12's and CD singles of 1990) are missing. The non-album track "Halfway To Paradise" and the Edit of "Saturday Night" that were on varying CD singles are both AWOL too. But what is on here is surprisingly good...

Track 2 is "Christmas" - a Previously Unreleased five-minute studio song. There's no annotation as to where it came from and its hissy - but its also pretty - lyrically festive as the title suggests. But if I'm to be honest - I don't think it's as good as the previously unreleased track "St. Catherine's Day" on the "Walk" reissue (which sounds suspiciously like an outtake from the "Hats" period - perhaps put on there to bolster up proceedings). Having said that - and having lived with it a day or two now - it's gently growing on me. Fans will make up their own mind of course...

Track 6 is "The Wires Are Down" - a six-minute non-album song that turned on the 12" and 3" CD single of "The Downtown Lights" in 1989. The sound quality on that was always weedy - here its remastered form is an absolute revelation. Suddenly sounding all grown up - "The Wires Are Down" is a genuine bonus track now - and one of the highlights on Disc 2. But there's even better...

Although not stated as 'new' - Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 are previously unreleased versions. First up is "Seven A.M. - Live In The Studio". Fans will know that there was a non-album version on the 1990 "Saturday Night" CD single called "Seven A.M. (Live U.S.A.)" - this is NOT that track. "Live In The Studio" is a fully-fledged new version with fabulous sound quality. Track 5 is a "Live In Tennessee" version of "Headlights On The Parade" recorded with Larry Saltzman, Steve Gaboury and Nigel Thomas on some unknown date. Again - it is well recorded - and a good version with crowd appreciation at the end. But then comes the real prizes - two new versions of people's favourites - "Let's Go Out Tonight" and "Saturday Night". They're called "Vocal 2" in each case and offer early versions of the songs - the "Saturday Night" take in particular hears Buchanan go off into lyric rapping at the end and accentuates the strings throughout - it's properly gorgeous. Joyful surprises...

To sum up - the remaster of the original album is an absolute triumph - 10 out of 10. Ok - the side is let down somewhat by the bare-knuckles packaging and those sloppy omissions on Disc 2 - and it doesn't take a Mensa membership card to work out that the playing times of both discs could have been amalgamated into one (with more added on too) - and the second disc could have been a DVD featuring those rare videos - but - and I must reiterate this - what's on offer is superb - and worth the upgrade.

"Hats" has been name-checked by influential music-industry-types and world-famous musicians for decades now as their 'what to grab when the bomb drops' album - and I'm thrilled to say that this 2CD reissue of it does that affection genuinely proud. Melodious, sad and life affirming - "Hats" is a beautiful thing. And it's just been made better.

Now if we could just get those stroppy Scottish buggers to tour again...

PS: there is also a 2CD Virgin/Linn DELUXE EDITION of "A Walk Across The Rooftops" - their debut album from 1984 - and "Peace At Last" from 1996 (originally on Warner Brothers) - see separate reviews. These are also part of Confetti's 2019 Reissue campaign..

"Two Weeks Last Summer" by DAVE COUSINS of Strawbs – Debut UK Solo Album from September 1972 on A&M Records – Featuring Guests Dave lambert of Strawbs, Miller Anderson of The Keef Hartley Band, Dog Soldier, Hemlock and Savoy Brown, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Jon Hiseman of Colosseum, Roger Glover of Deep Purple with Arrangers Tom Newman and Richard Kirby (November 2019 Esoteric 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue In A Card Digipak with Five Bonus Tracks and New DC Liner Notes – Paschal Byrne Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Float Away..."

By the time Dave Cousins' first solo album hit UK record emporiums in September 1972 (it had no US equivalent) - the band he was an instrumental part of (STRAWBS) had already released four studio LPs and one live - the last of which "Grave New World" had made their biggest splash to date - hitting a very respectable No. 11 position on the UK album charts after its February 1972 release with over 100,000 units shifted.

The four previous slabs of Folk-Rock/Prog-Rock entertainment from our London heroes - "Strawbs" (May 1969), "Dragonfly" (February 1970), "Just A Collection Of ANTIQUES and CURIOS" (a live set issued Nov 1970) and "From The Witchwood" (November 1971) had all built up a loyal fan following and garnished relatively healthy units for their parent company - A&M Records. 

So it’s a bit odd that this genuine little gem from late 1972 seemed to slither away into obscurity like a wounded dog – especially given some of the serious heavy-hitter Prog Rock names gracing its innards – Rick Wakeman of Yes, Jon Hiseman of Colosseum and Miller Anderson of The Keef Hartley Band, Dog Soldier and Hemlock [later also with Savoy Brown]. It even had arranger heroes like TOM NEWMAN (working on his downtime at night on a little project for Mike Oldfield called "Tubular Bells"), ROBERT KIRBY who had sorted for great artists like Nick Drake, Audience, John Cale, Vashti Bunyan, Andy Roberts and Sandy Denny to name but a few, and his fellow Guitarist mucker from the Strawbs – DAVE LAMBERT. 

Yet when I worked for Reckless Records as a Rarities buyer and all-round original records brainy-type in its busy Berwick Street shop for nearly 20 years of microgroove servitude - "Two Weeks Last Summer" was always a shocker when it turned up in the collection of some poor husband under the wife's 'they go or I go' kosh. This was an album you rarely ever saw – a sure indication that it achieved Zippity doo-dah in sales first time round.

So what a blast in late November 2019 to see Cherry Red's 'Esoteric Recordings' finally give DC’s Folk-Rock nugget the sonic upgrade it’s always deserved, five very cool and usable Bonus Tracks and a wee bit of a tasty digipak presentation into the bargain. Let's mark our festive calendars with the Pye Recording Studio details...

UK released Friday, 29 November 2019 - "Two Weeks Last Summer" by DAVE COUSINS (of The Strawbs) on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2701 (Barcode 5013929480186) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (55:58 minutes):

1. Two Weeks Last Summer [Side 1]
2. October To May
3. Blue Angel (a) Divided (b) Half Worlds Apart (c) At Rest
4. That's The Way It Ends (including "The World")
5. The Actor [Side 2]
6. When You Were A Child
7. Ways And Means
8. We'll Meet Again Sometime
9. Going Home
Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut solo album "Two Weeks Last Summer" - released September 1972 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 68118 (no US equivalent, but was released in Canada on A&M SP-9008). Produced by DAVE COUSINS and TOM ALLOM - it didn't chart. All songs written by DC except "See How They Run" by DC and Dave Lambert

BONUS TRACKS:
10. The Actor (Alternate Mix)
11. Ways And Means (Alternate Take)
12. I've Been My Own Worst Friend
13. See How They Run (1972 Demo with Dave Lambert)
14. The Rip Off Blues (1972 demo)

Band featured:
DAVE COUSINS [of Strawbs] - Lead Vocals, Guitar and Piano
MILLER ANDERSON [of The Keef Hartley Band, Hemlock, Dog Soldier and Savoy Brown] - Lead Guitar on Tracks 3, 5, 7 and 8
DAVE LAMBERT [of Strawbs] - Guitar on Track 5, Guitar and Harmony Vocals on Track 7
ROGER GLOVER [of Deep Purple] - Bass on Tracks 1, 3, 5 and 7
RICK WAKEMAN [of Yes] - Piano & Organ on Track 3 and Piano on Track 7
JON HISEMAN [of Colosseum] - Drums on Tracks 3, 5 and 7
TOM ALLOM – Producer, Audio Engineer, Organ and Backing Vocals on Track 1
TOM NEWMAN – Backing Vocals on Track 1
ROBERT KIRBY – Arranger on Track 4
THE KIDLINGTON KOSSACKS – Dave Cousins, Tom Newman and Dave Lambert as a ‘Russian Male Voice Choir’ on Track 2

As you can see from the photos I've provided, the inner CD label and gatefold card digipak match the artwork and the 12-page Dave Cousins liner notes (dated September 2019) give a superb recollection of musicians and their contributions. For instance the outtake "The Rip Off Blues" turns out to be about management fees while "Going Home" was an unused Strawbs song that became the one and only 45 from the album ("Going Home" b/w "Ways And Means", September 1972 UK 7" single on A&M Records AMS 7032). You get a Pye Recording Studios tape box and all the relevant (even expanded) album credits. But the big news is a new 2019 Remaster by Audio Engineer PASCHAL BYRNE from original tapes and it sounds stonking. I recall Witchwood Media put out a CD variant in 2004 but I've never had it so can't comment on the Audio - but what we do have here rocks - the usual kind of quality product we've come to expect from Esoteric. And more important to me is that I can sequence out some of the tracks I really hate or can't listen to anymore ("The Actor") and replace them with alternates/outtakes from the five bonus tracks - that for me - makes up the perfect album. To the music...

As you play the opening title track "Two Weeks Last Summer" with its trippy tinkling bells, treated guitars and hazy-lazy blissed out Summer vibe (Roger Glover of Deep Purple fame plays a Fretless Bass through a Wah Wah pedal the new liner notes inform us), it's like you stumbled on the best album The Incredible String Band forgot to make. "Two Weeks Last Summer" is fantastic stuff and many Folk-Rockers will know that on hearing it, none other than Sandy Denny brought it to her new band Fotheringay (having just left Fairport Convention) who covered it for the aborted second album on Island Records that never made its way into the public domain. It would take decades before a truly gorgeous version of it turned up on "Fotheringay 2" with Sandy on Lead Vocals - completed for that project in 2008. Well here's the original in all its 'tinklie' glory.

That's maybe even trumped by the 2:57 minutes of "October To May" that follows, crediting Dave Cousins with The Kidlington Kossacks as the only musicians on the rear sleeve. But his new liner notes of 2019 now tell us that it was the trio of himself, Dave Lambert and Tom Newman who made us the beautiful harmonising 'Russian' male voices (a perfect song follow after the Side 1 opener). You're then hit with the album's big piece - the near ten-minutes of a three-part "Blue Angel". Our DC is standing on the sidelines trying to make out that he wasn't there (in the lyrics) while Miller Anderson's electric lead guitar is given full reign. Colosseum's Jon Hiseman and Purple's Roger Glover bring up the rhythm rear with 'drummer and bassist of the year' aplomb. But its ex Strawbs keyboardist Rick Wakeman's accomplished piano and the half-time pace of the fantastic final section that lift the long piece up into the album's only real moment of Proggy Heaven. A near perfect A-side goes out with the lovely and very English ballad of "That's The Way It Ends including 'The World'" – arranger Robert Kirby giving it that sad but pretty madrigal-feel as the woodwind instruments Morris-float around your speakers.

The horrible Donovan warbling vocals and cod Rock and Roll riffing guitar of "The Actor" (Side 2's opener) has Cousins unwisely sounding like a dejected Peter Gabriel working on a sub-standard Nursery Cryme outtake. Even though it pares down some of the excesses, not even the DC-preferred 'Alternate Mix' in the Bonus Tracks of the awful "Actor" does it for me. I replaced it immediately with the quiet Acoustic prettiness of the LP outtake "I've Been My Own Worst Friend" (the third of the five bonuses) where our hero has no more dreams to weave – a heartbreak divorce ballad that feels like an open wound its so damn stark (in my mind, it would have opened Side 2 with a much more honest statement). With only Cousins on Piano/Vocals accompanied by Miller Anderson on Slide Guitar – they both deftly fill up the "...haven't seen you in a long time" song "We'll Meet Again Sometime" with a musical longing that makes you think of childhood and innocence lost – a very Cat Stevens piano-ballad moment on an album you wouldn't associate such a thing with.

More phased-vocals for the excellent 'river flowing' Progtastic feel to "Ways And Means" - Miller giving it some clever guitar fils while Rick Wakeman plays classy and complimentary on those grand piano keys. We sleeketh home wee timorous beasty with the lovely acoustic vibe of "We'll Meet Again Sometime" - fabulous acoustic slide from Miller while Cousins puts in his best vocal on the album. "...We'll meet again sometime...though the road is very steep and hard to climb..." - the song almost feels like a great long-lost Folk gem that John Martyn wrote circa "Solid Air" and along with the bopping rocker "Going Home" brings a very good LP to a satisfactory end.  For sure the audio to the two 'demo' tracks is hardly audiophile but for Strawbs fans, the harmonising vocals of Cousins and Lambert will be enough to induce flutterings of long-ago warmth while the 30% fee lyrics in "Rip Off Blues" shows DC's seldom seen angry and acidic side.

I've an e-Book I'm unceremoniously proud of called "OVERLOOKED ALBUMS 1955 to 1979" (over 400 entries) and come the latest update baby, Dave Cousins' criminally frozen-out "Two Weeks Last Summer" is in with a bullet. Can it get any better than that peopleoids of Great Britain – I doubt it I says to myself. 

One to check out and well done to all involved...