"Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring LP Tracks, Single Sides, Rarities and Two Previously Unreleased Recordings by John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Graham Bond Organization, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Jo-Ann Kelly, Jeff Beck, Duster Bennett, Love Sculpture, Alexis Korner with Robert Plant, John Dummer Blues Band, Taste, Savoy Brown, Blodwyn Pig, Stone The Crows, Ten Years After, Free, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Black Cat Bones, Icarus, Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac, Edgar Broughton Band, Jaklin, Steamhammer, Status Quo, Mungo Jerry, Linda Hoyle and more (March 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...You Shook Me..."

It's a piddly thing really and shouldn't elicit such joy in a 62-year old Dubliner badly in need of a post-lockdown haircut (I'm currently sporting a mad professor look with heaven bound sprouts of grey). And I've provided photos with this review to prove it.

Inside this terminally hip 56-Track Box Set are three single card sleeves with 'alternate' artwork – the hugely important and influential John Mayall and The Blues Breakers self-titled debut LP from July 1966 with Eric Clapton smiling and the Beano comic not fully visible - Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer looking like he's about to be arrested and cry for not being black enough in his undoubtedly tainted white soul - and finally Rory Gallagher's fantastic Taste (as The Taste) in a colour-red tinted live photo of the Irish rockers in full "What's Going On" reverie.

It's the attention to detail that gets me. No major label would have bothered with this - but Cherry Red's Grapefruit Records knows what its fans and collectors want - respect shown and affection too. This is smart sequencing and for a subject that's been done before (albeit in a piecemeal sort of way), the best presentation of such material that I've ever seen or heard. Before I start weeping into my stale Guinness, we'd better get to the details 'cause there's a shed load of 'em to wade through. Here goes...

UK released 27 March 2020 - "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX068 (Barcode 5013929186804) is a 3CD 56-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that pans out as follows:

Disc One (76:28 minutes):

1. All Your Love - JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS with ERIC CLAPTON (from the July 1966 UK Debut LP "Blues Breakers" on Decca LK 4804 in Mono)

2. Crawling Up A Hill - THE ZANY WOODRUFF OPERATION (Previously Unreleased, recorded December 1966, John Mayall cover)

3. Louise - ANDERSON JONES JACKSON [Ian Anderson, Al Jones and Elliot Jackson] (Track 1 of a January 1967 UK 5-Track 7" EP on Saydisc 33SD 125)

4. I Love You - THE GRAHAM BOND ORGANISATION (February 1967 UK 7" single on Page One PDF 014, B-side of "You Gotta Have Love Baby")

5. I'm A Man (Live) - THE YARDBIRDS (not originally issued, recorded April 1967, features Jimmy Page)

6. Don't Want You No More - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (July 1967 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 854, B-side of "Time Seller")

7. I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes - TEN YEARS AFTER (from the November 1967 UK debut LP "Ten Years After" on Deram DML 1015)

8. Jumping At Shadows - DUSTER BENNETT (not originally issued solo Demo Version, recorded early 1968)

9. Charlie - THE DEVIANTS (from the June 1968 UK debut LP "Ptooff!" on Impresarios IMP 1)

10. You Shook Me - JEFF BECK (from the July 1968 US debut LP "Truth" on Epic BN 26413, November 1968 UK debut LP on Columbia SCX 6293 in Stereo)

11. Ain't Nothin' In Ramblin' – JO-ANN KELLY (from the July 1968 UK compilation LP "Blues Like Showers Of Rain" on Saydisc Matchbox SDM 142)

12. Love That Burns - FLEETWOOD MAC (from their August 1968 UK 2nd LP "Mr. Wonderful" on Blue Horizon 7-63205)

13. Wang Dang Doodle - LOVE SCULPTURE (September 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5731, A-side)

14. Operator - ALEXIS KORNER featuring ROBERT PLANT (not originally issued, recorded September 1968)

15. Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? - THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND (from their November 1968 UK second LP "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" on Liberty LBS 83158 in Stereo)

16. Walking - DR. K's BLUES BAND (from the December 1968 debut LP "Dr. K's Blues Band" on Spark SRLP 101)

17. Little Woman You're So Sweet - SHAKEY VICK (from the January 1968 UK LP "Little Woman You're So Sweet" on Pye NSPL 18276 in Stereo)

18. A Stranger In Your Town - THE CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the February 1969 UK LP "The Climax Chicago Blues Band" on Parlophone PCS 7069 in Stereo)

19. Lord Of The Rings - DOWNLINERS SECT (from a February 1969 Swedish 4-Track EP on Juke Box JSEP 5584)

Disc Two (75:29 minutes):

1. Sweet Tooth - FREE (from their March 1969 UK debut LP "Tons Of Sobs" on Island ILPS 9089 in Stereo)

2. Death Letter – MIKE COOPER (from the March 1969 UK LP "Oh Really!?" on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo)

3. Blister On The Moon – TASTE (from their April 1969 debut LP "Taste" on Polydor 583 042 in Stereo featuring Rory Gallagher)

4. I Just Can't Keep From Crying – LEVEE CAMP MOAN (from the April 1969 UK LP "Levee Camp Moan" on County Recording Service COUN LP 132)

5. Sometime Girl – SAM APPLE PIE (May 1969 UK 7" single on Decca F 22932, B-side of "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)"

6. Skin Game - JOHN DUMMER BLUES BAND (not originally issued alternate version, recorded May 1969)

7. Diamond Joe - QUIET MELON (not originally issued, recorded May 1969)

8. Nobody By My Side - KILLING FLOOR (from the May 1969 UK debut LP "Killing Floor" on Spark SRLP 102)

9. Dear Jill (Live) - BLODWYN PIG (not originally issued, recorded circa May 1969)

10. There's An Easy And A Hard Way Of Living - ICARUS (not originally issued, recorded July 1969)

11. Tears In The Wind - CHICKEN SHACK (August 1969 UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3160, A-side)

12. Bring It On Home - BAKERLOO (from the September 1969 UK debut LP on Harvest SHVL 762 in Stereo)

13. The Same For You - JAKLIN (from the October 1969 UK LP "Jaklin" on Stable SLE 8003)

14. Train Comes, Train Goes - FROZEN TEAR (Previously Unissued, recorded October 1969) 

15. Telephone Blues (aka "Talk To Me Baby") - THE RATS (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

16. Madison Blues - ANGEL PAVEMENT (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

17. It's You I Miss - CHRISTINE PERFECT BAND (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

18. This Love Of Old - MEDICINE HEAD (from their May 1970 UK second LP "New Bottles, Old Medicine" on Dandelion S 63757 in Stereo)

19. Baby Please Don't Go - JASPER (from the November 1969 UK LP "Liberation" on Spark SRLP 103)

Disc Three (78:16 minutes):

1. I've Got Those Fleetwood Mac Chicken Shack John Mayall Can't Fail Blues - LIVERPOOL SCENE (from the November 1969 UK LP "Bread On The Night" on RCA Victor SF 8057 in Stereo)

2. Ride With Your Daddy Tonight - BRUNNING SUNFLOWER BLUES BAND featuring PETER GREEN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Trackside Blues" on Saga EROS 8132)

3. Time To Move - RED DIRT (not originally issued, recorded December 1969)

4. A Hard Way To Go (Live) - SAVOY BROWN (not originally issued, recorded circa January 1970)

5. Mean Blues - JEREMY SPENCER (from his January 1970 UK debut solo LP "Jeremy Spencer" on Reprise RSLP 9002)

6. Chauffeur - BLACK CAT BONES (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" on Decca Nova SDN 15)

7. Gardener Man - SIREN (featuring Kevin Coyne on Lead Vocals) (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Siren" on Dandelion 63755)

8. Dupree Blues - BLUE BLOOD (from the February 1970 UK LP "Blue Blood" on Sonet SNTF 615)

9. Passing Through - STEAMHAMMER (from the March 1970 UK debut LP "Steamhammer" on CBS Records S 63694)

10. Raining In My Heart - STONE THE CROWS (from their May 1970 UK debut LP "Stone The Crows" on Polydor 2425 017)

11. Old Gopher - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND (from the June 1970 UK LP "Sing Brother Sing" on Harvest SHVL 772)

12. Roadrunner - STACK WADDY (July 1970 UK 7" single on Dandelion S 5199, A-side)

13. Take Me Down To The Water - HEAVY JELLY (from the September 1970 Unissued LP "Heavy Jelly" on Head Records HELP 4 - Test Pressings Only)

14. The Man Who Never Was - SKID ROW featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels (from their October 1970 UK debut LP "Skid" on CBS Records S 63847)

15. Take Your Money - BRETT MARVIN & THE THUNDERBOLTS (from the May 1971 UK LP "12 Inches Of Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts" on Sonet SNTF 619)

16. The Sun Is Shining - MUNGO JERRY (from the September 1971 UK 4-Track EP "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" on Dawn records DNX 2513)

17. Backlash Blues - LINDA HOYLE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Pieces Of Me" on Vertigo 6360 060)

18. Railroad - STATUS QUO (from the November 1971 UK LP "Dog Of Two Head" on Pye NSPL 18371)

The 40-page booklet is the usual feast of images and words - compiler and annotator DAVID WELLS pouring on the factoids to keep even nerdish disciple like me in rapture for hours. And once again the visuals are a knockout - cool pictures of a guitar-wielding Alexis Korner with P.P. Arnold at a microphone - Jimmy Page fronting the (new) Yardbirds - the Emidisc acetate for Frozen Tear's "Train Comes, Train Goes" offering - Maggie Bell giggling as she reads a comic with her fellow band mates in Stone The Crows - and so much more. Posters, Trade Adverts, Magazine Reviews, Badges – it’s all here and more. SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet has done the mastering and it all feels great even when the source is something as crude as Levee Camp Moan doing "I Just Can't Keep From Crying". To the music and choices...

Disc One

Zeppelin's absence from this Box Set makes for an obvious chasm but "Crawling Up A Hill..." has a clever way of plugging that gaping hole. In September 1968 the gravel-voiced Godfather of British Blues Alexis Korner (later of the much loved C.C.S.) brought into the studio a new young vocal talent from the Midlands called Robert Plant. They recorded two songs "Operator" and "Steal Away" in what was supposed to be an album project, but Percy of course got lured away by some guitarist called Jimmy Page who would then go on to form some minor English band that no one even remembers now. Both of these truly fantastic vocals performances first turned up on the Alexis Korner "Bootleg Him!" double-album from August 1972 on Mickie Most's RAK Records where they were simply credited as 'The Duo'. To hear a pre-Zep Plant in that staggering vocal form that he would then bring in spades to Led Zeppelin's debut is hair-raising stuff and a very smart inclusion.

And just when it's all getting a tad too po-faced, time to bring in the sort-em-out humour of The Bonzo’s with their fab "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?" on the best-album-title-ever "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse". The box set's namesake "Crawling Up A Hill" is more fast-paced 60ts R&B than Blues but both Graham Bond's "I Love You" and the Spencer Davis Group B-side "Don't Want You No More" are great choices - Steve Winwood's God-given set of pipes still amazing us even after 50+ years. Acoustic Blues lovers will zip to the Jo Ann Kelly contribution - such a fantastic voice and interpreter. Fronting Love Sculpture, Dave Edmunds tells fast-talking Fanny that we're gonna "Wang Dang Doodle" all night long. And I recently re-discovered how good The Climax Chicago Blues Band were on their "A Stranger In Your Town" while I admit I've never heard the Anderson Jones and Jackson track "Louise" - a sweetest girl I know jug-band shuffle with harmonica accompaniment.

Disc Two

Free get heavy with "Sweet Tooth" but as much as I love the band, I would have chosen another track. The sliding acoustic blues of Son House's "Death Letter" however finds a sympathetic home with Mike Cooper (great stuff). The re-recorded "Blister On The Moon" for the April 1969 debut "Taste" LP is beefier than the Major Minor single variant of the previous year (they dropped The Taste in favour of just Taste from thereon in). It also shows off the fantastic axeman talent of Rory Gallagher still only a young man when his band supported Cream on their farewell tour of November 1968. It tickles me pink that a colorised variant of a live photo for TASTE has been used as the cover art for Disc Two. Absolutely any version of the fabulously Bluesy "Dear Jill" by Blodwyn Pig is cool by me. The studio version is on the smoking-porker-with-headphones debut album "Ahead Rings Out", but what we have here is a live cut I've not heard before recorded about May 1969 making a welcome inclusion (guitarist Mick Abrahams includes the fan-fave tune in his sets to this day).

Stan Webb takes the lead vocals on Chicken Shack's follow-up to "I'd Rather Go Blind" - the similarly mournful "Tears In The Wind" - with Plastic Penny's keyboardist Paul Raymond having just joined the band. Quite by accident The Bakerloo Blues Line (shortened to Bakerloo for their one and only LP on Harvest in September 1969) famously opened for the newly formed Led Zeppelin in October 1968 then still hogging the moniker of The Yardbirds (albeit as the 'New' Yardbirds). Zep's cover of Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home" that ended Side 2 of October 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" owes an uncomfortable amount to the Bakerloo arrangement. But still it's a smart inclusion and shows the bridge being formed between old Blues and the new Blues Rock and Heavy Metal. Killing Floor's wickedly good "Nobody By My Side" feels the same - heavy heavy. Misses for me include Christine Perfect's "It's You I Miss" which is awful and an odd choice - and while the melancholic Medicine Head "This Love Of Old" may be a really lovely song 

Disc Three

Opening with a frighteningly impressive amount of riffage, The Liverpool Scene then quickly begin to take the almighty Michael out of their band compatriots in the British Blues Boom with lyrics like "I woke up this morning with Mike Vernon from Blue Horizon Records in my room..." (that's Plainsong's Andy Roberts on impressive slide guitar). Actual Blues Rock then shows with the impressive snake-boogie of "Ride With Your Daddy Tonight" where you could easily mistake the wildly similar vocals and harmonica of Bob Brunning for an uncredited Peter Green (he plays guitar). The flute-rocker "Time To Move" by Red Dirt could easily have been a Blodwyn Pig outtake from the "Ahead Rings Out" LP featuring guitarist Steve Howden (formerly Fickle Pickle). Unissued was probably the right move for the plodding live version of "A Hard Way To Go" by Savoy Brown that is followed by an equally lost and bemused offering from Jeremy Spencer - "Mean Blues" pre-ambled by an ill-advised mock announcement to an indifferent crowd that is supposed to be funny but just isn’t (has some fab wild grungy guitar though).

Future Savoy Brown and Foghat guitarist Ray Price gives the Memphis Minnie cover of "Me And My Chauffeur Blues" a very Free feel - weird as Guitarist Paul Kossoff, Drummer Simon Kirke and Vocalist Paul Rodgers had all sat in on Black Cat Bones rehearsals and sessions. Before going solo, Kevin Coyne leant his vocals and wit to the Bluesy "Gardener Man" for Dandelion Records act Siren giving in some Them's Gloria by spelling out G-A-R-D-E-N-E-R lyrics in the same way Van the Man did. Far better is the Acoustic/Harmonica Blues playing of Roger Barnes in the obscure band Blue Blood - doing a damn good job covering the Blind Willie Walker stuck in Atlanta Jail classic "Dupree Blues" (tell my baby to sail on). Steamhammer give us the 70ts Rock of "Passing Through" – a tune that feels slightly plodding at first but soon develops into a deceptively hooky melody something Guitarist Martin Quittenton who would of course do for future collaborator Rod Stewart when he co-penned both "Maggie Mae" and "You Wear It Well" with Rodders for the 1971 smash album "Every Picture Tells A Story".

I can understand the rocking choice of "Raining In Your Heart" by the fabulous Stone The Crows given that the rapid-paced thrasher highlights both stunning vocalists in the band – Maggie Bell and future Robin Trower Band leading man James Dewar. But I’d have gone for the genuinely great Josh White cover version "Blind Man" (also on their July 1970 self-titled debut album) where Maggie Bell pulls off one of the most authentically brilliant Blues Vocals performances I've ever heard (but that's just me). Disc 3 begins to lose its way with the bruiser vocals of Edgar Broughton killing "Old Gopher" and the ordinary cover of Bo Diddley's beep-beep "Roadrunner" by Stack Waddy - only to pick up again with the Slow Rock Blues discovery that is Heavy Jelly's "Take Me Down To The Water". This brooding beast features sloppy heavy guitar work from John Morshead of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation along with a trio of Apple artists - Jackie Lomax and two from Badfinger, Pete Ham and Tommy Evans - all on Vocals (very cool).

Other Disc Three highlights include the happy-go-lucky jug-band shuffle of "Take Your Money" by Brett Marvin & The Thunderbirds on Sonet Records and Ray Dorset already showing frontman/songwriting genius in the self-penned "The Sun Is Shining", a gutbucket-sounding live-in-the-studio B-side from their September 1971 "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" EP on Dawn Records. Affinity's Linda Hoyle provides sexy vocals on the fantastic and hard-hitting "Backlash Blues" (second-class schools for second-class folks and then send my son to Vietnam) - a Nina Simone social satire cover version that features superb slide-acoustic and electric geetar from Chris Spedding. And it all comes to and end with the Quo giving us "Railroad" from their excellent "Dog Of Two Head" LP - a song that sets the Blues-Rock template for an entire 40 years of heads down boogie to come.

For sure not everything on "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" will appeal to all (The Downliners Sect grunge-Tolkien track may make many punters run for the hill) and there are absences that probably couldn't be included because of licensing rights. But in my mind, this is still one helluva impressive release and a damn good reminder of what's bin did and what's bin hid. Grapefruit Records do it again folks...

"Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes" by THE CREATION - A&B-sides of Eight British 45 Singles, Further European LP, 45 and EP Tracks and Previously Unreleased Outtakes Issued on Subsequent LP Compilations in 1973 and 1982 – All Songs recorded 1966 to 1968 featuring Vocalist Kenny Pickett, Guitarists Eddie Phillips and Kim Gardner, Bassist Robert Garner and Drummers Doug Sandom and Mick Avory (October 2015 UK Edsel CLASSICS CD Compilation – 24 Tracks of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Biff! Bang! Pow!"

Biff! Bang! Pow!

Like most obsessives, I slavered over the artwork of singles and LPs as much as I bent my lugholes to the grooves. And like every other bleary-eyed 20-year old I knew in late 1978 (swept up by British Punk and New Wave), we were gawking at The Jam's "All Mod Cons" album on Polydor Records in all its Modtastic glory looking for secret-signs of wisdom from our new Gods – pointers on our path towards Rock Redemption and away from the sinful ways of crooners like Andy Williams and Val Doonican (I still feel that elicit pull, but I'm getting help).

And sure as the Lord God and Rightful Ruler made little green Rickenbacker's - there it was. On the inner sleeve up in the top left corner beneath a promo photo of the band with a fold-in clock sat on top of it was a just-about-visible 45 label by some hooligan mob Paul Weller clearly worshipped at the feet of. They were called THE CREATION and the song exposed was "Biff, Bang, Pow" - the truly stunning Mod-rocking B-side of "Painter Man" - another total gem over on the A of Planet Records PLF.119 from October 1966. It was enough to make a chap swoon and seek out vinyl slices of what clearly made the Modfather's knees turn to jelly.

THE CREATION never managed a British album (a crime frankly) - so their rep in Blighty revolved around a series of incendiary vinyl singles and further colourful Euro EPs that collectors have been lusting after ever since. Both Germany and Denmark produced one LP in 1967 called "We Are Paintermen" on Hit-Ton Schallplatten and Sonet Records respectively (see Notes below the track lists) and Germany also popped out a "Best Of" on Hit-Ton Pop in 1968 when the gig was up. The band’s first two UK singles on Planet Records sold copies because "Making Time" and "Painter Man" made brief 1 week and two-week appearances on the UK charts in July and November 1966 (No. 49 and No. 36 respectively).

The five-piece also showcased guitarist/songwriting talent in the shape of Eddie Phillips (ex The Mark Four) famously using the violin bow on his electric guitar before Zeppelin's Jimmy Page made it his (almost) trademark. The other two songwriters in the group were Vocalist Kenny Pickett (also ex the Mark Four) and Bassist Robert Garner who'd done time with The Merseybeats. Doug Sandom had bashed his kit for the earliest line-up of The Who before joining The Creation, whilst Mick Avory (long-time drummer with The Kinks) and Ron Wood of The Artwoods, Faces and The Rolling Stones also joined the ranks briefly too.

Produced by SHEL TALMY of WHO-fame - The Creation were the musical link between The Who and The Kinks and have been darlings of The Mod, Freakbeat and Psych circuits for over five decades now. A huge fan, Alan McGhee famously named his Creation Records after the band, promptly making Oasis superstars. Paul Weller has been championing them forever and their eight British 45s (four on Planet and four on Polydor between 1966 and 1968) command real money and respect in equal measure - especially in anything better than Good to VG playing condition (even The Planet label bags sell for fifteen to twenty quid). Hell, even Boney M covered "Painter Man" in 1979 and made it a top-ten hit – surely the ultimate accolade.

Which brings us to this wee Edsel CD beasty from 2015 with its vinyl replica black-coloured disc (itself a reissue of a 1998 Demon/Edsel compilation on Diablo Records) that gives twenty-four slices of head-jerking brilliance. Let’s get red, purple and flashy...

UK released 2 October 2015 - "Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes" by THE CEATION on Edsel Classics NINETY33 (Barcode 5014797893337) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of 'The Classic Recordings' issued between 1966 to 1968 in the UK and Europe and plays out as follows (70:09 minutes):

1. Making Time

2. Try And Stop Me

3. Painter Man

4. Biff, Bang, Pow

5. If I Stay Too Long

6. Nightmares

7. I Am A Walker

8. Can I Join Your Band

9. Cool Jerk

10. Like A Rolling Stone

11. Hey Joe

12. Life is Just Beginning

13. Through My Eyes

14. How Does It Feel To Feel (US Version)

15. Ostrich Man

16. Sweet Helen

17. How Does It Feel To Feel (UK Version)

18. Tom Tom

19. Midway Down

20. The Girls Are Naked

21. Bony Maronie

22. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

23. For All That I Am

24. Uncle Bert

NOTES:

Tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of a June 1966 UK 45 on Planet PLF 116

Tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of an October 1966 UK 45 on Planet PLF 119

Tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of a July 1967 UK 45 on Polydor 56177

Track 7 is a 1967 Shel Talmy Produced outtake first issued July 1973 on "'66-'67", a Creation LP compilation on Charisma Perspective Records CS 6

Tracks 8, 9, 10 and 11 first issued on the 1967 LP "We Are Paintermen" released on Hit-Ton Schallplatten HTSLP 340037 in Germany and Sonet Records SLPS 1251 in Denmark (both in Stereo). "Can I Join Your Band" (Track 8) also showed up as one of four-tracks on the 1967 "Tom Tom" EP out of France on Vogue International INT. 18144. "Cool Jerk" (Track 9) also showed up as a German 45 A-side for January 1968 on Hit-Ton HT 315002 (B-side was "Life Is Just Beginning")

Tracks 12 and 13 are the A&B-sides of an October 1967 UK 45 on Polydor 56207

Track 14 is the B-side of "Life Is Just Beginning", a November 1967 US 45 on Decca 32227

Tracks 15 and 16 first issued as 1967 Shel Talmy Production outtakes on the September 1982 UK LP compilation "How Does It Feel To Feel" on Edsel ED 106

Tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of a January 1968 UK 45 on Polydor 56230

Tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of a April 1968 UK 45 on Polydor 56246

Tracks 21 and 22 are the A&B-sides of an August 1968 German 45 on Hit-Ton HT 300210

Tracks 23 and 24 are the A&B-sides of a December 1968 German 45 on Hit-Ton 300235

If you want to sequence the 12-Track "We Are Paintermen" German/Danish LP from this CD, use the following sequence:

Side A: 1. Cool Jerk 2. Making Time 3. Through My Eyes 4. Like A Rolling Stone 5. Can I Join Your Band 6. Tom Tom

Side B: 1. If I Stay Too Long 2. Try And Stop Me 3. Biff, Bang, Pow 4. Nightmares 5. Hey Joe 6. Painter Man

The gatefold card sleeve offers little by way of info (track names, times and overall copyright dates) and as there's no booklet of any kind, so you're probably going to learn more from my notes above than you are from this release. The supposed 'Edsel Classics' gimmick turns out to be a black CD with record grooves on the label surface to mimic an old record (plain black on the playing side) - but it feels superfluous to requirements. This is a band and release that cries out for written appreciation and it’s a damn shame none is there. Apart from the 2015 Demon Music Group notation, there isn't even a mastering credit. But the Audio rocks - those incredibly punchy Mono single mixes on exclusive licence from Shel Talmy Productions.

I ran a playlist on my Mac to simulate the German album and man what a great listen. It seems inconceivable now that such a hugely hip combo of songs weren't given a British LP release – a major missed opportunity. But I suppose as single after single didn't make any dent on the charts – someone must have thought – why bother? Songs like "If I Stay Too Long" have melody but they also sound 'huge' in their power and even ahead of their time in terms of sound - that haunted vocal and almost clunky guitar. That outtake "I Am A Walker" again feels brilliant - first issued on a budget-label Charisma Records compilation in 1973 and then forgotten about. You can Weller's Jam in the kick-ass guitar opening of "Can I Join Your Band" - always stoned and eight miles high mentioned in the lyrics while he sung "Can I Join Your band" chorus feels like The Who's "Tommy" two years before the event.

Fans had to wait until 1982 to hear the very poppy "Ostrich Man" (words going round and round) and "Sweet Helen" outtakes (a girl came out of the blue). The "Midway Down" UK single could easily have been The Hollies while the naked dancing girls of Amsterdam get immortalised on he flipside. Cool Sixties bleeds into Guitar-Rock on the Euro-Only 45 "Bonney Maroney" - a Larry Williams Rhythm 'n' Blues 50ts hit getting thoroughly rearranged and fuzzed up with some fantastic guitar and piano. They get all Playboy sexy on the fabulous melody of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - another Williams cover. And it ends on the thrashing Who-sounding "Uncle Bert" - a relative with his trousers hanging down as a dog named Rover bites his leg.

By way of info and if you're a vinyl-lover - Record Store Day 19 April 2014 saw "Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes" issued by Demon/Edsel as "The Singles Collection" - a 11 x 45 seven-inch vinyl singles Box Set on Demon/Edsel CREATIONBSRXD using the same artwork (Barcode 5014797890695) but with One Bonus Track “Sylvie” only available as a download. That was in turn made into a 24-Track 2LP set for 10 July 2015 issued on Demon Music DEMREC48 (Barcode 5014797891203). Next came our CD in October 2015. That has once again been reissued onto a VINYL 2LP set 17 June 2017 on Demon DEMREC223 (Barcode 5014797896024) as part of the HMV promotion for Vinyl Week (a limited edition of 1000 copies, one LP in Red and the other coloured Purple).

The 2015 British CD for The Creation's "Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes" is now deleted and can cost up to twenty-quid in 2020. But what a biff bang pow...

"Everything I Am: The Complete Plastic Penny" by PLASTIC PENNY - Including their two UK LPs "Two Sides Of A Penny" (April 1968 in Both Mono and Stereo) and "Currency" (February 1969 in Stereo Only) – both on Page One Records Plus 14 BBC Sessions, The A&B-sides Of Six Rare 45s and One Album Outtake (February 2019 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD/58-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

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PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
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Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

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"...Mrs. Grundy Doesn't Comprehend..."

Released in December 1967 and charting quickly in January 1968 - PLASTIC PENNY scored a lone UK 45 hit with "Everything I Am" - a cover version of a Box Tops B-side penned by those two dapper white dudes of Southern Soul-Rock - Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. It peaked at No. 6 in Blighty on Larry Page's 'Page One' Records and despite two albums in 1968 and 1969 (also on Page One Records) - that was their lot in terms of success – one single.

But the quickly assembled five-piece boasted Vocalist Brian Keith of The Congregation in its ranks along with Keyboardist Paul Raymond later of Chicken Shack and Savoy Brown, Lead Guitarist Mick Grabham later of Cochise, Procol Harum and Bandit and Drummer Nigel Olsson who would of course become Elton John's defacto rhythm man for the best part of the Seventies on DJM Records. Bassist Tony Murray would slide into The Troggs after Plastic Penny faded. They might have been young (Olsson was only 18) and that singer an acquired deadpan taste - but they made some racket while it lasted. 

Hardly surprising then that with two albums (one in both Mono and Stereo), twelve-sides of six rare singles, a Foreign language version, a compilation track from an LP that's listed at £100+ and a shed load of unreleased BBC material – those savvy dudes over at Cherry Red's cult label Grapefruit Records have been able to conjure up a 58-Track 3CD box set for what was essentially a one-hit-wonder band. Let's flip that coin and see what lies underneath...

UK released 22 February 2019 - "Everything I Am: The Complete Plastic Penny" by PLASTIC PENNY on Grapefruit Records CRSEGBOX053 (Barcode 5013929185302) is a 3CD 58-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 "Two Sides Of A Penny" LP in MONO Plus Bonuses (49:04 minutes):

HEADS [Side 1]

1. Everything I Am

2. Wake Me Up

3. Never My Love

4. Genevieve

5. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love

6. So Much Older Now

TAILS [Side 2]

7. Mrs. Grundy

8. Take Me Back

9. I Want You

10. It's A Good Thing

11. Strawberry Fields Forever

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Two Sides Of A Penny" - released April 1968 in the UK on Page One Records POL 005 in MONO

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Everything I Am (Single Version)

13. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love (Single Version)

Tracks 12 and 13 are the A&B-sides of their December 1967 debut 7" single on Page One Records POF 051 (peaked at No. 6 in the UK charts)

14. Nobody Knows (Single version)

15. Happy Just To Be With You (Single Version)

Tracks 14 and 15 are the A&B-sides of a March 1968 UK 7" single on Page one Records POF 062

16. Guarda Nel Cielo (Nobody Knows It)

17. Tutto Quel Che Ho (Everything I Am)

Tracks 16 and 17 are the A&B-sides of an ITALIAN-only Italian language 7" single from May 1968 on Ricordi International SIR 20.067

CD2 "Two Sides Of A Penny" LP in STEREO Plus BBC Sessions (72:47 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 11 as per CD1

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Two Sides Of A Penny" - released April 1968 in the UK on Page One Records POLS 005 in STEREO

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Turning Night Into Day

13. Everything I Am

14. Take Me Back

Tracks 12 to 14 BBC Session for Top Gear recorded 10 January 1968, broadcast 14 January

15. Everything I Am

16. No Pleasure Without Pain My Love

17. It's A Good Thing

Tracks 15 to 17 are BBC Session for David Symonds, recorded 22 January 1968, broadcast 29 February

18. It's A Good Thing

19. Nobody Knows It

20. So Much Older Now

Tracks 18 to 20 BBC Session for David Symonds, recorded 19 March 1968, broadcast 25 March

21. Your Way To Tell Me To Go

22. The Shelter Of Your Arms

23. Give Me Money

Tracks 21 to 23 BBC Session for David Symonds, recorded 12 July 1968, broadcast 22 July

24. Killing Floor

25. Strawberry Fields Forever

Tracks 24 and 25 BBC Session for David Symonds, recorded 17 February 1969, broadcast 1 March 

CD3 "Currency" LP in STEREO Plus Bonuses (57:41 minutes):

1. Your Way To Tell Me To Go [Side 1]

2. Hound Dog

3. Currency

4. Caledonian Mission

5. MacArthur Park

6. Turn To Me [Side 2]

7. Baby You're Not To Blame

8. Give Me Money

9. Sour Suite

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second and last album "Currency" - released February 1969 in the UK on Page One Records POLS 014 in Stereo-only

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Your Way To Tell Me To Go

11. Baby You're Not To Blame

Tracks 10 and 11 are the A&B-sides of a July 1968 UK 7" single on Page One Records POF 079

12. Hound Dog

13. Currency

Tracks 12 and 13 are the A&B-sides of a November 1968 UK 7" single on Page One Records POF 107

14. Celebrity Ball

Track 14 is a Mid-1969 LP outtake first issued on the April 1970 UK compilation LP "Heads I Win - Tails You Lose" on Page One Records POS 611

15. She Does

16. Genevieve

Tracks 15 and 161 are the A&B-sides of a July 1969 UK 7" single on Page One Records POF 146

The 28-page booklet is the usual feast of period memorabilia – sheet music, promo photos, 60ts charts, press clippings and concert posters supporting The Love Affair, the artwork for the two LPs and a collage page of Euro and Worldwide picture sleeves for the singles. Liner-notes King DAVID WELLS does a thoroughly in-depth job of describing how the debut single was made by a bunch of sessionmen – became a hit – and then the mad scramble began to form a band to back it up with TV appearances and tours. But the momentum of the catchy "Everything I Am" proved impossible to follow, finally getting to a point where their slowed-down grunge cover of Presley's 50ts exciter "Hound Dog" elicited a Chris Welch review that advised members of the band to avoid motorcyclists coming to their gigs to avenge Elvis and do things to the ribcages of Plastic Penny (I personally think its a rip-roaring success but what would I know). It's a great read and with contributions from Paul Raymond and Brian Keith touching on subjects like his real name (O'Shea, a Scot with an Irish surname) and the trouble it caused him with journalists and meeting Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy during the recording of their debut – there is much to enjoy in its 5,000+ words.

Oddly there are no mastering credits – but I suspect Simon Murphy or Ben Wiseman or Paschal Byrne did the Remasters. The MONO MIX of the Debut LP is hissy for sure but clear nonetheless (there is lovely separation on the Stereo mix and real power too). Even those BBC Sessions - that can be very mixed audiowise depending on the source – are shockingly good. And with both LPs clocking in at over £100 and £150 on the collector’s market, this reissue is welcome-news for die-hards and genre fans. To the music...

The 1968 debut split Side 1 and 2 into themes - Heads and Tails. Of the eleven songs – impressively seven were Brian Keith and Paul Raymond originals – with the other four being covers - the Penn/Oldham/Box Tops B-side "Everything I Am", the Addrisi Brothers song "Never My Love", "I Want You" by John Group of the Graham Bond Organization and finally - the Beatles classic "Strawberry Fields Forever". I have to say I'm quite at a loss as to why "Everything I Am" did such huge business. Both "Wake Me Up" (sung by Paul) and "Never My Love" (sung by Brian) are dominated by the very Nice-sounding keyboards of Paul Raymond with a touch of Procol Harum doom swimming around "Genevieve".

Side 1 brings the overall smooch feel to an end with "So Much Older Now" – Keith's voice not up the expressiveness needed. Side 2 opens with the very Psych-Underground "Mrs. Grundy" – a rather nasty little beasty about a neighbour who does not get it (one of the album's genuine period highlights). The boys try Pop with the cheesy "Take Me Back" but it feels so 60ts but not in a good way. Better territory is the cover of "I Want You" – a chugger that feels like early Traffic. A very competent harmony vocal version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" ends the album but overall you feel the debut is good rather than being great despite all that collective (admittedly young) talent.

Once again album number two "Currency" from 1969 had that combo of originals and covers – Lieber and Stoller's "Hound Dog" made famous of course by Big Mama Thornton and Elvis, Robbie Robertson's "Caledonian Mission" from The Band's 1968 debut LP "Music From Big Pink", Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park" - a hit for actor Richard Harris also in 1968 - and the never-released on one of his own albums "Turn To Me" from the 1969 pen of Elton John and Bernie Taupin - a genuine rarity in EJ's voluminous catalogue. The other five are originals with "Your Way To Tell Me To Go" being the leadoff single as far back as July 1968 - nearly nine months before the LP arrived in February 1969. Immediately the power of the remaster on the Stereo "Your Way To Tell Me To Go" is fantastic and the songwriting chops obviously immeasurably improved since the debut.

With Brian Keith out of the picture, Raymond takes the lead and his vocals on both "Your Way To Tell Me To Go" and the infamous "Hound Dog" (with Nigel Olsson on Lead Vocals) suit the very Small Faces rocking-out feel to both of the tunes. Given the quality of "Your Way..." and the very Nice-Prog-Psych to the instrumental "Currency" - it's easy to see why the second LP is so much more desirable on the collector's market. "She reads the leaves and she leads the life..." they sing on a credible rocking up take on The Band's "Caledonian Mission" but my ears are drawn to the seldom heard "Turn To Me" - an Elton John and Bernie Taupin turn to me when you're lonely ballad (it was also covered by Guy Darrell, a Page One Records label mate). Fans have also loved the very Who/Move influenced "Give Me Money" where it could very well be Pete Townshend trashing away at that guitar while Olsson goes all Moon. I'll admit I've never heard the compilation rarity "Celebrity Ball" but its a cracker and should really have been on the "Currency" LP. Disc 3 ends with a very cool stand-alone almost Allman Brothers rocker in "She Does" in Stereo b/w the single mix of "Genevieve" described here as a 'Stereo Single Version 2'.

"...They say your baby doesn't love you, but she does...” the band pleads on the excellent but ignored single "She Does" - a little like Plastic Penny's short but productive stay – people misconstrued and just plain never saw them and thereafter gave them a chance.

For sure, not everything on here will thrill even 60ts nutters to the core, especially the overall slapped-together feel of that underwhelming debut. But that cool second LP and those BBC Sessions (that show the growing confidence of the band as they went from 1968 into 1969) will be enough to warrant a dip into this wickedly diverse money pit. And again Grapefruit make it impossible to resist...

"Trout Mask Replica" by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND (October 1969 USA 2LP set on Straight Records and November 1969 in the UK on Straight Records (both in Stereo) - featuring guitarist William (Bill) Harkleroad as Zoot Horn Rollo, Guitarist Jeff Cotton as Antennae Jimmy Semens, Guitarist Doug Moon, Bassist Mark Boston as Rockette Morton, Bass Clarinet player Victor Hayden as The Mascara Snake, Sound Recordings by Richard (Dick) Kunc and Drummer John French as Drumbo (June 2004 UK/EUROPE Reprise Records CD Reissue/Re-Pressing) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 310 Others Is Available In My

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PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
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Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

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"...Dream Of A Octafish..."

It seems bizarre (if you'll forgive the Zappa and Beefheart label-associated pun) that in June 2020 – a full 51 years after this notorious, revered and in fact much reviled double-album was first released at the end of 1969 – that CD variants of it appear to only number two and both carry the same 1989 reissue catalogue number and barcode just to confuse us jagged-rock junkies. A potted explanation...

The first UK/European CD pressing from March 1989 is Reprise 927 196-2 (Barcode 075992719629) and is known as the RSA Pressing. It can be identified by the Matrix Number on the playing side of the actual CD in the run-out plastic, 927196-2 RSA. It has the 20-page booklet, a young Beefheart pictured on the CD label, 'Manufactured in Germany by Record Service GmbH Alsdorf' on the CD label and 'Manufactured in Germany, Fabrique en Allemagne TELDEC Record Service GmbH' on the rear inlay.

The only other issue I know of is June 2004, known as the Cinram Re-pressing. Again it comes with a 20-page booklet, Beefheart photo on the CD label and the label/inlay credits. But the CD Matrix is 759927196-2.4 06/04 V2 on the rim of the playing surface. The nutty thing is that for such an iconic album, neither claims a Remaster and both still have the same catalogue number and barcode. And of course you can't really tell from the outside which pressing is which until you turn the actual CD over...

Anyway, let's get to the Sixties Avant Garde Rock, Psych, Musique Concrete and Experimental Dream of a Octafish extravaganza that is the Troutster...

UK re-released June 2004 (itself reissued September 2006) – "Trout Mask Replica" by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND on Reprise 927 196-2 (Barcode 075992719629 – Cinram Pressing with CD Matrix 759927196-2.4 06/04 V2) offers the full 1969 2LP Set Remastered onto 1CD and Plays out as follows (79:06 minutes):

1. Frownland [Side 1]

2. The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back

3. Dachau Blues

4. Ella Guru

5. Hair Pie: Bake 1

6. Moonlight On Vermont

7. Pachuco Cadaver [Side 2]

8. Bill's Corpse

9. Sweet Sweet Blues

10. Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish

11. China Pig

12. My Human Gets Me Blues

13. Dali's Car

14. Hair Pie: Bake 2 [Side 3]

15. Pena

16. Well

17. When Big Joan Sets Up

18. Fallin' Ditch

19. Sugar 'N Spikes

20. Ant Man Bee

21. Orange Claw Hammer [Side 4]

22. Wild Life

23. She's Too Much For My Mirror

24. Hobo Chang Ba

25. The Blimp (Mousetrap Replica)

26.  Steal Softly Thru Snow

27. Old Fart At Play

28. Veteran's Day Poppy

Tracks 1 to 28 are the double-album "Trout Mask Replica" - released October 1969 in the USA on Straight Records 2 STS 1053 and November 1969 in the UK on Straight STS 1053 (both Stereo only).

Featuring Captain Beefheart on Lead Vocals, Tenor and Soprano Saxes and Horns, guitarist William (Bill) Harkleroad as Zoot Horn Rollo, Guitarist Jeff Cotton as Antennae Jimmy Semens, Guitarist Doug Moon, Bassist Mark Boston as Rockette Morton, Bass Clarinet player Victor Hayden as The Mascara Snake, Sound Recordings by Richard (Dick) Kunc and Drummer John French as Drumbo. It didn't chart in either country.

Famously original American copies came with a booklet that the UK issues didn’t have. Those lyrics and cartoon drawings are repro’d in the 20-page booklet but there are no mastering credits.

It's not an idle statement to say that Beefheart's "Trout" is the very definition of a Marmite Record - love it or loathe it. Let's put it this way, and what follows is no word of a lie. When we worked in Reckless Records at the Upper Street branch in the Nineties and Naughties - about 6:40 pm with a 7pm closing time, we'd slap on "Trout Mask replica" and by five-to seven, its discordant angular avant garde jagged rhythms had the shop cleared of all customers n fifteen minutes flat. Never failed. In short, this double was never an easy listen and if I'm honest, I think half of the 'unmitigated genius' reviews are full of a substance you find in the Margate drains - and I don't mean Fairy Green Liquid. "Ella Guru" and "Orange Claw Hammer" will (like much of it) test your patience and tickle your fancy at one and the same time. And even if there is no mastering credit, this CD sounds pretty damn good.

Magic band stalwarts Bassist Mark Boston and guitarist Bill Harkleroad left to form MALLARD in 1974 with Vocalist Sam Galpin and ex Zappa/Mothers Drummer Art Tripp. They made two albums on Virgin in 1975 and 1976 while the Captain himself was at the famous British label too. But this is where it all started proper...

The dust blows forward and the dust blows back. You can't help thinking that Don Van Vliet was always going forward while the rest of us try to catch up - half a century later...

"Axis: Bold As Love" by THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE (1 December 1967 UK 2nd LP on Track 613 003 and 15 January 1968 USA on Reprise RS 6281 in Stereo featuring Mitch Mitchell (Bass), Noel Redding (Drums) and Producer Chas Chandler (February 2012 UK Sony Music/Experience Hendrix/Legacy 1CD-only Reissue (original Remaster issued March 2010 as a CD+DVD in A Card Digipak) – Eddie Kramer and George Marino Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Little Wing…"

The first decent reissue of "Axis: Bold As Love" turned up 28 April 1997 on MCA Records/Experience Hendrix MCD11601 (Barcode 008811160128) as part of 'The Hendrix Family Authorised Editions Series'. It was a Remaster of Jimi's second studio album carried out by the LP's original engineer Eddie Kramer aided and assisted by Audio/Restoration boffin George Marino.

That was superseded by another Kramer/Marino Reissue/Remaster on the 8 March 2010 which put "Axis: Bold As Love" into a card digipak and added on a DVD. Sony Music/Experience Hendrix 88697621632 (Barcode 886976216320) however has been deleted now for some time and clocks in at around twenty quid on the open secondhand market. Use the barcodes provided above to locate either issue.

What we're finally left with is what we have here – a 1CD-only 2012 reissue of that 2010 Remaster put into a standard plastic jewel case for under six quid. To the Spanish Castle Music and Little Wing details...

UK released 6 February 2012 - "Axis: Bold As Love" by THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE on Sony Music/Experience Hendrix/Legacy 88691938922 (Barcode 886919389227) is a 1CD-only Reissue of the 8 March 2010 Remaster and plays out as follows (39:29 minutes):

1. EXP [Side 1]

2. Up From The Skies

3. Spanish Castle Music

4. Wait Until Tomorrow

5. Ain't No Telling

6. Little Wing

7. If 6 Was 9

8. You've Got Me Floating [Side 2]

9. Castles Made Of Sand

10. She's So Fine

11. One Rainy Wish

12. Little Miss Lover

13. Bold As Love

Tracks 1 to 13 are his second studio album "Axis: Bold As Love" - released 1 December 1967 in the UK on Track 612 003 (Mono) and Track 613 003 (Stereo) and 15 January 1968 in the USA on Reprise RS 6281 (Stereo only) featuring Mitch Mitchell (Bass), Noel Redding (Drums) and Producer Chas Chandler. The STEREO MIX is used for this CD. All tracks written by Jimi Hendrix except "She's So Fine" written by Noel Redding. The album peaked at No. 5 in the UK and No. 3 in the USA. 

The 24-page colour booklet is festooned with photos from the archives of Linda McCartney, Eddie Kramer, Bruce Fleming and Baron Wolman (amongst many) - the great axeman in studio and live mode with his crew of bushy-haired two. The British LP originally on Track Records was a gatefold with a 4-page lyric insert and while that fab black and white photo that dominated the inner gatefold of the three disappointingly isn't here, the lyrics are. That minor omission is replaced with long and fantastically detailed liner notes (Pages 11 to 20) from JYM FAHEY that go into the staggering pace of recording (the "Are You Experienced?" debut barley finished and the double "Electric Ladyland" on the summer horizon) - Hendrix's career skyrocketing less than nine months after Chas Chandler has brought Jimi to England in September 1966. It's a fab read and even goes into the near disaster with master tapes for Side 1 and "If 6 Was 9" which were thankfully resolved. The remaster by EDDIE KRAMER and GEORGE MARINO, supervised by Janie Hendrix and John McDermott on behalf of the Experience Hendrix Estate, gives oomph and power to every song. Which brings us to the music...

The 'dodgy subject' of UFOs gets speeded up and slowed down in the entertaining but ultimately silly "EXP" where Jimi's guitar gets screeched into the Universe never mind your living room speakers (panned and all). That's quickly followed by the first real Audio hit and song - the stunning bass and drums of "Up From The Skies" - that vocal and flicked guitar sounding so alive it’s frightening. I love that so cool guitar solo he does as he talks (I can dig it baby). The true Hendrix punk riffage sound comes roaring into your ears with "Spanish Castle Music" - just a little bit of magic - and again a fantastic transfer that captures that lethal double-whammy of power and subtlety.

We trip the light-funky-tastic with his skip-and-bop "Wait Until Tomorrow" - drums whacking as Dolly Mae hangs from her window pane - Jimi almost rapping the lyrics as he flicks those tasty strums. Rapido rhythm burning my eyes in "Ain't No Telling" - his guitar once again Funk-Rocking as he solos into one of the albums beauties. There are reasons why so many have covered the gorgeous "Little Wing" - but to hear it with such power and clarity here is almost too much to bear. I also think of Stevie Ray Vaughan when it plays - beautiful and ethereal playing like all the greats. Fantastic stuff even if it’s always felt to me like it ends too quickly.

There is a very evident hiss element in "If 6 Was 9" but that 'air' surrounding the performance actually lends it even more power IMO. White collar conservative...pointing their plastic finger at me... you just have to love the myriad of musical ideas going on here - like no-one (let alone Producer Chandler) could capture what was going on in Jimi's head, in turn transmitting down through to his fingers and out onto the fretboard.

Side 2's "You've Got Me Floating" (corrected to "You Got Me Floatin'") is another wild Funk-Rock child that segues into that other LP gem "Castles Made Of Sand". The Bass and Drums once again so staggeringly clear and present and how cool are those Indian Brave verses before he goes into that edgy guitar solo. And that 'eventually' ending with that echoed guitar fade out. Always feeling like an odd-man-out, Noel Redding's "She's So Fine" has all the trademark Experience sound but his voice is not the 'cool' of Jimi - which is a shame because they're cool guitar noises going on all around.

Racing towards the finish is the fantastic swoon of "One Rainy Wish" - a sort of "Little Wing" Part 2 - a song sleeping peacefully under the tree of song. Both the neck-jerkingly sock-it-to-me Funky "Little Miss Lover" and the Rock waltz life-giving-waters of "Bold As Love" finish the album with genuinely amazing style (that huge fuzzy solo towards the end still drops a jaw or two).

Hendrix would drop the 2LP atomic bomb of "Electric Ladyland" in November 1968 with "Voodoo Child" and "Crosstown Traffic" - the same month The Beatles would chuck out their double-album urge-to-splurge "The Beatles" - commonly known of course as 'The White Album'. 

Sixties Rock, Blues Rock, Psych... My god what a year 1968 was and what a good idea for you to start your slight return to it...right here baby...