"Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun" by PAUL KANTNER, GRACE SLICK and DAVID FREIBERG – June 1973 US Album on Grunt Records featuring John Barbara, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen and Papa John Creach of Jefferson Airplane, Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship, Jerry Garcia and Micky Hart of The Grateful Dead, David Crosby of The Byrds and CSNY, Chris Ethridge of The Flying Burrito Bros and The Pointer Sisters (March 2020 UK Esoteric Recordings - Newly Remastered Edition – Ben Wiseman Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B083XVGTJL&asins=B083XVGTJL&linkId=3ec39717b29ca35f32b1b6431a35c9a6&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review Along With 319 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)

"...Riders Of The Rainbow...."

David Crosby nicknames for Paul Kantner and Grace Slick as an album title - very cool idea. 

As I recall Jefferson Airplane and most of its solo offshoots were all but dead in the water by the time this album was released Stateside in June 1973 on their own Grunt Records. It peaked at a low No. 120 on the US Billboard LP charts - starting a decline from his first solo album "Blows Against The Empire" from December 1970 at No. 20 to the "Sunfighter" album from December 1971 at No. 89. In Blighty and Ireland as I recall, this triple-credited solo album barely registered – also turning up in shops June 1973 to a bit of curiosity in the artwork and odd name – but a yawn at most else.

Which is a damn shame because what's contained within is one of their better almost hidden solo-gems in a long cannon of Airplane/Starship works - a transition LP between the sound of old Airplane morphing into the new Starship (David Freiberg had been a Vocalist, Guitarist and Songwriter with Quicksilver Messenger Service). And Esoteric Records of the UK (part of Cherry Red) seem to think so too giving the wee uppity litter runt of the litter a properly tasty reissue that restores the weird original artwork (all that physical and mental health stuff) and uses first generation Grunt master tapes for a reasonably improved audio go-round to an album that hasn't done well on digital before. Let's get chromium, healthy and restore posterity's noble heritage...

UK released 27 March 2020 (delayed from 4 March) - "Baron Von Tollbooth And The Chrome Nun" by PAUL KANTNER, GRACE SLICK and DAVID FREIBERG on Esoteric Recordings QECLEC 2713 (Barcode 5013929481381) offers a straightforward Remaster of the 1973 album and plays out as follows (40:25 minutes):

1. Ballad Of The Chrome Nun [Side 1]
2. Fat 
3. Flowers Of The Night 
4. Walkin' 
5. Your Mind Has Left Your Body 
6. Across The Board [Side 2]
7. Harp Tree Lament 
8. White Boy 
9. Fishman 
10. Sketches Of China 
Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun" - released June 1973 in the USA and UK on Grunt Records BFL1-0148 (same catalogue number for both countries). Produced by PAUL KANTER, GRACE SLICK and DAVID FREIBERG - it peaked at No. 120 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). 

PAUL KANTNER - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Glass Harmonica on "Harp Tree Lament" and "White Boy" 
GRACE SLICK - Lead Vocals, Piano on all tracks except "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun" and "Harp Tree Lament"
DAVID FREIBERG - Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Piano on "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun" and "Harp Tree Lament"

Guests:
JERRY GARCIA (of The Grateful Dead) - Guitar on all tracks except "Flowers Of The Night" and "Harp Tree Lament" - Steel Guitar on "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun" and "Your Mind Has Left Your Body" - Banjo on "Walkin'" 
JORMA KAUKONEN (of Jefferson Airplane) – Lead Guitar on "Your Mind Has Left Your Body"
CRAIG CHAQUICO (of Jefferson Starship) – Lead Guitar on "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun", "Flowers Of The Night" and "Fishman"
JACK TRAYLOR – Acoustic Guitar and Vocals on "Flowers Of The Night" - Vocals on "White Boy" and "Sketches Of China"
PAPA JOHN CREACH (of Jefferson Airplane) – Electric Violin on " Walkin'"
CHRIS ETHRIDGE (of The Flying Burrito Bros) – Bass Guitar on all tracks except "Your Mind Has Left Your Body", "White Boy" and "Fishman"
JACK CASADY (of Jefferson Airplane) – Bass Guitar on "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun", "Flowers Of The Night" and "Fishman"
JOHN BARBATA (of Jefferson Airplane) – Drums and Percussion 
MICKEY HART (of The Grateful Dead) - Gongs on "Your Mind Has Left Your Body" and "Sketches Of China" - Water Phones on "Your Mind Has Left Your Body"
DAVID CROSBY (of The Byrds and CSNY) - Vocals on "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun"
THE POINTER SISTERS – Vocals on "Fat"

The gatefold card digipak and picture CD reproduce the 1973 LP artwork whilst the 16-page booklet gives the artwork of the inner sleeve a placing too. You get lyrics to all the songs, the three faces behind skulls and two skeleton paintings of the inner sleeve as well as those Hippocrates, Aristotle, Da Vinci etc drawings that adorned the top of the inner plus that gobbledygook about ‘good health’ – now spread strikingly across the booklet’s centre pages. 

Instead of the separate insert which came with original LPs that gave track-by-track musician breakdowns as well as vocal credits, Esoteric have compiled a who-played-on-what list themselves on Page 7 of the booklet. There are new liner notes entitled 'Find Out What And Who You Are' by MIKE METTLER that feature interviews with Jorma Kaukonen and Craig Chaquico about their Lead Guitar solo contributions (which lifted up so many of the better tracks) and there are the usual reissue credits. A good read then, with a favourable reappraisal of the album in the grand scheme of JA/JS things. 

The remaster boasts first generation Grunt Records master tapes but as anyone who knows the 'love it or lump it' production values of this LP, the audio even in the hands of BEN WISEMAN (a very experienced Audio Engineer) is better but never great. Audiophile fans should look away immediately. Having said that and having had this album for near on 50 years now - the Remaster is better on more cohesive and less cluttered tracks like the guitar-driven "Flowers Of The Night" and the expansive grunge drone guitars of the head-game "Your Mind Has Left Your Body" are way meatier than I've ever heard them. When its good - it's good - but when stuff like Grace Slick's angry "Across The Board" comes on or that intrusive Mellotron sound that hunkers down in the background of "Harp Tree Lament" - there is only so much you should expect from this. I like the improvements and am glad I have them. To the tunes and players...

Lonesome Piano and Guitar open Side 1's "Ballad Of The Chrome Nun", Grace Slick taking the first lead vocal, lyrics about 'not needing to be baptised' - while Craig Chaquico's guitar notes make themselves known. Axeboy Chaquico had been around the JA camp since his notice-me-right-now solo for "Earth Mother" on Kantner's 1971 effort "Sunfighter". Prodigy Chaquico would of course get better and better and I can vividly recall watching the Old Grey Whistle Test on British TV as Bob Harris told his audience to note Chaquico's stunning playing on "Ride The Tiger" from the "Dragon Fly" LP in late 1974. Speaking on cool guests and their excellent contributions, David Crosby does a Harmony Vocal over the guitar that is so subtle and sweet too. I didn't like "Fat" at first, but typically it's the kind of song that grows in stature although the Remaster hasn't made the intrusive Mellotron sound any better (The Pointer Sisters guest as Backing Singers). 

A member of the obscure West Coast band Steelwind, guest and pal to the band Jack Traylor wrote and sings "Flowers Of The Night" - once again CC providing genuinely notable guitar work. Traylor also had an album on Grunt in 1973 co-credited to him and Steelwind called "Child Of Nature" (Grunt Records BFL1-0194) - not a vinyl you see every day of the week. Papa John Creach lends his violin to "Walkin'" - a good tune - while Side 1 ends on what I think is the album's best cut - the mind melding ever-so-spaced-out Pink Floyd feel to "Your Mind Has left Your Body". Jorma Kaukonen lets his lead guitar shimmer in the grunge, while Kantner sings about riders of the rainbow and other mad let it grow hippie lyrics. There is a huge and magnificent feel to this lengthy Side 1 finisher - like they were on to something soundwise and were riding the waves as they came crashing out through the speakers. 

Side 2 opens with Grace being angry at both women and men on "Across The Board" – and especially women who need men for their dimensional skill sets.  David Hunter of The Grateful Dead fame lends his lyrics to the David Freiberg song "Harp Tree Lament" – a tune that hasn’t dated well really. Soundwise, again Kantner comes on all Pink Floyd circa "Animals" or even "The Wall" with the ominous and brooding "White Boy" subtitled in brackets on the record label as "Transcaucasian Airmachine Blues". It floats and uplifts in that strange Floyd Prog Rock kind of way as Kantner name-checks races and colours and creeds – the guitar drenched in a very cool sustain. I find both the cod rocker "Fishman" and the murky warlords in "Sketches Of China" to be both overwrought – JA just not knowing when to stop with the layer after layer of instruments. 

There are those who rate "Baron Von Tollbooth..." as a five-star forgotten gem. I would proffer three stars elevated up to four for this tasty 2020 reissue. Whatever you remember, I was a little taken aback at how much I enjoyed revisiting this audio-compromised mishmash. Nice one again boys...

"Bootleg Him!" by ALEXIS KORNER – April 1972 US Double-Album on Warner Brothers and August 1972 UK Double-Album on RAK Records – including the groups Blues Incorporated, New Church, Duo, CCS and Alexis Korner Solo Material recorded between 1961 to 1971 – featuring Alexis Korner on Vocals and Guitars, Cyril Davies on Harmonica and Vocals, Herbie Goins on Lead Vocals, Robert Plant pre Led Zeppelin on Lead Vocals, Paul Rodgers of Free on Harmony Vocals, Larry Power on Guitar, Peter Thorup of CCS and Snape on Vocals and Guitar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Alan Skidmore, Chris Pyne, John Surman, Henry Lowther, Lol Coxhill, Victor and Annette Brox, Graham Bond, Brian Smith, Keith Stanger on various Horns, Chris McGregor, Keith Scott and Johnny Parker on Piano, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of Pentangle on Double Bass and Drums, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream on Bass and Drums, Andy Fraser of Free and Chris Hodgkinson on Bass with Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones on Drums (November 1999 UK Castle Music/Essential Reissue – 2LPs onto 1CD Remastered) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00002MPKS&asins=B00002MPKS&linkId=a329c2eead48b4e439fbbfc67c4b42e2&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Had My Fun..."

Following on from his "Alexis" debut album for Mickie Most's RAK Records in July 1971 (SRAK 501 being a wee bit of an underwhelming affair truth be told and especially given his fantastic output with C.C.S. at the time) – Blighty punters were greeted with the sprawling 2LP set "Bootleg Him!" by Alexis Korner in August 1972. 

It featured gorgeous but oddly inappropriate Roger Dean space-creature in winged-cape and denim-boots artwork on the front of its laminated gatefold sleeve whilst sporting a very flash four-page insert and endless other text details on the inside. Despite some copies having gold price stickers to catch your money-conscious eye - RAK Records SRAKSP 51 wasn't a cheap double-album of current material - but a ten-year career retrospective of unheard rarities from 1961 to 1971. Highlighting his staggering contribution to British Blues and in particular Blues-Rock – all of it featuring a cast of luminaries that took me a few hours to type out I can tell you. 

"Bootleg Him!" had first been issued in the same elaborate gatefold packaging in the USA - April 1972 on Warner Brothers 2SX 1966 – albeit in a card sleeve rather than laminate. As you can see from the detailed track-list provided below - only three of the 20 session songs were actually credited to ALEXIS KORNER. The other seventeen cuts feature bands AK either formed or fronted or did both - Blues Incorporated for the whole of the first LP - with Duo, New Church and Collective Consciousness Society (CCS) taking up the second (neither Duo nor New Church ever managed actual releases). 

And man what a hotchpotch "Bootleg Him!" is. Styles vary from straight up Acoustic Blues like his atmospheric cover of "Corina Corina", a song made famous by Atlantic Records Big Joe Turner in the Fifties, or the live purist Jazz soloing of "Honesty" where everyone in the band seems to have a go, much to the enthusiasm of the crowd or the Rock vs. Prog Rock elements of "Sunrise" from Side 2 of the self-titled October 1970 C.C.S. debut album where the musicians listed are maybe as many as 20. It's a bit of a ride. 

As you can see from the track-by-track musician lists below, famous and not-so-famous luminaries include the fabulous Harmonica playing of Cyril Davies - soul boy Herbie Goins on Vocals - Horn players from the Prog Rock and Jazz scene like John Surman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Chris Pyne, Alan Skidmore, Henry Lowther, Lol Coxhill, Harold Beckett, Victor and Annette Brox and Graham Bond play alongside Chris McGregor, Keith Scott and Johnny Parker on Piano, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream on Bass and Drums, Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser of Free on Harmony Vocals and Bass, Drummer Charlie Watts of The Stones and perhaps more genuinely gobsmacking than them all put together is a young 20-year old vocalist down to London in the shape of a throat-shredding Robert Plant pre Led Zeppelin (his session was September 1968). All this and people like Danny Thompson and Terry Cox from Pentangle and it's enough to make my Irish head spin. Let's get retrospective...

UK released November 1999 - "Bootleg Him!" by ALEX KORNER (and Others) on Castle Music/Essential ESMCD 806 (Barcode 5017615880625) offers the full 20-track double-album Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (75:14 minutes):

Side 1:
1. She Fool Me - BLUES INCORPORATED (Billy Boy Arnold cover)
AK on Vocals and Guitar, Cyril Davies on Harmonica, Ken Scott on Piano, Colin Bowden on Drums

2. I'm A Hoochie Coochie Man - BLUES INCORPORATED (Willie Dixon song, Muddy Waters cover)
Cyril Davies on Lead Vocals and Harmonica, AK on Guitar, Dave Stevens on Piano, Dick Heckstall-Smith on Sax, Jack Bruce of Cream on Double-Bass with Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones on Drums 

3. Yellow Dog Blues - BLUES INCORPORATED (W.C. Handy cover, Instrumental)
AK on Electric Guitar, Chris Pyne on Piano, Ray Warleigh on Alto Sax, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of Pentangle on Double Bass and Drums

4. I Wonder Who - BLUES INCORPORATED (Alexis Korner song)
AK on Lead Vocals and Electric Guitar, John Surman on Baritone Sax, Chris Pyne on Trombone with Dave Holland on Double Bass 

5. Dee - BLUES INCORPORATED (Alexis Korner song, Instrumental)
AK on Acoustic Guitar, John Surman on Baritone Sax, Chris Pyne on Trombone with Dave Holland on Double Bass

Side 2:
6. Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me - BLUES INCORPORATED (Charles Mingus cover)
AK on Lead Vocals and Electric Guitar, Alan Skidmore on Tenor Sax, Chris Pyne on Trombone with Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of Pentangle on Double Bass and Drums 

7. Rockin - BLUES INCORPORATED (Alexis Korner song, Instrumental)
AK on Electric Guitar, Graham Bond and Dick Heckstall-Smith on Alto and Tenor Saxes, Johnny Parker on Piano, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream on Double Bass and Drums 

8. Honesty (Live) - BLUES INCORPORATED (Dave Baker cover)
AK on Electric Guitar, Ray Warleigh on Alto Sax with Chris Pyne on Trombone with Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of Pentangle on Double Bass and Drums 

9. I Got A Woman - BLUES INCORPORATED (Ray Charles cover)
Herbie Goins on Leads Vocals, AK on Electric Guitar, Ray Warleigh on Alto Sax with Brian Smith and Nigel Stanger on Tenor Saxes and Danny Thompson and Terry Cox of Pentangle on Double Bass and Drums 

10. Mighty Mighty Spade & Whitey - NEW CHURCH & FRIENDS (Curtis Mayfield cover)
Lead Vocals and Guitars by AK and Peter Thorup of CCS, Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser of Free on Harmony Vocals and Electric Bass, Annette Brox on Harmony Vocals and Tambourine, Alto Sax by Ray Warleigh, Baritone Sax by John Surman, Tenor Sax by Lol Coxhill, Trombones by Chris Pyne and Malcolm Griffiths, Trumpets by Harold Beckett and Henry Lowther with Drums by John Marshall 

Side 3:
11. Corina Corina - DUO (Blues Traditional, Joe Turner cover)
Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar by AK with Victor Brox on Trumpet
 
12. Operator - DUO (Steve Miller (of the UK), Alexis Korner and Robert Plant song)
Robert Plant on Lead Vocals and Harmonica, AK on Acoustic Guitar with England's Steve Miller on Piano
 
13. The Love You Save - DUO (Joe Tex cover)
AK on Lead Vocals and Electric Guitar with Victor Brox on Piano 

14. Jesus Is Just Alright - NEW CHURCH (Arthur Reynolds cover)
Peter Fensome on Lead Vocals, AK on Harmony Vocals and Mandoguitar, Peter Thorup of CCS and SNAPE on Harmony Vocals and Electric Guitar, Ray Babbington on Bass with Annette Brox on Harmony Vocals and Tambourine 

15. That's All - ALEXIS KORNER (Traditional Blues cover)
AK on Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar with Chris Hodgkinson on Bass

Side 4: 
16. Evil Hearted Woman - DUO (Mance Lipscombe cover)
AK Lead Vocals and Tiple Guitar, Peter Thorup on Acoustic Guitar with Chris Hodgkinson on Bass 

17. Clay House Inn - ALEXIS KORNER (David Ward song)
AK on Lead Vocals and Acoustic, Larry Power on Electric Guitar, Chris McGregor on Piano, Chris Hodgkinson on Bass and Jack Brooks on Drums

18. Love Is Gonna Go - ALEXIS KORNER (Alexis Korner, Duffy Power song) 
AK on Lead Vocals and Acoustic with Chris Hodgkinson on Bass

19. Sunrise - CCS (Alexis Korner song)
AK and Peter Thorup on Lead Vocals and Guitars with all of CCS

20. Hellhound On My Trail - DUO (Robert Johnson cover)
AK on Tiple Guitar with Peter Thorup of CCS and Snape on Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar

Although the KIT AIKEN liner notes gives us a very informative overall view in the six-leaf foldout inlay - it's hardly the densely worded gatefold and four-page insert that came with original LPs where it even reproduced a Rolling Stones article on AK verbatim (there is more info in this review). You get some period photos and a silver sticker on the jewel case informing us that release gives you 'Britain's Blues Legend Remastered Repackaged with New Liner Notes' without ever telling us who remastered what and when. And in October 2020, this 1999 Castle Music CD appears to be still the only real way of getting this release on decent sounding digital that won't cost you a limb. Some of the live tracks aren't audiophile for sure and the C.C.S. cut is a tad hissy, but the rest has real meat - clean and clear too. There is nice naturalty to the audio. 

If you skip to the Muddy Waters cover "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and clock the line-up - is it any wonder that the thing is a harmonica-driven R&B swinger - Cyril Davies doing a great job on Lead Vocals. The two instrumentals of "Yellow Dog Blues" and "Dee" are slow Blues for a starter and surprisingly Acoustic and Double Bass prettiness for desert. I will confess that I don't much like the Mingus cover "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me" - but "Rockin" is a fab little shuffler where the brass shimmy and shake (shame it isn't the best audio perhaps). The first LP ends with a track that will surely end up on an Ace Records 'New Breed' dancer CD compilation - Herbie Goins fronting a skirt-shaking version of the Ray Charles classic "I Got A Woman". 

The second LP opens with worries about the USA in AK's sexy Funk-Soul-Rock cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Mighty Mighty Spade & Whitey" - the lyrics warning all colours that they will pay a crumbling-tower price if they "...stand divided, sort of undecided...".  In September 1968, Alexis Korner literally captured lightning-in-a-bottle when he brought in Robert Plant to record two numbers in London - "Operator" and "Steal Away". Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page got wind of his vocal prowess and the rest is Led Zeppelin history. Plant would in fact acknowledge Korner's session and patronage by singing snatches of steal away on Zep's "How Many More Times" on the 1969 debut album. Plant plays Harmonica and literally shreds the microphone in a fantastic Blues rendition. In fact given that Zeppelin had just had a fourth Number One album in November 1971 with their "Stairway To Heaven" beast of an album - it seems like both Warner Bros and RAK Records missed something of a selling-trick on this one by not advertising how good this RP inclusion on "Bootleg Him!" was/is. And on "Bootleg Him!" goes to the left-for-dead Blues of "The Love You Save" and the acoustic shuffle of "Evil Hearted Woman" and so much more. 

What I love about double-albums is the sheer splurge of them - and this little British beauty is for me one of the great forgotten wonders of the age (even if it is harking back to a decade prior). I can't help thinking that someone like Esoteric Recordings who did such a great job with the CCS catalogue (see my review for "Tap Turns The Water: The CCS Story") should do an AK Box Set covering the RAK Records years. 

In the meantime, if you gotta keep movin' baby, well, get this "Hellhound On Your Trail"...

PS: if you want more (all) of Alexis Korner from the 60ts, see also my review of "Every Day I Have The Blues: The Sixties Anthology" released 16 November 2018 on Grapefruit Records. Nine of the 20 tracks listed above from "Bootleg Him!" are featured in that 3CD Clamshell Box Set (Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13).

And Castle Music reissued the "Alexis" album from July 1971 on RAK Records SRAK 501 on CD in 2007 as part of their huge reissue program for Korner dubbed "The Alexis Korner Collection – The Godfather Of British Blues Remastered". Castle Music CMRCD 1470 (Barcode 5050749414700) is deleted now in 2020 (like all of these titles) but can be easily be found on Amazon or Auction sites like eBay.  

"New Blood/No Sweat/More Than Ever" by BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS – October 1972, August 1973 and July 1976 Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Studio Albums on Columbia Records USA and CBS Records UK – featuring Jerry Fisher, David Clayton-Thomas, Steve Katz, Larry Willis, Jim Fielder, Bobby Colomby and guests Bob James, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken, Eris Weissberg, Patti Austin, Gwen Guthrie, Paul Buckmaster and more (November 2012 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 3LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B009DTI36M&asins=B009DTI36M&linkId=5badcbefed48ce0f933cbf5078596308&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Heavy Blue..."

What you get here is studio album's five, six and nine from the once mighty Blood, Sweat & Tears - 1972, 1973 and 1976 on Columbia records USA and CBS Records in the UK. 

Fresh-faced and thrown in at the very deep end, replacement Lead Vocalist Jerry Fisher had big shoes to fill on the appropriately titled "New Blood" record. Preceding lungs-man and sometimes songwriter David Clayton-Thomas had left for a solo career after the "B, S & T 4" album in the autumn of 1971. 

The big-throated and charismatic Spinning Wheel Canadian Clayton-Thomas had steered the American band through two Number 1 LPs - "Blood, Sweat & Tears" in 1969 and "Blood, Sweat & Tears 3" in 1970. Their next "B, S & T 4" achieved a very healthy Number 10 peak on the US LP charts after release in July 1971. Along with the Al Kooper based debut "Child Is Father To The Man" in 1968 (peaked at a more modest No. 47, but still hugely influential) - these were all groundbreaking genre-hopping Rock-Soul and Jazz-Rock albums (with Prog elements thrown in) and were hugely popular just about everywhere. 

But common knowledge was showing that the band's heyday/winning streak might already have been over by the time Clayton-Thomas left in 1971. His solo career encompassing 1972 and 1973 on Columbia and RCA Victor Records is dealt with by Beat Goes On/BGO in another 3LPs onto 2CDs set of Remasters from August 2020 (see Barcode 501726121424 for my separate review). But his bid for solo stardom floundered and the big man found himself back with the band that made him for 1976's "More Than Ever" – their ninth studio album for Columbia/CBS and their last to chart Stateside (albeit in the lower reaches of the US Top 200). And that's where this dinky little twofer comes roaring in. Here is the heavy blue... 

UK released 16 November 2012 (20 September 2012 in the USA) - "New Blood/No Sweat/More Than Ever" by BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1074 (Barcode 5017261210746) offers 3 Albums Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (62: 40 minutes):
1. Down In The Flood [Side 1]
2. Touch Me 
3. Alone 
4. Velvet 
5. I Can't Move No Mountains [Side 2]
6. Over The Hill   
7. So Long Dixie 
8. Snow Queen / Maiden Voyage
Tracks 1 to 8 are their fifth studio album "New Blood" - released October 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31780 and October 1972 in the UK on CBS Records S 65252. Produced by BOBBY COLOMBY (with Bill Schnee and Joel Sill on Tracks 2 and 4) - it peaked at No. 32 in the USA (didn't chart UK)

9. Roller Coaster [Side 1]
10. Save Our Ship 
11. Django (An Excerpt) 
12. Rosemary 
13. Song For John 
14. Almost Sorry
Tracks 9 to 14 are Side 1 of their sixth studio album "No Sweat" - released August 1973 in the USA on Columbia KC 32180 and August 1973 in the UK on CBS Records S 65275. Produced by STEVE TYRELL - it peaked at No. 72 in the USA (didn't chart UK) 

CD2 (58:48 minutes):
1. Back Up Against The Wall [Side 2]
2. Hip Pickles 
3. My Old Lady 
4. Empty Pages 
5. Mary Miles 
6. Inner Crisis 
Tracks 1 to 6 are Side 2 of their sixth studio album "No Sweat" - released August 1973 in the USA on Columbia KC 32180 and August 1973 in the UK on CBS Records S 65275. Produced by STEVE TYRELL - it peaked at No. 72 in the USA (didn't chart UK) 

7. They [Side 1]
8. I Love You More Than Ever 
9. Katy Bell 
10. Sweet Sadie the Savior 
11. Hollywood [Side 2]
12. You're The One 
13. Heavy Blue 
14. Saved By The Grace Of Your Love 
Tracks 7 to 14 are their ninth studio album "More Than Ever" - released July 1976 in the USA on Columbia PC 34233 and August 1976 in the UK on CBS Records S 81465. Produced by BOB JAMES - it peaked at No. 165 in the USA (didn't chart UK)

The outer card slipcase is always a classy touch with these BGO reissues and with loads of inner sleeves, lyric inserts, band photos and huge amounts of session details - it's hardly surprising that repro'ing all that original artwork has made the booklet a chunky 24-page affair. The new liner notes from Mojo and Record Collector contributor CHARLES WARING does a typically in-depth job on all three records - while the ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters (licensed from Sony) sound amazing - clean, clear and full of musicianship detail. The problems however start when you begin the listen. 

Fisher was a good vocalist; but he was definitely no David Clayton-Thomas and song after song suffers from dull workmanlike delivery. But worse is the lack of actual tunes to like. As "New Blood" opens with an immaculate Brass-arranged-intro to their cover of Dylan's "Down In The Flood" - Steve Katz just about livens proceedings up with his Harmonica playing. But when you get to the Tony Randazzo and Victoria Pile song "Touch Me" or the dreadful "Velvet" sung by Jeff Kent (who hasn't got a voice) and the LP's faults start to become obvious. Despite the gorgeous Production values, despite the impressive playing of Georg Wadenius on Guitar or Dave Bargeron on Trombones or Lon Marini, Jr. on his fleet of Saxophones – few songs genuinely move you or even have hit-single potential. 

Blood, Sweat and Tears go Funk with a capitol Unk for "Alone" – but they chuck away that upbeat moment with dreck like the Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill ballad "So Long Dixie" - a boring mope steeped in cheesy bourbon images. They try to go ever so slightly Prog on the eleven-minute double cover version that ends the album - Carole King with The City and her "Snow Queen" segueing into Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". But it just bores and if you know the Goffin/King original of "Snow Queen" from The City's lone album "Now That Everything's Been Said" (1969 on Ode Records, 2015 Light In The Attic Records CD reissue - see my review) - then you will realise just how badly they hammed up a gorgeous tune.

LP number two employs String arranger supreme Paul Buckmaster and some big names in Backing Vocalists (Valerie Simpson, Maeretha Stewart) – but again my ears go to the instrumentals like "Django (An Excerpt)" with Larry Willis or "Song For John" with Lou Marini, Jr. and his beautiful sax solo to (a) get away from the lifeless vocals and hammy lyrics and (b) to be genuinely excited. "Almost Sorry" starts out as a ballad before ripping into a defiantly funky groove where the band we once loved actually sound like they are on to something – unlike the rest of the album. 

Probably sensing the huge changes not just in Soul but Rock brought on by crossover music like Jazz Funk - not only did ace vocalist David Clayton-Thomas return for "More Than Ever" - but the band employed a virtual who's who of sessionmen to Funk-up proceedings. Bob James (played and produced), Eric Gale, Richard Tee, Patti Austin and Gwen Guthrie lent their talents - and bringing up the traditionalist rear were Hugh McCracken on Guitars, Eric Weissberg on Banjo and many more besides. 

In 1976, every band was reacting to Funk, Soul and the emerging Disco scene. DC-T came to the party with three in the shape of "They", a co-write with Warren 'Smithy' Smith who heated and Soulified up DC-T's second album on Columbia Records "Tequila Sunrise", a co-write with The Meters and Smithy on "Hollywood" and finally the mellow-nice vibe behind "You're The One" - said by some to have had the input of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. 

"Katy Bell" is a not entirely successful jazzed-up reinterpretation of an old Stephen Foster song while Patti Austin's "Sweet Sadie The Savior" talks of her heroine making grown men cry and preachers reassessing the meaning of saving souls. But my poison is the instrumental "Heavy Blue" by Larry Willis - a fabulous slice of mid Seventies Boz Scaggs-like Funk without the vocals. I've put this forgotten 'funky funky' nugget on many CD-R compilations highlighting mostly unknown Rock on a Soulful tip. For me, album three, "More Than Ever" (despite that strange label artwork) - saves the day. 

What you have here are three-star albums pumped up to a BGO four-star reissue by classy presentation and fab audio. Blood, Sweat & Tears fans will have to own BGOCD1074, while those who like their Rock instrumentals on the Soul/Funky side, might want to check out those hidden nuggets between the shiny new digital grooves...

"Some Time In New York City" by JOHN LENNON and YOKO ONO - Credited as JOHN & YOKO / PLASTIC ONO BAND with ELEPHANT’S MEMORY and INVISIBLE STRINGS – June 1972 US and September 1972 UK 2LP Set on Apple Records – includes all of the band Elephant's Memory on the studio LP with many featured guests on the live LP including Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman, Aynsley Dunbar, Bobby Keyes and Jim Price and more (October 2010 UK Apple Reissue – John Lennon Signature Collection Series (2LPs onto 2CDs in Card Repro Artwork) – Paul Hicks, Sean Magee and Simon Gibson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B003Y8YXG2&asins=B003Y8YXG2&linkId=67dc4338ceae8a41916d5a64db5bbd86&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Political Prisoners..." 

I'm 62 and can vividly remember the tirade of 1972 bile that accompanied the release of the Lennon/Ono double-album "Some Time In New York City" - especially after the LP crowd pleaser of "Imagine" from the year prior. 

By the end of 1971, most of the world was in love with John Lennon's songs of social-change vs. personal highs and lows. But all that good will and affection went right out the window with the truly terrible crud that appeared on this pretentious dog. Well meaning no doubt in his political convictions, Lennon seemed to not understand either the sheer ire that Yoko Ono's dreadful songs and voice elicited amongst listeners. Not even elaborate gatefold packaging with inners and inserts galore saved it (more in the USA than in the UK) – while the lyrics on the front sleeve to the notorious "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" song only made it more unpalatable and cringing. 

The album might have been appraised better too had it stood alone as a single LP. But the inclusion of a truly dire Live Jam album as a supposed Free Extra where only famous names and a gritty version of "Cold Turkey" saved the day - the rest of it firmly nailed him as confrontational for the sake of it – and worse – a pretentious out-of-touch git. Yoko's scream-fest on "Don't Worry Kyoko" probably did more damage than any ripe-for-ridicule hippie bed-in while the world watched – near seventeen minutes of absolute tosh - with The Mothers of Invention noise stuff on Side 4 even more unlistenable and downright antagonistic. 

Maybe if he’d included the non-album December 1971 US 45 for "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in its picture sleeve with the "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" flipside as an extra instead of the Live Jam LP, reactions might have been more sedate or even positive. Both would have fitted in with the humanitarianism themes on the studio album and the War Is Over If You Want It wording scribbled (along with every other credit) on the Live LP inner sleeve. 

But I think despite its rep as a terrible instalment in a patchy solo career – there are tunes here to be reassessed. Let's get to the details...

UK released October 2010 - "Some Time In New York City" by JOHN & YOKO / PLASTIC ONO BAND with ELEPHANT'S MEMORY and INVISIBLE STRINGS on Apple 5099990650727 (Barcode 5099990650727) is part of the John Lennon Signature Collection Series - a straightforward reissue/remaster of the 1972 2LP set onto 2CDs that plays out as follows: 

CD1 "Some Time In New York City" STUDIO Album (42:23 minutes):

1. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World [Side 1]

2. Sisters, O Sisters 

3. Attica State 

4. Born In A Prison 

5. New York City 

6. Sunday Bloody Sunday [Side 2]

7. The Luck Of The Irish 

8. John Sinclair 

9. Angela 

10. We're All Water 

CD2 "Live Jam" LIVE Album (43:24 minutes):

1. Cold Turkey (Live) [Side 3]

2. Don't Worry Kyoko (Live) 

3. Well (Baby Please Don't Go) (Live) [Side 4]

4. Jamrag (Live)

5. Scumbag

6. Au (Live) 

CD1 and CD2 are the double-album "Some Time In New York City" - released 12 June 1972 in the USA on Apple SVBB 3392 and 15 September 1972 in the UK on Apple PCSP 716. Produced by JOHN LENNON, YOKO ONO and PHIL SPECTOR - it peaked at No. 48 in the USA and No. 11 in the UK. 

The glossy gatefold card sleeve with its 12-page booklet feels strangely flimsy and unworthy - but the Remaster handled by a trio of Audio Engineers associated with The Beatles reissues - SEAN MAGEE, PAUL HICKS and SIMON GIBSON – feels like a real improvement. The slide guitar of "John Sinclair" is great while the lush strings of "Angela" finally feel powerful. I can't say I notice anything about the rubbish live set other than the two vaguely listenable tunes "Cold Turkey" and "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)" (an old cavern R&B fave) have great power even if Lennon's vocals on the second disappear into the ether (how it was recorded). 

I don't care how brave the opening "Woman Is..." song may appear to some or the Yoko sung "Sisters, O Sisters" - the first is a painful and patronising Lennon listen while the second has her lead vocal ruining everything. The first tune for me of any real interest is "Attica State" (Track 3) which along with the Yoko sung "Born In A Prison" and John's riffing "New York City" rescue Side 1 for what is already becoming a very testing album. 

As an Irishman, I loathed both "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish" on Side 2. Both felt pointed in all the wrong directions even if Lennon was legitimately trying to make the British government accountable for actions that caused the loss of life and arguably another three decades of six-county tit-for-tat misery. The album's other two great cuts are the bluesy and beautifully remastered "John Sinclair" (about unjust internment) and the lovely string-swell of "Angela" where Yoko Ono finally sounds like she's nailed both the lyrics and an actually decent song to go with them. 

The 'live jam' set has always made my blood boil - all that "Scumbag" and "Jamrag" noise crescendo feeling like an aural insult to the audience rather than a gig meant to stimulate. Second LP guests included Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman, Aynsley Dunbar, Bobby Keyes and Jim Price of Rolling Stones fame and more – not that you can actually identify any of them through their playing.

Lennon would return with "Mind Games" in 1973 that was again another only-ok LP (the dullard artwork didn’t help much either) and it wouldn't be until the re-energised "Walls And Bridges" in 1974 that I'd start listening again with any real heart. 

Even after nearly 50 years of trying to actually like this release, I cringe whenever I look at this double-bubble vinyl splurge from 1972. But this 2010 Signature Collection 2CD Reissue has made me think it wasn't all lefty preaching while his wife wailed on like a banshee regardless of the cost. 

The better four or five cuts out of the principal ten make "Some Time In New York City" worth returning to. And you have to admire the star-crossed lovers and their sheer wear-it-on-your-sleeve belief that love and knowledge would cure the ills of the masses even when those masses riled against them. 

Apple of my eye or badly basted turkey – take your pick. In the end I just wish that all that emotional hutzpah had been backed up with better tunes which you have to say is probably what dismayed most listeners and fans more than anything...

"Argus" by WISHBONE ASH – April 1972 Third UK Studio Album on MCA Records (June 1972 USA on Decca) featuring Andy Powell, Martin Turner, Steve Upton and Ted Turner with Guest John Tout (March 2002 UK Universal/MCA/Decca CD Reissue – Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited Single-Disc Version with Three Bonus Tracks – Martin Turner, Eric Kvortec and Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B000062X90&asins=B000062X90&linkId=7ef37520aa1d4cbac76cb8814513016b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and Loads More Like It Are In

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 

1,990 E-Pages of In-Depth Information

Over 260 Reviews from the discs themselves...

 

"...Time Was..."

After two solid LP account openers in "Wishbone Ash" (December 1970) and "Pilgrimage" (September 1971) - England's twin-guitar assault kings WISHBONE ASH finally hit Classic Rock paydirt with their much-loved third studio album "Argus" - it's gatefold Hipgnosis artwork the mainstay of many a hairy galoot's LP collection in the Seventies. 

Universal may have inexplicably lost the sneakily placed flying saucer that graced the rear sleeve artwork of both the British and American sleeves (used to love seeing that when you turned the cover over) - but other than that history rewriting Photoshop mistake - this March 2002 Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited single CD reissue is the top banana.

With truly fabulous audio that straddles the air between clarity and loudness wars (a team of three worked on it including the band’s own lead guitarist Martin Turner) and often selling for less than a battered cod in Margate – this 1CD variant of "Argus" also comes with three truly great bonus live cuts from the 1972 period when the band's four-piece dynamic was clearly cooking. To the details...

UK released March 2002 - "Argus" by WISHBONE ASH on Universal/MCA/Decca 088 112 816-2 (Barcode 008811281625) is an Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (77:05 minutes):

1. Time Was [Side 1]
2. Sometime World 
3. Blowin' Free 
4. The King Will Come [Side 2]
5. Leaf And Stream
6. Warrior 
7. Throw Down The Sword 
Tracks 1 to 7 are their third studio album "Argus" - released 27 April 1972 in the UK on MCA Records MDKS 8006 and June 1972 in the USA on Decca DL 75437, both in gatefold sleeves. Produced by DEREK LAWRENCE and Engineered by MARTIN BIRCH - it peaked at No. 8 in the UK charts and No. 159 in the USA.

WISHBONE ASH was:
ANDY POWELL - Lead, Rhythm Guitars and Vocals 
Lead Guitar on Tracks 2, 3 (Second Passage), 4, 6 and 7  
TED TURNER - Lead, Rhythm, Acoustic Guitars and Vocals 
Lead Guitar on Tracks 2 (first passage), 3 (quiet passage and Slide guitar), 4, 6 and Bonus Tracks 9 and 10 
MARTIN TURNER - Bass on all 
STEVE UPTON - Drums and Percussion on all 
Guest:
John Tout played organ on "Throw Down The Sword"

BONUS TRACKS: 
8. Jail Bait (Live, 4:48 minutes) [Side 1]
9. The Pilgrim (Live, 11:34 minutes) 
10. Phoenix (Live, 17:00 minutes) [Side 2]
Tracks 8 to 10 were recorded 21 August in the studios of the WMC-FM Radio Station in Memphis, Tennessee 1972 (while on tour in the USA). The show was broadcast live and then pressed up on a Promotional-only 3-Track album (no general public release) and distributed to American Radio Stations as "Live From Memphis" on Decca Records DL 7-1922. The artwork for this US rarity is pictured on one of the foldout flaps beneath the "Argus" credits.

The eight-leaf foldout inlay is pretty enough with enthusiastic new liner notes from LEON TSILIS. It reproduces the four photos of the band that came with the inner gatefolds of the original 1972 LPs, original session and reissue credits and the see-through inlay has more of the Hipgnosis artwork beneath it. The spine identifies this 1CD reissue as Expanded Edition: Remastered & Revisited. 

However, while fans will love the full 3-track US Promotional LP acting as Bonuses in all their long playing glory, they might ask why the non-album 45 A-side "No Easy Road" wasn't cheekily squeezed in as Bonus Track No. 4? It was issued as a UK stand-alone seven-inch single on 18 August 1972 with the album cut "Blowin' Free" on the flipside (10 out 10 single) and I can't help thinking that the A of MCA Records MKS 5097 could have been fitted in without audio compromise. If you want that track and more unreleased BBC live stuff of the period - Universal UK reissued "Argus" again in November 2007 as part of their prestigious '2CD Deluxe Edition' Series on Universal/Island 9849624 (Barcode 602498496244 will bring you to that issue). 

A crew of three handled the Audio - "Argus" remixed by band member MARTIN TURNER, digitally remastered by ERIC KVORTEK with final Digital Assembly by ERICK LABSON of Universal – a man with well over 1000 mastering credits to his name including vast swathes of the Chess, Checker, Cadet, MCA, Decca and other catalogues to his name. The power on this CD can be experienced in less than 15-seconds, as the acoustic guitars that open "Time Was" will prove. When the band kicks in – your jaw may indeed join forces with the kitchen linoleum. Like most fans, I've had this record nigh on 50 years and the sheer sonic whack off of this 2002 singular CD is fantastic – and that audio clarity doesn't let up for the whole of the record either. To the tunes...

When Universal decided to choose a title for the May 2010 2CD Anthology of Wishbone Ash - they used Side 1's "Sometime World" from "Argus" as its title (use Barcode 600753261316 as a cut and paste to see my review of it). Along with the brilliant "Time Was" and the chugging crowd-pleaser of "Blowin' Free" - all three twin-guitar juggernauts made up a perfect slice of Side one Classic 70ts Rock with some Prog elements thrown into the mix. There's a guitar passage just before the end of "Time Was" where the bent notes feel like the lead guitars are singing (I'm sure fans know exactly what moment that is). Like Thin Lizzy's fabulous "Jailbreak" album - "Argus" virtually defined the Wishbone Ash sound. 

A marching rhythm of wah-wah guitar soling leads in the Side 2 opener "The King Will Come" – Martin and Andy Turner sharing the fire, sky falling and judgment day lyrics – the Bass and Drums are so clear as the boys make both axes sing in unison. Walked this path for many years, Martin sings of where the earth and sky meet while the melody floats around your room. That delicate solo is now so sweet to hear underpinned by complimentary rhythm guitar and that sly Bass soloing. "Warrior" begins like its going to Rock home for the whole of its duration – but then the guitars give way to leaving lyrics and softer passages – notes and string bends wailing in the echoed distance like 1969 Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green at the helm. Six minutes of "Throw Down The Sword" finish the record – another dual guitar fade-in that eventually bursts into a sort of Fairport Convention Folk-Rock groove. 

The three live "Pilgrimage" tracks are surprisingly well recorded – Wishbone Ash sounding like a Kiln House period Fleetwood Mac as they tear through "Jail Bait" with fantastic aplomb – like they have something to prove. There is Rock and Roll here – a bit of Prog Rock – and a whole lot of tight geetar impressiveness. You can hear the amps humming on "The Pilgrim" – the live setting allowing those slow picking-notes passages at the beginning to sink in and again almost feel like vintage Peter Green. "Phoenix" goes the whole complicated Rock nine yards with its seventeen minutes. But again – amazingly well recorded - strong vocals and those shimmering guitars throughout - the band's power entirely in tact (and some might say never bettered). 

Just what is that Argus helmet man/sentry looking at and just how pointy is that spear of his – we may never know. But make no mistake – this is one hell of a misty morning Classic Rock LP and this CD variant has done that winner proud. Time was, and on the evidence presented here, still is...

"Lord Offaly/The Beggar And The Priest/Livin's Just A State Of Mind Plus Bonuses" by DAVID McWILLIAMS – July 1972, April 1973 and May 1974 UK Albums on Dawn Records featuring Guitarists Ray Fenwick of The Spencer David Group, Fancy and many more, BJ Cole of Cochise, Mike Moran of Roger Glover’s Band, Garth Watt-Roy of East Of Eden and Fuzzy Duck, Keyboardist Tommy Eyre of Alex Harvey’s Band, Violinists Joe O’Donnell of East Of Eden and Mushroom and Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra, Bassists Roger Sutton of Blue Whale and Jody Grind, John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan with Drummers Barry De Souza and Bruce Rowland (August 2020 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 3LPs onto 2CDs with Three Bonus Tracks – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review And 225 Others Is Available In My AMAZON E-Book 

BOTH SIDES NOW - FOLK & COUNTRY 

And Genres Thereabouts

Your Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

For the 1960s and 1970s

All Reviews In-Depth and from the Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B08FFVZKH7&asins=B08FFVZKH7&linkId=eb23bbcba447d1fd50617da642401b60&show_border=true&

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B08BDSDJ2P&asins=B08BDSDJ2P&linkId=4623629bc46061ee21c5990d884edd33&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Daddy Lonesome..."

By the time Belfast-man David McWilliams had reached the lovely "Lord Offaly" LP in 1972 - he'd already clocked up three other Folk-Rock LPs on Major Minor of the UK and Kapp Records of the USA between 1967 and 1968 - "Days Of Pearly Spencer" probably being his most famous song which finally charted in 1992 only when Soft Cell's Marc Almond covered it. 

Then our lonesome Folky Ulsterman signed to England's Dawn Records for three more musically expansive albums - 1972, 1973 and 1974 ballad-driven big boys with flashy mottled gatefold sleeves, extensive wordy inners and Country Rock Pedal Steel Guitars a whining like gooduns. And that's where this superb August 2020 2CD BGO reissue comes storming in - offering up again those three vinyl obscurities plus three more Bonus Tracks (two single sides and an album outtake only available on a deleted 2002 CD compilation). 

It's not all genius by any means and his neither-here-nor-there vocals are often akin to lightweight versions of Ronnie Lane or Mickey Newbury, but there is much that is pretty and lyrically memorable too. Let's get to the beggars, the clergy and the singer in the one-man band...

UK released Friday, 14 August 2020 - "Lord Offaly/The Beggar And The Priest/Livin's Just A State Of Mind" by DAVID McWILLIAMS on Beat Goes On BGOCD1425 (Barcode 5017261214256) offers 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs with Three Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

CD1 (63:06 minutes):

1. Go On Back To Momma (From The Film "Gold") [Side 1]

2. She Was A Lady

3. I Will Always Be Your Friend

4. Heart Of The Roll

5. I Would Be Confessed

6. Spanish Hope [Side 2]

7. Blind Men’s Stepping Stones

8. Lord Offaly

9. The Prisoner

10. The Gypsy

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 4th studio album "Lord Offaly" – released July 1972 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3039 and 1973 in the USA on Pye Records PYE 3302 (distributed by Bell Records). Produced by DAVID McWILLIAMS and DAVE HUNT with all songs written by McWilliams – the LP didn't chart in either country.

11. Cross The Line [Side 1]

12. Na-Na 

13. Down By The Dockyard (An Epitaph For Belfast) 

14. Bells Of Time 

15. Lady Margaret 

Tracks 11 to 15 are Side 1 of his fifth studio album "The Beggar And The Priest" - released April 1973 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3047. Produced by RAY FENWICK - it didn't chart 

CD2 (72:21 minutes):

1. Daddy Lonesome [Side 2]

2. Morning That Looks Like Rain 

3. The Pharisee 

4. The Horseman 

5. Leave The Bottles On The Floor 

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of his fifth studio album "The Beggar And The Priest" - released April 1973 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3047. Produced by RAY FENWICK - it didn't chart 

6. Singer In The Band [Side 1]

7. You Wear it Like A Crown 

8. Twenty Golden Years Ago 

9. Sad Dark Eyes 

10. As I Used To Know Her 

11. You've Only Been A Stranger [Side 2]

12. Please Come Home 

13. Sweet Lil'

14. Livin's Just A State Of Mind 

15. Epitaph 

Tracks 6 to 15 are his sixth studio album "Livin's A State Of Mind" - released May 1974 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3059. Produced by KEN BURGESS - it didn't chart 

BONUS TRACKS:

16. Ships In The Night – April 1974 UK non-album B-side to the 45-single for "You've Only Been A Stranger" on Dawn Records DNS 1064

17. I Only Know You As A Stranger – first appeared as an album outtake on the September 2002 UK 2CD compilation "Days At Dawn" on Castle Music CMDDD452  

18. Love Like A Lady – October 1973 UK non-album A-side 45-single on Dawn Records DNS 1044 with "Down By The Dockyard" from the "The Beggar And The Priest" LP as its B-side

Featured Musicians: Guitarists Ray Fenwick of The Spencer David Group, Fancy and many more, BJ Cole of Cochise, Mike Moran of Roger Glover’s Band, Garth Watt-Roy of East Of Eden and Fuzzy Duck, Keyboardist Tommy Eyre of Alex Harvey’s Band, Violinists Joe O’Donnell of East Of Eden and Mushroom, Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra, Bassists Roger Sutton of Blue Whale and Jody Grind, John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan with Drummers Barry De Souza and Bruce Rowland. David McWilliams sang all vocals and played guitars.

As ever with these BGO releases, the outer card slipcase lends the reissue a look of class and the last time all of this material was available digitally was in 2002 and that "Days At Dawn" is long deleted. The original three vinyl LPs each had a gatefold sleeve and copious amounts of session/song explanation details - so the chunky 24-page booklet that reproduces all of it doesn't actually start its new April 2020 JOHN O'REGAN liner notes until Page 15. But typical of his excellence as these things, he goes album-to-album and almost track-to-track in his appraisals - so there is a lot to read and properly informative it is too. 

The High-Def Remasters are from BGO's resident Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON and are warm, expressive and full of accomplished session-players filling your speakers as they embellish almost every song (I'll name them next as we go along). To the music...

In July 2016 Esoteric Recordings of the UK put out a straightforward Reissue and Remaster of "Lord Offaly" which I reviewed - Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2559 (Barcode 5013929465947).

The opening track to the "Lord Offaly" LP is from a 60ts movie depicting far out hippy life and 'free love' to a musical backdrop of MC5 whilst 'the man' establishment tries to oppress all of the aforementioned rumpy-pumpy and good times. The film "Gold" was finally released in 1972 (filmed in 1968) - opening with "Go On Back To Mamma" - its theme song supplied by David McWilliams and the Side 1 opener here. It immediately feels 'American' in its Emitt Rhodes structures - a better produced Elton John. It turned up as the B-side to the March 1973 UK 7" single to "Gold" on Mother Records MOT 101. Quite why Dawn didn't use one of the album tracks like "Heart Of The Roll" or even "Go On Back To Momma" as a lead-off single is a mystery - the album could have benefitted from such a plug. The pretty "She Was A Lady" feels very Phillip Goodhand-Tate or even Colin Blunstone - sweet piano and vocals from McWilliams. His philosophy of love and comradeship flows out of the overly busy "I Will Always Be Your Friend" while "Heart Of The Roll" is undoubtedly one of the LP's highlights. It feels like Help Yourself or even McGuinness Flint - McWilliams' vocals like the Eggs Over Easy debut album. Beautiful remaster quality on the Side 1 finisher "I Would Be Confessed" - a 'wondering days are through' confessional which sees David delivery a warm song with sincerity.

My personal fave is the beautiful instrumental "Spanish Hope" which opens the more-overtly Folky Side 2 - a ballad where Acoustic Guitars strums are soon joined by a wailing penny-whistle lament - as deeply Celtic as Simple Minds and just as reminiscent. That same Folk Jaunt follows with "Blind Men's Stepping Stones" where the historical chap Emon Lynott 'curses his fate' as he mandolins his way over the stones of Co. Mayo's Duvowen River (forced by rebel Welsh militia to do so). Sounds like a Bouzouki at the opening of "Lord Offaly" - another undoubted highlight on the LP - a very warm melody from McWilliams that chronicles the distrust of England's King Henry by locals in Ireland's Maynooth. Even at 6:33 minutes - it doesn't overstay its welcome and feels like great Fairport Convention or even Sandy Denny. It ends on more history lessons in the plaintive and hurting "The Prisoner" and "The Gypsy" - tales of hungry ordinary folk paying the price for stealing bread and wine and thereafter transformed into rebels at the hands of their heartless landlords...

A very aural and permanent musical seed-change takes place with "The Beggar And The Priest" and the "Livin's A State Of Mind" LPs in that both feature the distinctive Pedal Steel guitar of BJ Cole from Cochise. In short they veer into Country Rock big time and at times feel like anaemic McGuinness Flint. The songs are strong in many cases, but there is no doubt that the instruments and top-heavy drama production can make it all feel a tad dated. "Cross The Line" opens Side 1 of the "Beggar..." album with a politically charged tale of brothers crossing a picket line – hammers in hand and heads down low. "Na-Na" goes back to Acoustic Folk Rock but throws in an alarming Salsa rhythm as mischievous lovers hurl rocks at other lovers canoodling on the train tracks below until they in turn can take no more and kick back with an equally irritating barrage of brick-love missiles. The hardship ogre of unemployment crops up again in "Down By The Dockyard" – the water in Belfast shipyards, like the cranes, lying still – big boat work no longer coming to a once proud town famous for such a heritage. Unfortunately syrupy strings make it somewhat saccharine and the Pedal Steel of "Bells Of Time" makes that tune feel dated also. 

I love the Blues shuffle of "Daddy Lonesome" over on Side 2 while Wilf Gibson of Centipede and Electric Light Orchestra plays violin on the cautionary tale of frisky preachers targeting easy-to-prey-on women "The Pharisee". McWilliams channels his inner Bob Dylan and "John Wesley Harding" Country Rock whine in "The Horseman" – the guitar work of Mike Moran and Ray Fenwick feeling like Robbie Robertson of The Band has joined the fray. But the best track is the epic "Lady Margaret" – where our hero walks out in the May Morning green fields in search of the mysterious Mags and her equally lithesome Lady Evelainne – BJ Cole and loads others building the song with layers of instruments. John Perry of Grapefruit and Caravan lends his Bass to tracks on the album also. 

1974's "Livin's A State Of Mind" LP opens with even higher Production values but the see-your-name-in-lights "Singer In The Band" feels corny and not touching. Way better is "You Wear It Like A Crown" – a pretty song about worshipping his lady through words even if they’ve all been used before (Joe O'Donnell of Mushroom and East of Eden fame lends his electric violin). "Twenty Golden Years Ago" is a coffee-shop song – thoughts of supping froth for hours on end at a Formica table back when life was simpler. Lovely warm Production on the black hair shining of "Sad Dark Eyes" – piano rolling out sweet notes as we learn that the object of his heart is betrothed by a wealthy father to someone less worthy (one day she will be mine). But my other fave on a somewhat patchy album is another sweet tune called "Please Come Home" – an Acoustic picker with piano joining the melody half way through its long opening instrumental passage. 

I would swear the B-side "Ships In The Night" is a vinyl dub because of the suspicious loss in fidelity – but shockingly the other two Bonus cuts are fabulous – "Love Like A Lady" is a very strong song that would have bolstered up the album considerably - while an alternate version of the "Livin's Just A State Of Mind" LP track "You've Only Been A Stranger" is presented as and embryonic "I Only Know You As A Stranger" – and it feels like a powerful Donovan ballad stripped of all the instrument clutter the album version employs to impress (gorgeous audio too). 

David McWilliams is forgotten now and with his overwrought tunes and slightly unimpressive vocal range – is easy to hear why the albums just didn't elicit interest at the time. But put together like this (3LPs onto 2CDs) and with two of those three Bonus cuts being genuinely worthy of the moniker – BGO has weaved together a very strong package indeed to celebrate his unfairly forgotten songwriter's legacy. Recommended...