VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Purple People Vol.1" – Including Four Albums by Yvonne Elliman (November 1973), Buddy Bohn (October 1971), Carol Hunter (November 1973) and the Various Artists album "Colditz Breakpoint!" (December 1973) all on Deep Purple’s Purple Records – Guests include Pete Townshend of The Who, Mick Grabham of Bandit and Cochise, Simon Jeffes of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Caleb Quaye and Ray Cooper of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band, Peter Robinson of Quatermass and Brand X, Ann Odell of Blue Mink, Chopyn and Roger Glover's Band with Rupert Hine of Quantum Jump and String Arrangements by Paul Buckmaster (October 2017 UK Cherry Red/Purple Records – 4LPs onto 4CDs in a Clamshell Mini Box Set – Tony Dixon Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Love's Bringing Me Down..."

When I worked in Reckless Records in Islington and Soho - none of these albums on Deep Purple's Purple Records did any business and were usually only picked up by fans of the band and label completists if they were marked down to say a fiver or less (which was often). 

The exception to that was the Yvonne Elliman album with its sexy guest list of high-end contributions (Pete Townshend of The Who to name but one). "Food Of Love" has always had its fans but the others are virtual unknowns – and unfortunately on the well-produced but dreadfully ordinary evidence presented here on Discs 2 and 3 especially – it's all too easy to hear why. Here are the purp-petraters (oh dear)...

UK released 27 October 2017 - "Purple People Vol. 1" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (Yvonne Elliman, Buddy Bohn, Carol Hunter and Colditz) on Cherry Red/Purple Records PURPLEBOX013 (Barcode 5013929861305) offers 4 Albums Remastered onto 4CDs in a Clamshell Mini Box Set that plays out as follows:   

CD1 "Food Of Love" by YVONNE ELLIMAN (41:25 minutes):

1. Casserole Me Over [Side 1]

2. More Than One, Less Than Five 

3. I Want To Make You Laugh, I Want To Make You Cry 

4. Meusli Dreams

5. I Can't Explain 

6. Sunshine [Side 2]

7. Hawaii 

8. I Don't Know How To Love Him Blues 

9. The Moon Struck One

10. Happy Ending 

11. Love's Bringing Me Down 

Tracks 1 to 11 are her album "Food Of Love" - released November 1973 in the UK on Purple Records TPS 3504 and August 1973 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-356. Produced by RUPERT HINE - guest musicians included Pete Townshend of The Who, Mick Grabham of Bandit and Cochise, Simon Jeffes of The Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Caleb Quaye and Ray Cooper of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band, Peter Robinson of Quatermass and Brand X, Ann Odell of Blue Mink, Chopyn and Roger Glover's Band with Rupert Hine of Quantum Jump.

CD2 "A Drop In The Ocean" by BUDDY BOHN (38:42 minutes):

1. Piccalilli Lady [Side 1]

2. Winter Song 

3. Cockroach 

4. Almitra 

5. Vermouth Rondo 

6. Reflecting Butterfly

7. Albert Gate Farm [Side 2]

8. Curious Yellow 

9. Sad Lady 

10. Samuel 

11. Summer Song 

12. Forgotten Sound 

Tracks 1 to 12 are his third studio album "A Drop In The Ocean" - released October 1971 in the UK on Purple Records TPSA 7503 and February 1972 in the USA on Purple Records SMAS-878. Produced by JERRY LORDAN (engineered Roy Thomas Baker) - it didn't chart in either country. Guests included Tony Burrows of Edison Lighthouse with Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway on Backing Vocals.  

CD3 "The Next Voice You Hear" by CAROL HUNTER (33:37 minutes):

1. Look Out Cleveland [Side 1]

2. Pass It On 

3. Sea Fever 

4. 5/4 March 

5. Song For A Winter's Night 

6. Dr. Pepper

7. Border Song [Side 2]

8. Dressing Room Jam 

9. Gospel Changes / Carol Without Words

10. The Norman Stand There Rag 

11. Carol Without Words 

12. Dr. Pepper (Instrumental) 

13. Soggy Waltz 

Tracks 1 to 13 are her debut album "The Next Voice You Hear" - released November 1973 in the UK on Purple Records TPS 3503 (wasn't issued in the USA). Produced by CAROL HUNTER and RANDY STEIRLING - it didn't chart.  

CD4 "Colditz Breakpoint!" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (36:14 minutes):

1. The Warsaw Concerto - MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA [Side 1]

2. Wish Me Luck - GRACIE FIELDS 

3. London Pride - ELSIE and DORIS WATERS 

4. There's A Boy Coming Home On Leave - MAURICE WINNICK 

5. Symphony No. 4 In F Major - NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA 

6. Washing On The Siegfried Line - ARTHUR ASKEY 

7. Siefried's Funeral March - LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 

8. I Hear Your Voice - LUTON GIRLS CHOIR 

9. Die Fahne Hoch - SS STANDARTE 42 MILITARY BAND [Side 2]

10. Tiggerty Boo - JACK WARNER  

11. Rhapsodie Opus 79 No. 2 - NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA 

12. Symphony No. 4 - NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA 

13. Lili Marlene - LALE ANDERSON 

14. Rhymes - LALE ANDERSON 

15. Bless 'Em All - GEORGE FORMBY 

16. Der Fuhrer's Face - HARRY ROY 

17. In The Mood - UNKNOWN ARTIST 

18. Symphony No. 4 In F Major - NEW PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA

19. Siegfried's Funeral March - LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 

Tracks 1 to 19 are the album "Colditz Breakpoint!" - released December 1973 in the UK on Purple Records TPSM 2001 (unissued in the USA). Produced by RUPERT HINE - it didn't chart.

This 2017 four-disc label anthology takes its "Purple People" title from a vinyl LP label sampler issued December 1973 in the UK on Purple TPSS 1 that contained all of these artists (its label is pictured on Page 9 of the booklet). The four singular Mini LP Repro Artwork card sleeves are faithful to the original vinyls (back and front) whilst the new MALCOLM DOME liners in the 20-page booklet fill in all the Purple-pleasing details. There are period pictures of the artists, all those Purple Records LP labels, a picture sleeve of The Who cover version "I Can't Explain" from Yvonne Elliman that features PT of The Who and full musician credits for each platter. Alongside the glossy Clamshell Mini Box Set - it all looks and sounds great courtesy of TONY DIXON Mastering except the embarrassing and largely unlistenable "Colditz Breakpoint!" release that is made up of period recordings with the occasional orchestral interlude. To the contents...

The undoubted catch here is the Yvonne Elliman LP "Food Of Love" – her second solo album after a self-titled US debut on Decca in 1972, itself not surprisingly re-titled in the UK on Polydor as "I Don't Know How To Love Him" after the October 1970 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice double-album track on "Jesus Christ Superstar" that made her famous. She even does a rather bitter sick-of-it parody of the song on "Food Of Love" called "I Don't Know How To Love Him Blues" – slide guitars and crazy show/God help me now lyrics. The LP benefits immeasurably from the stunning Production values of RUPERT HINE (who also contributed many of the songs with his co-writer David MacIver). 

Yvonne warns of gluttony and greed with the opening 'can't seem to stuff my body enough' song "Casserole Me Over" – a Soul-Rock groove funky enough to have been a hit single on an unusual topic. As songs like "I Want To Make You Laugh, I Want To Make You Cry" (stunning guitar solo), her cover of The Band's "The Moon Struck One" or even her own "Hawaii" (a homage to where she was born to Japanese and Irish parents) – sophistication reeks off all the sweetly arranged tunes. And while you can so hear why Purple Records chose the obvious winner of "I Can't Explain" with Pete Townshend letting rip on his guitar with such great swagger as the album's only 45-single in late July 1973 (her own "Hawaii" on the flipside of PUR 114) – you get the awful feeling that this is an accomplished album for sure but just lacking somehow in killer tunes. Elliman had a great voice (she would of course join Eric Clapton's entourage after this for huge success on "461 Ocean Boulevard") – but tunes like "Sunshine" are only saved by clever brass arrangements. 

The last time "Food Of Love" was made available digitally was in December 2008 on one of those dinky repro Mini LP Paper Sleeves but only out of Japan on Air Mile Archive AIRAC-1512 (Barcode 4571136375271). And with deletion, this sought-after wee beastie has been expensive (even extortionate) ever since (Buddy Bohn and Carol Hunter were in the same December 2008 series also on Air Mile Archive). So at least UK and US fans can get their hands on the album here in great sound and quality presentation for a reasonable sum. 

Vocally US Folky Buddy Bohn comes on like a mix between Jim Croce and Jose Feliciano with String Arrangements from Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Every song is earnest acoustic strumming about butterflies and cockroaches and sad ladies in summer, but with overwrought string arrangements it feels like bad Neil Diamond without the tunes. His "A Drop In The Ocean" looks interesting art-wise (especially for a 1971 title), but on playing feels like angst-ridden cheese. It is really not very good at all. 

Not so much a Kiki Dee wannabe as the dreadfully dated 1973 artwork seems to indicate – Carol Hunter was an accomplished session guitarist who could also lent harmony vocals. She had played on "Indian Rope Man" for Richie Havens, before that and after for Janis Ian and impressively on the Dylan soundtrack "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid". But her solo LP features tedious instrumentals that noodle rather than move, although she does reasonably good covers of Gordon Lightfoot's "Song For A Winter's Night”, The Band's "Look Out Cleveland", the John Williams song "Gospel Changes" as covered by John Denver and Elton John's "Border Song”. There are some impressive names contributing too like Larry Carlton and David Cohen – but too often it feels like a hodgepodge LP that doesn't know what its doing half the time and ends on a hoedown called "Soggy Waltz" that does no one any Country Rock favours. 

To my knowledge this is the first time the Various Artists "Colditz Breakpoint!" LP has ever been CD reissued – a WW II period-sounds tie-in with the hugely popular TV series airing at the time on British TV. You get field recordings of Spitfires and music from George Formby, Gracie Fields, Jack Warner, Arthur Askey, Elsie and Doris Waters and New Philharmonia Orchestra etc. Unfortunately it's a truly terrible listen – not patriotic like you would imagine – but cringing and almost somehow derogatory in 2020. 

A very mixed bag indeed then with the Elliman set being the clear winner of the bunch. "I think it's love... " – Yvonne sang on her smashing cover of The Who's "I Can't Explain". However, I think you should grab a listen first before buying...

"Sylvia Pankhurst - Natural Born Rebel" by RACHEL HOLMES (September 2020 UK Hardback Book) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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It's Cover Price in Hardback is £35 

Amazon UK are offering it at under £23 incl. P&P

"...Embodiment of the Human Mind..."

First thing, you may want to cancel your gym membership after reading this hardback. Weighing in at a huge 949 pages, it’ll certainly flex those tendons when you actually lift it up.

I bought the Hardback Edition for my 62nd birthday when "Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel" by RACHEL HOLMES was first published in September 2020 and it is a beast of an autobiography in every way. I cannot imagine the decade or more of archive rummaging and sleuth uncovering that it must have taken to collate this mighty tome - respectful yet thankfully honest in the transfer – good stuff and bad.

I'm presently about eight chapters in and the sheer volume of research and personal detail is still coming at me like a freight train. I mention this because it can be hard to jumble and sort the cascade of information; so you will need to invest in this book – but what a payoff.

Academic in approach by sheer voluminous necessity aside, thankfully Holmes is smart enough to bring Sylvia alive via the personal. Holmes digs in deep to every aspect of this remarkable woman's life - her formative years at the hands of parents who were political revolutionaries that seemed to spend every waking minute of every day actually practising this coda rather than spouting it out in crowd-pleasing speeches and endless correspondence to newspapers. Her barrister father Dr. Richard Pankhurst and the Suffrage Leader he worshipped as his equal in mind, body and soul - Emmeline - loom large in everything that formed Sylvia. Sisters Christabel and Adela are also woven into the campaigner fabric.

Yet, if you told the precocious Sylvia to sit down quietly in the schoolroom because calm was good for her and the other pupils trying to study, she would be the Lemmy and Angus Young drawing a rusty nail across the window pain in defiance.
Born 1882 in Stretford England and passing in 1960 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Sylvia had rebelliousness, action and staggering willpower built into her D.N.A. Famously the only one of the Pankhurst ladies to suffer the gag-horror of force-feeding, between 1913 and 1914 alone, the then Herbert Asquith-led British Liberal government had her arrested thirteen times over eighteen months and subjected to the most brutal oral attacks - often twice a day to break her. Other suffragettes were subjected to rape and physical violence with impunity – some driven to insanity by it.

From early on, Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst wrote plays, edited home newspapers, drafted speeches and fought like a demented Wylie Coyote chasing the entrenched Roadrunner of the British Establishment for real change to the abysmal lot of women in all fields – access to Education, equality in Marriage, Property ownership, the right to Academic Achievements and of course the fundamental right to vote.
The typically arrogant and appeasing young Winston Churchill actually set up a department in the old-boys network to 'deal with' the avalanche of political correspondence Sylvia Pankhurst sent them. She was eloquent too - her prose filled with purpose, the ideas thought out and executed with precision like she knew that one day, everything she ever said would be of historical importance.

Yet through all of this comes her activist spirit - beautiful - courageous - magnificent and true. You think of the D-Day little guys - the ones who actual did the job of saving the Western World - grunts storming the beaches of Normandy to end tyranny - and there would be Sylvia Pankhurst - head first into the hail and horror.

I will get to finish this astonishing book at some time in the future, but it only remains for me to say that mere admiration of Sylvia Pankhurst doesn't quite cut it. I'm in awe of her - and therefore the academic and brilliant Rachel Homes has done her job.

Check out the photo on the front cover - there is a scar above her eyebrow from a childhood fall. It required stitches, but she was back fighting the next day - even as a kid wanting to better the lot of others - wanting every life to be free and full of potential.

Buy and behold...

"The 'Sound' Of The R&B Hits" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – May 1964 UK LP on Stateside Records in Mono Plus 14 More Bonus Tracks From The Period – Including Mary Wells, The Miracles, The Marvelettes, Barrett Strong, The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, The Valadiers, Mike & The Modifiers and The Contours (September 2020 UK Ace Records Expanded Edition CD Reissue – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"... Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues..."

On Page 4 of the stunning 32-Page booklet that accompanies this gorgeous September 2020 CD reissue - there is an image I love to pieces.

Relayed to us by Motown's founder and leading light Berry Gordy when interviewed by British DJ Robbie Vincent in 1995, Gordy was more than moved when he had been told of countless on-the-money British working-class teenagers taking their transistor radios to bed at night, and hidden under their sheets (often by torchlight), excited and trembling, they tuned in to pirate Radio stations to wallow in the 'cool' music of the day - especially R&B and Soul from America's 'Tamla'. 

As a reviewer of some 4000+ releases and someone who has worked/paid their musical penance in record shops much of my adult life - it's become something of a cliché to praise England's Ace Records and their rather beautiful championing of Soul Music. But this wee peach reissuing an influential British album from May 1964 on Stateside Records that did a huge amount of notice-work in bringing the mighty Motown to UK ears and turntables is surely why Ace is worshiped. 

The booklet in this sucker alone is a work of art and must surely be heading towards gong-acknowledgement come awards season. There are six pages of Discography info alone between Pages 24 and 30 that list both US and UK releases for everything - I can't imagine the amount of fact-checking that this must have taken. But before all that, there is also some preliminary explanation needed to explain what this actually is...

Tamla or Motown or Gordy (as the labels were called in the USA) did not become the UK's 'Tamla Motown' imprint until the release 19 March 1965 of TMG 501 - Diana Ross & The Supremes doing "Stop In The Name Of Love". As the first British 45 on 'Tamla Motown', it was quite late in the game when you think about it now. In fact on that Friday in March 1965 - six singles, six EPs and six LPs were issued to a baying English youth – 18 in one day. 

Prior to that Berry Gordy's American releases that actually dated back to early 1959 had been handled in Britain by London American, Fontana and Oriole - all with zero chart results despite real efforts by the independent Oriole who had managed actual long-playing albums in those pioneering early years (The Contours LP "Do You Love Me" is on Page 7 whilst the "Bye Bye Baby" LP by Mary Wells is pictured on Page 15). But all that changed when the EMI-imprint Stateside took over proceedings in October 1963 – giving the Tamla roster access to the power and reach of a major label. 

Hip and happening types like Georgie Fame, Dusty Springfield, Brian Poole & The Tremeloes (whose cover version of "Do You Love Me" by The Contours topped the British charts in October 1963 for three weeks and gave Motown their first UK number 1 albeit in a round about way) and of course the new darlings of 1964 The Rolling Stones had been educating listeners in Blighty to the Soul and R&B wonders on offer across the pond- but none more so than the Fab Four and the entourage that surrounded them. The Beatles championed the label on their first two British LPs in particular "Please Please Me" and "With The Beatles" (March and November 1963) and included with both affection and pride Mary Wells of Motown as a support act on a 1964 UK Tour (the programme is reproduced for it on Page 8). With "A Hard Day's Night" due for release in July 1964 and Beatlemania screamfests already dominating the globe - Stateside astutely assembled SL 10077 in Mono for release May 1964. And that's what you get here. A reminder of that event, 54 years on and still trembling...

The original 14-track LP was made up of American LP cuts and 45s dating from August 1961 to September 1963. Ace have simply doubled it in size by adding on 14 more period relevant songs including the ludicrously rare Mike & The Modifiers 45 for "I Found Myself A Brand New Baby" on Oriole CBA 1775 from October 1962 (released in the same month as The Beatles "Love Me Do") - yours for south of a couple of grand if you can find one. Can I get a witness indeed – let’s shop around for details...

UK released Friday, 25 September 2020 - "The 'Sound' Of The R&B Hits" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace records CDTOP 1578 (Barcode 029667099523) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue of a 1964 UK Compilation LP in Mono with 14 Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (74:34 minutes, all tracks Mono):

Side 1:

1. Shop Around - MARY WELLS (from the US LP "Bye Bye Baby" on Motown M 600, August 1961)

2. Way Over There - THE MARVELETTES (from the US LP "Please Mr. Postman" on Tamla T 228, November 1961)

3. Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues - THE MIRACLES (from the US LP "Cookin' With The Miracles" on Tamla T 223, November 1961)

4. Mockingbird - MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS (from the US LP "Heat Wave" on Gordy G 907, September 1963)

5. Bye Bye Baby - MARY WELLS (from the US LP "Bye Bye Baby" on Motown M 600, August 1961)

6. I'll Try Something New - THE MIRACLES (from the US LP "I'll Try Something New" on Tamla T 230, July 1962)

7. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) - THE MARVELETTES (from the US LP "Sing / Smash Hits Of '62" on Tamla T 229, June 1962)

Side 2:

8. Money - BARRETT STRONG (from the US LP "Tamla Special No. 1" on Tamla T 224, June 1961)

9. What's So Good About Goodbye - THE MIRACLES (from the US LP "I'll Try Something New" on Tamla T 230, July 1962)

10. Let Me Go The Right Way - THE SUPREMES (from the US LP "Meet The Supremes" on Motown M 606, December 1962)

11. I Don't Want To Take A Chance - MARY WELLS (from the US LP "Bye Bye Baby" on Motown M 600, August 1961)

12. Broken Hearted - THE MIRACLES (from the US LP "Cookin' With The Miracles" on Tamla T 223, November 1961)

13. The One Who Really Loves You - THE MARVELETTES (from the US LP "Sing / Smash Hits Of '62" on Tamla T 229, June 1962)

14. Do You Love Me - THE MIRACLES (from the US LP "Doin' Mickey's Monkey" on Tamla T 245, November 1963)

Tracks 1 to 14 are the Various Artists Compilation LP "The 'Sound' Of The R&B Hits" - released May 1964 in the UK on Stateside Records SL 10077 in Mono only. 

BONUS TRACKS 

(All tracks are the A-sides of UK 45s except four where noted - 20, 22, 23 and 24): 

15. Can I Get A Witness - MARVIN GAYE (UK 45-single on Stateside SS 243, November 1963)

16. Please Mr. Postman - THE MARVELETTES (UK 45-single on Fontana H 335, December 1961)

17. You Really Got A Hold On Me - THE MIRACLES (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1795, January 1963) 

18. You Beat Me To The Punch - MARY WELLS (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1762, August 1962)

19. Pride And Joy - MARVIN GAYE (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1846, August 1963)

20. Oh I Apologize - BARRETT STRONG (UK 45-single on London HLU 9088, B-side to "Money", April 1960)

21. I Found A Girl - THE VALADIERS (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1809, March 1963)

22. I Want A Guy - THE MARVELETTES (UK 45-single on Fontana H 386, B-side of "Twistin' Postman", March 1962)

23. Hitch Hike - MARVIN GAYE (Track 1, Side 2 of the 4-Track EP "R&B Chartmakers" on Stateside SS 1009, January 1964) 

24. I've Been Good To You - THE MIRACLES (UK 45-single on Fontana H 384, B-side of "What's So Good About Goodbye", March 1962)

25. Two Lovers - MARY WELLS (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1796, January 1963)

26. I Found Myself A Brand New Baby - MIKE & THE MODIFIERS (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1775, October 1962)

27. Shake Sherry - THE CONTOURS (UK 45-single on Oriole CBA 1799, February 1963)

28. Heat Wave - MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS (UK 45-single on Stateside SS 228, October 1963) 

The card digipak folds out into three with black and whites of The Beatles with Mary Wells in 1964 on one side of a flap and the Motown Review (Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas, The temptations and The Miracles) on a London visit in October 1964 looking suitably fur-wrapped for the capitol's cold weather. The booklet (as already mentioned) is a feast for the eyes and mind with fantastic KEVIN HOWLETT liner notes followed by song-by-song appraisals and histories. In between the copious amount of text detail are photos of British and American 45s in their sexy label bags, beautiful and super rare EPs, publicity photos and charts and even a Record Mirror R&B Poll Results that from April 1964 that show readers giving Mary Wells top Female Singers, The Miracles at number one (The Stones just starting out at an impressive no. 3) and so on. The AUDIO entirely in Mono is care of Ace's longstanding Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS and it punches and shimmies and sways out of your speakers like silk from a yesteryear. 

The listen is very much 'old' Motown especially those lesser-heard tunes like Martha's "Mockingbird" and (not surprisingly) five from The Miracles including their cover of "Do You Love Me". But for me it’s those "Way Over There" moments and Marvin's fabulous "Can I Get A Witness" and perky "Hitch Hike" that still tingle. You can just the Beatles giving it some head-jerk to Barrett Strong's plea for "Money" whilst Mary Wells checks out the emotional malls in her version of "Shop Around". Smart choices include those three B-side rarities in the bonus cuts - The Marvelettes pining in "I Want A Guy" for instance. And I love those uber-rarities like The Valadiers and Mike & The Modifiers - not tunes that will be making it onto Radio 1 any day soon. And its still unbelievable to think that even though it defined the sound of the American summer and hit R&B number 1 there – the glorious "Heat Wave" by Martha & The Vandellas was not a hit in savvy olde England (what were we all thinking).

For sure, you could say that 56-years after the event, this Mono-fest LP and its doubled-up bonuses is another Motown CD compilation most hard-core collectors could do without, especially if like me, they have collected all those tasty Motown Singles book sets on Hip-O Select which will have variants of all these tunes. But how many of us are there?

For everyone else/genre-curious newbees - I say, celebrate and enjoy, love the molten flow of Holland-Dozier-Holland and Smokey Robinson songwriting brilliance that comes roaring of this pretty reissue. And check out that retina-blazingly gorgeous LP sleeve to "Cookin' With The Miracles" (Tamla TM-223) that adorns Page 1 of the booklet (I’ve supplied a photo). All that hope, all that love of the music and all that pride - amen baby! 

I'm off now to hide under the sheets with my Roberts Radio and twiddle those knobs (if that's still legal in late 2020)...

"Showdown: The Complete 1966 RCA Recordings" by KENNY CARTER (September 2020 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Land Of Heartache..."

One of the biggest disappointments of my 62-year musical journey - twenty of those years spent in a busy West End Record Shop listening to music all day every day where Soul was a mainstay 50% of the time - was playing Sam Cooke LPs on RCA Victor – and there are at least seven or eight of them.

Most people know his greatest hits that cherry pick his better singles, but not the albums that were often full of truly cheesy material picked for him and not at all in keeping with his Soul Man image ("Night Beat" was an exception where he got to control the content). They were aiming for a wide market. 

Like Kenny Carter, Cooke was on RCA Victor who in my mind had no real idea of what Soul Music was. They simply picked old crooner tunes and standards (Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra) - larruped on the strings and background girly vocals - amped up the melodrama to over-the-top Phil Spector levels - and hoped for the chart-best. Instead of actually feeling Soulful or even moving, they almost always felt old and overwrought - old white men trying to be hip – forcing their clichéd choices on superlative black artists (Aretha Franklin at Columbia felt the same until she went to Atlantic Records and the sparks really started to fly). And unfortunately (at least for me) that's what you mostly get here.

Kenny Carter had a fabulous and expressive deep voice - very similar to say Roy Hamilton or Tommy Hunt or Jerry Butler - and the nine Stereo cuts on here (the other 13 are Mono) professionally recorded in RCA's studios sound sonically stunning. 

UK released 25 September 2020 - "Showdown: The Complete 1966 RCA Recordings" by KENNY CARTER on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 491 (Barcode 029667099622, 67:00 minutes) absolutely rocks soundwise. This is a gorgeous-sounding CD compilation. Unfortunately the syrupy material that is being peddled as 'sophisticated' comes over time-and-time again like strangulated Little Anthony & The Imperials, but without the tunes.

All cuts are from 1965 and 1966 sessions. Six of the 22 cuts have been issued on various Kent/Soul CD compilations between 2007 and 2020 (Tracks 2, 11, 12, 17, 19 and 21), whilst Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 18, 20 and 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED. The remaining six are A&B-sides of three RCA Victor US 45s (Tracks 3, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16). 

ADY CROASDELL has done the beautifully laid out and hugely affectionate liner notes in the jam-packed 28-page booklet - tape boxes - musician charts - Billboard and Cashbox adverts for his debut 45 "Body And Soul" b/w "I've Got To Find Her" on RCA Victor 47-8791 from April 1966 - demo labels for "Showdown" b/w "I've Got To Get Myself Together" on RCA Victor 47-8841 from May 1966 and so on. NICK ROBBINS has done the Remasters and they are stupendous.

But for me, despite the talk of legendary this and never released that - I can all too often hear why the LP never came together. Any single on real Soul labels like Stax, Motown, Atlantic or even Chess and Checker would knock spots of this well produced but ultimately overwrought mid 60ts angst. My wife told me to turn this off as it was giving her a headache – oh dear.

Those who love this sort of polished string-laden heartbreak and misery on a Soulful tip should not hesitate, but I'd suggest to all others - best grab a listen first before purchase...

"The Trojan Albums Collection" by THE CHOSEN FEW – Including Three Albums "Hit After Hit" (1973), "Everybody Plays The Fool" (February 1975) and "The Chosen Few In Miami" (August 1976) Plus Eleven Bonus Tracks – Group Featuring Franklyn Spence and three brothers – Noel, Busty and Errol Brown with Producers Derrick Harriott and King Sporty. Music Contributions from Lloyd Charmers and KC and The Sunshine Band (August 2020 UK Cherry Red/Doctor Bird 2CD Anthology – Andy Pearce Remasters) - A Review to Mark Barry...

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1976

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"...Melting Pot..."

What you get here are three albums by Jamaica's much-loved crossover crew THE CHOSEN FEW issued on England's mighty Trojan Records between 1973, 1975 and 1976. The first two were DERRICK HARRIOTT Productions with the legendary DJ and Producer KING SPORTY taking them to the next Miami Sound level for platter No. 3. 

Coming on like a sort of dandily dressed Detroit Spinners - musically the band were not your Traditional Reggae or Ska outfit but more a sophisticated Chi-Lites meets The Stylistics by way of Jamaica. This is high falsetto-vocals mainstream Reggae with a dollop of drama-driven Soul thrown in from one of the island's most popular Vocal Groups. 

Their British debut LP "Hit After Hit" from 1973 is new to digital, the other two are mid-Seventies rarities seldom seen on CD - whilst the 11 Bonus Tracks include rare Bunny Brown and Lloyd Charmers 45s on Song Bird and Duke Records, pumping up proceedings to a whopping 44-tracks in total. The group included Franklyn Spence and three brothers – Noel, Busty and Errol Brown. Given the lung-prowess of the four especially with Noel Brown on Lead – the effeminate vocals often featured two or even all of the boys - and by the time they were into 1976 – American Miami Funk had entered into the equation too. Let's get to the musical melting pot...

UK released 7 August 2020 - "The Trojan Albums Collection" by THE CHOSEN FEW on Cherry Red/Doctor Bird DBCDD-066 (Barcode 5013929276130) is a 2CD Anthology offering the following:

CD1 (71:19 minutes):
1. You're A Big Girl Now (Version 1) [Side 1]
2. You're A Big Girl Now (Version 3)
3. Shaft 
4. Stranger On The Shore
5. I'm Sorry 
6. Mexican Divorce
7. People Make The World Go Round [Side 2]
8. Everybody Plays The Fool 
9. I Wanna Go Back Home (aka Going back Home)
10. Melting pot 
11. Ebony Eyes 
12. Do Your Thing 
Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Hit After Hit" - released March 1973 in the UK on Trojan Records TRLS 56. 

NOTES: Five tracks on the LP were previously issued as UK 45s – they are:
Track 1 in 1972 on Grape GR 3033, A-side
Also 1972 as the B-side to "Everybody Plays The Fool" on Trojan TR 7882
Track 3 in October 1971 on Song Bird SB 1061, A-side
Track 7 in October 1972 on Song Bird SB 1082, A-side by ERROL BROWN and THE CHOSEN FEW
Track 8 in 1972 on Trojan TR 7882, A-side (B-side was Track 1 "You're A Big Girl Now")
Track 8 also January 1974 as the A-side to Trojan TR 7940 
Track 11 in 1972 on Trojan TR 7864, A-side 
The other seven tracks are exclusive to the LP 

BONUS TRACKS: 
13. Why Can't I Touch You (1970 UK 45-single on Song Bird SB 1046, A-side)
14. Um-Ba-Ya (We Need Love) (Not Originally Released In The UK - 1971 Jamaican 45 on Move & Groove)
15. Time Is Hard (1970 UK 45-single on Song Bird SB 1031, A-side)
16. Everybody Just A Stall (1971 UK 45-single on Song Bird SB 1067, A-side)
17. Am I Black Enough? (July 1973 UK 45-single on Trojan TS 7984, A-side - features Noel Brown)
18. Fat Boy by BUNNY BROWN (1973 UK 45-single on Song Bird SB 1073 - features Chosen Few)

LLOYD CHALMERS Section (Producer):
19. Children Of The Night by THE CHOSEN FEW (October 1973 UK 45-single on Duke DU 162, A-side) 
20. Stoned In Love by CHOSEN FEW (October 1973 UK 45-single on Duke DU 163, A-side)
21. It's Too Late by CHOSEN FEW (October 1973 UK 45-single on Duke DU 164, A-side)
22. You Are Everything by THE CHOSEN FEW (from the 1974 UK Compilation LP "Hit Me With Music" on Trojan Records TRLS 82)

CD2 (71:02 minutes):
1. I Love The Way You Love (Part 1) [Side 1]
2. I Second That Emotion 
3. Make Way For The Young Folks 
4. Hide & Seek 
5. Reggae Stuff
6. My Thing 
Everybody Plays The Fool [Side 2, see Track 8 on Disc 1]
7. Tears Of A Clown 
8. Hang On Sloopy 
9. Queen Majesty 
10. La La At The End 
11. I Love The Way You Love (Part 2) 
Tracks 1 to 11 and Track 8 on Disc 1 is their second album "Everybody Plays The Fool" - released February 1975 in the UK on Trojan Records TRLS 106. All tracks exclusive to the LP except, "Everybody Plays The Fool". Test pressings exist of the album with its title originally labelled as "I Love The Way You Love". 

BONUS TRACKS: 
12. (Can't Get Enough Of That) Collie Stuff (1975 Jamaican 45-single on Groovemaster, A-side, no catalogue no)

13. Night And Day [Side 1]
14. I Am A Man 
15. In The Rain
16. Wandering 
17. Funky Buttercup 
18. Candy I'm So Daggone Mixed Up [Side 2]
19. Why Can't We Live 
20. Drift Away 
21. Daniel 
22. Hit Me With The Music 
Tracks 13 to 22 are their third album "The Chosen Few In Miami" - released August 1976 in the UK on Trojan Records TRLS 131.

NOTES: Four tracks from the "...In Miami" LP were issued as UK 45s – they are:
Tracks 13 and 17 in July 1976 as the A&B-sides of Miami MIA 401
Tracks 17 (as Funky Butter) and 16 in January 1974 as the A&B-sides of Action ACT 4623 
The other six are exclusive to the LP 

The 16-page booklet is the usual jam-packed Doctor Bird affair – new and deeply in-depth liner notes from HARRY HACKS sided with pages of rare Jamaican and British 45s, trade adverts, reviews, gig showcases in the press and even full page shots of Trojan Master Tape Boxes. You get to see in colour all those Song Bird, Trojan and Duke 45 labels as well as the lesser spotted Move & Groove, Micron and Crystal designs from Jamaica. They have even found an advert for Wincarnis Tonic Wine that feature our heroes giving it some fluffy clobber dance poses circa the Hit After Hit album (1973).

The audio is courtesy of one of my fave rave Remaster Engineers – England’s ANDY PEARCE who along with MATT WORTHAM has transferred these. The albums were all well recorded – so the bass and drum whacks are impressive and powerful as they pour out of your speakers. It’s only when you get to the 1970 and 1971 single sides that the audio drops but again given their vintage – it’s still more than acceptable. By the time we are playing 1976 – you may as well be listening to quality recorded Soul and Funk meets Reggae. 

Alongside Errol and Bunny Brown originals - The Chosen Few touched on tunes made famous by many other contemporaries – especially Soul acts like Isaac Hayes on Stax ("Shaft" and "Do Your Thing"), Thom Bell and The Stylistics on Avco ("People Make The World Go Round", "You Are Everything" and "Stoned In Love"), The Main Ingredient on RCA Victor ("Everybody Plays The Fool"), Smokey Robinson and The Miracles on Motown ("I Second That Emotion" and "Tears Of A Clown"), Kool & The Gang on De-Lite ("Funky Stuff"), Curtis Mayfield on Curtom ("Queen Majesty") and Billy Paul on Philadelphia International ("Am I Black Enough For You?"). 

They went back to The Drifters on Atlantic for "Mexican Divorce", caught the beauty in Mentor Williams on Decca and his fabulous gimme de music so I can "Drift Away" tune too. Rock artists like Carole King and Elton John had covers of "It's Too Late" and "Daniel" whilst Blue Mink and their huge hit "Melting Pot" got thoroughly mashed-up. Even Acker Bilk is almost unrecognisable with fantastically fuzzed-up Funk guitars on his signature ballad "Stranger On The Shore" – a track that surely rates as one of the most inventive covers I've ever heard from the period. 
In fact by the time we get to 1975 and 1976 - Soul Music and American Funk was never far from The Chosen Few camp - KC & The Sunshine Band backing up recordings for the "I Love The Way You Love" LP sessions that eventually came out as "Everybody Plays The Fool". 

Producer and mentor King Sporty (married to Betty Wright of "Clean Up Woman" fame on Alston Records) kept them current with stuff like "Funky Buttercup" and sexy originals in the shape of "I Am A Man" and "Wandering". In fact reviews often referred to the "...In Miami" set from 1976 more as a 'funky' LP rather than Reggae - a hybrid of genres from a classy combo.

This is a superb little release from Doctor Bird – a reissue label that I look forward to. And with the upgraded audio, recommended to those who dig their Reggae with a slice of Soul...

"The Studio Albums 1978-1991" by DIRE STRAITS – Featuring Six Studio Albums "Dire Straits" (1978), "Communiqué" (1979), "Making Movies" (1980), "Love Over Gold" (1982), "Brothers In Arms" (1985) and "On Every Street" (1991) – Band featuring Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley, Pick Withers, Alan Clark, Hal Lindes, Guy Fletcher, Omar Hakim, Terry Williams, Danny Cummings, Paul Franklin and Phil Palmer, Chris White with Guests Barry Beckett, Roy Bittan of The E Street Band, Mike Mainieri, Sting, Vince Gill, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Manu Katche of Peter Gabriel's Band (October 2020 UK Mercury/Vertigo/UMC Reissue - 6LPs onto 6CDs in a Clamshell Mini Box Set with 1996 Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Portobello Belle..."

What you have here is a reissue of the November 2013 Eight-LP VINYL Box Set – itself mastered and pressed by three giants in the field of Audio reproduction – BOB LUDWIG, BERNIE GRUNDMAN and CHRIS BELLMAN. For Friday, 9 October 2020 we get a repress of that vinyl set, but this time Universal also includes the CD variant for the first time as a Limited Edition (albeit it appears with newly mastered versions of the 1996 remasters). As with the 2013 vinyl box set reissue, both "Brothers In Arms" and "On Every Street" are extended into double-albums to handle the longer playing time (initial 1985 and 1991 pressings were single LPs). 

Which Remasters for CD though? Confusingly – there is no mention of the words "Digitally Remastered" anywhere – not on the hype sticker on the shrink-wrap - nor the box – not on the Mini LP sleeves with their inner lyric sleeves now tucked into the singular cards as oversized foldout posters – nor on the CDs themselves. The cards say copyright 1996 and 2020 – yet on re-listening to all of them today – they seem bigger and better than the 1996 versions. I could just be me, but I swear there is better mastering here. "Communiqué" and "Tunnel Of Love" are both gorgeous given a bit of welly on the volume button.

With the exception of "Brothers In Arms" which has had numerous anniversary and format reissues (SACD etc) and the first two Seventies records which have received expensive Platinum SHM-CD variants in Japan - the bulk of the others haven't been touched on CD since the June 1996 Remasters series. This 6-Disc set will be a way of getting great audio for the lot and it comes with Mini LP Repro Art Card Sleeves that we old farts worship at the smelly feet of.

There are a lot of brothers with arms, swinging sultans and gold that is over love to get through, so let's have at it...

UK released Friday, 9 October 2020 - "The Studio Albums 1978-1991" by DIRE STRAITS on Mercury/Vertigo/UMC 0839136 / 00602508391361 (Barcode 602508391361) is a 6CD Clamshell Mini Box Set of 1996 Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 Mercury 0841080 "Dire Straits" (41:52 minutes):

1. Down To The Waterline [Side 1]

2. Water Of Love

3. Setting Me Up

4. Six Blade Knife

5. Southbound Again

6. Sultans Of Swing [Side 2]

7. In The Gallery

8. Wild West End

9. Lions

Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "Dire Straits" – released June 1978 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 021 and October 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3266

CD2 Mercury 0841081 - "Communiqué" (42:44 minutes):

1. Once Upon A Time In The West [Side 1]

2. News

3. Where Do You Think You're Going?

4. Communiqué

5. Angel Of Mercy [Side 2]

6. Portobello Belle

7. Single-Handed Sailor

8. Follow Me Home

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second album "Communiqué" – released September 1979 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 031 and June 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers HS 3330.

CD3 Mercury 0841083 - "Making Movies" (38:30 minutes):

1. Carousel Waltz Intro / Tunnel Of Love [Side 1]

2. Romeo And Juliet

3. Skateaway

4. Expresso Love [Side 2]

5. Hand In Hand

6. Solid Rock

7. Les Boys

Tracks 1 to 7 are their third album "Making Movies" – released October 1980 in the UK on Vertigo 6359 034 and November 1980 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3480

CD4 Mercury 0841085 - "Love Over Gold" (41:12 minutes):

1. Telegraph Road [Side 1]

2. Private Investigations

3. Industrial Disease [Side 2]

4. Love Over Gold

5. It Never Rains

Tracks 1 to 5 are their fourth studio album "Love Over Gold" – released September 1982 in the UK on Vertigo 6359 109 and September 1982 in the USA on Warner Brothers 9 23728-1

CD5 Mercury 0841078 - "Brothers In Arms" (55:15 minutes):

1. So Far Away (5:11 minutes *) – Side 1

2. Money For Nothing (8:26 minutes *)

3. Walk Of Life (4:12 minutes)

4. Your Latest Trick (6:33 minutes *)

5. Why Worry (8:31 minutes *)

6. Ride Across The River (6:58 minutes *) – Side 2

7. The Man's Too Strong (4:40 minutes)

8. One World (3:40 minutes)

9. Brothers in Arms (7:00 minutes *)

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth album "Brothers In Arms" – released May 1985 in the UK on Vertigo VERH 25 and May 1985 in the USA on Warner Brothers 9 25264-1.

* NOTE: launched the year prior, the CD format was making huge inroads into format sales in 1985 and this album was one of the reasons why. The vinyl version had shorter tracks as follows:

Side 1: So Far Away (4:04 minutes) / Money For Nothing (7:00 minutes) / Walk Of Life (4:10 minutes) / Your Latest Trick (4:49 minutes) / Why Worry (5:16 minutes)

Side 2: Ride Across The River (6:59 minutes) / The Man's Too Strong (4:40 minutes) / One World (3:40 minutes) / Brothers in Arms (6:49 minutes)

The CD took advantage of longer playing time as can be seen from the timings supplied above with Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 being extended versions, some considerably longer than the LP cuts. This CD Remaster uses the extended versions.

CD6 Mercury 0841086 - "On Every Street" (60:35 minutes):

1. Calling Elvis [Side 1]

2. On Every Street

3. When It Comes To You

4. Fade To Black

5. The Bug

6. You And Your Friend

7. Heavy Fuel [Side 2]

8. Iron Hand

9. Ticket To Heaven

10. My Parties

11. Planet Of New Orleans

12. How Long

Tracks 1 to 12 are their sixth and final studio album "On Every Street" – released September 1991 in the UK on Vertigo 510 160-1 and September 1991 in the USA on Warner Brothers 9 26680-1. The CD variant of this album has the same playing times on all tracks as the vinyl LP – the CD catalogue numbers have -2 at the end of each instead of -1.

The core band featured Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers initially with Alan Clark, Hal Lindes, Guy Fletcher, Omar Hakim and Terry Williams, Danny Cummings, Paul Franklin, Phil Palmer and Chris White joining proceedings along the way. And then there are those contributions from guests like Barry Beckett, Roy Bittan of The E Street Band, Mike Mainieri, Sting, Vince Gill, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Manu Katche of Peter Gabriel’s Band.

The fold-out posters (as they are calling them) is a smart idea so you can actually read the lyrics and musician credits – the only spoiler being "Brothers In Arms" has that type-face that is just so difficult to make out (it is also the only CD that keeps its picture original design – the others are all plain black).

As the 1978 debut opens with that foghorn in the distance, you may have to give "Down To The Waterline" a bit of volume but there is no doubting how clean the transfer is. If I'm perfectly honest, the Japanese Platinum SHM-CD from September 2013 that I bought and reviewed (see separate entry) has more depth and clarity, but that is the only disc I felt a wee-bit lacking of the six. And even then "Sultans Of Swing" will still rock your speakers.

By the time you get to 1979 and "Communiqué" – the Production values are quite simply incredible. "Tunnel Of Love" and "Love Over Gold" are the same. But what a Box set like this does is to allow you to revisit those album nuggets that never made singles – the stunning sexy funk of "Six Blade Knife" and gritty edge of "In The Gallery" from the explosive debut – onto beauty like "Portobello Belle" and the razor-sharp acoustic guitars of "Where Do You Think You're Going?" on "Communiqué". Over on Side 2 of "Making Movies" is "Hand In Hand" - another oh so pretty Knopfler love song where his way with a ballad always moves me whilst groove lovers can flip back to Side 1 for the sheer Rock Funk of "Skateaway". 

I was watching fan posts of gigs in 2015 and 2019 where MK and his huge band tackle "Telegraph Road" and again – you forget about the sheer musical majesty contained within its thirteen and half minutes. "Private Investigations" still amazes with its combo of keyboard delicacy and big mickey guitar bombast. The extended "Your Latest Trick" on the CD of "Brothers In Arms" makes mincemeat of the seriously edited LP version and I love that slink in "Ride Across The River" as it opens Side 2 of that 1985 behemoth. Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger in "The Bug" – one of the better tracks on a hugely underwhelming final album "On Every Street". But no concerns whatsoever about either the mega "Brothers In Arms" or "On Every Street" albums here – the audio on both CDs is sensational.

Like the superbly comprehensive 6CD November 2019 mini clamshell Box Set "Every Move You Take" by THE POLICE - you do wish Universal had gone just a wee step further and included those rare DS 45-stragglers – the non-album "Eastbound Train (Live)" on the flipside of "Sultans Of Swing" or the hilarious "Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-shirts" on the B-side of "Private Investigations", the "Twisting By The Pool EP" with "If I Had You" and so on. And maybe a booklet with liner notes, photos, reissue credits that clarify.

But that not withstanding - I suspect this dinky little retro set will make its way into many Covid-Free Christmas Stockings for Xmas 2020.

I saw DIRE STRAITS live in Ireland twice – once with the four piece for "Communiqué" at The National Stadium when they just becoming big and then with the extended band for the "Love Over Gold" tour in a wet and windy outdoor racecourse. They got more than four encores on each occasion – the crowds at both amazed at the sheer musicality on display over the hours. It's the same here really. A proper little crowd pleaser and pick-me-up...