"Olias Of Sunhillow" by JON ANDERSON of YES – July 1976 UK and USA Debut Solo Album on Atlantic Records (April 2021 UK Esoteric Recordings CD + DVD-A Reissue with a 2020 Ben Wiseman Remaster for CD and 5.1 Surround Mix and High Resolution Stereo Mix for the DVD-A) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...One Clear Hand..."

Encouraged by the brilliance of "Relayer" in 1974 (with Patrick Moraz at the keyboards instead of Rick Wakeman) - like most YES fans at the time - I awaited the inevitable Solo albums in the mid Seventies with a sense of excitement. And while Bassist Chris Squire and Guitarist Steve Howe had their moments of glory with November 1975's "Fish Out Of Water" and October 1975's "Beginnings" respectively - most of us somehow knew that Lead Singer and Leading Light in the Yes Multiverse JON ANDERSON and his debut vinyl LP of 1976 would be the Proggy Humdinger to get. And - "...one clear hand..." (lyrics from "Flight of The Moorglade") - it was and still is. 

Released in July 1976 on Atlantic K 50261 in the UK and Atlantic SD 18180 in the USA - "Olias Of Sunhillow" even peaked at Number 8 in good old Blighty (No. 47 in the USA) and has been a treasured work by Prog Rock fans ever since. But its odyssey onto digital has been one of expensive hits and cheap-assed misses - mostly misses.

First came the German/Europe version from February 1996 with an unreadable four-page inlay badly repro'ing the stunning original artwork and sporting un-remastered dull sound (Atlantic 7567-80273-2 - Barcode 075678027321). Two followed that improved things - the October 2011 Japan-Only edition Warner Brothers/Atlantic/Arcangelo ARC-8061 (Barcode 4988044390614) - a SHM-CD in Repro Artwork and America's Audio Fidelity issue from January 2014 - a 24-Carat Gold CD Remastered by noted engineer KEVIN GRAY (Audio Fidelity AFZ 156 - Barcode 0780014215620). But both of those have been deleted years and subsequently acquired very nasty price tags on auction sites. In January 2020 Music On CD out of The Netherlands simply reissued the 1996 version in a Super Jewel Case (Music On CD MOCCD13846 - Barcode 8718627230459) but without any mastering details and some were suckered into buying that. Which brings us to pandemic year plus one - 2021...

UK released Friday, 9 April 2021 (delayed from Friday, 29 March 2021) - "Olias Of Sunhillow" by JON ANDERSON [of YES] on Esoteric Recordings QECLEC22748 (Barcode 5013929474888) is a CD + DVD-A Reissue and New Remaster (by Ben Wiseman) that plays out as follows (the CD and DVD-A have the same tracks as listed below - 44:22 minutes):   

1. Ocean Song [Side 1]

2. Meeting (Garden Of Geda)/Sound Out The Galleon

3. Dance Of Ranyart/Olias (To Build The Moorglade)

4. Qoquaq En Transic/Naon/Transic To

5. Flight Of The Moorglade

6. Solid Space [Side 2]

7. Moon Ra/Chords/Song Of Search

8. To The Runner

Those who bought the original record will of course remember not just the fabulous dense music contained within but also the full-on glory of the sleeve designed and painted by DAVID FAIRBROTHER ROE. A gatefold cover with an extra leaf inside and a same-design inner lyrics sleeve - it was dazzling as a package. Although Roger Dean ad been approached first and proved too busy to help, Roe had done Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog" album in late 1973 and prior to that designed striking posters for three Isle of Wight Festivals in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Anderson saw the returned artwork and was duly taken aback. 

His space-tale of Magician Olias who lives on the doomed planet of Sunhillow features four tribes and two other characters in his journey to the safe world of Asgaurd - a second magician Ranyart who becomes the navigator of the spaceship 'Moorglade Mover' and a trance-singer Qoquaq who lulls sceptical tribes onto the ship with melodies of peace and love before their world explodes into millions of tears. As you imagine and see from the photos I've provided - the staggeringly elaborate artwork and equally beautiful inner sleeve and its writing font seemed more like a Tolkien book art-plate than an LP record. Esoteric are clearly aware of this and have tried to reproduce that impact and (largely) succeeded. 

A clever move has been to put the lyrics that were originally on both sides of the inner sleeve into a separate booklet (in the right inner flap) and print them to such a degree that you can actually read them. Unfortunately, they have not done the same to the 'story' of Olias that is spread across four inner flaps - most of which is barely legible. Clearly, they should have done the same for the story part of this. 

There is a separate 20-page booklet in the left flap that fills out the album's making - a new in-depth interview with JA by MALCOLM DOME (dated Oct 2020). Rumours of Vangelis playing keyboards on the album (which have persisted for years) and RCA doing their nut at the same are quickly quashed as untrue - though Vangelis was one of the first to hear the finished product and mightily approved (Anderson saw him as a mentor as well as musician friend). 

We also learn that "Olias Of Sunhillow" was a truly 'solo' project, Anderson playing 'everything' - as much as 30 instruments with a recording time of a gruelling three to eight-months (project gestation had been almost five years since the "Fragile" LP in 1971). Amidst the text and illuminations of how maddening the recording actually was - there are pictures of memorabilia supplied by fan David Watkinson - but I have to admit they are strangely muted and badly rendered to a point where you can see what they are but not read them. 

Presentation-wise - this Esoteric Recordings reissue is a damn good fist at it - the rare American Promo 7" single with Titled Picture Sleeve for "Flight Of The Moorglade" b/w "To The Runner" is pictured as are Trade Adverts, Reviews, Times articles etc. And the sepia-feel paper even mimics the texture of the original release. But I would have to be honest and say that that mistake with the story being unreadable is kind of dumb. I should also add that the new remaster from BEN WISEMAN says all the right things on the printed tin (first gen tapes, stereo masters etc) - but the result has left me slightly underwhelmed. 

For sure when you hear those Harp Scales in "Dance Of Ranyart" and that massive crescendo of voices and instruments during Track 4 on Side 1 - the effect is powerful. But I would say that this is a Remaster that needs a bit of welly on your Volume Dial to lift that veil. I also demo'd the 5.1 Surround Mix and the High Definition Stereo Mix on a mate's system (I don't have 5.1 myself) and the Audio was magnificent - the clarity is there that I feel is still a tad muffled on the CD version. 

I've waited decades for this album to be properly remastered and available as such at a reasonable price - so I will congratulate Esoteric Recordings for that. But the lack of anything new (demos, outtake passages etc) is a bit of a disappointment if I'm brutally honest and that packaging faux pas irritates. But then I played the gorgeous Acoustic/Synth intro to "Flight Of The Moorglade" and I shed a wee Proggy tear of joy (I bought that single in Dublin back in the day). So someone is doing something right here. 

"Olias Of Sunhillow" has quite rightly built up a bit of a rep as a genuine Prog Rock, Art Rock, Symphonic Rock masterpiece. And while I still don’t quite know what your four tribes of Sunhillow are actually about (can’t tell my Oractaniom from my Nordranious man) – I love this record. Dense, layered, articulate without being too fay – it is a beautiful thing. And at last a good reissue label has done it a solid space retain.  

"Cha! Cha!" Anderson chants as he finishes the wicked album closer "To The Runner". Couldn't agree more my Topographic son...

"Hello!" by STATUS QUO – September 1973 UK Sixth Studio Album on Vertigo Records (A&M Records in the USA) – featuring Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan (February 2005 UK Universal/Mercury 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue with a Tim Turan Remaster – Part Of The 'From The Makers Of' Reissue Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Roll Over Lay Down And Let Me In..."

Arguably the worst album cover artwork and LP title in their entire cannon - or possibly in the entire world ("Hello!" for Gawd's sake and in jet black so you can't see them) - none of this stopped the mighty Quo from smashing it in 1973. 

Released in late September of that year on Vertigo Records in the UK (A&M Records in the USA) with its lyrics inner sleeve and eye-catching poster – more importantly Status Quo's sixth studio platter had the heads-down monster hits of "Roll Over Lay Down" and "Caroline" alongside others like "Forty Five Hundred Times" that would soon become fan craves. You also can't help thinking that had they released the boogie-pleaser "Blue Eyed Lady" with say "Softer Ride" on the flipside as a third 45-single, Quo would have easily achieved a Top 5 placing if not another Number 1. 

Their sound and success had been years coming - starting on 1970's "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" and getting stuck in proper on 1971's "Dog Of Two Head" while they were on Pye Records. But it was the move to Vertigo that saw the charge truly begin. Building on the eventual No. 5 LP placing of the preceding "Piledriver" album issued December 1972 - "Hello!" railroaded its Classic Rock riffage to the top of the British album charts - No. 1. This started an astonishing chart run in Blighty - 1974's "Quo" at No. 2, 1975 and 1976's "On The Level" and "Blue For You" also at No. 1 with the live-double in 1977 managing No. 3. 

The Quo defined good old-fashioned Seventies Blues Rock with a double-fronted guitar wallop (they meant naught in the USA). And this dinky little 2005 CD Remaster of "Hello!" complete with its period-relevant Bonus Track (the Non-LP B-side of "Caroline") does that fond memory proud. Time to Shake and Vac and don the faded Levis...

UK released February 2005 - "Hello!" by STATUS QUO on Universal/Mercury 982 594-2 (Barcode 602498259429) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster (One Bonus Track) in the 'From The Makers Of' Reissue Series that plays out as follows (43:08 minutes):

1. Roll Over Lay Down [Side 1]

2. Claudie 

3. A Reason Of Living 

4. Blue Eyed Lady 

5. Caroline [Side 2]

6. Softer Ride 

7. And It's Better Now 

8. Forty Five Hundred Times 

Tracks 1 to 8 are their sixth studio album "Hello!" - released 28 September 1973 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 098 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-3615. Produced by STATUS QUO - it peaked at No. 1 in the UK (didn't chart USA). 

BONUS TRACK:

9. Joanne 

31 August 1973 UK 7" 45-single on Vertigo 6059 085, Non-LP B-side to "Caroline"

The 16-page booklet all the lyrics, the poster shots, rare seven-inch picture sleeves and new liner notes from Quo aficionado GARRY FIELDING with the Remaster done by TIM TURAN who did such great work on the Nazareth back catalogue for Salvo Records. The boogie is strong with this one - each track with a cohesive power as it pounds out your speaker stack with bovver boots and denim waistcoats badly in need of a wash. "Hello!" always rocked and this CD does that legacy a solid. To the tunes...

Almost a full month before the LP hit the shops - Quo had unleashed the "Caroline" seven-inch single on the British Public on the last day of August 1973. Vertigo 6059 085 with the Non-LP "Joanne" on the flipside was a winner - DJ Radio loving its no-nonsense Rock simplicity and those catchy "...if you want to – turn me on to..." lyrics. Eventually peaking at No. 5 in the week leading up the LP's release, it primed the Rock Mad Brits for the album and they responded with frenzied purchasing. 

The whole of Side 1 feels like a party - heads-down boogie punctuated by those Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt Vocals and Guitars. Very cool Bluesy Slide Guitar on "A Reason To Believe" where their playing reminds me of Micky Moody from Snafu and later with Whitesnake. "Blue Eyed Lady" is surely one of their best LP gems and as I suggested above, would have made for a storming third single. You kind of get blind-sided by the musicality of "And It's Better Now" (everyone must have a song) - but it's the near ten-minutes of "Forty Five Hundred Times" ending Side 2 that makes real fans weak at the knees. As he pleads "...be my friend..." during its melodic beginning - it then launches into a great riff-fest that pile-drives along to its almost-Doors Rock ending. The throwback vocals to older days on "Joanne" will appeal to fans that long for pictures of matchstick men. 

Never a phenomenon in the States like they were back home (they charted "Blue For You" and that was it), Status Quo have had legions of fans for decades on end in Blighty like say Lizzy or Nazareth or other great Rock Bands of the period. And dribbling over the aural evidence on this cheap-as-chips CD Remaster, you can 'so' hear why...

"Welcome" by SANTANA – November 1973 US and UK Fifth Studio Album on Columbia and CBS Records featuring Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin on Guitars, Leon Thomas and Flora Purim on Lead Vocals, Tom Coster, Richard Kermode and Wendy Haas on Keyboards, Michael Shrieve and Jose "Chepito" Areas on Drums and Percussion with Arrangements by Alice Coltrane (October 2003 UK Columbia/Legacy Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Yours Is The Light..."

After the difficult to like "Love, Devotion & Surrender" album with John McLaughlin in July 1973 - November 1973's "Welcome" felt like the beginning of the end for me. By the time "Borboletta" arrived in 1974, the splurging-too-much triple live "Lotus" in 1975 and then "Amigos" in 1976 - I'd lost interest.

Hal Miller's ludicrously 'genius' 'masterpiece' 'sublime' liner notes over-egg the "Welcome" pudding somewhat too, but do at least acknowledge the huge difference the keyboard players were making to the evolving Santana sound (Tom Coster and Richard Kermode supplying some of the LP’s best tracks). Unfortunately indulgence like the 12-minute "Flame-Sky" on Side 2 felt like filler to me even if their cover version of John Coltrane's "Welcome" ends the record on a beautifully recorded instrumental shimmer.

But my indifference and increasing boredom to its white-embossed charms notwithstanding - "Welcome" has stubbornly held a place in Santana fan's hearts as a bit of a lost gem over the years. And on re-hearing this stunning Bob Irwin/Vic Anesini Remaster of it, on its better moments, I can actually hear why. Musicianship wise, the band is cooking here. But worse, to my amazement, it sports an Unreleased Session Outtake as a Bonus Track called "Mantra" that I think knocks spots off some of the Leon Thomas sung fluff on the released record (although I can understand why it was canned). Let's get our joyous devotional knickers in a Chinmoy knot - to the Fusion illuminations...

UK released October 2003 - "Welcome" by SANTANA on Columbia/Legacy COL 511130 2 (Barcode 5099751113027) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with one Bonus Track that plays out as follows (56:50 minutes):

1. Going Home [Side 1]

2. Love, Devotion & Surrender

3. Samba De Sausalito

4. When I Look Into Your Eyes

5. Yours Is The Light

6. Mother Africa [Side 2]

7. Light Of Life

8. Flame-Sky

9. Welcome

Tracks 1 to 9 are their fifth studio album "Welcome" - released November 1973 in the USA on Columbia FC 32245 and November 1973 in the UK on CBS Records S 69040 Produced by CARLOS SANTANA, MICHAEL SHRIEVE and TOM COSTER - it peaked at No. 25 in the USA and No. 8 in the UK.

BONUS TRACK:

10. Mantra (Santana, Shrieve and Coster song, 6:10 minutes, recorded April 1973) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

SANTANA was:

CARLOS SANTANA and JOHN McLAUGHLIN - Lead Guitar

LEON THOMAS and FLORA PURIM - Lead Duet Vocals on Tracks 2 and 4, Purim on Track 5 and Thomas on Track 7

TOM COSTER, RICHARD KERMODE and WENDY HAAS - Keyboards (Coster also Vocals)

DAVID BROWN and DOUG RAUCH - Bass

JULES BROUSSARD - Saxophone

JOSE "Chepito" AREAS and ARMANDO PERAZA - Percussion

MICHAEL SHRIEVE and TONY SMITH - Drums

ALICE COLTRANE - Arrangements

The two-sided four-leaf foldout inlay features all the musician credits and those May 2003 HAL MILLER liner notes where he assures us that "Welcome" is a masterpiece (it isn't). What is beautiful however is the BOB IRWIN and VIN ANESINI Transfers and Remaster. Both have huge career lists - Anesini has done Santana, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, Nilsson, Aerosmith, Mountain, The Jayhawks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Moby Grape, Lou Reed, Spirit and much more - his resume is huge and impressive. This is a big-sounding Columbia/Legacy CD - instruments racing around your speakers as the huge band vies for your attention and it sounds fab (JEN WYLER mixed the Bonus "Mantra" track). To the music...

I would be the first to decry Leon Thomas' vocals as weedy Terry Callier but not in a good way - so his efforts on the swirling percussiveness of "Love, Devotion & Surrender" kind of do for me even if it does contain Carlos giving it some Soulful notes. I much prefer the Latin Funk of Richard Kermode's "Yours Is The Light" where Flora Purim's lone vocals suit the high-flying bird of a tune. There are beautifully arranged strings to the opening of "Light Of Life" - a very Rotary Connection meets Santana rhythms exploration that has amazing playing on it. My personal crave is the six and half minutes given to their cover of John Coltrane's "Welcome" which feels like "Song Of The Wind" from "Caravanserai" - stunning keyboard work shimmering behind sustained notes. 

It wouldn't be until the double "Moonflower" in October 1977 that I would dig Santana again, but I can so understand why fans return to this largely forgotten white blip in their formidable LP cannon. A lovely sounding CD reissue and it's cheap too...

"Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" by ANDY ROBERTS AND THE GREAT STAMPEDE – December 1973 UK-only Album on Elektra Records – featuring Zoot Money of Dantalian’s Chariot and Centipede, Ollie Halsall of Patto, B.J. Cole of Cochise, Mick Kaminski of E.L.O., Sonny Francis, Ray Wehrstein with Pat Donaldson of Fotheringay and Gerry Conway of Fairport Convention (April 2007 UK Fledg'ling Records CD Reissue in Card Digipak Repro Artwork with a Denis Blackham Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 299 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book 

US AND THEM - 1973

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"...Lost Highway..."

It's not really a balls-to-the-wall masterpiece but Andy Roberts' Ry Cooder-ish looking fourth studio album "Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" is a lovely reissue of a sadly forgotten Folk/Country Rock LP gem from the Seventies that deserves far better recognition than its ever received. And England's Fledg'ling Records seem to think so too, giving it a genuinely warm reappraisal on this beautifully remastered CD from 2007 done by the award-wining Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering.

I suspect (like most) many won't know who Andy Roberts even is. A short bio includes guitar on Scaffold recordings – sessions with Jimi Hendrix and Graham Nash - produced by Paul McCartney - toured with Led Zeppelin - had the drummer from Jethro Tull in his band and was involved in four Liverpool Scene albums. Then a stint with the short-lived Everyone group in 1971 on B&C Records - another for the revered Plainsong ensemble with Iain Matthews (on Elektra Records) and then on top of all that managed three solo albums by the time he got to great stampeding in 1973 (one of those trio of LPs was actually issued in two different versions). 

Andy Roberts had been around, bubbling under so to speak and after this (his last solo outing) – he joined his old muckers in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band offshoot Grimms on two of their three albums between 1973 and 1976 on Island and DJM Records - "Rockin' Duck" and "Sleepers". Which brings us back here...his Folk and Country Rock LP from 1973 with an Jamaican-influenced lean on some of the tracks...

The LP "Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" was supposedly scheduled for October 1973 with publicity prepped and ready (The Great Stampede was also the name of his new band) - his second album on Elektra Records after the well-received "Urban Cowboy" in June of 1973. But as the oil-crisis limited what vinyl was priority, it got delayed until December 1973 because of the Fabs. In April 1973 - EMI and Apple had unleashed on a very willing world the Red and Blue double-albums by The Beatles - "1962-1966" and "1967-1970". I can remember the phenomenon they both were - selling cartloads all year long and for years afterwards. So EMI Blighty apparently informed our hero that due to pressing demand for the Red and Blue 2LP sets, his fourth solo LP on Elektra K 42151 would have to wait until December 1973 for release and even then would only see 1,500 copies pressed (if he was lucky) - two months after adverts for an album that didn't show. It tells you all of this in the exemplary new 16-page liner notes penned by the artist . Time to list this reissue's finer details...

UK released 23 April 2007 - "Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" by ANDY ROBERTS AND THE GREAT STAMPEDE on Fledg'ling Records FLED 3064 (Barcode 5020393306423) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (51:28 minutes):

1. Speed Well [Side 1]

2. Clowns On The Road

3. Lord Of The Groves

4. Bottom Of The Garden

5. Kid Jealousy

6. The Great Stampede [Side 2]

7. High Time

8. Home In The Sun

9. (53 Miles From) Spanish Town

Tracks 1 to 9 are his fourth studio album "Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" - released December 1973 in the UK LP on Elektra Records K 42151 (unissued USA). Produced by SANDY ROBERTSON - it didn't chart.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Home At Last

11. Lost Highway

12. Living In The Hills Of Zion

13. New Karenski

14. Having A Party

The Great Stampede included:

ANDY ROBERTS - Lead Vocals, Guitar and Rumba Bass

ZOOT MONEY (of Dantalian's Chariot and Centipede) - Organ and Piano

MICK KAMINSKI (of Electric Light Orchestra) - Electric Violin

B.J. COLE (of Cochise) - Pedal Steel Guitar and Dobro

PAT DONALDSON (of Dantalian's Chariot, Poet And The One Man Band and Fotheringay) – Fender Bass

GERRY CONWAY (of Fairport Convention) - Drums

Guests:

OLLIE HALSALL (of Patto and Kevin Ayers Band) - Lead Guitar on "Speed Well"

SONNY FRANCIS - Organ on "Lord Of The Groves"

RAY WEHRSTEIN - Soprano Saxophone on "High Time"

Housed in a pretty card digipak that repro's the original British LP artwork along with a period photo of the guitarist and singer on the inner flap - the 16-page booklet is oversized – the length of the digipak. That allows Roberts to fill it with photos of Jamaica where he had holidayed. That honeymoon sojourn with his wife Jacqui influenced all the songs up to the point where he has even provided a polaroid of the street sign that inspired the song that ends Side 2 – a signpost that is literally painted with the words "53 Miles From Spanish Town" (Spanish Town being the old capitol of Jamaica). In the large amount of text, Roberts also gives us candid paragraphs to the meaning of each song – talks of the impressive line-up of musicians too including their quirks, talents and sometime dodgy personal habits (see list above). But what gets you most is the glorious upgrade in Audio. I had this album for decades and it has never sounded this good.

DENIS BLACKHAM has Remastered Mick Greenwood's catalogue, Ireland's Horslips, England's Fairport Convention offshoot Fotheringay, the 3CD "Meet On The Ledge" Box Set for Island Records in 2008, the Topic Records 7CD Book Set "Three Score And Ten..." from 2009, Robert Plant's solo catalogue "Nine Lives" Box Set, the "Acoustic Folk Box" and even Talk Talk's gorgeous 1986 masterpiece "The Colour Of Spring". And thems is serious credentials in my book. Blackham is an Audio Engineer I seek out - one who gets a natural clarity to his transfers – the music becoming clear without ever being over-amped for the sake of it – and so it is here. Let's get to the songs...

Roberts quite rightly waxes lyrical about the natural ability to amaze of Liverpudlian Ollie Halsall who plays rawkin' guitar on Side 1's opener "Speed Well". The ex Patto axeman would contribute mind-blowing pyrotechnics the following year to Kevin Ayers fifth album track "Didn't Feel Lonely Till I Thought Of You" on "The Confessions Of Dr. Dream And Other Stories" album released May 1974 on Island Records. I mention this track alongside 1973's "Speed Well" because both are not love/misery songs about ladies - but drugs - Amphetamine Sulphates to mention but a few - which would finally do for OH in 1992. I like the song - first fast - then slow - but those lyrics about the pure as snow being the only friend he knows now feel so ominous. "Clowns On The Road" is the first to exude those 'island' rhythms before BJ Cole's Pedal Steel and Mick Kaminski's violin turn it into a Country Rock lurch about bands on the road (not my fave on the album really).

Better is five and half-minutes of "Lord Of The Groves" which feels the most Plainsong tune on the LP until it descends into an ill-advised island rhythm about cocoanut trees and the 'Yellow Disease' that was slowly killing them. Sonny Francis plays 'authentic' Reggae Hammond Organ on the track. "Bottom Of The Garden" clocks in at just 2:19 minutes, a fiddle and Dobro ditty (BJ Cole on Dobro) with Zoot Money on Electric Piano. Back to some great slide Dobro on "Kid Jealousy" - the Bluesiest tune on the LP - Gerry Conway of Fairport on Drums. 

And on it goes to a slew of extras some of which appeared in versions on his first LP for Elektra "Urban Cowboy" released June 1973 in the UK on Elektra Records K 42139. As I said earlier, Andy Roberts would be with Grimms for two albums of their catalogue including their largely risible third and last LP called "Sleepers" on DJM Records in November 1976 - his song "Bluebird Morning" being just about the prettiest thing on that record (Sanctuary Records featured it on their 2CD Anthology set "Just For The Record..." that covered all of AR's career - see my review).

"Andy Roberts And The Great Stampede" is not as I said earlier a lost masterpiece by any means, but there is something about his voice and his playing and his way with a melody that makes me return to his stuff again and again - a sort of Plainsong mates with the lilt of McGuinness Flint by way of The Band - all of which sounds to me like a damn good musical combo of influences. And the boys at Skye Mastering have done his recorded legacy proud with this Reissue and Remaster.

So while you might not want to trample over women and children and small baby seals to get to "...The Great Stampede", I'd consider a leisurely stroll to its aural delights at the very least. Lovely - investigate and enjoy...

"Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" by ELTON JOHN – January 1973 UK and US Eight Studio Album on DJM Records and Uni Records in the USA – featuring Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson with Lyrics by Bernie Taupin and Arrangements by Paul Buckmaster (May 1995 UK Mercury Records/The Rocket Co Ltd CD Reissue – Expanded Edition in 'The Classic Years' Series with Four Bonus Tracks – Gus Dudgeon Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 299 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book 

US AND THEM - 1973

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional 

CD Reissues and Remasters 

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45's...

All In-Depth Reviews From The Discs Themselves - Over 2,200 E-Pages

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

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"...Keeping The Classroom Sane..."

I'll come clean here - I have a few genuine pet hates in music and the abomination that is "Crocodile Rock" is right up there with Eurovision drivel and tomcat poo. 

But that single-song hiccup aside, re-listening to the songsmith class on show in the opening trio alone - "Daniel", "Teacher I Need You" (lyrics above) and "Elderberry Wine" - it doesn't surprise me in the least that Elton's eight studio album went to No. 1 on both sides of the pond in that huge year for him, Bernie Taupin and his band – 1973. 

Plus, it had 'artwork' – those great days back in the Seventies when people took these things seriously and the makers of albums knew it. That 12-page booklet sleeve was a fab thing to behold and still is – full-colour plates, sepia tinted photos and all the lyrics in large type. It was lavish and gave the album a feeling of 'event'. The 20-page CD booklet does reasonably well repro-ing all of it – also throwing in new JOHN TOBLER liner notes that do a typically bang-up job of explaining the history and the heartache. To the music...

UK released May 1995 - "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" by ELTON JOHN on Mercury/The Record Co Ltd 528 154-2 (Barcode 731452815422) is an Expanded Edition in 'The Classic Years' CD Reissue and Remaster Series. It has Four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (56:25 minutes):

1. Daniel [Side 1]

2. Teacher I Need You

3. Elderberry Wine 

4. Blues For My Baby And Me 

5. Midnight Creeper 

6. Have Mercy On The Criminal [Side 2]

7. I'm Going To Be A Teenage Idol

8. Texas Love Song

9. Crocodile Rock 

10. High Flying Bird 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his sixth studio album (eight overall) "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" – released 22 January 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJLPH 427 and 26 January 1973 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-2100. Produced by GUS DUDGEON – it peaked at No. 1 on the LP charts in both countries. It was also his second No. 1 in the USA after 1972's "Honky Chateau". 

BONUS TRACKS: 

11. Screw You (Young Man's Blues)

Track 11 is the Non-LP 45-single B-side of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" released September 1973 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 285 - credited as "Screw You". The 45-single for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was issued in the USA in October 1973 on MCA Records MCA-40148 but with the B-side credited as "Young Man's Blues" – hence the two titles for the same song. 

12. Jack Rabbit 

13. Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)

Tracks 12 and 13 were the Non-LP B-sides of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" issued June 1973 as a 3-Track EP in the UK on DJM Records DJX 502. 

14. Skyline Pigeon (Piano Version)

Track 14 is the Non-LP Version B-side of "Daniel" - a March 1973 US 45-single on MCA Records MCA-40046. The original version of "Skyline Pigeon" was one of the highlights on Elton’s 1969 debut album "Empty Sky" – this 1973 recorded version features EJ on Piano rather than Harpsichord. The UK 45 (released January 1973) on DJM Records DJS 275 has the same B-side. 

Elton had met the legendary American comedian Grouch Marx in Hollywood where the sharpest tongue amongst the Marx Brothers jabbed at the wildly dressed Englishman that our Reg probably had his name round back-to-front. In an off-the-cuff reply, EJ spat out the album’s title and so it came to pass that "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" became the album title. It was all done in jest of course. In fact, if you look to the right of the box office booth on the front sleeve, you will see a small billboard advertising their 1940 Marx Brothers screwball masterpiece "Go West" as a tribute to that moment.

Original Producer GUS DUDGEON handled the Remaster and explains in the booklet that after some 20-plus years those master tapes needed some transfer love - and he has done them proud. There is amazing clarity in the piano and humming opening to deep dive tracks like "High Flying Bird" (raven in the night time) or the Davey Johnstone guitars and Paul Buckmaster Strings doing battle in "Have Mercy On The Criminal" before they fade into the back of the mix in that out-to-kill piano section. There is a warmth too when those acoustic guitars pop out of the left and right speakers in "Blues For My Baby And Me". The bonus tracks feature the buckshot mandolin hootenanny "Jack Rabbit" - but far better is "When You're Ready..." - left poor Elton on the weekend - a dirty and lowdown trick - a B-side hat could easily have been on the main album (Davey Johnstone putting in some fantastic slide guitar). And on it goes...Daniel leaving on a plane...

Although "Piano" is somehow forgotten now and in many ways overshadowed by the double-album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" that would annihilate all comers in October 1973 (another No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic) – real EJ fans hold a candle for the gems inside its elaborate booklet sleeve - and the evidence is here. 

In fact, as a sort-of viable alternative, a fan might want to pop their wallets open a bit wider and go for the Japanese SHM-CD Reissue of August 2019 in all its Mini LP repro artwork glory. Mercury UICY-78960 (Barcode 4988031340677) uses a new Remaster made in 2018 based on UK original tapes - but it is sans those great four bonuses, which feels like a bit too much of a loss to me. 

"How can I ever get it together...without a wife in line..." - our Reg sang on the brass-cool "Elderberry Wine" all those decades ago. Well he may have taken a few more decades to get it together, but man what a journey he had. 

Whatever 'West' way you 'Go' – this is an Elton John album from a long distant past that still warrants a night out at the aural movies. And it's less than a fiver to Blighty types - brand new...