"Where My Heart Is/Pure Love/A Legend In My Time/Night Things" by RONNIE MILSAP – US Studio Albums from September 1973 (Where My Heart Is), April 1974 (Pure Love), February 1975 (A Legend In My Time) and November 1975 (Night Things) all on RCA Victor Records – featuring The Jordanaires and The Nashville Edition on Vocals with Guitarists Chip and Reggie Young, Harmonica by Charlie McCoy and Keyboardist Bobby Wood of The Memphis Boys (November 2019 UK Beat Goes On Compilation – 4LPs Remastered onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Comin' Down With Love... "

You might forgive a blind-from-birth North Carolina lad an ego-tripping-out moment in 1975 by issuing an album actually entitled "A Legend In My Time". But although (truth be told) Milsap means little in Rock circles - Robbinsville’s finest actually is a legend in others – namely Country Music. 

Ronnie Milsap has clocked up an astonishing 35 No. 1 hits on the US Country Billboard charts and the multi-instrument playing prodigy has also placed as many as 18 of his 28 albums to date. Four are presented here from 1973, 1974 and 1975 when he was signed to RCA Victor, two of which crossed over into the Rock arena. There's a ton of stuff to wade through, so let's sing some overdue praises...

UK released 29 November 2019 - "Where My Heart Is/Pure Love/A Legend In My Time/Night Things" by RONNIE MILSAP on Beat Goes on Records BGOCD 1402 (Barcode 5017261214027) offers Four Albums On Two Discs from 1973, 1974 and 1975 all originally on RCA Victor Records and plays out as follows: 

CD1 (56:34 minutes): 

1. That Girl Who Waits On Tables [Side 1]

2. I Hate You 

3. You're Stronger Than Me

4. Branded Man 

5. Where Love Goes When It Dies 

6. Brothers, Strangers And Friends [Side 2]

7. (All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart 

8. Comin' Down With Love 

9. Pass Me By 

10. You're Drivin' Me Out Of Your Mind 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his second studio album "Where My Heart Is" – released September 1973 in the USA on RCA Victor Records APL1-0338 and January 1974 in the UK on RCA Victor Records APL1-0338. Produced by JACK D. JOHNSON and TOM COLLINS – it peaked at No. 5 on the US Country LP charts (didn't chart UK). Guest Vocalists were The Jordanaires and The Nashville Edition.

11. My Love Is Deep, My Love Is Wide [Side 1]

12. Amazing Love 

13. Pure Love 

14. Four Walls 

15. Streets Of Gold 

16. Love The Second Time Around [Side 2]

17. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends 

18. All The Roads (Lead Back To You) 

19. Behind Closed Doors 

20. Blue Ridge Mountains Turnin' Green 

Tracks 11 to 20 are his third studio album "Pure Love" – released April 1974 in the USA on RCA Victor APL1-0500 and June 1974 in the UK on RCA Victor APL1-0500. Produced by JACK D. JOHNSON and TOM COLLINS – it peaked at No. 8 on the US Country LP charts (didn't chart UK). Guest Vocalists were The Jordanaires and The Nashville Edition.

CD2 (59:40 minutes):

1. The Busiest Memory In Town [Side 1]

2. Too Late To Worry, Too Blue To Cry 

3. (I'd be) A Legend In My Time

4. The Biggest Lie 

5. Cookin' Country 

6. She Came Here For The Change [Side 2]

7. I'll Leave This World Loving You 

8. I'm Still Not Over You 

9. I Honestly Love You 

10. Clap Your Hands 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his fourth studio album "A Legend In My Time" - released February 1975 in the USA on RCA Victor Records APL1-0846 and April 1975 in the UK on RCA Victor Records LSA 3209. Produced by JACK D. JOHNSON and TOM COLLINS - it peaked at No. 4 on US Country LP charts (peaked No. 138 on the Rock LP charts) - didn't chart UK. Guest Vocals were by The Nashville Edition.

11. (After Sweet Memories) Play Born To Lose Again [Side 1]

12. Who'll Turn Out The Lights (in Your World Tonight)

13. Daydreams About Night Things 

14. I'm No Good At Goodbyes 

15. Just In Case 

16. Remember To Remind Me (I'm Leaving) [Side 2]

17. Borrowed Angel 

18. Love Takes A Long Time To Die

19. (Lying Here With) Linda On My Mind

20. I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) 

Tracks 11 to 20 are his sixth studio album "Night Things" - released November 1975 in the USA on RCA Victor Records APL1-1223 and March 1976 in the UK on RCA Victor Records LSA 3261. Produced by JACK D. JOHNSON and TOM COLLINS – it peaked at No. 2 on the US Country LP Charts (No. 191 on the Rock LP charts) - didn't chart UK. Guests included Guitarists Chip and Reggie Young, Harmonica by Charlie McCoy and Keyboardist Bobby Wood of The Memphis Boys. 

Beats Goes On Records of the UK have been doing Folk, Folk Rock, Country and Country Rock reissues like this for many years now and they have it down to a fine art. The outer card slipcase lends the presentation a classy edge, whilst the 20-page booklet repro's the original LP credits and trumps up new liner notes from veteran writer JOHN O'REGAN that fills out Milsap's entire career and not just the Seventies LPs offered here. He also notes Internet Sources. 

Then of course, there's the sheer value for money - four big-charting LPs from his primo period in the 70ts Remastered onto 2CDs by ANDREW THOMPSON (BGO's resident and much experienced Audio Engineer) - all of it sounding pucker and lickety-split. These were RCA Victor albums and so had very high production values in the first place and the Remaster has only brought this out. To the music...

By the time this 2CD set starts (April 1973) - Milsap had already been with Scepter Records since 1963 and Warner Brothers in the early Seventies - an old-hand on the Country scene in other words. RCA issued his first 45 in May 1973 - two sauntering cuts off the "Where My Heart Is" LP - "(All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart" b/w "I Hate You". Songs like "You're Drivin' Me Out Of Your Mind" and "Brothers, Strangers And Friends" are dripping in pedal steel guitar - heartaches, make-ups and kissing all the wrong girls thereafter are grist for the mill here. 

Themes of worthiness fill "Amazing Love" with pathos even if the slightly cheesy piano fills threaten to schmaltz things up just a little too much. His prettiness with a melody shows in "Please Don't Tell How The Story Ends" where RM sounds not unlike Charlie Rich's younger brother (he covers "Behind Closed Doors"). More pedal steel, more toasts to her next-in-line broken-heart fill "The Busiest Memory In Town" while the popular ballad "I'll Leave This World Loving You" ratchets up the strings. And on it goes...

For sure there are many (especially in Rock circles) who will feel that much of this is cheesy music that hasn't worn the years well (it is like that in places). But if you're a fan, and you like Country tunes that weep and wail but eventually feel better - then once again England's BGO have done the business by his legacy - great presentation and above all great audio...

"Déjà vu" by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG – March 1970 Second Studio Album on Atlantic Records and First As A Four-Piece featuring Added Players Dallas Taylor and Greg Reeves – Guests Included Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead, John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful and Jack Nitzsche with Joni Mitchell Guesting On One Track In The Bonus Material (May 2021 UK Rhino '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 5-Disc LP-Sized Hardback Book Presentation (4CDs and 1 VINYL LP) with Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Never Mind The Déjà vu - Dig The Déjà now..."

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's highly-anticipated second album "Déjà vu" (it had advance orders of 2-million copies - a huge number for the day) hit US shops in early March 1970 on Atlantic Records (the 11th to be exact).

So this '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 5-Disc of "Déjà vu" by CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG celebration of 4CDs and 1 VINYL LP on Atlantic/Rhino R2 625238 - Barcode 60349784027 (UK released Friday, 14 May 2021) is technically a whole year and a bit late to the nostalgia party - delayed of course by COVID-19.

But first out of the cardboard container carton and it's an impressive LP-Sized beast indeed. The gold-sticker on the shrink-wrap doesn't have anywhere to go once you open it, nor does the attached details page on the rear which is impractical to say the least – so I put them carefully on the inside and I suggest you do the same.

What’s new? Of the 38 tracks outside the album across CDs 2, 3 and 4 - 29 versions are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED with the remaining 9 having been on preceding compilations and reissues.

CD1: 36:21 minutes (Remastered Album, 10 Tracks)

CD2: 70:36 minutes (Demos, 18 Tracks) – All Tracks Unreleased except 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 16 which were previously made available on compilations issued between 1991 and 2018

CD3: 43:00 minutes (Outtakes, 11 Tracks) – All Tracks Unreleased except 5

CD4: 41:26 minutes (Alternates, 9 Tracks) - All Tracks Unreleased except 4

VINYL LP (Housed Inside The Book Flap, 10 Tracks)

Artwork - those of us that were there (and not square as we used to say) will remember with huge affection that fantastic pimpled hardback book-cover sleeve with its pasted-on photo. Word was that a single album cover cost Atlantic Records something like 79c in 1970 and 89c for a the undiluted luxury of a gatefold. But this elaborate baby put them back just under two dollars - hence there is a note from Atlantic Records reproduced in the 20-page booklet that tells retailers this LP will sell for $5.99 RRP which was way pricey for the time.

But is this 4CD/1LP version worth £65.00? Yes and no. The 20-page booklet is a lovely thing to look at - but at only 20-pages and despite Cameron Crowe's cool new liner notes (with photos from Band Archivist Joel Bernstein) - feels a tad slight after such a long wait for this classic album. Many of the 1969 photos are of a six-piece group - Bassist Dallas Taylor and Drummer Greg Reeves of course making up band-members five and six and quite rightly credited as such on the front cover (albeit in lower case). The ace in the hole lies in the new mastering.

The AUDIO Remaster by CHRIS BELLMAN at Bernie Grundman Mastering is stupendous - so much clearer and warmer for the album proper, but unbelievably, just the same for 'most' of the demos on Disc 2. They are not all clear - the first two have remained unreleased for obvious hissy reasons and the much-vaulted duet on "Our House" with Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell is rubbish sounding - a cute time-capsule moment you will listen to once and quickly forget. But there are loads of others that are simply stunning. If anything - I found Disc 2 just as good a listen (albeit more unplugged acoustic) as the main event. That almost studio-quality demo of the title track "Déjà vu" is hair-raisingly good and so sophisticated too.

So why only four-stars and not a stonking five? Disc 3 offers ten 'Outtakes' - or a possible third album (the one that never appeared). But man does it let the side down. Much of it is wholly uninspired and so disappointing - ending in an abomination called "Right On Rock 'n' Roll". The better tracks like "Ivory Tower" and "Bluebird Revisited" are stuff we already have albeit here in different form. The versions of Crosby's brilliant "Laughing" and "The Lee Shore" with the 1969 Vocal rather than the one re-recorded for the 1991 CSN box are good too. But the six others are iffy to my ears and kind of ruin their mystique (if that makes sense). But then – yet again - and as you are just about to write-off the set of a could-have-been a barnstormer - Disc 4 up and whomps you in the aural gonads with alternatives that are fabulous too – that Harmonica Version of "Helpless" being particularly brill. Guests on the main album including Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead playing Steel Guitar on "Teach The Children", John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful playing Harmonica on "Déjà vu" and Jack Nitzsche giving it some Electric Piano on "Country Girl".

What of the nine that have been issued before? Clearly marked as such, these alternates turned up mostly on Solo Career retrospectives across the years (Stills' "Carry On", Nash's "Reflections", Crosby's "Voyager" and of course Neil Young's Archive Series) - so you're buying them twice effectively if like me you've diligently collected anything CSNY. In fact there is a noticeable withholding of ace material - Neil Young fans will notice only one - a demo of "Birds". But I can tell you, it's bloody gorgeous and again unbelievable that something this good stayed in the can all these decades. And those already-issued nine were used on previous CD sets for a 'reason' - they're damn good and came with ace almost immaculate audio - so anyone coming to this project fresh-faced will be amazed by them too. 

To sum up - the 5-Disc '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' of "Déjà vu" is overly expensive for what you get. But is it worth the spondulicks? Ab-so-bloody-lutely! The presentation feels and oozes class, the CD audio is gorgeous and the Previously Unreleased stuff contains actual bonuses worthy of the name.

Even on an off day - CSNY's noodling of half a century ago feels like genuine magic in 2021 - and that happened every time they opened their mouths or picked up a guitar. I can't believe that it's taken over 50 years for the many gems on this belated celebration to see the light of day. Bottom-line - never mind the Déjà vu, dig the Déjà now...

"Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" by BOBBY WOMACK – July 1973 and May 1975 US LPs on United Artists - September 1973 and May 1975 UK (September 2004 UK-Only Stateside Compilation – 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD - Steve Rooke Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

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"...Check It Out..."

Bobby Womack's fab ninth album (eight studio set) "I Don't Know What The World Coming To" from May 1975 rose to the peak of No. 20 on the US R&B LP charts. Perhaps not the dizzying heights of his five-album run that preceded it - from "Communication" in 1971 to "Lookin' For A Love Again" in 1974 – those LPs achieving chart-placing numbers like No. 7, 7, 6, 6 and 5 (impressive stuff for the Seventies when copy numbers sold were large). But despite not breaking the top 10 as he used to do - "...World Is Coming To" was nonetheless a welcome return of a great Soul Man. 

And it's been cleverly coupled here on this UK-EUROPE-only 2LPs-onto-1CD reissue with the "Facts Of Life" album from July 1973 (one of those number-six chart placing LPs named above). There's a lot to wade through, so lets 'Check It Out'...

UK/EUROPE released 24 September 2004 - "Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" by BOBBY WOMACK on Stateside 874 4032 (Barcode 724387440326) offers 2LPs from 1974 and 1975 (originally on United Artists Records) Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (75:10 minutes): 

1. Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out [Side 1]

2. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You 

3. If You Can't Give Her Love Give Her Up 

4. That's Heaven To Me 

5. Medley: Holding on To My Baby's Love / Nobody 

6. Medley: Fact Of Life / He'll Be There When The Sun Goes Down [Side 2]

7. Can't Stop A Man In Love 

8. The Look Of Love 

9. Natural Man 

10. All Along The Watchtower 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his seventh album (sixth studio set) "Facts Of Life" - released July 1973 in the USA on United Artists UA-LA043-F and September 1973 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29456. Produced by BOBBY WOMACK - it peaked at No. 6 on the US R&B LP charts (No. 37 on the Rock & Pop LP charts) - didn't chart UK. "Facts Of Life" featured Keyboardists Clayton Ivey and Barry Beckett with Guitarists Dave Turner, Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carr, David Hood on Bass and Rodger Hawkins on Drums with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section 

11. Interlude No. 1 / I Don't Know [Side 1]

12. Superstar 

13. (If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It

14. Git It

15. What's Your World 

16. Check It Out [Side 2]

17. Interlude No. 2

18. Jealous Love 

19. It's All Over Now 

20. Yes, Jesus Loves Me 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his ninth album (eight studio set) "I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" - released May 1975 in the USA on United Artists UA-LA353-G and May 1975 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29762. Produced by BOBBY WOMACK – it peaked at No. 20 on the US R&B LP charts (No. 126 on the US Pop & Rock LP charts) – didn’t chart UK. "I Don't Know What The World Coming To" featured Keyboardists David Foster, Truman Thomas, Leon Ware with Pedal Steel Guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow with Glen Goins of Parliament/Funkadelic and Bill Withers Guest Vocals on one track and Linda Laurence of The Supremes on another.

The 12-page booklet has some decent shots from the "I Don't Know..." album cover sessions nestled amongst DEAN RUDLAND liner notes that loosely fill out the period details while the last pages line up track-by-track details and reissue credits. But the big news is freshly minted Abbey Road Remasters done by STEVE ROOKE in the famous British Studios. They feel so much better than the neither-here-nor-there audio given to those earlier Charly reissues. This feels like a proper upgrade, and the music on both LPs matches that.  

A sexy bass-line opens "Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out" where at first BW is taking his friends out for a mighty good time, but as soon as the money is gone - so are his so-called buddies. I love this tune - guitars and Soul and Funk - it feels like Bobby Bland's "Dreamer" or "His California Album" from the same period on Dunhill Records (genius LPs). The smooch starts with a chat from the man about women doing him wrong (who knew). But Bobby soon reconciles his woes with a dirty chuckle as he opens "If You Can't Give Her Love, Give Her Up" - where he pleads with his crew to stop messing with the ladies - a sexy brass and keyboard combo sound lifting it up. Next up is a lovely cover of Sam Cooke's "That's Heaven To Me" - heavy on the strings and the ooh vocals. A two-track medley (first part co-written with George Jackson and Raymond Moore) "Holdin' On To My Baby's Love" segues into "Nobody" - short for snippets of Track 1 "Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out". 

On Side 2 Bobby tries another talking medley in the album's title track "Facts Of Life" where he picks up a lady giving him vibes after a show but has a hard time convincing her that its her mind he wants and not no-talk just action in the hotel bedroom. Better is "Can't Stop A Man In Love" followed by a slew of covers - Bacharach & David's "The Look Of Love", Carole King's "Natural Woman" (made famous by Aretha Franklin) and Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". As cool as they are for Soul re-interpretations, the only one I really like is the wah-wah guitar-heavy "Watchtower" where Bobby comes on like The Isley Brothers. 

Album number two opens with sisters and brothers shooting each other in American cities gripped by drugs and out-of-control crime "Interlude/I Don't Know" reflecting the genuine worry he has in the very LP title. Cecil & Bobby penned "Superstar" – a warning song about kids with stars in their eyes and the creeps who will turn that dream into a nightmare. Better is "If You Want My Love, Put Something Down On It" with its Curtis Mayfield groove - familiar string refrain and those hard 'n' ruff tumbles you take when you're in love. "Git It" is a funky keyboard strut co-written with Leon Ware that feels like Dexter Wansel had a baby with The Isley Brothers rhythm section before James Brown and The O'Jays join in for the shouts and oohs at the end (the Remaster is fantastic). 

Keyboardist Leon Ware also contributed "What's Your World" - a soulful guitar-shimmy where Cindy Scott (real name Sundray Tucker) gives Bobby answer-vocals to his every question while the fabulous brass elevates its cool feel (stunning guitar-work too from Glen Goins of Parliament and Funkadelic fame). "Check It Out" - an infectious 'somethin's on yer mind' dancer was the first 45 off the album in March 1975 with "Interlude No. 2" on the flipside (United Artists UA-XW621-X). Everyone's fave singer Bill Withers does duet vocals with Bobby on an update of "It's All Over Now" and it ends with a reaffirmation of his deeply held religious beliefs on "Yes, Jesus Loves Me". 

These are two great albums from Womack – neither a masterpiece really but both chock full of enough goodies to make you want to press replay. And isn't that the best way to remember him...

List of the BOBBY WOMACK Twofer Compilations on 

UK-Only EMI/Stateside CD Reissue and Remaster Series

1. Fly Me To The Moon/My Prescription 

January 1969 and May 1970 US LPs on Minit in Stereo (no UK releases)

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0592 (Barcode 724386605924)

NOTE: the UK catalogue number is miscredited on the rear inlay as 866 0782 which is the Understanding/Communication set – should read 866 0592

2. The Womack "Live"/Safety Zone 

March 1971 on Liberty and October 1975 US LPs on United Artists 

February 1976 UK LP on United Artists only for Safety Zone (no UK for "Live")

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0802 (Barcode 724386608024) 

3. Understanding/Communication

September 1971 (Communication) and March 1972 (Understanding) US LPs 

June and September 1972 UK LPs on United Artists 

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0782 (Barcode 724386607829)

4. Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To

July 1973 and May 1975 US LPs on United Artists 

September 1973 and May 1975 UK LPs on United Artists 

24 September 2004 UK CD on Stateside 874 4032 (Barcode 724387440326)

5. Lookin' For A Love Again/B.W. Goes C.W

January 1974 and June 1976 US LP on United Artists 

April 1974 and August 1976 UK LPs on United Artists 

24 September 2004 UK CD on Stateside 874 4062 (Barcode 724387440623)

"The Who By Numbers" by THE WHO – October 1975 UK LP on Polydor Records (MCA Records in the USA) featuring Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon with Nicky Hopkins guesting on Piano (December 1996 UK Polydor 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks - Jon Astley/Bob Ludwig Remixes/Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

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CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves 

(No Cut And Paste Crap) 

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"...Control Myself..."

"No easy way to be free – I'm a soldier at 63 – off to the civil war... " - Daltrey snarled on "Slip Kid". Further into the LP "Success Story" echoes that weariness again, "This used to be fun..."

Ten years together burning down that Rock and Roll road, in 1975 The Who were battling internal demons that threatened to rip them apart. Principal songwriter and spiritual soldier Pete Townshend (turning 30) was clearly questioning where they fit in after a disconcerting American Tour that he felt had reduced them to an oldies act where fans only wanted what had gone before and not what was new – break yer guitar and give us a jump – they demanded. 

PT didn't feel inclined any more to oblige. With Punk whiffing at their heels (they even prophetically cite Punks in the lyrics to "They Are All In Love") - were The Who the greatest R&R band ever as so many had claimed - or were they fast becoming a cliché that could no longer be sustained? Townshend needed to answer all these questions and more and much of that turmoil and searching came out in this 'maturely' worded LP.

Put down at Shepperton Sound Stage using Ronnie Lane's Mobile in April and May 1975 - The Who's seventh album is certainly a professionally recorded affair (this CD sounds so damn good). But I recall that after the mighty "Quadrophenia" double-LP-splurge of 1973 on Track Records – "The Who By Numbers" had huge boots to fill – and many felt this single LP with its rather naff Entwistle-designed join-the-dots numbered sleeve barely squeezed into the left foot never mind both plates of meat.

But as with so much around them, time has been kinder to the 'oo' and this 1996 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of "...By Numbers" is a wee belter to me – not a masterpiece - but still an album full of songs rather than just bluster and riffage. "I'm dreaming of the day I can share the world... " Townshend channeled on "Dreaming From The Waist" (originally called "Control Myself"). Well, let's wrestle back some of that control and share it again...

UK released December 1996 - "The Who By Numbers" by THE WHO on Polydor 533 844-2 (Barcode 731453384422) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (49:51 minutes): 

1. Slip Kid [Side 1]

2. However Much I Booze 

3. Squeeze Box

4. Dreaming From The Waist 

5. Imagine A Man 

6. Success Story [Side 2]

7. They Are All In Love 

8. Blue Red And Grey 

9. How Many Friends 

10. In A Hand Or A Face 

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "The Who By Numbers" – released 18 October 1975 in the UK on Polydor Records 2490 129 and 25 October 1975 in the USA on MCA Records MCA 2161. Produced by GLYN JOHNS – it peaked at No. 7 and No. 8 in the UK and US LP charts. 

Roger Daltrey on Lead Vocals, Pete Townshend on All Guitars, Keyboards, Lead and Shared Vocals, John Entwistle on Bass and Vocals (Brass and Arrangements on "Blue, Red And Grey"), Keith Moon on Drums with Pianist Nicky Hopkins guesting on "They Are All In Love".  

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Squeeze Box (Live) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

12. Behind Blue Eyes (Live) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

13. Dreaming From The Waist (Live)

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 recorded live at Swansea Football Ground on 12 June 1976 – Track 13 first issued June 1994 and only available on the 4CD Box Set "Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B"

The poster to THE WHO 'Put The Boot In' 1976 UK Tour with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers on the same bill (what a line-up) fills Page 23 of the 24-page booklet. It's there because it lists the Swansea Football Ground gig of 12 June 1976 – the date for the two Previously Unreleased Live Tracks. But I’m disappointed to once again not see the lyrics in a reissue of this most literate of Who albums. All that searching and life observation and social commentary is absent and I really think if there is ever a 2CD Deluxe Edition of this album, the brilliant and highly literate lyrics should be present. 

What you do get is new JOHN SWENSON liner notes and classy black and white live shots of the band on their 1975 and 1975 tours. Swenson also gives indepth insights into each and every song and along with Townshend and Entwistle recollections of old, all of it gives you a fuller picture of an album many have written off over the years. The tapes (and reissue) were prepared by long-time Who-associates and archivists JON ASTLEY and ANDY MacPHERSON with Remasters done by the legendary BOB LUDWIG and as I said earlier, this is full WHO sound and the CD properly rocks because of it. To the music... 

"Slip Kid" kicks open proceedings strongly, Daltrey's voice full of ballsy maturity as he snarls out words about a second-generation lad who already feels he's faking it. 13 going on 63 – well, is he going to die inside and out before he gets old? But best of all is that fabulous guitar-solo towards the end - the remaster lifting it up - PT's playing inspired and not just impressive (he never gets enough credit for what a good player he is). Things darken on the PT-sung "However Much I Booze" – our man having been on a bender – shakily picking through his thoughts the morning after – at the least the one he can remember. The strummed acoustics combined with a jaunty guitar and drums backbeat gives it an almost upbeat Country-Rock lilt, like a ditty, but with lyrics that namecheck Brandy and no way out and a destiny he can’t seem to prevent, it has a walls-closing-in dark heart. 

By immediate contrast, the Daddy-never-sleeps-at-night saucy banjo-soloing "Squeeze Box" is great fun and a typically cool WHO song. Issued 9 January 1976 in the UK, Polydor 2121 275 featured the superb "Success Story" on the flipside. The British 45 gave them a No. 10 chart hit whilst it had been issued November 1975 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-40475 in an album-artwork picture sleeve that attained a No. 16 chart position. In some ways it’s decidedly odd that such a ‘fun’ tune is associated with an album mired in such personal turmoil. Both "Dreaming From The Waist" and the Side 1 finisher "Imagine A Man" are up there in my Who books – especially the strangely beautiful acoustic-led "Imagine A Man" where Roger Daltrey's expressive voice elevates PT's poetic lyrics (gorgeous clarity too).

A Rock and Roll singer is on television giving up his music for religion in "Success Story" - a tune I always thought a winner. Ace sessionman Nicky Hopkins lends his distinctive and lovely piano playing to "They Are All In Love" - a sort of kids-are-alright homage from Townshend to the young. And once again on "Success Story" he lambastes his musical output as 'recycling trash' (a tad unfair), while the recrimination goes even further on the core-deep "How Many Friends" - a song so personal it actually makes for affection and uncomfortable listening at one and the same time. Out comes the George Fornby Ukulele for the quietly lovely "Blue, Red And Grey" - Bassist Entwistle stepping up the plate with truly gorgeous Silver Brass fills (he arranged them too). The LP ends with the riffage of "In A Hand Or A Face" - a reflection on society's inequalities - going round and round - one man sipping champagne while another goes through your dustbin looking for food. 

We get to hear Keith Moon work the crowd for the unreleased live cut of "Squeeze Box" (introduces the song) - Townshend turning it into a guitar-driven beast (no banjo in sight). In fact the last minute of it is a witty intro to "Behind Blue Eyes" (Keith Moon left the stage) - and it's really good. My love is vengeance that is never free - Daltrey and Entwistle holding it intact as Pete strums that "Who's Next" gem. And the live cut of the LP’s "Dreaming From The Waist" turns into a barnstormer – a genuinely great addition and not surprising it was included on the 30 Years Box set. 

The more I rehear this 1975 WHO album, the more I realize I dismissed it all too easily back in the day. "Imagine a man tied up in life...a road so long...you will see the end..." I can’t imagine a world where my love of The Who will ever diminish and this cool CD only reaffirms that... 

"The Best Years Of Our Lives" by STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL – March 1975 UK Third Studio Album on EMI Records featuring Steve Harley, Jim Cregan, Stuart Elliott, Duncan Mackay and George Ford with Guest Vocalists Liza Strike, Linda Lewis, Tina Charles, Martin Jay and Yvonne Keeley (August 2018 UK 3CD-Only Reissue on Chrysalis Records in a Mini Clamshell Box Set (no DVD) with Andy Pearce Remasters – Originally A 2014 UK 4-Disc Box Set on Parlophone/EMI) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Mad Moonlight..."

What we have here is a reissue of a reissue – but one that still rocks as good as the first outing. 

29 May 2014 finally saw the UK end of Parlophone/EMI reissue their brilliant Alan Parsons-Produced 1975 third studio album "The Best Years Of Our Lives" as a 'Definitive Edition' remaster with mucho Bonus Material (the first credited to Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel rather than just the band). 

Parlophone/EMI EMCDX 3068 came with 3CDs and 1DVD (Barcode 825646343348) – Four Bonus Tracks added on to the album on Disc 1 with a largely unreleased Live Concert spread across Discs 2 and 3. The DVD sported visuals for seven of the fourteen live tracks from the April 1975 London Hammersmith Odeon gig, while an expanded 16-page booklet featured new liner notes from GEOFF BARTON with reminiscences on that manic time from principal songwriter and bandleader, Steve Harley. 

What you have here is a 2018 reissue of that Remastered Mini Box Set that keeps the 3CDs but loses the visuals of the DVD. Here are the man-it-was-mean details...

UK released 22 August 2018 - "The Best Years Of Our Lives" by STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL on Chrysalis CRB 1072 (Barcode 5060516091232) is a 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set Reissue of the May 2014 'Definitive Edition' (minus the DVD) that plays out as follows:

CD1 "The Best Years Of Our Lives" (55:37 minutes):

1. Introducing "The Best Years" - Side 1

2. The Mad, Mad Moonlight 

3. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean) 

4. It Wasn't Me 

5. Panorama 

6. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Side 2

7. Back To The Farm 

8. 49th Parallel 

9. The Best Years Of Our Lives 

Tracks 1 to 9 are their third studio album "The Best Years Of Our Lives" - released March 1975 in the UK on EMI Records EMC 3068 and in the USA on EMI Records ST-11394. Produced by ALAN PARSONS and STEVE HARLEY - it peaked at No. 4 in the UK (didn't chart in the USA). 

BONBUS TRACKS: 

10. Another Journey - 31 January 1975 UK 45-single on EMI Records 2263, Non-Album B-side of "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" 

11. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean) (Single Version) - 16 May 1975 UK 45-single on EMI Records 2299, A-side

12. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) (Rough Mix) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

13. The Best Years Of Our Lives (Acoustic Version) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

CD2 "Live At Hammersmith Odeon, London, 14 April 1975 (Part 1)" (54:06 minutes):

1. The Mad, Mad Moonlight

2. Hideaway 

3. Panorama 

4. Medley: Bed In The Corner/Sweet Dreams/Psychomodo/Sling It!

5. Sebastian 

6. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)

7. Back To The Farm 

Track 1 "The Mad, Mad Moonlight" was first issued 4 November 1975 as the Non-Album B-side to the UK 45-single for "Black Or White"

Tracks 5 "Sebastian" was first issued 16 May 1975 as the Non-Album B-side to the UK 45-single for "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)"

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

CD3 "Live At Hammersmith (Part 2)" (45:40 minutes):

1. 49th Parallel 

2. Death Trip

3. Judy Teen 

4. Mr. Soft 

5. The Best Years Of Our Lives 

6. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)

7. Tumbling Down  

Tracks 1 to 7 all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 

The 16-page booklet for this 'Definitive Edition' offers up eight foreign picture sleeves for the three 45s surrounding the LP - "Make Me Smile...", "Mr. Raffles" and the straggler "Black And White". Band chronicler GEOFF BARTON fills in the discography gaps for out Deptford hero (not quite the Cockney, but a Rebel nonetheless) with intermissions from Harley explaining how 1975 unfolded - an early No. 1 for "Make Me Smile..." months before the album arrived and a No. 14 slot for the follow-up tale of a con-man "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)". There are other period photos, discussions of his journalistic run-in's with the British Press who seemed to love Cockney Rebel one minute and then loath them the next. Success soon shut them up. 

Mastering is by a name I actively seek out when it comes to Remasters - ANDY PEARCE. Along with his Engineering partner MATT WORTHAM - they've done the Budgie catalogue for Universal, Wishbone Ash, Rory Gallagher, Taste, Free, ELP and loads more. Pearce gets a natural 'feel' to the transfer that is just as well as this album has never really had an audiophile rep. But this version is without doubt the best I've ever heard it. The two discs of live stuff are shockingly good too - punchy and kicking - the band's sound sort of freed by being away from studio trickery. 

After a minute-long fade in, the "Introducing" opening melts into a rapid-paced flirt song called "The Mad, Mad Moonlight" where a 'big girl' asks him upstairs who may or may not be concerned with his/her gender. That synth comes over better and the snarled lyrics kick just as much as they did back in the day. One of the Seventies great slick-willy songs - "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)" lulls you into a false sense of 'walk on the wild side' almost easy listening suave when it's actually a tune about a shifty git who doesn't care who he hurts. Once again that Pearce remaster really kicks in as the keyboards float across your speakers during "It Wasn't Me" - taxis in the early hours - whiffs of withered flowers - accusations from she who has her suspicions about Steve's whereabouts earlier in the evening. Side 1 ends with guest vocalists Liza Strike, Linda Lewis, Tina Charles, Martin Jay and Yvonne Keeley aiding Harley on "Panorama" - a five and half minute opus about the coldness of city life - and with an edit could easily have been another single. 

Side 2 opens with the magical "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" - a tune that feels so sophisticated even now - a genuine slice of Pop greatness and some 45 years after the event - probably played more times on oldies stations than any other Cockney Rebel song. It's rare that you'd call such an overtly pop beat 'beautiful' - but when that organ solo comes sailing in and the girls do their backing vocals magic once again - that was it's number one moment on the hit parade and has been so ever since. "Back To The Farm" gives us six-minutes of paranoia - people listening in - the girls echoed vocals giving the song a Sensational Alex Harvey Band menace (power in those guitars). Things get clavinet funky with "49th Parallel" - probably the best Production on the album - dig that warm and clear Bass underpin. A slow six-minute event-lurch ends the album - "The Best Years Of Our Lives" talking about no room for laughter - changes twisting perceptions - it's an epic tune and the Remaster has lent it real muscle. 

Fans are going to love "Another Journey" being on CD with great sound - a B-side that could easily have been on the album. I was dubious about a 'Rough Mix' of "Make Me Smile..." where his lead vocals seem too weak in the stew but that musical accompaniment is fantastic and the acoustic solo vs. keyboards crescendo still sounding awesome albeit a wee bit different (but not in a bad way). The five and half-minute 'Acoustic' cut of the title track will thrill true SH fans - bare and truthful lyrics you can now actually hear - Harley sounding not unlike Ray Davies of The Kinks giving it some. I like a release like this one where the four bonuses step up to the musical plate and feel like extras you actually want. Amongst the live stuff, Prog fans are going to dig the 14-minutes of "Death Trip" - a sort of Atomic Rooster rocker that meets with Gentle Giant. The crowd joins in for an eleven-minute "Tumbling Down" - the band clearly digging it. 

You could argue that more in the way of unreleased studio stuff would have bolstered an already great package, but even without that visual from the first issue - this is a winner. "Made us happy..." they sang on "Judy Teen". At it again boys...