"The Paul Simon Song Book" by PAUL SIMON – August 1965 UK-only Debut Solo Album (after Simon & Garfunkel) on CBS Records in Mono - Inside "The Complete Albums Collection" (October 2013 UK Sony/Legacy 14-Album/15-CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Repro Slvs and Vic Anesini/Bob Irwin Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

UK-only Debut Solo Album "The Paul Simon Song Book" 

from 1965 on CBS Records in Mono

Remastered Inside "The Complete Albums Collection" Box Set from 2013 

 

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"... A Simple Desultory Philippic..."

 

In April 2015 Paul Simon had a fourth number one album in an incredible and at times choppy career – albeit with a 2CD compilation "The Ultimate Collection" that combined both Simon and Garfunkel with his Solo material for the first time (hit the coveted top spot in the UK). Still life in and fond memories for his beautiful music in all its forms. 

 

Which got in mind of this superb Box Set and his humble 1965 English beginnings for his solo career - "The Paul Simon Song Book". Classy presentation, gorgeous remastered Audio and even Previously Unreleased stuff for those who haven't bought the previous reissues - "The Complete Albums Collection" containing "The Paul Simon Song Book" has also even turned up on sale of late with a price tag that will entice (under twenty quid). 

 

Frankly what's not to love? The man's day job as intelligent generational spokesman seems in tact. Flowers never bend with the rainfall; here are the early patterns...

 

UK released October 2013 – "The Complete Albums Collection" by PAUL SIMON on Sony/Legacy 88691912922 (Barcode 886919129229) is a 14-album/15CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves and Vic Anesini Remasters. Disc 1 represents his debut album as follows:

 

CD1 "The Paul Simon Song Book" (38:48 minutes):

1. I Am A Rock [Side 1]

2. Leaves That Are Green

3. A Church Is Burning

4. April Come She Will

5. The Sound Of Silence

6. A Most Peculiar Man

7. He Was My Brother [Side 2]

8. Kathy’s Song

9. The Side Of A Hill

10. A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission)

11. Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall

12. Patterns

 

BONUS TRACKS:

13. I Am A Rock – Alternate Version

14. A Church Is Burning – Alternate Version

Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut album "The Paul Simon Song Book" – released August 1965 in the UK on CBS Records BPG 62979 (Mono) and CBS SBPG 62979 (Stereo) – the album was recorded in London in June and July 1965. 

 

"The Paul Simon Song Book" was un-issued (at Simon's request) in the USA until the "Collected Works" 5LP Box Set in 1981. First official CD appearance in the USA came in 2004 – that CD using the MONO Mix as does this one. Tracks 13 and 14 are Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks that came with the 2004 CD reissue - Vic Anesini/Bob Irwin Remasters.

 

The 62-page colour booklet is beautifully laid out – full track-by-track annotation (musicians, producers, studios etc) for every album. In-between the pages of info are period black and white photos – guitar on his back for “The Paul Simon Song Book” LP, the straw hat face shot for the “Paul Simon” LP and a live photo of Simon on stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo before the credits for “Graceland”. As fans will already know many of the early albums were remastered in the 2000s by Ted Jensen and Vic Anesini – two names high on the list of those looking for quality audiophile.

 

Produced by STEVE BERKOWITZ and BILL INGLOT, the whole box is listed as being mastering by VIC ANESINI at Sony Music Studios with input from two other giants in the field - GREG CALBI and DAN HERSCH. There are also a couple of pages at the beginning by journalist ASHLEY KAHN on Simon's long and prestigious career. A nice touch is that each CD is a picture disc (usually using the front cover artwork) and 37 Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks accompany the albums (two for the debut).

 

Recorded in June and July 1965 with only 6 and 12-string guitars, the rarely heard debut album "The Paul Simon Song Book" is a straight up Folk record (all songs written by Simon, "He Was My Brother" credited to Paul Kane which is PS under a pseudonym). The Simon & Garfunkel debut LP "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." had arrived October 1964 in the USA but not England and their second platter "Sounds Of Silence" would not show Stateside until January 1966.

 

So what you have here is the solo album in-between and technically the first official album-length issue of Paul Simon material for fans in Blighty. The duplicated S&G tracks are - "The Sound Of Silence", "Leaves That Are Green", "Kathy's Song", "A Most Peculiar Man", "I Am A Rock", and "April Come She Will" – all of which would then get US debuts in re-worked form on the second Simon & Garfunkel album "Sounds Of Silence" issued in January 1966.

 

These solo acoustic versions of classics like "I Am A Rock" and "The Sound Of Silence" are all the more beautiful for their stripped down nature though some will save the addition of Garfunkel's vocals on the S&G takes makes them better. The remaster is seriously tasteful – the ever so slight echo on his vocals for "A Church Is Burning" like he's inside a chapel. While the impossibly pretty "April Comes She Will" sounds like some Traditional Folk song that's come from decades prior (already a classic). His wit is fabulous for "A Simple Desultory Philippic" and "...the man ain't got no culture!" lyrics always make me smile.

 

Like the Simon & Garfunkel debut album that preceded it "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." in late 1964, Paul Simon's summer 1965 acoustic debut is something of a forgotten and abandoned luncheonette – always ignored in favour of the undoubtedly better material to come. 

 

But both have been a blast to listen to again – the simple beauty – the melodies you've forgotten or simply never heard.

 

Split the night and in the naked silence, check out "The Paul Simon Song Book" once more. Like its S&G predecessor with its blurb on the rear cover that promised newcomers exciting new sounds in the Folk Tradition - "The Paul Simon Song Book" is too lovely to leave in an underused box set...

"Lou Reed" by LOU REED – June 1972 US Debut Album on RCA Victor Records (July 1972 UK) – Guests Include Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe of Yes on Keyboards and Guitar, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band on Guitars, Bassists Les Hurdle of The Mohawks wth Brian Odgers of Sweet Thursday and Drummer Clem Cattini of Ugly Custard (February 2000 UK BMG/Camden Deluxe CD Reissue and Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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Lou Reed's Debut LP "Lou Reed" from June 1972 (July 1972 UK) 

Receives a Fabulous CD Remaster in 2000 by Andy Pearce

 

"...Living In A Garbage Pale... "

 

I can't actually imagine another debut album in the early Seventies that loomed with such intense expectation and on initial sales/critical response - died such a genuinely horrible death. "Lou Reed" barely scraped No. 189 on the Billboard Rock LP charts and didn't dent the UK lists at all.

 

The next two Lou Reed solo LPs post Velvet Underground "Transformer" and "Berlin" are blistering solo works and quite rightly met with near biblical adoration – especially the Perfect Day and Walk On The Wild Side languid magic of "Transformer" with David Bowie and Mick Ronson as part of the crew. But poor old eight of the tracks are old VU hand-me-downs "Lou Reed" has always been that runt in the corner – an ignominious fart-start that should have been a flame-thrower.

 

But time, calmer more appreciative heads and legend have followed. a fantastically clear and fresh new Andy Pearce Remaster (well if you call January 2000 new) has dusted down the wild child once more and asked us mere mortals to listen anew. Give that London-recorded upstart a new soother – peel it slowly and see – well, in June 2022 Lou's self-titled half-assed "Lou Reed" debut album is celebrating a 50th Anniversary and I'm up for it. Here is what Lisa and Mark says...

 

UK released 21 February 2000 - "Lou Reed" by LOU REED on BMG/Camden Deluxe 74321 727122 (Barcode 743217271220) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his 1972 Debut Album that plays out as follows (38:44 minutes):

 

1. I Can't Stand It [Side 1]

2. Going Down 

3. Walk And Talk It 

4. Lisa Says 

5. Berlin 

6. I Love You [Side 2]

7. Wild Child 

8. Love Makes You Feel 

9. Ride Into The Sun 

10. Ocean 

Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut album "Lou Reed" - released 21 June 1972 in the USA on RCA Victor Records LSP-4701 and July 1972 in the UK on RCA Victor SF 8281. Produced RICHARD ROBINSON and LOU REED - all songs written by Lou Reed.  

LOU REED - Guitar and Lead Vocals

CALEB QUAYE (of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band) - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Piano 

STEVE HOWE (of Yes) - Electric Guitar 

PAUL KEOGH - Electric Guitar 

RICK WAKEMAN (ex Strawbs, with Yes) - Piano 

LES HURDLE (of The Mohawks) - Bass Guitar 

BRIAN ODGERS (of Sweet Thursday) - Bass Guitar 

CLEM CATTINI (of Ugly Custard) - Drums and Percussion

KAY GARNER and HELENE FRANCOIS - Vocal Harmonies on Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9

 

I know some copies of this CD were issued in a card wrap, most aren't now. The 12-page booklet features illuminating and in-depth liner notes from noted writer and reviewer DAVID FRICKE done in New York, January 2000. Alongside period photos, Fricke includes Lou's own comments in 1972 interviews as to why the LP met with such a lukewarm response. The final pages give you original album and CD reissue credits. For me, part of the excitement of this release is an ANDY PEARCE Remaster from original tapes - and what a stunning job he's done. There is such clarity here and even if the playing still feels like they're an outsider's band and not Lou's backing group, the AUDIO is really great. 

 

The guest list for his debut LP was impressive - Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe of Yes on Keyboards and Guitar, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band on Guitars and Piano, Bassists Les Hurdle of The Mohawks with Brian Odgers of Sweet Thursday and Drummer Clem Cattini of Ugly Custard (said to be on 45 number 1 singles and once considered to be the drummer in Page's formative Led Zeppelin years). Throw in the girly vocals of Kay Garner and Helene Francois bolstering up five songs in that so Lou Reed arrangements kind of way, and it was all so promising. But then as Side 1 progressed and you flipped over to Side 2, that sinking feeling crept in and you began looking for magic that just didn't seem to want to turn up. To the music...

 

I know others dismiss it (which I find odd), but I have always held a candle for the opening number "I Can't Stand It" on Side 1 - a very Lou Reed post Velvets belter where he even comes across a tad Marc Bolan/T.Rex vocally and stylistically. Things mellow with the superbly languid "Going Down" - a tune I like a lot fifty years on. But then comes the awkwardly average "Walk It And Talk It" - a sort of half-kicking rocker that feels like its trying too hard with guitar runs that fill in rather than impress. Better is "Lisa Says" - the remaster very clean and full of presence. That 'so quiet' opening to the Side 1 finisher "Berlin" used to always drive me crazy with its lack on fidelity on those Dynaflex Vinyl original LPs - but again lifted up here. Dubonet on ice is very nice in the oh-babe-I'm-gonna-miss-you "Berlin" - a tune he would re-do in 1973 for the "Berlin" album (those doubled guitars and piano sound like Howe and Wakeman of Yes)

 

Side 2's opener "I Love You" is one of the LP's secret sweeties - Drums and Acoustic Guitars so clean now in the mix - his warmth and declarations of love actually even unnerving. Another kicker is "Wild Child" - those guitars and that Bass finally coherent in the assault. "Oh baby can I have some spare change, can I break your heart..." Talking to Betty on how her audition was awful, but she calmed down with some wine, which Lou assures us is what always happens with Betty's trauma. Another one of the LP's hidden Faberge Eggs is "Love Makes You Feel" - Love making Lou feel ten feet tall - a great Reed song now pumped-up with fantastic clarity. I had genuinely forgotten how cool this tune is and if you listen close too, you can hear The Edge's strumming technique and guitar sound originating here. Looking for another chance, "Ride Into The Sun" is one that requires a few plays and again the guitars have been transferred by Audio Engineer Andy Pearce with such delicacy. Side 2 then ends with epic drama as we go down by the sea in "Ocean" - grungy guitars and sound effects bringing it closest to VU territory. And again, storming audio. 

 

Anyone claiming that "Lou Reed" is a five-star overlooked masterpiece is pushing it in my books to say the bloody least. But for damn sure, there are more than a few overlooked gems in here even if the master disowned it a bit himself in October 1972 interviews. Still, this now old CD Remaster has polished up that curate's egg sufficiently to warrant another peek behind the banana peel. 

 

"It's hard being in a band, like living in a garbage pale...I can't stand it anymore..." - he snarled on great lyrics. "I live with thirteen dead cats...purple dogs with spats...they're all living in the hall and I can't stand them all..." 

 

"Lou Reed" was his ending the VU days LP - going it alone at last. And what came next with "Transformer", "Berlin" and the live "Rock & Roll Animal" LPs would prove him a stunning force in music. But spare a thought for this missing piece in his legend, fifty years on and sounding in dandy form...

"Mott The Hoople" by MOTT THE HOOPLE – November 1969 UK Debut Album on Island Records in Stereo, June 1970 USA on Atco Records in Stereo – Inside "Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-71" featuring Ian Hunter and Mick Ralphs (November 2018 UK Universal/Island 6CD Box Set of Remasters and Repro Sleeve Artwork – Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"Mott The Hoople" November 1969 UK Debut Album on Island Records

June 1970 US Debut LP on Atco Records 

Inside "Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-1971"

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"...At The Crossroads..."

 

I was both looking forward to and in some ways dreading this MOTT THE HOOPLE Box Set - an odd thing to say when you're spending over £40 of your pensioner’s pre-Brexit allowance. And typically "Mental Train..." both delivers and disappoints is several weird ways.

 

What’s good - the new Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Remasters have massively improved on what went before - as their skills always seem to do (see my reviews for Free, Budgie, Rory Gallagher, ELP  – a very long list of great work). Some of the unreleased stuff is shockingly magnificent - check out Take 6 of "Angel Of Eight Avenue" on Disc 5 mixed from faders-up multi-tracks - whilst Kris Needs once again nails it with wickedly insightful liner notes that feature new contributions from key players (Campbell Devine and Kris Needs compiled the set). But there's fluff too aplenty, the mock distressed look card artwork is horribly presented and the actual albums themselves have always left so much to be desired – piano-plonking tedium often sitting uncomfortably alongside thundering Rock brilliance. Guy Stevens would have been proud even if the band weren't selling jack for four whole LPs.

 

There's an absolute ton of detail to crawl through, so Mad Shadows and Willard Manus paperbacks ahoy (they took their name from one of his novels) – let's get Overend Watts on this huge haul (don't you just love that name)...

 

UK released Friday, 2 November 2018 - "Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-71" by MOTT THE HOOPLE on Universal/Island MOTTBOX 001 (Barcode 602547869623) is a 89-Song 6CD Box Set of New Remasters (30 Previously Unreleased) with a 52-Page Hardback Book, Single Sleeve Mini LP Artwork for all Six Discs and a fold-out Colour Poster all housed in a 10x8 Box with Ribbon. It breaks down as follows:

 

CD1 "Mott The Hoople" (79:13 minutes, 17 Tracks):

1. You Really Got Me [Side 1]

2. At The Crossroads

3. Laugh At Me

4. Backsliding Fearlessly

5. Rock And Roll Queen (Full Album Version, 5:10 minutes) [Side 2]

6. Rabbit Foot & Toby Time

7. Half Moon Boy

8. Wrath And Wroll

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Mott The Hoople" - released 22 November 1969 in the UK in Stereo on Island Records ILPS 9108 and June 1970 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8258. Produced by GUY STEVENS - it didn't chart in the UK but peaked at No. 185 in the USA in July 1970.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. If Your Heart Lay With The Rebel (Would You Cheer The Underdog) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED INSTRUMENTAL

10. Rock And Roll Queen [Single Edit, 3:20 minutes] - October 1969 debut UK 7" single on Island WIP 6072, non-album version

11. Road To Birmingham - non-album B-side to their October 1969 UK debut 7" single on Island WIP 6072

12. Road To Birmingham (Guy Stevens Mix) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. You Really Got Me (Full Take, 11:14 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

14. You Really Got Me (Guy Stevens Vocal Mix, 2:51 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

15. Rock And Roll Queen (Guy Stevens Mono Mix, 3:21 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

16. Rock And Roll Queen (Kitchen Sink Instrumental, 5:22minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

17. Little Christine [Recorded 24 June 1969] - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8

 

MOTT THE HOOPLE was:

IAN HUNTER (Ian Hunter Patterson) – Lead Singer, Piano

MICK RALPHS – Lead Guitars and Second Lead Vocals

VERDEN ALLEN (Terence Allen) – Organ and Other Keyboards

OVEREND WATTS (Pete Overend Watts) – Bass

DALE “Buffin” GRIFFIN (Terence Dale Griffin) – Drums

 

The box looks the part and ribbon allowing you to access the six single card sleeves in the inner well is a nice touch – but as already said and noted by other buyers – none of the card sleeves actually reflect the original British albums. The gatefolds for the first three are gone – removed to the book. The five pinched faces on the inner debut gatefold is spread across the back pages of the hardback, the child and lions photo inside "Mad Shadows" is on the inside of the front, the live shot of the band on the inner gatefold of "Wildlife" is behind text on Pages 36 and 27 and the airplanes inner for "Brain Capers" and the gimmick mask appear at both ends of the book too. The colouring of the CDs reflects the original British LP pressings - the Pink Island 'Pink I' Logo for the first two – the Palm Tree Pink Rim Logo Label for the other two and so on...

 

The book may seem a little slight at first but there's a lot of info inside and period stuff to peruse (a fab promo photo on Page 13 for the Doc Thomas Group which featured a young Mick Ralphs and Pete Watts before Guy Stevens altered their names for Mott). Renowned writer KRIS NEEDS provides the tangled and at times chaotic history of the British Band – informative and entertaining reading, as always. The uber-rare British picture sleeve for the 1969 "Rock And Roll Queen" single in on Page 48 as is the front sleeve for the final Island album from the period – the 9-Track "Rock And Roll Queen" compilation from 1972 on Island ILPS 9125. It was issued to cash in on the success of the "All The Young Dudes" single and LP on CBS Records (their first chart single courtesy of a song gifted to them by David Bowie). The LP is pictured on Page 48 (along with other European single picture sleeves) and if you want to sequence the popular "Rock And Roll Queen" compilation as a CD from this Box Set use the following tracks:

 

Side 1:

1. Rock And Roll Queen (Disc 1, Track 5, Album Version)

2. The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception (Disc 4, Track 8)

3. You Really Got Me (Disc 1, Track 1)

4. Thunderbuck Ram (Disc 2, Track 1)

5. Walkin' With A Mountain (Disc 2, Track 4)

Side 2:

1. Death May Be Your Santa Claus (Disc 4, Track 1)

2. Midnight Lady (Disc 3, Track 10)

3. Keep A Knockin' (Live, Full Album Version) (Disc 3, Track 9)

 

The Audio is fabulous and as these hirsute/girl-leering gents were prone to Rocking out big time like Spooky Tooth with spiked Vodka or a demented Free in a graveyard after dark – both Pearce and Wortham capture all that bottled power so well. The listen is also surprisingly downbeat – way too many slow ballads – ill-advised Country Rock stints on "Wildlife" and a 15-minute outtake from Hunter that will test his mother’s patience. Having said that – I actually think that Disc 5 with the Previously Unreleased material is one of the strongest discs on here – fantastic alternate versions – that Take 6 of the Manhattan morning ballad "Angel Of Eight Avenue" brought a tear of joy to my demonically-possessed elderly-person's eyes and "The Journey" extended to over ten minutes is a dark, slow, brooding beast of a thing for a band so intent on ripping up the stage with Rock 'n' Roll. 

 

Let's get to the beginning...

 

The self-titled debut "Mott The Hoople" always felt to me like a rudderless beginning - the opening three covers "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, Doug Sahm's "At The Crossroads" and Sonny Bono's "Laugh At Me" – displayed a band that seemed to be recording whatever they liked as they were rehearsing. For sure there's power in the sheer riffage on offer as they turn the Kink's proto-punk anthem into an instrumental - whilst Hunter's "Backsliding Fearlessly" sounds like a bad Dylan cover. The first sign of a genuine Rawk hit comes with Mick Ralphs "Rock And Roll Woman" presented here in two variants - the full and clear stereo album cut at 5:10 minutes and the severely muffled single edit of 3:20 minutes that sounds like it was mastered in a bucket. "Rabbit Foot And Toby Time" is another rockin' Ralphs tune, but it's an instrumental of two minutes duration that goes absolutely nowhere. 

 

Side 2 and the album in general is dominated by the 10:39 minutes of Ian Hunter's "Half Moon Bay" - a slow boiler with great organ playing from Verden Allen that at times feels both epic and indulgent with just the right measures of both. The debut ends with a mad Guy Stevens contribution called "Wrath And Roll" (a habit they would repeat again and again) and unfortunately you can't help thinking it might have been a better idea to include something possibly resembling a tune. Way more interesting is the Previously Unreleased and catchy-titled "If You Lay With The Rebel (Would You Cheer At The Underdog)?" - a riffage instrumental with better Production values than some of the album tracks. Die-hard fans will appreciate 11:17 minutes of "You Really Got Me" where the take descends into guitar mayhem and the fruity "Little Christine" from the "Two Miles..." compilation actually feels like the Faces circa their debut.

 

For sure "Mental Train..." is not for the casual browser and it would take until album number five and a Bowie-gifted anthem ("All The Young Dudes") to awaken record buyers to MOTT THE HOOPLE in general. But there's a strange kind of bloody-minded heroism on offer here - a time when bands were allowed to sound nuts and grow with each release until that initial magic that someone saw before they signed them - finally broke through.

 

Leaping lizards, but it's astonishing that any of them survived given the times and acrimony within the ranks. Ralphs would go on of course to form Bad Co. with Paul Rodgers of Free, whilst Ian Hunter would enjoy a massive solo career and aged 79 in 2018 is still rocking, touring and writing.

 

Always nuts but glam lovable - on the musical evidence presented here - you may find yourself seeking out Mott The Hoople and "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" this Christmas...

"The Pentangle" by THE PENTANGLE – May 1968 UK Debut Album on Transatlantic Records, November 1968 US LP on Reprise Records in Stereo – Inside "The Albums" - featuring Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox (October 2017 UK Cherry Red 7-Disc Breeze Block Box Set of Remasters with Mini LP Repro Artwork – Nick Watson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

1968 UK Debut Album on Transatlantic Records (Reprise USA)

Inside "The Albums" 7CD UK Cherry Red Box Set 

Remastered, Bonus Tracks, Repro Card Sleeve Artwork

 

 

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"...Way Beyond The Sun..."

 

I'm struck with a thought as I wade through this boatload of musical brilliance - why aren't PENTANGLE monster - I mean absolutely friggin' huge?

 

Celebrating 50 years in 2017 since their formation in 1967 - Cherry Red's "The Albums" Box Set is a gorgeous thing to have and hold for sure. Superlative brick block presentation with Mini LP Repro sleeves for all six titles, best-ever sound (a new audio source for 1972's magical "Solomon's Seal") and extras galore (22 Previously Unreleased).

 

Chronologically you get five albums (1968 to 1972) from their initial productive blitz at the UK's home for all things Folk and Weird - Transatlantic Records - along with their sixth and final on Reprise Records – a supposed comeback that cruelly turned out to be a false new dawn before the horrid and acrimonious split in the spring of 1973 (drunken phonecalls ahoy). Alongside all that reissue-sexiness is a 20,000-word essay by MICK HOUGHTON (long-time associate with the band and Bert Jansch) in a beautifully laid out 88-page book (concert tickets, UK and US trade adverts and flyers etc).

 

"The Albums" also includes a COLIN HARPER month-by-month band history timeline (worrying amounts of details and tour dates), NICK WATSON Remasters that breath new life into these largely Acoustic songs and a quantity of repro'd memorabilia that would make Bear Family of Germany twitchy in the lederhosen area.

 

But more than that, as you re-visit record after record here - you're filled with admiration at their originality – musical soundscapes and philosophical themes that still have a lingering influence in Folk-Rock, Acid-Folk, Acoustic Blues and even World Music. And all of it achieved without ever really getting the blue-plaque credit Pentangle so obviously deserve. There's a huge amount of info to slaver over, so let's get to those Reflections and Baskets of Light and that "Pentangle" beginning...

 

UK released Friday, 6 October 2017 (13 October 2017 in the USA) - "The Albums" by PENTANGLE on Cherry Red Records CRCDBOX41 (Barcode 5013929104105) is a 6-Album/7-Disc Box Set with an Extensive 88-Page Booklet, 22 Previously Unreleased Tracks and Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves. The debut album "The Pentangle" is Disc 1 and plays out as follows:

 

Disc 1 "The Pentangle" 1968 Debut Album (72:12 minutes):

1. Let No Man Steal Away Your Thyme [Side 1]

2. Bells

3. Hear My Call

4. Pentangling

5. Mirage [Side 2]

6. Way Behind The Sun

7. Bruton Town

8. Waltz

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "The Pentangle" - released May 1968 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 162 and November 1968 in the USA on Reprise Records RS 6315.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Koan (Take 2)

10. The Wheel

11. The Casbah

12. Bruton Town (Take 3)

13. Hear My Call (Alternate Take)

14. Way Behind The Sun (Alternate Take)

15. Way Behind The Sun (Instrumental)

Tracks 9 to 15 are outtakes from the 1968 sessions and first appeared on the 2001 CD Reissue of "The Pentangle" on Castle Music CMRCD 131

 

16. Bruton Town (Take 5) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Session Outtake

 

17. Koan (Take 1) - 1968 Session outtake first appeared on the December 2007 4CD Box Set "The Time Has Come 1967-1973" on Castle Music CMXBX664

 

18. Travellin' Song - a non-album UK 7" single A-side released May 1968 on Big T Records BIG T 109 (the album track "Mirage" was the B-side)

 

19. Poison

20. I've Got A Feeling

21. Market Song

Tracks 19 to 21 are from their first sessions in August 1967 - "Poison" was issued on the 2007 Box Set "The Time Has Come 1967-1973" - the other two are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED. A re-recording of "Market Song" opens the "Sweet Child" double-album

 

PENTANGLE was:

JACQUI McSHEE – Lead Vocals

BERT JANSCH – Lead Vocals and Guitars

JOHN RENBOURN – Lead and Backing Vocals and Guitars

DANNY THOMPSON – Double Bass

TERRY COX – Drums and Percussion

 

A drawn-out gut-string double-bass note eases in the Traditional "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" - the Side 1 opener for their groundbreaking 1968 debut album "The Pentangle". Reprise Records of the USA was want to tell its sceptical US public not to fret at such audio audaciousness – oh no – because "...it is necessary to talk of fusions of traditional folk forms..." And that's what Pentangle and their cool music has always been – a fusion of Folk and Rock and maybe even a few Jazz licks thrown in too.

 

First up, the audio on this forgotten beginning of Pentangle is fantastic - the instrumental "Bells" sounding positively cathedral-like. The cover of The Staple Singers secular classic "Hear My Call" is given that Pentangle shuffle (no voices sounding). But little prepared May 1968 listeners for the sneakily clever twister "Pentangling" - seven minutes of go-go 60ts Folk with Jacqui McShee's vocals lovely and soothing at first only to be replaced with acoustic-guitar battles, a Double Bass solo and a Bert Jansch counter vocal that underpins the whole mad brilliant thing. Wow - is it any wonder the Ling became such a concert showstopper. Other highlights include the Trad Blues of "Way Behind The Sun" - a song associated with Barbara Dane and her 1964 US Folkways album "Sings The Blues With 6 & 12-String Guitar" (The Byrds recorded a version during the "Sweethearts Of The Rodeo" sessions in 1968).

 

Amazing audio too on the finisher instrumental "Waltz" which is more Guitars-Go-Dancing than Strauss with Thompson's Double Bass solo likely to kick her your speaker's teeth in. Of the Disc 1 Bonus Material my raves are the duo of "The Wheel" and "The Casbah" which sound like Jimmy Page goofing off on an Acoustic Guitar during the recordings of Roy Harper's 1971 Harvest masterpiece "Stormcock". The unreleased Take 5 of "Bruton Town" is getting close to the released version and is beautifully rendered here - while the alarmingly poppy "I've Got A Feeling" and "Market Song" make their debut here (what a blast).

 

"...My own darling jewel sat smiling by me..." - Jacqui McShee sang wistfully on "Once I Had A Sweetheart". I'm going to be smiling and dipping into this amazing box set for years to come – I know it. Well done to John Reed, Adam Velasco, Dave Timperley and all the other good eggs at Cherry Red Records for giving PENTANGLE the send off they deserved instead of the 'whimpering' one they got back in 1973.

 

You can get the "Pentangle" debut on an individual CD remaster fairly easily, but this is one group and one release I urge you to spend a few more bob on. They didn’t just begin well, they continued as such and grew more.

 

"...Sit thee down and put them on..." we're advised in the receive-thy-soul song "Lyke-Wake Dirge". Amen to that acid advice baby...