"Collaboration/Faces" by SHAWN PHILLIPS - February 1971 Fifth Studio Album Plus December 1972 Sixth Studio Album, Both on A&M Records UK and USA - Featuring Ann Odell of Blue Mink and Chopyn, Brian Ogders of Sweet Thursday, Barry de Souza of Trees, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band, Steve Winwood of Traffic and Blind Faith, Henry Lowther, Chris Mercer of The Misunderstood, Charge and Gonzalez, Glen Campbell (Pedal Steel), Joe Sample, Paul Buckmaster String Arrangements and more (October 2021 UK Beat Goes On Compilation - 2LPs onto 2CDs with Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Blood-Soaked Charlie On A Silk-Stained Bedsheet..."

 

By the time the long-haired, bearded, enigmatic, nomadic Texan Songstrel that is/was Shawn Phillips had reached the release of his much talked-about LP "Collaboration" on A&M Records in the early months of 1971 - he was already on his fifth album since 1965. Part of his recorded history had seen him co-write "Little Thin Soldier", "Mellow Yellow" and "Sunshine Superman" with Donovan and reputedly sang backing vocals on The Beatles "Lovely Rita" for their epoch-making 1967 LP "Sgt. Peppers..."

 

So why – in all likelihood – have you never heard of the man? Phillips, his nasal whine and canvas of swirling densely worded songs that border the paths of genius and pretentiousness (gig main-man and musical catalyst Bill Graham once called Phillips "the best kept secret in the music business...") has always been an acquired taste. Like Folk-Rock and Country-Rock contemporaries of his - Tim Hardin, Harry Chapin, Mickey Newbury and England's Roy Harper and even Duncan Browne jump to mind - Phillips threaded his own song-path regardless. Shawn Phillips made unusual and even difficult albums – not really singles – and you took as you found.

 

Which brings us to the two BGO offerings on beautifully transferred digital display here - "Collaboration" was done in London with a long session-list of luminaries (see list below) and Bowie's strings-arranger Paul Buckmaster on two tracks. Many cuts segue into each other, Collaboration" being his third of an eventual nine albums for A&M Records. The second choice (again on A&M) is his sixth platter called "Faces" which is in fact an anthology of unreleased SP music recorded between March 1969 and April 1972. Four were recorded in London and four in the USA, but the LP was dominated by an oddity of sorts. At nearly fourteen minutes of semi-Prog soundscapes, over on Side 2 of that LP "Parisian Plight II" featured no less than Steve Winwood of Blind Faith and Traffic fame, Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and Elton John's Band with Trumpeter Henry Lowther and Saxophonist Chris Mercer on Horns abutted by Country superstar Glen Campbell doing Pedal Steel! Here are the convoluted details...

 

UK released October 2021 - "Collaboration/Faces" by SHAWN PHILLIPS on Beat Goes On BGOCD1469 (Barcode 5017261214690) offers 2LPs from 1971 and 1972 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows: 

 

CD1 "Collaboration" (54:09 minutes):

1. Us We Are [Side 1]

2. Burning Fingers 

3. Moonshine 

4. For Her 

5. What's Happenin' Jim?

6. Armed 

7. Spaceman [Side 2]

8. Times Of A Madman Trials Of A Thief 

9. 8500 Years 

10. The Only Logical Conclusion

11. Coming Down Soft & Easy 

12. Springwind

Tracks 1 to 12 are his fifth studio album "Collaboration" - released February 1971 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4324 and in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 64324. Produced by JONATHAN WESTON at Trident Studios - it didn't chart on either country. 

 

MUSICIANS: 

SHAWN PHILLIPS - Guitars, Keyboards, Lead Vocals 

ANN ODELL [of Blue Mink, Chopyn and Roger Glover] - Electric Piano and Piano  

TONY WALMSLY [of Napoli Centrale] - Guitar 

PETER ROBINSON - Piano and Organ, Bass on "Moonshine", Orchestral Arrangements on "The Only Logical Conclusion"

MARTYN FORD – French Horn

BRIAN OGDERS [of Sweet Thursday and Apollo 100] - Bass 

JOHN GUSTAFSON - Bass on "Springwind" and "Spaceman"

BARRY de SOUZA [of Trees] - Drums 

DAVID KATZ and Orchestra 

PAUL BUCKMASTER – Cello and String Arrangements on "Us We Are" and "Armed"

 

CD2 "Faces" (47:13 minutes):

1. Landscape [Side 1]

2. 'L' Ballade 

3. Hey Miss Lonely 

4. Chorale 

5. Parisian Plight II [Side 2]

6. We 

7. Anello (Where Are You) 

8. I Took A Walk 

Tracks 1 to 8 are his sixth studio album "Faces" - released December 1972 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4363 and early 1973 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 64363. Produced by JONATHAN WESTON at Trident Studios - it peaked at No. 52 on the US Billboard Album charts (didn't chart UK).

 

MUSICIANS: 

SHAWN PHILLIPS - Guitars, Lead Vocals 

JOHN PIGNEGUY and MARTYN FORD - French Horns on Track 1

PAUL BUCKMASTER - Piano and Cello on Track 1, Orchestral Arrangements on Track 2

DAVID KATZ and Orchestra - on Track 2

SNEEKY PETE KLEINOW - Pedal Steel on Track 3

LEE SKLAR - Bass on Track 3

STEVE WINWOOD - Organ and Organ Bass on Track 5

CALEB QUAYE - Lead Guitar on Track 5

GLEN CAMPBELL - Pedal Steel Guitar on Track 5

HENRY LOWTHER and CHRIS MERCER - Trumpet and Saxophone on Track 5

REME KABAKA - Percussion on Track 5

JOE SAMPLE, JACK CONRAD and ED GREENE - Piano, Bass and Drums (respectively) on Tracks 6, 7 and 8

BRIAN OGDERS - Bass on Track 1

 

The now celebrated look of card slipcase given to these BGO compilations looks classy and even better is the 20-page booklet with lyrics ("Collaboration"), photos and new liner notes from JOHN O'REGAN. The facts and details come on strong for  a musician as eclectic as the undefinable Phillips - a Texan brat who picked up the guitar aged 7 and hasn't stopped into his 80s. But the great news is gorgeous Remasters for albums notoriously brought down by the restraints of microgrooves.

 

Always a compromise at 54+ minutes on a Vinyl LP – "Collaboration" on CD1 here blasts that out into space. The Remaster is gorgeous especially on those passages where some of the songs literally descend into a whisper or a breath or just a few acoustic notes being picked – it’s all clear and warm and you can crank it at last without being met with a wall of hiss. Long-time Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON did the Remasters and both albums are beautifully transferred. To the tunes...

 

"Us We Are" bursts out of your speakers in a full-on Jose Feliciano Spanish Acoustic Guitar flourish, only to settle down into a calmer strum and his "People say we are sane, lock your doors and play the games..." voice and words. Deep lyrics and impressive arrangements abound in "Burning Fingers" and especially the even better "Moonshine" where his acoustic strums and voice are given a flange effect (very Roy Harper circa "Stormcock"). Gorgeous audio as it segues into "For Her" too. 

 

After the awful vocal goof-offs of "What's Happenin' Jim?" where he wails insufferable, there are few better examples of how intricate and multi-layered his music could be than "Armed". Ending Side 1 with a long statement of style and lyrics, it's a mad and brilliant 6:50 minute mix of Cat Stevens Acoustic meets Greenslade Prog keyboards via the Funk Guitar of Mother's Finest with Strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster! It's all over the place and yet utterly compelling in the strangest way. A track like "Armed" is probably impossible to catagorize, but its 1971 adventurous, out there and as I said earlier, a perfect example of the response Phillips' Marmite Music evokes in listeners - love or - or loath it. 

 

Over on Side 2, his lyrics (reproduced in the booklet) to "Times Of A Madman Trials Of A Thief" are deep and brilliant - stuff like "...imminent idols absurdly chant...justification to rave and rant...peace is the endlessly crest of the hill...quietly shattering and soft as a quill..." We then go for the big finish – all 9:35 minutes of it. The face of man is turned into a scour for "Springwind" – but there is a chance of regrowth with that second chance blowing through the bamboo leaves. Delicate piano and subtle bass notes accompany the largely acoustic structure – a quiet-to-loud Side 2 Aqualung-type ender Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull might have wanted to pen. On vinyl this song was always a compromise, but here the Remastered Audio is clean and glorious and fans will love it (lyrics from it title this review).

The second platter is dominated by that Side 2 opener "Parisian Plight II" - a near fourteen minute slice of improvisation that veers in and out of genres but remains Funky and Cool at its core. These tracks of 1969 music remained in the A&M vaults for years, but with the serious names involved, didn't stay there long. I like the calmer heads music of "We", "Anello (Where Are You)" and "I Took A Walk" - all three recorded April 1972 in Clover Studios, New York with Joe Sample of The Crusaders helped by Jack Conrad on Bass and Ed Greene on Drums. You can so hear why they were un-issued in some cases, but again, like the "Collaborations" set - there are goodies worth owning.

In his typically superb liner notes, John O'Regan is right to call Shawn Phillips' music of the Seventies as being imbibed with 'echoes of Tim Buckley' - but maybe not as good or accessible. But make no mistake, here is a voice, talent, vision and tune-smith worth the investigation. And with such stellar presentation and top quality audio, a top job done...

"Wanda Jackson (Debut Album) Plus Right Or Wrong: The Definitive Remastered Edition" by WANDA JACKSON – July 1958 US Debut Album on Capitol Records in Mono, October 1961 US Fourth Studio LP on Capitol Records in Stereo Plus Six Bonus Tracks (August 2013 EU-UK Hoodoo Records CD Compilation – 2LPs Of Original Capitol Records Recordings Remastered onto 1CD Plus Six Bonus Tracks – Part of 'The Definitive Remastered Edition' Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00BGETOGA&asins=B00BGETOGA&linkId=8d86c573c5aeb8f83385a1a27b885d20&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review Along With 240 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1

Debut Albums 1956 to 1986

Volume 1 of 2

Artists from A to L...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

A Huge 1,750+ E-Pages 

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

Just Click Below To Purchase

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B09XLWH9XS&asins=B09XLWH9XS&linkId=21c8cdef1a76917ae7d3274c01d4b439&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

"...Here We Are Again..."

These Hoodoo Records compilations are such great value for money, offering up a whole ton of rare Fifties and Sixties albums onto CD, whilst throwing in rare stand-alone and Non-LP 45-single tracks as period-relevant bonuses.

 

The annotation is proper too and best of all, original recordings are used and the Remastering is as clean and full as you could hope for. Considering that our Queen of Rockabilly and her 1958 debut album are a whopping 64 years ago - the sound here is gorgeous and even better on her fourth studio platter which is presented here in lovely Stereo. To the details...

 

EU/UK released August 2013 - "Wanda Jackson (Debut Album) Plus Right Or Wrong: The Definitive Remastered Edition" by WANDA JACKSON on Hoodoo Records 263441 (Barcode 8436542013208) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD (1958 Mono and 1961 Stereo) Plus Six Bonus Tracks (Mono). It plays out as follows (74:01 minutes):

 

1. Day Dreaming [Side 1]

2. I Wanna Waltz 

3. Heartbreak Ahead 

4. Making Believe 

5. Here We Are Again

6. Long Tall Sally 

7. Just Call Me Lonesome [Side 2]

8. Let Me Go Lover 

9. Money, Money 

10. I Can't Make My Dreams Understand 

11. Happy, Happy Birthday 

12. Let's Have A Party 

Tracks 1 to 12 are her debut album "Wanda Jackson" - released July 1958 in the USA on Capitol T 1041 in Mono (not issued in the UK). MONO MIX is used.

 

13. Right Or Wrong [Side 1]

14. Why I'm Walkin'

15. So Soon 

16. The Last Letter 

17. I May Never Get To Heaven 

18. The Window Up Above 

19. Sticks And Stones [Side 2]

20. Stupid Cupid

21. Slippin' And Slidin'

22. Brown Eyed Handsome Man 

23. Who Shot Sam 

24. My Baby Left Me 

Tracks 13 to 24 are her fourth studio album "Right Or Wrong" - released October 1961 in the USA on Capitol T 1596 (Mono) and Capitol ST 1596 (Stereo). It was also issued in the UK on both formats using the same catalogue numbers. 

STEREO Mix is used.

 

BONUS TRACKS (Mono):

25. I'd Be Ashamed - September 1961 US 45-single on Capitol 4635, B-side of "In The Middle Of A Heartache" (see also Track 28 for the A)

26. Funnel Of Love - April 1961 US 45-single on Capitol 4553, B-side of "Right Or Wrong"

27. A Little Bitty Tear - December 1961 US 45-single on Capitol 4681, A (see 29)

28. In The Middle Of A Heartache - September 1961 US 45-single on Capitol 4635, A-side (see also Track 25 for the B-side)

29. I Don't Wanta Go - December 1961 US 45-single on Capitol 4681, B (see 27)

30. Let My Love Walk In - March 1962 US 45-single on Capitol 4723, B-side of "If I Cried Every Time You Hurt Me"

 

The 16-page booklet is crammed full of colour - album sleeves, three gig posters, concert tickets, Capitol 45-labels, publicity photos and loads more. GARY BLAILCOCK provides the new 2013 liner notes examining the albums and their 'Lady Elvis Presley' pitch right up to the weird rawhide vs. the orient B-side "Funnel Of Love". We also learn from the session-notes that Buck Owens, Roy Clark and Vernon Sandusky provided the Guitars with Merrill Moore, Big Al Downing and Marvin Hughes on Piano with Ken Nelson at the Production controls for the lot. They even repro the original back-sleeve liner notes for both LPs and despite the '24-Bit Digitally Remastered' logo on the rear, the release never indicates from whom or where. But don't let that bother you - even on stuff like the memory of your love smoocher "In The Middle Of A Heartache" (Track 28) - the audio is spotless and clear. To the chunes...

 

For the debut album you might be forgiven for asking 'where's the Rockabilly man?' 1958's "Wanda Jackson" is more Country with a swing than the wild Rockabilly many would hop for - a sort of Patsy Cline set about heartache and waltzes and holding your darling close - the oohs and aahs of the backing male singers on "Here We Are Again" ringing in your ears as she croons on about dim-light cafes (an early Don Everly song). Then of course she loves the 'heartless one' who just can't be true (what a schmuck he is). Wanda does Kitty Wells on "Making Believe", Jim Reeves on "Just Call Me Lonesome", Peggy Lee for "Let Me Go Lover" and the ultimate Doo Wop/Girl Vocal Group smooch of "Happy, Happy Birthday" - originally tapped by The Tune Weavers. 

 

But just as you're about to give up on Wanda as being another emotional teenage casualty of Slick Willy and his gang of Love Bandits, Wanda finds her mojo and smacks you fierce with Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". Suddenly, Wanda's great echoed voice takes on the demon's rasp as she rips 'some fun tonight' - Big Al Downing and Merrill Monroe tearing up the piano keys. That tomboyish Elvis Presley equivalent vocal returns for Jessie Stone's 50ts classic "Money Honey" and the Honky Tonk boppin' "Let's Have A Party" - great Billy moments on a mixed LP.

 

The sound slips sweetly into a gorgeous STEREO for the "Right Or Wrong" LP - ballads like "The Last Letter" and "I May Never Get To Heaven" sounding sweet - pianos tinkering in the left speaker while celestial wings carry the guitar-pickers (Buck Owens and Roy Clark) in the right speakers. You have to flick all the way to Track 19 for more convincing Bop - scandalize my name with "Sticks And Stones"- see if I care!  Fantastic is the only way to describe the wicked "Slippin' And Slidin'" - Little Richard's Rock 'n' Roll dancefloor bopper suiting her to a tee (better surrender). 

 

No surprise either to hear her reach for the wit and beat of Chuck Berry with his brilliant "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" - the loss of Venus De Milo's arms explained (a boxing match over a Brown Eyed...). "Who Shot Sam" is another silly-billy wham-bam thank you mam bopper - here in toppermost Stereo. And as if to give a nod to her main squeeze - she does Arthur Crudup's "My Baby Left Me" which Elvis Presley had of course brought to the attention of the masses on Sun and RCA only three years earlier. 

 

In all honesty, you do wish there were more rockers and boppers on this ample CD, but then you hear "I Don't Wanta Go" with its weird fuzzed-up guitar solo from 1962 and realize that you've been missing those truck-stops in-between. A cool little reissue really...  

 

PS: 31 January 2012 saw Hoodoo also reissue her 2nd and 3rd albums (May 1960 and January 1961) as "Rockin' With Wanda + There's A Party Goin' On". Hoodoo Records 263410 (Barcode 8436028690725) offers both of these LPs Plus Six Bonus Tracks on another 'Definitive Remastered Edition' single CD that comes with the same level of annotation and great sound as 236441 above...

"You Showed Me: The Songs Of Gene Clark" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring The Rose Garden, The Thyme, Linda Ronstadt, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Byrds, Iain Matthews, Starry Eyed & Laughing, Pure Prairie League, Roxy Music, Flamin' Groovies, Juice Newton, This Mortal Coil, Death in Vegas with Paul Weller, Echo In The Canyon with Jakob Dylan and Cat Power, and his son Kai Clark (March 2022 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Remastered Cover Versions) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B09SPCRCJZ&asins=B09SPCRCJZ&linkId=8e74641c2dfbfba4c77ef0b6e8a82385&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

"...Train Leaves This Morning..."

 

True to form for these Various Artists CD compilations, Ace's stab at the mercurial Gene Clark of The Byrds and Dillard & Clark fame has its own bizarre mix of cover-version winners and near-misses - thankfully holding its head up proud more times than shame pushes it south into a droop.

 

Part of Ace's ongoing Songwriter Series and covering a huge time range (1964 to 2019), I've had this generously-packed CD since day of release (it encompasses Country, Country Rock, Bluegrass, Indie and Pop). And while I've been obsessing over the John Barry set "The More Things Change..." and Dusty Springfield's "Dusty Sings Soul" which came out on the same Friday, 25 March 2022 (see separate reviews) - I've found myself going back to this eclectic slightly unloved Country Rock brat and bawler more and more. Time to feel a whole lot better, to the details...

 

UK released Friday, 25 March 2022 - "You Showed Me: The Songs of Gene Clark" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1611 (Barcode 029667104722) is a 21-Track CD Compilation of Remastered Cover Versions that plays out as follows (77:12 minutes):

 

1. You Showed Me - ECHO IN THE CANYON with JAKOB DYLAN and CAT POWER (2019)

2. Feel A Whole Lot Better - JUICE NEWTON (1988)

3. I Knew I'd Want You - THIN WHITE HOPE (1989)

4. She Don't Care About Time - FLAMIN' GROOVIES (1984)

5. Eight Miles High - ROXY MUSIC (1980)

6. Till Today - THE ROSE GARDEN (1968)

7. Echoes - STARRY EYED & LAUGHING (2015)

8. Elevator Operator - VELVET CRUSH (2001)

9. I Found You - THE THYME (1968 recording, issued 2008)

10. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - DEATH IN VEGAS featuring PAUL WELLER (2002)

11. Tried So Hard - THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS (1971)

12. In The Plan - NEW GRASS REVIVAL (1979)

13. Train Leaves Here This Morning - KAI CLARK (2020)

14. He Darked The Sun - LINDA RONSTADT (1970)

15. Kansas City Southern - PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE

16. Polly - IAIN MATTHEWS (1974)

17. Why Not Your Baby - THE MOTHER HIPS (2011)

18. Full Circle - BYRDS (1973)

19. Silver Raven - THE BAIRD SISTERS (2008)

20. Some Misunderstanding - SOULSAVERS featuring MARK LANEGAN (2009)

21. Strength Of Strings - THIS MORTAL COIL (1985)

 

KRIS NEEDS has been a great writer for some time now, providing quality liner notes for countless mucho-praised reissues - but man oh man - the Kris-ter outdoes himself here. As a self-professed Byrds fanatic, Needs pours on the facts and details in a stunning 28-page booklet - the text aligned with photos of the pertinent albums and CDs and black/whites of our hero both solo and with the spec-festooned Byrds. One of thirteen kids, Harold Eugene of Tipton, Missouri (his real name) is undoubtedly nodding appreciation up there in post-flyte Heaven. 

 

NICK ROBBINS does the masters and they all rock, but then as many are from the 90's onwards, it's hardly surprising that they do. Those 60ts tracks jump and pop but the 80ts cuts are dragged down by that smarmy studio-polish they all seemed to have. To the music...

 

"You Showed Me" opens strongly with a title track done by Echo In The Canyon for their 2019 BMG Records CD album of the same name. Bob's boy Jakob Dylan and Cat Power duet on this discarded early Byrds song written in 1964 that then became a minor hit for The Turtles in 1967. "You Showed Me" has also been covered by Salt 'N' Pepa and The Lightning Seeds while its co-writer Roger McGuinn revisited it too on his "Live From Mars" set in 1996. "You Showed Me" is a lovely song, great Clark melody warming your heart. But then things dip into 'that' 80ts sound for Juice Newton's "I Feel A Whole Lot Better" and I can't help thinking there must have been a better version of this fantastic song somewhere else.

 

I have no time for Thin White Hope's version of "I Knew I'd Want You" or The Flamin' Groovies sounding like a note-for-note Byrds pastiche covers band on their pointless "She Don't Care About Time". Far better is the surprisingly excellent Rose Garden doing "Till Today" (a forgotten 1968 gem) while England's Starry Eyed & Laughing turn in a stunning "Echoes" - a 1974 recording that first appeared in 2015 aping those Byrds-sounding backwards jangling guitars. Velvet Crush do a suitably grungy Rock stab at "Elevator Operator" - gonna have to get along without her now. Paul Weller rocks it out for the very Blind Faith organ-driven "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" where Death In Vegas are joined by strings as well as the Modfather in great form and clearly wanting to respect a songwriter he admires.

 

Clever segue into pure Country Rock with the pedal-steel picking "Tried So Hard" - The Flying Burrito Brothers sounding amazing for a 1971 recording. Updating that sound to the banjo picking of New Grass Revival in 1979, they do a great Eagles circa "One Of These Nights" Country stab at "In The Plan" - beautiful remastered audio too. Pure Prairie League doe a lonesome sound solid for "Kansas City Southern" – fun like The Ozark Mountain Daredevils meets Souther-Furey-Hillman. Can't quite work out (still) in my mind if "Full Cycle" from the poor "Byrds" album of 1973 is good or just acceptable filler that isn't awful - though I can understand why Needs has included its mandolins and harmonies here.

 

But for me the compilation has three out-and-out gems that shine above all the rest – the first is Iain Matthews formerly of Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort and Plainsong doing a gorgeous lilting take on "Poly". The compilers could have opted for the cooler Alison Krauss and Robert Plant version on their much-praised "Raising Sand" album from 2017, but instead went for something much older – a 1974 track from Iain Matthews' "Journeys From Gospel Oak" LP on Mooncrest Records that imbibes his take with just the right amount of Gene Clark Country twang to make it go beyond copyist to actually moving. Smart choice.

 

There then comes an extraordinary moment when a near eight-minute Neil Young-type-guitar-grunges the buggery out of everything in sight for "Some Misunderstanding" – Soulsavers featuring Mark Lanegan letting rip. His doped-up dirty vocals ("...you might need a friend at a time like this...") and wild guitar solo playing throughout literally infuses this searching heavy-heavy song with the pain that has always been at its core – capturing the darker side of Gene's demons in a new way.

 

But they are trumped by how own son Kai Clark doing a truly heart-warming take on "Train Leaving Here This Morning" where his New Country Rock vocals and band makes him sound like and tap into his Dad somehow (Ryan Adams and The Cardinals could have done this to the same effect). The tune will be familiar to most of us via the Eagles debut album on Asylum Records in 1972 – "Train Leaves Here This Morning" being one of the lesser-aired LP nuggets on that auspicious start. Kai Clark did this version on his self-published CD album "Silver Raven" in 2019 and I think after this compilation that will be my next port of digital call for Gene Clark-fulfilling-nourishment.

 

"You Showed Me: The Songs Of Gene Clark" is not all brilliant, but then again, in reality, how could it be. Still, Ace Records of the UK and compiler Kris Needs are to be praised for combining The Baird Sisters with Roxy Music and This Mortal Coil and somehow making it gel. And in the end, this Singer-Songwriter tribute CD comp makes me want more of the great man Gene Clark (and I'll be seeking out that Kai Clark set too), so in that respect, a job well done.

 

"There's a train leaving here this morning, I don't know what I might be on..." 

 

Well, maybe seek out this journey's reinterpreted platform and give its sympathetically polished compartments a lonesome whistle on your amped-up rig...because I think the effort (like Ace have clearly made) will pay off...

"Thanks I'll Eat It Here" by LOWELL GEORGE [of Little Feat] – March 1979 US and UK Debut Solo Album on Warner Brothers featuring Bill Payne, Richie Hayward and Fred Tackett of Little Feat, Jeff Porcaro and David Paich of Toto, James Howard of The Elton John Band, Jimmy Greenspoon and Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night, David Foster, Chilli Charles, Dean Parks, Nicky Hopkins, Steve Madaio, John Philips of The Mamas and The Papas, Herb Pedersen, J. D. Souther, Bonnie Raitt and many more guests - Duet with Valerie Carter on a Bonus Track (September 1993 UK Warner Archives CD Reissue and Remaster Plus One Previously Unreleased Bonus Track) - A Review by Mark Barry...

  

<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B000002KIP&asins=B000002KIP&linkId=1bf58a7809c901f648aa9903b6359e1c&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

This Review Along With 240 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1

Debut Albums 1956 to 1986

Volume 1 of 2

Artists from A to L...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

A Huge 1,750+ E-Pages 

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

Just Click Below To Purchase

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B09XLWH9XS&asins=B09XLWH9XS&linkId=21c8cdef1a76917ae7d3274c01d4b439&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

"...Hombre Solo..."

 

A bizarre album in many respects - "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" was the March 1979 debut solo LP for Little Feat's charismatic Lead Singer, Guitarist and Principal songwriter Lowell George – issued at a time when his main band were arguably at the very peak of their popularity and critical acclaim.

 

And I say weird, because given that it was Lowell George and the staggering musician crew he had with him making the record (see list below), 'Eat It' should have rocked and frankly didn't. I thought it was a huge disappointment at the time (when I was deeply invested in Little Feat) and it used to turn up in record sales bins with alarming regularity. But maybe it's time for a reassess and a tentative hug.

 

"Eat It..." felt hurled together – a spattering of originals and co-writes alongside Jimmy Webb, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint and Rickie Lee Jones cover versions tacked on to up the 9-track numbers. Even so, "Eat It..." isn't all dogs and turkeys of course, there are moments of brilliance – the remake of "Two Trains" and that opening Allen Toussaint cover version that might as well have been written for George. And without any notice or indication on the rear inlay or packaging, there is a Bonus tagged on at the end as Track 10 – a Previously Unreleased Demo done with Valerie Carter called "Heartache". And the Warner Archives Audio Remaster is clean and ballsy. Let's get to the details...

 

UK/EU released September 1993 - "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" by LOWELL GEORGE on Warner Archives 7599-26755-2 (Barcode 075992675529) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with One Previously Unreleased Bonus Track that plays out as follows (34:04 minutes):

 

1. What Do You Want The Girl To Do (4:46 minutes) [Side 1]

2. Honest Man (3:45 minutes)

3. Two Trains (4:32 minutes)

4. I Can't Stand The Rain (3:21 minutes)

5. Cheek To Cheek (2:23 minutes)

6. Easy Money (3:29 minutes) [Side 2]

7. 20 Million Things (2:50 minutes)

8. Find A River (3:45 minutes)

9. Himmler's Ring (2:28 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut solo album "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" – released March 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3194 and March 1979 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56487. Produced by LOWELL GEORGE – the album peaked at No. 71 in April 1979 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn’t chart UK). 

 

BONUS TRACK:

10. Heartache (2:28 minutes)

(Un-credited on the rear inlay as a) PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Demo with Valerie Carter written by Lowell George and Ivan Ulz (no recording details)

 

The four-leaf foldout inlay of this 1993 CD reissue unfortunately takes the lazy road and simply reproduces the long string of text that was deriguere for Little Feat releases at the time – a list of musicians of calibre without saying who played what on where.

 

To give you an idea - guests included Keyboardist Bill Payne, Drummer Richie Hayward and Guitarist Fred Tackett of Little Feat, Drummer Jeff Porcaro and Keyboardist David Paich of Toto, Keyboardist James Newton Howard of The Elton John Band, Guitarist Jimmy Greenspoon and Drummer/Vocalist Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night, Keyboardist David Foster, Drummer Chilli Charles, Guitarists Dean Parks and Stephen Bruton, British Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, Saxophonist and Drummer John Philips of The Mamas and The Papas, Pedal Steel Guitarist Herb Pedersen, Vocalists J. D. Souther and Bonnie Raitt, Drummers Jim Keltner, Michael Baird and Jim Gordon and many others including the likes of Steve Madaio – long-time Trombonist with Stevie Wonder’s band and formerly with Paul Butterfield's Blues Band. 

 

It's infuriating that no one thought to look through the logs and finally tell who played where and why – and the only extra dialogue on the foldout inlay is to inform that LEE HERSCHBERG did the Digital Remaster which is beautifully full and restrained at one and the same time. You might want to crank this mother, but when you do, you'll get the full whack of all that top-class funked-up musicianship. To the tunes...

Sounds like the whole guest-musician-gang feature on the cool and funky cover of Allen Toussaint's "What Do You Want The Girl To Do" - a New Orleans hip-shakin' mama groover that had first turned up on Toussaint's 1975 album "Southern Nights" on Reprise Records. The sexy sway of "What Do You Want The Girl To Do" opens with a slink that stylistically crosses Little Feat with Steely Dan, George employing the Brass of Jim Horn and Steve Madaio with the Vocals of former Ikettes singer Maxalyn Lewis and Maxine Willard Waters to give the whole thing that wall of oomph. It's a great start that is followed by something similar - "Honest Man" co-written with his Little Feat Guitarist Fred Tackett - those funky keyboards swelling in your speakers. 

Better still (and for me one of the best tunes on a so-so record) is his remake of "Two Trains" - a Lowell George Funk-Rock classic that first turned up on Little Feat's January 1973 third album "Dixie Chicken". Here he really taps into that fantastic funk groove that Little Feat used to attain when live - piano and slide guitar neck-jerking across your speakers like a drugged up Ry Cooder doing "Bop Til You Drop". It's so damn good. 

 

Side 1 continues the groove with a cover of the Ann Peebles Soul-Funk classic "I Can't Stand The Rain" first outed in July 1973 on Hi Records. George goes for full-on Meters New Orleans Funk with his rendition, ably assisted with a second vocal from Maxalyn Lewis sounding like Tina Turner (I think it's her). But then he ends the Side with a Rosarita Mexican shuffle called "Cheek To Cheek" - co-written with him, Van Dyke Parks and Martin F. Kibbes - which I find kind of insufferable. The audio though is gorgeous. 

When her stunning debut album "Rickie Lee Jones" first appeared in late February 1979 (also on Warner Brothers) - Lowell George must have been seriously impressed because he promptly cover her "Easy Money" for his Side 2 opener - his album released only weeks later. The brass is great and the sound glorious, but again, it feels uneasy to me somehow. There then appears what is the only other real solo song - "20 Million Things" being an acoustic smoocher and it's just so lovely. The wall of male voices that accompany him as he sings "I've got 20 million things to do...but all I can think about is you..." gives the song a loveliness of feel - like classic Little Feat. 

"Find A River" is a Fred Tackett song, another softer acoustic moment that feels demo-like with its in-the-moment intro laden with hiss. Love that "hope you think about me" doubled-vocal and the piano as it sails in though. Crank this and it will reward you. The LP ends on a Jimmy Webb ditty called "Himmler's Ring" - a sort of stab at Leon Redbone caricature that fails. There then follows a 2:28 minute surprise - "Heartache" being a Previously Unreleased Demo with Valerie Carter. It's hissy for sure and unplugged obviously and only all right - but still a find for fans. 

I'm conflicted by "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" - half of it is magic, and amplified in stature by this muscular Remaster for sure. But the duffer stuff still gets to me. Lowell George would be gone all too soon and that artwork photograph of him holding up a less-than-successful fishing catch, always makes me sad. Still, if you have to own it and want to crank those better moments - then this forgotten Warner Archives CD Remaster is the solo hombre for you...