"A Night On The Town" by ROD STEWART – June 1976 UK and US Seventh Studio Album on Riva/Warner Brothers Records featuring Guitarists Joe Walsh of Eagles, Steve Cropper of Booker T. & The MG’s, David Lindley of Jackson Browne’s Band, Fred Tackett of Little Feat with Barry Beckett and David Foster on Keyboards - Lee Sklar, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Willie Weeks on Bass with Roger Hawkins on Drums, Tower of Power on Horns and Brook Honicutt and Britt Eckland on Backing Vocals (November 2000 UK Warner Brothers CD Reissue and Keith Blake Remaster in the Warner Remasters Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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MORE THAN A FEELING 

1976

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"...Oh Georgie Stay..."

 

Common consensus has it that Rodders and his run of Seventies classic albums ended in 1977 with "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" – only to nose-dive into the bum-wiggling Disco embarrassment that was "Blondes Have More Fun" in December 1978. And with my hand on my Tartan-ish heart, I would have to agree.

 

But re-listening to the one before – the 1976 Britt Eckland lurve-in that is "A Night On The Town" and I am transported back to a time when being happy with 50 to 60 per-cent of the album was enough. And in the case of the magnificent Side 1 social statement "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)" – I was even moved to tears back in the day and still am.

 

Issued in the USA and Blighty in November 2000 - this largely forgotten Warners Remaster CD is 22 years old in 2022 and is unfortunately deleted. Once a cheap as chips fiver-English, it can go for twenty-five, so hunt around. To the Slow and Fast Halves...

 

UK released November 2000 - "A Night On The Town" by ROD STEWART on Warner Brothers 9362-47730-2 (Barcode 093624773023) is part of the 'Warner Remasters' Series and is a straightforward CD reissue of his 1976 LP that plays out as follows (41:12 minutes):

 

Slow Half [Side 1]

1. Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)

2. The First Cut Is The Deepest

3. Fool For You

4. The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)

 

Fast Half [Side 2]

5. The Balltrap

6. Pretty Flamingo

7. Big Bayou

8. The Wild Side Of Life

9. Trade Winds

Tracks 1 to 9 are his seventh studio album "A Night On The Town" - released June 1976 in the UK on Riva Records RVLP 1 and Warner Brothers BS 2938 in the USA. Produced by TOM DOWD - it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US album charts. "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)", "Fool For You", "The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)" and "The Balltrap" written by Rod Stewart - the other five tracks are cover versions (each discussed below).

 

MUSICIANS featured were:

GUITARS - Steve Cropper (of Booker T. & The MG's), Joe Walsh (of Eagles), Jesse Ed Davis, Billy Peek, David Lindley (of Jackson Browne's band) and Fred Tackett (of Little Feat)

KEYBOARDS - Barry Beckett, David Foster, John Jarvis and J Smith

HORNS – Tower Of Power

BASS - Duck Dunn (Booker T & The MG's), Bob Glaub, David Hood, Willie Weeks and Lee Sklar

DRUMS and PERCUSSION - Willie Correa, Roger Hawkins, Al Jackson and Nigel Olsson (Elton John's Band), Tommy Vig, Joe Lala (of Manassas)

 

The foldout three-way gatefold slip inlay offers only credits alongside that photo which adorned the inner sleeve of the 1976 LP and naught else. For such a huge album, it seems kind of cheap and piddly and has not been expanded ever since. But the 24-Bit High Resolution Audio supplied in this Warner Remaster done by KEITH BLAKE rocks like the proverbial clappers. The recordings were top notch originally anyway, but this CD has a real punch and swagger – amplifying what was boogie-on-down one minute (Side 2) – then Soulful and swaying the next (Side 1). To the record...

 

Recorded in America with a very Memphis Rock-Soul feel and produced by the legendary Tom Dowd – Rod's previous LP "Atlantic Crossing" wasn't just a nod to his new future and aspirations – Stewart had literally upped sticks to the USA to escape (like so many at the time) ludicrously crippling British taxation laws that we're robbed him of almost all his earnings. More importantly, with "Atlantic Crossing", Stewart had also left behind the 'sound' of his old British Steamhammer, Jeff Beck Group and Faces muckers Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Martin Quittenton. Now it was sessionmen galore – Soul Boys like Steve Cropper and Jesse Ed Davis who also understood and loved Rock and R&B and Funk. There was a deliberate commercialism to "Atlantic Crossing" – a ten-track winner full of potential singles – least not of all the arms-waving-in-the-air Celtic-ish ballad "Sailing" (a cover version of a Sutherland Brothers single from 1972 on Island Records penned by Gavin Sutherland) of course repeating the No. 1 status of the album in the UK. 

 

Again produced by TOM DOWD and featuring virtually the same crew as "Atlantic Crossing" – "A Night On The Town" went down the same path – and arguably more successfully than before. A huge fan fave and a great bedroom potboiler, "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" opens proceedings on Side 1 with naughty talk of sweet virgins of the world and Britt Eckland speaking in French (not exactly giving instructions on how to make a really good Cucumber Sandwich). The song's sexy sway and 'let's get upstairs quickly my dear' lyrics was so fruity for 1976 that several American Radio Stations banned it as 'lewd'. The public naturally ran towards it with gusto. In 2022 though, "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" probably has fond memories for us olden-types, but is admittedly sounding a tad dated if not a wee bit ridiculous too. Eight weeks as a US No. 1 single however, and I'm sure Rod Stewart's bank accounts would disagree. It was a monster song in 1976 and 1977 officially saw it named as one of the year's biggest plays – sexpot or not.

 

Up comes Rod's first cover version – a gorgeous and still moving take on the Cat Stevens 60ts Deram song "The First Cut Is The Deepest" – Stewart again showing his extraordinary knack of making someone else's great song seem like it had always been his (it became the third and last single off the album in April 1977). He ends Side 1 with two of his own - "Fool For You" – a nice ballad that deserves rediscovery as a deep album cut – but is trounced by the majesty and genuine brilliance of "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)". A tale of an English gay man rejected by his parents, who then emigrates and becomes the toast of New York and its notorious scene (no party was complete without him) – only to be knifed in a New Jersey street gang spat days after he'd finally found love. Stewart can pen a memorable lyric – all the good ones can – but he nailed it with Georgie. His lifestyle-knowing and his empathy for this extroverted character imbibes the song with a shocking reality, acceptance and heart too that was rarely ever publicly aired by other artists. When it goes into that 'oh Georgie stay' refrain in Part II with the ladies so Soulfully backing up his aching vocals – it's probably the defining moment in a long career of greatness. Re-listening to it in 2022 (it was issued as the second single from the album in August 1976), and I was and still am, impossibly moved by it.

 

Side 2 (the fast half) opens up with the tease of "The Balltrap" – a typically snotty rocker (he is so good at these) telling us of a lady with perhaps dubious intentions towards his frequently removed undergarments. It's a hoot still and was the B-side of the "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" 45-single in many areas. We then get into the final run of four cover versions – Manfred Mann's "Pretty Flamingo" (written by songsmith Marcus Barkan), American Cajun rocker Gib Gilbeau and his "Big Bayou" and the 50ts Country twang of Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side Of Life". They're good, but just a tad too functional and after the coherence of Side 1, made it feel like the LP was losing its way a bit. 

 

Rod finishes his seventh studio album on that other forgotten deep cut - "Trade Winds" – penned by American percussionist Ralph MacDonald (with William Salter). MacDonald is the author of "Where Is The Love" done by Roberta Flack and "Just The Two Of Us" done by Grover Washington, Jr with Bill Withers on Vocals. Rod imbibes this lovely Soulful ender with the feeling of a classic that's always been there – you just never noticed. MacDonald would put out his first solo LP on Marlin Records also in 1976 - "Sound Of A Drum" which contained his solo cut of "Where Is The Love" and Stone The Crows Vocalist Maggie Bell did a version of "Trade Winds" on her 1974 Polydor Records LP "Queen Of The Night" - her fabulous Scottish pipes up to the task (Bill Salter, the song's co-author even plays Bass on Maggie's version).

 

Back to the tune in hand and in keeping with Rod Stewart's knack for spotting an unsung gem, "Trade Winds" had appeared as far back as 1972 as the B-side to the monster Roberta Flack 45-single "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on Atlantic 2864. To my knowledge MacDonald never did do a solo cut of it – so Rod's version of "Trade Winds" is a fabulous upgrade on 1972 and 1974 - maybe even an amalgam of both. However, even as a Remaster, it's a bit hissy admittedly in certain parts especially as Brooks Honicutt and Jerry Jumonville do their Vocal and Saxophone soloing. But still, what a great way to end Side 2.

 

For sure the inlay to "A Night On The Town" is merely functionary and some of the tunes are obvious cover version filler - but let's be clear - the good stuff is great and as an album, this 1976 platter is revered still for damn good reason.

 

"...Here I stand looking...what do I see...unhappy faces behind a painted smile...Heartache and loneliness dressed up in modern style...reflections of myself...life is no easy game..." - Rod sang on "Trade Winds" – a plea for cross denominational understanding – a song that ached for peace in a society gone crazy in many ways.

 

Revisit this album...though perhaps with a bottle of real ale instead of a glass of bubbly (and maybe loose the negligee too). Well done my exiled son...

"Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" by GEORGE SMITH and THE CHICAGO BLUES BAND – February 1969 US Debut Studio LP on World Pacific Records in Stereo (March 1969 UK on Liberty Records in Stereo) featuring Muddy Waters on Guitar, Otis Spann on Piano, SP Leary on Drums with Luther Johnson and Marshall Hooks also on Guitars (July 2022 UK Beat Goes On Reissue (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) – 1LP onto 1CD with 3 Bonus Tracks, One Including Lucille Spann on Vocals – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Key To The Highway..."

 

What you have here is a reissue of a reissue of a reissue.

 

England's Beat Goes on (BGO) initially put out this CD as far back as late March 2012 (launched again in late January 2013). 

 

This variant is a July 2022 re-release using the same catalogue number and barcode (itself delayed from 2021 because of Covid-19). This time around you get upgraded to Card Slipcase packaging, a see-through CD tray, other album advert inlay beneath and a 2022 Copyright Date to differentiate issues. This 2022 re-release is NOT a new remaster - the February 2012 liner notes are the same as is the 2012 Remaster – no change.

 

The other album... 

July 2022 also saw BGO remaster his 2^nd studio album from mid 1969 called "...Of The Blues" accredited to GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND. 

Beat Goes On BGOCD1448 (Barcode 5017261214485) is the first official CD Reissue of that lost Blues-Rock blast – see separate review.

 

Lots to talk about here though and most of it great – to the details...

 

UK released July 2022 (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) -  "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" by GEORGE SMITH and THE CHICAGO BLUES BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD1035 (Barcode 5017261210357) is a CD Reissue and Remaster of his debut studio album from 1969 plus three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (44:57 minutes):

 

1. Mellow Down Easy [Side 1]

2. Can't Hold On Much Longer

3. My Babe

4. Juke

5. West Helena Woman

6. Tell Me Mama [Side 2]

7. Last Night

8. You Better Watch Yourself

9. Key To The Highway

10. Everything Gonna Be Alright

11. Too Late

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut studio album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" - released February 1969 in the USA on World Pacific Records WPS-21887 in Stereo – March 1969 UK on Liberty Records LBS 83218E in Stereo. Recorded across three days in October 1968 (2^nd, rd and 4^th), the album is mostly cover versions of his Chess Records Harmonica hero – Little Walter. Produced by STEVE LaVERE and PETE WELDING in Los Angeles - guest musicians include Muddy Waters, Marshall Hooks and Luther Johnson on Guitars, Otis Spann on Piano, Lawrence "Little Willie" Wimberley on Bass with S.P. Leary on Drums.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Goin' Down Slow

13. Just A Feelin'

14. Love With A Feelin'

All three tracks were cut at the October 1968 sessions. Both 12 and 14 feature Muddy Waters and Luther Johnson on Guitars with "Goin' Down Slow" featuring a Rare Muddy slide-guitar solo. Although not stated definitively – Track 13 probably contains the core band listed above also. "Love With A Feelin'" features Lucille Spann – the then 29-year-old wife of Otis Spann – on Lead Vocals and was first issued March 2012 on the original BGO reissue.

 

The outer Card Slipcase is new but the 8-page booklet and TONY RUSSELL liner notes are the same as the original March 2012 version – track list too. The 2012 ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster needs no improvement and absolutely Rocks – reminding me of those Taj Mahal 360 Sound CD Remasters that Legacy put out. The music is Blues with a Rock lean – sort of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band fronted by George’s great voice and his deep chromatic Harmonica warbles. To the tunes...

You can hear the band filling out both your speakers in the opening "Mellow Down Easy" (a Willie Dixon song Little Walter made famous) - Smith's voice way better than you'd expect - a sort of warm-toned crooner feel. Whilst both Muddy Waters and Luther Johnson are on the opener, it's background rather than flash. And then it comes in - that huge Harmonica. Smith's second is the can't sleep at night/cat-nap all day Slow Blues of "Can't Hold On Much Longer". "Gonna have to cut you loose now woman..." and then that warbling harp blasting out around the room. Also impressive is Otis Spann - tinkling cool in the background. 

"My Babe" has to be almost everyone's fave-rave Chess Classic when it comes to Little Walter - British R&B combos like Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner and Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames practically combusting on the spot in the Sixties. Here Smith gives it fantastic Mojo - so R&B sweaty nightclub - and gorgeous full audio too. Northern Soul dancers and Modernists will dig the Harmonica R&B shuffle of the instrumental "Juke" - all party - all night long. Smith ends Side 1 on what is surely an LP highlight - a lowdown gutsy Slow Blues in "West Helena Woman". Mean and ballsy - the lyrics are boisterous Saturday Night - going out and having a Natural Ball - our George loving this woman best of all. The two guitars (Muddy and Luther) get to weep and moan too in this superb side-finisher. 

 

Side 2 opens with a bopper "Tell Me Mama" - our George suspicious about a chap leaving his home at an unbecoming hour. Way better is the misery-loves-company that is "Last Night" - a 2 a.m. Blues moaner that features superb guitar/piano/harp battles throughout - impressive stuff. "Last Night" contains the band's best mind meld - a true Blues With A Feeling. Belting harp opens "You Better Watch Yourself" - a typically menacing Little Walter blame game - his beady eyes on his gal's possibly shifty behavior. It romps home with "Key To The Highway", "Everything Gonna Be Alright" and "Too Late" - fun R&B boppers any one of which could have been a single. 

The three Bonuses are just that - "Goin' Down Slow" featuring Muddy on Slide Guitar with Otis plinkering away in the Slow Blues background. It's great stuff but was probably left off because it was one mooch too many. "Just A Feelin'" has two guitarists - gotta be Muddy and Johnson - and is excellent - equal to tunes on the LP. And we end with Otis Spann's wife Lucille taking Lead Vocals for the mid-tempo "Love With A Feelin'" - coming on like a Big Mama Thornton. She gives it some gusto, but the vocal is a little too low in the mix and therefore doesn't come across with the upfront power the tune demands. But the guitar playing is great.

 

A very cool little CD reissue/remaster of a hip but largely unknown debut album from 1969 - George Smith and his Band of Blues Brothers remembered with style and mucho Audio punch. "Harmonica" Smith would go on to do two albums with England's Blues Rock combo BACON FAT featuring Rod Piazza under the watchful eye of the label's producer Mike Vernon (see my separate review for "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" 2CD set). 

 

But as a starter for ten, his debut LP "Blues With A Feeling..." was indeed the Keys To The Highway. Dig in and enjoy...

"Clowns Exit Laughing: The JIMMY WEBB Songbook" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - featuring Glen Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Nocturnes, Shane martin, Chuck Jackson, Walker Brothers, Everything But The Girl, Nina Simone and many more (September 2022 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...If Anybody Could..."

 

I'm a long time fan of England's Ace Records - surely one of the best reissue labels in the world - and I've bought, collected and reviewed their 'Songbook' or 'Songwriter' series up to a nerd-head pencil-pusher point.

 

But I've always had my suspicions about anyone telling me that Jimmy Webb is one the premier songwriting geniuses of the 20th Century – I think they need to get out more. Undoubtedly Tony Rounce - whose typically brilliant and informative liner notes grace yet another exceptional Ace release - would disagree and sends the boys around with implements to 'persuade' me of my momentary moment of well, insanity?

 

And with 180 or more cover versions of "Wichita Lineman" beside 175 more covers of "Up, Up And Away" along with Frank Sinatra's appraisal of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" as 'the greatest torch song ever' will dissuade our Tone from accepting my dissing on Jimmy. But Webb has always felt like an easy-listening lightweight to me and I find some of the material on this otherwise brilliant CD bares that out. Anyway, to the finite details...

 

UK released Friday, 2 September 2022 - "Clowns Exit Laughing: The JIMMY WEBB Songbook" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1620 (Barcode 029667106320) is a 24-Track CD-only compilation of Stereo and Mono Remasters (most are 60ts tracks) that plays out as follows (75:29 minutes):

 

1. By The Time I Get To Phoenix - GLEN CAMPBELL (November 1967 US LP "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" on Capitol ST 2851 in Stereo)

 

2. Up, Up And Away - DIONNE WARWICK (March 1968 US "Valley Of The Dolls" LP on Sceptre SPS 568 in Stereo) 

 

3. Carpet Man - THE NOCTURNES (July 1968 UK 45-single on Columbia DB 8453, A-side in Mono)

 

4. When Eddie Comes Home - THE EVERLY BROTHERS (1966 unreleased Warner Brothers Stereo Demo recording first appeared on the 2006 Bear Family 8CD Box Set "Chained to A Memory" on Bear Family BCD 16791 1M)

 

5. I Need You - SHANE MARTIN (August 1968 US 45-single on Epic 5-10384, Mono B-side of "You're So Young")

 

6. Honey Come Back - CHUCK JACKSON (August 1969 US 45-single on Motown M-1152, Mono A-side)

 

7. Where's The Playground Susie? - EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL (September 1986 UK 12"-Single on Blanco Y Negro NEG 23T, Stereo B-side of "Don't Leave Me Behind" with Ben Watts on Lead Vocals)

 

8. Midnight Mail - JOEY SCARBURY (August 1969 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4209, Mono B-side of "House Of The Rising Sun")

9. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress - THE WALKER BROTHERS (Recorded 1975 in Stereo with Scott on Lead Vocals, first issued 2001 on the CD Compilation "If You Could Hear Me Now" on Columbia 503302 2)

10. Wichita Lineman - TONY JOE WHITE (July 1969 UMS Debut LP "Black And White" on Monument Records SLP 18114 in Stereo)

11. Didn't We - JAMES DARREN (June 1967 Us 45-single on Warner Brothers 7053, Mono A-side)

12. MacArthur Park - WAYLON JENNINGS and THE KIMBERLYS (July 1969 US 45-single on RCA Victor 74-0210, Stereo A-side - also on the 1969 "Country-Folk" US LP on RCA Victor LSP-4180)

13. I Keep It Hid - THE SUPREMES (November 1972 US LP "Produced And Arranged by Jimmy Webb" on Motown M-756L)

14. Do What You Gotta Do - NINA SIMONE (August 1968 US 45-single on RCA Victor 47-9602, Stereo A-side - September 1968 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 1743, B-side to "Ain't Got No - I Got Life")

15. Galveston - DON HO (December 1968 US 45-single on Reprise Records 0800, Mono B-side of "Has Anybody Lost A Love?")

16. The Worst That Could Happen - B.J. THOMAS (June 1969 US LP "Young And In Love" on Scepter SPS 576 in Stereo)

17. Requiem: 820 Latham - MEL TORME (February 1970 US 45-single on Capitol 2743, Stereo A-side)

18. Magic Garden - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (August 1968 UK 4-Track 45 EP "If You Go Away" on Philips BE 12605, Track 2 on Side 1 in Mono)

19. Rosecrans Blvd. - THE 5th DIMENSION (August 1967 US 45-single on Soul City 755, Stereo B-side of "Another Day, Another Heartache" - also on the Stereo LP "Up, Up And Away" on Soul City SCS-92000)

20. Which Way To Nowhere - THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE (March 1969 US Debut LP "Brooklyn Bridge" on Buddah BDS 5034 in Stereo)

21. Clowns Exit Laughing - THE FORTUNES (1970 US LP "That Same Old Feeling" on World Pacific Records WPS 21904 in Stereo)

22. P.F. Sloan - RUMER (from the May 2012 CD album "Boys Don't Cry" on Atlantic 5053105230853)

 

23. Highwayman - WAYLON JENNINGS, WILLIE NELSON, JOHNNY CASH, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON (from the 1985 US LP "Highwayman" on Columbia FC 40056)

 

24. If This Was The Last Song - DEE DEE WARWICK with THE DIXIE FLYERS (September 1970 Us 45-single on Atco 44-6769, Stereo A-Side)

 

Tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19 to 24 - STEREO

Tracks 3, 5, 6, 11, 15 and 18 - MONO 

 

A beautifully laid-out 20-page booklet pours on the photos, memorabilia and period shots aided and abetted by TONY ROUNCE who seems to know more about Sixties Pop and Soul than the artists themselves who recorded it. NICK ROBBINS did the superb Remasters – very clear, punchy and full – despite the myriad sources – this is a cohesively great sounding CD compilation. To the tunes...

 

"Clowns Exit Laughing..." not surprisingly opens with the artist most associated with Jimmy Webb - Glen Campbell - and Webb's most covered tune of all time "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". A smart move too opening the CD with two Stereo cuts even if Dionne Warwick's rendition of "Up, Up And Away" (a song more associated with The 5th Dimension) is a big syrupy. First seriously clever choice comes in the form of "Carpet Man" by England's Nocturnes - itself a cover of a 5th Dimension Webb song they'd put out Stateside in early 1968. The tune is very upbeat, even Motownish (more of that later) and The Nocturnes featured both Lyn Paul and Eve Graham who went on to be with The New Seekers. Can't say I'm too enamoured with the schlock of "When Eddie Comes Home" even if the mighty pipes of The Everly Brothers are going at it in Demo form (took 40 years for it to appear on Bear Family's magnificent "Chained To A Memory" 8CD Box Set).

 

Far better is the first of a trio of B-sides that British Northern Soul boys latched on to - and given their sexy Motown-vibing Soul shuffles - hardly surprising they did. New Orleans lad Shane Martin recorded a series of 45s for Epic and Columbia between 1967 and 1970, but when a British DJ flipped Epic 5-10384 to find "I Need You" - talcum powder dancers practically lost it (been a big-ticket item on the scene ever since). The second big-drums, brass and tinkling vibes dancer is the 14-year-old Joey Scarbury who punched out "Midnight Mail" on ABC's Dunhill label imprint - thereafter discovered by the scene's legendary Ian Levine and championed - great stuff. Number three is the much-missed Tony Joe White going at "Wichita Lineman" with a sincerity only his voice and swamp guitar could emulate - gorgeous audio too as the piano and brass arrangements kick in (want you for all time).

 

Genius choices must also go to "Where's The Playground Susie?" done as a twelve-inch Blanco Y Negro B-side in 1986 by England's Everything But The Girl - Ben Watts taking a rare lead vocal over Tracy Thorn (she adds harmonies on this truly lovely version). Recorded in 1975 as one of four outtakes for the "No Regrets" reunion album but unreleased - "The Moon's A Harsh Mistress" is a truly gorgeous cover with Scott Walker (of The Walker Brothers) adding a bottom-of-the-sea deep lead vocal. Beautifully recorded, it would not be heard until the 2001 CD compilation "If You Could Hear Me Now" on Columbia Records. Things go downhill with Time Tunnel actor James Darren doing "Didn't We" and Waylon Jennings with The Kimberley's going at "MacArthur Park" - a very hissy piece of overdone. And I can't understand why Tony didn't use the gorgeous "5:15" over "I Keep It Hid" from The Supremes LP Written and Arranged by JW. Nina Simone souls up "Do What You Gotta Do", but it feels forced-into-doing-this-song to me and Don Ho's "Galveston" comes at you like Perry Como fodder that's pretty and not much else.

 

And on it goes to Dusty giving it some big-haired melodrama on "Magic Garden" (a 5th Dimension hit) - better is the lyrically-unsettling "Rosecrans Blvd." by the aforementioned 5th Dimension (produced by Johnny Rivers) and The Brooklyn Bridge doing their musically excellent album cut of "Which Way To Brooklyn" - a song picked by British White Soul Boy James Royal in 1969. Beautiful production values too on 1970's "Clowns Exit Laughing" courtesy of Noel Walker and Billy Davis while Rumer's 2012 acoustic take on "P.F. Sloan" is almost Carpenters beautiful.

 

It's not all genius - but there's enough to satisfy and plenty to please and even at times amaze. The Wichita Lineman is still on the line. Nice...

"...Of The Blues" by GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND - June 1969 US Second Studio Album originally on Bluesway Records in Stereo featuring Harp Player Rod Piazza of The Dirty Blues Band and Bacon Fat, Marshall Hooks and Arthur Adams on Guitars with Big Jim Wynn and Ed Davis on Horns (July 2022 UK Beat Goes On Reissue (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) – 1LP onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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 "...Juicy Harmonica..."

 

Now here's a rarity reissued as well as we can hope for  - the fantastic Mississippi harp player's second US album issued originally on Bluesway Records and first time on CD too (incredibly). Let's get to the nitty gritty...

 

UK released July 2022 (delayed from May 2021 due to Covid-19) - "...Of The Blues" by GEORGE "Harmonica" SMITH and his BLUES BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD1448 (Barcode 5017261214485) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his second studio album from 1969 that plays out as follows (34:50 minutes):

 

1. A Letter To The President [Side 1]

2. Got My Mojo Working

3. Milk That Cow

4. Blues For Reverend King

5. Ode To Billie Joe

6. Juicy Harmonica [Side 2]

7. Help Me

8. Hawaiian Eye

9. If You Were A Rabbit

Tracks 1 to 9 are his second studio album "...Of The Blues" - released June 1969 in the USA on Bluesway Records BLS 6029 in Stereo (no UK issue). 

 

George Smith wrote tracks 3, 4, 6 and 9 - Track 1 written by Rose Marie McCoy, Track 2 written by Muddy Waters, Track 5 by Bobbie Gentry, Track 7 by Sonny Boy Williamson and Track 8 by Mack David.

 

Produced by BOB THIELE for Flying Dutchman Productions 

Guest musicians included:

ROD PIAZZA of The Dirty Blues Band, Bacon Fat and later with The Midnight Flyers (as Lightnin' Rod) on Lead Harmonica for "A Letter To The President", "Juicy Harmonica" and "Help Me"

MARSHALL HOOKS on Guitar (ARTHUR ADAMS on "A Letter To The President" only)

ROBERT SCHEDELE on Piano

BIG JIM WYNN and ED DAVIS on Saxophones - RICHARD DAVIS on Trumpet

CURTIS TILLMAN on Bass (Drummer unknown)

 

First thing you need to know apart from the pretty card slipcase and the 12-page booklet with Liner Notes from an enthusiastic JOHN O'REGAN (written April 2021) is that the ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster is not from real tapes, but it seems, a clean vinyl source. Beat Goes On states this clearly and given what they've had to work with, the stereo imaging and clarity is remarkable - but you crank it too much and you can hear those edges blur. But make no mistake - this is a job well done and when the band is cooking as they are on their cover of Mack David's "Hawaiian Eye" - the audio is great - a sort of Booker T & The MG's on a rollicking Brass and Harmonica tip.

 

It opens with 3:40 minutes of George talking his way through an end-racial-inequality plea called "A Letter To The President". To the backdrop of train sounds a-chugging-along where the acoustic guitar strums in the left speaker and guest Rod Piazza warbles on Harp in the right - he narrates as if he's a boxcar hobo riding the trains some 20 years and wanting 60ts USA to end 'whites only' signs - the man with the big speeches in the big house to step up the plate in other words. It's good but very much of its time. Better for me is his first cover version of the album, Muddy Waters signature song "Got My Mojo Working" - great feel and warm audio. His first original "Milk That Cow" is probably my least fave on the record - badly dated falsified fun. Way, way better is the full-blown chromatic warbling harmonica instrumental that is "Blues For Reverend King" where GS gets stuck in and makes Little Walter nervous for his crown. Side 1 then ends on another instrumental - Bobbie Gentry's huge hit "Ode To Billie Joe" - which George makes Bluesy and Funky too - very tasty.

 

Side 2 opens with that other Paul Butterfield contemporary Rod Piazza giving it some "Juicy Harmonica" - another warbling instrumental. Piazza is extraordinary - he started out singing and blowing his big gruff harp with two 60ts albums for The Dirty Blues Band (which BGO has reissued and I've reviewed), two for Blue Horizon's Bacon Fat in the very early 70ts (also reviewed that) and then nearly 30-years with his band The Mighty Flyers (still going in 2022). Which brings me to my two craves on the record - George's cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic "Help Me" and the fantastic seven-minutes of "If You Were A Rabbit" where both GS and Marshall Hooks kill it on Harmonica and Guitar.

 

By the end of 1969, George Smith was with English Producer Mike Vernon of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac fame in the Eldorado Recording Studios in Hollywood making albums for Vernon's Blue Horizon Records of the UK with the short-lived but much loved Bacon Fat (I reviewed that August 2006 Sony/Blue Horizon double CD anthology years back - "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions"). Their first album "Grease One For Me" would be issued early 1970 with their second "No Time For Jive" coming at the spring of 1971 after November 1970 UK tours. Neither did much business despite the quality and from there on in, Smith went touring with other luminaries such as James Cotton.

 

Getting back to the case in hand - "...Of The Blues" is not a balls-to-the-wall Blues Rock masterpiece for sure, and his first album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" is probably better. But Beat Goes On (BGO) of the UK are to be thanked big-time for making available again those tracks within that are simply brilliant and a warbler LP gem that deserves recognition some 50+ years after the event.

 

July 2022 (delayed from May 2021) also saw BGO of the UK reissue on CD George Smith's more revered and famous debut album "Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter" (BGOCD1035 - Barcode 5017261210357). BGO initially put that disc out way back in 2012 - this is an upgrade with card slipcase and a 2022 copyright date. Remastered from original tapes – it sounds incredible. 

 

Originally from February 1969 on World Pacific Records USA (was given a UK issue on Liberty Records in March 1969), that stereo album featured some Blues heavy-hitters too - Muddy Waters on Guitar, Otis Spann on Piano, SP Leary on Drums with Luther Johnson and Marshall Hooks also on Guitars. It's a winner too. Get 'em both I say...