"Complete Albums 1965-1980" by PAUL BUTTERFIELD including THE BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND and BETTER DAYS - Musicians Include Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Geoff Muldaur, Amos Garrett, Merry Clayton and many more (November 2015 UK Elektra/Bearsville/WSM/Rhino 14CD 140-Song Clamshell Box Set of Remasters with Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves and Rare/Previously Unreleased Material - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...All These Blues..."

 

Winners and losers on this one – 14CDs with 140-songs including collector-friendly stuff like Rare and Previously Unreleased August 1969 Woodstock recordings tagged on at the end (CD14) as "Live In White Lake, N.Y. 8/18/69" - a reissue of a rare July 1995 Rhino US CD compilation that gathered up the then Previously Unissued December 1964 original band sessions including both guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop called "The Original Lost Elektra Sessions" - and an unannounced 'Extended Edition' of their official "Live" album from 1970.

In a nutshell - you get all of his Elektra albums in glorious Stereo from December 1965 up to September 1971 and the ones that followed on Bearsville in the first part of the Seventies as the band Better Days and then just as Paul Butterfield (some of those gems were produced by Todd Rundgren, Geoff Muldaur and Hi Records legend Willie Mitchell) – an impressive haul in any man's language. Hell, even the "Live" set from 1970 turns out to be the whole double-LP on CD1, but it also sports an additional 8 session outtakes on CD2, unissued material that showed exclusively on a now long-deleted US-only Rhino Handmade 2CD reissue in 2005. And this is without saying so either on the front cover sticker or rear box track list.

So as I say – at a huge 140 Tracks - impressive and comprehensive. But where are the details? The lack of a booklet that could easily stretch to 50-plus pages covering his 15-year career is a downer – especially given his genre-groundbreaking place in Blues Rock History and the sheer number of cool session men and women who played on these albums (Clydie King, Merry Clayton, David Sanborn etc).

But – that said – even when the content starts to taper off big time by the time we get to the decidedly weak Bearsville albums of the Seventies and beyond - "Complete Albums 1965-1980" is gorgeous to look at – a fantastic ballsy listen because all are the 1990s Rhino Remasters done by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot and the Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves are just the dinkiest things (gatefolds include "In My Own Dream", "Live", "Better Days" and "It All Comes Back" - inserts in several too). Much to boogie to...here are the details...

 

UK released November 2015 - "Complete Albums 1965-1980" by PAUL BUTTERFIELD (including The Butterfield Blues Band and Better Days) on Elektra/Bearsville/Warner Strategic Marketing/Rhino 081227951855 (Barcode 081227951955) is a 14CD 140-Song Clamshell Box Set of 13 Remastered albums (one is a 2CD double-live set) that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (38:07 minutes):

1. Born In Chicago [Side 1]

2. Shake Your Money-Maker

3. Blues With A Feeling

4. Thank You Mr. Poobah

5. I Got My Mojo Working

6. Mellow Down Easy

7. Screamin' [Side 2]

8. Our Love Is Drifting

9. Mystery Train

10. Last Night

11. Look Over Yonders Wall

Tracks 1 to 11 are the LP "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band" - their debut album released December 1965 in the USA on Elektra EKS 7294 in Stereo (May 1966 in the UK with the same catalogue no.)

 

CD2 (44:55 minutes):

1. Walkin' Blues [Side 1]

2. Get Out Of My Life, Woman

3. I Got A Mind To Give Up Living

4. All These Blues

5. Work Song

6. Mary, Mary [Side 2]

7. Two Trains Running

8. Never Say No

9. East-West

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "East-West" by The Butterfield Blues Band - released September 1966 in the USA on Elektra EKS 7315 in Stereo (December 1966 in the UK same no.)

 

CD3 (45:45 minutes):

1. One More Heartache [Side 1]

2. Driftin' And Driftin'

3. Pity The Fool

4. Born Under A Bad Sign

5. Run Out Of Time [Side 2]

6. Double Trouble

7. Drivin' Wheel

8. Droppin' Out

9. Tollin' Blues

Tracks 1 to 9 are the LP "The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw" - released January 1968 on Elektra EKS 74015 in the USA (February 1968 in the UK same no.)

 

CD4 (36:30 minutes):

1. Last Hope's Gone [Side 1]

2. Mine To Love

3. Get Yourself Together

4. Just To Be With You

5. Morning Blues [Side 2]

6. Drunk Again

7. In My Own Dream

Tracks 1 to 7 are the LP "In My Own Dream" - released August 1968 in the USA on Elektra EKS 74025 in Stereo (September 1968 in the UK same no.) The card sleeve is a gatefold to repro the original LP

 

CD5 (42:09 minutes):

1. Love March [Side 1]

2. No Amount Of Loving

3. Morning Sunrise

4. Losing Hand

5. Walking By Myself

6. Except You

7. Love Disease [Side 2]

8. Where Did My Baby Go

9. All In A Day

10. So Far So Good

11. Buddy's Advice

12. Keep On Moving

Tracks 1 to 12 is the LP "Keep On Moving" - released October 1969 in the USA on Elektra EKS 74053 in Stereo (November 1969 in the UK same no.)

 

CD6 (77:47 minutes):

1. Everything Going To Be Alright [Side 1]

2. Love Disease

3. The Boxer

4. No Amount Of Loving [Side 2]

5. Driftin' And Driftin'

6. Intro To Musicians [Side 3]

7. Number Nine

8. I Want To Be With You

9. Born Under A Bad Sign

10. Get Together Again [Side 4]

11. So Far, So Good

Tracks 1 to 11 are the 2LP-set "The Butterfield Blues Band/Live" – released December 1970 in the USA on Elektra 7E-2001 and February 1971 in the UK on Elektra EKD 2001. A gatefold card sleeve - see also CD7 for more details

 

CD7 (69:30 minutes):

1. Gene's Tune

2. Nobody's Fault But Mine

3. Losing Hand

4. All In A Day

5. Feel So Bad

6. Except You

7. You've Got To Love Her With A Feeling

8. Love March

Tracks 1 to 9 first appeared as Previously Unreleased outtakes on the 2004 USA-only 2CD Reissue of the 1970 album "The Butterfield Blues Band/Live" on Rhino Handmade RHM2 7874 (limited to 2,500 copies only)

 

CD8 (39:03 minutes):

1. Play On [Side 1]

2. 1000 Ways

3. Pretty Woman

4. Little Piece Of Dying

5. Song For Lee

6. Train Man [Side 2]

7. Night Child

8. Drowned In My Own Tears

9. Blind Leading The Blind

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin'" – released September 1971 in the USA on Elektra EKS-75013 and September 1971 in the UK on Elektra K 42095. This Mini LP Card sleeve includes a 2-sided page insert that repro's the original 1971 LP inner bag - band photo on one side - photos/reviews of their preceding six albums on the other side

 

CD9 (58:55 minutes):

1. Good Morning Little School Girl

2. Just To Be With You

3. Help Me

4. Hate To See You Go

5. Poor Boy

6. Nut Popper No. 1

7. Everything's Gonna Be All Right

8. Lovin' Cup

9. Rock Me

10. It Hurts Me Too

11. Our Love Is Driftin'

12. Take Me Back Baby

13. Mellow Down Easy

14. Ain't No Need To Go No Further

15. Love Her With A Feeling

16. Piney Brown Blues

17. Spoonful

18. That's All Right

19. Goin' Down Slow

Tracks 1 to 19 are the CD compilation "The Original Lost Elektra Sessions" by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – originally released July 1995 in the USA on Elektra Traditions/Rhino R2 73505 (Elektra Traditions/Rhino 0349-73505-2 in the UK and Europe). Originally Produced by Elektra's Paul A. Rothchild – the abandoned Previously Unreleased Stereo recordings were made December 1964 for their first album, finally receiving an airing in 1995. The Band included Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on Guitars, Jeremy Arnold on Bass and Sam Lay on Drums with Butterfield on Vocals and Harmonica. Mark Naftalin plays organ only on "Love Her With A Feeling". The mixing and remastering waa done by Dan Rothchild and Joe Gastwirt. This CD compilation was also reissued 2013 on Wounded Bird WOU 3505 in the USA – but both have been deleted years.

 

CD10 (37:24 minutes):

1. New Walkin' Blues

2. Please Send Me Someone To Love

3. Broke My Baby's Heart

4. Done A Lot Of Wrong Things

5. Baby Please Don't Go [Side 2]

6. Buried Alive In The Blues

7. Rule The Road

8. Nobody's Fault But Mine

9. Highway 28

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Better Days" by Paul Butterfield (aka "Paul Butterfield's Better Days") – released January 1973 in the USA on Bearsville BR 2119, February 1973 in the UK on Bearsville K 45515 (Produced by Paul Butterfield and Geoff Muldaur). This Mini LP Card sleeve is a Gatefold and includes a double-sided three-way foldout insert that repro's the original 1973 insert

 

CD11 (39:05 minutes):

1. Too Many Drivers [Side 1]

2. It's Getting Harder To Survive

3. If You Live

4. Win Or Lose

5. Small Town Talk

6. Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It [Side 2]

7. Poor Boy

8. Louisianna Flood

9. It All Comes Back

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "It All Comes Back" by Paul Butterfield's Better Days – released November 1973 in the USA on Bearsville BR 2170, January 1974 in the UK on Bearsville K 45517. Has songs written by Bobby Charles, Geoff Muldaur and Rick Danko.

 

CD12 (35:38 minutes):

1. You Can Run But You Can't Hide [Side 1]

2. (If I Never Sing) My Song

3. The Animal

4. The Breadline

5. Ain't That A Lot Of Love

6. I Don't Wanna Go [Side 2]

7. Day To Day

8. Here I Go Again

9. The Flame

10. Watch 'Em Tell A Lie

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Put It In Your Ear" by Paul Butterfield – released December 1975 in the USA on Bearsville BR 6960 and February 1976 in the UK on Bearsville K 55509 – Musicians include Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of The Band, David Sanborn, Eric Gale and Fred Carter. This Mini LP Card sleeve includes a one-sided page insert that repro's the original 1975 LP insert

 

CD13 (35:08 minutes):

1. I Get Excited [Side 1]

2. Get Some Fun In Your Life 

3. Footprints On The Windshield Upside Down

4. Catch A Train 

5. Bread And Butterfield 

6. Living In Memphis [Side 2]

7. Slow Down 

8. I Let It Go To My Head 

9. Baby Blue

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "North South" by Paul Butterfield – released January 1981 in the USA on Bearsville BSK 6995 (no UK issue).

 

CD14 (70:17 minutes): 

1. Intro (1:07 minutes)

2. Born Under A Bad Sign (13:39 minutes)

3. No Amount Of Loving (6:13 minutes)

4. Driftin' And Driftin' (12:09 minutes)

5. Morning Sunrise (8:01 minutes)

6. All In A Day (9:04 minutes)

7. Love March (10:08 minutes)

8. Everything's Gonna Be Alright (2:51 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 8 are called "Live In White Lake, N.Y. 8/18/69". Tracks 2, 4 and 6 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - Tracks 3, 7 and 8 first showed 2009 in the 6CD 40th Anniversary Box Set "Woodstock 40 (3 Days Of Peace & Music)" on Rhino 8122 79859 7 (UK and Europe). Although the title confusingly doesn't mention 'Woodstock' - this November 2015 CD represents the first time the 'complete show' has been represented on CD.

The Clamshell Box Set is sturdy enough and the 14 Mini LP Card Sleeves are full covers back and front and not those bordered versions you get in the cheaper "Original Album Classics" 5CD Capacity Wallets that look slightly naff. There are gatefolds where there should be and inserts too (see notes above). There is no Mastering Credits - but its obvious on Audio that these are the 90s Rhino Remasters – they kick like a mule and in glorious Stereo too. You could argue that the Mono variants of the first few 60ts LPs should have been added in for this box and some kind of booklet or poster included celebrating the band – but let us deal with what we do have...

 

Down through the years the musician list is impressive and varied – guitar maestro Mike Bloomfield originally combined with Elvin Bishop for the Sixties, Mark Naftalin and Ted Harris on Keyboards, Jeremy Arnold, Bugsy Mough and Rod Hicks on Bass, Bill Davenport, Sam Lay, George Davidson and Phil Wilson on Drums with regular guests like Horn Players David Sanborn, Gene Dinwiddie, Keith Johnson, Steve Madaio and Trevor Lawrence with Ralph Wash on Guitar, Amos Garret on Bass, Merry Clayton, Bobby Charles, Maria and Geoff Muldaur on Vocals, Bobbye Hall on Congas and many, many more. Paul A. Rothchild from Elektra and Todd Rundgren from Bearsville have produced too.

 

Outside of diehard fans of primo Blues Rock that have to have it all, for many casual divers the cheap-as-chips and just as tasty March 2010 Rhino/Elektra "Original Album Series" 5CD Capacity Wallet is enough to open accounts and go no further. It contains the December 1965 groundbreaking debut "The Paul Butterfield Blues Band" through to the October 1969 "Keep On Moving" LP (essentially CDs 1 to 5 here) - but this fab box set finally offers fans and the curious alike a whole lot more – and some of it (not all) is absolutely worth the stretch of your wallet. That expanded Rhino Handmade 2CD-variant of "Live" recorded March 1970 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles shows a band cooking – four brass players led by Guitar, Keyboards, Bass and Drums – tight and proud and Butterfield taking centre-stage.

 

Although it’s no audiophile recording, the 1969 famously explosive Woodstock set sees the band jam through twelve and thirteen minutes Blues-Rock winners (like Canned Heat on speed) much to the applause of the crowd – this 2015 Box Set being the first time the full show has been issued on one CD (see notes above). The card sleeve artwork for sure isn’t exactly the most inspiring 60ts art representation in the world, but at least we have the set.

 

I've also always had a soft spot for 1971's lesser-heard but expertly produced "Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin'" album with its array of Vocalists - Butterfield of course on the Funky "Play On" - Rod Hicks giving it some Shuggie Otis shuffle on the so-cool "1000 Ways" (edit out that mad start and you've a killer Funky-Funky Soul-Rock groove). Super-session-ladies Clydie King, Merry 'Gimme Shelter' Clayton and Venetta Fields beef up the Soul (these fab girls were used by Steely Dan!). Check out the sound quality on the wildly Chicago-funky instrumental "Song For Lee" that finishes Side 1 - it'll lift your speakers out of their complacency. Gene Dinwiddie leads off 'this is New York City!' vocal soulfulness of the sexy "Trainman" - another deep album gem. This incarnation of The Butterfield Blues Band even had Bobbye Hall of Bill Withers' band on Congas and Bongos - nice.

 

DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT – two top quality Audio Engineers long associated with Rhino and their handling of the vast WEA catalogue did the Remasters in the 90s. The music is incredibly bluesy and ballsy –truly stunning Paul Rothchild Sixties Production values coming at you on every disc. The instrumental "Thank You Mr. Poobah" for instance willy have your speakers for breakfast. The opening guitars on "Walkin' Blues" are the same – back in the mix – but still powerful. Don't get me wrong – these CDs aren't amped up for effect – they're just beautifully handled, sonicaly obvious too that the original master tapes are in tip-top condition. And throughout, you get Butterfield's deep and muscular harmonica slaying all in its path.

 

Sixties highlights are many and varied – their Soulful and Brassy cover of Marvin Gaye's "One More Headache", the wailing Blues of Otis Rush's "Double Trouble" and the huge Albert King power of "Born Under A Bad Sign". I love the slinky cover of Abbey Road's "Come Together" (Beatles), the bass line that opens the slightly jazzy "Last Hope's Gone" – a sort of precursor to Blood, Sweat & Tears debut album "Child Is The Father To The Man". Elvin Bishop provides the witty "Drunk Again" with lyrics like "...ain't got a dime and smelin' like a brewery…". Another tremendous chugger is "No Amount Of Loving" from the "Keep On Moving" album - a tune they'd return too for the fantastic 2LP "Live" set.

 

The problems start to come in when Butterfield began producing watered-down and weedy versions in the Seventies – the two by his band Better Days offer some gems like the very Allman Brothers-sounding "Too Many Drivers" and the nasty Sly Stone Funk of "It's Getting Harder To Survive" (sung by Ronnie Barron), but by the time you reach "Put It In Your Ear" in 1976 on Bearsville and especially "North South" in 1981 (I reviewed these on an Edsel CD Reissue years ago) – he was no longer charting and there were obvious reasons why. 

 

"Complete Albums 1965-1980" by Paul Butterfield has in itself been deleted a good few years now and increased alarmingly in price. Sure there's no booklet and there should have been, but if you can get this 14CD 140-song beast for the right amount of dosh - don't hesitate...

"Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" by STEPPENWOLF – Includes 8 Albums issued January 1968 to November 1971 in the USA (May 1968 to November 1971 in the UK on RCA Victor, Stateside and Probe Records) – featuring John Kay, Michael Monarch, Goldy McJohn, Rushton Moreve, Jerry Edmonton, Mars Bonfire, Nick St. Nicholas, Larry Byrom, Kent Henry and George Biondo (November 2021 UK Esoteric Recordings 8CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves and Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Heading Off Down The Highway..."

 

British reissue label Esoteric Recordings (a part of Cherry Red) has fast been carving out a place in the hearts of collectors these last few years and a total winner like "Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" amply shows why – it screams class. And in October 2022 – it's priced at just over forty-quid and not the initial sixty – so is properly great value for money (for years you could only get expensive Japanese SHM-CD Remasters that at one point were clocking in at £400 for what you get here at a tenth of the cost).

 

In a nutshell, you get 8 Steppenwolf albums in Stereo - six studio sets, the full compliment of one live US-double which was only released as a single LP in the UK and a single live set of early 1967 wolf recordings when they were called The Sparrow. On top of that there's a tasty 26 Bonus 45-single Sides (most in their original and rare Mono form), a beautifully presented 52-page chunky-monkey booklet, a fold-out memorabilia-strewn poster, 8 Mini LP card repro sleeves (five of which are gatefolds) and Brand New 2021 Paschal Byrne Remasters from original Dunhill/ABC master tapes. Frankly Frank and don't step on the grass Sam, but that's a whole lot of primo Howlin' Wolf, if you know what I'm barking on about.

 

Always somehow in the second tier of great Rock Bands, Steppenwolf rocked and ever since I heard their angry, but utterly brilliant take on drug-addiction "The Pusher" complete with John Kay's larger-than-life persona dealing with everything from the intrusiveness of The Man and the Vietnam War to snowblind friends - I have loved the mad buggers dearly. Time to come out of the cave man; get wild, tighten up your wig and hop on long motorbikes and suspect carpets. Here is the Sookie-Sookie detail...

 

 

UK released Friday, 26 Nov 2021 - "Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" by STEPPENWOLF on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC82777 (Barcode 5013929477780) is an 8CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Card Sleeve Repro Artwork, a 52-Page Booklet, Fold-Out Poster, 26 Bonus Tracks and New 2021 Remasters that play out as follows:

 

CD1 "Steppenwolf" – 1968 Debut LP (74:29 minutes): 

The LP's STEREO MIX ONLY is used on this CD; the 8 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Sookie Sookie [Side 1]

2. Everybody's Next One 

3. Berry Rides Again

4. Hootchie Kootchie Man 

5. Born To Be Wild

6. Your Wall's Too High 

7. Desperation [Side 2]

8. The Pusher 

9. A Girl I Knew

10. Take What You Need 

11. The Ostrich

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Steppenwolf" - released January 1968 on Dunhill D-50029 (Mono) and Dunhill DS-50029 (Stereo) and May 1968 in the UK on RCA Victor RD-7974 (Mono) and RCA Victor SF-7974 (Stereo). Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 6 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK).

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

12. Sookie Sookie (Mono Single Version) - February 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4123, A

13. Born To Be Wild (Mono Single Version) - May 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4138, A

14. Everybody's Next One (Mono Single Version) - May 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4138, B

15. Take What You Need (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4123, B

16. A Girl I Knew (Mono Single Version) - Oct 1967 US debut 45-single, Dunhill D-4109, A 

17. The Ostrich (Mono Single Version) - Oct 1967 US debut 45-single, Dunhill D-4109, B

18. The Pusher (Mono Single Version) - August 1970 UK 45-single, Stateside SS 8056, A

19. Berry Rides Again (Mono Single Version) - December 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4221, B-side of "Monster"

 

CD2 "The Second" – 1968 Second LP (46:33 minutes): 

The LP's STEREO MIX ONLY is used on this CD; the 2 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Faster Than The Speed Of Life [Side 1]

2. Tighten Up Your Wig 

3. None Of Your Doing 

4. Spiritual Fantasy 

5. Don't Step On The Grass Sam 

6. 28 [Side 2]

7. Magic Carpet Ride

8. Disappointment Number (Unknown)

9. Lost And Found By Trial And Error 

10. Hodge, Podge, Strained Through A Leslie

11. Resurrection

12. Reflections

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second studio album "The Second" - released October 1968 in the US on Dunhill DS-50037 (Stereo-only) and December 1968 UK on Stateside SL 5003 (Mono) and Stateside SSL 5003 (Stereo). Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 3 in the USA on the Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK)

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

13. Magic Carpet Ride (Mono Single Version) - Sept 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4161, A

14. Spiritual Fantasy (Mono Single Version) - Aug 1970 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4248, B-side of "Screaming Night Hog"

 

CD3 "At Your Birthday Party" – 1969 Third LP (53:30 minutes):

The 13-Track album is in STEREO; the 4 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Don't Cry [Side 1]

2. Chicken Wolf

3. Lovely Meter 

4. Round And Round 

5. It's Never Too Late 

6. Sleeping Dream 

7. Jupiter Child [Side 2]

8. She'll Be Better

9. Cat Killer 

10. Rock Me

11. God Fearing Man 

12. Mango Juice

13. Happy Birthday

Tracks 1 to 13 are their third studio album "At Your Birthday Party" - released March 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC DSX-50053 (Stereo) and May 1969 in the UK on Stateside SSL 5011 (Stereo. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 7 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK)

BONUS TRACKS: 

14. Rock Me (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4182, A

15. Jupiter Child (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4182, B

 

CD4 "Early Steppenwolf" - 1969 Fourth LP (43:44 minutes):

Recorded Live at The Matrix in San Francisco, May 14, 1967 (as The Sparrow)

1. Power Play [Side 1]

2. Howlin' For My Baby 

3. Goin' Upstairs 

4. Corina, Corina

5. Tighten Up Your Wig 

6. The Pusher (21:36 minutes) [Side 2]

Tracks 1 to 6 are their fourth album "Early Steppenwolf", a collection of six live recordings as THE SPARROW made in May 1967 with MARS BONFIRE on Lead Guitar - released July 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC Records DS-50060 in Stereo and November 1969 in the UK on Stateside SSL 5015 in Stereo (it peaked at No. 27 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts, didn't chart UK).

 

CD5 "Monster" – 1969 Fifth LP (44:53 minutes):

The 7-Track album is in STEREO; the 3 Bonus Single Sides are in STEREO and MONO.

10 Tracks

1. Monster/Suicide/America [Side 1]

2. Draft Resister 

3. Power Play 

4. Move Over [Side 2]

5. Fag

6. What Would You Do (If I Did That To You) [Side 2]

7. From Here To There Eventually 

Tracks 1 to 7 are their fifth album (fourth studio) "Monster" - released November 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC Records DS-50066 in Stereo and February 1970 UK on Stateside SSL 5021 in Stereo. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 17 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts and became their first LP to chart in the UK peaking at No. 43.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Monster (Single Version, Edit, Stereo) - December 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4221, A

9. Move Over (Mono Single Version) - August 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4205, A

10. Power Play (Mono Single Version) - August 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4205, B

 

CD6 "Steppenwolf 'Live'" – 1970 Sixth Album (78:25 minutes):

The 13-Track Live-Double is in STEREO on this CD; the 3 Bonuses are MONO

1. Sookie Sookie [Side 1]

2. Don't Step On The Grass Sam

3. Tighten Up Your Wig

4. Monster [Side 2]

5. Draft Resister

6. Power Play 

7. Corina, Corina [Side 3]

8. Twisted

9. From Here To There Eventually 

10. Hey Lawdy Mama [Side 4]

11. Magic Carpet Ride 

12. The Pusher 

13. Born To Be Wild

Tracks 1 to 13 are their sixth album (second live set) issued June 1970 as a 2LP vinyl double-album in the USA on Dunhill DSD 50075 in Stereo only. On the original US issue the opening tracks "Hey Lawdy Mama" and "Magic Carpet Ride" of Side 4 are configured on the label as one-song hence giving the double a 12-track count. Here they have been separated as two songs, hence the 13-track count on CD. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 7 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts and No. 16 (as a single LP) in the UK

 

In the UK, "Steppenwolf 'Live'" was issued July 1970 on Stateside SSL 5029 as an 11-Track Single LP in Stereo. You can sequence that version using the following tracks:

Side 1: Sookie Sookie, Don't Step On The Grass Sam, Tighten Up Your Wig, Hey Lawdy Mama, Magic Carpet Ride, The Pusher

Side 2: Corina-Corina, Twisted, From Here To There Eventually, Draft Resister, Born To Be Wild

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

14. Hey Lawdy Mama [Live] (Mono Single Version) - April 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4234, A

15. Twisted [Live] (Mono Single Version) - April 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4234, B

16.Corina, Corina [Live] (Mono Single Version) - August 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4248, B-side of "Screaming Night Hog"

 

CD7 "Steppenwolf 7" – 1970 Seventh Album (50:28 minutes):

The 12 Tracks are all in STEREO 

1. Ball Crusher [Side 1]

2. Forty Days And Forty Nights 

3. Fat Jack 

4. Renegade

5. Foggy Mental Breakdown [Side 2]

6. Snow Blind Friend 

7. Who Needs Ya

8. Earschplittenloudenboomer

9. Hippo Stomp

Tracks 1 to 9 are their seventh album (fifth studio) "Steppenwolf 7" - released November 1970 in the US on ABC/Dunhill DSX-50090 and January 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6254. Produced by RICHARD PODOLOR - it peaked at No. 19 on the US Billboard Rock Lp charts (didn't chart UK). 

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Screaming Night Hog - August 1970 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4258, A

11. Snow Blind Friend - February 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4269, A

12. Hippo Stomp - February 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4269, B

 

CD8 "For Ladies Only" – 1971 Eight Album (61:13 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 in STEREO, Track 13 is MONO

1. For Ladies Only [Side 1]

2. I'm Asking 

3. Shackles And Chains 

4. Tenderness

5. The Night Time's For You [Side 2]

6. Jaded Strumpet 

7. Sparkle Eyes 

8. Black Pit 

9. Ride With Me 

10. In Hopes Of A Garden 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their eight album (sixth studio set) "For Ladies Only" - released November 1971 in the US Dunhill/ABC DSX-50110 in Stereo and November 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6260 in Stereo. Produced by RICHARD PODOLOR - it peaked at No. 54 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK) 

 

BONUS TRACKS:

11. For Madmen Only - June 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4283, B-side of "Ride With Me"

12. For Ladies Only (Single Version, Stereo Version) - October 1971 US Promo-Only US 45-single on Dunhill D-4292, B-side of "For Ladies Only (Mono Version)"

13. Ride With Me (Mono Single Version) - June 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4283, A

 

"Magic Carpet Ride..." is a looker of a CD Box Set - the glossy Clamshell giving it a feel of event. The Matt-booklet of 54-pages has reams of MALCOLM DOME liner notes interspersed with LP credits and loads of period photos, while the fold-out memorabilia poster showing stuff like their involvement in the "Candy" soundtrack is a great touch. PASCHAL BYRNE did the new Remasters from original tapes and it absolutely rocks - the lyrically awful "Jaded Strumpet" on "For Ladies Only" might make you wince, but the in-yer-face Audio won't. 

 

My only thing would be that many of the Mono single mixes feel too often like an Audio compromise rather than a Bonus. The fact that the last four card sleeves are gatefolds thereby keeping to their original designs is well tasty too - but the silver foil feel of the debut is missing as is the die-cut of "At Your Birthday Party" - for that level of Mini LP Sleeve detail you have to go to the Japanese SHM-CD reissues of April 2013 and they'll cost ya. But what we do have is superbly done and cleanly presented.  

 

The much-loved self-titled 1968 debut album is balls-to-the-wall brilliant - not surprising then that a whopping eight of its eleven tracks made it onto the 2CD "Gold" compilation put out to universal praise in September 2005 (Erick Labson Remasters - see separate review). So many tracks like their fantastic cover of Don Covay and Steve Cropper's "Sookie Sookie", Hoyt Axton's viscerally brutal "The Pusher" and their own reach for personal freedom "Born To Be Wild" that would lead the "Easy Rider" movie charge the following year. I would have to admit that the filler started to creep in by the time we reach platter number three - "At Your Birthday Party" feeling like its reaching all the time, but killer Kay tunes like "Rock Me" and "Jupiter Child" saving the day.

 

Rock-genius and So-Steppenwolf-Sounding-Riffage courses through the veins of "Don't Step On The Grass Sam" - both John Kay and Joey Edmonton sharing the vocals and those incendiary 'you'll pay if you disagree with me' lyrics. It's of the times for sure, but at a distance of nearing on 60-years - its crafty melody/production turns still amazes and manages to feel contemporary. There are times too when the band's musical reach surprises - even thrills - the gorgeous and cleverly orchestrated string arrangements in "Spiritual Fantasy" - just a song that dreams and hopes - John Kay searching for the supreme. The sexy guitar and piano Blues lurch of "Disappointment Number (Unknown)" is not just a fabulous deep album cut, but the Audio on the Remaster is fantastically clear - Mekler's original Production values shining through. And despite its hippy almost Jazz Fusion feel (or perhaps because of it) - I've been a tad partial to the three-minute instrumental "Mango Juice" on the patchy "At Your Birthday Party" album. 

Other deep dive dips include the slide-guitar shuffle of "Shackles And Chains" on Side 1 of the mixed-bag "For Ladies Only" album - their last for Dunhill/ABC in 1971 before they joined Mums Records for 1974's comback platter "Slow Flux". "Shackles And Chains" is another hooky John Kay message song (funky too) and this time we finally get to hear the great production values from Richard Podolor (guitarist Kent Henry playing a blinder). And I used to put "Tenderness" from the same album on 70's-Fest CD-Rs I made for Shop Plays - its Mars Bonfire-written acoustic/keyboard/guitar shuffle disarmingly touching (gorgeous Audio too). The guitar/keyboard groove of the instrumental "Black Pit" is one for Soul-Rock 'Funky Funky' compilations as well. 

 

While you might think its cool to have the Mono Single Mixes, the version of the lovely "Spiritual Fantasy" in Mono fares fairly well, but "Magic Carpet Ride" in Mono is too muffled for my tastes (guess I'm too used to that great Stereo clarity). Collectors will love the oddities - the decidedly eerie B-side "For Madmen Only" where the band seems to channeling Stephen King on a bad day. But then you play "Ride With Me" as either a 1971 Mono Single or its Stereo LP counterpart - with John Kay at his rumbunktious blazing best - and the rawk racket that Steppenwolf made was/is just fantastic. And on it goes...

 

There is so much on "The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971", we could have it for days, but this Esoteric Recordings 8CD Mini Box Set for STEPPENWOLF hits home on all the right fronts - Presentation, Audio and Musical Surprises for a band so pigeonholed by their 60ts sound. 

 

A Magic Carpet Ride indeed...

 

PS: see also my review for "Gold" and "Slow Flux etc" both by Steppenwolf and the John Kay solo albums from 1972 and 1973 on Beat Goes On Records - "Forgotten Songs..." and "My Sportin' Life"

"Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat" by CANNED HEAT – July 1967 US Debut Album Plus Their January 1968 US Second Studio Album both originally on Liberty Records in Stereo (August 1967 and June 1968 in the UK) - featuring Bob 'The Bear' Hite, Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson, Henry 'Sunflower' Vestine, Larry 'The Mole' Taylor, Frank Cook and Adolfo 'Fito' De La Parra (May 2022 UK Beat Goes On Compilation Re-Release – 2LPs onto 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remasters – This CD Originally Issued March 2003) - A Review by Mark Barry...

*** 2003 CD Remaster and 2022 Re-Release ***

 

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"...Turpentine Moan..."

 

In their nine-strong reissues of Canned Heat back-catalogue onto CD (see list below) – 2022 has seen England's Beat Goes On (BGO) return to three of them for re-release – and what we have here is the first of the three.

 

"Canned Heat" (July 1967 USA) and "Boogie With Canned Heat" (January 1968 USA) were both originally on Liberty Records and are presented here in glorious Stereo onto 1CD (a near 79-minute total playing time). The combo of their down-and-dirty Blues-Rock-Boogie and hairy-assed five-piece reprobate-charm chimed big time with young eager-to-participate audiences (they were a huge live draw back in the day).

 

First some background. What you technically have here is a re-release – a May 2022 re-release of a CD compilation Beat Goes On (BGO) first put out in March 2003 (itself reissued in 22 July 2013). Confusingly, this 2022 version uses the same catalogue number, Barcode and 2003 liner notes – with only the rear artwork around the copyright date box slightly different - but that is all (see photos above). It has also been suggested online that this is a new 2022 Remaster, but unstated as such, I doubt it. The 2003 Andrew Thompson Remasters were and are brilliant anyway – in yer face for all the right reasons so there would no need for a new one.

 

Time to start Rollin' and Tumblin' with our favourite Sterno Crew...here is the breakdown...

 

UK re-released 6 May 2022 (originally issued 17 March 2003) – "Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat" by CANNED HEAT on Beat Goes On BGOCD577 (Barcode 5017261205773) is a 2LP-onto-1CD compilation of their first and second studio albums originally on Liberty Records in Stereo (UK and USA) that plays out as follows (78:22 minutes):

 

1. Rollin' and Tumblin' [Side 1]

2. Bullfrog Blues

3. Evil Is Going On

4. Goin' Down Slow

5. Catfish Blues

6. Dust My Broom [Side 2]

7. Help Me

8. Big Road Blues

9. The Story Of My Life

10. The Road Song

11. Rich Woman

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut-album "Canned Heat" - released July 1967 in the USA on Liberty Records LRP-3526 (Mono) and LST-7526 (Stereo) and August 1967 in the UK on Liberty Records LBL 83059E (Mono) and LBS 83059E (Stereo) – the STEREO MIX is used for this CD. Produced CAL CARTER - it peaked at No. 76 in the US Rock LP charts (didn’t chart UK).

 

12. Evil Woman [Side 1]

13. My Crime

14. On The Road Again

15. World In A Jug

16. Turpentine Moan

17. Whiskey Headed Woman No. 2

18. Amphetamine Annie [Side 2]

19. An Owl Song

20. Marie Laveau

21. Fried Hockey Boogie

Tracks 12 to 21 are their second studio album "Boogie With Canned Heat" – released January 1968 in the USA on Liberty LRP-3541 in Mono and Liberty LST-7541 in Stereo and June 1968 in the UK on Liberty LBL 83103E in Mono and Liberty LBS 83103E in Stereo - the STEREO MIX is used on this CD. Produced by DALLAS SMITH – it peaked at No. 5 in the USA Billboard Rock LP charts and No. 16 in the UK LP charts 

 

CANNED HEAT was:

BOB 'The Bear' aka 'Big Fat' HITE – Lead Vocals

ALAN 'Blind Owl' WILSON - Vocals, Slide Guitar, Chromatic Harmonica

HENRY 'Sunflower' VESTINE - Lead Guitar (and Sitar)

LARRY 'The Mole' TAYLOR - Bass

FRANK COOK – Drummer ("Canned Heat" LP)

ADOLFO 'Fito' DE LA PARRA – Drummer ("Boogie With Canned Heat" LP)

 

Longstanding liner-notes writer JOHN TOBLER provides us with a potted history of this famous American Blues-Rock band and a track-by-track analysis across 12-pages. Their first two incendiary platters were almost entirely cover versions of Blues and R&B standards given a Blues-Rock work-over and then fronted by two hugely different vocal styles – Hite the Gruff and Wilson the Choirboy. It reproduces the Pete Wilson liner notes from the debut album of 1967 (there were no liner note for the second in 1968) – Tobler taking his history through the loss of Wilson to suicide in 1970 and Vestine rejoining the band in 1971. There is also a period photo of the popular boogie band and a rear inlay through the see-through CD tray that advertises six titles on BGO for Canned Heart. But the Remaster is the thing – a cracking ANDREW THOMPSON transfer from Liberty tapes in STEREO that unleashes each album – dated a little perhaps in 2022 – but no less powerful.

 

The debut is a mess-up of Blues and R 'n' B cover done in Rock-Blues style - a sort of gruffer Paul Butterfield Blues Band - guitar and chromatic harmonica tearing it up. "Canned Heat" opens on a Muddy Waters cover "Rollin' And Tumblin'" followed by Blind Boy Fuller's "Bullfrog Blues" which Rory Gallagher would flame-thorough on his fabulous LP "Live! In Europe" on Polydor Records in 1972. Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf's catalogue not surprisingly gets hammered with "Evil Is Going On" but far better is a Slow Blues shuffler in the shape of Jimmy Oden's "Goin' Down Slow" where Wilson gets to rip on huge Harmonica warbles. The album then goes so John Lee Hooker with "Catfish Blues" - geetar and foot taps soon joined by Bass and Drums in a typical Canned Heat build. 

 

Robert Johnson gets picked up next with his "Dust My Broom" - give this one a bit of welly on the old Volume knob - will repay that special telegram. The production lifts considerably for Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" - Wilson's high-pitched vocals taking a bit of getting used to - but wow that playing. Things speed up at last with "Big Road Blues" but go back to guitar-lead slow Blues for "The Story Of My Life" - a misery and woe tale of abandonment. The album romps home with two credible Howlin' Wolf approximations in "The Road Song" and then "Rich Woman" which comes on like John Mayall in 1966. 

 

The debut was good - even great in parts - but for me this release comes alive with their second LP "Boogie With..." - a far dirtier and more confident affair. The harsh separation of guitars are still in the left and right speakers, but the playing is almost abandoned - like the Riot In Cell Block No.9-sounding "My Crime" - an original of sorts where the boys describe working a hippy place busted by the cops. This is a band finding its groove - the Audio ballsy. We're then hit with a sound we all know - those opening moments of "On The Road Again" - the single that broke them worldwide and especially in the UK - Wilson's weirdly up-there vocals part of its groovy cool. We're then hit with Hite goin' Rawk with "World In A Jug" - another band original that almost has Doors dirtiness about it - fantastic stuff. 

Barroom piano-notes opens the 'running around with someone else' romp that is the wickedly good "Turpentine Moan" - the band cooking as he slashes through the slide guitar with that trademark talking Hite does. Drink a bottle of this and you're good to go. He introduces their second take on "Whiskey Headed Woman" with a giggle, but better is the message-song "Amphetamine Annie" - a lady who's always shoveling speed - pills that crack her lips and turns her skin yellow. "An Owl Song" has jarring brass, "Marie Laveau" is a slow Blues instrumental with great Guitar, Piano and harp battling - but they're whomped into submission by the finale of "Fried Hockey Boogie" - a huge Hooker-Boogie tour-de-force beast of outrageous guitar soloing that clocks in above twelve minutes. I mean they get it on! Hardly surprising that it surfaced on the "Cook Book: The Best Of Canned Heat" set that ended 1969. 

 

For sure this music is grungy, 60ts dated, hippy-ish and at times derivative and even amateur - but man what a racket the Heat made. Blind Owl - do your boogie - and they did...

 

CANNED HEAT CD Reissues/Remasters on Beat Goes On Records (BGO): 

 

1. "Canned Heat/Boogie With Canned Heat"

Debut/Second LPs from July 1967 and January 1968 US on Liberty in Stereo

March 2003, July 2013 and May 2022 CD Reissues

Beats Goes On BGOCD577 (Barcode 5017261205773) for all

 

2. "Living The Blues"

Third album from November 1968 US 2LP set on Liberty Records in Stereo

September 2003, July 2013 and April 2022 Reissues

Beat Goes On BGOCD591 (Barcode 5017261205919) 2CD Set

 

3. "Hallelujah/Cook Book + Bonus Track"

July and November 1969 US Fourth and Fifth Albums on Liberty in Stereo

"The Canned Heat Cook Book: The Best Of Canned Heat" is a Compilation of Tracks from Their First Four Studio LPs

March 2003 and July 2013 with 21-Tracks (no Bonus)

May 2022 Re-release with 2022 Remaster and 22-Tracks (One Bonus)

Beat Goes On BGOCD578 (5017261205780) – all issues

The Bonus Track is the 1970 single "Let's Work Together"

 

4. "Canned Heat '70 Concert: Recorded Live In Europe"

November 1969 US LP, June 1970 UK on Liberty in Stereo

September 1989 UK CD Reissue

Beat Goes on BGOCD12 (Barcode 5017261200129)

 

5. "Future Blues"

September 1970 US/UK LP on Liberty Records in Stereo

September 1989 UK CD Reissue

Beat Goes On BGOCD49 (Barcode 5017261200495) 2CD Set

 

6. "Hooker N' Heat" (CANNED HEAT and JOHN LEE HOOKER)

January 1971 US 2LP set on Liberty Records in Stereo (March 1971 UK)

May 2005 UK 2CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes On BGOCD694 (Barcode 5017261206947) 2CD set

 

7. "Historical Figures And Ancient Heads"

February 1972 US LP on United Artists (March 1972 UK)

August 1990 UK CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes on BGOCD83 (Barcode 5017261200839)

 

8. "The New Age"

September 1973 US/UK LP on United Artists

May 1991 UK CD Reissue/Remaster

Beat Goes On BGOCD85 (Barcode 5017261200853)

 

9. "One More River To Cross"

January 1974 US LP on Atlantic Records (March 1974 UK)

July 2016 UK CD Reissue/Remaster with Two Bonus Single Sides

Beat Goes on BGOCD1233 (Barcode 5017261212337)