"The Psychomodo" by COCKNEY REBEL – June 1974 UK Second Studio Album on EMI Records (January 1975 in the USA as Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel) featuring Steve Harley, Jean-Paul Crocker, Milton Reame-James, Paul Jeffries, Stuart Elliott and Producer Alan Parsons with EMI Engineer Geoff Emerick (May 2018 UK Chrysalis 1CD Reissue and Remaster from Original Master Tapes – Housed in a Tri-Panel Fold Card Digipak) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Twisted Tales of Men..."

 

What I like about Steve Harley’s first two platters (when his band was simply called COCKNEY REBEL in the UK) is that you can’t actually pigeon hole the sound they made. Art Rock maybe? 10cc’s more sophisticated and perhaps more snooty older brother? And why was their mister so soft?

 

Their second album and first Produced by wonder-kid Alan Parsons of Dark Side Of The Moon fame (alongside principal songwriter Steve Harley) has like its predecessor crept into evolving cult-status precisely because "The Human Menagerie" from November 1973 (their debut) and 2 June 1974’s "The Psychomodo" have held up so incredibly well.

 

Soundwise, Platter number two continued on from No. 1 and also contained the genuine smash hit single "Mr. Soft" – a whacky piece of carnival that propelling the uh-la album up the British charts to eventually nestle at No. 8 – a huge improvement on the non-charting debut (in fact as I remember, most copies of the LP from late 1974 actually had stickers on them advertising that it contained the hit single "Mr. Soft"). Part Roxy Music in its knowing Glam Rock lipstick smear – part posturing Queen in its musical structures and theatrical themes and part Elton John on the piano with Andrew Powell string and brass arrangements classing up his tunes to the nines – COCKNEY REBEL is and was all of those musical chameleons – and a few more besides.

 

I know fans sometimes prefer deep debut album dives like "Sebastian", "Hideaway" and the magnificent near 10-minutes of "Death Trap" that tail ends Side 2 – but by 1974 and studio LP No. 2 - "The Psychomodo" showed amazing songwriting growth. You could categorize the title track "The Psychomodo" where Harley has a chat with a traumatized St. Peter as part Ron and Russell Mael’s Sparks, part SAHB, part Mott The Hoople and Roxy Music over on Island Records getting all "Stranded" and "Mother Of Pearl". I still get a kick of the Mick Rock front cover photo – that look – so British and so Cockney Rebel – all alarm and mock theatrics and yes – a singular band.

 

But what you don’t get from the non-stickered foldout card digipak packaging of this solitary rather bland looking 2018 CD Reissue - is the gobsmacking Remastered Sound taken from original quarter-inch master tapes (says so on the credits beneath the see-through tray). Originally Engineered by a gang of four that included famed-Beatles sixth member GEOFF EMERICK and Produced by the legendary ALAN PARSONS (with Harley) – this transfer is beautifully clean and not brick-walled with noise-reduction dampeners or oomph for the sake of it. Everything is in its place and just so. Fans will love that crispness of "Singular Band" and those huge twelve strings guitars swirling around "Ritz". And you can buy it for a fiver – to the tunes...

 

UK released 4 May 2018 - "The Psychomodo" by COCKNEY REBEL on Chrysalis CRC1082 (Barcode 5060516091355) is a straightforward 1CD Reissue and Remaster from Original Master Tapes of their second studio album (from 1974) that plays out as follows (40:29 minutes):

 

1. Sweet Dreams (2:03 minutes) [Side 1]

2. The Psychomodo (4:02 minutes)

3. Mr. Soft (3:17 minutes)

4. Singular Band (3:00 minutes)

5. Ritz (7:10 minutes)

6. Cavaliers (8:30 minutes) [Side 2]

7. Bed In The Corner (3:35 minutes)

8. Sling It! (2:35 minutes)

9. Tumbling Down (5:51 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second studio album "The Psychomodo" – released June 1974 in the UK on EMI Records EMC 3033 and January 1975 in the USA on EMI Records ST 11330. The American LP was credited as Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel with the same tracks, but different front and rear artwork (this 2018 CD Remaster uses the original British artwork only, by Mick Rock). Produced by ALAN PARSONS and STEVE HARLEY (Engineered by Geoff Emerick, John Middleton, Richard Dodd and Peter Flanagan) – it peaked at No. 8 on the UK LP charts (didn’t chart USA).

 

COCKNEY REBEL was:

STEVE HARLEY – Vocals (all songs written by)

JEAN-PAUL CROCKER – Electric Violin, Mandolin and Guitars

MILTON REAME-JAMES – Keyboards

PAUL JEFFREYS – Bass

STUART ELLIOTT – Drums and Percussion

Guests:

Andrew Powell – Orchestra and Brass Arrangements

 

The original album was a single sleeve with an inner lyric bag – all has made the transfer to the tasteful three-way foldout card digipak – but no liner notes to talk of or historical appreciation, input from Harley etc. So you are essentially left with the remaster, which is (at least) stunning.

 

EMI did a 5:42 minute edit of "Sebastian" from the debut album with the Non-LP B-side "Rock And Roll Parade" on the flipside (31 August 1973 on EMI Records EMI 2051) - while the Non-LP "Judy Teen" and its B-side "Spaced Out" followed on 11 March 1974 (EMI Records EMI 2128) – neither on the forthcoming second studio album "The Psychomodo" in June 1974. All four would have made for seriously tasty Bonus Tracks, the obvious two for this reissue, but alas.

 

I am suspecting fans will leap into the lethal triple-whammy of "Mr. Soft", "Singular Band" and his masterpiece of swirl - "Ritz" that ends Side 1 – a seven-minute piece of musical and lyrical brilliance that still thrills in 2023. Cool too to hear that mad string/brass bit at the end (so Kevin Ayers) in decent clarity (my vinyl Dustbuster had usually had enough by then). Side 2 opens with eight minutes of "Cavaliers" – a vicious lyrical attack on machismo and posturing (I would admit it’s not exactly a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon). Again the Remaster whomps on the upbeat "Bed In The Corner" – another song by Harley where you can never quite work out if he’s loving the woman he is with, or slagging her off.

 

We go riffage wild for "Sling it!" – 2:35 minutes of slashing, soloing guitar that feels a bit too manic for its own good (Punk before 1976?). The album ends on a piano ballad that smolders, builds and caresses with its strings and flutes and lyrics about Sunday Communion, dawn on the Moulin Rouge and the Titanic sailing into Brighton - "Tumbling Down" being my other favourite track on the album.

 

Ok, it’s not a masterpiece and I know that Cockney Rebel has always been an acquired taste (Harley quickly started writing hit singles that stormed the charts culminating in the gorgeous "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" - a No. 1 in 1975 that still gets Classic Radio play on probably a daily basis).

 

But "The Human Menagerie" and "The Psychomodo" is where all the theatrical music started (cool years 1973 and 1974) and when you trip out to songs like "Death Trap" on the debut and "Ritz" on this - you can so hear why people are drawn to them in a post Aladdin Sane Bowie-less world...

"Finer Things: The Island Recordings 1972-1973" by VINEGAR JOE – Includes Their Three Studio Albums "Vinegar Joe" (April 1972 UK Debut), "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" (December 1972 UK, January 1973 USA) and "Six Star General" (October 1973 UK-only Final LP) – Plus Four Non-LP 45-Single Sides as Bonuses – Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks, Pete Gage, Steve York, Tim Hinkley, Rob Tait, Mike Deacon, Pete Gavin with Guests John Woods and Keef Hartley (August 2021 UK Esoteric Recordings 3CD Clamshell Box Set with Ben Wiseman Remasters from Original Master Tapes) – A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review Along With 310 Others Is Available In My

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"...Easy Riders..." 

 

RATING: *****

The fondly remembered six-piece VINEGAR JOE took their moniker from the nickname given to a World War II American General Joseph Stillwell – a man known for his moody demeanour. Coming out of the ashes on the one-album DADA in 1970 on Atlantic Records – guitarist and songwriter Pete Gage roped in guttural singing legends Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks and a great new band was born - their music a hybrid between Little Feat-Funk, Seventies Rock-Soul and R&B. There is a large amount of info to wade through, so let's have at it...

 

UK released 27 Aug 2021 - "Finer Things: The Island Recordings 1972-1973" by VINEGAR JOE on Esoteric Records ECLEC32774 (Barcode 5013929477483) is a 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set with Three Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves (four Non-LP B-sides are Bonus Tracks), New Remasters from Original Tapes and a 32-Page Colour Booklet. It plays out as follows:

 

CD1 "Vinegar Joe" (56:04 minutes): 

1. Rusty Red Armour [Side 1]

2. Early Monday Morning 

3. Ride Me Easy, Rider 

4. Circles 

5. Leg Up 

6. See The World (Through My Eyes) [Side 2] 

7. Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me) 

8. Avinu Malkenu 

9. Gettin' Out 

10. Live A Little, Get Somewhere 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Vinegar Joe" – released April 1972 in the UK LP on Island ILPS 9183 and Atco SD 7007 in the USA. Produced by VIC SMITH and PETE GAGE – it didn't chart in either country. Tracks 2, 3, 6, and 10 written by Pete Gage, Tracks 1, 4 and 5 by Robert Palmer, Track 8 by Pete Gage and Elkie Brooks, Track 9 by Pete Gage, Dave Thompson and Steve York. Robert Palmer is Lead Vocalist on Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 - Elkie Brooks is Lead Vocalist on Tracks 2, 3, 8 and 10

 

BONUS TRACK 

11. Speed Queen Of Ventura (4:06 minutes, Pete Gage song) – Non-LP B-side to “Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)” issued 25 February 1972 on the UK 45-single Island WIP 6125 (Elkie Brooks on Lead Vocals) 

 

CD2 "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" (44:38 minutes): 

1. So Long [Side 1] 

2. Charley's Horse 

3. Rock 'n Roll Gypsies

4. Falling 

5. It's Gettin' To The Point 

6. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On [Side 2] 

7. Buddy Can You Spare A Dime 

8. Angel 

9. No One Ever Do 

10. Forgive Us 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second studio album "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" – released December 1972 in the UK on Island ILPS 9214, January 1973 in the USA on Atco SD 7016. Produced by VIC SMITH and PETE GAGE – it didn't chart in the UK but peaked at No. 201 in the US Billboard LP charts in early 1973 

 

BONUS TRACK 

11. Rock 'n Roll Gypsies – Non-LP 45-single edit released 17 Nov 1972 in the UK as their second 45-single on Island WIP 6148 (the B-side was the album track "So Long") 

 

CD3 "Six Star General" (48:05 minutes): 

1. Proud To Be (A Honky Woman) [Side 1] 

2. Food For Thought 

3. Dream My Own Dreams 

4. Lady Of The Rain 

5. Stay True To Yourself 

6. Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet [Side 2] 

7. Giving Yourself Away 

8. Talkin' 'Bout My Baby 

9. Let Me Down Easy 

10. Fine Thing 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their third and final studio album "Six Star General" – released October 1973 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9262 (no US issue). Produced by PETE GAGE – it didn't chart. 

 

BONUS TRACKS

11. Long Way Round 

12. Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet (Single Version) 

Tracks 12 and 11 (note order) are the A&B-sides of a 2 November 1973 UK 45-single on Island WIP 6174. The A-side at 3:38 minutes (Track 12) is an edit of the full LP version at 6:15 minutes; the Robert Palmer written B-side was a Non-LP track. The A-side was actually miscredited on the seven-inch single as "Black Smoke From The Calumet". 

 

VINEGAR JOE was:

ELIKE "Elk" BROOKS - Lead Vocals and Percussion

ROBERT PALMER - Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar

PETE GAGE – Lead Guitarist and Songwriter for all three albums (ex The Zephyrs (60s), Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band (60s) and Dada (1970)

JIM MULLEN – Guitar for 2^nd album only

TIM HINKLEY (Bo Street Runners, Chicago Line, Jody Grind, Snafu (1973 and 1974), Beckett and Alvin Lee & Co – both 1974 – later with Roger Chapman and The Shortlist) – Keyboards for 1^st album

MIKE DEACON – Keyboards (ex The Greatest Show On Earth in 1970, The Kiki Dee Band in 1973 and then Ginger Baker and Friends in 1976) – joins for 2^nd and 3^rd LPs

STEVE YORK – Bassist and Harmonica (with The Graham Bond Organization, Motivation (1968), Manfred Mann's Chapter Three (in 1969 and 1970), Dada (1970), Casablanca (1973), Stan Webb's Chicken Shack in 1978 and Hoopsnakes in the 80s)

ROB TAIT – Drums on the first album only (ex Battered Ornaments, The People Band, ARC, Bell + Arc)

PETE GAVIN – Drums for the 2^nd and 3^rd albums (ex Heads, Hands & Feet)

 

Guests:

JOHN WOODS – Drums on the 2^nd album and second drummer for the track "Proud To Be (A Honky Woman)" only on the 3^rd album

KEEF HARTLEY – Drums on the 2^nd album only

 

The glossy Clamshell Box Set is gorgeous as are the three card sleeves (albums two and three were gatefolds back in the day and are so here), the 32-page booklet with May 2021 new liner notes from MALCOLM DOME includes interviews with Pete Gage, Elkie Brooks and other members of the band alongside Producer Vic Smith, arranger Tom Newman and more. The album credits are all here with colour photos and of course re-issue credits. But the big news (and best news) is fabulous remasters by BEN WISEMAN that have used original tapes – and man can you hear it. Even though I always thought the Production values slipped on Platter Number Two (only to get slicker for Number Three) – even there – the muffle is less muffled and the music more ballsy because of it. It’s a great job done. 

Niggles - although the six photos of the band and guest musicians known as Joe’s Mates are all pictured in the booklet as per the original debut album’s inner bag – the lyrics are missing - which is an AWOL shame. And for some reason the "See The World" track that starts Side 2 of the April 1972 debut album is missing from the rear artwork of the "Vinegar Joe" Mini LP. But at least both the Mini LP Card Sleeves for "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" and "Six Star General" are given gatefolds (as per their originals). The debut 45-single "Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)" (credited on the original LP label and artwork as merely "Never Met A Dog") is a 3:43 minute edit as opposed to the 6:31 minutes of the LP version – and that is missing too when it obviously would have been a great second bonus track on CD1. Outside of those small icky bits – to the music...

 

As the thumping bass and drums roll in and then across your speakers for "Rusty Red Armour" – getting louder and louder as they do – a suave-sounding Robert Palmer starts in on that fantastic vocal with Elkie backing him on the choruses about uptight scoundrels and bizarre repertoires. The audio is fantastic – 24-bit digital remasters from original tapes and you can really hear it. But even that’s trampled by the slow Blues-Rock of "Ride Me Easy Rider" where Elkie lets rip on a quivering Janis Joplin (her stunning scream at five minutes feel like a sustained synth note) - while Steve York wails on his harmonica, Gage on Slide Guitar and Hinkley tinkering the barroom ivories.

 

Things mellow with Palmer’s "Circles" – a gorgeous chorus following that makes you feel like the song has somehow always been in the ether – a sort of mellow Faces outtake – Elkie softly underpinning RP’s classy lead – fabulous work too on the keys by Dave Thompson. Things boogie up for the Side 1 closer "Leg Up" – saw you in your secret corner – seem to be doing all right – here to help. Great audio on that Wah Wah guitar – funky little brute with a very clever acoustic break about half way through – England’s Little Feat gets underway.

 

Anyone who bought the 2005 Universal 3CD Clamshell Box Set "Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal..." celebrating Island Records between 1967 and 1972 would have found the six-minutes plus of "See The World (Through My Eyes)" from Vinegar Joe’s debut over on CD3 – both Lead Vocalists sharing the Funk Rock with a little Dada Jazz thrown in. The audio here is fantastic. Very Snafu-sounding slide guitars pan the speakers for the drumming-hard boogie of "Never Met A Dog (That Took To Me)" – the Robert Palmer-penned 45-single Island chose to launch the band. It’s good yes, highlighting all aspects of this band (Dave Brooks puts in a cool Sax solo), but the more melodic "Circles" would have been a far smarter more radio-catchy choice. There then follows three consciousness songs ending Side 2 that somehow do for the album in my opinion – too mellow and out of step with the Funk and R&B grooves that preceded them. You can hear DADA brilliance in the arrangements of "Live A Little, Get Somewhere" – but the song meanders and feels like a band that doesn't know what it is yet.

 

Their second album for 1972 (December in the UK, January 1973 in the USA) - "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" goes after the feet on Side 1 and allows Elkie Brooks more lead vocals. "Charley's Horse" is almost Wishbone Ash circa Pilgrimage with its twin-guitar assault but feels a little too Prog for Vinegar Joe. Gage and Elkie Brooks provided the opener "So Long" (on the road too long), but it too feels like a weak rocker when a grab-you-by-the-lapels mission-statement was needed to start Side 1. The band goes soulful with cover version Number One of Three; the title song of the album "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" originated as far back as December 1965 on a US stand-alone 45-single by the obscure Gypsy Trips. Issued on World Pacific 77809, it was written by Roger Tillison and produced by Leon Russell and is a fabulous swaggering song about the nomadic life of musicians – a theme that permeates the whole album really. Tillison would go on the equally obscure US band The Leathercoated Minds whose album "A Trip Down The Sunset Strip" from 1967 was a Psych monster on Viva Records V 6003 (Mono) and V-36003 (Stereo). But the LP and band is perhaps better remembered for containing the first recorded outings of J.J. Cale on Guitar with Leon Russell on Keyboards.

 

The other two covers are the Dave Williams classic "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" made famous by Big Maybelle and especially Jerry Lee Lewis – a song Vinegar Joe used as an encore for live sets and one that let Elk rip on those throat-shredding vocals. This was followed on Side 2 by a gorgeous choice in "Angel" – the Jimi Hendrix ballad that had only appeared on his posthumous studio album "The Cry Of Love" in March 1971. "Angel" is the kind of love song that appears to bring out the very best in every cover version ever done of it (Elkie lays into the VJ version with abandon). Palmer then goes into his trademark Little Feat funk-groove with "Falling" (Mike Deacon on Keyboards tearing it up) – Elkie joining him on the catchy chorus and second verse – another potential winner of a single.

 

Elkie and Robert share the Pete Gage worry-song "It's Gettin' To The Point" but the slightly muddy production kind of lets the musical side down. Their second album comes to a close with its best track - the slow and dirty Guitar and Harmonica boogie of "No One Ever Do" by Pete Gage. I have always thought it should have opened Side 1 and would have made a great 45 as "Everyone's Talking, But No One Ever Seems To Do". With its Mungo Jerry kazoo-swagger meets Faces barroom piano shuffle - Robert and Elkie share the vocals and it Rocks like Vinegar Joe did live. Finally "Forgive Us" from Robert Palmer brings it down to mellow – a prayer song for sinning and inadequacies. Chartwise – again – and even with that strike-a-pose Hipgnosis artwork - Blighty took no real notice of "Rock 'N Roll Gypsies" - but in the USA it almost broke the Top 200, stalling in January 1973 at No. 201.

 

Their final album is the one they feel is Vinegar Joe's best and it certainly kicks off with serious Rock and Roll intent – Elkie laying into the snotty barroom piano and guitar of "Proud To Be (A Honky Woman)" – a Pete Gage song where he spits in the face of looking-down-on-you authoritarian detractors. Things gets Funky with the second Gage cut "Food For Thought" – a duet battle between Palmer and Brooks with synth notes making a first appearance. Piano-rolling honky tonk opens the first of two Robert Palmer cuts – the hugely likeable "Dream My Own Dreams" – a hybrid of R&B, R&R and Little Feat Funk (Mike Deacon giving it some on the old Joanna) – very RP indeed. Things go Rock-Soulful mellow when Elkie sings the intro to "Lady Of The Rain" – a song she wrote with Drummer Pete Gavin – great Production values too from Gage who has clearly got the hang of it by now. Bassist and Harmonica virtuoso Steve York penned the Side 1 finisher "Stay True To Yourself" – a clavinet Funky little chugger that has Robert and Elkie trading positive vibrations

 

Side 2 gets Soulful as it opens with the piano-driven "Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet" – a six-minute slice of moody brilliance that shifts gear into a vibe-mood about one and half-minutes in. Mankind is examined as Elkie lays into the worried-about-the-state-of-things lyrics – Palmer giving gorgeous backing vocals on the title chorus – Gage practically a one-man-band in his most ambitious and sophisticated song (he plays all guitars and keys on this song). Things pick up bopper-wise with the upbeat Rock-Jazzy "Give Yourself Away" – a very Wishbone Ash vibe in a way. We get a genuine blast of Vinegar Joe cool in "Talkin' 'Bout My Baby" – a typically stylish song from Andy Fraser of Free fame (his version showed on his 1975 debut album "Andy Fraser" on CBS Records). Robert Palmer is clearly digging its slinky Rock-Soul groove – voice-box guitar and all (Palmer would return once again in his solo career to Andy Fraser of Free for the gorgeous "Every Kinda People" - a single and "Double Fun" album track from 1978 again on Island Records that would appear on every Robert Palmer 'Best Of' thereafter). Both the rocking "Let Me Down Easy" (sung by Elkie) and the more slink-Funk of "Fine Thing" (sung by Palmer) try hard, but feel just a little too forced to me. I can't help but feel that the 45-single B-side "Long Way Round" would have been a far better choice for the LP and lead off single as it contains vocals from both leads. The 3:43 minute single edit of "Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet" is cool though (the second Bonus Track on CD3) – a sort of keyboard-funky version of Joni Mitchell's Woodstock vibe going on – who killed love. Shame it didn't get the attention it deserved

 

The VINEGAR JOE albums are strange ones – never quite brilliant but so damn close at times – hard to define genre-wise too – and despite or even because of all that mercurial talent – the six-piece combo might have worked on stage – but on LP they just seemed to lack that killer wallop or single that would have made them legends.

 

Still, this is one of the most enjoyable Clamshell Box Sets I've plundered in yonks - and with the Steppenwolf, Steve Gibbons Band, Curved Air, Greenslade, Unicorn and Keef Hartley Clamshell Box Sets – Esoteric Recordings of the UK seem to be hitting it out of the ballpark all the 60ts and 70ts time. 

 

Dig in and remember a time when cool was the rule - and Gypsies roamed the airwaves...

"Live At The Fillmore - 1997" by TOM PETTY and THE HEARTBREAKERS (November 2022 UK Warner Records 2CD Set with Chris Bellman and Bernie Grundman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...That Was  Beautiful!" 

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS 

"Live At The Fillmore - 1997"

5-STARS *****

 

There are few artists who could release a 4CD live set in 2022 that's nearly 25 years old and still leave you gasping for more! But the much-missed TP is one of them.

I bought the 33-Song 2CD variant (Warner Records 093624882596, Barcode same) of "Live At The Fillmore - 1997" by TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS for under a tenner and my God what a treat. It documents their 20-night 4-week residency at the famous San Francisco Fillmore West venue in January and February 1997 when they would sometimes play for more than 3 hours on any given evening. They ditched strict set playlists and did any old cover version they liked mixed in with deep dive album cuts and one new song a night (The Date I Had With That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen by Mike Campbell on CD1 is one of them). They even took audience prompts – so "Live At The Fillmore - 1997" is genuinely loose and you can feel the fun and energy coming off the stage. All this and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds and the fabulous joy of John Lee Hooker - wow! Here are the details...

USA and UK released 22 November 2022, all songs are by Tom Petty except for the cover versions noted below. The triple-gatefold card sleeve has a cool 24-page colour booklet (attached in the center) and the audio is exceptionally good - Ryan Ulyate and Mike Campbell Producing with Chris Bellman and Bernie Grundman Mastering – names everyone in the audio world trusts – even look out for.

 

CD1 (71:18 minutes, All Tracks Live, All TP Songs Unless Otherwise Noted):

1. Pre-Show (Spoken Interlude)

2. Jammin' Me (7 February)

3. Listen To Her Heart (1 February)

4. Around And Around (3 February, Chuck Berry song, Rolling Stones covered)

5. Good Evening (Spoken Interlude)

6. Lucille (6 February, Little Richard cover)

7. Call Me The Breeze (1 February, J.J. Cale song, Lynyrd Skynyrd covered)

8. Cabin Down Below (1 February)

9. The Internet, Whatever That Is (Spoken Interlude) 

10. Time Is On My Side (7 February, Irma Thomas & Rolling Stones cover)

11. You Don't Know How It Feels (3 February)

12. I'd Like To Love You Baby (3 February, J.J. Cale cover)

13. Ain't No Sunshine (1 February, Bill Withers cover)

14. Homecoming Queen Intro (Spoken Interlude)

15. The Date I Had With That Ugly Old Homecoming Queen (4 February, Mike Campbell & Tom Petty song)

16. Bye Bye Johnny (7 February, Chuck Berry cover)

17. Did Someone Say Heartbreakers Beach Party? (Spoken Interlude)

18. Heartbreakers Beach Party (4 February)

19. Angel Dream (6 February)

20. The Wild One, Forever (31 January)

21. American Girl (7 February)

22. Let's Hear It For Howie & Scott (Spoken Interlude)

23. You Really Got Me (7 February, The Kinks cover)

24. Runnin' Down A Dream (1 February)

 

CD2 (77:57 minutes):

1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (7 February, Rolling Stones cover)

2. It's All Over Now (7 February, Bobby Womack song, Rolling Stones covered)

3. Mr. Roger McGuinn (Spoken Interlude - Founder/Guitarist with The Byrds)

4. It Won't Be Wrong (31 January, Byrds cover)

5. You Ain't Going Nowhere (1 February, Bob Dylan cover)

6. Eight Miles High (1 February, Byrds cover)

7. Honey Bee (3 February)

8. John Lee Hooker, Ladies & Gentlemen (Spoken Interlude)

9. Boogie Chillen (7 February, John Lee Hooker cover)

10. Sorry, I've Just Broken My Amplifier (Spoken Interlude)

11. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (3 February, Bob Dylan cover)

12. You Wreck Me (6 February)

13. Shakin' All Over (7 February, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates cover)

14. Free Fallin' (7 February)

15. Mary Jane's Last Dance (7 February)

16. Louie Louie (7 February, Kingsmen cover)

17. Gloria (1 February, Van Morrison song, Them cover)

18. Alright For Now (7 February)

19. Goodnight (Spoken Interlude)
 

The recordings are live and in your face and yet intimate and never distant. When "Runnin' Down A Dream" hits your speakers at the end of CD1, the Remaster is huge and the band so damn tight and inventive. There's a sympatico between these players that cannot be overstated enough – the little fills from Guitarist Mike Campbell – Benmont Tench on Keyboards – Howie Epstein on Bass and Scott Thurston with Steve Ferrone on Drums - the additional moments they all add – it's just so damn good.

CD1 is 24 tracks 71:18 minutes, CD2 is 19 tracks at 77:57 minutes - so as you can see both discs offer real value for money too. Over on CD2 guest musicians include Roger McGuinn of The Byrds giving the band the jangle-nod and a mighty showing from an elderly "Boogie Chillun" Blues Legend himself John Lee Hooker.

As many have already said, the set is top-heavy with cover versions of songs they loved and inspired them interspersed with brilliant Petty rockers and smoochers. Sometimes a band is cooking and they were on fire. It's not just the Mike Campbell solos on stuff like "Cabin Down Below" or "You Don't Know How It Feels" - but the cool choices like J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and "I'd Like To Love You Baby" - or the rocking Chuck Berry "Bye Bye Johnny". They eat up the Stones, pumping new life into "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction") and Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" - an R&B song closely associated with The Rolling Stones. And to hear that Byrds sound and harmony vocals on "It Won't Be Long" is absolutely magical for an old fart like me - never mind the fabulous guitar sound they got for "Eight Miles High". Even when it seems like he's reached too far like the soulful Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine" - Petty makes it work. He follows fun with touching - a lovely forgotten album track "Angel Dream" - the band in perfect harmony - those keyboard fills (someone in the audience actually shouts in surprise "...That was beautiful!"). By the time you get to the truly fantastic riffage of "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (a stand-out new track on the 1993 "Greatest Hits" set), which he extends into a Rock epic - resistance is pretty much futile. You could roast a hog on their tough Rockin' sound.

I'm now going have to own the 4CD Box Set with 84-songs - dosh-a-lot or not. And I'm sure I speak for millions - I wish Petty and his fantastic band was still here to be able to witness once again this kind of brilliance.

RIP TP - "The Wild One, Forever"...

"In Search Of Plainsong" by IAN CLAYTON (2022 UK Hardback Book - Route Publishing) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 5 STARS ***** 

 

"Something in The Air"

 

Some background first. I worked for 20-years of aural servitude (shouldn't that read penal) in "Reckless Records" in Islington's Upper Street and Soho's Berwick Street as a Rarities Expert and Mail Order Manager. There are still three shops in Chicago and Berwick Street is closing on its 40-plus Anniversary as a primo one-stop for music of all kinds – especially VINYL and CD. In short - Plainsong's lone 1972 album "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" on Elektra Records is exactly the kind of collector's beast I traded in - and on a weekly basis.

 

Like so many albums from those early Seventies years - "...Amelia Earhart" took it's sweet time sneaking it's Folk-Country-Rock way into the hearts of fans. Gaining stature in the 90s to 10's - by the time we now reach 2022 – 50-years after the event - Plainsong's loner has gained an almost legendary status with a dose of mythical thrown in for good measure.

 

A full version review of the superb 2CD reissue/remaster "Plainsong" from May 2005 on Water Records WATER 149 (Barcode 646315714920) is on this Blog. 

Here are the bare bones for info purposes...

 

1. For The Second Time [Side 1]

2. Yo Yo Man

3. Louise

4. Call The Tune

5. Diesel On My Tail

6. Amelia Earhart's Last Flight [Side 2]

7. I'll Fly Away

8. True Story Of Amelia Earhart

9. Even The Guiding Light

10. Side Roads

11. Raider

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" - released October 1972 in the UK on Elektra K 42120 and October 1972 in the USA on Elektra EKS 75044. Produced by SANDY ROBERTON (Engineer Jerry Boys) - it didn't chart in either country. All songs are IAN MATTHEWS originals except the following five - "Yo Yo Man" by Rick Cunho, "Louise" by Paul Siebel, "Diesel On My Tail" by Jim Fagan and "Raider" by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester

 

PLAINSONG was:

IAN MATTHEWS - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and Percussion

ANDY ROBERTS - Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Dulcimer and Kriwaczek String Organ

BOB RONGA - 6 and12-String Acoustic Guitars

DAVID RICHARDS - Bass and Piano

with

Timi Donald - Drums (except on "Call The Tune" - Dave Mattacks)

Martin Jenkins of Dando Shaft - Mandocello on "Diesel On My Tail" and "Raider"

 

With its choice of five obscure cover versions that straddled US Folk, Americana, Old Timey and even Appalachian music - running alongside six new songs by Ian Matthews steeped in all those Dulcimer traditions - the resulting album on Jak Holzman's Elektra Records almost presaged the return-to-roots feel of the Coen Brother's film "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" in the year 2000 - a full 28-years prior. And with The Liverpool Scene guitarist/quality solo artist Andy Roberts out front with Ian Matthews - Holzman must have thought for a short time that maybe he'd hit upon another money-making singer-songwriter machine like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - but sadly the band imploded just weeks after the album hits the shops 6 October 1972 – doing their last gigs and BBC material in December 1972 – almost one-year to the day they'd formed in Matthews' flat in London.

 

Which brings us by circuitous route to this brilliant and infuriating book "In Search Of Plainsong" by IAN CLAYTON - published September 2022 on Route Publishing in Hardback. If I'm giving this book a solid 5-stars - why is it 'infuriating'? I should explain. The book isn't infuriating - their 'ramshackle warning-story' is. And as their story unfolds through eyewitness accounts - you begin to realize that this is exactly what happened to so many promising acts in those halcyon years - bad management - inexperienced record company execs – what genre are we - is it a concept album – is it Folk Rock – can they get an identity as just Plainsong rather be just a band-extension of Ian Matthews who'd had a worldwide No. 1 hit with Joni Mitchell's "Woodtsock" in 1970? The infuriatingly mistakes - honing the material live instead of honing the actual studio LP everyone was supposed to buy - internal musical differences - squabbling that poisoned the vibe just as the platter is released - and on it goes. The reviews too were all glowing – Charles Shaar Murray for the NME, Ray Hammond for Sounds, Karl Douglas for Melody Maker – but the public either didn’t know who they were and became disinterested once they imploded in bitter acrimony only months after the album arrived.

 

What is also less obvious about the book is its scope. Because Ian Matthews had exited Fairport Convention after their first album and done three studio sets with his own Matthews Southern Comfort (all in 1970) and Andy Roberts had been though The Liverpool Scene and so many other projects up to 1972 (Everyone, PC Kent and more) while the other two band members Dave Richards and Bob Ronga provided uncanny vocal harmonies - the book is actually a microcosm of the FOLK-ROCK SCENE stretching from 1969 through 1973 (Steeleye Span, The Woods Band, The Dillards, John Martyn, Judy Henske, Utah Philips, John Hartford and more) - and therefore has a huge reach beyond just one album by a cult band that (let's face it) few even in 2022 know about.

 

The book has contributions from Richard Thompson, Roger Swallow (original drummer with Matthews Southern Comfort), Karl Dallas of the Melody Maker, a 15-year-old Cameron Crowe writing for his local San Diego music press, Producer Sandy Roberton (gushing and embittered in equal measure), Jonathan Clyde of Elektra Records UK who signed the band at the tender age of 23 - tales of vans shared with a then newly formed Eagles recording their debut with Glyn Johns in early 1972 - a rare day off spent giggling and smoking with ex Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band frontman Vivian Stanshall - master of ceremonies at the end of Side 1 on Tubular Bells in 1973. There are passages about an American tour with 50's and 60ts Wanderer legend Dion, a disastrous date with Donny Hathaway whose fans weren't really there for Mellow Folk-Rock and finally with an emerging Randy Newman making waves with songs on Warner Brothers.

 

Clayton is smart enough to step out of the way too - you don't get passages detailing his critic viewpoints - grandstanding - instead the bulk of the book is hugely detailed first-hand interviews - so the people who were there in England, Europe and the USA for the year Plainsong existed - all get their views printed. It goes deep - Derek Asletts who designed the cover art that looks lovely but actually doesn't tell you much about the band or the LP which I personally think did for sales (what is this - that kind of thing?) - Stuart Lyon of the Hampstead Country Club where they gigged - Ed Kelleher of Cash Box Magazine in the USA who let Andy Roberts root through the unused review copies of LPs in their cupboards where he stumbled on cover versions that would end up on the LP (Mason Williams and Rick Cunha) and the Laramie album track "Farewell First Lady Of The Air". There is even stuff about taking their clogs off in the studio because their clacking made too much noise during recordings while that’s dotted in-between main-man Ian Matthews explaining and at times apologizing (with real sincerity) for all manor of band-related problems and personal disasters that cost him, his career and his loved ones dear.

 

There are tour dates, fan remembrances, passages on the gestation of the band and their LP, discussion on all the recordings, Matthews' obsession with all things American Elektra Records - the aborted second studio album done in November 1972 provisionally called "Now We Are 3" after a nursery rhyme (seven songs of the unreleased Elektra K 42136 ended up on further solo albums much to the chagrin of others for royalty payments owed under the Elektra contract). You get stuff on the counter culture - Bernard Stone's Turret Bookshop in London where Andy Robert used to hang out on a Saturday and therein stumbled on a whole section of books on Aviation - in particular Fred Goerner's book "In Search Of Amelia Earhart". Supplied by the shop, Elektra gave out mint copies of that book at the showcase October 1972 gig for Plainsong's album release - attended by both Harry Chapin and Mickey Newbury who were jointly plugging their own albums "Heads & Tails" and "'Frisco Mabel Joy". Heady days indeed...

 

Across its 240-pages and 16 chapters (up to Iain Matthews and Andy Roberts touring a version of Plainsong in August 2021 to ecstatic reviews) – you might think an obscure band that sold reputedly less than 4000 copies of their lone LP doesn't really warrant such lavish attention. But the story is so riveting, the background and histories and musical landscapes so relevant even to this day (50 years on) – I would argue that if you like Folk-Rock and tales of drunk drummers disappearing in fields and hookers with a huge heart (Paul Siebel's "Louise") – then this is the twin-prop for you. And God Bless you Amelia Earhart wherever you are – heroine of the skies and influencer of men with long hair and questionable moustaches...