"Anthology: 50th Anniversary" by FOUR TOPS - Single and Album Tracks from July 1964 to August 1988 (Three Unreleased) on Motown, Dunhill, Probe, ABC, Casablanca, RSO, Geffen and Arista Records featuring Levi Stubbs, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, Lawrence Payton and Abdul 'Duke' Fakir with Songs by Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ivy Jo Hunter, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Bristol, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and many more (January 2004 US Hip-O Records/Motown/Universal 2CD Compilation of Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...In A Different World..."

 

Blessed with proper access to the extensive Motown Tape Library, Universal's imprint Hip-O Select (or Hip-O Records as they were initially known) began punching out CD compilations that sent most serious collectors into raptures. 

 

Even if they were expensive for catalogue material from the Fifties and Sixties - the presentation was (mostly) classy and sometimes wildly inventive, the notation cool and from proper sources, they usually contained unreleased - in short - the whole shebang collector-wise. But it was the AUDIO that blew you away (and still does). Really great and vastly experienced Remaster Engineers like Erick Labson (Chess and Cadet), Ellen Fitton (Motown Singles Books Series) and that other genius - SUHA GUR. I actively search down his transfers, because they inevitably amaze. 

 

And it's no different with Motown's FOUR TOPS (Suha did the work on this) - four young men from Detroit's North End that were in other groups, but sang together on a dare at a party in 1954. After that, the chemistry went on to a signing with Berry Gordy's Tamla and Motown Records and 2004 found them still an official item - 50-years down the line. In fact, as I write this review in the tailend of January 2023 - next year (2024) will be an astonishing 70-years for THE FOUR TOPS. 

 

And although they're effectively a yesteryear act now and perhaps in the shadow of the more popular Temptations, Four Tops produced gems and masterpieces and this is the twofer place to find them. To the still waters and shadows of love...

 

US released 13 January 2004 - "Anthology: 50th Anniversary" by FOUR TOPS on Hip-O Records/Motown/Universal B0000488-02 (Barcode 044003961722) is a 48-Track 2CD Compilation of Motown, Dunhill, Probe (UK), ABC Records, Casablanca, RSO, Geffen and Arista Records Tracks from July 1964 to August 1988 with New Remasters from Original Tapes. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (78:47 minutes):

1. Baby I Need Your Loving (July 1964 US 45-single, Motown 1062)

2. Without The One You Love (Life's Not Worth Living) (November 1964 US 45-single, Motown 1069)

3. Ask The Lonely (January 1965 US 45-single, Motown 1073)

4. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) (April 1965 US 45-single, Motown 1076)

5. It's The Same Old Song (July 1965 US 45-single, Motown 1081)

6. Something About You (October 1965 US 45-single, Motown 1084)

7. Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) (February 1966, Motown 1090)

8. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (May 1966, Motown 1096)

9. Reach Out I'll Be There (August 1966, Motown 660)

10. Standing In The Shadow Of Love (November 1966, Motown 1102)

11. Bernadette (February 1967, Motown 1104, A-side)

12. I Got A Feeling (B-side of "Bernadette" and August 1966 US LP "Four Tops On Top", Motown 647)

13. 7-Rooms Of Gloom (May 1967, Motown 1110, A-side)

14. I'll Turn To Stone (B-side of "7-Rooms Of Gloom")

15. You Keep Running Away (August 1967, Motown 1113)

16. Walk Away Renee (originally January 1968 US-45, Motown 1119 - this is a Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)

17. If I Were A Carpenter (April 1968, Motown 1124)

18. Yesterday's Dreams (June 1968, Motown 1127)

19. I'm In A Different World (September 1968, Motown 1132)

20. What Is A Man (April 1969, Motown 1147)

21. Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me (June 1969, Motown 675, reissued Nov 1969, Motown 1159 - this is a Previously Unreleased Extended Stereo Single Mix)

22. It's All In The Game (March 1970, Motown 1164)

23. Still Water (Love) (August 1970, Motown 1170)

24. River Deep - Mountain High - THE SUPREMES and FOUR TOPS (November 1970, Motown 1173 - Previously Unreleased Stereo Single Edit)

25. Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life) (December 1970, Motown 1175)

26. In These Changing Times (May 1971, Motown 1185)

27. MacArthur Park (Part II) (August 1971, Motown 1189)

NOTES: 

Tracks 16, 21 and 24 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED versions

CD2 (79:27 minutes):

1. A Simple Game (UK Single Mix) (September 1971 UK-45, Tamla Motown TMG 785)

2. I Can't Quit Your Love (April 1972 US-45, Motown 1198)

3. (It's The Way) Nature Planned It (August 1972, Motown 1210)

4. Keeper Of The Castle (October 1972, Dunhill 4330)

5. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) (January 1973, Dunhill 4339)

6. Are You Man Enough (May 1973, Dunhill 4354, also on the Original Soundtrack Album "Shaft In Africa" and their album "Main Street")

7. Sweet Understanding Love (August 1973, Dunhill 4366) 

8. I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind (January 1974, Dunhill 4377)

9. One Chain Don't Make No Prison (March 1974, Dunhill 4386)

10. Midnight Flower (June 1974, Dunhill 15005)

11. Seven Lonely Nights (April 1975, ABC 12096)

12. We All Gotta Stick Together (August 1975, ABC 12123)

13. Catfish (August 1976 on ABC 12214; then September 1976 on ABC 12223)

14. H.E.L.P. (October 1978, ABC 12427)

15. When She Was My Girl (July 1981, Casablanca 2338)

16. Tonight I'm Gonna Love You All Over (January 1982, Casablanca 2345)

17. I Believe In You And Me (July 1982, Casablanca 2353, B-side of "Sad Hearts")

18. Back To School Again (May 1982, RSO 1069)

19. I Just Can't Walk Away (September 1983, Motown 1706)

20. Mean Green Mother From Outer Space - LEVI STUBBS and Chorus (from the November 1986 US Original Soundtrack LP "Little Shop Of Horrors" on Geffen 24125)

21. Indestructible (7-Inch Extended Single) (August 1988 US 12"-Single on Arista AD1-9705-B)

The chunky card digipak looks and feels substantial with new liner notes from Motown affcianado STU HACKEL which is followed by detailed track-by-track credits (28-pages in total). In-between are period photos (mostly 60ts and 70ts) and the usual reissue credits at the rear. But the big news is SUHA GUR Remasters which are fantastic. They even manage three Previously Unreleased on CD1 and some rarities on Cd2. Nice done - to the chunes... 

 

As you play the CD1 openers "Baby I Need Your Loving" or "Ask The Lonely" - you feel the sheer class of the group and are absolutely whomped by that big booming Motown sound courtesy of The Funk Brothers (Motown's inhouse band) - gorgeous transfers that accentuate Levi Stubbs and his fabulous deep tenor vocals. And while radio-friendly hogs will immediately reach for the big chart hits like "It's The Same Old Song", "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch", "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever", "Bernadette" and the wonderful melodrama (and much confusion) of "Reach Out I'll Be There" - Northern Soul dancers will plumb for those lesser played feet-shuffler sides like "Something About You", the stomping "Shake Me, Wake Me..." and "I Got A Feeling" (a B-side that's been included on this compilation for just that purpose).

Many will have forgotten the loveliness of some of these recordings - "Yesterday's Dreams" (an Ivy Jo Hunter co-write) from the September 1968 album of the same name or the lonely-day Holland-Dozier-Holland bopper "I'm In A Different World" produced by H-D-H and R. Dean Taylor. "Walk Away Renee" is filled with the same sweet vibes (presented here as a Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix), although their valiant attempt at Tim Hardin's socially conscious "If I Were A Carpenter" stills feels uncomfortable to me. They try again with being on the America-in-Turmoil ball with the Johnny Bristol searching song "What Is A Man" - brothers being sent off to fight for their country while Universities would casually turn a blind eye to their enrolment applications. And again the ballad swoon and beauty returns with "It's All In The Game" - a track from the "Still Waters Run Deep" album of March 1970 that Motown plucked out as a single. Here it's Stereo impact is gorgeous - heart flying away.

The first and only rarity on CD1 comes in the shape of "Don't Take Him Take Your Love From Me" - A Stereo Single Mix that's Extended. Penned by that dynamic duo Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong - Levi goes for broke with the vocals as the Funk Brothers groove with brass and backing singers (2:56 minutes). Good, but so much better is the stunning audio on "Still Water (Love)" - another 1970 cut from the "Still Waters Run Deep" LP - a lovely Frank Wilson and Smokey Robinson co-write.

CD1 comes to an end with a string of their first forays into the new decade - the Seventies - the Pamela Swayer penned "Just Seven Numbers..." and co-penned with Frank Wilson "In These Changing Times..." being highlights. 

CD2 opens with the exclusive mix given to the British 45 for "A Simple Game" - Tamla Motown TMG 785 from September 1971 - a song penned by Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues (the US 45 on Motown 1196 had an alternate mix). The wah-wah guitars/strings Funk Sound of the Seventies makes itself known on "I Can't Quit Your Love" - a cut from the April 1972 LP "Nature Planned It" that some club dancers enjoy. Better for me is the Frank Wilson penned smoocher "(It's The Way) Nature Planned It" - a very 'Just My Imagination' groove that gave them a No. 8 hit on the US Billboard R&B singles charts. Levi shows he still has it in the pleading love song stakes with the lovely "Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got)" - a big hit for them when The Stylistics, Chi-Lites and The Spinners were all mining the same territory. 

Still cool is "Are You Man Enough" where someone is trying to steal with your right to choose - a hit on two albums "Shaft In Africa" and their own "Main Street". The syrup starts to grate a tad by the time we get to "I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" - better is the funkier Dennis Lambert song "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" from 1974 which Santana would cover and make a single off on their 1978 Columbia album "Inner Secrets". And on it goes to Levi Stubbs waxing lyrical about aliens in a dentist's office.

It isn't all magic for sure, but the sound is toppermost and those deep dive discoveries are way cool. This is the one you need...all night long...

"Loma Northern Soul: Classics & Revelations 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - Classic Dancers and Tape Vault Discovery Exclusives from Warner Brothers' Famed label (27 January 2023 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation with Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...It's Your Love That I Need..."

Bubbling under as far back as November 2022 as a forthcoming release, Ace Records of the UK announced this bouncing dancefloor baby as being available sometime in the first month of the New Year (2023). And true to their (slightly late) word - it is. 

 

Also marked out as a special release so to speak - "Loma Northern Soul: Classics & Revelations 1964-1968" has received the British reissue label's first ever 7" Singles Box Set treatment as a 'Limited Edition' retailing at about £45 (or less). Seven by seven 45s have their own 'Kent Soul 40' label bags and include sides not on the CD variant (see details below).

As an imprint of the mighty Warner Brothers catalogue, 'LOMA Records' was active mainly on the American Soul singles front from 1964 to 1968. Fans of its dancers and Northern Soul shuffler sides bought the Warner three-volume series "After Hours" series that began in 2002, each containing super desirable LOMA 45-sides  - with all three of those CDs also reissued on very tasty 2LP VINYL sets too. 

 

But outside of the Light In The Attic/Future Days Recordings VINYL Series in the USA in 2016 (Tracks 3, 6 and 7 on this CD feature from them) - this late January 2023 appears to me to be the first time the LOMA Label has received a full on decent CD retrospective of its own. Ace has even discovered gems in the vaults (there's six unreleased here). There's a ton of talcum powder shimmy shaking to get through, so let's have at it...

 

UK released Friday, 27 January 2023 - "Loma Northern Soul: Classics & Revelations 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul 40 CDTOP 511 (Barcode 029667107723) is a 25-Track American Label Retrospective CD Compilation that plays out as follows (63:25 minutes):

 

1. It's Your Love That I Need - THE MARVELLOS (Previously Unissued 1966 Loma Recording, 2023)

 

2. Go For Yourself - LARRY LASTER (June 1966 US 45-single on Loma Records 2043, B-side to "Help Yourself")

 

3. Heartstrings - THE INVINCIBLES (Originally Unissued 1967 Loma Recording, first issued on the 2016 US VINYL LP "Loma (A Soul Music Love Affair) - Volume 4" on Future Days Recordings FDR 627) 

 

4. You Can't Outsmart A Woman - KELL OSBORNE (December 1965 US 45-single on Loma Records 2023, A-side)

 

5. Lies - BOBBY FREEMAN (October 1967 US 45-single on Loma Records 2080, B-side of "I Got A Good Thing")

 

6. That's All You Gotta Do - BEN AIKEN (Originally Unissued 1968 Loma Recording, first issued on the 2016 US VINYL LP "Loma (A Soul Music Love Affair) - Volume 4" on Future Days Recordings FDR 627) 

 

7. I Need You - THE MARVELLOS (Originally Unissued 1966 Loma Recording, first issued on the 2016 US VINYL LP "Loma (A Soul Music Love Affair) - Volume 4" on Future Days Recordings FDR 627)

 

8. Mean It Baby - CARL HALL (November 1967 US 45-single on Loma Records 2086, B-side of "You Don't Know Nothing About Love")

 

9. I'm Getting Weaker - THE SOUL SHAKERS (July 1966 US 45-single on Loma Records 2047, A-side)

 

10. Just A Little Longer - THE ENCHANTERS (Previously Unissued 1965 Loma Recording, 2023)

 

11. Please Be True - THE INVINCIBLES (Originally Unissued 1967 Loma Recording, 2023) 

 

12. If You Should See Her - BEN AIKEN (Originally Unissued 1967 Loma Recording, 2023) 

 

13. My Heart Needs A Break - LINDA JONES (February 1968 US 45-single on Loma Records 2091, A-side)

 

14. See The Silver Moon - THE APOLLAS (Originally Unissued 1967 Loma Recording first released on the 2012 UK Apollas CD Compilation "Absolutely Right! The Complete Tiger, Loma and Warner Bros. Recordings" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 365)

 

15. Bright Lights - DELILAH KENNEBRUEW (June 1966 US 45-single on Loma Records 2049, A-side)

 

16. Something's Burnin' - THE MARVELLOS (May 1966 US 45-single on Loma Records 2045, A-side)

 

17. Satisfied - BEN AIKEN (November 1967 US 45-single on Loma Records 2084, B-side of "The Life Of A Clown")

 

18. Runnin' Around - TONY AMARO & THE CHARIOTS (March 1967 US 45-single on Loma Records 2068, B-side of "Hey Baby")

 

19. Got A Thing Goin' - THE INVINCIBLES (Previously Unissued 1966 Loma Recording, 2023)

 

20. The Man With The Golden Touch - CHARLES THOMAS (March 1966 US 45-single on Loma Records 2031, B-side of "Looking For Love")

 

21. Baby, Don't Look Down - BILLY STORM (September 1964 US 45-single on Loma Records 2001, B-side of "I Never Want To Dream Again (There In A Garden)")

 

22. I Finally Got A Break - THE OLYMPICS (Previously Unissued 1965 Loma Recording, 2023)

 

23. The Big Jerk, Part 1 - CLYDE & THE BLUE JAYS (October 1964 US 45-single on Loma Records 2003, A-side)

 

24. I'll Find A Way - BOBBY REED (January1968 US 45-single on Loma Records 2089, B-side of "I Wanna Love You So Bad")

 

25. Better Think Of What You're Losing - TOMMY STARR (April 1968 US 45-single on Loma Records 2095, A-side)

 

NOTES:

All Tracks are MONO

Tracks 1, 10, 11, 12, 19 and 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

Compiler and genre afficiando ALEC PALAO gets into detial-Nirvana in his 20-page booklet - this time only showing one Loma Records label (Bobby Reed's "I'll Find A Way") and filling the rest of the text pages with Trade Adverts/Reviews and a slurry of Promo Photos - Bobby Freeman, The Enchanters, The Invincibles, The Apollas and more. Apparently tearing up the clubs he DJs at, Palao has been singing the virtues of Ace's latest vault-trawl find - "It's Your Love That I Need" by The Marvellos - and it's not difficult to hear why. Alec also tells us of the superb Soul writers Loma tapped into - Willie Hutch, Lorraine Ellison, Sam Bell, Gene Page, Leon Sylvers, Mort Shuman, Jerry Ragovoy, Van McCoy, Sammy Turner and even Randy Newman (the Billy Storm track). Productions came courtesy of famous names like Richard Tee, Gene Page, James Carmichael and many more. Not surprisingly - and given the prestige Ace Records are affording the release - it's a stonking read. 

Long-time associate Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS does the Remasters and all are in punchy MONO health. To the music...    

It's easy to hear why joyful struts like "Lies" by Bobby Freeman (man was Tom Jones listening to this when he did "It's Not Unusual") and the make up your mind dancer "Go For Yourself" by Larry Laster send Northern Soul guys and gals into a frenzy - they are fantastic dancers. Kell Osborne channels his inner Jackie Wilson on Brunswick on "You Can't Outsmart A Woman" as he Adam and Eve's his brassy tale of womanly attraction to which no mere mortal (like him) has any defense. 

 

More manly advise is forthcoming during Ben Aiken's "That's All You Gotta Do" giving other lothario-types the big lowdown on Love (what a find this is - stuck in a vault until it was issued on an obscure 2016 US album). And again an amazing find in the relentless Bass, Vibes and Drums of "I Need You" by The Marvellos - the sort of floor-shaker that must have them wild in the Wigan Casinos of the North. Speaking of Aiken - fans who flipped the weaker A-side "The Life Of A Clown" must have been cock-of-the-hoop when they clapped eager ears on its wildly popular flipside "Satisfied". Same B-side head space belongs to the obscure Tony Amaro & The Chariots track "Runnin' Around" - a manic 'sock-it-to-me-baby' floor-stabber that could so easily have been a Motown A-sider. And not for the first time do The Marvellos thrill - their wonderfully upbeat "Something's Burnin'" the kind of official Loma 7" single that must send auction sites into sprinkler-need. And on it goes to the very 007 vibe in "The Man With The Golden Touch" by Charles Thomas while Billy Storm lives up his name in the instrument-packed wall of sound that comes at you for his fabulous full-on dance-meets-guitar-freak-out of "Baby, Don't Look Down". And on it goes...

Also UK released 27 January 2023, the seven by seven-inch Singles Box of "Loma Northern Soul..." is catalogue number Ace/Kent Soul 40 LTDBOX 020 (Barcode 029667031172) and has the following tracks (some as you can see are not on the CD):

 

Single 1

A: It's Your Love That I Need - THE MARVELLOS 

B: It's Your Love That I Need (Instrumental) - THE MARVELLOS

Single 2

A: Heartstrings - THE INVINCIBLES

B: Got A Thing Goin' - THE INVINCIBLES

 

Single 3

A: That's All You Gotta Do - BEN AIKEN

B: Satisfied - BEN AIKEN

 

Single 4

A:  Like I Told You - CARL HALL

B: Mean It Baby - CARL HALL

Single 5

A: Just A Little Longer - THE ENCHANTERS

B: I'll Find A Way - BOBBY REED

Single 6 

A: See The Silver Moon - THE APOLLAS

B: Go For Yourself - LARRY LASTER

Single 7 

A: If You Should See Her - BEN AIKEN

B: Lies - BOBBY FREEMAN

"Night After Night" by NILS LOFGREN - October 1977 Double Live Album on A&M Records -Fourth Album Overall (25 February 2022 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) 2CD Reissue and New Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry....

 

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"...A Little Bit Of Courage Is All We Lack..."

 

After a stint with Neil Young on the "After The Gold Rush" album in 1970 and the first album with the short-lived Crazy Horse (their debut "Crazy Horse" was released February 1971) - Nils Lofgren formed GRIN and promptly popped out four studio albums in a row - "Grin" in January 1971, "1+1" in January 1972, "All Out" in February 1973 and their final "Gone Crazy" in October 1973. But despite good reviews and catchy tunes in tow - the first three albums barely scarped the American Top 200 and for only a few weeks at a time (chart positions of 192, 180 and 186 respectively) - while the really rather good LP "Gone Crazy" did not chart at all. With Grin played out, Lofgren began to focus at last on a proper solo career.

 

Newly signed to A&M Records (who were making a lot of smart signing choices in the early to mid Seventies) - up jumps the LP "Nils Lofgren" (or the Fat Man album as its often known because of the front cover artwork) - his fabulous March 1975 debut solo album. Quite rightly, it received mucho praise and actual Billboard LP chart action - pushing up to No. 135. Helped by the brilliant single and album title track, his second solo platter "Cry Tough" from April 1976 was a genuine smash (peaking at No. 32) - while the lesser-received "I Came To Dance" from March 1977 made a very respectable No. 36. As was deriguere for the day, it was time for the inevitable Seventies 'live' set which was always going to be a double-album and was always going to showcase his amazing guitar prowess and maybe even highlight that Lofgren could pen a tune that moved as well as excited.

 

And that's where this long-overdue Beat Goes On (BGO) twofer comes a trampolining in. Cleverly combining tracks from three of the Grin LPs mentioned above with the cream on the three solo LPs - the live double "Night After Night" shone big time and actually acted as something of a Nils Lofgren Greatest Hits to date. To the Moon Tears...

 

UK released 25 February 2022 - "Night After Night" by NILS LOFGREN on Beat Goes On BGOCD1473 (Barcode 5017261214737) is a Reissue of his first official Live Double-Album Newly Remastered in 2022 onto 2CDs. It plays out as follows: 

 

CD1 (43:35 minutes): 

1. Take You To The Movies [Side 1]

2. Back It Up 

3. Keith Don't Go (Ode To The Glimmer Twin)

4. Like Rain

5. Cry Tough [Side 2]

6. It's Not A Crime

7. Goin' Back 

8. You're The Weight

 

CD2 (42:53 minutes): 

1. Beggars Day [Side 3] 

2. Moon Tears

3. Code Of The Road 

4. Rock And Roll Crook [Side 4]

5. Goin' South

6. Incidentally...It's Over 

7. I Came To Dance

 

NOTES:

Tracks 1 to 8 on CD1 and 1 to 7 on CD2 are the live 2LP set "Night After Night" - released late October 1977 in the USA on A&M Records SP-3707 and late October 1977 in the UK on A&M Records AMLM 68439. Produced by DAVID BRIGGS and NILS LOFGREN - it peaked at No. 44 on the US Billboard LP charts and at No. 38 in the UK. Recorded at The Hammersmith Odeon in London, Apollo Theatre in Glasgow and The Roxy in Los Angeles. All songs by NIls Lofgren except "Goin' Back" by Jerry Goffin and Carole King

 

Tracks 1 and 4 on CD1 originally on the Grin album "Grin" from January 1971

Tracks 2, 3, 7 on CD1 and Track 4 on CD2 originally on the album "Nils Lofgren" from March 1975

Tracks 5 and 6 on CD1 and Track 6 on CD2 originally on the Nils Lofgren album "Cry Tough" from April 1976

Tracks 8 on CD1 and 1 on CD2 originally on the Grin album "Gone Crazy" from October 1973

Track 2 on CD2 originally on the Grin album "1 + 1" from January 1972

Tracks 3, 5 and 7 on CD2 originally on the Nils Lofgren album "I Came To Dance" from March 1977

 

BAND:

NILS LOFGREN - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Piano on "Goin' Back"

TOM LOFGREN - Guitar, Organ, Backing Vocals 

(Rev.) PATRICK HENDERSON - Paino, Organ, Backing Vocals 

WORNELL JONES - Bass, Timbales, Backing Vocals

DAVID PLATSHON - Drums and Percussion 

The outer card slipcase and 16-page booklet with new liner notes from ROGER DOPSON give this 2CD Reissue a look and feel of class. The artwork front and rear and inner photos of Lofgren's band that graced the inside of the gatefold are all here - as is Dopson's blow-by-blow account of the great axeman's heyday (he is now a permanent member of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band). Dopson uses quotes up to 2021 when Nils reminisces and comments on his career - he's in the best of places - working for the Boss with the freedom to release solo projects (studio and live) to his heart's content. This double-album from 1977 is a case in point. It hasn't been on CD excepting Lofgren's stupendous but now deleted and expensive 9CD Box Set "Face The Music" from April 2014. So Beat Goes On (BGO) have pulled off a wee bit of a blinder here in issuing "Night After Night". The new 2022 ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster is fabulous - the live vibe still in tact - not that much hiss to worry anyone and the muscle now there where it was always needed. 

Lofgren opens the account with a track from Grin's self-titled debut all the way back in 1971 - "Take You To The Movies". He does it almost Acapella - even throwing in a joke about taking his girl to see "Stars Wars" - which given that the gigs are 1977 - elicits huge cheers from the crowd. The band then launches with "Back It Up" - the band all lending Backing Vocals (it was a hugely popular choice on the "Nils Lofgren" debut). About one and half minutes in, Nils launches into his guitar soloing - then more towards the end of the song - and man is it hair-raisingly good. Then in comes his Rolling Stones fixation which he craftily disguises in a soloing intro that has the crowd whooping before WALLOP - the riff kicks in with that Satisfaction undertow - and it Rocks. A write away letter - straight to his main inspirer - urgent from the USA. 

He calms things down with another "Grin" forgotten song in "Like Rain". It's a lovely vibe even if the monitors are humming a tad in the background and some of the crowd can't keep their traps shut. About one minute in, he suddenly launches into an heavy electrifying solo - only to calm it back down. Then it starts - probably everybody's fave - "Cry Tough" has the crowd clapping loudly - Doctor Feelgood lives right down his street - son Cry Tough. When he starts in on that solo with those fantastic harmonics - it's great Rock 'n' Roll - backed up by the Drums and Organ. But while that Rocks - LP1 always had my heart with his utterly stunning cover of Goffin/King classic "Goin' Back" made famous by The Byrds. It was on 1975's debut, but here he again opens with a gorgeously melodic lead him - all him on the piano. Lyrics from it entitle this review and by the time the band reaches the kick in, I'm in floods. I find his live version of "Goin' Back" uplifting and moving and it's been in my Top Ten of tracks from that whole decade for 30-years hence. Oh look out indeed!

"Beggars Day" that opens CD2 harks all the way back to the first "Crazy Horse" album from early 1971 - a band that featured Jack Nitzsche, Nils Lofgren, Billy Talbot and the fated singer-singwriter Danny Whitten. Lofgren returned to the song for Grin's fourth and last album "Gone Crazy" where the song was re-done and given the full title of "Beggars Day (Tribute To Danny Whitten)" after Whitten's passing. He then whomps that rocker with an even better Grin tune - the brilliant "Moon Tears". When I used to hang with Face To Face in Dublin, every Friday night at Toner's Bar where they had a semi-residency in the late Seventies - a choppy riffing rocking cover of "Moon Tears" was always a highlight - and its no different here. He funks it up with the Little Feat-ish piano boogie of "Code Of The Road" replete with stunning soloing about four minutes in and band harmonizing towards its rollicking nine-minutes-plus finish. And on it goes to an even longer crowd pleaser "I Came To Dance" (almost eleven-minutes) - where Lofgren and his super tight band slay all in view.

Are we mellow inside, can we take it through the night - I think so. England's Beat Goes On have done top quality twofer reissues in the past - but this Nils Lofgren is one of the most enjoyable plays I've had in yonks - a timely reminder of a massive talent - and a Remaster that fans will adore. 

 

He's not Bob Dylan, but he never misses a beat. Never mind the Glimmer Twin, NL don't go...

"Anthology" by JOHN HIATT - Forty Album Tracks from 1974 to 2000 featuring Guests Nick Lowe of Brinsley Schwarz and Little Village, Martin Belmont of Ducks Deluxe, Paul Carrack of Ace, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics, Glen Ballard of Argent, Benmont Tench of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Mac Gayden of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry, Ry Cooder, Rosanne Cash, Sonny Landreth and many more (7 August 2001 US-Only Hip-O Records 40-Track 2CD Career Anthology with Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Have A Little Faith In Me..."

There are some artists/songwriters that should be huge. And in some ways - especially among other singers who know the real tunesmith deal when they hear it - they actually are. It's just that the public has been a tad slow in picking up on the good news (think John Prine, Shawn Phillips or even Randy Newman in the 60ts and 70ts). 

 

Indianapolis' JOHN HIATT is one of those artists. His first two albums on Epic Records - the debut "Hangin' Around The Observatory" and its follow-up "Overcoats" hit American record shacks in 1974 and 1975, but did little business. Unbelievably Hiatt would have to wait until the brilliant (and commercial) "Bring The Family" album on A&M Records in 1987 before he charted on Billboard - a full seven albums into his output. In fact, the year 2023 celebrates 50 years of recording for JH as that debut was put down in July 1973, the LP released January of the next year (1974).

 

It's also worth pointing out that when "Bring The Family" was issued in 1987 (early days for CD) - that digital outing had an ok-to-good reputation sound-wise. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab of the USA picked up on this and in Nov 1994 reissued "Bring The Family" on one of their Original Master Recording, Ultradisc II formats - and to much praise. But being a limited edition, it has been deleted years and steadily accruing huge price tags. So here on this 2001 2CD set - fans can at least get five of the "Bring The Family" album tracks in superior Erick Labson Remastered sound for online prices that are more than reasonable.

Which brings us to this fantastic-sounding US-only 2CD career overhaul from Hip-O Select issued in August 2001 (trading then as Hip-O Records). You get forty albums cuts from the 1974 debut right up to 2000's "Crossing Muddy Waters" CD album on Vanguard Records. There is much to savor...

 

US-only released 7 August 2001 - "Anthology" by JOHN HIATT on Hip-O Records 314 556 134-2 (Barcode 731455613421) is a 40-Track 2CD Career Retrospective of New Remasters that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (78:08 minutes):

1. Sure As I'm Sittin' Here 

2. Hangin' Around The Observatory 

3. Down Home

4. Washable Ink

5. Slug Line

6. Radio Girl

7. Pink Bedroom 

8. It Hasn't Happened Yet

9. Spy Boy

10. Doll Hospital

11. My Edge Of The Razor

12. Riding With The King

13. She Loves The Jerk

14. I Don't Even Try

15. The Love That Harms

16. The Way We Make A Broken Heart (Duet Vocals with Rosanne Cash)

17. When We Ran

18. The Usual

19. She Said The Same Things To Me (Duet Vocals with Frieda Woody)

20. Lipstick Sunset

21. Thank You Girl

22. Have A Little Faith In Me

NOTES:

Tracks 1 and 2 from his US debut album "Hangin' Around The Observatory", January 1974 on Epic KE 32688 

Track 3 from his second US studio album "Overcoats", April 1975 on Epic KE 33190

Tracks 4, 5 and 6 are from his third studio album "Slug Line", August 1979 on MCA Records MCA-3088 

Tracks 7 and 8 are from his fourth studio album "Two Bit Monsters", October 1980 on MCA Records MCA-5123

Track 9 from the Original Soundtrack Album "Cruising" from 1980

Tracks 10 and 11 are from his fifth studio album "All Of A Sudden", April 1982 on Geffen GHS 2009

Tracks 12 to 15 are from his sixth studio album "Riding With The King", April 1984 on Geffen GHS 4017

Track 16 from the compilation album "The Best Of John Hiatt", August 1998 on Capitol CDP 7243 8 59179 2 9 - featuring Rosanne Cash on Duet Vocals - song recorded during the "Riding With The King" sessions in 1984 

Tracks 17 to 19 are from his seventh studio album "Warming Up To The Ice Age", September 1986 on Geffen GHS 24055 

Tracks 20 to 22 are from his eighth studio album "Bring The Family", May 1987 on A&M Records SP 5158 in the USA, Demon Records FIEND 100 in the UK

 

CD2 (77:17 minutes):

1. Memphis In The Meantime

2. Thing Called Love

3. Tennessee Plates

4. Slow Turning 

5. Drive South 

6. Feels Like Rain

7. Paper Thin

8. Child Of The Wild Blue Yonder

9. Real Fine Love

10. Perfectly Good Guitars

11. Buffalo River Home

12. Angel Eyes

13. Cry Love

14. Shredding The Document

15. Don't Think About Her When You're Trying To Drive

16. Pirate Radio

17. Crossing Muddy Waters

18. Take It Down

Tracks 1 to 2 are from his eighth studio album "Bring The Family", May 1987 on A&M Records SP 5158 in the USA, Demon Records FIEND 100 in the UK

Tracks 3 to 7 are from his ninth studio album "Slow Turning", August 1988

Tracks 8 and 9 are from his tenth studio album "Stolen Moments", June 1990

Tracks 10 and 11 are from his eleventh studio album "Perfectly Good Guitar", September 1993

Track 12 from the live album "Hiatt Comes Alive At The Budokan?", November 1994 by John Hiatt & The Guilty Dogs

Tracks 13 and 14 are from the album "Walk On", November 1995

Track 15 from the CD album "Little Village" by Little Village, 1992

Track 16 from the album "Little Head", June 1997

Tracks 17 and 18 are from the album "Crossing Muddy Waters", October 2000 

 

The 16-page booklet features new June 2001 liner notes SCOTT SCHINDER mixed in with period photos and interviews with a clearly happily married man and a musical career he's proud of. But the big news is without doubt the talents of a Universal Audio Engineer I've raved about before - ERICK LABSON. As of 2023 I think he's amassed over 1,000 reissue credits including Buddy Holly, The Who, Neil Diamond, Wishbone Ash, The Mamas and The Papas, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and the bulk of the Chess/Cadet/Checker catalogue. When this guy gets nears the tapes, magic is going to happen and it does here. I had the album "Warming Up To The Ice Age" when I was in the thralls of buying everything and anything I could get my hands on in 1985 - I wanted the riffing "The Usual". It always had a weedy punch - here it leaps and snarls as it was always meant to do. To the array...

 

I would be the the first to admit that as you play the start of CD1 and the end of CD2, a 5-star rating seems a tad high. And with that in mind it is unfortunately easy to hear why the early LPs came and went, the songs are good but never great or particularly memorable. It isn't until you get to the cod Rock 'n' Roll of "Doll Hospital", the hurting and pleading ballad "My Edge Of The Razor" and that very John Hiatt chug of "Riding With The King" (in the early 80ts) do you start to get really interested. I know these tracks from vinyl and to hear them now finally punching above their audio weight on these fantastic Remasters is a blast. 

 

You can feel the songwriting prowess growing with cool shuffles like "She Said The Same Things To Me" and his Indie-Punk-New Wave heart in the fab riffage of "The Usual" - a highlight on the "Warming Up To The Ice Age" album from 1985. But everything changed with the undeniable "Bring The Family" album produced with warmth by John Chelew in 1987. Even as the gorgeous melody of "Lipstick Sunset" plays - Ry Cooder playing a blinder as ever on Slide Guitar - you can hear all those years grafting and honing his songs come full circle to the absolute classic that is "Have A Little Faith in Me". Jewel did a cover of this impassioned piano pleader on the John Travolta movie "Phenomenon" soundtrack that brought its beauty to everyone's attention a few years later. 

 

British songwriting and humorist hero Nick Lowe of Brinsley Schwarz and later Little Village fame joined Hiatt's recording entourage for the "Bring The Family" album on Bass and Harmony Vocals. And dig that Ry Cooder guitar on "Thank You Girl" - gritty and chunky with the Remaster - so damn good. Bonnie Raitt covered "Thing Called Love" for her 1989 comeback album "Nick Of Time" on Capitol Records and once again - a cool woman brought Hiatt's songwriting brilliance to the masses. 

 

Hiatt's witty lyrics come roaring out of the sick-of-mandolins romp that is "Memphis In The Meantime" where he tells his girl that he needs to hear the guitars of a real band. Sonny Landreth adds his fabulous and unique slide guitar prowess to the rocking "Tennessee Plates". Although it was inexplicably perceived as a bit of a disappointment after the overall quality of "Bring The Family" - I love the four from 1988's "Slow Turning" album that are featured here. First up is the rollicking upbeat vibe to the title track "Slow Turning", then the very John Mellencamp big acoustic sound to the motor-running "Drive South". CD2 now provides us with his other undisputed classic - the slow shimmering guitars of "Feels Like Rain" - what a gem and sounding glorious too. 

 

"Paper Thin" is a rocker that again wouldn't be amiss on Mellencamp's "Big Daddy" album say - guitars from Sonny Landreth and Eagles original Bernie Leadon. We go big-eyed for the happy and catchy "Child Of The Wild Blue Yonder", but that is whomped by my fave-of-faves - "Real Fine Love" - both it and "Child..." from the underrated "Stolen Moments" album of 1990. And on it goes to other goodies like the lovely "Buffalo River Home", even if it does taper out a bit for me towards 2000. 

 

"What did I do...what did I say...to turn your Angel Eyes my way?" Hiatt sings on the cleverly chosen live version of "Angel Eyes" taken from his lesser-seen Budokan show with his band of the moment, The Guilty Dogs. Well, I am guilty, sign me up to the wild blue yonder and bring all the family too...