"Run With The Pack" by BAD COMPANY – January 1976 UK and US Third Studio Album on Swan Song Records featuring Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Boz Burrell and Simon Kirke (May 2017 UK Swan Song '2-CD Expanded Edition' with The Album Remastered on CD1 and CD2 Containing 14 Previously Unreleased Tracks – Jon Astley Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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MORE THAN A FEELING 

1976

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RATING: ****

"...Silver, Blue & Gold..."

After the barn-storming of the self-titled "Bad Co." debut album in 1974 and especially "Straight Shooter" in 1975 with its two huge hits "Good Love Gone Bad" and "Feel Like Making Love" – it seemed that the ex-Free mob known as Bad Company could do no wrong. Island's coolest Rock Band seemed to take the best of what made Free (before them) so damn special and enhance that simple Rock sound for the rest of that halcyon decade. 

Then the Classic Seventies Rock band made the (perceived at the time) more than slightly lacklustre "Run With The Pack" and by early 1976 – that initial twofer outburst was already dust. Despite healthy chart positions of No. 4 in the UK and No.5 in the States where the album secured one-million sales – the writing seemed already on the washed-out wall for Bad Co. Their third studio effort was always the first LP fans would part with when hitting secondhand record shops and even in 2024 its less than £2.00 price-tag speaks volumes. The two studio efforts that followed "Burnin' Sky" and "Desolation Angels" (1977 and 1979) got lost in the Punk and New Wave explosion that made Bad Co music sound dated and tired in a cheesy macho way.

But – and this is always the big but – in hindsight - and with this toppermost 2017 Remaster and a slurry of very cool outtakes on CD2 (all fourteen of them unissued) – it is time to do right by your mangy cur once again. 

Deep LP dives like "Simple Man", "Silver, Blue & Gold" and "Do Right By Your Woman" are fabulous Bad Co tunes and sound suddenly HUGE on this '2-CD Expanded Edition' from Rhino/Swan Song. Throw in an inspired cover version of an Coasters Fifties R&B tune on Atlantic Records ("Young Blood"), the kicking radio-friendly opener "Live For The Music" and a couple of power ballads on either side – and "Run With The Pack" might just be one of those guilty-pleasure albums you return to more than the lauded pieces in their catalogue. Maybe its rainbow is overdue – to the Young Blood…

UK released 26 May 2017 – "Run With The Pack" by BAD COMPANY on Swan Song 081227953645 (Barcode 081227953645) is a '2-CD Expanded Edition' with the 10-Track Album Remastered on CD1 and 14 Previously Unreleased Tracks on CD2 that pans out as follows:

CD1 "Run With The Pack" Original Album Remaster (36:39 minutes):
1. Live For The Music [Side 1]
2. Simple Man
3. Honey Child
4. Love Me Somebody
5. Run With The Pack
6. Silver, Blue & Gold [Side 2]
7. Young Blood
8. Do Right By Your Woman
9. Sweet Lil' Sister
10. Fade Away 
Tracks 1 to 10 are their third studio album "Run With The Pack" – released January 1976 in the UK on Island ILPS 9346 and Swan Song SS 8415 in the USA. Produced by BAD COMPANY – it peaked at No.4 in the UK LP charts and No.5 in the USA.

CD2 "Run With The Pack" Bonus Tracks (51:09 minutes):
1. Live For The Music (Take 1, Alternative Guitar and Vocal) 3:35 minutes
2. Simple Man (Take 3, Early Mix) 3:41 minutes
3. Honey Child (Early Mix, Alternative Guitar Sound) 3:20 minutes
4. Run With The Pack (Extended Version, Alternative Vocals) 6:00 minutes
5. Let There Be Love (Take 1, Previously Unreleased Outtake) 4:11 minutes
6. Silver, Blue & Gold (Take 1, Early Mix) 5:14 minutes
7. Young Blood (Alternative Vocal) 2:45 minutes
8. Do Right By Your Woman (Alternative Vocal) 2:55 minutes
9. Sweet Lil' Sister (Live/Studio Backing Track) 4:31 minutes
10. Fade Away (Early Mix, Alternate Guitar Solo) 2:54 minutes
11. Do Right By Your Woman (Acoustic Version) 2:57 minutes
12. (I Know) I'm Losing You (Studio Jam, Previously Unreleased Outtake) 3:22 minutes
13. Young Blood (Alternative Version) 2:44 minutes
14. Fade Away (Island Studios Demo) 3:00 minutes

BAD COMPANY was:

PAUL RODGERS - Lead Singer, Keyboards, Guitar (Harmonica on "Do Right By Your Woman")

MICK RALPHS - Lead Guitar

BOZ BURRELL - Bass

SIMON KIRKE - Drums

These '2-CD Extended Editions' all come in a gatefold card Digipak - a threeway foldout two Swan Song logo CDs and usually a flap depicting the original master tape boxes (same here). The 16-page booklet features new liner notes from DAVID CLAYTON who promptly declares "Run With The Pack" as a bit of a guilty-pleasure nay even favourite. The text is peppered with rare Euro Picture Sleeves (Germany, Turkey), Tour Posters, Trade Adverts, Publicity Photos and interviews with Singer Paul Rodgers and Drummer Simon Kirke. It's a nice job done and Remaster Engineer JON ASTLEY who did much of The Who catalogue has done a fabulous job with the Remasters. In fact I can't stop playing CD2 as an alternate album - the outtakes and alternate versions are that good. 

Of the fourteen on CD2 fans will leap to Track 5 "Let There Be Love" - an unreleased Ralphs smoocher that is mid-tempo - its good without being great - but is a definite asset here. Better is the extended mix of "Run With The Pack" which has more guitar but they were right to tighten it up. Fans will thrill to a genuine fave like "Silver, Blue & Gold" having a Take 1 on here - it's remarkably similar to the finished version but just as lovely and lilting (time it takes for a love to go cold). Ralphs does cool guitar strums that smack of such musicality - a rainbow overdue. And dig those end-of-song vocal interplays they didn't use on the LP mix. 

Their grungy cover version of The Coasters 1957 Atco Records B-side "Young Blood" gets a grittier take - the call and response voices not as witty as the finished version (they were still working it out). But it is so well recorded - the band Funky as they Rock. Then the magic hammers home - an Alternate of "Do Right By Your Woman" - it's not as 'produced' as the finished version but that gorgeous Free/Bad Co. lilt is still there in its seductive flange sway. You get an Acoustic Version of "Do Right..." later (Track 11) which has a count-in and gorgeous audio - slide acoustics - I dig this the most even if it feels like they probably dubbed the original vocals over re-recorded acoustic guitars. And then a Harmonica echoed and lonesome. The second genuine outtake comes in a studio jam on piano doing "(I Know) I'm Losing You" - the old Motown hit the Faces turned into a Rock-Soul anthem. It's ramshackle for sure but damn is it cool to hear them still sound so good (even on a throwaway). And I prefer the Demo of "Fade Away" to the finished LP cut - feels more genuine.

These 'Deluxe Editions' are a hit and miss affair especially if the core album doesn't have the greatest reputation in the pantheon of Rawk Glory. But Bad Company's "Run With The Pack" in this 2-CD Expanded Edition form from 2017 is a winner. And as I say, I keep going back to Disc 2 as my go-to Play. Fantastic stuff really...

"Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring 1963 to 1971 US 45-Singles and Previously Unreleased Material (November 2017 UK Ace/Kent Dance CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING: *****

"...I Only Cry Once A Day Now..."

There was a two-and-half-year lapse between Vol. 5 and Vol. 6 in this exemplary series from Ace Records of the UK (the premier label for oldies of this ilk) – but as always – they made it worth the nerve-shredder wait. And as of March 2024 (as I write this) - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" in Number Six in a Series of Seven (see list below).

You get Twenty-Four more US dancers, shufflers and talcum powder mufflers stretching from 1963 to 1971. Amongst the crying and the wailing and the dying of hearts to a danceable beat – you are plied with Four Unreleased cuts, several originally unissued slices from now deleted rarity compilations as well as the usual plethora of choice 45 A's, B's and LP tracks.

And while names like J.J. Barnes, Maxine Brown, The Detroit Emeralds, Betty Everett and Johnnie Taylor will be well known to Northern Soul afficionados - Kent Dance (Kent Soul and Kent Dance are label imprints Ace Records of the UK employs) present enough obscurity finds and re-discoveries to keep the faithful popping. Volume Five was a great listen – but I think Volume Six is even better. Here are the low-down production details that produced big bucks collectables...

UK released 24 November 2017 – "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 471 (Barcode 029667085922) is a 24-Track CD Compilation that pans out as follows (63:55 minutes):

1. Love Is Gonna Get You – PEGGY WOODS (Originally Unissued 1966 Murco Recording, first released 1988 as a 100-Club Anniversary UK 45-single on Kent 6T 4, then issued in 1992 on CD but with wrong mix, here presented in 2017 as a Full Finished Version)

2. You Won't Saying Nothing – TAMALA LEWIS (June 1965 USA 7" single on Marton 1002, A-side)

3. I Only Cry Once A Day Now – THE FIDELS (Previously Unissued 1966 Doré Records recording)

4. Friday Night – JOHNNIE TAYLOR (August 1970 USA 7" single on Stax Records STAX 0068, B-side of "Steal Away")

5. I Got To Tell Somebody – BETTY EVERETT (October 1970 USA 7" single on Fantasy 652, A-side, Arranged Donny Hathaway)

6. I Can Fly – THE MAGNIFICENTS (Originally Unissued 1973 Just Productions recording (written and produced by Jack Ashford), issued 2017 as a UK 7" single on Kent ST 33, B-side. The A-side is Lorraine Chandler "Ease My Mind" and is part of the Kent Anniversary Special Series of UK 45s)

7. Why You Wanna Treat Me The Way You Do – THE HYPERIONS (March 1965 USA 7" single on Chattahoochee CH 669, A-side)

8. Sunshine Love – DIFOSCO (1971 USA 7" single on Earthquake EQ-2, A-side – Difosco is Dee Ervin aka Big Dee Irwin)

9. I Wanted To Tell You – LITTLE NICKY SOUL (August 1964 USA 7" single on Shee Records SR-101, A-side – co-written and produced by Sidney Barnes of The Rotary Connection)

10. Young Boy Blues – DANIEL A. STONE (Originally Unissued 1965 recording from "Phil Spector's III", a 2007 UK CD Compilation on Ace CDCHD 1149)

11. No Mad Woman – JOCK MITCHELL with THE FABULOUS AGENT'S (1968 USA 7" single on Golden Hit Productions 103, A-side)

12. Sad Tomorrows – NOONEY RICKETT (Previously Unissued 1965 recording – Produced by Jack Nitzsche – the Jack Greenwich and Jerry Marcellino song was originally a 1964 hit for Trini Lopez on Reprise Records)

13. Wait A Minute (You're Getting Careless With My Heart) – THE KITTENS (1963 USA 7" single on Vick 300, B-side to "Somebody New")

14. One In A Million – MAXINE BROWN (Previously Unissued Take of US 45-Single Wand WND 1117 - original was an April 1967 A-side)

15. Naughty Boy – JACKIE DAY (1965 USA 7" single on Phelectron PH-382, B-side of "I Want Your Love")

16. The Winds Kept Laughing – BETTY TURNER and THE CHEVELLES (1964 USA 7" single on Crescent 637, A-side)

17. Lost In The City – THE VOWS (December 1964 USA 7" single on Big 3 Records 400, A-side)

18. Poor – Unfortunate – Me (I Ain't Got Nobody) – J.J. BARNES (November 1964 USA 7" single on Ring Records RING 101, A-side)

19. Cry In The Arms Of Another Love – ANDRE SCOTT with JESSIE, OTIS & SHOTGUN (1968 USA 7" single on Sunflower 101, B-side to "One Girl")

20. Love Live The King – THE DETROIT EMERALDS (from the 1971 US LP "Do Me Right"  on Westbound WB 2006, Janus 6310 204 in the UK)

21. Love Hangover – JEAN CARTER (1968 USA 7" single on Sunflower 102, B-side to "I Bet You")

22. (Marriage Is Only) A State Of Mind – O.C. TOLBERT (Originally Unissued 1972 recording, finally issued 30 June 2017 in the USA on Remined RMND-102)

23. Dream Girl – LON-GENES (1964 USA 7" single on Romark 108, A-side)

24. Little Boy – CARLA THOMAS (Originally Unissued 1961 recording first released 1991 on the UK Carla Thomas CD compilation "Hidden Gems" on Ace Records/Stax CDCHD 039)

NOTES:
Tracks 3, 12, 14 and 23 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (2017)
All tracks in MONO except track 6 which is STEREO

Compiled and Annotated by long-time Soul Nutter ADY CROASDELL – his 20-pages of liner notes are the usual plethora of repro labels (Fantasy, Kent and Chattahoochee on Page 6) with rare publicity photos for Johnnie Taylor, Betty Everett, Carla Thomas and a black and white of The Vows on the back page few will ever have seen. The mighty Sidney Barnes is looking good in a Northern Soul teeshirt on Page 16 with another rarity – a colour snap of O.C. Tolbert on Page 17. NICK ROBBINS has done the remasters/transfers and given that all but one is in homemade Mono – most sound good to great – with the lobe Stereo cut singing. There is joy in these songs and even if they are not audiophile – Robbins has given them the just-enough oomph they need. To the pocket-draining joy unto the rave fantastic…

Volume 6 opens with an unissued by Peggy Woods and I can hear why they chose it, but I am not entirely convinced. Better for me is a very cool run of  Tamala Lewis, The Fidels and old Johnnie Taylor fretting about Friday Night – another Stax cut that I must admit passed me by. The unreleased Fidels song is a great discovery as is the Nooney Rickett cover of a Trini Lopez hit from 1964. 

The Little Nicky Soul seven-inch has ludicrously high market values of over £3000 and Ace have uncovered the story behind the single by Producer and Co-Writer SIDNEY BARNES who would late join Minnie Riperton in The Rotary Connection on Chess’s Cadet Concept Records before she went onto to solo fame in the 70ts on Epic. Barnes tells us that his real name was Nicholas Faircorth, and the name-change was of course to spruce up the showbiz presentation. Not only did Sidney give this young singer a break on Shee Records (he even designed the label) – the session included such luminaries as Bernard Purdie on Drums, Eric Gale on Guitar, Richard Tee on Keyboards with Jean Carter, Himself (Sidney Barnes) and a lady called Gena doing the backing vocals. Although most all these names would have been virtual unknowns at the time (1964) – they later became huge in their own Soul, Funk and Jazz-Fusion way. 

The ultra-desirable US 45 (co-penned with Lucille White of Motown's Jobette Music) apparently got a lot of radio play in New York (maybe not so many sale) and made Nicky a star for a while but then he disappeared. A killer dancer with a great lead vocal and backing vocal wall that dominates as much as the bemoaning lead - it was of course the Northern Soul nuts of the UK that picked up on "I Wanted To Tell You" and Barnes has cited them as the reason for its resurgence and staggering value. What a joy it is to have on here. 

Another staggeringly cost-prohibitive tune (near three and half grand sterling) comes in the shape of the Jackie Day 1966 B-side "Naughty Boy" on the obscure Phelectron Records – an unknown to aficionados until it was spun at an 80ts all-nighter in Stafford. Ace have even managed to uncover a photo of the classy-looking lady stood beside a smiling Big Jay McNeely (Page 11) – winners both. And there is no one who loves Sweet Soul Music can ever get enough of Maxine Brown – Ace having found an alternate and unissued take on "One In A Million" – a Northern Soul scene standard floorfiller for over 40-years – wow – how very cool! The San Diego based Crescent Records is another absolute unknown where the brass on the dancer "The Winds Kept Laughing" (Crescent 637) was supplied by a local school band sometime in 1964. And again, The Vows from Chicago on Big 3 Records score a ballad belter with "Lost In The City" – the kind of scorched-earth soul that sends fans into a froth at the gills (a steal at just under six-hundred and fifty quid to us mere digital mortals).

With a Detroit ensemble J.J. Barnes cut his hugely enjoyable "Poor – Unfortunate – Me (I Ain't Got Nobody)" in Chicago with a Marvin Gaye Motown sound in mind (there is a picture of this Soul Hero on Page 13 showing him on stage in a 1975 London visit). Once again Chess Records genius Sidney Barnes helped a teenage street vocal group Jessie, Otis & Shotgun by bringing in a young singer called Andre Scott and whipping their "Cry In The Arms Of Another Love" into a slice of Temptations-like commerciality. Tall tales surrounded Roosevelt Anderson (the Shotgun in the original trio) because his nickname came from the fact that he carried such a weapon with him to school – sawn-off and hidden under his jacket (nice) – no wonder he had such a high voice and low tolerance. And on it goes…

I didn't love everything on Volume 5 of this "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities …" Series – but here in Volume 6 - the goodies are more abundant and outweigh the unissued-for-a-reason disappointments (of which there are thankfully very few).

Another must-own-or-I-die comp from Ace's Kent Dance and Volume 7 (although I have not heard it yet) that followed in 2021 is apparently just as boss. 

Would we expect anything else from this giant of a reissue label…

Ace's "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" Series (up to July 2024)

27 August 2001 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 192 (Barcode 029667219228)

30 May 2005 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 2" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 248 (Barcode 029667224826)

26 May 2008 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 3" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667229524)

28 June 2010 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 4" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667233828)

30 March 2015 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 432 (Barcode 029667243223)

24 November 2017 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 471 (Barcode 029667085922)

26 February 2021 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 7" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 498 (Barcode 029667101721)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" – Featuring 1965 to 1975 US 45-Singles and Previously Unreleased Material (March 2015 UK Ace/Kent Dance CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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70ts Soul, R 'n' B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
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"...Sending Vibrations..."

It never ceases to amaze me just how deep and rich the vein is that runs through American Soul Music. Last day of March 2015 - a good 50 years after the event - and still the Dancer/Shuffler goodies keep coming at us.

"Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" from Ace/Kent Dance (Kent Soul and Kent Dance are label imprints Ace Records of the UK employs) does pretty much what it says on the tin – you get eighteen uber-rare/desirable homemade American 45s (worth a fortune and impossible to attain on actual vinyl) complimented by one 2014 CD find and a further six previously unreleased cuts for this 2015 release. And frankly Frank – Northern Soul fans are gonna love it hook, line and sinker. Here are the low-down production details that produced big bucks collectables...

UK released 30 March 2015 – "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 432 (Barcode 029667243223) pans out as follows (65:06 minutes):

1. When The Boy That You Love (Is Loving You) – THE AVONS (A Bob Holmes Recording – Previously Unreleased)

2. Hang Around – MARVA HOLIDAY (1968 USA 7" single on GNP Crescendo GNP-411, A)

3. That Same Old Feeling – THE VOLUMES (1966 USA 7" single on Impact 1017, A)

4. Just Beginning To Love You – THE STEELERS (1967 USA 7" single on Crash 430, A)

5. I Can't Get Hold Of Myself – CLIFFORD CURRY (1968 USA 7" single on Elf 90013, A)

6. Losing Control – MARY SAXTON (1965 CANADA 7" single on Pace 8-18-1166, A)

7. They Didn't Know – TERRI GOODNIGHT (1966 USA 7" single on Phelectron PH-701, B-side of "The Fighting Is Over")

8. It's All In The Way (You Look At It Baby) – MOUSIE & THE TRAPS (1966 USA 7" single on Toddlin Town 8204, A)

9. It's Alright To Cry Sometime – J.J. BARNES (1964 Ring Recording – Previously Unreleased)

10. Lover Man – THE SOUL BROTHERS (1967 USA 7" single on Sho-Biz 402, A)

11. How I Got Over – DARONDO PULLIAM (1972 USA 7" single on Ocampo 001, A)

12. Hook, Line And Sinker – ROY WRIGHT (1966 USA 7" singles (first) on Vick 210, (then on) Mica 2016, A)

13. Just Another Smile – MEL DAVIS (1969 USA 7" single on Golden State GSR 4-69, A)

14. I'm Sending Vibrations – THE WEBB PEOPLE (Extended Version of USA 7" single TCB Records 1446 – A Rob Keyloch Mix – Previously Unreleased)

15. Butterfly aka I Wish I Knew – THE BALLADS (1975 USA 7" single on Music City 897, A)

16. It Ain't No Achievement – THE MILLIONAIRES (1971 USA 7" single on Specialty 719, A)

17. Two Loves Have I – BIG JOE TURNER (1970 USA 7" single on Blues Time 45001, A)

18. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong – RAY & DAVE (1966 USA 7" single on Mica 501, A)

19. Pins And Needles – EDDY GILES (an originally unissued Murco recording first aired in 2014 on the EDDY GILES CD compilation "Southern Soul Brother: The Murco Recordings 1967-1969")

20. I'm The Reason – CLEO JACKSON, HUCK & THE SOUL PATROL (1969 USA 7" single on Mar-Kee 711, A – mistakenly credited in the booklet and on the inlay as Mar-Kee 717)

21. If You Don't Know, You Just Don't Know - THE DIALTONES (1967 USA 7" single on Dial 4054, A)

22. Do The Popcorn – LITTLE JOHNNY HAMILTON (1969 USA 7" single Soul Shack 531, A)

23. Break Someone Else's Heart – JEANETTE JONES (a Golden State Recorders recording – Previously Unreleased)

24. This Man Wants You – JESSE COWAN (Golden State Recorders recording – Previously Unreleased)
NOTES:
Tracks 1, 9, 14, 23 and 24 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (2015)
Track 19 is a 60ts Murco Recording first released 2014 on an Ace CD
All tracks in MONO except 1, 12, 14, 15, 17, 23 and 24 which are STEREO

Compiled and Annotated by long-time Soul Nutter ADY CROASDELL – his 16-pages of liner notes are the usual plethora of repro labels (and a Jeanette Jones Acetate) with rare publicity photos for Mel Davis, Darondo Pulliam and J.J. Barnes snapped in full flow at the 100 Club in London. Marva Holliday gets three photos in the booklet, front cover top left, Page 4 and a full colour plate on the rear – not surprising given her great homemade voice and Tammi Terrell-gorgeous looks. NICK ROBBINS has done the remasters/transfers and given that much of the material sounds decidedly lo-fi and is in Mono – most sound good to great – with the Stereo cuts being particularly great.

It opens with a 1-2-3 count in and we're off into Girl Group territory with Motown affectations. Marva Holliday lays into a Sherlie Matthews song called "Hang Around" on GNP Crescendo GNP-411 and gives fabulous insights into its creation (her inexperienced and young vocal only lend it more charm). Record labels like Phelectron, Toddlin Town and Ocampo aren't exactly rolling off the tongue or household names even in knowledgeable Soul circles. 

Mary Saxton comes on like Tina Turner's younger sister "Losing Control" over her man (great dancer and apparently only available in Canada). The 2nd release on the Phelectron Records label by Terri Goodnight ("They Didn't Know") went for nearly $3000 on Auction in 2010.

Croasdell rightly praises the vocals and arrangements on the Millionaires cut "It Ain't No Achievement" – a rare Soul outing for Specialty Records. How weird is it to hear Atlantic's Big Joe Turner take the Ted Murrell oldie "Two Loves Have I" (covered by crooners like Nat King Cole) and turn it into a successful upbeat brassy Soul dancer! Another that I like is "Pins And Needles" by Eddy Giles – a nice groove and a great voice. I've reviewed Ace's CD on Eddy Giles elsewhere - another belter. And on it goes to an Unreleased Jeanette Jones recording (ninth issued on Kent).

I can't honestly say everything on "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" is my absolute travel-bag – but the goodies outweigh the negs by a mile. Another winner from Ace's Kent-Dance and Volume 6 that followed in 2017 is just as good…

Ace Records and Kent Dance's 

"Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" Series 

(All Releases up to March 2024)

27 August 2001 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 192 (Barcode 029667219228)

30 May 2005 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 2" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 248 (Barcode 029667224826)

26 May 2008 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 3" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667229524)

28 June 2010 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 4" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667233828)

30 March 2015 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 432 (Barcode 029667243223)

24 November 2017 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 471 (Barcode 029667085922)

26 February 2021 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 7" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 498 (Barcode 029667101721)

"Now Yearbook '79" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Eighty-Five Single and Album Tracks by Queen, The Police, The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie, ABBA, Gerry Rafferty, Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, Gary Moore & Phil Lynott, The Knack, Chic, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Gaynor, ELO, Pretenders, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, The Clash, The Skids, Kool & The Gang, Dynasty, The Sugarhill Gang, Tubeway Army, The Crusaders, Donna Summer, BA Robertson, Sex Pistols, XTC, The Cure, The B-52s, The Jam, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Wings, The Real Thing, Sad Café, Flying Lizards, M and more (September 2022 UK Sony Music/EMI 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Varying Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOW-Yearbook-1979-Various-Artists/dp/B0B95VQL7B?crid=ZMWRWOJPX8AO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w8fdKCroFJxfJgyrKjd6kg.DFaVdMoCVfoT7o2SAXmL3W6GJSsNNP5rbVA7RjU-sHs&dib_tag=se&keywords=196587150228&qid=1709225423&sprefix=196587150228%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=ebb24328a3fe77a990405c0f6a12ef70&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

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RATING: Content *** to ***** / Audio **** to *****

 

"…One Step Beyond…"

I found the 4CD Now Yearbook compilation for 1978 to be something of a disappointment. What a difference a year makes because 1979 is so much better even if (like 1978) – Discs 3 and 4 contain some serious dogs. 

Most (not all) of these 4CD sets are later accompanied by a further Yearbook Extra release of 3CDs - bringing the year haul to well over 130 songs. And for 1979 and its 4CD Yearbook big-daddy you get a damn cool haul - Eighty-Five Single and Album Tracks by the likes of Queen, The Police, The Boomtown Rats, Kate Bush, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie, ABBA, Gerry Rafferty, Madness, The Specials, The Selecter, Gary Moore & Phil Lynott, The Knack, Chic, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Gaynor, ELO, Pretenders, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, The Clash, The Skids, Kool & The Gang, Lene Lovich, The Sugarhill Gang, Tubeway Army, The Crusaders, Donna Summer, BA Robertson, Sex Pistols, XTC, The Cure, The B-52s, The Jam, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Wings, The Real Thing, Sad Café, The Tourists, Flying Lizards, M, Billy Joel and many more. It is a diverse list and even if you have Boney M and The Buggles on CD4 (abominations ahoy) – there is more good than bad. 

The fold-out four-panel card sleeve is barely functional as packaging – giving some info but not a lot else. Upsides – because these sets are Sony Music/EMI – the audio is uniformly top notch (most are in fact highlighted as Remasters from the 2000s onwards in the small print inside). And now that 2022 is receding into two years ago in 2024 – this set is normally reduced to six or seven quid including P&P - which frankly represents serious value for money. You may not be getting anything packaging-wise, but at least 40 to 50% of the choices will please and the audio is crackerlackin'. Here be the details for the have-a-good-time seventy-nine…

UK released 9 September 2022 - "Now Yearbook '79" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBNOW79 / 0196587150228 (Barcode 196587150228) is a 4CD Compilation in a Four-Panel Foldout Card Sleeve with Eighty-Five Single Edits, Album Versions and Various Remasters that play out as follows:

CD1 (79:17 minutes):
1. Don't Stop Me Now (2011 Remaster) – QUEEN
2. Walking On The Moon – THE POLICE
3. I Don't Like Mondays (Album Version) – THE BOOMTOWN RATS
4. Wow – KATE BUSH
5. Hit Me With A Rhythm Stick – IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS
6. Heart Of Glass (Original Single Version) – BLONDIE
7. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) – ABBA
8. Good Times (7" Edit, 2018 Remaster) – CHIC
9. We Are Family (Single Version) – SISTER SLEDGE
10. September – EARTH WIND & FIRE
11. I Will Survive (Single Version) – GLORIA GAYNOR
12. YMCA – VILLAGE PEOPLE
13. Hot Stuff (Single Version) – DONNA SUMMER
14. Beat The Clock – SPARKS
15. Cars – GARY NUMAN
16. Money (Edit) – THE FLYING LIZARDS
17. Stob Your Sobbing – PRETENDERS
18. Girls Talk – DAVE EDMUNDS
19. Night Owl (Edit) – GERRY RAFFERTY
20. My Life – BILLY JOEL
21. Dance Away (Single Version, 2012 Remaster) – ROXY MUSIC

CD2 (76:28 minutes): 
1. One Step Beyond (7" Single Version) – MADNESS
2. On My Radio – THE SELECTER
3. Gangsters – THE SPECIALS
4. Silly Games – JANET KAY
5. Parisienne Walkways – GARY MOORE & PHIL LYNOTT
6. Bat Out Of Hell (Single Edit, 4:44 minutes) - MEATLOAF
7. Don't Bring Me Down – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
8. Since You Been Gone – RAINBOW
9.  The Devil Went Down To Georgia – THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND
10. My Sharona – THE KNACK
11. I Only Want To Be With You – THE TOURISTS
12. Cool For Cats (Single Edit) – SQUEEZE
13. Into The Valley - SKIDS
14. Something Else (2012 Remaster) – SEX PISTOLS
15. I Fought The Law – THE CLASH
16. The Eton Rifles (Single Edit) – THE JAM
17. Accidents Will Happen (2020 Remaster) – ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS
18. Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
19. Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Album Version) – JOE JACKSON
20. Boys Don't Cry – THE CURE
21. The Staircase (Mystery) – SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES
22. Lucky Number – LENE LOVICH
23. Rock Lobster – THE B-52's

CD3 (77:52 minutes): 
1. Chiquitata – ABBA 
2. Bright Eyes – ART GARFUNKLE
3. Song For Guy (Single Edit, 2017 Remaster) – ELTON JOHN
4. Every Day Hurts – SAD CAFE
5. One Way Ticket - ERUPTION
6. Knock On Wood (7" Edit) – AMII STEWART
7. I Want Your Love (7" Edit, 2018 Remaster) - CHIC
8. He's The Greatest Dancer (Edit Version) – SISTER SLEDGE
9. Bad Girls – DONNA SUMMER
10. Street Life (Edit) – THE CRUSADERS
11. Boogie Wonderland – EARTH WIND & FIRE with THE EMOTIONS
12. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (Single Version) – McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD
13. Ladies Night (Edit) – KOOL & THE GANG
14. Can You Feel The Force – THE REAL THING
15. Contact (UK 7" Single Version) – EDWIN STARR
16. I Was Made For Dancin' – LEE GARRETT
17. Wanted – THE DOOLEYS
18. Strutt Your Funky Stuff (Single Version) – FRANTIQUE
19. I Don't Want To Be A Freak (But I Can't Help Myself) (Radio Version) – DYNASTY
20. Rapper's Delight – THE SUGARHILL GANG

CD4 (78:23 minutes): 
1. We Don't Talk Anymore – CLIFF RICHARD
2. Forever In Blue Jeans (Single Version) – NEIL DIAMOND
3. Goodnight Tonight (2016 Remaster, 4:20 minutes) – WINGS (Paul McCartney)
4. Shine A Little Love – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
5. A Little More Love – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN
6. Dreaming – BLONDIE
7. She's In Love With You (2017 Remaster) – SUZI QUATRO
8. When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman – DR. HOOK
9. If I Had You – THE KORGIS
10. Love's Gotta Hold On Me - DOLLAR
11. Hallelujah – MILK & HONEY
12. Woman In Love – THE THREE DEGREES
13. Reunited (Single Version) – PEACHES & HERB
14. Still (Single Version) - COMMODORES
15. Lay Your Love On Me – RACEY
16. Bang Bang – B.A. ROBERTSON
17. In The Navy – VILLAGE PEOPLE
18. Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday (7" Version) – BONEY M.
19. Pop Muzik - M
20. Are 'Friends' Electric – TUBEWAY ARMY
21. Video Killed The Radio Star (Single Version) – THE BUGGLES

The basic edition has a four-panel foldout card sleeve with each CD in a printed-info pouch on the inside (see photos). There is a Limited Edition Hardback DigiBook version that has 28-pages of liner notes on all the songs – Sony Music/EMI CDYBXNOW79 (Barcode 196587150327) – and even a truncated 3LP VINYL variant on Sony Music/EMI LPYBNOW79 (Barcode  0196587150419) in ORANGE VINYL – both also released 9 September 2022.

The fun of these sets is the rediscoveries – the strangely contagious Pop-Funk of McCartney giving it some "Goodnight Tonight" – the last great hurrah from his band Wings – the infectious dancefloor groove of "Rapper's Delight" from The Sugarhill Gang and the irresistible sexiness of Debbie Harry doing some restaurant "Dreaming" (if ever there was hit machine surely it was Blondie). The neck-jerker XTC getting all University knowing with their fab "Making Plans For Nigel" while American Frat Boys The Knack get it up for the kick-ass Power Pop of "My Sharona". And across CDs 1 and 2 especially comes the shadow of 2-Tone, Go Feet, Chrysalis and Stiff – stunning singles like "Gangsters" from The Specials, the heavy-heavy monster sound of Madness wanting to go "One Step Beyond" with a Saxophone and a Porkpie Hat. 

Not to be outdone the Funk and Soul machines that were Chic, Earth Wind & Fire and Sister Sledge still thrill the old bottom-wiggler in me and Popsters like Roxy Music and Queen show how to write a hit single - while British New Wave acts like The Cure, Siouxsie and The Banshees and Joe Jackson still sound so young to me. And then of course is The Clash absolutely smashing it their cover of The Bobby Fuller Four 60ts song "I Fought The Law" followed rather cleverly by The Jam getting angry on "Eton Rifles" (what great bands they were). But you also forget The Skids doing "Into The Valley" while The Pistols took on Eddie Cochran rebel yells in "Something Else". And you gotta love quirky – Lene Lovich, Sparks and The B52's. 

CD3 is overtly Soul, Funk and Disco with dancefloor faves like "Can You Feel The Force" and Donna getting down with the "Bad Girls". Earth Wind & Fire on Columbia Records and McFadden & White on Philadelphia International still impress too. But as you move over to the last disc, you will undoubtedly want to give a wide berth to the truly garish Dr. Hook song "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" while The Korgis tune is so deliberately saccharine it might well drip sugar. Disco schlock like The Three Degrees is not a whole lot better, but I dig the "Pop Musik" of M and it will be a hard heart indeed that resists old Lionel giving it some "Still" when he was fronting the Commodores. Fun Wham-like Pop comes in the form of Racey doing "Lay Your Love On Me" followed by the smarmy yet clever Houdini lyrics of BA Robertson doing "Bang Bang". Heavy synth still gives Gary Numan and his Electric Friends a huge wallop - but the rest of CD4 is second rate Pop Soul like Village People and Boney M – awful. 

Better than 1978 - the 4CD compilation "Now Yearbook '79" offers the same deal - a whole lotta hotcha fun-listens and remembrances at a cheap stack-em-high price - but with the caveat that you taper those expectations once you get in deep...

"The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Lonnie Donegan, Davy Graham, Alexis Korner, The Watersons, The Dubliners, The Ian Campbell Folk Group, Martin Carthy, The Incredible String Band, The Young Tradition, Dave Swarbrick, Anne Briggs, Sweeney's Men, Pentangle, John Renbourn, Shirley and Dolly Collins, Robin and Barry Dransfield, Lal and Mike Waterson, Richard Thompson, The Bothy Band, Dick Gaughan, Ralph McTell, Nic Jones, Steve Ashley, Dervish, Silly Sisters, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span, Bill Caddick, Roy Harris, Eliza Carthy, Andrew Cronshaw, Mary Black, Kate Rusby and many more (July 2002 UK Topic Records 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering Single and Album Tracks from 1957 to 2000 (Some Unreleased) with a 56-Page Long Booklet With David Suff Liner Notes and Denis Blackham Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acoustic-Folk-Box-Various-Artists/dp/B00005Y49D?crid=1LOO9UUGK4PMK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZvLPb0KfOmngPJ3hIbMy4Q.g9MTjl03G4AwFyv90KG5xWPTGT0jNGp4445tSPSnqDA&dib_tag=se&keywords=714822400121&qid=1709161315&sprefix=714822400121%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=39758208b8e70eb599da1f18a94bf318&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATING: Content **** to ***** Audio *****

"…Let No Man Steal Your Thyme…"

When I worked the counters at Reckless Records (a busy Soho used record store) – this 2002 Box Set from Topic Records had an alarming track record for turning up in the I-want-to-sell-these-for-cold-hard-mullah piles. "Acoustic Folk Box" never did go for money, but those willing to audition a listen and not turn it down outright because it says the word Folk on it found a lesser-heard history of fabulous songs sounding all spiv-a-rooney and lovely-jubbly twain.

Although it calls itself an Acoustic Folk set, the genres are disparate and you will be rubbing shoulders with Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties to Twenties Folk, Folk-Rock, Protest Songs, Polkas, Mouth Music, Traditional Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh History Songs, Jigs, Reels and Chamber Music to name but a few. These are lusty don't-spare-the-blush tale-songs of ye old English squires, galliards, dirges, crafty Welsh maidens, comely Scottish wenches, impoverished Irish workers, emigration countering starvation, Geordie in trouble with the hangman, drunken sailors, tramps and hawkers chancing their arm, even more inebriated lads eyeing the lassies (shawls and cradles) and finally arriving at eligible but young and naïve townsfolk duped by the Blue Coats wielding the King's schilling. There are Acapella moments, regional voices, pipes and fiddles and banjos and gut-string guitars a-plucking and a-swirling. 

What sets Acoustic Folk Box apart is not just the range of material but the gorgeous DENIS BLACKHAM Remasters done at Skye Studios. The audio on the acoustic instrumental "3 / 4 AD" for instance is just fabulous – a hugely important song that introduced tunings that influenced Rock Giants later – least not of all Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin. There is a 1967 Incredible String Band recording of "First Girl I Loved" – a story song with almost-skin-cringing truth in it that did not see the light of day until 1997 on a rare comp ("The Chelsea Sessions"). So pretty - and ISB looser and full of song – I love it. There are lots like that. Let's get to the fairs she of the flaxen hair and dancing eyes moved through…

UK released 30 July 2002 - "The Acoustic Folk Box" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Topic TSFCD4001 (Barcode 714822400121) is a 4CD 85-Track Long Box Set covering 1957 to 2000 with a 56-Page Booklet and Denis Blackham Remasters. It plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:41 minutes):
1. Jack O' Diamonds – LONNIE DONEGAN And His Skiffle Group (December 1957 UK 45-Single on Pye Nixa 7N 15116, A-side)
2. 3 / 4 AD – DAVY GRAHAM and ALEXIS KORNER (1962 UK 3-Track Extended Play EP "3 / 4 AD" on Topic TOP 70)
3. MacPherson's Rant – THE GALLIARDS featuring Jimmy Hall and Jammie MacGregor (1960 UK 4-Track Extended Play EP "The Galliards" on Beltona SEP 90 in Mono)
4. Twa Corbies – RAY and ARCHIE FISHER (1961 UK Extended Play EP "Far Over The Forth" on Topic TOP 67)
5. Tramps And Hawkers – BOB DAVENPORT Accompanied by The Rakes (1962 UK Extended Play EP "Wor Geordie" on Topic TOP 83)
6. The Rocky Road To Dublin – THE DUBLINERS (1964 UK Debut LP "The Dubliners" on Transatlantic TRA 116)
7. Song Of The Iron Road – EWAN MacCOLL and Peggy Seeger (1964 UK LP "Steam Whistle Ballads" on Topic Records 12T 104)
8. She Moved Thro' The Fair – ANNE BRIGGS (December 1963 UK Various Artists LP "Edinburgh Folk Festival Volume 1" on Decca LK 4546 in Mono)
9. They Times They Are A-Changin' – THE IAN CAMPBELL GROUP (March 1965 UK 45-Single on Transatlantic TRA SP 5, A-side)
10. Across The Hills – THE THREE CITY FOUR (1965 UK LP "The Three City Four" on Decca LK 4705 in Mono)
11. Joy Of My Heart – THE FISHER FAMILY (1965 UK LP "Traditional & New Songs From Scotland" on Topic Records 12T 137)
12. Angi – BERT JANSCH (April 1965 UK LP "Bert Jansch" on Transatlantic TRA 125)
13. Reynardine – SHIRLEY COLLINS and DAVY GRAHAM (February 1965 UK LP "Folk Roots, New Routes" on Decca LK 4652 in Mono)
14. Geordie – JULIE FELIX (September 1966 UK LP "Changes" on Fontana STL 5368 in Stereo)
15. Dido Bendigo – THE WATERSONS (1966 UK LP "The Watersons" on Topic Records 12T142)
16. The Two Magicians – A. L. LLOYD – Albert Lancaster Lloyd (1966 UK LP "The Bird In The Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs)" on Topic Records 12T135)
17. The Moving On Song – THE EXILES (1966 UK LP on "Freedom, Come All Ye" on Topic Records 12T143)
18. Sovay – MARTIN CARTHY (November 1965 UK LP "Martin Carthy" on Fontana STL 5269 in Stereo)
19. First Girl I Loved – THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (1967 Recording First issued 1997 UK in the CD compilation "The Chelsea Sessions 1967" on Pig's Whisker Music PWMD5003)
20. Lyke Wake Dirge – THE YOUNG TRADITION (1966 UK LP "The Young Tradition" on Transatlantic TRA 142)
21. Transfusion – JOHN RENBOURN (June 1968 UK LP "Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng & Ye Grene Knyghte" on Transatlantic TRA 167)
22. You Never Wanted Me – SANDY DENNY (1967 UK LP "Sandy Denny" on Saga EROS 8153)
23. The Cuckoo's Nest – DAVE SWARBRICK (1967 UK LP "Rags Reels And Airs" on Bounty BY 6050)
24. The House Carpenter - SWEENEY'S MEN (1968 UK LP "Sweeney's Men" on Transatlantic TRA 170)
25. Spiral Staircase – RALPH McTELL (January 1969 UK LP "Spiral Staircase" on Transatlantic TRA 177)

CD2 (68:35 minutes):
1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme – PENTANGLE (May 1968 UK Debut LP "The Pentangle" on Transatlantic TRA 162)
2. Bonnie Boy – SHIRLEY COLLINS (January 1968 UK LP "The Power Of The True Love Knot" on Polydor 583 025 in Stereo)
3. The Rout Of The Blues – BARRY and ROBIN DRANSFIELD (1970 UK LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer LER 2011)
4. Bright Phoebus – LAL and MIKE WATERSON (September 1972 UK LP "Bright Phoebus" on Trailer LES 2076)
5. Sorry The Day I Was Married – TIM HART and MADDY PRIOR (1971 UK LP "Summer Solstice" on B&C Records CAS 1035)
6. Scan's Polka – OAK (1971 UK LP "Welcome To The Fair" on Topic Records 12TS212)
7. Rattlin' Roarin' Willie / The Friar's Britches – DICK GAUGHAN (1972 UK LP "No More Forever" on Trailer LER 2072)
8. The Crafty Maid's Policy – FRANKIE ARMSTRONG (1972 UK LP "Lovely On The Water" on Topic Records 12TS216)
9. Billy Don't You Weep For Me – NIC JONES (1974, Recorded Live, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. The Rose Of Britain's Isle / Glorishears – JOHN KIRKPATRICK and SUE HARRIS (1974 UK LP "The Rose Of Britain's Isle" on Topic Records 12TS 247)
11. Hard Times Of Old England – THE ETCHINGHAM STEAM BAND (Recorded 1975, First UK Issued 1995 on CD on Fledg'ling Records FLED 3002)
12. The Kesh Jig / Give Us A Drink Of Water / The Flower Of The Flock /Famous Ballymore – THE BOTHY BAND (March 1976 UK Debut LP "The Bothy Band" on Polydor 2383 379, Mulligan Records in Ireland)
13. The Ant & The Grasshopper – LEON ROSSELSON and ROY BAILEY (1975 UK LP "That's Not The Way It's Gotta Be" on Acorn Records CF 251)
14. The Methody Parson – ROY HARRIS (1975 UK LP "Champions Of Folly" on Topic Records 12TS256)
15. John O' Dreams – BILL CADDICK (1976 UK LP "Rough Music" on Park Records SHP 102)
16. The Rose Of Allandale – BANDOGGS (1978 UK LP "Bandoggs" on Leader Records LTRA 504)
17. The Shepherd Of The Downs – PETER BELLAMY (1979 UK LP "Both Sides Then" on Topic Records 12TS 400)
18. Brighton Camp / The March Past – JOHN KIRKPATRICK & CHUMS (1976 UK LP "Plain Capers" on Free Reed FRR 10)
19. Harper's Frolick / Bonny Kate – NEW VICTORY BAND (1978 UK LP "One More Dance And Then" on Topic Records 12TS 382)
20. Once In A While – STEVE ASHLEY (Recorded 1979, 1982 UK LP "The Family Album" on Woodworm WR 002)

CD3 (69:38 minutes):
1. Miss Drummond Of Perth / Fiddler's Joy / Traditional Reel / The Shetland Fiddler – BATTLEFIELD BAND (1979 UK LP "Stand Easy" on Topic Records 12TS 404)
2. Farewell Welfare – RORY McLEOD – (1980 UK LP "Angry Love" on Forward Sounds LP 004)
3. Erin-Go-Bragh – DICK GAUGHAN (1981 UK LP "Handful Of Earth" on Topic Records 12TS 419)
4. Rockin' In Rhythm – RICHARD THOMPSON (1981 UK LP "Strict Tempo" on Elixir Records LP 1)
5. Stephan Baldwin's Schottisches Nos.1 & 2 / The kennet Jig – OLD SWAN BAND (1981 UK LP "Gamesters, Pickpockets And Harlots" on Dingles DIN 322)
6. In Trim / Mount Hooley / Lemington Bank – ALISTAIR ANDERSON (1982 UK LP "Steel Skies" on Topic Records 12TS 427)
7. Lay This Body Down – JUNE TABOR (1983 UK LP "Abyssinians" on Topic Records 12TS 432)
8. The First Cut Is The Deepest – MARTIN SIMPSON (1983 UK LP "Grinning in Your Face" on Topic Records 12TS 430)
9. Handsome, Johnny – THE ENGLISH COUNTRY BLUES BAND (1982 UK LP "No Rules" on Dingles DIN 223)
10. If – VIN GARBUTT (1983 UK LP "Little Innocents" on Topic Records 12TS 428)
11. The Maid & The Palmer – BRASS MONKEY (1983 UK LP "Brass Monkey" on Topic Records 12TS 431)
12. Shave The Monkey / Boys Of The Mill – BLOWZABELLA (1984 UK LP "Bobbityshooty" on Plant Life PLR 064)
13. A B Hornpipe / Mrs. Bolowski's – KATHRYN TICKELL (1988 UK LP "Great Moments Of Vinyl History" on Special Delivery SPM 1009)
14. Another Train – PETER MORTON (1988 UK LP "One Big Joke" on Harbourtown HAR 004)
15. Coal Not Dole – SWAN ARCADE (1990 UK Various Artists CD Charity Compilation "Circle Dance" on Hokey Pokey ConeD)
16. Blood & Gold / Mohacs – SILLY SISTERS (1988 UK LP "No More To The Dance")
17. Patrick Street / The Carraroe Jig – PATRICK STREET (1988 UK CD "Patrick Street" on Green Linnet GLCD 1071)
18. Wasps In The Woodpile – ANDREW CRONSHAW (1988 UK LP "Til The Beasts Returning" on Topic Records 12TS 447)
19. A Bhean Udai Thall – ALTAN (1989 UK CD "A Horse With A Heart" on Green Linnet GLCD 1095)
20. Fraoch A Ronaigh – MOUTH MUSIC (1990 UK CD "Mouth Music" on Triple Earth TRECD 109)

CD4 (78:51 minutes):
1. The Grey Funnel Line – EMMYLOU HARRIS, DOLORES KEANE and MARY BLACK (1991 UK 3LP/2CD Set "Bringing It All Back Home (Music From The BBC TV Series" on BBC Records CD 844)
2. A Call For The North Country – JEZ LOWE & THE BAD PENNIES (1993 UK CD "Bede Weeps" on Fellside FECD 94)
3. Reconciliation – RON KAVANA (1991 UK CD "Home Fire" on Special delivery SPDCD 1043)
4. Pharaoh – THE HOUSE BAND (1993 UK CD "The World Is A Wonderful Place" on Hokey Pokey 2002.2)
5. Out Come The Freaks – CHRIS WOOD (1992 UK CD "Lisa" on Ruf Records RUFCD 002)
6. Moving The Goalposts – BILLY BRAGG (1991 UK CD "Don't Try This At Home" on Go-Discs 828 279-2)
7. When First I Came To California – WATERSON: CARTHY (1994 UK CD "Waterson: Carthy" on Topic TSCD 475)
8. Beeswing (Live) – RICHARD THOMPSON (1996 UK 2CD Set "Two Letter Words" on Flypaper FLYCD 006)
9. Molly & Johnny – DERVISH (1995 UK CD "Playing With Fire" on Whirling WHRL 002)
10. Venus In Tweeds – SHOGGLENIFTY (1994 UK CD "Venus In Tweeds" on Greentrax CDTRAX 076)
11. The Graf Spey / The Boys Of Balisodare – MARTIN HAYES (1995 UK CD "Under The Moon" on Green Linnet GLCD 155)
12. Jerusalem Revisited – COOPE, BOYES & SIMPSON [Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson] (1996 UK CD "What We Sing" on No Masters NMCD 4)
13. How Can I Leave – LAL WATERSON & OLIVER KNIGHT (1996 UK CD "Once In A Blue Moon" on Topic TSCD 478)
14. A Place Called England – JUNE TABOR (1999 UK CD "A Quiet Eye" on Topic TSCD 510)
15. Reel Du Pendu – NANCY KERR & JAMES FAGAN (1999 UK CD "Steely Water" on Fellside FECD 145)
16. Twankydillo – MADDY PRIOR (1999 UK CD "Ravenchild" on Park PRKCD 49)
17. Llatai – FERNHILL (1998 UK CD "Llatai" on Beautiful Jo BEJOCD 23)
18. The Cobbler's Daughter – KATE RUSBY (1999 UK CD "Sleepless" on Pure PRCD 06)
19. From Where I Lie / Sheepcounting – JOHN TAMS (2000 UK CD "Unity" on Topic TSCD 508)
20. 10,000 Miles – ELIZA CARTHY (1998 UK CD "Red Rice" on Topic TSDCD 2001)

The long 56-page booklet is extremely comprehensive – DAVID SUFF of Fledg'ling Records giving track by track breakdowns – musicians – original issue details – later CD reissues and so forth. There are reproductions of the rare Galliards, Sea Shanties, and Wor Geordie EPs (not growing on trees I can tell you). Alongside those you do get fanzines like Folk Review, Folk News, Pulse, The Living Tradition, Topic Records catalogues from the Sixties and Seventies especially, a ZigZag magazine cover with the luminous Sandy Denny, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs – you get the picture. Inside the text pages there are photos of the new generations carrying on an old tradition (New Victory Band, Eliza Carthy and The Watersons, Kate Rusby) and paragraphs on the likes of Ralph McTell and other genre heroes like Ewan MacColl and Jansch and Renbourn and Richard Thompson. 

But there are weird anomalies in the collages of photos that base the Track List pages to the rear. For instance, Pages 50 and 51 picture the fabulous instrumental "Timedance" 12" Single Planxty did on WEA Ireland in 1981 with an awesome version of "Nancy Spain" on the flipside and a photo of The Chieftains Breakfast Early Tour of 1980 when neither artist is included in the box! And they get a few album titles wrong like Ray & Archie Fisher (Track 4) and The Fisher Family (Track 11) on CD1 and dates like 1964 for the Jansch debut when it was April 1965, the catalogue number for the Dransfield LP "The Rout Of The Blues" on Trailer Records as TER 2026 when it was TER 2011 and release date as 1971 when it was 1970 – all of which I have checked and corrected in the text above.

But my go-to reference here is the AUDIO which has been done with such care and precision by DENIS BLACKHAM of Skye Mastering. I have raved about his transfers before – the first Horslips LP from 1973 and the Mick Greenwood debut album from 1971 that features much of Fotheringay. The old stuff on CD1 especially belies its age and is in tremendous shape – but the Seventies stuff is a thrill for me because that’s where I picked up on Folk big time – both in Ireland and England. Many discovers to discuss – to the tunes…

CD1: The Box Set opens with a string of rare Topic Records EP tracks and the occasional Skiffle single thrown in. On the A-side of the scene-changing 3-track EP "3 / 4 AD" issued in 1962 by Davy Graham and Alexis Korner was "Angi" which Bert Jansch returns to in 1964 for his self-titled debut album – it's a clever inclusion (Track 12) and harks back to the sound Graham got on "3 / 4 AD" (Track 2) that influenced so many guitar players and not just those in the strict realms of Folk and Traditionals. I would admit that it might be hard going for the unsympathetic ear to wade through brae Lasses and twa Corbies as the songs flirt around poverty and drink and emigration and the ruling class always keeping the workers down. But there is no denying the beauty of an Acapella Anne Briggs wrapping her deeply expressive pipes around "She Moves Through The Fair" – a Traditional so emotive it is likely to well up even the hardest of hearts.

The legendary characters and vocalists Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly of The Dubliners rollick through "The Rocky Road To Dublin" – not something I ever liked truth be told (too many drunken sots). Things get sweeter with Peggy Seeger on Guitar accompanying Ewan MacColl on the lovely and lonely "Song of The Iron Road", Producer Bill Leader letting their steeped-in-the-history-of-it-all talents shine. I have never seen the 1964 album "Steam Whistle Ballads" from whence the song comes – rarity ahoy. But everything truly moves up a notch with Bob Dylan – The Ian Campbell Folk Group doing for Bob what the Byrds did in the USA – stamping his generation-appealing lyrics on their cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin'". This is not a tired anthem in 1964 – you can feel that they believe in it and his hopes for a better world let alone America – dream or no. The Three City Four group had two great songwriters – Leon Rosselson (Vocals and Banjo) and Martin Carthy (Guitar) and again is an album I have never seen.

Julie Felix becomes the first Stereo track on CD1 with "Geordie" from her September 1966 "Changes" LP on Fontana – the kind of platter that was common in collections when I was buying back in the day (Martin Carthy on Guitar with a pre Fairports Dave Swarbrick on Fiddle). Things get fruity (when have they ever) when Albert Lancaster Lloyd (A.L. Lloyd to you) brings us "The Two Magicians" – a witty sexpot of a tune. The unheard-of Bandoggs had Nic Jones on Lead Vocals and Guitar while once again the long shadow on Martin Carthy shows up for the Leon Rosselson and Roy Bailey song "The Ant And The Grasshopper" (he plays guitar). And on CD2 goes to New Folk types like Steve Ashley and the kitchen-sink ensemble New Victory Band giving it some Melodeon, Hammer Dulcimer, Tuba, Whistle and Banjo on their cover of a Traditional. 

CD3 and CD4 are my faves and go-to plays: CD3 starts in 1979 but is dominated by the Eighties when both Folk and World Music were undergoing resurgences even before Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon made them hip. Traditional Scottish Pipes care of Duncan MacGillivray give the Battlefield Band track a welcome feel as its glorious sound is soon backed up by fiddles and gentle underlining Dulcimer rhythms (and in glorious audio too). Richard Thompson has a go at Duke Ellington for his brilliant acoustic guitar instrumental cover of "Rockin' In Rhythm", June Tabor gets all graveyard dramatic in her impressive Acapella "Abyssinians" album track "Lay This Body Down", Vin Garbutt does the Rudyard Kipling song "If" in an Acapella Ye Olde Englande hop-trip voice, while Martin Simpson reaches back to the 60ts Pop of Cat Stevens for his instrumental cover of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" – a truly lovely slide version done on steel guitars that I return too again and again (stunning production). Lightening the mood after the virtuoso slide steel playing of Simpson, "Handsome Johnny" is a jolly tune about a lad who has won a maid and her heart if only she could her sailor to settle down and leave the sea alone. 

Genuine jiggery-pokery lyrical brilliance comes from Rory McLeod as he goes through more brilliant observational rhymes than five Bob Dylan albums – his assessment of politicians and governments doing us in – on the money as he rips up the Harmonica too. Dick Gaughan and his fantastic vocals and guitar playing impresses no end on "Erin-Go-Bragh" which roughly translates into Beautiful or Good Ireland (Brian McNeill on Fiddle and Phil Cunningham on Whistle). Button Accordion anchors the pretty-fair-maid jaunt that is "The Maid & The Palmer" – the kind of dancing Folk that is forgotten but shouldn’t be (bourn the man nine children). You gotta love a group that calls their album "Bobbityshooty" and then gives you a cacophony of Hurdy-Gurdy, Bassoon and Melodeon with some mad Pipes thrown in for to make the hangover worse. Proper bellows return with the Northumberland Small Pipes of "A B Hornpipe…" from a clearly enamoured Kathryn Tickell (gorgeous audio). Plaintive acoustic guitar softens things with "Another Train" – Pete Morton trying to cheer up a person who feels their chance is past, but there is always another set of rolling stocks to take you on to somewhere better. 

Both Swan Arcade and The Silly Sisters put in two powerful Acapella performances – the first to do with the Miner Strikes from a seldom-seen Charity CD Compilation while Maddy Prior and June tabor of Silly Sisters are joined by several musicians on the beautifully recorded "Blood & Gold / Mohacs". CD3 romps home – Andy Irvine of Planxty and Paul Brady fame heads up Patrick Street singing about Patrick Street of Newry Town with other Irish Folk legends bringing up the rear – Kevin Burke of The Bothy Band on Fiddle, Arty McGlynn on Guitar and Jackie Daly on Accordion. A mastering error places Patrick Street at Track 17 and Andrew Cronshaw at Track 18 (I have reflected this in the list above). Andrew Cronshaw mixes Lead Guitars and Whistles and Fiddles with Donal Lunny tapping a Bass Bodhran in a song that sounds like Ry Cooder has decided to electrify Irish Traditionals and American Swamp chants (Martin Simpson is the one with the Cooder axe). Altan are cool but they are outdone by a gorgeous Mouth Music song where lead vocalist Talitha Mackenzie gives it some Lisa Gerrard and Gladiator soundtrack via Kate Bush Handsome Cabin Boy channelling with floating soundscapes for the ethereal "Fraoch A Ronaigh" – ending CD3 on a total high.

Opening CD4 is the most beautiful ballad – American Emmylou Harris, Brit Dolores Keane and Irish lady Mary Black floating in three-voice beauty over the Cyril Tawney song "The Grey Funnel Line". Produced by Bothy Band luminary and Irish Folk legend Donal Lunny – it turned up on the 1991 Irish immigration project "Bringing It All Back Home". Irish musician Declan Sinnott plays all instruments but most of it is low hum in the background that produces an almost filmic melancholy. A lonely worker pining for his gal so far away – it benefits from pinprick gorgeous production. Following that is the upbeat Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies and his own World Music song "A Call For The North Country". Another plaintive ballad comes with "Reconciliation" – Ron Kavana sounding not unlike Liam Ó Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers fame – a lovely tune with Terry Woods of The Woods Band on Concertina. 

Living in Egypt Land, The House Band sees Ged Foley and Chris Parkinson harmonize fabulous vocals on "Pharoah" – all working for the big chief in his chair of gold. Woodwork squeaks and "Out Come The Freaks" – Chris Wood strumming his fiddle like it’s a mandolin on a five-minute tale of a Vietnam vet struggling to cope while his girl becomes a stripper (gorgeous audio). Billy Bragg gives us a prettier than usual "Moving The Goalposts". The softness continues but moves back to Traditionals when Norma Waterson takes lead vocals on "When I First Came To California" – Eliza Carthy providing Fiddle while Martin Carthy picks an expert acoustic guitar – such a lovely sound and sentiment – the lyrics aching for love and home (paper from Pennsylvania and ink from Cali-forn-nigh-ay). Fiddle player Angus Grant of the wonderfully named Shogglenifty is obviously channeling his inner Velvet Underground when he changes Venus In Furs into "Venus In Tweeds" – the instrumental shuffling along like a Corrs whig-out - sweet. 

Hogging a stage together, Pete Zorn plays Flute beside Richard Thompson as he does a live Acoustic Guitar rendition of "Beeswing". The tale of a lost young love that got away because of drink and tempers may be live, but it's elevated because of it – the lyrics and story and flute solos crammed with urgency and beauty. A typically brilliant performance by the Fairport Convention mainman – a rare thing indeed as the lyrics go. Dervish are huge in Ireland – Cathy Jordan on Lead Vocals for the Traditional "Molly & Johnny". Backed up by four quality musicians and toppermost Production – there's is very much an updated-Bothy Band feel – stories wrapped around hop-skip tunes. Ian Carr plays guitar on the Kate Rusby tune "The Cobbler's Daughter" while Eliza Carthy brings it all home with a lovely "10,000 Miles" – the Scottish Traditional that Mary Chapin Carpenter did so effectively for the "Fly Away Home" movie.

To sum up - I know that much of the early Sixties material on CD1 will not appeal to many over the age of 30 – too Traditional – too finger-in-ear perhaps. But anyone willing to give this set a chance will find so much more to discover and love. The Folk Tradition and Folk-Rock offshoots have produced incredible talent – male and female – and that's what leaps off the lovely 4CD crapshoot that is "The Acoustic Folk Box". 

Maybe make a date with The Cobbler's Daughter – you might be surprised how well that ancient-to-now shoe will fit…

PS: see also my review of the 7CD Book Set "Three Score & Ten: A Voice To The People – 70 Years Of The Oldest Independent Record Label In Great Britain – Topic Records" from October 2009 – another bountiful and surprising vaults haul…