"Candi Staton" by CANDI STATON – September 1972 US Third Studio Album on Fame Records featuring Southern Soul songs by Clarence Carter, Mac Davis, Barbara Wyrick, George Jackson, Bobby Bloom, Raymond Moore and more with Rick Hall Productions and The Fame Gang of Musicians (March 2024 UK Ace/Kent Soul 'Mini LP' Repro Artwork CD Reissue with New Inner Sleeve Artwork, 12-Page Liner Notes Booklet and Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...I Heard You Been Running Around..."

Friday, 27 October 2023 saw Ace Records of the UK reissue Candi Staton's first two albums for Rick Hall's American label Fame Records - "I'm Just A Prisoner" from April 1970 and "Stand By Your Man" from December 1970 (those British CD reissues are pictured at the bottom of this review).

Now for Friday, 29 March 2024, the UK gets door number three – the self-titled "Candi Staton" LP originally released September 1972 in the USA as her third studio album of Southern Soul on Fame Records FAS-1800 (no UK variant). Also like the first two reissues - "Candi Staton" is available as both a CD and Black Vinyl LP - the LP variant being Ace/Kent Soul HIQLP 130 - Barcode 029667022217 (comes with an inner sleeve that appears to have all the info of the 12-page CD booklet crammed onto both sides).

Also, like the first two 2023 CDs - "Candi Staton" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKENM 519 (Barcode 029667109727) comes in 'Mini LP Repro Artwork' that boasts a New Inner Sleeve, a fully-featured 12-Page Liner Notes Booklet and the whole set has Remasters from Original Tapes. It looks and sounds fantastic with clearly huge leaps having taken place in recording techniques by 1972 - because while "I'm Just A Prisoner" and "Stand By Your Man" from 1970 sounded so damn good – this 1972 beast leaps out of your speakers with a clarity that is frightening – real muscle and power to every single song. A top-quality job done in Audio transfer.

Downsides: at 28:19 minutes total playing time, "Candi Staton" CD could of course have done with some Single Edits and maybe even the unreleased stuff that showed up June 2011 on the fabulous 2CD compilation "Evidence: The Complete Fame Records Masters" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEN2 353 (Barcode 029667235327). But what is here, rocks. Elvis Presley even wrote her a personal note about how much he enjoyed her cover of "In The Ghetto" – a single lifted off of Side 1 before the album was released. To the details…

1. Do It In The Name Of Love [Side 1]

2. Darling You're All That I Need

3. Blackmail

4. In The Ghetto

5. Wanted: Lover

6. The Best Thing You Ever Had [Side 2]

7. Lovin' You, Lovin' Me

8. I'll Drop Everything And Come Running

9. You Don't Love Me No More

10. The Thanks I Get For Loving You

Tracks 1 to 10 are her third studio album "Candi Staton" - released September 1972 on Fame Records FAS-1800 in STEREO (no UK issue). Produced by RICK HALL at Fame Studios in Alabama - it peaked at No. 37 on the US R&B Billboard charts.

As already mentioned, Candi Staton and Ace Records fans have been here before - June 2011 seeing the fabulous 2CD compilation "Evidence: The Complete Fame Records Masters" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEN2 353 (Barcode 029667235327). That twofer CD set gives you all three of her superb Southern Soul American LPs on Rick Hall's Fame Records plus non-LP single-sides and unreleased - all from her stay there between 1969 and 1972. So, if you own that digital anthology from 2011, then you might want to give these 2023 and 2024 single CD reissues a jaundiced wallet eye and a hard pass. But then you clock the cool CD artwork, the new inner sleeve and booklet (pictured above) and capitulation may not be far off because these things are just so damn cute.

I don't know if Ace Records of the UK has given the reissues a 'name' per say - Mini LP Series or something like that. But by way of description, what you have is a Mini LP Oversized Card Sleeve with the CD Remaster from original STEREO tapes, a new Colour Inner Sleeve (pictured) and a 12-page liner-notes booklet complete with photos, trade adverts, label repros, sheet music memorabilia and new interviews with Candi by Soul aficionado IAN SHIRLEY.

The "Candi Staton" album was preceded in the USA by "In The Ghetto" b/w "Sure As Sin" – the Mac Davis-penned A-side issued 20 May 1972 on Fame Records 91000 as the first US 45-single. But any true fan will notice that the CD album 'as is' offers a total-playing-time of just 28:19 minutes, hardly busting a nut in terms of value for money. Worse - "Sure As Sin" is a Non-LP flipside penned by Eddie Hinton and Marlin Greene that could (and should) have been included as a very cool Bonus. The "In The Ghetto" song had of course been issued by Elvis in April 1969 and become a huge late-career hit for him – a message song about social injustice. Two other female artists had also had a go – Dolly Parton and Bobbie Gentry. Candi’s cover managed an 11-week stay and rose to No. 48 on the US Billboard R&B charts. 

A month after the 10-track "Candi Staton" LP hit American record shops, Fame paired two of its better tracks as single number two. October 1972 saw "Lovin' You, Lovin' Me" b/w "You Don't Love Me No More" issued as the second US 45-single on Fame 91005. The Barbara Wyrick-penned A-side and the Clarence Carter/Candi Staton co-write on the flipside reached No. 40 on the US R&B charts and even managed a No.83 placing on the Billboard Top 100 Pop Hits Chart. 

Third and final single from the album was the Bobby Bloom and Neil Goldberg song that opened Side 1 "Do It In The Name Of Love" b/w the Candi Staton original "The Thanks I Get For Loving You". Issued December 1972 on Fame 91009, this funky dancefloor-orientated pairing did best of all reaching No. 17 on the US R&B charts and No.63 on the Billboard Top 100 Pop Hits.

The audio punch of the 'lay it on me' and 'you can make me talk so easy' opener "Do It In The Name Of Love" is fantastic – its slick Bass line like The Staple Singers over on Stax while the brass jabs ape the JBs on Polydor. John Bettis and Kerry Chater penned the sleepless-night pine in "Darling You're All I Need" – Candi moaning about the one sure thing she threw away. Gloria Jones and Pamela Sawyer wrote the jaunty agony of "Blackmail" while guitarist Travis Wammack (part of the Fame crew that played on the album) pointed Candi to "Darling You're All That I Had" – a song he had recorded with Fame too for his own self-titled debut album "Travis Wammack" on Fame Records FAS-1801 which also came out late 1972. Leonard Caston and Lloyd Webber end Side 1 with a call-and-response funky-funky shimmering guitar-groover "Wanted: Lover" – only good men should apply for this job – no experience necessary – but the benefits will of course be worth it.

Side 2 opens with a George Jackson groove - "The Best Thing You Ever Had" – Candi telling her ex that his new squeeze has naught on his ex. Strings and keyboards all clear – the neck-jerking suffering making you want to shimmy to the dancefloor. Gorgeous audio too on the Barbara Wyrick ballad "Lovin' You, Lovin' Me" – Acoustic Guitar and Strings complimenting the gently touch my hand lyrics. A team of four funky dudes coughed up the 'I know you have another baby too' groover "I'll Drop Everything And Come Running" (Larry Chambers, George Jackson, Melvin Leaks and Raymond Moore) – Candi still hankering after Mr. Right whilst settling for Mr. Right Now. The piano and good-woman guitar ballad "You Don't Love Me No More" is a fabulous Southern Soul pleader (his kiss not lasting long enough) with a great brass fade out that will send Northern Soul lovers into an arm-folding trance. She brings the album to a close with a very Clarence Carter sounding (is this) "The Thanks I Get For Loving You" – a fantastic Seventies Soul groove (its keyboard-slinky opening nicked liberally from the Sixties) that will surely show up in a TV Series on Netflix any day now (lyrics from it title this review).

Another cool Kent Soul re-release then (those HIQLPs are gorgeous too) and a timely reminder as to why we love Soul Music so much from that halcyon decade. Rick Hall's label released two more 45s for Staton in 1973 (could have been bonuses) and Candi Staton would leave Fame Soul behind when she demanded that "Young Hearts..." should run free in her mid Seventies Warner Brothers Disco years - thereafter becoming a household name.

But the trio of "I'm Just A Prisoner", "Stand By Your Man" and "Candi Staton" LPs from 1970 and 1972 is where the Southern Soul smarts started. Buy this and the others and bathe yourself in the audio juices (now don't be rude) of some criminally forgotten peaches...

The Other Two Titles In This Ace/Kent Soul Series - See Separate Reviews

"Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS [Bob Stanley and Martin Green Present] – Featuring Lee Hazlewood, Chris Gantry, Jerry Reed, Jeannie C. Riley, Hoyt Axton, Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers, Tony Joe White and more (July 2021 UK Ace Records CD Compilation – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Shavings Of Your Mind..."

Blame it all on "Ode To Billie Joe" – Bobbie Gentry's 1967 Southern Country Rock anthem to infidelity, appetite loss, sawmills and death by Tallahatchie bridges. 

Coming on like a really, really good Lee Hazlewood album that you haven't yet heard – compilers Bob Stanley and Martin Green have pulled out a genuine winner with Ace Records' 2021 compilation "Choctaw Ridge..."

Available as a CD and 2LP Vinyl Album (24-tracks for both, see below for catalogue numbers and barcodes) - there is much to savour on here that even diehard collectors will not have heard. So let's return to the back side of Dallas, Logan courthouses, summer coming early to Strawberry Farm and marooned pregnant girls longing for wayward straw-hatted beaus chasing other unwedded pageant queens with pedal steel guitars down in Dover...

UK released Friday, 30 July 2021 - "Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDCHD 1585 (Barcode 029667102322) is a 24-Track CD and 2LP VINYL compilation (Ace Records XXQLP2 078 – Barcode 029667012911) that plays out as follows (76:51 minutes): 

1. The House Song – LEE HAZLEWOOD (June 1968 US 45-single on Reprise 0699, B-side of "Morning Dew" – also on the 1968 US Stereo LP "Love And Other Crimes" on Reprise RS 6297)

2. If Only She Had Stayed – CHRIS GANTRY (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Retrospection" on Monument SLP 18100)

3. Endless Miles Of Highway - JERRY REED (from the 1972 US LP "Smell The Flowers" on RCA Victor LSP 4660)

4. The Back Side Of Dallas - JEANNIE C. RILEY (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Things Go Better With Love" on Plantation PLP 3)

5. Way Before The Time Of Towns - HOYT AXTON (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "My Griffin Is Gone" on Columbia CS 9766)

6. Strawberry Farms - TOM T. HALL (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Homecoming" on Mercury SR 61247)

7. Down From Dover - DOLLY PARTON (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Fairest Of Them All" on CA Victor LSP 4288)

8. July 12, 1939 - CHARLIE RICH (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Fabulous Charlie Rich" on Epic BN 26516)

9. What Am I Doing In L.A.? - NAT STUCKEY (July 1970 US MONO 45-single on RCA Victor 47-9884, B-side of "Whiskey, Whiskey" – Stereo Version also on the 1970 US LP "Country Fever" on RCA Victor LSP 4389)

10. Mr. Stanton Don't Believe It - ROB GALBRAITH (from the 1970 US Stereo LP "Nashville Dirt" on Columbia CS 1057)

11. Saunders' Ferry Lane - SAMMI SMITH (August 1971 US 45-single on Mega 615-0039, A-side - also from the 1970 US Stereo LP "He's Everywhere" on Mega Records M31-1000 - renamed "Help Me Make It Through The Night" with the same catalogue)

12. Four Shades Of Love - HENSON CARGILL (March 1970 US 45-single on Monument MN45-1198, B-side to "The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I've Ever Heard" - and from the 1970 US Stereo LP "The Uncomplicated Henson Cargill" on Monument SLP 18137)

13. Drivin' My Nails In The Wall - WAYLON JENNINGS & THE KIMBERLYS (from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Country-Folk" on RCA Victor LSP 4180)

14. Ruby, Don't Take My Love To Town - KENNY ROGERS & THE FIRST EDITION (May 1969 US 45-single on Reprise 0829, A-side - also from the 1969 US Stereo LP "'69" on Reprise Records RS 6328)

15. Why Can't I Come Home - ED BRUCE (from the 1968 US Stereo LP "If I Could Just Go Home" on RCA Victor LSP 3948)

16. Mr. Walker, It's All Over - BILLE JO SPEARS (February 1969 US 45-single on Capitol 2436, A-side - also from the 1969 US Stereo LP "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" on Capitol ST 224)

17. Harlan County - JIM FORD (August 1969 US 45-single on Sundown SD-115, A-side - also on the 1969 US Stereo LP "Harlan County" on Sundown JHS 1002)

18. Widow Wimberly - TONY JOE WHITE (from his 1970 3rd US Stereo LP "Tony Joe" on Monument SLP 18142)

19. Belinda (Alternate Take) - BOBBIE GENTRY (recorded in 1970, first issued on the September 2018 UK/Europe 8CD Box Set "The Girl From Chickasaw County (The Complete Capitol Masters)" on Universal/UMC 5383971)

20. Joanne - MICHAEL NESMITH & THE FIRST NATIONAL BAND (from his 1970 US Stereo LP "Magnetic South" on RCA Victor LSP 4371)

21. Mr. Jackson's Got Nothing To Do - JOHN HARTFORD (from his 1969 US Fifth Stereo LP "John Hartford" on RCA Victor LSP 4156)

22. Alone - LEE HAZLEWOOD & SUZI JANE HOKOM (November 1969 Promo-Only MONO US 45-single on LHI Records LHI 19, B-side to "Same Old Songs")

23. Fabulous Body And Smile - SIR ROBERT CHARLES GRIGGS [aka Bobby Charles] (1973 US 45-single on Capitol 3714, A-side - also from his 1973 US Stereo LP "The Legend Of Sir Robert Charles Griggs" on Capitol St-11234)

24. I Feel Like Going Home - CHARLIE RICH (August 1973 US 45-single on Epic 5-11040, B-side of "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World")

NOTES: All Tracks in STEREO except No. 9 and 22 in MONO

The 24-page booklet is a thoroughly satisfying feast of knowledge and affection from compiler BOB STANLEY (with nods to friends who helped) that's also jam-packed with rare US 45/LP artwork with the occasional trade adverts (full pages to Michael Nesmith and Charlie Rich). Top quality Audio is by Ace's long-standing and mucho-experienced NICK ROBBINS - 22 Stereo cuts with only Nat Stuckey and the Lee Hazelwood/Suzi Jane Hokom duet in Mono. VINYL collectors should also note that all Ace Records issues of the double are black vinyl, but there's a rare GREEN VINYL variant of 500 copies (with the same catalogue number) on Rough Trade, which was available direct from their mail order. To the chunes... 

The underling menace/relationship-sleaze inherent in the song "Ode To Billie Joe" acts as an idea springboard for this collection of lesser-heard 60ts and 70ts Country and Folk Rock from Southern States USA (not surprisingly most of these songs were on RCA Victor or Columbia - two principal homes of Country). What comes as something of a surprise though is how this compilation proves the extraordinary reach of that song - its unusual structure, words, weirdly downbeat yet intriguing story - all of it – beguiling and inspiring. Five tracks in and it's pretty clear that huge swathes of great artists had heard Bobby Gentry and her stunning 'Son Of A Preacher Man' type-tune and had been duly blown away (Tony Joe White practically started writing his own material because of it). Seizing the sluice-gates day, they too began aping its searing lyrical honesty and between 1968 and 1970 (especially) tackled subjects usually off-limits to a three-minute radio song appealer. 

But amongst these knowing tales of serial cheaters, guitar-case railroad-track walkers and swamp-rocking widows are surprisingly touching odes to genuinely tremulous hurt and loss. It opens with a gorgeous remastered Stereo cut from Lee Hazlewood (the king of deadpan drama, lyrics from it title this review) where a tempestuous marriage puts the house up for sale every Wednesday morning only to see it taken off the market that afternoon once their even hastier make-up kicked in. Dolly Parton too – so often seen as a bubble-headed Barbie Doll in mock Cherokee tassels singing about good old Kentucky gals – stuns with her open-wound pain story of a pregnant girl hiding her smock bump - abandoned by a huckster in "Down From Dover". Bob Stanley quite rightly calls it brave at a time when so many in her genre wouldn’t have gone near such real-world nastiness with a barge pole. And just how early-morning God-of-life beautiful is Hoyt Axton's "Way Before The Time Of Towns" – a stunning soft-as-silk orchestrated acoustic epic from a writer normally associated with Rock stuff like Three Dog Night's keyboard-upbeat chart-topper "Joy To The World" and Steppenwolf's hard-hitting anti-drug song "The Pusher".

Gentry herself gets a showing with an Alternate Acoustic rendering of "Belinda", a song that turned up on her fifth and final album "Patchwork" for Capitol Records in 1970. Its first appearance came on CD7 of the exemplary and seriously sought after September 2018 8CD Box Set "The Girl From Chickasaw County". Sat on the front-door steps of some large house in her patchwork dress, tasselled hair and wicker basket of oh-so-darlin' flowers - it's a pared-back acoustic rendering and a clever choice over the issued version – this brute being starker and darker and better for it. Before the Nancy Sinatra duets, Lee Hazlewood over on his Lee Hazlewood Industries LHI label had been pairing with Suzi Jane Hokom and their Jack Nitzsche-arranged "Alone" makes for another slyly dark sleeper (a Promo-only 7" in the USA). Other genius inclusions are the hard-to-find-on-CD B-side "I Feel Like Going Home" by Charlie Rich (flip of the Silver Fox's huge hit "The Most Beautiful Girl") and anything from the Country-Soulful Jim Ford album "Harlan County" is a doozy in my books. And on it goes...

I would admit that this CD would be an acquired-taste listen for some – a lick-of-the-lips they don't ever want to experience. But "Choctaw Ridge..." is the kind of compilation that's rare in the 2020s - the listen is good (discoveries galore); it sounds great and has on-the-money annotation that will make you dig deeper and explore. And all of it collated by British men brandishing brave trouser choices - decent chappies proffering us American Country Music cultural-less Neanderthals with tunes and artists we really need to pay more attention to/reappraise. Top stuff and well done to all involved...

"Zakarrias" by ZAKARRIAS – October 1971 UK Debut Album on Deram Records featuring Zakarrias (Bobby Haumer), Peter Robinson, Geoff Leigh, Don Gould, and Martin Harrison (February 2010 UK Cherry Red/Cherry Tree Records CD Reissue – Andy Pearce Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Cosmic Bride..."

Apart from his very vague recollection of the album sessions in the summer of 1971 in London as "...a reasonably excruciating learning curve..." - Deram Records Producer Roger Watson then goes on to describe Bobby Haumer as "...a very odd Austrian bloke". The Record Mirror reviewer for its 6 Nov 1971 issue (the only review available of the album) was less enthusiastic of Haumer's Zakarrias alter-ego - helpfully suggesting that "...it might be kinder if all copies were withdrawn from public consumption". Nice.

Slithered out into the British marketplace in October 1971 on Deram SML 1091 - not only did Bobby 'Robert' Haumer (aka Zakarrias) not have a band - but he hadn't a work permit visa either. So legend has it that Decca gave the LP zero promotion (while Haumer went back to Europe) and probably put out maybe 100 copies or less into unsuspecting Blighty stores. And Decca/Deram then it seems did indeed heed that reviewers advice and withdrew the album. 

As a result the lone "Zakarrias" LP has steadily begun to accumulate frankly ludicrous bid-amounts online. The liner notes (written in October 2009) to this February 2010 UK Cherry Tree CD Reissue and Remaster told of a copy reaching $1000 - when in March 2024 you have copies for sale at over £2100. Is it worth that - yes and no in equal measure would be my curt response - but if you are interested (and there's a lot to like here) - then CRTREE006 sports fabulously clean CD audio.

Let's talk genres also. As everyone knows England's 'Deram' Records was Decca's home for all things Avant Garde and Progressive in the late 60s and early 70ts. Any album on the label garnishes dosh - but the idea that this LP is Psych is rubbish. I suspect some enterprising trader peddled this largely Rock and Prog Folk orientated LP as 'Psych' - thereby sending fans and buyers into a frenzy. As there is a distinct lack of electric guitars on the long-player - Psych whig-outs are absolutely not the order of the day. The "Zakarrias" album is more Prog Folk - part Jethro Tull - part Van Der Graaf Generator - part Soft Machine - part Audience - even Funky in tunes like "The Unknown Years" and "Let Us Change". 

And when Universal started releasing those 3CD Label Retrospective Clamshell Box Sets - the rather excellent Acoustic-Rock-Folk of Zakarrias track "The Unknown Years" showed up on the January 2003 set "Legend Of A Mind: The Underground Anthology" - while the album's flanged-finisher "Cosmic Bride" showed up in May 2008 on the "Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds Of The Decca Underground" 3CD set. It's a fair bet that most collectors had not heard either track up until then and I suspect those entries alone sent collectors a-hunting and a-bidding. Let's get to the reissue at hand - the first official issue of the album in forty years and thankfully with stonkingly great audio courtesy of obviously very clean master tapes.

UK released February 2010 - "Zakarrias" by ZAKARRIAS on Cherry Red/Cherry Tree Records CRTREE006 (Barcode 5013929690622) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1971 album that plays out as follows (41:21 minutes):

1. Country Out Of Reach [Side 1]
2. Who Gave You Love
3. Never Reachin'
4. The Unknown Years
5. Sunny Side [Side 2]
6. Spring Of Fate
7. Let Us Change
8. Don't Cry
9. Cosmic Bride
Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "Zakarrias" - released October 1971 in the UK on Deram SML 1091, produced by Roger Watson. Tracks 2, 3, 5 and 6 written by Zakarrias - Tracks 1, 4, 7 and 8 written by Zakarrias and his wife Eva - Track 9 written by Zakarrias and Samy Bimbach (Manager of Salt, Bobby Haumer's previous band).

Musicians:
Zakarrias (Bobby Haumer) - All Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Kazoo
Peter Robinson - Keyboards
Geoff Leigh - Saxophone and Flute
Martin Harrison - Drums
Don Gould - String Arrangements on "Spring Of Fate", "Don't Cry" and "Cosmic Bride" and played Piano on "Spring Of Fate". 

Bobby Haumer had been with Vienna based teenage Psych band Expiration who managed one Euro 45-single "It Wasn't Right" b/w "And The World Will Be A Bird" on VRC Records. Haumer then joined forces with Huw Lloyd-Langton and John Lingwood to form the Munich-based Salt with the idea of peddling songs to Decca. Lloyd-Langton eventually jumped ship and would then famously join the newly formed Hawkwind in the UK while Langford did stints with Amon Duul, Steamhammer and eventually Manfred Mann's Earth Band. But the Zakarrias album appears to be just Bobby Haumer under the pseudonym with guest musicians - Peter Robinson would end up in Quatermass over on Harvest Records while Geoff Leigh did stints in Henry Cow (on Virgin) and Quiet Sun.

There may only be 8-pages in the booklet but the DAVID WELLS liner notes (which I have liberally used as a basis for this review) are the kind of researched genius you expect from someone like him – a proper fact-fest that lays out the Bobby (Robert) Haumer/Zakarrias story for the first time in its many lurid colours. There are some promo photos (Salt, a smiling long-haired Baumer as alter-ego Zakarrias) and even photos of the Expiration and Bobby Haumer Band (BHB) 45s out of Europe. But the real deal comes with one of my fave Audio Engineers – ANDY PEARCE – who has done Budgie, Free, Rory Gallagher, Spooky Tooth, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, ELP, Wishbone Ash and loads more. If he gets his hands on a master tape – it will sound alive and kicking and so it is here. Admittedly the flange separation sop favoured in the day on say "Cosmic Bride" can be speaker-to-speaker harsh, but that is more down to the recording trickery of the time. Mostly this sounds so clear and vibrant and a properly great job done.

Both the Side 1 opener "Country Out Of Reach" and Side 2's "Don't Cry" employ a very heavily fuzzed Bass Guitar line as the basis of the songs which gives both an ever so slightly amateur-hour grungy Rock feel – like you have stumbled on Roger Bain (of Sabbath fame) producing Budgie on their 1971 MCA Records debut. They are both good but falsely make you think the album is going to Psych it up bigtime any second now when it does  nothing of the sort. Many of the songs are Acoustic Guitar based – more a Prog Folk feel with some funky keyboard fills – and his voice is good without ever being great – but still more than Peter Hammill-acceptable. The album's other gems include "Spring Of Fate" and the speaker-to-speaker harmonies in "Who Gave You Love" even if lyrically it can all feel a tad too down for its own good. 

"Zakarrias" is the kind of obscurity that deserves rediscovery but temper those Psych hopes and amp up your inner Prog Folk with a sprinkle of flange instead. Well done to Cherry Tree Records (part of England's Cherry Red roster of labels) for getting this big-bucks charmer out there once again and don't ya just love the Seventies where people made albums like this and hoped for the best... 

"Keep Smilin'" by BUNNY SIGLER - October 1974 US 10-Track Second LP on Philadelphia International Records KZ 33249 – CD8 Inside The 20CD Various Artists Box Set "Philadelphia International Records: The Collection" – Note: Seven Of Its Ten Tracks Had Also Been Previously Issued in May 1974 In The USA as "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" on Philadelphia International Records KZ 32859 and July 1974 in the UK on Philadelphia International S PIR 8025 - "Keep Smilin'" received no UK issue (May 2014 UK Sony Music 20CD Mini Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...That's How Long I'll Be Loving You..."

"The Collection" offers you 20 Philly Soul albums in single repro card sleeves inside a hard-card box set with a chunky 36-page booklet (5 of the discs even have bonus tracks – Nos. 1, 3, 6. 9 and 17). 

Bunny Sigler's entry is a strange one in some respects in that it offers us the October 1974 album after the one that charted in May 1974. The May 1974 Philly LP "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" sold well and rose to a respectable No. 27 on the US R&B LP charts with a run of nine weeks. What you get here is a reissue in October 1974 under a different name "Keep Smilin'" with seven of the originals tracks retained and three new ones added on – "Shake Your Booty", the title track "Keep Smilin'" and "Sweeter Than The Berry". 

The original May 1974 LP "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" was also issued in the UK under the same name, but "Keep Smilin'" with too much duplication - was not. Big Break Records of the UK did a superb CD Remaster of "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" in October 2012 (CDBBR 0182 – Barcode 5013929048232) with two bonus tracks – 45-single versions of "Love Train" and "I Lied". But it did not include the three new songs of the reissued LP. So this box set offers the only way I know of to get the "Keep Smilin'" album configuration on CD. Here are the details...

UK released May 2014 - "Philadelphia International Records: The Collection" by VARIOUS ARTISTS is a 20CD Mini Box Set on Sony Music 88843055662 (Barcode 888430556621) and CD8 of the 20 breaks down as follows (42:32 minutes):

CD8:
1. Shake Your Booty [Side 1]
2. Picture Us
3. Keep Smilin'
4. That's How Long I'll Be Loving You
5. I Lied
6. Things Are Gonna Get Better [Side 2]
7. Sweeter Than The Berry
8. Your Love Is Good
9. Somebody Free
10. Love Train
Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Keep Smilin'" by BUNNY SIGLER - released October 1974 in the USA on Philadelphia International KZ 33249. The album had been US released earlier in May 1974 as "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" on Philadelphia International KZ 32859 peaking on the US R&B LP charts at No. 27 (released July 1974 in the UK on Philadelphia International S PIR 8025) - but had only seven of the ten tracks featured above. The seven on "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" can be sequenced by using the following songs on CD8 - Side 1: 6, 4, 5, 2 and 10 and Side 2: 8 and 9 only

All albums (including those with bonuses) are documented in the lovely 36-page colour booklet that features brief reviews of each title by long-time Soul aficionado DEAN RUDLAND. These are followed by page-after-page of the albums pictured alongside detailed track lists. Each of the CDs is numbered on the label so you know where they're placed in the order of things. There are no mastering credits - but as all of these albums have been available before at one point on Sony/Legacy reissues so those remasters have been used and the sound quality is uniformly great.

Back in May 1974 when the original LP was still hot, Philly pushed out Sigler's extended cover version of the classic O'Jays hit "Love Train (Part One)" on a 45 (Philadelphia International ZS8 3545) with (Part Two) on the flipside – even gracing the release with a rare picture sleeve. With steady radio play, it finally charted in July 1974 and they were rewarded with a No. 28 placing on the US R&B singles chart. 

Resplendent in his kinky boots and looking like Sigler is auditioning for a Jilly Cooper novel about horseracing shenanigans in well-heeled stud-stables, the rejiggered October 1974 LP didn't fare so well on the singles front. Philly USA issued three 45s around "Keep Smilin'" - first up came Philadelphia International ZS8 3554 in October 1974 that coupled the new tune "Keep Smilin'" with "Somebody Free" on the B-side but it didn't chart. 

The lovely "That's How Long I'll Be Loving You" was then coupled in January 1975 with "Somebody Free" on Philadelphia International ZS8 3575, but again no joy in chart action. February 1975 saw the ass-swaying "Shake Your Booty" which utilized Instant Funk as its backing band put out on Philadelphia International ZS8 3560 with "Your Love Is Good" on its B-side (MFSB being the backing band there). But it was clear the LP was played out and Sigler wouldn't see singles chart action again until 1978. 

With arrangers like Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker and Dexter Wansel, Sigler's knack for a tune and musicians like Instant Funk and MFSB as his support acts – the late 1974 LP "Keep Smilin'" maybe a forgotten album now but is a cool inclusion here nonetheless. 

For sure with 20 different albums in the overall box set, you could argue that there are a few clunkers in its midst. But with interesting releases like this, "Keep Smilin'" and "The Collection" in general is a winner - beautifully presented, sounds spiffing and full of great Seventies Soul memories you will want to relive again and again...

PS: the "Philadelphia International Records: The Collection" Box Set also contains a version of the 1974 MFSB album "Love Is The Message"

"When Love Is New" by BILLY PAUL – December 1975 US LP on Philadelphia International (January 1976 in the UK) featuring Gamble/Huff Songs and Dexter Wansel Arrangements (April 2010 UK Edsel CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Please...Let The Dollar Circulate…"

Largely forgotten now in the pantheon of Seventies Soul - Billy Paul's "When Love Is New" is part of a mid-price CD reissue series of Philadelphia International albums by Demon's EDSEL label in the UK (see List below). Most of the albums seem to be focusing on the year 1975. Here are the details the Billy Paul entry…

UK released April 2010 - "When Love Is New" by BILLY PAUL on Edsel EDSM0003 (Barcode 740155000332) is a no-frills CD Remaster of that popular 7-track American Soul album and plays out as follows (37:43 minutes):

1. People Power [Side 1]
2. America (We Need The Light)
3. Let The Dollar Circulate
4. Malorie
5. When Love Is New [Side 2]
6. I Want'cha Baby 
7. Let's Make A Baby 
Tracks 1 to 7 are a straightforward reissue (no bonus tracks) of the LP "When Love Is New" released December 1975 on Philadelphia International Records PZ 33843 in the USA and January 1976 on Philadelphia International Records S PIR 69207 in the UK. It was his 5th album for the famous Soul label and peaked at Number 17 on the US R 'n' B charts (did not chart UK). 

The 12-page booklet provides you with production credits and superb liner notes by noted soul expert TONY ROUNCE. But the real deal is in the sound. The CD has been mastered by TALL ORDER of the UK and the sound quality is truly fantastic (Rounce name checks this). Clear, ballsy and wonderfully detailed - the remaster allows the lush GAMBLE & HUFF production values to really shine. 

The album seems to be a tale of two halves - Side 1 has 3 socially conscious tunes in a row ending with a slightly upbeat 4th ditty ("Marjorie"), while Side 2 is a full-on lover man suite with all 3 songs provided by label founders Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. 

My personal favourite (and recently sampled by rap/soul artists Jay Dilla, Steve Spacek and Cartie) is "Let The Dollar Circulate" (lyrics above) which is a brilliantly funky tune with a top 'message' that unfortunately reverberates to this day. I also like the album opener too "People Power" - which is arranged by jazz-funk favourite Dexter Wansel. 

As the years have passed by, some Soul fans have deemed Billy Paul to be just a little too lightweight to be taken seriously. But I'd say this album should be revisited so as to change that opinion. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination - but there are goodies on here - and they now have superlative sound and a dirt-cheap price tag thrown in… 

Other UK-issued 2010 CD titles in the 

Demon/Edsel Series of Philly Reissues:

1. Dance Your Troubles Away - ARCHIE BELL and THE DRELLS (1975) – released 9 August 2010 on Edsel EDSM0006 (Barcode 740155000639)

2. Wake Up Everybody...Plus - HAROLD MELVIN and THE BLUE NOTES (1975) – released 9 April 2010 on Edsel EDSM0002 (Barcode 740155000233) – Includes 11-minute 1977 Tom Moulton Remix of Don't Leave Me This Way as a Bonus Track

3. Philadelphia Freedom - M.F.S.B. (1975) [was due Summer 2010 on Edsel EDSM0005 but is unreleased]

4. Family Reunion...Plus - THE O'JAYS (1975) – released 12 April 2010 on Edsel EDSM0001 (Barcode 740155000134) – Includes near 10-minute 1977 Tom Moulton Remix if I Love Music as a Bonus Track

5. The Three Degrees Live [aka Live In London] (1975) - THE THREE DEGREES – released April 2010 on Edsel EDSM0004 (Barcode 740155000431)

"Red Clay/Straight Life/First Light Plus Two Bonuses" by FREDDIE HUBBARD – Three US Albums from June 1970, March and December 1971 all on CTI Records featured guests include Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, George Benson, Joe DeJohnette, Hubert Laws and Lenny White (July 2014 UK Beat Goes On (BGO) Compilation - 3LPs onto 2CDs with Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Rating: *****

"…Playing It Straight..."

By the time Freddie Hubbard hit 1970, he'd already clocked up a staggering 21 albums or so since his Blue Note Records debut "Open Sesame" in 1960 – two and three at a time on Blue Note, Impulse and Atlantic Records. Time for a new chapter...a new stretch and a new label...

Produced by Blue Note's legendary sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder – Trumpeter FREDDIE HUBBARD saw his first three albums for CTI Records (Creed Taylor Inc) released in 1970 and 1971 and this superb Beat Goes On 2CD compilation does those three Jazz and Fusion pieces a solid. Here are the Prog-intrepid details…

UK released July 2014 – "Red Clay/Straight Life/First Light Plus Bonuses" by FREDDIE HUBBARD on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1154 (Barcode 5017261211545) is a 2CD Compilation of Remasters containing 3LPs that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (66:54 minutes):
1. Red Clay
2. Delphia
3. Suite Sioux 
4. The Intrepid Fox
Tracks 1 to 4 are the album "Red Clay" – released June 1970 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6001 

5. Cold Turkey (a cover version of a John Lennon song and is a Bonus Track)
6. Straight Life 

Tracks 5 and 6 are Side 1 of the album "Straight Life" – released March 1971 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6007

CD2 (78:12 minutes):
1. Mr. Clean
2. Here’s That Rainy day

Tracks 5 and 6 are Side 2 of the album "Straight Life" – released March 1971 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6007

3. First Light
4. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
5. Moment To Moment 
6. Yesterday’s Dreams
7. Lonely Town
Tracks 3 to 7 are the album "First Light" – released December 1971 in the USA on CTI Records CTI 6013 

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Fantasy In D

9. First Light (Alternate)

 

For "Red Clay" Hubbard's band consisted of HERBIE HANCOCK on Piano, JOE HENDERSON on Saxophone, RON CARTER on Bass and LENNY WHITE on Drums. For "Straight Life" - JOE DeJOHNETTE replaced Lenny White on Drums and added GEORGE BENSON on Guitar - while the "First Light" sessions kept the "Straight Up" line-up but also added HUBERT LAWS on Flute as well as a host of other Horn and Vibe players. 

The 16-page booklet features liner notes by noted musicologist CHARLES WARRING and new interviews with Lenny White about the harrowing recording session with his Jazz heroes in every corner of the studio (he was only in his early twenties). The outer card wrap also lends these BGO reissues a feeling of class – but truth be told – I really miss the gorgeous artwork of those glossy hard-card gatefold sleeves that caught your eye and made you part with cash. The tiny pictures of them don't do the aesthetic feel of those original vinyl gems any real justice. Shame that. But as ever with BGO – making up for any shortcomings is the fantastic remastered sound…

As you can imagine the Rudy Van Gelder production values on these contemporary Jazz pieces are immaculate throughout and ANDREW THOMPSON's 2014 remasters bring this to very much to the fore – each cut is warm, clear as a bell and full of presence. The beautiful "Dolphins" (from "Red Clay") is presented to us with such delicacy – it's a joy to the ear. Hubbard also dug his Beatles Solo work – the 10-minute outtake on John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" is suitably jagged, manic and a brilliant slightly Proggy-interpretation of an awkward song - while Paul McCartney's 1971 "Ram" album centrepiece "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" retains the original's whimsy and pretty melody (nicely mixing in strings with the Trumpet to give a sort of "I Am The Walrus" effect). And the two outtakes from "First Light" are real finds too - fully formed nuggets worthy of the tag Bonus. 

Like so many others - Hubbard would go further down the more commercial crossover route of Jazz Fusion on the albums that followed - "Keep Your Soul Together" (1973) and "Polar AC" (1975) – his next phase with the iconic CTI label - who England's BGO has also issued as a stacked-and-racked 2CD compilation (see separate review). 

"Red Clay/Straight Life/First Light Plus Bonuses" by Freddie Hubbard is a beautifully done comp offering three great albums and two highly respectable bonuses into the twofer bargain. So, despite missing that fab artwork - another BGOCD set that is wholeheartedly recommended…

"Original Album Series" by CHIC - Five Studio Albums from 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 on Atlantic Records featuring Bernard Edwards (Bass) and Nile Rodgers (Guitar) (October 2011 UK Atlantic/Rhino 5CD Capacity Wallet in the 'Original Album Series' – Five Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves with Rhino Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Album-Chic/dp/B005JS7UTM?crid=3OAEAEZMBR6ZS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YCYStMmQTLn9w9kjwfwDTA.zERFxJ5e7PpZeGTK40JxvnL756DtAwBByVr4Q5NTruU&dib_tag=se&keywords=081227975951&qid=1710840816&sprefix=081227975951%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=97c9ecffd41968b383f17106b240bb72&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

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"...A Warm Sunny Night... "

In truth you forget just how good Bernard Edwards (Bass) and Niles Rodgers (Guitar) were until you rehear their band CHIC in all their Funky Disco Ball glory. And this clever addition to the Original Album Series is going to whet your beak with enough pigeon neck-jerking dance routines to make your missus cringe and reach for the sedative vials. 

These 5 albums in their cool card repro sleeves contain all 8 of their 9 massive hits - two of which ("Le Freak" and "Good Times") went to Number 1 on the American Billboard R&B singles charts. CHIC had a sophistication and groove that put them head and shoulders above all the other on-the-bandwagon groups of the time - and they looked young, up for it and cool. Here are the C'est Chic details...

UK released October 2011 - "Original Album Classics" by CHIC on Atlantic/Rhino 8122797595 (Barcode 081227975951) is a 5CD/5Album Card Sleeve Capacity Wallet with Mini LP Repro Card Sleeves inside that breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (38:41 minutes):
1. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) [Side 1]
2. Sao Paulo
3. You Can Get By
4. Everybody Dance [Side 2]
5. Est-Ce Que C'est Chic
6. Falling in Love With You
7. Strike Up The Band
Tracks 1 to 7 are their debut album "Chic" - released December 1977 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19153 and February 1978 in the UK on Atlantic K 50441

Disc 2 (42:08 minutes):
1. Chic Cheer [Side 1]
2. Le Freak
3. Savoir Faire
4. Happy Man
5. I Want Your Love [Side 2]
6. At Last I Am Free
7. Sometimes You Win
8. (Funny) Bone
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 2nd album "C'est Chic" - released December 1978 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19209 and January 1979 in the UK on Atlantic K 50565

Disc 3 (36:49 minutes):
1. Good Times [Side 1]
2. A Warm Summer Night
3. My Feet Keep Dancing
4. My Forbidden Lover [Side 2]
5. Can't Stand To Love You
6. Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)
7. What About Me
Tracks 1 to 7 are their 3rd album "Risqué" - released August 1979 in the USA on Atlantic SD 16003 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50634

Disc 4 (37:32 minutes):
1. Open Up [Side 1]
2. Real People
3. I Loved You More
4. I Got Protection
5. Rebels Are We [Side 2]
6. Chip Off The Old Block
7. 26
8. You Can't Do It Alone
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 4th album "Real People" - released July 1980 in the USA on Atlantic SD 16016 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50711

Disc 5 (40:31 minutes):
1. Stage Fright [Side 1]
2. Burn Hard
3. So Fine
4. Flash Back
5. Telling Lies
6. You Love Is Cancelled [Side 2]
7. Would You Be My Baby
8. Take It Off
9. Just Out of Reach
10. Baby Doll
Tracks 1 to 10 are their 5th album "Take It Off" - released December 1981 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19323 and in the UK on Atlantic K 50845

Quite apart from chart hits like "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" (No. 6), "Everybody Dance" (No. 12), "I Want Your Love" (No. 5), "My Forbidden Lover" (No. 33) and "Rebels We Are" (No. 8) - you get those albums nuggets you'd completely forgotten about like the gorgeous ballads "A Warm Summer Night" and "Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)". In fact, the entire "Risqué" album has always been a masterpiece of Soul, Disco and Funk to me. The funky "Chip Off The Old Block" has the girls telling us about "hard knocks" while the mid-tempo and infectious "You Can't Do It Alone" could so easily be a Risqué outtake.

The CHIC sound was centred around the dynamic duo - BERNARD EDWARDS on Bass and NILE RODGERS on Guitar with regular lady vocals who also became synonamous with that Chic-Organization sound - Alfa Anderson, Fonzi Thornton, Luci Martin, Michelle Cobbs and Ullanda McCulloch. The keyboards usually came from a trio - Andy Schwartz, Raymond Jones and Rob Sabrino (he was later with the Kiss-offshoot Frehley's Comet). Produced by Edwards and Rodgers - the CHIC sound also threw in its fair share of strings backing-up those neck-jerking funky Disco grooves. 

And although their commercial shine had diminished by the time they got to "Take It Off" in 1981 - it's an album that's ripe for rediscovery. "Flash Back" is just as catchy as their earlier hits with a distinctive bass opening that stays for the whole of the groove reinforced by great Ronn Matlock type vocals (I think the singer is actually Fonzi Thornton but I could be wrong). "Your Love Is Cancelled" too features a lethal combo of slap bass with bopping keyboards.

"Could you love me...on a warm summer night..." the girls swoon on that Risqué ballad. A couple of tunes into this wicked mini box set and you'll find yourself agreeing...yes, I could. And it's still on UK catalogue in March 2024 at roughly twelve quid or less (five full albums) depending on what site you buy from...