"Now Yearbook Extra '74 - 64 More Essential Hits From 1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - Featuring Elton John, Queen, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sparks, T.Rex, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Slade, Mott The Hoople, Alice Cooper, Mungo Jerry, Cozy Powell, The Rubettes, Gary Shearston, Jim Stafford, Roberta Flack, Barry White, The Stylistics, The Tymes, Bryan Ferry, David Essex, Roy Wood, Clifford T. Ward, Lobo, Bay City Rollers, Commodores, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, MFSB, The Intruders, Prelude, Maria Muldaur, Faces, Love Unlimited Orchestra and many more (June 2024 UK Sony Music/EMI 3CD 64-Track Remastered Compilation in a Trifold Card Sleeve - No Booklet) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING:

Content: ***

Audio: ****

Presentation: ***

"...Judy Teen..."

The 'Now Yearbook' Series of Compilations from Sony Music and EMI has touched on three for the Seventies - '1979' in September 2022, '1978' in April 2023 and '1973' in September and October 2023. Each has the same MO - a 4CD 'Now Yearbook' and a 3CD follow-up called 'Extra'. 

Here in May and June 2024 we get a fourth - '1974' - a 4CD Main with Hardback Book and Standard Card Sleeve Editions and a Truncated 3LP GREEN VINYL Set (all released 3 May 2024) - and now this - a 3CD Extra companion compilation released 7 June 2024 with 64 more songs to accompany the 82 featured on the 4CD Main (see list below for catalogue number/barcode details).

As with all these cheap and cheerful releases - they concentrate on a mix of Pop and Rock on one disc while Soul and R 'n' B will dominate another with Discs 3 and 4 mixing it up with everything from Easy Listening to Glam to Country to Teenybopper Pop. Some songs were issued late 1973 but only charted in 1974. The problem with charts in the Seventies (especially in the early years) is that genius abutted crud on a weekly basis and that's what you get here. But compilers would argue that one man's Trabant is another man's Tesla - so we put the kitchen sink in and let the listener sort out the dirty dishes from the sparkling China. 

And so it is with the Extra set for '1974' - great 45-single mix memories and reminders (album versions are noted) - re-discoveries that delight – awful stuff you hoped you had forgotten abutting saccharine cringes a-go-go - spiffing audio throughout despite the fact that only four give actual dates for the Remasters - and the bolshy brute is cheap too - roughly nine-quid for a 3CD set chocker with 64 songs.

Let's get to the Judy Teens, the Long Legged Women Dressed In Black, the Liverpool Lou's, The Bangin' Men and the Little Trustmakers floating on the Seven Seas of Rhye whilst always remembering you are a Womble. To the details...

UK released 7 June 2024 - "Now Yearbook Extra '74 - 64 More Essential Hits From 1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBENOW74 - 0196588903021 (Barcode 196588903021) is a 3CD Companion Compilation to the 4CD set 'Now Yearbook '74' issued May 2024 and plays out as follows:

CD1 (76:44 minutes):

1. Seven Seas Of Rhye - QUEEN (February 1974 UK 45-Single on EMI Records EMI 2121, A - 2011 Remaster)

2. The Bitch Is Back - ELTON JOHN (August 1974, DJM Records DJS 322, A - 2017 Remaster)

3. The Wild One (Single Version) - SUZI QUATRO (November 1974, RAK Records RAK 185, A)

4. Rocket - MUD (July 1974, RAK Records RAK 178, A)

5. The Bangin' Man - SLADE (June 1974, Polydor 2058 492 A - Non-LP Single on Release)

6. The Golden Age Of Rock 'N' Roll - MOTT THE HOOPLE (March 1974, CBS Records S CBS 2177, A – featuring Ian Hunter)

7. Forever - ROY WOOD (November 1973, Harvest HAR 5078, A)

8. Teenage Lament '74 – ALICE COOPER (January 1974, Warner Brothers K 16345, A)

9. Spiders And Snakes – JIM STAFFORD (March 1974, MGM 2006 374 – was issued September 1973 in the USA)

10. You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything – FACES (November 1974, Warner Brothers K 16494, A – 2010 Remaster) 

11. Break The Rules – STATUS QUO (April 1974, Vertigo 6059 101, A)

12. Na Na Na – COZY POWELL (July 1974, RAK Records RAK 180, A)

13, Long Legged Woman Dressed In Black – MUNGO JERRY (March 1974, Dawn Records DNS 1061, A)

14. The Night Chicago Died (Album Version) – PAPER LACE (from the July 1974 UK LP "…And Other Bits Of Material" on Bus Stop Records BUSLP 8001)

15. Light Of Love – T.REX (July 1974, T.Rex MARC 8, A)

16. America – DAVID ESSEX (April 1974, CBS Records S CBS 2176, A)

17. Judy Teen – COCKNEY REBEL (March 1974, EMI Records EMI 2128, A – featuring Steve Harley)

18. Red Dress – ALVIN STARDUST (April 1974, Magnet MAG 8, A)

19. Tonight – THE RUBETTES (July 1974, Polydor 2058 499, A)

20. All Of Me Loves All Of You – BAY CITY ROLLERS (October 1974, Bell Records BELL 1382, A)

21. I Get A Kick Out Of You – GARY SHEARSTON (September 1974, Charisma CB 234, A)

22. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – BRYAN FERRY (August 1974, Island WIP 6205, A – 1999 Remaster)

CD2 (67:52 minutes):

1. Love's Theme – THE LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA (January 1974 Debut 45, Pye International 7N 25635, A-side - US Debut Single was October 1973 on 20th Century Records TC-2069)

2. TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) – MFSB featuring THE THREE DEGREES (March 1974, Philadelphia International S PIR 2139, A – a Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble song)

3. Satisfaction Guaranteed (Or Take Your Love Back) – HAROLD MELVIN and THE BLUE NOTES (March 1974, Philadelphia International S PIR 2187, A – a Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble song)

4. You Little Trustmaker – THE TYMES (August 1974, RCA Victor RCA 2546, A)

5. Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) – DIANA ROSS and MARVIN GAYE (June 1974, Tamla Motown TMG 906, A)

6. Then Came You - DIONNE WARWICK and THE SPINNERS (September 1974, Atlantic K 10495, A – a Thom Bell Production)

7. Down On The Beach Tonight – THE DRIFTERS (September 1974, Bell Records BELL 1381, A)

8. Rockin' Roll Baby – THE STYLISTICS (December 1973, Avco 6105 026, A)

9. I've Got The Music In Me – THE KIKI DEE BAND (July 1974, Pig Records PIG 12, A)

10. Queen Of Clubs – KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND (August 1974, Jay Boy Records BOY 88, A)

11. Machine Gun – COMMODORES (June 1974, Tamla Motown TMG 972, A)

12. There's A Ghost In My House – R. DEAN TAYLOR (May 1974, Tamla Motown TMG 876, A – originally issued 1966)

13. Everlasting Love – ROBERT KNIGHT (February 1974, Monument S MNT 2106, A – originally a 1967 hit)

14. Guilty – THE PEARLS (May 1974, Bell Records BELL 1352, A)

15. Year Of Decision – THE THREE DEGREES (March 1974, Philadelphia International S PIR 2073, A – a Gamble and Huff song)

16. I'll Always Love My Mama (Part 1) – THE INTRUDERS (March 1974, Philadelphia International S PIR 2149, A – originally issued June 1973 in the UK on Epic S EPC 1623 also with (Part 2) on the B-side)

17. Midnight At The Oasis – MARIA MULDAUR (June 1974, Reprise K 14331, A)

18. Be Thankful For What You Got (Part 1) – WILLIAM DeVAUGHN (May 1974, Chelsea 2005 002, A)

19. Feel Like Making Love - ROBERTA FLACK (June 1974, Atlantic K 10467, A)

20. Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Single Version) – BARRY WHITE (January 1974, Pye International 7N 25633, A)

CD3 (70:18 minutes):

1. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Edit) – ELTON JOHN (November 1974, DJM Records DJS 340, A – a Beatles cover)

2. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth – SPARKS (October 1974, Island WIP 6211, A – a Ron Mael song)

3. Hooked On A Feeling – BLUE SWEDE (March 1974, EMI Records EMI 2149 A, featuring BJORN SKIFS)

4. Remember You're A Womble – THE WOMBLES (March 1974, CBS Records S CBS 2241, A – a Mike Batt song)

5. Remember – BAY CITY ROLLERS (January 1974, Bell Records BELL 1338, A)

6. One Man Band – LEO SAYER (May 1974, Chrysalis CHS 2045, A)

7. Liverpool Lou (Single Version) – SCAFFOLD (May 1974, Warner Brothers K 16400, A)

8. I Get A Little Sentimental Over You – THE NEW SEEKERS (March 1974, Polydor 2058 439, A)

9. Laughter In The Rain – NEIL SEDAKA (June 1975, Polydor 2058 494, A)

10. After The Goldrush – PRELUDE (November 1973, Dawn DNS 1052, A)

11. Scullery – CLIFFORD T. WARD (November 1973, Charisma CB 221, A)

12. If You Go Away – TERRY JACKS (June 1974, Bell Records BELL 1362, A)

13. I'd Love You To Want Me – LOBO (May 1974, UK Records UK R 68, A)

14. Let's Put It All Together – THE SPINNERS (October 1974, Avco 6105 032, A)

15. All Of My Life (Album Version) – DIANA ROSS (November 1973, Tamla Motown TMG 880, A)

16. Behind Closed Doors – CHARLIE RICH (June 1973, Epic S EPC 1539, A)

17. My Boy – ELVIS PRESLEY (January 1975, RCA Victor PB-10191, A)

18. Solitaire – ANDY WILLIAMS (October 1973, CBS Records S CBS 1824, A)

19. Don't Stay Away Too Long – PETERS & LEE (April 1974, Phillips 6006 388, A)

20. Long Live Love – OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (March 1974, Pye International 7N 25638, A)

21. Y Viva Espana – SYLVIA (January 1974, Sonet SON 2037, A)

22. Galloping Home – THE LONDON STRING CHORALE (September 1972, Polydor 2058 270, A – charted 1974)

There is no liner notes nor booklet with the Tri-Gatefold Card Sleeve, just track by track credits without any real info including chart positions. The Audio however is uniformly fab throughout with only the Scaffold cut sounding odd to me but I think that is the way it was recording. To the music…

CD1 opens with a great run from Queen, Elton John, Quatro, Mud, Slade and Mott The Hoople. The opening very Nazareth slide guitar of the Slade track is punchy and full of clarity. Roy Wood (of The Move and Wizzard) and Jim Stafford please too with their happy-go-lucky tunes. 'even take the dog for a walk, mend a fuse, fold away the ironing board, or any other domestic short comings' was the witty brackets subtitle for the Faces 1974 final original song throw of the 45-single dice - "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything". Rod Stewart was already a bona-fide Seventies Superstar (like Elton) by 1973 when he left the Faces but it’s this kind of good time jaunt that shows why people loved him and his former band so much. A low-down lady with a honky tonk car seduces the helpless lads of Status Quo on the pleasing guitar and harmonica boogie of "Break The Rules". The man with the physical hammer – drummer Cozy Powell – packs a rebellious punch on the far-better-than-you-remember-it "Na Na Na" – another RAK Records anthem gifted to Powell by John Cameron who had close associations with a RAK band I loved - C.C.S. (with Alexis Korner). The cod Rock and Roll continues with the fun Mungo Jerry tune "Long Legged Woman In Black" – another gal not prepared to put out for Ray Dorset. 

Some have claimed that the Paper Lace song "The Night Chicago Died" is a re-recording but I don’t think so – it’s just the Album Version which differed from the Single Mix. Unfortunately, the long run of T.Rex moments of greatness was clearly coming to an end with "The Light Of Love" while amazingly clear audio will greet David Essex fans for the echoed menace of the cleverly arranged "America". Can never get me enough Cockney Rebel and I remember absolutely everyone discovering Steve Harley and his smarmy acidic that year with the brilliant "Judy Teen" – a song that manages to be both sweetness personified and razor blade at the same time (clean audio too). Alvin Stardust did well with the weirdly irritating "Red Dress" – the kind of Pop fodder that regularly topped the charts then while The Rubettes and the Bay City Rollers bring me out in hives. CD1 ends though on two clever nostalgia winners – Gary Shearston giving Charisma Records a rare chart entry with his take on the Cole Porter drug-addled oldie "I Get A Kick Out Of You" and Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music carving out a solo career with his take on the Jerome Kern songbook classic "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".

CD2 goes Soul big time (mostly). Opening with Barry White's band The Love Unlimited Orchestra - "Love's Theme" sets the lush dancefloor scene (BW also gets the last song on the disc). Folks get down with the Soul Train as MFSB, Harold Melvin and The Three Degrees stamp that Philadelphia International sound on our consciousness (we still haven't recovered, nor do we want too). But I have to say that I loved rediscovering "You Little Trustmaker" by The Tymes – the kind of doobie-doobie bopper that just lifts the spirits like only US Soul Music can. Diana Ross got the lead name on the label (of course) but it is the glory of Marvin Gaye that you remember – their duet remake of "Stop, Look And Listen (To You Heart)" (a hit The Stylistics had in March 1971 in the USA) slinking out your speakers (the Ross/Gaye single was a UK-only release). Another excellent duet "Then Came You", offers the forgotten lone hook-up of Dionne Warwick with The Spinners – gorgeous Seventies Soul. The Drifters tune is too cheesy for my taste, but The Stylistics show why they were such hitmakers in those years - "Rockin' Roll Baby" as catchy as it gets. But then we get a true winner – Kiki Dee getting Rock-Funky with her fantastic "I've Got The Music In Me" – an Elton John and Band production that includes great string and brass arrangements too courtesy of Richard Hewson. And the Audio is clearly the EMI Remaster of about 2005 even if it doesn't say so (what a belter of a vocalist she was). 

Skip the decidedly unimpressive KC & The Sunshine Band offering and go directly to the genius of the Commodores doing the Clavinet and Synth Funky instrumental "Machine Gun" – a monster back in the day in the clubs and used ever since in countless movies when an Afro shows up (banging audio too). Two 60ts tunes follow that were reissued to more success in 1974 - more skipping for me unfortunately with R. Dean Taylor on Motown (a 1966 song originally) – better the August 1967 Northern Soul gem "Everlasting Love" by Robert Knight – the kind of perennial that never seems to date (issued once again on Monument Records). Completely forgotten goes to the pretty "Guilty" by The Pearls – the man stole her heart and needs to pay for his sins. The Three Degrees were hugely popular, and you can hear why with "Year Of Decision" – another catchy Gamble & Huff song on Philly. Skipping The Intruders, we are hit with three top-audio total winners that still sound amazingly current - "Midnight At The Oasis" by Maria Muldaur, "Be Thankful For You Got" by William DeVaughn (I am indeed 'diggin' the scene with a gangster lean') and Roberta Flack's sexy "Feel Like Making Love". CD2 closes on oldies radio staple - Barry 'The Walrus of Love' White getting bedroom breathy with "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up" – keeping his lady pleased in every way that he can.

Unfortunately, CD3 on this Extra compilation is weighed down with Pop Pap. The good stuff first – it opens promisingly enough with Elton doing his Beatles Sgt. Peppers cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" (Single Edit) which is followed by Sparks giving us "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" – their Queen-like drama sounding amazingly clear. But then we get awful dollops of The Wombles and Bay City Rollers broken periodically by Leo Sayer and his Acoustic "One Man Band" anthem (Roger Daltrey of The Who covered it on his "Daltrey" solo debut album in 1973). The cod football anthem "Liverpool Lou" of Scaffold is followed by the cheesy golden oldies jaunt of The New Seekers. Neil Sedaka saves the moment with his Carpenters-melodious "Laughter In The Rain". Great discovery is the Prelude Acapella cover version of the Neil Young 1970 classic "After The Gold Rush" followed by "Scullery" from English teacher Clifford T. Ward (his other hit on Charisma "Wherewithal" is on the 1973 set). Schlock quickly returns with Terry Jacks and Lobo – The Stylistics triumphing with their big chorus brand. Diana Ross offers us the weedy Motown ballad "All Of My Life" but she is blown out of the water by the welcome pipes of Charlie Rich in his signature silver-fox moment - "Behind Closed Doors". Got help us all but I enjoyed re-hearing Andy Williams doing "Solitaire" – an easy listening ballad with half-a-heart. But the last run is just awful with Y Viva Espana making me reach for the barf bag. 

As I say – these Now Yearbook sets infuriate as much as they enliven – but with so many tracks, great audio and a reasonable price tag that will probably drop even further as time goes on – "Now Yearbook Extra '74 - 64 More Essential Hits From 1974" is recommended…

NOW YEARBOOK '74 UK Discography

"Now Yearbook '74" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBXNOW74 - 0196588423925 (Barcode 196588423925) – released 3 May 2024 as a 4CD 82-Track 28-Page Special Edition Hardback Book

"Now Yearbook '74" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI CDYBNOW74 - 0196588423826 (Barcode 196588423826) – released 3 May 2024 as a 4CD 82-Track Eight-Panel Card Sleeve Standard Edition

"Now Yearbook '74" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Sony Music/EMI LPYBNOW74 - 01965884240141 (Barcode 1965884240141) – released 3 May 2024 as a 3LP GREEN VINYL Edition with 48-Tracks Truncated down from the 4CD edition.

"Now Yearbook Extra '74 - 64 More Essential Hits From 1974" on Sony Music/EMI CDYBENOW74 - 0196588903021 (Barcode 196588903021) – released 7 June 2024 as a 3CD 64-Track Companion Volume in a Tri-Gatefold Card Sleeve

"It's Alive" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS – September 1978 US and UK Sixth Album, First Live Double Album on A&M Records featuring John Dillon, Steve Cash, Larry Lee, Mike Granda. Steve Canaday, Ruell Chappell and Rune Walla (February 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Reissue – 2LPs onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING:

Material: ***

Audio: *** to ****

Presentation: **** to *****

"…Fly Away Home…"

The live double-album in the Seventies was always an event – a way for a band to take those great studio efforts before it and explode them on stage. Artists usually threw in a few tasty cover versions maybe, a new song or two perhaps to satiate loyal fans while individual musicianship had the room not just to spread out - but seriously impress. So it is with a heavy heart that I inform my beloved readers that after five studio sets with their natural home – A&M Records – The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' first live double from September 1978 (finishing their tenure with A&M) was a downer-ending to their Country Rock journey - and as I recall at the time for devotees like me - a major damp squid.

Complete with retro B-movie style artwork front and rear "It's Alive" was also rather dated and at just over sixty-minutes – not particularly generous either. While the self-titled studio debut from 1973 and its even better 1974 follow-up "It'll Shine When It Shines" felt fresh, melodic, and delivered serious fun (5 of the 16 come from those albums) – by the time you cut to four and five years later – a malaise had crept into their weaker songs and a harder musical landscape made The Ozarks sound lame even silly. Worse – I believe "It's Alive" was recorded on tour with Fleetwood Mac (April 1978) who were "Rumours" monstrous at the time so could only play stadiums. So, instead of intimacy which would have served their homegrown acoustic instruments and yee-haw sound well – you get that horrible huge crowd noise – an in the distance vibe - where the sound is smothered by miles of dead air and any lack of real punch.

The new Remaster here carried out by the experienced Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON of England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) tries its best with what is on offer – but only some songs feel fuller while others just sound slightly better and strangely (please forgive the pun) un-alive. I think it was the venues because although the singers try repartee with the audience – it feels like they are in another state. At least the 2024 presentation is top notch – card slipcase – 16-page booklet with new JOHN O'REGAN liner notes – the inner gatefold artwork reproduced etc. Let's get to the Chicken Trains…

UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "It's Alive" by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS on Beat Goes On Records (BGO) BGOCD1511 (Barcode 5017261215116) is a straightforward reissue and remaster of a Double Live Album from 1978 onto 1CD and plays out as follows (60:09 minutes):

1. Walkin' Down The Road [Side 1]
2. Black Sky
3. You Know Like I Know
4. River To The Sun
5. Satisfied Mind [Side 2]
6. Fly Away Home
7. Horse Trader
8. Followin' The Way That I Feel
9. Chicken Train [Side 3]
10. Ooh Boys (It's Hot)
11. Homemade Wine
12. Commercial Success
13. Jackie Blue [Side 4]
14. Noah
15. If You Wanna Get To Heaven
16. It's All Over Now
Tracks 1 to 16 are their sixth album (and first live) "It's Alive" – a Live Double-Album released September 1978 in the USA on A&M Records SP-6006 and September 1978 in the UK on A&M Records AMLM 66006. Produced by THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS - it peaked at No.176 on the US Billboard album charts (didn't chart UK)

THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS were:
LARRY LEE – Drums, Piano, Guitar
JOHN DILLON -Guitars, piano, Fiddle and Mouthbow
MIKE GRANDA – Bass and Guitar
STEVE CASH – Harmonica
RUNE WALLA – Guitar and Banjo
STEVE CANADAY – Guitar, Bass and Drums
RUELL CHAPPELL – Keyboards
JERRY MILLS - Mandolin

The outer card slipcase and glossy 16-page booklet lend the release a classy look and come resplendent with new liner notes from JOHN O'REGAN (dated December 2023). O'Regan is good at these releases and gives a detailed overview not just of the five studio efforts that preceded "It's Alive" - but the Live Double itself, their departure from A&M Records to Columbia Records in 1980 and beyond into the present day and failed/successful solo efforts and even personal loses. The inner gatefold artwork is reproduced in the centre page spread and the valiant Remaster is care of ANDREW THOMPSON which to my ears has improved most of it and even made a fist of that distance that deadend the original issue. To the music…

Of the sixteen-track set – five were new – three originals and two covers. The cover versions consisted of an almost Acapella go at "Satisfied Mind" – the 1963 Porter Wagoner song from his RCA Camden LP "A Satisfied Mind". Written by Guitarist Jack Rhodes and Fiddle Player Red Hayes – it has become something of a Country standard ever since first touched upon by Glen Campbell in 1968 on Capitol Records. While the other fifteen songs are Live – their cover version of "Satisfied Mind" was recorded at "…the men’s shower, McDonald Arena, Springfield, Missouri…" so it (funny enough) feels like a studio outtake and is a bit of a hoot and reminder of their collective vocal power. Far better is the 2LP finisher – the other cover version – a take on the Bobby Womack classic "It's All Over Now" (also made famous by The Rolling Stones) where the electric guitar side of the band gets to Rock out and have some long-needed fun. The three newbies are a Steve Canady song called "Horse Trader" alongside "Commercial Success" (Steve Cash) and "Ooh Boys (It's Hot)" by Mike Granda. They are good-ish but never rise to great - the not-so subtle jab at the record industry in "Commercial Success" addressing A&M constantly begging them for another "Jackie Blue" radio-friendly jangle hit and the band not reciprocating (their drunken performance on a TV show the month of the live double's release seen by a Company man led to their contract not being renewed). 

The self-titled December 1973 debut is represented by three – the get in the Country Mood sway of "Black Sky" and the clucking and mouthbow-ing "Chicken Train" (both by Steve Cash) and the more melodic ballad "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" – a co-write between Cash and John Dillon. Platter number two "It'll Shine When It Shines" from December 1974 strangely only gets two – the big hit that truly put them and their Country Rock sound on the map "Jackie Blue" and the double-album's opener "Walkin' Down The Road". I would have liked 2nd LP nuggets like "E.E. Lawson", "You Make It Right" or even "Look Away". Their third studio set "The Car Over The Lake Album" from September 1975 is ignored entirely but the fourth "Men From Earth" from September 1976 is flush with four - "Fly Away Home" and "Noah" (John Dillon songs) with "You Know Like I Know" and "Homemade Wine" (Larry Lee songs). The final studio set "Don't Look Down" from October 1977 gets a couplet – the Larry Lee penned "Followin' The Way That I Feel" and the Dillon/Cash co-written "River To The Sun".

Ozark Mountain Daredevil fans will love the fact that "It's Alive" is at last out there on CD again and in proper style, but all others should go back to their sexier and more melodic studio basics – BGOCD648 that has the self-titled debut and "It'll Shine When It Shines" on 1CD - while BGOCD737 gives you three and four "The Car Over The Lake Album" and "Men From Earth" also on 1CD – both sets with great Audio. 

Maybe in the future England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) will reissue the lone catalogue hole from the A&M years - "Don't Look Down" with some of those rare B-sides from the early years or any other straggler goodies. We shall Fly Away Home then…

"Sugarloaf/Spaceship Earth" by SUGARLOAF – May 1970 US Debut Album (December 1970 UK) and February 1971 US Second Album (no UK issue) both on Liberty Records featuring Jerry Corbetta and Bob Webber (November 2023 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation Reissue – 2LP onto 1CD – Andrew Thompson Remasters – Originally Issued 12 May 2012) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS: Material ***

Audio ****

Presentation *** to ****

"…Green-Eyed Lady…"

Starting out for their 1970 debut album as a quartet from Denver, Colorado – SUGARLOAF expanded into a five-piece for platter number two in 1971 – but in 2024 – it isn't like you'd notice because in truth they are very much a footnote in the history of Rock Music. And unfortunately, on the evidence of what is presented here (this release is in fact a 2023 reissue of a compilation Beat Goes On put out back in 2012) – it is easy to hear why.

Their big moment came with a Rock-funky ditty called "Green-Eyed Lady" – a edited 45 off the debut which made an impressive No.3 position on the US Billboard Singles chart. But the subsequent LP (outside of that song) was nosedive poor and despite a better second – their initial momentum would remain gone until another chance hit single in 1975 and thereafter a third album and break-up in the late 70ts. Ace Keyboardist and founder-member Jerry Corbetta went on to join Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. They even had flourishes of Progressive Rock in their covers on the debut that sounded like The Nice doing Classical Rock and the addition of Robert Yeazel for the second album "Spaceship Earth" brought in much-needed songwriting chops. So, there is stuff here worth rediscovering. To the details…

UK re-released Friday, 3 November 2023 (Originally Issued 15 May 2012 with the same Catalogue number, Barcode and a 2012 Copyright Date on CDs and Rear) - "Sugarloaf/Spaceship Earth" by SUGARLOAF on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1043 (Barcode 5017261210432) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD that plays out as follows (78:49 minutes):

1. Green-Eyed Lady (6:53 minutes) [Side 1]
2. The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Stroll On) (2:23 minutes)
3. Medley: Bachs Door Man/Chest Fever (9:07 minutes)
4. West Of Tomorrow (5:28 Minutes) [Side 2]
5. Gold And The Blues (7:15 minutes)
6. Things Gonna Change Some (6:38 minutes)
Tracks 1 to 6 are their debut studio album "Sugarloaf" – released May 1970 in the USA on Liberty Records LST-7640 and December 1970 in the UK on Liberty Records LBS 83415 in STEREO. Produced by FRANK SLAY and J.C. PHILLIPS - it peaked at No.24 on the US Billboard charts (didn't chart UK). The British LP was at one point in time allocated a LBG catalogue number to reflect a Gatefold (like its American counterpart) - but Liberty must have thought better of it after the "Green-Eyed Lady" single from October 1970 did not do much business in Blighty. So it became a Single Sleeve and hence the LBS 83415 catalogue number. Playing times are from the CD and not the original LP.

SUGARLOAF was (Debut Album):
JERRY CORBETTA – Organ, Piano, Clavichord and Vocals
BOB WEBBER – Lead Guitar and Vocals
BOB RAYMOND – Bass
BOB MacVITTIE - Drums

7. Spaceship Earth (4:27 minutes) [Side 1]
8. Hot Water (4:10 minutes)
9. Rusty Cloud (3:01 minutes)
10. I Don't Need You Baby (5:16 minutes)
11. Rollin' Hills (3:36 minutes)
12. Mother Nature's Wine (2:58 minutes) [Side 2]
13. Country Dawg (2:36 minutes)
14. Woman (4:19 minutes)
15. Music Box (2:29 minutes)
16. Tongue In Cheek (7:38 minutes)
Tracks 7 to 16 is their second studio album "Spaceship Earth" – released February 1971 in the USA on Liberty Records LST-11010 in STEREO (no UK release). Produced by FRANK SLAY and J.C. PHILLIPS - it peaked at No.111 on the US Billboard Album charts.

SUGARLOAF was (Second Album):
JERRY CORBETTA – Organ, Piano, Clavichord, Celeste, Chimes and Lead Vocals
BOB WEBBER – Lead Guitar, Dobro and Vocals
ROBERT YEAZEL – Guitar, Bells, Classical Guitar, Harmonica and Lead Vocals
BOB RAYMOND – Bass and Vocals
BOB MacVITTIE - Drums

A word about this CD re-issue – the first version of this compilation hit the UK streets on 15 May 2012 with the catalogue number BGOCD1043, Barcode 5017261210432 and a 2012 Copyright date on its CD and rear card slipcase. This 2023 variant is an exact reissue of that 2012 compilation which unfortunately has the same catalogue number and barcode – the only way to tell the difference is the 2023 UMG and BGO Records Copyright Date on the rear and on the CD. The 16-page booklet is the same February 2012 version by JOHN TOBLER and has not been updated despite some fan complaints about content and the wishy-washy reproduction of the album cover photos. Shame BGO did not take time to change it because Tobler (normally a great read when it comes to these things) goes off into too many tangents that have slight or little to do with Sugarloaf.

Another point worth noting is this. Sugarloaf's huge hit was "Green-Eyed Lady" that hit the US Billboard charts 15 August 1970 and rose to No.3. The full album cut is 6:53 minutes, but the July 1970 US 45-single on Liberty 56183 was issued in two variants – a long edit at 5:58 minutes and a shorter more common edit at 2:58 minutes with the album cut of "West Of Tomorrow" on the B-side (5:25 minutes). The British 45 on Liberty LBF 15401 (9 October 1970) used the 2:58 minute version where singles out of Europe used the longer version. Neither edit is available on CD to this day (as far as I know) and it would have been cool for BGO to add even the shorter variant as a Bonus especially given that this is the song the band is most well-known for – but alas. The ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster of 2012 has not changed either but it didn't need to - very clear and punchy and in-your-face for all the right reasons. This is a good sounding CD even if the material leaves a lot to be desired and the Production Values reflect 1970 on the huff. To the songs…

Their self-titled "Sugarloaf" debut starts out on a winner – the hard-to-define Rock-Funky "Green-Eyed Lady" in all its near seven-minute album-sized glory. But things nosedive with a short instrumental cover version of The Yardbirds song "The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Stroll On)". While the opener sounded professionally cool – this thing sounds like a bad demo (so the audio quality is gone) and at only two and half minutes feels like total filler. Side 1 ends with a Marmite two-song mash-up of "Bachs Door Man" and "Chest Fever" where they come on like The Nice going all Classical Gas for the first 3:29 minutes until the keyboard led funkier "Chest Fever" shows up. The keyboard playing is good and you could iTunes edit the song on your player to start at 3:29 minutes, but it all feels just a tad laboured. 

Side 2 opens with the better "West Of Tomorrow" – vocals and a slight Psych feel make it and "Green-Eyed Lady" a killer two-sided single. "Gold And The Blues" turns out to a fairly pedestrian Blues instrumental that ambles along but isn't good enough to leave any real lasting impression. "Things Gonna Change Some" has nice ideas on positivity, but the lyrics and vocals are not great – the second half redeemed by some cool organ soloing. Not surprising then that despite its age copies of the "Sugarloaf" LP (54 years old in 2024) linger on Auction Sites for under a pound or a dollar. 

While their debut managed a 29-week chart run and an impressive peak of No.24, their second LP lasted only 9-weeks and peaked at No.111 (they would not trouble the charts again until 1975). The first three songs comprise of a plodding and tuneless title track followed by two vocal efforts that are not a lot better. In an obvious attempt to recreate the vibe of "Green-Eyed Lady" – the Slunky hustler piano groove in "I Don't Need You Baby" is the best so far. Pretty cool too is the slide-guitar Area Code 615 meets the Ozark Mountain Daredevils Country Rock vibe to "Rollin' Hills". It's followed by Clavinet Funk from Corbetta with "Mother Nature's Wine" – a message song with some of those nasal vocals he would become synonymous with when with Frankie Valli. The aimless poppy "Country Dawg" is not great despite Herculean efforts with the arrangements. "Woman" would be the flipside to the big single – the rocking "Tongue In Cheek" issued February 1971 as an edited US 45-single. Liberty 56218 was even afforded a picture sleeve and with its catchy rhythms went up No.55. The fab LP version is a saving grace on another lacklustre outing. 

Sugarloaf are a footnote in Rock History but there were reasons why they had their moment in the blazing sunlight of 1970 and 1971 and this audio pleaser allows you to hear why. Fans will love it, all others should grab a listen first…

"Spanky And Our Gang/Like To Get To Know You/Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason/Live" by SPANKY AND OUR GANG – August 1967 USA Debut Album [March 1968 UK], April 1968 US Second Studio LP [August 1968 UK], January 1969 US Third Studio Album [August 1969 UK], December 1970 US Fourth Album and First Live Set – All in Stereo (April 2024 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS: 

*** to **** Material 

***** Remasters 

***** Presentation

"…Icecream Daydreams…"

Universal's now defunct US Mail-Order label Hip-O Select had a well-won reputation for excellence in Audio. And bam – here is (somewhat belated) proof of that.

Back in February 2005 they released "The Complete Mercury Recordings" by Spanky & Our Gang on their US website as a supposed Limited Edition of some 3,000 copies. Hip-O Select B0003620-02 (no Barcode) had 4CDs containing all three studio albums by the Sunshine Pop American band (1967, 1968 and 1969) and their one posthumous Live Set from late 1970, a whole disc of Mono Singles and some Previously Unreleased (mostly 60ts tracks). Difficult to find even then, Universal gave it a Digital Download in August 2011 – but since then – bupkis – and not surprisingly that original hard copy on Hip-O Select has amassed price tags north of £250 in 2024. ELLEN FITTON – who did every one of the magnificent Motown Singles Books for Hip-O Select – is a Remaster Engineer I seek out – and it was she who did the Spanky And Our Gang set in 2005. 

So, I mention all of this by way of history because England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) has done the smart thing and licensed the same from Universal – albeit minus the Singles and Unreleased – allocated it a chunky booklet and colourful card slipcase - and all of it Remastered in stonking STEREO too. What a day for picking daisies and lots of bread balloons and holding hands and being with you. To the Icecream Daydream details…

UK released Friday, 19 April 2024 - "Spanky And Our Gang/Like To Get To Know You/Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason/Live" by SPANKY AND OUR GANG on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1514 (Barcode 5017261215147) offers 4 Stereo LPs Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (67:50 minutes):
1. Lazy Day [Side 1]
2. (It Ain't Necessarily) Byrd Avenue
3. Ya Got Trouble
4. Sunday Will Never Be The Same
5. Commercial
6. If You Could Only See Me
7. Making Every Minute Count [Side 2]
8. 5 Definitions Of Love
9. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
10. Distance
11. Leaving on A Jet Plane
12. Come And Open Your Eyes (Take A Look)
Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut studio album "Spanky And Our Gang" – released August 1967 in the USA on Mercury Records MG 21124 (Mono) and Mercury SR 61124 (Stereo) and March 1968 in the UK on Mercury Records 20114 MCL (Mono) and Mercury 20114 SMCL (Stereo) – the STEREO MIX only is used. Produced by JERRY ROSS - it peaked at No. 77 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart in the UK)

13. The Swingin' Gate [Side 1]
14. Prescription For The Blues
15. Three Ways From Tomorrow
16. My Bill
17. Sunday Mornin'
18. Echoes (Everybody's Talkin') [Side 2]
19. Suzanne
20. Stuperflabbergasted
21. Like To Get To Know You
22. Chick-A-Ding-Ding
23. Stardust/Coda (Like To Get To Know You)
Tracks 13 to 23 are their second studio album "Like To Get To Know You" – released April 1968 in the USA on Mercury Records SR 61161 (Stereo only) and August 1968 in the UK on Mercury Records 20121 SMCL (Stereo only) – STEREO MIX used. Produced by STUART SCHARF and ROBERT DOROUGH - it peaked at No.56 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart in the UK)

CD2 (78:11 minutes):
1. Anything You Choose [Side 1]
2. And She's Mine
3. Yesterday's Rain
4. Hong Kong Blues
5. Nowhere To Go
6. Give A Damn
7. Leopard Skin Phones
8. But Back Then
9. Mecca Flat Blues
10. Without Rhyme Or Reason
11. 1-3-5-8
12. Jane
13. Since You're Gone
Tracks 1 to 13 are their third studio album "Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason" – released January 1969 in the USA on Mercury Records SR 61183 (Stereo) and June 1969 in the UK on Mercury Records 20150 SMCL (Stereo) – STEREO MIX Used. Produced by STUART SCHARF and ROBERT DOROUGH - it peaked at No.101 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart in the UK)

14. Anything You Choose [Side 1]
15. Amelia Earhart's Last Flight
16. Waltzing Matilda
17. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
18. Steel Rail Blues
19. Oh Daddy
20. Dirty Old Man [Side 2]
21. The Klan
22. That's What You Get For Lovin' Me
23. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
24. Wasn't It You
25. You Got Trouble
Tracks 14 to 25 are their fourth album (first live) "Live" – released December 1970 in the USA on Mercury Records SR-61326 in Stereo (no UK issue). Produced by RICHARD KUNC – it was recorded at The Gaslight Club South, Coconut Grove in Florida - no dates advised other than most likely 1969 (it didn't chart).

(Debut Album) SPANKY AND OUR GANG was:
ELAINE "Spanky" McFARLANE – Lead Vocals
NIGEL PICKERING – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
MALCOLM HALE – Lead Guitar, Trombone, Vocals
PAUL "Oz" BACH – Bass Guitar, Vocals
JOHN SELTER – Drums 

(Second LP onwards) SPANKY AND OUR GANG was:
ELAINE "Spanky" McFARLANE – Lead Vocals
NIGEL PICKERING – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
MALCOLM HALE – Lead Guitar, Vocals
LEFTY BAKER – Lead Guitar
KENNY HODGES – Bass Guitar
JOHN (Chief) SELTER – Drums 
Guests:
Little Brother Montgormery and the Blues Band, Red Rhodes, Artie Schroeck, Lee Katzman, Mike Deasy, Larry Knechtel

The outer card slipcase and substantial 24-page booklet with new liner notes from CHARLES WARING (dated 2024) give an extraordinarily detailed overview not just of the four albums presented here – but how their short-lived career also included a Greatest Hits LP in October 1969 (before the Live set) and what happened to Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, the sad loss of Lead guitarist Malcolm Hale during their hit-years – their sunshine Pop music and witty lyrics – how the public lumped them in with The Mamas & The Papas and The Association. And those walls of layered vocals – check out "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" – sunshine and you were mine - gorgeous stuff even if it comes across as a tad twee in 2024. 

The artwork for all four albums front and rear is here as are any liner notes – even the poster that came with original copies of the "Like To Get To Know You" LP is reproduced on Page 19. Other pages have sheet music for various singles like "Lazy Day" and "Making Every Minute Count" and so on. Long-time contributor to the Mojo Magazine – Charles Waring taps Net references and credits them too – tales of Republican Presidential-candidate Richard Nixon being outraged at the anti-Vietnam references in their lyrically brave "Give A Damn" (not so squeaky-clean US politics highlighted amidst a youth call-to-arms). It makes for a hugely entertaining read and a microcosm of the wild-ride that was the late Sixties.

But all of that is kicked into touch once you get a lugful of the Remastered Stereo – ANDREW THOMPSON doing transfer justice to the ELLEN FITTON transfers. These CDs sound AMAZING – gorgeous clarity. However, it will not take fans long to notice that the "Greatest Hits" set is not here which contained longer versions of songs like "Sunday Mornin'" (6:15 minutes compared to 3:54 on the original LP) and "Like To Get To Know You" (3:18 minutes compared to 2:15 minutes on the original LP). And as there was room at the end of CD1 – it's a shame they're not Bonuses – but perhaps such rarities have been kept only to the Hip-O Select release. To the tunes…

Spanky And Our Gang had all the wit, sass, and vocal musical chops of The Mamas & The Papas – Sixties Sunshine Pop with loved-up prescription-induced attitudes – and all of it with a lady out front Spanky McFarlane while her five male cohorts brought up the Young Rascals meets The Association meets The 5th Dimension rear. The self-titled 1967 Summer of Love debut opens with a seriously hippy-happy moment in "Lazy Day" – a daisies and dancing-in-the-park upper Mercury Records paired with "(It Ain't Necessarily) Byrd Avenue" on the flipside of Mercury 72732 in October 1967. Far better is the seriously clever and funny "Commercial" where a garbage man discovers weed – given him by one of his with-it colleagues – and suddenly the flies and the smell don’t seem to matter anymore. And while their covers of "Brother, Can you Spare A Dime" and "Leaving On A Jet Plain" are cleverly worked versions that still sound pleasing - "Sunday Will Never Be The Same Again" and the wake-up-and-see there are no differences "Come And Open Your Eyes" are standouts.

The second LP saw a line-up change and produced a far more sophisticated and commercially accessible album - "Like To Get To Know You". The opening Side 1 track "The Swingin' Gate" throws in Guitars, Trombones and seriously layered melodies and words – and in glorious STEREO too. Talked in intro like a distant oldie from the radio "Prescription For The Blues" sees Elaine get a chance to go all Vaudeville and let rips with the vocals – all misery and a lover who went away. Lead Guitarist Lefty Baker penned "Three Ways From Tomorrow" – an attempt at a single that is filled with abba-dabba vocals. Witty returns with the unpaid final bill song – remittance needed – mail a cheque pretty please (even if you don’t have a job). "Sunday Mornin'" is Spanky And The Gang in all their vocal Beach Boys pomp – the Margo Guryan song hitting No.30 on the US Billboard singles charts. 

Personally, I am more enamoured with their seriously great (almost Beefheart slinky) cover version of the Nilsson song "Everybody's Talkin'" used for the John Schlesinger movie "Midnight Cowboy" which they title "Echoes (Everybody's Talkin')". Spanky does counter-vocals while guitar and strings and a very cool shuffling beat make the cover both new and familiar. Another fab re-working follows with their version of the Leonard Cohen song "Suzanne". Vaudeville tuba kicks in with "Stuperflabbergasted" where our heroes go at it for one minute. The two-minutes of "Like To Get To Know You" is gorgeous but feels too short and that once witty spoken intro now a tad waring. The acoustic guitar beginning of "Chick-A-Ding-Ding" is immaculate as are the so-in-love-with-you vocals where Elaine and Hale play off each other. The same astonishing audio ends their second LP with bop-boo-ya bouncing vocals of Stardust.

After a twenty-five-week chart run for "Like To Get To Know You" and a healthy Billboard LP position of No.56 – it must have come as a disappointment when platter number three "Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason" – started the New Year of 1969 with a peak of almost half - No.101 and only seven weeks on the Rock LP charts. As it opens with the big and brassy "Anything You Choose" – the audio is once again in yer face. That segues into the very Beach Boys "And She's Mine" – she gives me everything and no other girl comes close – a great song from Bassist Kenny Hodges. Like many of the tracks - "Yesterday's Rain" suffers instead of gains from an arrangement that is too busy – too eager to impress production-wise. After a misstep into cod-wit with "Hong Kong Blues" – Producer and Arranger Richard Scharf gives Spanky and her Crew a gem in the brilliant "Give A Damn" – fear lying beside most ordinary folks in Vietnam 1969 – few of them though thinking about stifling air in the ghetto. 

A Stereo Show on Headphones is the theme of "Leopard Skin Phones" – another misplaced too-clever tune. Two Montgomery men discuss playing bars and dives in the old days which then segues into Spanky singing like Judy Henske on the old-timey for "Mecca Flat Blues". The title track for Side 2 "Without Rhyme Or Reason" sings of how the world goes round – a sort-of Salsa shuffler with their trademark harmony vocals – a Sixties Manhattan Transfer. Sophisticated love hits again with "Jane" and the final Side 2 Nico-sounding moment "Since You've Gone" (gorgeous audio on both). But while the album "Anything You Choose b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason" was undoubtedly better technically than its second studio album predecessor – it somehow lacked the charm or clear winning singles. 

The "Live" set has no recording date (presuming 1969) but has the band tight and well-rehearsed. "Live" also introduced five or six new songs for fans starved of material - but in December 1970 – it must have felt like an artifact from a long-ago time that was not far away enough. There is no doubt about their vocal prowess when they do an Acapella cover of "Waltzing Matilda" and the audio is far better than it had any right to be. But stuff like "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" and covers of the Gordon Lightfoot songs "Steel Rail Blues" and "That's What You Get For Loving Me" feel like a Bar Band just about justifying their existence. "Live" is well recorded but it lacks any real magic and no wonder it bombed as a seller. Worse – it did not do their three-studio-album legacy the reappraisal it deserved.

Spanky And Our Gang have always been an acquired taste and a band completely tied to their time and sound – the Sixties and Sunshine Pop. But with the fab audio, professional presentation, and availability once again – fans should dive in if they missed out first time – and the curious can understand why BGO is rated by music lovers – giving us ageing hippies audio flowers to put in hair we no longer have. 

"Give A Damn!" about music and legacy - Beat Goes On does...

"Born To Be/Melanie/Candles In The Rain/Leftover Wine" by MELANIE – November 1968 USA Debut Album [February 1969 UK], October 1969 US Second Studio LP as "Melanie" in the USA but Issued December 1969 in the UK as "Affectionately Melanie", May 1970 US Third Studio Album [August 1970 in the UK] and September 1970 Live Album "Leftover Wine" [December 1970 in the UK] (June 2022 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 4LP Plus One Bonus Track onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Affectionately-Melanie-Candles-Leftover/dp/B09QJ4C4TK?crid=3H6WY3HXJCVV7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ptpIEqiyzrHG6N22PLJOJw.i3I_x4R2n9MwaA1qZPHwXIXS4Pr0cI2sbEpEC9eq0UA&dib_tag=se&keywords=5017261214799&qid=1713885486&sprefix=5017261214799%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=22137d94e016cd8baeba8f3778000b5b&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

This Review and 364 More Like It

Are Available In My E-Book 

 

GIMME SHELTER!

CLASSIC 1960s ROCK ON CD 

And Other Genres Thereabouts 

 

Your All-Genres Guide To 

Exceptional Reissues and Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs 

No Need To be Nervous!

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

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RATINGS: 

*** to **** Material

**** Audio

***** Presentation

"…If The People Are Buying Tears...I'll Be Rich Someday…"

Hippy warbler and all-round cutie-pie and decent human being Melanie was not for everyone at the time - and some five and half decades later here in the spring of 2024 – even more so. Her voice is fab to some – Marmite to others. But New Yorker songwriter Ms. Safka's popularity and chart successes were not without reason.

This superbly annotated and brilliant-sounding twofer from England's Beat Goes On Records (aka BGO Records) shows why fans like this reissue label so much. As you can see from Total Playing Times of 83:05 for CD1 and 81:32 for CD2 – you are not short of serious value for money. In a nutshell you get her first four albums in full – three studio starters and then a Live Show recorded at Carnegie Hall as platter number Four (all releases originally on Buddah Records and stretching from November 1968 in the USA to December 1970 in the UK) plus a Bonus 45-Single Mix on CD2. As I say, plenty on offer. 

The "Candles In The Rain" set (probably her most popular album) even gets a Single Version of that title song as a lone Bonus. One of only three ladies on the day (Janis Joplin and Joan Baez were the others) Melanie debuted her epic tune "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" at the legendary July 1969 Woodstock Festival in the USA where she won over the crowd after filling in for a cancelled Incredible String Band slot (it broke her to a worldwide audience). The LP "Candles In The Rain" followed May 1970 in the USA (August 1970 in the UK) to capitalise on her popularity and the festival's growing influence and legend.

And as much of the female singer-songwriter material across these four long-players (not all but most) is a young woman with a warble and powerhouse set of lungs (once she lets rip) accompanied by only an Acoustic Guitar – the clarity of the Remasters is starkly powerful and moving and very much in the listeners favour (if you can take that voice – Marmite - love it, loathe it). Lot to talk about – to the facts…

UK released Friday, 3 June 2022 - "Born To Be/Melanie/Candles In The Rain/Leftover Wine" by MELANIE on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD1479 (Barcode 5017261214799) offers 4LPs Plus 1 Bonus Track Remastered onto 2CDs that plays out as follows:

CD1 (83:05 minutes):
1. In The Hour [Side 1]
2. I'm Back In Town
3. Bo Bo's Party
4. Mr. Tambourine Man
5. Momma Momma
6. I Really Loved Harold [Side 2]
7. Animal Crackers
8. Christopher Robin
9. Close To it All
10. Merry Christmas
Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut studio album "Born To Be" – released November 1968 in the USA on Buddah Records BDS 5024 and February 1969 in the UK on Buddah Records 203 019. Produced by PETER SCHEKERYK (her husband) - it didn't chart in either country, but the 45-single for "Bo Bo's Party" on Buddah 610 022 was a No.1 hit in France. All songs on the debut written by Melanie Safka except "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan and "Christopher Robin" has lyrical references to A.A. Milne

11. I'm Back In Town [Side 1]
12. Tuning My Guitar
13. Soul Sister Annie
14. Any Guy 
15. Uptown Down
16. Again 
17. Beautiful People [Side 2]
18. Johnny Boy
19. Baby Guitar
20. Deep Down Love
21. For My Father
22. Take Me Home
Tracks 11 to 22 is her second studio album "Melanie" (USA) – released October 1969 in the USA on Buddah Records BDS 5041 and December 1969 in the UK credited as "Affectionately Melanie" on Buddah Records 203 028. Produced by PETER SCHEKERYK (her husband) - it didn't chart in the UK but peaked at No.196 on the US Billboard charts in November 1969. All songs written by Melanie Safka except "Soul Sister Annie" by Thomas Jefferson Kaye

23. Candles In The Rain (1:42 minutes) [Side 1]
24. Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) (Long Version, 7:37 minutes)
25. Carolina In My Mind
26. Citiest People
Tracks 23 to 26 are the first four of five songs on Side 1 of her third studio album "Candles In The Rain" (US Version) – released May 1970 in the USA on Buddah Records BDS 5060 and August 1970 in the UK on Buddah Records 2318 009. Produced by PETER SCHEKERYK (her husband) – it peaked at No.17 on the US Billboard charts and No.5 in the UK. All songs written by Melanie Safka except "Carolina In My Mind" and "Ruby Tuesday" which are James Taylor and Rolling Stones cover versions. "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" features Edwin Hawkins on Piano accompanied by The Edwin Hawkins Singers. For the last song on Side 1 and the rest of Side 2 of "Candles In The Rain" – see CD2.

CD2 (81:32 minutes):
1. What Have They Done To My Song, Ma [Last Song on Side 1]
2. Alexander Beetle [Side 2 of the US LP - see below]
3. The Good Guys
4. Lovin' Baby Girl
5. Ruby Tuesday
6. Leftover Wine
Tracks 1 to 6 are the last song on Side 1 of her third studio album "Candles In The Rain" and the whole of Side 2. However, the UK LP used the song "Close To It All" from the debut album as the opener for Side 2 instead of "Alexander Beetle" which was only ever on the US album version of "Candles In The Rain". To avoid duplication of the song "Close To It All" – BGO has used the US configuration of the LP. Release details etc – see Tracks 23 to 26 on CD1

BONUS TRACK:
7. Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) – Single Version
Track 7 is the Edited to 3:49 minutes UK 45-single version issued 17 April 1970 on Buddah 2011 013, A-side – credited to Melanie with The Edwin Hawkins Singers. It used Track 23 on CD1 as its B-side. It was issued March 1970 in the USA on Buddah BDA 167 with the same flipside

8. Close To It All [Side 1]
9. Uptown and Down
10. Momma Momma
11. The Saddest Thing
12. Beautiful People
13. Animal Crackers
14. I Don't Eat Animals [Side 2]
15. Happy Birthday
16. Tuning My Guitar
17. Psychotherapy
18. Leftover Wine
19. Peace Will Come (According To Plan)
Tracks 8 to 19 are her fourth album (first live) "Leftover Wine" – released September 1970 in the USA on Buddah Records BDS 5066 and December 1970 in the UK on Buddah Records 2318 011. Produced by PETER SCHEKERYK (her husband) – it was recorded in one night at Carnegie Hall, New York with Melanie on Acoustic Guitar only. It peaked at No.33 on the US Billboard charts and No.22 in the UK.

The outer card slipcase and substantial 24-page booklet with new liner notes from JOHN O'REGAN (dated January 2022) give an extraordinarily detailed overview not just of the four albums presented here – but her entire career past the No.1 single "Brand New Key" on her own Neighborhood Records (and those who later covered it) right up to inductions in Halls Of Fame in 2015 and 2019. It's impartial and yet affectionate and quite rightly gives a congratulatory nod to her successes and popularity. The front and rear artwork for all the LPs is here too along with any original liner notes like say Margie Joseph for the Carnegie Hall live set "Leftover Wine" (Page 1 to10) - while fans will recognise other photos from the inner sleeves punctuating the remainder of the text.

The New Remasters from licenced tapes are by BGO's resident Audio Engineer and a veteran of such vintage material – ANDREW THOMPSON. These albums were well recorded – there is shockingly little hiss yet enough air and warmth around the songs as they play to keep a personal touch coming out of your speakers. She was young too, full of passion and vim and when Melanie let rip on say "Bo Bo's Party" – the impact is amazing. Coming across like a more manic Bobbie Gentry or even Julie Felix – for her second UK 45 off the debut album in February 1969 – Buddah paired it with another album cut "I'm Back In Town" on the flipside of Buddah 201 028 and the audio on both is warm and everything you would hope for. That great clear sound continues throughout. To the music…

A very Paris-by-the-Seine accordion plays in "In The Hour" soon to be accompanied by an acoustic guitar and her highly affected warble. As other reviewers of the time noted – song-wise Buddah seemed to pitch the music at anything goes – vaudeville at times – hippy upbeat ditties the next – all styles - Nilsson meets Randy Newman in tights. Unfortunately, this means that stuff like "I'm Back In Town" and the ha-ha yuck "Animal Crackers" sound terribly dated – but simple songs like "Bo Bo's Party" and "I Really Loved Harold" feel powerhouse by contrast (like a female Fred Neil at times).  "Bo Bo's Party" even made inroads on European 45-singles charts. Buddah UK made her British debut 45-single "Christopher Robin" b/w her brilliant stripped-back almost-spoken cover of the Dylan Sixties classic "Mr. Tambourine Man" – the A-side all about A.A. Milne and the Hundred Acre Wood (Buddah 201 027, December 1968). Melanie talks to her mother in "Momma Momma" – fears she reared her daughter wrong – longing for something – a place to belong – a huge performance and announcement of a major Folk-Rock talent. 

Opening platter number two is a snippet Acapella re-record of "I'm Back In Town" from the debut that is a dismissible – far better is "Tuning My Guitar" – her true aching personality coming through even if it is a tad hissy in places before the strings kick in. Thomas Jefferson Kaye would release his own solo albums in 1973 and 1974 on Dunhill USA (Probe Records in the UK) and even secure the talents of Steely Dan as musicians on the self-titled debut (Donald Fagan, Walter Becker, David Palmer and Jeff Baxter are all on there – along with Engineer and Producer Roger Nicholls and Gary Katz). But before all that Thomas Kaye was a songwriter for hire – and Melanie uses his lone contribution "Soul Sister Annie" as a cool rocker that works as it breaks up the Folkie overload. 

Coming on very much like a female Labi Siffre – her "Uptown Down" is brilliant. Buddah used it as the flipside to "Beautiful People" (a more commercial pitter-pattering A-side) for Buddah 201 066 in December 1969 – a British 45-single - but it did no business (maybe they should have flipped it). Accomplished is how the quiet loveliness of "Again" comes over – a lyrical pain too as she searches for meaning and even friends in a business that offers few. The acoustic guitar and voice theme continues with "Johnny Boy" while her pal is gonna be a big star according to those in the know in "Baby Guitar" – a great 60ts groove and lyrically up there too. "Deep Down Low" and "For My Father" show how far her songwriting had gone while the peaceful and simple "Take Me Home" ends platter number two on a lovely note. "Melanie" or "Affectionately Melanie" as it was known in the UK was a big step forward after the style-tentative debut and it sounds gorgeous here. 

Door No.3 "Candles In The Rain" was her "Mud Slide Slim" LP – the album that broke her out into the mainstream. In fact, Melanie covers James Taylor's "Caroline In My Mind" on Side 1 perhaps aligning herself with US singer-songwriters who were smashing down doors everywhere in 1970 and 1971 and 1972. Her choir-version and almost hymnal take for "Lay Down (Candle In The Rain)" may make 2024 ears bleed a little - but back in the day it had that Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar vibe that captured audiences and listeners in their droves. The in-yer-face album cut of "Lay Down (Candle In The Rain)" hammers on with handclaps and walls of choir voices (Edwin Hawkins singers) and tambourines for a full 7:39 minutes (the single is an edit at 3:49 minutes – a Bonus Track on CD2). Her soft and sweet feel-the-sunshine cover of James Taylor's "Caroline In My Mind" fits – while she ends Side 1 with a gem - "Citiest People" – her gentle ballad telling of a harsh tale of a man who was unkind to an un-city girl – turned a maid ugly when there was no need. Lovely audio too.

"…If the people are buying tears...I'll be rich someday…" - Melanie sang on her other famously self deprecating song "What Have They Done To My Song, Ma" - the 45-single B-side of "Ruby Tuesday" in the UK (August 1970, Buddah 2011 038). Her stunning cover version of The Stones' classic "Ruby Tuesday" deconstructs the song and reveals its inherent menace. Can't say that the childish "Alexander Beetle" is something I ever want to hear again (USA-LP exclusive or no) - but both "The Good Guys" and "Lovin' Baby Girl" save the day with their whacking acoustic passion. Melanie brings her "Candles In The Rain" LP to a close with a song she would use to name her next LP by - the live "Leftover Wine". With sparse and in the background instruments - "Leftover Wine" has sugar-plums dancing in her head - bowls of stale vino enticing come the morning after. Fans will dig the 'Single Edit' of "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" cleverly placed after the LP has ended. 

The live set is supposed subtitled 'Recorded Live At Margie's Birthyday Party' which turns out to be New York's Carnegie Hall done 'solo' - her and an Acoustic Guitar. Opening with a slightly dreary "Close To It All" - things pick up with a far better "Uptown Down" - her voice and finger-picking echoing ever so reverentially around the famous venue with surprising clarity. The boys in the city couldn't care less if she loves them or not - while she continues to search for God knows what. Another strong song elicits applause - "Momma Momma" starting out politely until she lets go - a brave brute of a performance in front of such an audience with just an acoustic guitar. Someone even shouts 'we love you' inbetween tunes and they did.

Melanie Safka sadly passed in January 2024 - but this BGO twofer documenting her first four albums on Buddah Records (1968 to 1970) does her starting out period a genuine solid - a fabulous release and one I'm sure fans will love. 

What have they done to my song ma - they've treated it right. God Bless...