"The Dream Weaver/The Light Of Smiles/Touch And Gone/Headin' Home" by GARY WRIGHT [ex Spooky Tooth] - US Albums from July 1975, January and December 1977 (two) and March 1979 on Warner Brothers Records – featuring (April 2018 UK Beat Goes On Reissue – 4LPs onto 2CDs – Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Think It's Time To Get Ready..."

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Beginning a four-album run with England's Spooky Tooth from the July 1968 debut "It's All About" to July 1970's "The Last Puff" - Keyboardist GARY WRIGHT then pumped out two Rock-Soulful solo albums on A&M Records in 1970 and 1971 - "Gary Wright's Extraction" and "Footprint". They featured folks like Guitarists Jerry Donahue of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay and American rocker Ronnie Montrose, Horn playing legends King Curtis and Rolling Stones regulars Bobby Keys and Jim Price along with backing singers like Nanette Newman, Doris Troy, Madeline Bell and P.P. Arnold (impressive session people to say the least). 

Wright had also been an integral part of the 1970 George Harrison triple-album magnum opus "All Things Must Pass" – Beatle Harrison returning the favour by appearing on and co-producing (uncredited) the second LP "Footprint". Gary would also tinkle those heartbreaking ivory keys on Nilsson's worldwide mega-hit "Without You" in 1972. After two British singles failed in March and November 1972, GW was to see his "Ring Of Changes" LP credited to Gary Wright's Wonderwheel issued sometime in December 1972 on A&M Records - but it was withdrawn due to lack of interest (Esoteric Recordings have done a superb 2016 CD Reissue and Remaster of it). From there he reformed Spooky Tooth and popped out more (largely ignored) studio albums on Island Records like 1973's "Witness" and the delightfully entitled "You Broke My Heart So...I Busted Your Jaw" - most of which I've reviewed on 2016 Paschal Byrne and Ben Wiseman Remasters for Universal. 

Which brings us to 1975 and this October 2018 double-digital cracker from English reissue specialist BGO (Beat Goes On Records). It deals with phase two of his huge career – Wright's signing to Warner Brothers in the USA where he hit paydirt big time with his pioneering all-keyboards albums. After an initial slow start from release in July 1975, two of his Warner 45s from "The Dream Weaver" LP belatedly smashed their way up to No. 2 on the US Top 100 in 1976, prompting the album itself to shift bucket-loads of copies and eventually achieve an impressive No. 7 placing. The other three Warners LPs dealt with it on this British card slipcase reissue charted in the American Top 200 (two from January and December 1977 and one from March 1979) - albeit in ever-lowering numbers. 

I hadn't really expected much from these platters with their slightly cheesy titles (The Light Of Smiles, oh dear) and in all honesty, it's been decades since I played any of them. And re-hearing them now, I can recall why I thought the later LPs lacked something or were just poorer versions of the big one. But like everyone else late to this synth-Rock party, I remain surprised at some of these forgotten goodies. Here are the loves that are still alive...

UK released Friday, 27 April 2018 - "The Dream Weaver/The Light Of Smiles/Touch And Gone/Headin' Home" by GARY WRIGHT on Beat Goes On BGOCD1334 (Barcode 5017261213341) offers 4LPs from 1975, 1977 (two) and 1979 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

CD1 (74:38 minutes):

1. Love Is Alive [Side 1]

2. Let It Out 

3. Can't Find The Judge 

4. Made To Love You

5. Power Of Love 

6. Dream Weaver [Side 2]

7. Blind Feeling 

8. Much Higher 

9. Feel For Me 

Tracks 1 to 9 are his third studio album "The Dream Weaver" - released July 1975 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2868 and November 1976 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56141. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 7 in the USA, didn't chart UK

10. Water Sign [Side 1]

11. Time Machine 

12. I Am The Sky

13. Who Am I 

14. Silent Fury 

15. Phantom Writer 

16. The Light Of Smiles [Side 2]

17. I'm Alright 

18. Empty Inside 

19. Are You Weepin'

20. Child Of Light 

Tracks 10 to 20 are his fourth studio album "The Light Of Smiles" - released January 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2951 and January 1977 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56278. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 23 in the USA, didn't chart UK

CD2 (78:00 minutes):

1. Touch And Gone [Side 1]

2. Starry Eyed

3. Something Very Special 

4. Stay Away

5. Night Ride 

6. Sky Eyes [Side 2]

7. Lost In My Emotions

8. Can't Get Above Losing You 

9. The Love It Takes 

Tracks 1 to 9 are his fifth studio album "Touch And Gone" - released December 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3137 and January 1978 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56435. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 117 in the USA (didn't chart UK) 

10. Keep Love In Your Soul [Side 1]

11. Love's Awake Inside 

12. You Don't Own Me

13. Moonbeams 

14. Stand 

15. I'm The One Who'll Be By Your Side [Side 2]

16. Follow Next To Me 

17. I Can Feel You Cryin'

18. Let Me Feel Your Love Again

19. Love Is Why

Tracks 10 to 19 are his sixth studio album "Headin' Home" - released March 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3244 and March 1979 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56585. Produced by GARY WRIGHT - it peaked at No. 147 in the USA, didn't chart UK.

The card slipcase on these BGO CD sets lends the release an air of class and the 24-page booklet with JOHN O'REGAN liner notes reproduces all the original LP artwork and inners whilst illuminating his extraordinary career – especially his sort of unspoken/unknown contribution to Keyboard Rock – a pioneer to be held in the same revered sentence as say Keith Emerson, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre and his home contemporaries like Rick Wakeman of Yes and Roger Davies of Supertramp. 

BGO's long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON has done the Digital Remasters into Hi Def, and always beautifully produced in the first place, it's hardly surprising to find that this 2018 transfer hits all the right notes. The clarity of that "Love Is Alive" synth punch is fantastic and to get all four platters sounding this good for less that twelve quid is some kind of deal. Speaking of the same, much is made in the liner notes of the guitar-less "Dream Weaver" album as being innovative whilst at the same time acknowledging those who had trailed this path before - Stevie Wonder, Tonto's Expanding Head Band and even acts like Beaver and Krause. 

But I've always thought that Gary Wright was actually smarter than that - his noggin pointed at arty 'hits' – no doubt sick and tired of well-intentioned British Rock that didn't really sell. There is also a touch of The Cars about his LPs in this mid to late Seventies period – Yacht Rock hooks swirling around sexy piano-based melodies – commercial yet credible – the clever lad. To the albums...

Despite his huge Stateside success, Gary Wright saw "The Dream Weaver" LP have to wait until November 1976 to get a release in Blighty - the single "Love Is Alive" b/w "The Dream Weaver" issued as a UK 45-single taster in late October 1976 on Warner Brothers K 16831. It seems strange now that such a fantastically commercial double-whammy 7" single like that couldn't have elevated the LP into the British Top 50 - but no joy. And when you listen to the perfectly-formed Michael McDonald-sexy Doobie Brothers Soul-Rock of say "Let It Out" (those great harmony vocals with the ladies) or the driving Boogie-Funk of "The Power Of Love" and the "Love Is Alive" soundalike of "Much Higher" (a tremendous transfer whacks those drums out of your speakers for both) - you wonder why normally-savvied British DJs didn't pick up on this. "Take away my worries of today..." Wright sang on the swirling 'I believe we can reach the morning light' of the title track – another winner on a very satisfying LP. 

"The Light of Smiles" album from early 1977 followed the same all-keyboards of its Yacht Rock predecessor but I thought it wasn’t nearly as good. I found "Who Am I" a little too schlocky for my tastes and the short childish chant "I Am The Sky" little more than filler. "Silent Fury" and "Child Of Light" touched on the same Funky Rock magic of "The Dream Weaver" album – abandoned youngsters making for strangely upbeat song material. 

There is a huge jump upwards in Production values when you reach the late 1977 release of "Touch And Gone" – like he was aiming at the polished Hall & Oates marketplace without perhaps having their genius with a tune that moves both the feet and the heart. The title track is a great single and "Something Very Special" is the kind of upbeat synth dancer that would have played out the credits of any late 70s Rom Com film set in Miami or California. A lot better is the Soulfulness in "Stay Away" and the hit-city keyboard funk of "The Love It Takes" (you've got it baby). You feel a change in the air because your "Love's Awake Inside" on Side 1 of the "Headin' Home" album from 1979, again featuring uber production values. "Moonbeams" feels like it's trying to be soulful without actually knowing how (wash your sorrows in moonbeams - oh dear). Better is the hit-single of "I'm The One Who'll Be By Your Side" and the nothing-to-hide slow dancer "I Can Feel You Cryin'".

For sure there will be those in 2020 who feel these Gary Wright albums are dated and of a time long past that isn't worth revisiting (as I did) and there are enough cheesy moments to prove some of that right. But there is also the good stuff. "I think it's time to get ready..." he sang on "Love Is Alive". Better late than never...

PS: 

The "Gary Wright's Extraction" debut LP came out December 1970 on A&M SP-4277 in the USA (January 1971 on AMLS 2004 in an elaborate foldout poster sleeve in the UK) - while his second studio solo set "Footprint" hit US and British stores on A&M SP-4296 and A&M AMLS 64296 in 1971 respectively. Both were also dealt with by BGO in December 2005 with a 2LPs-onto-1CD reissue – see Beat Goes On BGOCD699 (Barcode 5017261206992).

"The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" by THE ELECTRIC BANANA [The Pretty Things under a pseudonym] – Including Six UK Library Music Albums from 1967, 1968, 1969 (two), 1973 and 1978 on the Music de Wolfe label – featuring Richard Taylor, Phil May, John Povey, John Alder and Alan (Wally) Waller of The Pretty Things (September 2019 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Free Love..."

Imagine you're a hip and happening dapper dude filmmaker walking down the King's Road in 1967 London with an afghan coat in one hand and a lysergic tablet in the other. You've just left the Tangerine Tandem Purple Ship Bicycles Bar with your copy of Oz that contains a fascinating article on the use of macrobiotic yoghurt in Himalayan yacks. 

But before that, you engaged in a very disturbing A/B-Button payphone phonecall to your moneyman (i.e. Producer). He has broken the bad news. If you want actual groovy cool music originals from the hipster bands of the Swinging Sixties in your film about nubiles mating with aliens from the planet EggNog at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice - the cost is prohibitive man. Drat - you think. You pop that tab from your right hand into your mouth and wallah! Suddenly, the fog of the hassling man has dissipated and all has become translucently and metaphysically clear baby. I need Library Music...

When I worked as the Rarities buyer in Reckless Records in Islington and Soho - the three big Library Music makers - KPM, Chappell and Music de Wolfe - would present themselves in collections at your counter in the form of albums with the same artwork - just different catalogue numbers. You would have song titles on the back sleeves like "Love Dance And Sing" or "A Thousand Ages From The Sun" - and have no earthly idea who was playing on what LP – or which one of these samey-looking buggers was worth the dosh. 

The dark arts of Library Music always elicited two reactions amongst collectors in my experience - frenzy or a yawn. There were those who adored the Psych and Film Music instrumentals you could stumble upon hidden inside these obscure LPs that turned up like musical thieves in the night in secondhand record shops. But there were also those who had forked out £20 for an LP that contained only insipid incidental interludes – none of which were interesting or cool (burned once, never again). And that’s where this superbly done 3CD Clamshell Mini Box set comes a bopping in.

Our Psych-rocking heroes moonlighting in the latter part of the 60ts as 'The Electric Banana' turned out to be none other than members of The Pretty Things (a quick perusal of the DW/LP credits beneath the titles showed that the songs were written by Richard Taylor, Phil May, John Povey and Alan Waller). A 60ts supergroup in their own right, but also an integral part of that underground scene which had its toes in eclectic films and TV programs - these records have always been touch stones for fans of the PT's. And they are rare in original form. 

The moniker 'The Electric Banana' never did get out an album on a major label, but as this box shows, managed six LPs on the British Library music label Music de Wolfe in 1967, 1968, 1969 (two), 1973 and 1978. And typically, Grapefruit Records of the UK have done a stunning job of shining a torch on a very dimly lit part of the counterculture. To the goose, the street girls, the orphan ladies and oodles of free love...

UK released Friday, 27 September 2019 - "The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" by THE ELECTRIC BANANA on Grapefruit Records CRSEGBOX058 (Barcode 5013929185807) is a 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (61:51 minutes):
1. Walking Down The Street [Side 1]
2. If I Needed Somebody 
3. Free Love 
4. 'Cause I'm A Man 
5. Danger Signs 
6. Walking Down The Street (Instrumental) [Side 2]
7. If I Needed Somebody (Instrumental)
8. Free Love (Instrumental)
9. 'Cause I'm A Man (Instrumental)
10. Danger Signs (Instrumental)
Tracks 1 to 10 are the UK Library Music album "Electric Banana" released 1967 on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3040 in Mono - credited to ELECTRIC BANANA with TILSLEY ORCHESTRAL 

11. I See You [Side 1] 
12. Street Girl 
13. Grey Skies 
14. I Love You
15. Love Dance And Sing
16. A Thousand Ages From The Sun 
17. I See You (Instrumental) [Side 2]
18. Street Girl (Instrumental) 
19. Grey Skies (Instrumental) 
20. I Love You (Instrumental) 
21. Love Dance And Sing (Instrumental)
22. A Thousand Ages From The Sun (Instrumental)
Tracks 11 to 22 are the album "More Electric Banana" UK released 1968 on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3069 in Mono

CD2 (77:35 minutes):

1. Alexander [Side 1]

2. It'll Never Be Me 

3. Eagle's Son 

4. Blow Your Mind

5. What's Good For The Goose

6. Rave Up 

7. Alexander (Instrumental) [Side 2]

8. It'll Never Be Me (Instrumental)

9. Eagle's Son (Instrumental)

10. Blow Your Mind (Instrumental)

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Even More Electric Banana" - released 1969 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3123 in Mono [NOTE: see also Track 11, CD3]

11. Sweet Orphan Lady [Side 1]

12. I Could Not Believe My Eyes

13. Good Times 

14. Walk Away 

15. The Loser 

16. Easily Done 

17. Sweet Orphan Lady (Instrumental) [Side 2]

18. I Could Not Believe My Eyes (Instrumental)

19. Good Times (Instrumental)

20. Walk Away (Instrumental)

21. The Loser (Instrumental)

22. Easily Done (Instrumental)

Tracks 11 to 22 are the album "Hot Licks" - released 1973 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3284 in Stereo

CD3 (46:28 minutes):

1. Do My Stuff [Side 1]

2. Take Me Home 

3. James Marshall 

4. Maze Song 

5. Whiskey Song 

6. Do My Stuff (Instrumental) [Side 2]

7. Take Me Home (Instrumental)

8. James Marshall (Instrumental)

9. Maze Song (Instrumental)

10. Whiskey Song (Instrumental)

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "The Return On The Electric Banana" - released 1978 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3381

11. The Dark Theme (Instrumental) 

Track 11 is from the album "Even More Electric Banana" - released 1969 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3123 in Mono [NOTE: see Tracks 1 to 10 on CD2 for the rest of the album]

These Clamshell Mini Box Sets always feel classy to the touch while three individual card sleeves do their back-and-front best to picture the five albums artwork in varying ways. DAVID WELLS has done the serious sleuthing liner notes to unravel the secrets for the 30-page booklet. Packed with period photos and snaps - you get stills from TV programs like Dr. Who, Monique, Edna The Inebriate Woman, Private Eye, The Sweeney and Dawn Of The Dead - all of whom used Electric Banana music. There is also a wonderful collage page of publicity stuff for the April 1969 movie "What's Good For The Goose" with Norman Wisdom and Sally Geeson - one that shows the band in period clobber looking very right on. The distinctive 'Pop Sound' LP artwork is there too as are repro's of those rare orange and white Music de Wolfe LP labels. 

Sound – the very essence of these recordings is Mono Grunge – so those looking for Abbey Road type Stereo magnificence and perfection should collect theirs at the kiosk now and leave. Not surprisingly there are no audio transfer credits, but the remastered sound is uniformly excellent even given the limitations of these late 60ts recordings. It feels like your eavesdropping on The Small Faces having an extra curricular or in the case of Side 2 of the LPs where you got instrumental versions of the five or six sung-songs on Side A – it feels like you’re listening to backing tracks by The Kinks or The Who - in all their hooky gonzo-bashing power. 

In fact even though the lyrics on Side 1 of the debut about "Street Girls" waiting for customers under the lamplight and self-centred men who sleep all day and come home late at night in "'Cause I'm A Man" are actually way better than most Sixties observations by other bands (excluding The Kinks) – it's the instrumentals and their naked backbeats that have always intrigued me. Striped of the loaded so-60ts references and words, you lock into the mostly guitar-driven Rock-Psych groove they got and I love that (Mods have always had a thing for their Small Faces sound too). And of course no commercially released LP would ever do this configuration – so the song/instrumental side-by-side dynamic was exclusive to Library Music LPs. 
People stare as they pass you by, knowing somehow that you've seen the promised land, says our likely lad in "Walking Down The Street" - whilst the Pretty Things cheeky bugger singer wants to forego foreplay down-payments directed at a woman's affection altogether and go directly to the free love bit in, well "Free Love". 

By the time you get to the genuinely improved excellence of album two, John Povey and Peter Reno have begun to contribute to the songs (alongside Phil May, Richard Taylor and Allan Waller) – examples being the superb Who-meets-The Charlatans vibe of "Grey Skies" and the "...give your soul to the wind...be free... " mantra of "Love Dance And Sing" – a song that eloquently sums up the very essence of breaking down emotional barriers – the stuff that indeed make the Sixties swing. And on it goes to the last LP that features a token PT presence but not a lot of anything else. 

For sure if you are a Pretty Things aficionado then "The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" is a must-own. But it also a way for others to get a crack at side projects – fringe listening that still stands up – songs and their instrumental counterparts. 
"Loving you was my first mistake..." our hero worries in "Danger Signs" – missing out on this will be our mistake now...

"A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" by JASON CREST – Five UK 45’s from 1968 and 1969 on Philips Records plus Rare and Unissued Acetate Tracks and Radio Sessions from 1968 and 1969 – featuring Terry Clark, Terry Dobson, Paul Siggery, Derek Smallcombe, Ron Fowler and more (May 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 2CD Anthology – Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 324 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites
CADENCE / CASCADE 

PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters

Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On

Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground 

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"...Turquoise Tandems..."

Now here's an obscure one with splinters that went off in every which way. 

Formerly known first as The Spurleeweeves then The Good Thing Brigade between 1965 and 1966 – British Psych darlings JASON CREST were quickly renamed and signed to Philips in 1967, thereafter managing to usher out five singles between 1968 and 1969 (but no album). 

Thereafter they morphed yet again, this time into the Island Records act called High Bloom. You will remember Toploader's year 2000 poppy cover version of High Broom's ''Dancing In The Moonlight" - originally an August 1970 UK 45-single on Island WIP 6088. Once High Broom had had its day (again no album), three former members of the five-piece (Roger Siggery, Derek Smallcombe and Terry Clark) went into a band called Holy Mackerel who managed a single self-titled album on CBS Records UK in 1972 (not to be confused with the American group of the same name who had an album on Reprise Records in 1968 that featured "Classical Gas" hitmaker Mason Williams). A tangled web indeed... 

Grapefruit's typically exemplary anthology "A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" gathers together all 10 of those non-album single sides, further outtake rarities and even finds some previously unreleased radio sessions - lumping the lot onto a 2CD set that will surely act as the definitive document for a band's whose 45s now command big bucks (if you can find them). Here are the turquoise tandems...

UK released Friday, 20 September 2020 - "A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" by JASON CREST on Grapefruit Records CRSEG078D (Barcode 5013929187825) is a 28-Track 2CD Anthology that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (59:42 minutes):
1. Turquoise Tandem Cycle 
2. Teagarden Lane 
3. Patricia's Dream 
4. A Place In The Sun 
5. My House Is Burning
6. King Of The Castle 
7. The Collected Works Of Justin Crest 
8. Black Mass 
9. Charge Of The Light Brigade 
10. (Here We Go Around The) Lemon Tree 
11. You Really Got A Hold On Me 
12. Two By The Sea 
13. Juliano The Bull 
14. Education 
15. Waterloo Road 
16. Good Life 
17. Black Mass (Dubious Mix Version) 
Tracks 1 and 16 are the non-album A&B-sides of their January 1968 UK debut 45-single on Philips BF 1633
Tracks 13 and 12 are the non-album A&B-sides of their April 1968 UK second 45-single on Philips BF 1650
Tracks 10 and 3 are the non-album A&B-sides of their August 1968 UK third 45-single on Philips BF 1687
Tracks 15 and 14 are the non-album A&B-sides of their February 1968 UK fourth 45-single on Philips BF 1752
Tracks 4 and 8 are the non-album A&B-sides of their August 1968 UK fifth and final 45-single on Philips BF 1809
Tracks 2, 6, 7, 9 and 11 first appeared on the July 1993 UK Various Artists LP "Syde Trips Three" on Tenth Planet TP006 
Track 5 is copyright 1994 Tenth Planet 
Track 17 is Previously Unreleased, Copyright 2020

CD2 (35:23 minutes):
1. Hold On 
2. A Hazy Shade Of Winter 
3. Fresh Garbage
4. California Dreamin' 
5. Paint It Black 
6. What's It Like 
7. Come Together 
8. It's A Way To Pass The Time 
9. Good Times, Bad Lines 
10. Better By You, Better Than Me
11. Percy's On The Run 
Tracks 1 to 11 first appeared 1999 on the UK Jason Crest LP "Radio Sessions 1968-1969" on Tenth Planet TP041, a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies. Tracks 1 to 5 recorded in November 1968, tracks 6 to 11 in November 1969 - both radio sessions. 

The chunky three-way foldout card digipak is pretty in resplendent orange and red day-glow images as is the typically jam-packed 24-page booklet. The memorabilia pictured includes a flyer for a July 1965 gig in The Bromel Club (Bromley, Kent) – the embryonic Spurleeweeves set up for Thursday the 19th. 

DAVID WELLS employs help from all sources as he pieces together the band’s progress – promo photos, acetate labels, a two-page display of trade gig adverts where Jason Crest share stages with Elmer Gantry, Kipperton Lodge, The Skatalites and Desmond Dekker. There is even a photo of them as High Broom and loads of other juicy factoids (it is a great read and an informative one too). 

BEN WISEMAN does his usual job of wickedly good remastering even if some of the acetate stuff is a tad ropey around the edges. 

Disc 1 offers us the singles and a wad of outtakes that first saw light of day in 1993 on the cult label Tenth Planet – and what an eclectic rattle they all make. Faves for me include "Juliano The Bull" and "Two By The Sea" whilst the boys got a little Rock-Soulful with their unissued cover of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles classic "You Really Got A Hold On Me". In fact out of only one other cover version on CD1 - Roy Wood's 1968 "Move" debut album track "(Here We Go Round The) Lemon Tree" - Vocalist Terry Clark alongside Lead Guitarist Terry Dobson provided all of the songs. 

Which makes the strange cackle of covers on Disc 2 seem like some other project Jason Crest were pursuing in order to get noticed or even paid. After Disc 1, it is weird to hear The Mamas & The Papas, The Rolling Stones and Simon & Garfunkel covers even if their genius shows through on the Spirit classic "Fresh Garbage". There are intriguing contributions too from Drummer Paul Siggery and other guitarist Derek Smallcombe in "It's A Way To Pass The Time" – Smallcombe getting heavy too on his "Good Times, Bad Lines". 

You would not call this kind of Psych an easy listen by any means, but this JASON CREST 2CD Anthology is yet another reason why Grapefruit are so liked by collectors – they tread where others won't go and deliver every time...

"Roadhawks" by HAWKWIND – April 1976 UK Album Compilation with Exclusively Remixed Rarities and Previously Unreleased - featuring Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Lemmy [later with Motorhead], Del Dettmar, Simon King and more (May 2020 UK Esoteric Recordings/Atomhenge Remastered Edition CD Reissue in Gatefold Card Repro Artwork With A Replica Poster – Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...You Should Do That..."

When the mop-up compilation "Roadhawks" was issued on vinyl in April 1976 on United Artists UAS 29919 - it made sense. 

But at just over thirty-nine and half minutes total playing time in May 2020 for a Hawkwind CD (you wot!) - a body can't help feeling a tad short-changed. Even with its restored gatefold card sleeve artwork, replica foldout poster and new Ben Wiseman Remasters from original UA master tapes and first time on CD status – you could argue that this is an unnecessary buy if you have all the August 2001 CD Remasters from EMI? And what Hawklord nutter wouldn't...

But – as always with the mighty Space Rockers - there is still much Hawkwind fun to be had here and several exclusives too. In the meantime, here is a breakdown of the head-banging details...

UK released Friday, 22 May 2020 - "Roadhawks" by HAWKWIND on Esoteric Recordings/Atomhenge QATOMCD1045 (Barcode 5013929634527) is a Remastered Edition of an April 1976 UK compilation LP (United Artists UAS 29919) that plays out as follows (39:36 minutes):

1. Hurry On Sundown [Side 1]
2. Paranoia (Excerpt) 
Both tracks from the debut LP "Hawkwind" released August 1970 in the UK on Liberty LBS 83384. The track "Paranoia" was released in two parts on the debut LP; this is Part 2 of the song edited down from 4:11 minutes to 4:00 minutes here. 

3. You Shouldn't Do That (Live)
Previously Unreleased - recorded live 22 December 1972 at The Liverpool Stadium)

4. Silver Machine [Side 2]
Originally the A-side of a non-album UK 7" single released June 1972 on United Artists UP 35381. "Silver Machine" was recorded live 13 February 1972 at The Roundhouse in London and its non-album studio-track B-side "Seven By Seven" can be found on the August 2001 Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster of "X In Search Of Space" (Barcode 724353003029 will locate that CD). The version offered on "Roadhawks" is a Remixed one.

5. Urban Guerilla 
Originally the A-side of a non-album UK 7" single released 22 June 1973 on United Artists UP 35566. Its superb non-album studio-track B-side "Brainbox Pollution" can be found on the August 2001 Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster of "Doremi Fasol Latido" (Barcode 724353003128 will locate that CD). 

6. Space Is Deep 
From their third studio album "Doremi Fasol Latido" - released November 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29364.

7. Wind Of Change 
From their fourth studio album "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" – released August 1974 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29672. 

8. The Golden Void From their fifth studio album "Warrior On The Edge Of Time" – released May 1975 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29766. 

Compiled and Remixed by band-member Dave Brock in November 1975 - first up you had a newly remixed version of the hugely popular 1972 "Silver Machine" 45-single making its first appearance on an LP. Added to that was the brilliant riffage of the quickly withdrawn 1973 British 7" single "Urban Gorilla" again debuting on a vinyl album (the BBC had banned the song two weeks after it charted at No. 34 because it coincided with terrorist bombings in London and they felt (wrongly) that its lyrics promoted urban warfare rather than condemned it). 

Third came a Previously Unreleased live version of the "X In Search Of Space" riff monster and huge fan fave "You Shouldn't Do That" - recorded 22 December 1972 at the Liverpool Stadium. The five others as you can see from the list above were choice cuts from four studio albums ranging from the "Hawkwind" debut in 1970 to "Warrior On The Edge Of Time" released May 1975. "Roadhawks" originals also came in Barney Bubbles-inspired gatefold artwork and had a cool (and huge) foldout poster too. 

This May 2020 Reissue (CD and LP) on their Esoteric Recordings label imprint ATOMHENGE reproduces the lot for the first time on CD and they have even pressed a 180gram vinyl album for the first time since a budget release in 1984. To the music... 

"Roadhawks" may be short on either format, but man does this sucker rock, and in my ears offers a genuine audible reason as to why people loved the no-nonsense heads-down sonic assault that was/is Hawkwind. You could of course argue that had Atomhenge thrown in the non-album studio B-sides "Seven By Seven" and especially "Brainbox Pollution" as extras in an 'Expanded Edition' and perhaps included something from the destroyer that is the "Space Ritual" live double from May 1973 – then this reissue would have been five to six stars. But there is also something about less is more at work here and how these eight choices focus the listen better. Plus it looks cool too. 

Fans will have to own it whilst the casual buyer will enjoy its cheap-as-chips ethos enough to go back to Side 1 and replace the needle/choose Track 1 on the remote. And I can just hear Lemmy say, damn the torpedoes you putz - you should do that...

"This Is Fame 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring Jimmy Hughes, Clarence Carter, Arthur Conley, Otis Clay, The Del-Rays, Art Freeman, James Barnett, Jeanie Greene, Dan Penn (and Spooner Oldham), George Jackson, Billy Young, Ralph Jackson, June Conquest, Herman Moore, Richard Earl & The Corvettes and more (October 2020 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation in Mono – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Almost Persuaded..."

Covering the Southern Soul and Muscle Shoals sound of Rick Hall's famous and much celebrated FAME Studios in Alabama – a sympathetic haven for such Soul and R&B legends as Clarence Carter, Otis Clay, Arthur Conley and the quality writing duo of Dan Pen & Spooner Oldham plus many more - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" was originally issued 7 October 2016 in the UK as a 2LP vinyl-only compilation on Ace/Kent SoulKENT2 504 (Barcode 029667005111). What you have here is an October 2020 UK CD variant with the same track line-up. 

Nine of these twenty-four cuts were initially only on and exclusive to Kent CD-compilations issued between 2011 and 2014 - Tracks 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23 and 24 to be exact (see detailed list below). So in October 2016, they made sense being on a 24-track vinyl-only 2LP set. 

But four years later, an October 2020 CD reissue of just over 62-minutes should really have been extended by four or even six more songs because that playing time is now looking a little low. More importantly, a few more choice-choices would have fixed some initial reviews stating that although "This Is Fame 1964-1968" looked good in theory - the actual listen left you feeling somehow slightly short-changed. That would have been improved upon easily had the numbers been bumped up (this 2020 CD smacks of a Covid-19 pandemic schedule filler). 

But for now, let us deal with what we do have; here are the details and the hi-heel sneakers... 

UK released Friday, 30 October 2020 - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Kent Soul CDKEND 494 (Barcode 029667100328) is a CD compilation that plays out as follows (62:17 minutes):

1. Steal Away - JIMMY HUGHES (May 1964 US 45-single on Fame 6401, A-Side)
2. It Tears Me up - JAMES BARNETT (from the March 2013 UK CD compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 2: More Rare & Unissued Gems From Fame Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 386 - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song)
3. She Ain't Gonna Do Right - CLARENCE CARTER (September 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1016, A-side - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song)
4. I Can't Stop (No, No, No) - ARTHUR CONLEY (August 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1007, A-side)
5. That Kind Of Lovin' - OTIS CLAY (October 1968 US 45-single on Cotillion 44009, B-side of "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man")
6. Fortune Teller - THE DEL-RAYS (1965 US 45-single on R and H Records 1005, A-side)
7. Slippin' Around With You - ART FREEMAN (September 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1008, B-side of "I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" - A-side is a Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham song)
8. Keep On Talking - JAMES BARNETT (January 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1001, A-side - A Dan Pen and Spooner Oldham song - the B-side "Take A Good Look" is track 21 on this CD compilation)
9. Hi-Heel Sneakers - JIMMY HUGHES (August 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1015, A-side)
10. Long Ago - BEN & SPENCE (from the March 2013 UK CD compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 2: More Rare & Unissued Gems From Fame Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 386)
11. Don't Make Me Hate Loving You - JEANIE GREENE (from the November 2011 UK 3CD Various Artists Book Set "The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973" on Ace/Kent Soul KENTBOX 12)
12. (Take Me) Just As I Am - DAN PENN (May 1965 US 45-Single on Fame 6409, A - credited to Lonnie Ray)
13. Back In Your Arms - GEORGE JACKSON (from the September 2011 UK George Jackson CD-compilation "Don't Count Me Out: The Fame Recordings Volume 1" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 363)
14. Feed The Flame - BILLY YOUNG (from the November 2011 UK 3CD Various Artists Book Set "The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973" on Ace/Kent Soul KENTBOX 12)
15. You Really Know How To Hurt A Guy - RALPH "Soul" JACKSON (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
16. Thread The Needle - CLARENCE CARTER (April 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1013, A-side)
17. A Piece Of My Heart - ART FREEMAN (May 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1012, A-side)
18. Wish You Didn't Have To Go - SPOONER & THE SPOONS (January 1965 US 45-single on Fame 6406, A-side - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song) 
19. Almost Persuaded - JUNE CONQUEST (February 1965 US 45-single on Fame 6406, A-side - a Dan Penn and Donnie Fritts song)
20. I'm Gonna Forget About You - ARTHUR CONLEY (October 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1009, A-side)
21. Take A Good Look - JAMES BARNETT (January 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1001, B-side to "Keep On Talking" - Track 8 on this CD compilation)
22. Come On Home - HERMAN MOORE (from the January 2014 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 3: Previously Unissued Gems From The FAME Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 410)
23. Blind Can't See - RICHARD EARL & THE CORVETTES (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
24. I Worship The Ground You Walk On - JIMMY HUGHES (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
All tracks in MONO 

The 12-page booklet features the same DEAN RUDLAND liner notes done for the October 2016 2LP set. Promo photos of June Conquest, George Jackson, a dapper Billy Young and the gold-shirted Ben & Spence sit alongside those tasty Fame Records US 45 labels and even a Pye International UK demo of the fabulous "Steal Away" by Jimmy Hughes - a tune that opens the CD in spectacular form. Long-time Ace Records Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS remastered all of the Mono tracks in 2016 and the feel is uniformly stunning - song after song (even the outtakes) reflecting an in-house band and production crew – both second-to-none. To the tunes...

"I gotta see you...can't wait..." Jimmy Hughes pleads in the gorgeous Southern Soul classic "Steal Away" that is quickly followed by a James Barnett cover of the Percy Sledge pleader "It Tears Me Up". Clarence Carter worries about a sinful world and the moral integrity of his girl in "She Ain't Gonna Do Right" - songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham giving the poor chap too much to think about in his Saturday night boozy dotage. 

We enter Blues Brothers territory with Arthur Conley's tremendous dancer "I Can't Stop (No, No, No)" and I doubt the talcum powder on English Northern Soul dancefloor boards will cease either with killers like this in the offing. We slow things down to a lurch with Otis Clay having a tender lurve moment on "That Kind Of Lovin'", but The Del-Rays cover of "Fortune Teller" that ends Side 1 of the LP feels oddly out-of-place and way weaker than the five impresarios that preceded it. 

A sexy keyboard backbeat turns the Art Freeman song "Slippin' Around With You" into another Penn/Oldham winner while the piano-rolling cool dancer "Keep On Talking" by James Barnett is complimented by its equally good B-side "Take A Good Look" further down the track list line (No. 21). Things slip dramatically when Jimmy Hughes fails to come close to the sexy Tommy Tucker original of "Hi-Heel Sneakers" - Hughes' version featuring some nice guitar for sure but still nowhere near as good as the 'put on' version we know and love. 

Ben & Spence save things with "Long Ago" - the kind of humdinger Motown or Stax would have been proud to call their own. And although the recording is defiantly rough around the Production edges, there's no knocking the vocal performance Jeanie Greene puts in for "Don't Make Me Hate Loving You" - a pained plea of the highest Soulful calibre. Dan Penn ends Side 2 by telling us that his old car might run funny, but he's still gonna give his girl his heart - if he can just get his mojo and motor into second gear (we're rooting for you man). 

George Jackson shows just why Soul Music aficionados adore him so as he slaughters the gorgeous "Back In Your Arms" - his woman pawning her best clothes so she can put food on the table for her temporarily broke beau. But Billy Young finds that unless he can "Feed The Flame" for his lady - she might buy back her finest apparel (from the same pawn shop no doubt) and head for the door. An upbeat dancer is needed about now and no man better than Clarence Carter to provide swivel-hip sustenance with his fantastic "Thread The Needle". 

Things slip again with the embarrassing sunshine-pop tweeness of "Wish You Didn't Have To Go" (not Spooner Oldham's finest moment) but the compilation is saved by June Conquest and her movie-sexy conscience-battle song, where she caught a glimpse of her former squeeze's wavy hair and was "Almost Persuaded" (keep it stiff June, that resolve). Arthur Conley doesn't initially know what he's going to do with his broken self either in "I'm Gonna Forget About You" - but then summons up his inner bad boy and decides that he's gonna go out and have a ball anyway (what a melch). 

Make no mistake - there is a lot of quality on the 2020 CD reissue of "This Is Fame 1964-1968". 

But as Clint Eastwood is fond of saying at a Wigan Casino all-nighter - for a few tracks more - it could have been good, bad and just a little less ugly in certain places. 

Still, with enough musical goodness to keep us shuffling on the kitchen lino for less than a fistful of Euros - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" is recommended anyway...