"Unknown Pleasures" by JOY DIVISION – June 1979 UK Debut Album on Factory Records (October 1980 USA Debut LP on Factory) featuring Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris - last three then became New Order (September 2007 UK London Records 2CD 'Collector's Edition' Reissue and Remaster - CD1 The Album - CD2 Live at The Factory, Manchester, 13 July 1979 - The Full Concert With Two New Previously Unreleased Tracks and Jon Davis Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Blood On My Fear..." 

 

Perception is an interesting thing. 

 

Original band member and future New Order leading light, Bernard Sumner remembers Manchester's Joy Division in the live arena as Hard and Heavy and Raucous (and indeed they were known to be a bit punishing as a listen). And that's what they wanted to capture on their first platter, new to a studio environs or not.

 

But their debut album "Unknown Pleasures" - UK issued June 1979 on Factory Records with only 5000 copies initially - ended up sounding like nothing of the sort. What emerged on vinyl was a Downbeat Post Punk new kid was on the sonic block that needed to get out more. It was all doom and dreamscape and ever so slightly druggy - like an updated British New Wave/Alternative Indie version of Pink Floyd's "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" debut in 1967 - or maybe the physical manifestation of a hangover with incessant droning noises in your throbbing forehead that just won't quit and if you think about them too much, somehow call themselves songs (if you can believe that).

 

In fact, Bernard Sumner's recollections in the new 20-page booklet come on as if he's describing Joy Division's initial sound stage as being Hawkwind doing whatever the f they want. So what happened - why did we end up with this hypnotic relentlessly black and white Pulsar CP 1919 downer?

 

The difference is and has always been the Production Values of the hip and happening wunderkind Martin Hannett. The album was done at Strawberry Studios in Stockport in April 1979 where Sumner maintains egotist Hannett did 'his own thing' regardless - turned down the guitars when they wanted them up - smoothed out the 'raw' upfront for a backdrop of eaten crisps and broken bottles in the background - whilst emphasizing the real-world-hurt-drenched vocals of Ian Curtis and the whack-chops of Drummer Stephen Morris (someone Hannett rated). But you have to argue, that despite the hate some band members have expressed on the finished product at the time and maintained down through the decades (they apparently didn't attend the original mixing sessions) – what Hannett did – worked – like say Trevor Horn did for Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984.

 

At this point in April 2022, it seems the common consensus that Hannett kind of accidentally invented the Joy Division Sound for which they became famous - an emotional extremity you either loved or loathed - the public going for the first. Well, if I crank "Interzone" where huge riffage now comes kicking out my speakers or settle on the funereal grunge of "Day Of The Lords" - I'm thinking this sympathetic 2007 Remaster is giving us both. To the New Dawn...

 

UK released 12 September 2007 - "Unknown Pleasures" by JOY DIVISION on London Records 2564 69778 9 (Barcode 825646977895) is a 2-Disc Collector's Edition Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (39:28 minutes):

Outside

1. Disorder [Side 1]

2. Day Of The Lords 

3. Candidate 

4. Insight 

5. New Dawn Fades 

Inside 

6. She's Lost Control [Side 2]

7. Shadowplay 

8. Wilderness

9. Interzone

10. I Remember Nothing 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their Debut Album "Unknown Pleasures" - released June 1979 in the UK on Factory Records FACT 10, October 1980 USA on Factory Records FACTUS 1. Produced by MARTIN HANNETT, it eventually charted (after re-pressings) August 1980 and peaked at No. 71.  

 

CD2 The Factory, Manchester, Live 13 July 1979 (44:39 minutes):

1. Dread Souls 

2. The Only Mistake 

3. Insight 

4. Candidate 

5. Wilderness 

6. She's Lost Control 

7. Shadowplay 

8. Disorder

9. Interzone

10. Atrocity Exhibition 

11. Novelty 

12. Transmission

 

I have to admit that the gatefold foldout card digipak is pretty in some ways, but it's also bloody boring. I don't really get a sense of celebration from this 2-Disc Reissue. You have to say that sympathizer and singles-genre CD compiler JON SAVAGE does a bang-up job in his new 20-page liner notes of keeping it truthful – interviews with surviving band members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris all allowed to breath – uncensored opinions. There are four black and white photos - The Factory building and Joy Division on a center spread, but bizarrely none of the actual LP sleeve or 45s surrounding it – no catalogue numbers, no discography, no charts etc.

 

Over on the Bonus Disc, ten of twelve tracks from the live gig of 13 July 1979 at The Factory were issued on the December 1997 "Heart And Soul" 4CD Box Set (also on London Records) – here it has been decided to include the other two to complete the concert – "Shadowplay" and "Transmission". Taped only weeks after the debut LP had arrived in local shops, that show captures them in the moment - better than bootleg sounding rip-roaring versions of "Novelty" and crowd pleasers like "Insight" and "Disorder". But yes, you would have to say that two new live versions and the whiff of laziness in the packaging is hardly the stuff of reissue legend (hence the four stars). To the dirty laundry in squalid launderettes...

 

"I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand...cut these sensations...make me feel the pleasures of a normal man...take the shock away..." - Curtis sang on the opening "Disorder" where you can so hear the grooves of Can and Neu - what a racket. "I'm not afraid anymore!" Curtis then sings on the Space Invaders infected drone that is "Insight" - that distorted guitar clearer now than I remember on previous versions. The huge Bass of Peter Hook dominates the opening palette of "New Dawn Fades" before Ian gets intense singing of different shades in a monochrome landscape - thoughts spinning - hoping for something more. It's a magnificent slice of Joy Division - weight-of-the-world heavy for sure, but up there as the cymbals and drums fade out. 

 

Even now, nearly 45-years after it first hammered my ears with its undeniably power - "She's Lost Control" is extraordinary-sounding DIY British New Wave - a disturbing yet moving song about epilepsy and its debilitating effects. The drone and sheer lowlife sleaze that emanates from the six-minutes of "I Remember Nothing" (Side 2's finisher) is another incredible moment and you have to say that the Remaster of this nasty little brute has made it huge - possibly one of the most impressive moments on an album full of them.

Curtis and his crew left behind an extraordinary legacy and this cleanly presented 2007 Two-Disc Collector's Edition of "Unknown Pleasures" at least does the Audio business by it - I just wish I could get back that excitement of old when I take it down off the shelf...

"Take A Heart Plus The Pye A & B Sides And More" by THE SORROWS featuring DON FARDON Solo Material - December 1965 UK Debut Album on Piccadilly Records in Mono Plus Non-LP 45-Single Sides, Outtakes and Don Fardon Solo Material (December 2021 UK Beat Goes On 50-Track 2CD Compilation - Their 1965 Debut LP Plus 38 Bonuses - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 240 Others Is Available In My

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Artists from A to L...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

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A Huge 1,750+ E-Pages 

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"...Pink Purple Yellow And Red..."

 

The last time the hugely collectable Sixties Beat and Mod darlings The Sorrows had their lone-album-plus-singles output given a proper do over was Castle Music's brilliant "Take A Heart" 2CD set in 2006 (Sanctuary/Castle Music CMDDD 1290 - Barcode 5050749412904). That deleted and subsequently pricey digital rarity packed a huge 42-cuts including the full album in Stereo over on CD2. But years have passed and their Freakbeat legend grown even more frenzied. Time for another wallet shuffle me hearties. 

 

This December 2021 Beat Goes On 2CD Compilation out of the UK (itself delayed from August 2021 due to COVID-19) gives us a huge 50 tracks - throwing in ten further Don Fardon solo releases including the hugely popular Top 5 hit "The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian". 

 

Why the heat when it comes to The Sorrows? By the time you're less than five or six boombox grooves into their December 1965 debut album "Take A Heart" - a truly great Mod-Beat blaster of an LP originally on Pye's Piccadilly Records - it's easy to hear why both it and their 45-releases trade for such serious spondulicks amongst collectors. The Sorrows rocked as hard as The Kinks and were just as cool as The Small Faces, but unlike those 60ts Heroes, never got the breaks. However, both The Sorrows and Don Fardon had sizeable careers in Europe, The Sorrows singing seven foreign language versions of their spiky tunes, whilst Fardon had four French and German exclusives - all eleven included here on CD2 (very thorough). 

 

There's a heap-ton of misery and sorrow to sort out, so once more my intrepid blue-eyed travellers to the Beat Caves of Coventry, those Bad Boys of Variety lurking with winkelpickers within (they speak several languages too you know)...

 

UK released 10 December 2021 - "Take A Heart plus the Pye A & B Sides and more" by THE SORROWS (including some DON FARDON solo tracks) on Beat Goes on BGOCD1442 (Barcode 5017261214423) is a 50-Track 2CD compilation of New Remasters based around their 1965 debut/only LP "Take A Heart" that plays out as follows...

 

CD1 (61:45 minutes): 

TAKE A HEART 

1. Baby [Side 1]

2. No No No No 

3. Take A Heart 

4. She's Got The Action 

5. How Love Used To Be 

6. Teenage Letter 

7. I Don't Wanna Be Free [Side 2]

8. Don't Sing No Sad Songs For Me 

9. Cara-Lin 

10. We Should Get Along Just Fine 

11. Come With Me 

12. Let Me In 

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "Take A Heart" - released December 1965 in the UK on Piccadilly Records NPL 38023 (Mono) and NPLS 38023 (Stereo).

BONUS TRACKS: 

13. I Don't Wanna Be Free 

14. Come With Me 

Tracks 13 and 14 are the Mono A&B-sides of their debut UK 45-single, January 1965 on Piccadilly 7N 35219 

 

15. Baby 

16. Teenage Letter

Tracks 15 and 16 are the Mono A&B-sides of their second UK 45-single, April 1965 on Piccadilly 7N 35230

 

17. Take A Heart 

18. We Should Get Along Fine 

Tracks 17 and 18 are the Mono A&B-sides of their third UK 45-single, August 1965 on Piccadilly 7N 35260

 

19. You've Got What I Want  

Track 19 is the Non-LP Mono B-side to "No No No No", their fourth UK 45-single, August 1965 on Piccadilly 7N 35277

 

20. Let The Live Live 

21. Don't Sing No Sad Songs For Me

Tracks 20 and 21 are the Mono A&B-sides of their fifth UK 45-single, April 1966 on Piccadilly 7N 35309

 

22. How Love Used To Be

Track 22 is the Mono 7" Single Mix B-side of "Let Me In", their sixth UK 45-single, August 1966 on Piccadilly 7N 35336

 

23. Pink Purple Yellow And Red

24. My Gal

Tracks 23 and 24 are the Mono Non-LP A&B-sides of their seventh UK 45-single, June 1967 on Piccadilly 7N 35385

CD2 (73:11 minutes):

MORE BONUS TRACKS 

1. Gonna Find A Cave 

2. I Take What I Want 

3. Baby All The Time 

4. Baby (1966 Version)

5. Nimm Mein Herz ("Take A Heart" in German)

6. Sie War Mein Girl ("We Should Get Along Fine" in German)

7. Mi Si Spezza Il Cuore ("Take A Heart" in Italian)

8. Vivi ("Baby" in Italian)

9. Verde, Rosso, Giallo, Blu ("Pink Purple Yellow And Red" in Italian)

10. No No No No (Italian Language version)

11. Zabadak 

12. La Liberta Costa Cara ("How Love Used To Be" in Italian)

13. Hooky 

14. You're Still Mine 

15. Armchair King 

16. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Tracks 1 to 4, 11 and 13 to 16 were unreleased recordings done between 1964 and 1967 first issued 2006 on the Sanctuary/Castle Music 2CD set "Take A Heart"

 

DON FARDON Releases

17. The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian

18. Dreamin' Room

Tracks 17 and 18 and the A&B-sides of UK a 45-single that was issued three times. First was 3 November 1967 on Pye 7N 25437, second was 8 October 1968 on Pye 7N 25475 and third was the same songs reissued 4 September 1970 on Youngblood YB 1015 - third version finally charted and peaked at No. 3 in the UK

 

19. Daytripper

Track 19 is Track 2, Side 1 on a November 1967 French 4-Track "The Letter" on Vogue Records EPL 8583

  

20. Goodbye 

Track 20 is the Non-LP B-side to "Treat Her Right", issued March 1968 in Germany on Hit-Ton HT 300158

 

21. We Can Make It Together 

22. Coming on Strong 

Tracks 21 and 22 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a UK 45-single, 31 January 1969 on Pye Records 7N 25483

 

23. Good Lovin' 

24. Ruby's Picture's On My Wall

Tracks 23 and 24 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of a UK 45-single, 21 March 1969 on Pye 7N 25486

 

25. Running Bear 

26. I Need Somebody

Tracks 25 are 26 are the Non-LP A&B-sides of an April 1969 German 45-single on Vogue DV 14860

Apart from being pretty, the outer card slipcase lends these BGO reissues a feeling of event and the 20-page booklet has seriously great new liner notes courtesy of ROGER DOPSON. Photos of Lead Guitarist Pip Whitcher, Rhythm Guitarist Wez Price, Vocalist and Songwriter Don Maughn (better known of course as Don Fardon) with Bassist Philip Packham and Drummer Bruce Finley dot the text as do the Schroeder liner-notes to the Debut LP and small label shots of those Piccadilly British 45s, rare Dutch picture sleeves. Dopson waxes affectionately (and quite rightly to) of Don Fardon's moody and menacing vocal delivery combined with the biff-bang-pow guitar work of Coventry's Pip Whitcher and also tells of how Italy, Germany and other European destinations offered them a career outside of Blighty which seemed determined to ignore their myriad 7" single releases. 

The new ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters are all sparkly, but I'm buggered if I can tell whether or not the actual album is all in STEREO - seems like a combo of Mono and Stereo to me. The punch out of the stand-alone MONO 45-sides is kicking, just as you would want it to be.

 

Although Page 2 of the booklet lists only the 'Mono' LP code of NPL 38023 as the version used for CD, the new liner notes mention that seven of the twelve on the debut album had been 45-single sides in Mono prior to the LP's December 1965 release, but also that some of those single-sides were re-recorded in Stereo for the LP. Although I admit I'm guessing here, my ears tell me that "We Should Get Along Fine" and "Come With Me" and "Teenage Letter" are among the 'Stereo' versions.

 

The five new cuts to the debut LP are "She's Got The Action", "How Love Used To Be", "Don't Sing No Sad Songs To Me", "Cara-Lin" and "Let Me In". Band member Miki Dallon penned two Beat and Mod corkers - "She's Got The Action" and the incendiary "Let Me In". Prime slot amongst the newcomers is The Sorrows cool cover version of The Strangeloves September 1965 US 45-single "Cara-Lin" on Bang Records B-508. 

 

Among the re-records, I would admit that their cover of "Teenage Letter" (a Fifties R 'n' B bopper closely associated with Big Joe Turner on Atlantic Records) is lesser in Stereo somehow, but still has that wicked Harmonica solo. The Mono single cut (Track 14) is fantastic and has punchier audio. Killers amidst the Bonus Tracks are many - especially the Mod-tastic groove of "You've Got What I Want" - an August 1965 B-side to "No No No No" that outdoes The Kinks in sheer passion of attack while The Small Faces and Steve Marriott might have looked longingly at "Let The Live Live" - a cracking stand-alone April 1966 7" single telling its listeners to mellow out and let people be people. Freakbeat and Fuzz Guitar aficionados will worship at the alter of the wild "My Gal" - a ball-breaking B-side that will set your wallet back the guts of £200 - if you can find one. In fact, the mind boggles even more when you hear they did Italian language versions of both these bruising sides - Tracks 7 and 8 to you buddy over on CD2. Wow!

Among the originally unreleased 60ts material, "Gonna Find A Cave" (Track 1 on CD2) is a truly fantastic discovery and I'm sure someone is petitioning Ace Records as I speak to find a place in their schedules-heart to put it out on a Kent-Dance 45-single resplendent with their equally cool cover of the Sam & Dave classic "I Take What I Want" as its flipside. "Baby All The Time" successfully shares two lead vocals while "Baby" is a more menacing wanting-you cut that could easily have been another killer 45. Weirdo entries include the Joe Meek Telstar-sounding "Zabadak" is some foreign language that has a pretty melody and would Bob Stanley weak at the knees. "Hooky" is a slip-away and make-love-to-you dirty guitar bopper where the boys are clearly trying to channel Immediate Records 1967 Steve Marriott (feels unfinished but is cool). "Armchair King" is Pop best forgotten and their early stab at The Platters "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" feels like another band caught in getting a hit no matter what (it's not that bad, but I dare say the band would probably cringe at it now). 

 

By way of welcome relief comes the speaker-to-speaker taught our English to their young John Loudermilk cover version - "The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian" – both cool and cheesy in equal amounts. Its very Georgie Fame Brass and Organ R&B B-side "Dreamin' Room" is a wee bit of a flipside gem too. Even his easy-way-out cover of The Beatles' "Daytripper" is sufficiently funked up and jiggered about to make it more than a slavish copy - possibly even a Mod dancer. "Goodbye" shows Dallon's knack for a melodrama melody. But they are trumped by the very Dusty Springfield/Scott Walker feel to "We Can Make It Together" and its mega-desirable bass-driven "Coming On Strong" - another great B-side with Fuzz Guitar and wild soloing. Fardon's cruelly overlooked March 1969 7" single A-side "Good Lovin'" and the languid smoocher B-side "I Need Somebody" to the next 45 both offer a great way to go out on a fabulous twofer. 

 

England's Beat Goes On (BGO) have treated The Ivy League, The Searchers, The Rockin' Berries, Jimmy James and The Vagabonds and Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band to these 4LPs-worth-of-material Remastered onto 2CD sets (I've reviewed a few) and they really are so damn good as comprehensive anthologies. 

 

"Baby, can you understand, I'm your man..." Don Fardon of The Sorrows sang on the seriously great organ grinder "Good Lovin'". I hear you baby and I hope many others will too...

"My Way" by PAUL JONES – December 1966 UK Debut Solo Album [ex Manfred Mann] on HMV Records in Mono and Stereo (Stereo Mix Only Is Used For This CD) – Inside "Original Album Series" by MANFRED MANN and PAUL JONES (August 2014 UK Parlophone/Warner Brothers 5CD Capacity Wallet With Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

This Review Along With 240 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1

Debut Albums 1956 to 1986

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Artists from A to L...

 

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Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

A Huge 1,750+ E-Pages 

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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Just Click Below To Purchase

 

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"...High Time..."

 

There's a lot of Sixties British Bippity Boppity Pop on offer here and much of it remastered in great Stereo too. Which brings us to the last Mini LP Sleeve in this Card Capacity Wallet of Five - Lead Singer to the Mann – Paul Jones and his late 1966 debut album "My Way". 

 

His debut is a far cry from the Rhythm 'n' Blues of the Manfred albums (those looking for Mod Music should avoid big time) - Jones making a bid here for the Tom Jones and Burt Bacharach led Male Vocalists marketplace and failing more times than is comfortable. To the high times with Lady Godiva...

 

UK/EU released August 2014 - "Original Album Series" by MANFRED MANN and PAUL JONES on Parlophone/Warner Brothers 2564628529 is a 5CD Card Capacity Wallet of Stereo and Mono Remasters in Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves for Albums released between 1964 and 1967. Paul Jones' debut solo LP "My Way" is CD5 and plays out as follows...

 

CD5 "My Way" (33:45 minutes):

1. My Way [Side 1]

2. Lady Godiva

3. It Is Coming Closer

4. I Can't Hold On Much Longer

5. Baby Tomorrow

6. You've Got Too Much Going For You, Girl

7. Very, Very Funny [Side 2]

8. High Time

9. She Needs Company

10. When My Little Girl Is Smiling

11. Wait 'Til Morning Comes

12. I Can't Break The News To Myself

Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut solo album "My Way" – released December 1966 in the UK on HMV Records CLP 3586 (Mono) and CSD 3586 (Stereo) – no US version - the STEREO MIX is used for this CD.

 

After three albums fronting the Manfred organization, it was time for Lead Singer, Harmonica Blower and Songwriter Paul Jones to give it a bit of welly of his own. Truth be told though, "My Way" is a very dated so-Sixties effort rather than some undiscovered barnstormer. But if you're a fan, the STEREO Remaster is amazing - full of power and presence if not a little harsh in the separation of instruments (the way it was recorded back in the day).

 

With Arrangements by Mike Leander and Geoff Love – "My Way" opens with strings and huge vocals, Paul declaring that this time it's me (without a doubt), but it feels like a poor man's Scott Walker melodrama without any of the allure. A left speaker old Johanna opens the how's-your-father "Lady Godiva" - a song that has naff and dodgy lyrics about miniskirts and breezes and guys with their eyes on stalks. "It Is Coming Again" isn't a whole lot better, but again with amazing clean Stereo audio. Treated Acoustic guitar opens the very Poppy "Baby Tomorrow" - his vocal over to the right - his lady making him wait for a future that isn't going to come (the Brass makes it sound so Tom Jones over on Decca). We get a Phil Spector big production sound for "You've Got Too Much Going For You, Girl" - a half decent cut that you suspect Dusty Springfield would have made Soulful. 

 

Side 2 opens with "Very, Very Funny" - more Brass in the right and Piano in the left speaker separation - a tune that thinks it's groovier than it actually is. "High Time" is pure 60ts Pop where Jones goes for a dancer but maybe if it was The Monkees or Them - you might give it the time of day. His own "She Needs Company" has a tale of girls going home at the end of the night - dressed sharp while their beau is a working lad without spondulicks to his name. Yet there they are whispering in cafes - age and class differences out the window in a cloud of Sweet Afton smoke laced with Latte chocolate flakes.

 

"When My Little Girl Is Smiling" is an obvious cover version that is all too quickly forgotten - far better is "Wait 'Til Morning Comes" - our lad not so dumb - not wanting to be an easy touch for his sassy lady in tow. Fabulous Remaster on this one too. It ends with "I Can't Break The News To Myself" - Paul miserable from January to December since he lost his gal (on the strength of this album, you might have bigger fears at hand).

Despite the great so-clean Remastered Audio (an in Stereo too), Paul Jones' "My Way" is a difficult album to like (2 stars out of five for me), an LP that hasn't dated at all well on any front and one that will make you reach for your Them, Kinks or Pretty Things Deluxe Edition CDs to get your R&B faith back in tact. 

 

But if you have to own it - this 5CD set is the place to nab a copy for probably less than two quid...

"Geronimo's Cadillac" by MICHAEL MURPHEY - May 1972 US Debut Solo Album [ex The Lewis and Clarke Expedition] on A&M Records, October 1972 in the UK on Regal Zonophone Records featuring Members of The Lost Gonzo Band, Blue Steel, Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry (August 2004 US-Only Hip-O Select/A&M Records CD Reissue In A Numbered Limited Edition (5000 Copies) Hard Card Oversized Mini LP Repro Artwork Gatefold Sleeve with Hip-O Inner - Gavin Lurssen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...That Rainbow Man..."

 

Trading under the aliases of Travis Lewis and Boomer Clarke - Texans Michael Martin Murphey and his pal Boomer Castleman had been in the short-lived one-album band The Lewis And Clarke Expedition. Their "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" debut LP had appeared on Colgems Records in November 1967 (COM-105 Mono and COS-105 Stereo). As Lewis and Clarke, they had also managed to place their song "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round" (from that L&W debut) on Side 2 of The Monkees LP "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd" (Colgems COS-104, also issued November 1967). Probably kept them in peanuts and coffee for a while.

 

Years later, legendary Producer Bob Johnston of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen and Simon & Garfunkel fame brought Michael Murphey to A&M Records and Nashville as a Promising New Artist. And that brings us to this, his rather lovely but kind of obscure Country-Folk-Rock debut solo album "Geronimo's Cadillac". 

 

Issued May 1972 on A&M Records in the USA and October 1972 on EMI's Regal Zonophone label in the UK - Murphey in fact re-visited "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round" on his debut - and again in his own stylistically Terry Reid-ish gruff-voiced style. To the digital...

 

Hip-O Select's CD reissue is part of their Limited Edition to 5000 numbered series - hard card sleeves with inners and various original features. Good news and bad news there. The original American LP was on their Tan Label variant and came with an inner sleeve that printed all the lyrics - this CD rather stupidly uses a pressing probably around 1975 that has the Silver and Gold A&M label, advert inner bag for other A&M Records and no lyrics. This means that you get the Silver & Gold label on the CD and a rather silly repro of those A&M Records advert bag on a single slip of paper. The hard card gatefold sleeve (numbered in gold on the rear, see photos) is truly gorgeous and is oversized compared to say those Japanese SHM-CD Mini LP Repros. But the best news is what I really want - a stunningly pretty and clear CD Remaster courtesy of GAVIN LURSSEN from original tapes. 

I've got Lurssen's stellar transfers across a multitude of releases - Stephen Bishop ("Careless" and "Bish", both issues in this numbered series too), Joe Walsh ("Barnstorm"), Steppenwolf and The Crusaders ("Gold"), Terry Callier ("Occasional Rain"), Jimmy Cliff ("The Harder They Come" DE 2CD Version), Bo Diddley ("Chess Years") and right on up to Tom Waits ("Blood And Money") and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' magnificent "Raising Sand" set in 2007. Lurssen is the kind of Audio Engineer I seek out - and make no mistake - his work here is just beautiful. Only seconds into the lovely Acoustic Guitar of "Boy From The Country" and you'll be done and dusted. If you have any love for "Geronimo's Cadillac", then this is the digital version you need to own. To the details that 'take me back'...

 

US-only released 20 August 2004 - "Geronimo's Cadillac" by MICHAEL MURPHEY on Hip-O Select/A&M Records B0002878-02 (no Barcode) is a Limited Numbered Edition of 5000 Copies. It's housed in a Hard-Card Oversized Gate-fold Mini LP Repro Artwork Sleeve with a Hip-O Select See-Through Plastic Inner and Mid-70ts A&M Records Advert Bag reproduced as a single page insert (no lyrics). It plays out as follows (44:49 minutes):

 

1. Geronimo's Cadillac [Side 1]

2. Natchez Trace 

3. Calico Silver 

4. Harbor For My Soul 

5. Rainbow Man 

6. Waking Up 

7. Crack Up in Las Cruces [Side 2]

8. Boy From The Country 

9. What Am I Doin' Hangin' Around?

10. Michael Angelo's Blues (Song For Hogman)

11. Backslider's Wine 

12. The Lights Of The City 

Tracks 1 to 12 are his Debut Solo Album (as Michael Murphey) "Geronimo's Cadillac" - released May 1972 in the USA on A&M Records SP 4358 and October 1972 in the UK on Regal Zonophone SRZA 3062. Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it charted September 1972 USA and peaked at No. 160 some weeks later (didn't chart UK). 

 

MUSICIANS: 

MICHAEL MURPHEY [ex The Lewis & Clarke Expedition] - Lead Vocals, Acoustic, Bottleneck, Mandolin, Piano & Harp

LEONARD ARNOLD [ex Lavender Hill Express, later with Blue Steel] - Electric and Pedal Steel Guitar 

GARY NUNN [The Lost Gonzo Band] - Bass, Piano And Background Vocals 

ROBERT LIVINGSTON [The Lost Gonzo Band] - Bass and Background Vocals

BOOMER CASTLEMAN [ex The Lewis & Clarke Expedition] - Electric Guitar with Hand Levers 

KENNY BUTTREY [Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry] - Drums & Percussion

KARL HIMMEL [Mother Earth] - Drums 

CHARLES JOHN QUATRO - Vocals 

These Hip-O Select numbered CD reissues are lookers, lovely and so aesthetically pleasing, but again it's the GAVIN LURSSEN audio that thrills. To pre-empt the album in Blighty, Regal Zonophone issued "Geronimo's Car" as a 45-single on the 1st of September 1972 with the equally melodious "Boy From The Country" on the flipside for RZ 3062. But while it tanked in England, the USA afforded the same track combo a cool LP-artwork picture sleeve for their 7" single on A&M 1368. That July 1972-issued 45-single rose across months to No. 37 on the Billboard charts. So lingering around since May 1972, the LP then suddenly began getting traction and finally charted Stateside in September 1972 for a stay of 9 weeks. Speaking of sweet sounds, the slide guitar and warm bass of "Natchez Trace" and the Acoustic Plainsong-sounding strum of "Backslider's Wine" (the rain ruining his alibi) are other examples of beautiful audio.

 

While his brand of Country Rock and Acoustics meant zip in the UK, Murphey would go on to chart another seven albums on the US Billboard Album Charts on a variety of labels (A&M, Epic and Liberty) between 1973 and 1983. Arnold and Nunn would both be part of The Lost Gonzo Band on MCA Records from 1975 onwards, while Charles Quatro (poet and singer) would go on to have his own solo LP on Atlantic Records in 1971.

 

But "Geronimo's Cadillac" is Murphey's mellow even Country-Soulful starting place. And Hip-O Select have done it proud on the audio front at least on this now rare American-only 2004 CD Remaster - even if the packaging sloppiness kind of let the lyrical side down somewhat. 

 

Summing up - as the piano and organ in the LP's hymnal finisher "The Lights In The City" (written by Ray Lewis) swells around your room and talk of light shining down fills your speakers - I suspect fans and newcomers alike will be basking in this disc's audio glow. Rare but nice...