"Deadlines" by STRAWBS – February 1978 UK Twelfth Studio Album on Arista Records featuring Dave Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, and Tony Fernandez with Guests John Mealing and Robert Kirby on Keyboards – Audio and Visual Extras include Andy Richards on Keyboards (March 2019 UK Esoteric Recordings 'Deluxe Expanded Edition' in a Mini Clamshell Box Set with 2CDs, 1DVD, Poster and Booklet and Including Previously Unreleased Audio and Visual BBC Content – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING: *** to ****

"…The Last Resort…"

The chart success of Pink Floyd ("Animals" in January), Emerson, Lake & Palmer ("Works, Volume 1" in March) and Yes ("Going For The One" in July) across those varying months in 1977 (and extended into early 1978 via Tours and popularity sales) belied the fact that in the late Seventies Prog Rock was having a hard time. With Punk and New Wave snarling at their tired and played-out feet – the giant bands prevailed anyway – but those down the rung of the ladder had it different. 

Although I never viewed the Melodic Folk Rock with Rock-Flourishes of England's Strawbs as Prog Rock per say – they seemed to get lumped into that bracket anyway (their sound and songs had moved more and more to that as the Seventies wound on). Bands like say Camel or Caravan or even Gentle Giant (who were British Prog) got hammered by the sophisticated US Rock of Rush, Journey, Kansas, and hell even Boston and Blue Oyster Cult. It was also generally felt (amongst my mates anyway) that Prog bands (especially in 1977 and early 1978) were so old-fart as to be embarrassing and you didn't carry their albums around under your arms with pride as you had once done lest some New Wave safety-pin neer-do-well clock your level 12 mortal sin, inform you that your time was up and hit you over the head with a brick (as a form of mercy to hippies).

And so, we come to the last album for our British Heroes Strawbs in the Seventies (ten years burning down the road since 1968) – fraught with 1977 recording difficulties in both Dublin and London. Their initial sessions in Dublin were good musically but the studio wasn't up to snuff (tape machines running slow) and on returning to the UK - a microphone had accidentally been left on the new mastertape boxes overnight at AIR Studios which had stripped away portions of the drums. Much had to be salvaged and re-recorded, but Cousins felt the magic had slipped that was inherent in the Irish sessions. Producer Jeffrey Lesser also insisted that all lead vocals be carried out by Dave Lambert – and despite Cousins agreeing that Lambert sang probably his best work on "Deadlines" - excluding Dave Cousins from the mike left a released LP that confused DJs and Fans who were used to both singers. 

After signing a deal with Clive Davis (a letter from him is featured in the booklet) "Deadlines" was eventually issued with a typically drear Hipgnosis sleeve in February 1978 on Arista. Arista Records was more associated at the time with Country Rock like The Outlaws and whiny singer-songwriters like Barry Manilow. And that artwork – geez - a man drowning in a phonebox by the side of a dark country road on the front sleeve - with horror-types from the set of 1984 scowling on the rear, phone receiver in one hand and a dagger in the other. Not exactly bright-n-breezy easy-peasy. But for fans like me who had loved "Grave New World" in 1972 and "Bursting At The Seams" in 1973 – and after the neither-here-nor-there letdowns of "Nomadness" and "Burning For You" in 1975 and 1976 – their twelfth studio album "Deadlines" felt like a slight-return to form – not brilliant – but good enough.

And you must cede that once again Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) have pulled out the stops on an album that many have forgotten and has laid unloved for decades on end. ER have found and Remastered Audio and Visual content for a BBC Radio One In Concert set and given us the Cousins-endorsed reissued album (done in 2012) on CD1 with outtakes he felt represented the spirit of the album better than the released product. It is a very tasty package indeed and probably about as comprehensive as we are ever going to get for this forlorn album. To the details…

UK released 23 March 2019 - "Deadlines" by STRAWBS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32676 (Barcode 5013929477643) is a 'Deluxe Expanded Edition' Mini Clamshell Box Set with 2CDs, 1DVD, Poster and Booklet (including Previously Unreleased Audio and Visual BBC Content from 1978) and New Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 (77:43 minutes):
1. No Return [Side 1]
2. Joey And Me
3. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
4. I Don't Want To Talk About It
5. The Last Resort
6. Time And Life [Side 2]
7. New Beginnings
8. Deadly Nightshade
9. Words Of Wisdom 
Tracks 10 to 9 are their twelfth studio album "Deadlines" – released February 1978 in the UK on Arista Records SPART 1036 and in the USA on Arista AB 4172. Produced by JEFFREY LESSER – it didn't chart in either country. 

BONUS TRACKS (originally issued 2012): 
10. Midnight (Out-Take)
11. No Return (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
12. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
13. Time And Life (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
14. Deadly Nightshade (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
15. Words Of Wisdom (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
16. The Chosen One (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
17. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss (Band Demo)
18. No Return (Dublin Production Mix)
19. Joey And Me (Dublin Production Mix)
20. Deadly Nightshade (Dublin Production Mix)

STRAWBS for "Deadlines" was:
DAVE COUSINS – Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
DAVE LAMBERT – Electric Guitar and Vocals
CHAS CRONK – Bass, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
TONY FERNANDEZ – Drums and Timpani
Guests were:
JOHN MEALING – Polymoog and Organ
ROBERT KIRBY – Mellotrons, Mini Moog and Autoharp

CD2 (61:10 minutes):
BBC Radio One 'Sight & Sound In Concert'
Golders Green Hippodrome in London, 18 February 1978
1. Lay Down
2. The Last Resort
3. Ghosts
4. No Return
5. Heartbreaker
6. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
7. Simple Visions
8. Cut Like A Diamond
9. Out In The Cold
10. Round And Round
11. Hero And Heroine

DVD – BBC TV "Sight & Sound In Concert" Golders Green Hippodrome, London, 18 February 1978 – 11 Tracks as per CD2 - NTSC All Regions – Previously Unreleased

STRAWBS for BBC Concert (CD2 and DVD) was:
DAVE COUSINS – Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar (6 and 12-String)
DAVE LAMBERT – Electric Guitar and Lead Vocals
CHAS CRONK – Bass, Acoustic Guitar and Backing Vocals
ANDY RICHARDS – Keyboards
TONY FERNANDEZ – Drums and Percussion

Fans will know that 1996 saw "Deadlines" CD-reissued on One World OW 34499, but with what many felt was comprised audio. A far more concerted effort was made to whip "Deadlines" into shape in 2012. The source material (July to September 1977 recordings made at Dublin Sound Studios and Air Studios in London) was restored from original tapes at Cyclone Music Production in Rochester in July 2012 with principal band member Dave Cousins and a team in the control booths. Released November 2012, Witchwood WMCD 2055 introduced the Bonuses of Tracks 10 to 20 (CD1 above) which Cousins has said gives a better idea of how Strawbs wanted the music to sound instead of the forced re-recordings they had to make due to a Microphone glitch.

Here in March 2019 (third reissue go-round), CD1 is the same as 2012 while CD2 and DVD offer the Audio and Visual on a Previously Unreleased BBC In Concert Gig from February 1978. But Esoteric Recordings have given the whole shebang a PASCHAL BYRNE Remaster and I can honestly say that the album has a wee bit more oomph (CD1) while the acoustic bonuses still sound like the demos they are (rough-ish but acceptable). But I am sure that I am not the first Strawbs fan who having heard these Demos has not thought what the LP would have been like if it had had a Completely Acoustic Based Sound – all melody and less bombast. The outtake "The Chosen Ones" had potential to be a great LP track and even though it is audibly less than the LP variant, the sad "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" Band Demo is filled with melody and fresh hurt that maybe got lost in translation. The three Dublin mixes are better than I had expected – certainly audio-wise. 

The glossy Clamshell Box Set offers three mini-LP card sleeves on the inside which use variants of the front and rear Hipgnosis artwork, a 16-page booklet with new Dave Cousins liner notes that go a long way to explaining the convoluted history and a fold-out poster repro of their March 1978 British Tour (phone-box photo, special guest Roy Hill, see photos provided) – advertising their first album on Arista Records. The lyrics are here too, musician credits beneath them etc. PASCHAL BYRNE – a very experienced engineer and long-standing go-to-Audio-guy for Esoteric has handled the Remaster and as I say, the album does sound better. To the music…

Prior to album release in early February 1978, Arista put out a taster in the form of Side 1's "Joey And Me" (composed by Cousins, Cronk and Lambert) as a January 1978 UK 45-single (Arista ARIST 159) with Side 2's "Deadly Nightshade" (a Dave Cousins song) on the flipside. The A-side sounded like 1974 Peter Gabriel-led Genesis circa "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" doing a Rock riff song on breaking free from drudgery. But without even a picture sleeve and given the Elvis Costello, XTC, The Clash, The Damned, Blondie and Ian Dury New Wave scene (to name but a few) – there were few takers. With the LP in the shops, Arista tried again on 31 March 1978 with the upbeat big-chorus message song "New Beginnings" (Arista ARIST 179) sporting Side 2's final cut "Words Of Wisdom" on the flipside (a Cousins song). "New Beginnings" (a co-write between Cousins and Lambert) was a strong melody and the huge doomy synths of the very marching-drums Pink Floyd and Animals Prog of "Words Of Wisdom" should have won them some love, but again a non-runner. 

Arista-USA tried a different tack by putting the slightly hammy but perceived as more commercial "I Don't Want To Talk About It" on the A-side instead of "New Beginnings". They kept the 5:38-minute full album version of "Words Of Wisdom" on the flip, but with Lambert's strangulated vocals and its wildly overwrought production - Arista AS 0327 died. I can't help thinking that if someone had had the balls to take a chance at Arista – the crushingly sad "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" on the A-side with the commercial Blue Oyster Cult guitar rock of "The Last Resort" on the B-side – Radio Stations and lapsed fans might have noticed. Dave Cousins was obviously in serious pain when he penned lines like "…You gave me your best…I gave you all my worst years…" in the short but shimmering "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" - but while perhaps the searing personal honesty in the title seemed to much of a downer – I think the public might have taken to its dangerously close-to-the-knuckle "Love And Affection" vibe.

Side 2 opened with another strong track "Time And Life" brimming with great guitar work, orchestration and walls of headlines and deadlines choruses. Our singer looks to children and songs for his salvation in the slightly pappy "New Beginnings" but that is kicked into sinister speaker-to-speaker touch by the phased vocals of "Deadly Nightshade" where Lambert sounds like Marillion before there was a Fish.

The extras are compromised audio-wise by their very nature, but it is cool to hear an Electric Banjo pop out of the Dublin Mix of "Joey And Me". I would admit to initial disappointment at CD2 – the first two tracks are awful in my mind – somehow the recording getting away from the engineer. As they go into track three "Ghosts" (to some applause from the crowd who clearly did not yet know the first two newbies in the set) – you get keyboard parts from Andy Richards that feel almost external to the overall sound – like they are not gelling as a unit - and that is probably why the set has remained unreleased. 

It isn't so apparent on the visual DVD (picture is TV Box Aspect and in colour) when compere Alan Black introduces the show and band. The picture quality is acceptable at best – typical of so much BBC stuff that doesn't seem to have been either filmed well or kept well. The five-piece band is led by Dave Cousins on his ubiquitous Twelve String Guitar while Dave Lambert plays Electric Guitar Lead. The first three are voiced by Cousins until Lambert takes over the more Prog "No Return" (very nice echoed-guitar opening) and the Rock Out "Heartbreaker". Unfortunately, and just when the audio needed to be at its best – the sad and beautiful "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" starts out so well – Andy Richards playing gorgeous complimentary piano - but then someone clearly unplugs a lead or something and what sounds like a huge fart emanates from the PA. Cousins carries on regardless (sweating and without breaking a smile) but the tender moment is ruined. Towards the last three tracks, Andy Richards gets to let rip on the keyboard stack – Hernandez gets to bash his huge hanging symbol (how very Greenslade) as the songs become more Prog Rock with a bit of 12-string melody thrown over it. The band seemed pleased with themselves and their prowess – I'm just not sure that either the Audio or Visual captured it to a best advantage. 

To sum up – CD1 of "Deadlines" is better but the 1978 material on CD2 and the DVD are compromised affairs in every department – Audio and Visual. But I doubt Strawbs fans will be too repulsed because anything new from this forgotten period is collectors' gold-dust. 

So, once again, Esoteric Recordings of the UK do the business by a forgotten milestone and artists worth celebrating. Just taper those expectations as you dive in...

"Shaft (Music From The Soundtrack):2-CD Deluxe Edition" by ISAAC HAYES – 23 July 1971 US 2LP Set on Enterprise Records and November 1971 UK 2LP set on Stax Records – featuring Backing Bands The Bar-Kays, The Isaac Hayes Movement, The Memphis Strings and Horns with Arrangements by Johnny Allen and J.J. Johnson and backing Singers Pat Lewis, Rose Williams and Telma Hopkins (September 2019 US Craft Recordings/Enterprise Deluxe Edition 2-CD Reissue – A 2LP set Newly Remastered by Dave Cooley onto CD1 – CD2 With Original Film Score Album Version Available For The First Time Remixed and Remastered by Michael McDonald and Doug Schwartz) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Rating: *****

"...Damn Right!"

There was industry discussion in the October 1971 issue of Billboard Magazine as Stax/Enterprise prepped for the release of Isaac Hayes' second double-album "Black Moses" in the same year (the double soundtrack album "Shaft" had been issued in July 1971). The article told all industry insiders that Stax had locked down all promotion of his new opus. This was because some DJ had reputedly been offered $300,000 for his Promo Copy of "Black Moses" with the aim of bootlegging it.

Why would someone offer an A&R employee such a huge amount of cash in 1971? Because his previous effort "Shaft" as a Movie, as a 2LP Blaxploitation Soul Music Soundtrack was MASSIVE – an absolute phenomenon and in a way that few had ever seen before. The handsome sex symbol lead actor Richard Roundtree, the bespectacled and impossibly cool musician Isaac Hayes with his beard and bling, the wah-wah guitar theme Hayes composed that just slaughtered all in its path worldwide - this bad mother was everywhere. Stax was even then claiming that such was the demand for Isaac's fourth release, that nearly 40% of all copies of "Shaft" in American circulation were bootlegs - gazillions of them.

Few now remember (or even know) that December 1971's "Black Moses" was going to be Isaac Hayes' fifth No. 1 US R&B LP in a row – a feat no one had ever achieved (he would achieve another 2 R&B number ones in 1974 with "Truck Turner" and the 1976 live double "Live At The Sahara Tahoe"). Seven No.1 R&B albums – wow!

But its the soundtrack to "Shaft" that has a special place in fan's hearts. Which brings us to this latest go-round – a twofer from September 2019 which replaces the Universal/Concord Music November 2009 US single-CD Remaster version. 

There were bitter diatribes about the BOB FISHER sound on the 2009 Concord Music Group single-disc Remaster – that is firmly kicked into touch here. The principal 1971 Double-Album Original Soundtrack has been Remastered by DAVE COOLEY at Elysian Mastering for this 2019 twofer and sounds amazing (CD1) - the Film Score on CD2 was Remixed by MICHAEL McDONALD at Private Island Trax while the Mastering was done by a name many will know - DOUG SCHWARTZ at Mulholland Music. For me (at least) CD1 is improved (clearer bass) and CD2 is even better somehow than CD1 – fabulous clarity-wise. I love what I'm hearing. And this reissue is also the first time that both versions have been available together as a 'Deluxe Edition'. DE 2019 has also wisely dropped the '2009 Mix' of the famous title song "Shaft" which was a supposed bonus at the end of the 2009 single-CD issue (74:32 total playing time because of it) - no great loss. And the film score on CD2 offers 22 cuts and not the 15 on CD1. I've also provided the playing times of tracks on both CDs for comparisons. Let's get to the details...

UK released 20 September 2019 - "Shaft: Deluxe Edition 2-CD Set" by ISAAC HAYES on Craft Recordings 00888072099012 (Barcode 888072099012) is Two-Disc Reissue and Remaster offering the full 15-Track 2LP 'Original Soundtrack' set Remastered onto CD1 with the 2-Track 'Film Score' Variant Also Newly Remastered onto CD2 (together for the first time). It plays out as follows:

CD1 Original Soundtrack (69:32 minutes):
1. Theme From Shaft (Vocal) – 4:40 minutes [Side 1]
2. Bumpy's Lament – 1:49 minutes
3. Walk From Regio's – 2:22 minutes
4. Ellie's Love Theme – 3:15 minutes
5. Shaft's Cab Ride – 1:07 minutes
7. Café Regio's – 6:09 minutes [Side 2]
8. Early Sunday Morning – 3:47 minutes
9. Be Yourself – 4:27 minutes
10. A Friend's Place – 3:21 minutes
11. Soulsville (Vocal) – 3:47 minutes [Side 3]
12. No Name Bar – 6:09 minutes
13. Bumpy's Blues – 4:01 minutes
14. Do Your Thing – 19:31 minutes [Side 4]
15. The End Theme – 1:56 minutes
Tracks 1 to 15 are the double-album "Shaft" - released 23 July 1971 in the USA on Enterprise ENS-2-5002 and November 1971 in the UK on Stax 2659 007. Produced by ISAAC HAYES and featuring THE BAR KAYS and THE MOVEMENT as the backing band – the Music From The Soundtrack 2LP set peaked at No.1 in both countries.

CD2 Film Score (62:07 minutes):
1. Theme From Shaft (Film Version) - 4:34 minutes
2. Shaft's First Fight - 1:45 minutes
3. Reel 2 Part 2 / Cat Oughta Be Here – 1:43 minutes
4. Bumpy's Lament (Film Version) – 1:44 minutes
5. Soulsville (Film Version) – 3:32 minutes
6. Ellie's Love Theme (Film Version) 1:45 minutes *
7. Shaft's Cab Ride (Film Version) / Shaft Enters Building – 1:38 minutes
8. I Can't Get Over Losin' You – 2:06 minutes
9. Reel 4 Part 6 – 1:37 minutes
10. Reel 5 Part 1 – 1:35 minutes
11. A Friend's Place (Film Version) – 1:44 minutes
12. Bumpy's Blues (Film Version) – 3:05 minutes
13. Bumpy's Lament (Reprise) (Film Version) – 1:32 minutes
14. Early Sunday Morning (Film Version) – 3:05 minutes)
15. Do Your Thing (Film Version) – 3:21 minutes
16. Be Yourself (Film Version) – 1:54 minutes
17. No Name Bar (Film Version) – 2:28 minutes
18. Shaft Strikes Again (Film Version) / Return Of Shaft – 1:36 minutes
19. Café Regio's (Film Version) – 4:23 minutes
20. Walk From Regio's (Film Version) – 2:27 minutes
21. Shaft's Pain – 3:03 minutes
22. Rescue / The End Theme (Film Version) – 10:44 minutes
* Track 6 is mistakenly credited as 3:23 minutes; it is 1:45 minutes

The single-disc jewel case of 2009 is replaced with a three-panel foldout card sleeve and stickered-outer-shrinkwrap (see photos) - CD1 in one pouch, CD2 in another and the booklet in the third flap. After reproducing the original album liner notes on Pages 2 and 3, from Page 4 on, the 20-page booklet is a pleasingly in-depth affair with new 2019 liner notes from AHMIR "Questlove" THOMPSON. 

Questlove takes the reader through the genesis of the music to its cultural explosion (24-hour screenings to meet the demand) and onto the "Big Score" and "Shaft In Africa" follow-up films/soundtracks and the WATTSTAX Concerts while talking about the groundbreaking 60-weeks the double-album spent on the charts. Although it didn't mean to start a sort of early BLM in 1971 - street hustling, drug addiction and cold-landlord slums were all part of the "Shaft" narrative/look and therefore brought these topics to the fore. Questlove sets that backdrop and is clearly enamoured at the big man Isaac Hayes - composer, producer, icon and above all - successful. 

Stills from the Blaxploitation Film pepper the text, actor Richard Roundtree looking like the Private Eye man of the moment while dodgy-looking inner-city dudes hold ladies and people hostage with round-barrel Thompson submachine guns. Towards the Credit Pages are various pictures of Isaac with backing musicians The Bar-Kays and members of his own band The Movement – Black and White snaps of Hayes with Gwen Mitchell (who was in the movie) by a framed poster of their phenomenon whilst another shows his Academy Award - all of it with the usual recording and reissue credits in the back pages. Cool, in-depth and "Shaft" now has that classy Craft Recordings look (they specialise in all things Stax and related - see my review for 'The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection'). To the music we have…

For an album that's so associated with the chicka-chicka wah-wah guitar of its theme song - "Shaft" the double-album is surprising mellow throughout. The near two-minutes of the sexy instrumental "Bumpy's Lament" is followed by the Funky Brass and Percussion 2:24 minutes of the superb "Walk From Regio's" where you can literally see our hero walking the dude streets with a pep in his step and a glide in his stride (oh stop it). There is gorgeous sound on the vibes smooch of "Ellie's Love Theme" - and those brass and strings melting on "Early Sunday Morning" as the high-hat taps time.

The brass pump-and-punch of "Be Yourself" sounds like a 1976 Disco anthem only five years before anyone knew the word (nice clarity on the Sax solo too). Back to yeah baby turn-out-the-lights smooch with "A Friend's Place" - the instrumentation being ever so slightly fragmented in the sound stage (one too up front, the other too far back) - but that's how I remember it was on the original vinyl. Now to one of my faves - the keyboard and vocal "Soulsville" talks about brothers getting high and strung out and finding out that they can get high but never touch the sky. The audio is gorgeous and makes you wish he sang more on the album (a bummer is that the three ladies who add so much to the backing vocals - Pat Lewis, Rose Williams and Telma Hopkins are not credited in the musicians list - a stupid oversight carried over again). There is that big chunky piano that opens the smooth "Bumpy's Blues" - lovely brass and drums - so clear now. And on it goes to the monster that is the 19:28 minutes of "Do Your Thing" - if the music makes you groove - love on baby (it is reduced to 3:21 on Cd2). Fantastic to hear it sound this good. Rap On. Which brings us to the radically different beast that is the Film Score.

Let's get specific. The playing times for "Theme From Shaft" on CD1 and CD2 are 4:30 and 4:34 minutes – so not much in timings – but the plays and mixes are wildly different. After all these years of Damn Right and Can You Dig It and Right On and Talking About John Shaft and Shut Your Mouth – it is wild to hear those subtle keyboard fills on the CD2 version. But when we would normally have gone straight into "Bumpy's Lament" as the next track – we now get four extra minutes of Tabla and Flute and Bass noodling in "Reel 2 Part 2 / Cat Oughta Be Here" that feels like you're eavesdropping on a long-lost John Barry gets Funky session. 

The clarity on "Reel 2 Part 2 / Cat Oughta Be Here" is gorgeous and even if it is only under two minutes, what a find for fans. But my jam is "Soulsville" which is moved forward in the Film Score version and features a great vocal/lyrics from Isaac – a little boy needs a pair of shoes. The vibes and flicked guitar of the gorgeous instrumental Soul ballad "Ellie's Love Theme" sounds amazing on CD2, but it is 1:45 minutes long on the Film Score version (therefore shorter) and not the extended 3:23 mix on the Soundtrack Album – so sort of winners and losers there. CD2 also mistakenly lists it as 3:23 minutes long when it isn't.

 
You can hear why the slightly Motown-out-of-place "I Can't Get Over Missing You" although Northern Soul dancers would dig it big time as a 45, they could spin. The very George Benson guitar-ish "Café Regio's" on the original ran to six minutes – on CD2 it's shortened to 4:23 minutes and is better for it in my opinion. But the final piece "Rescue/The End Theme" is a full-on 10:44-minute musical rollercoaster ride alternating between smooch and shimmy one moment (lone Vibes and Bass notes) to Black Private Dick funkiness the next where the wallop of orchestra and band kick in.

To sum up – after the single CD of 2009 - this supposed Hotter Than Bond and Cooler Than Bullitt 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD variant of 1971's "Shaft" makes a real effort. I think Craft Recordings should also have included those US Single Mixes either on CD1 or CD2 (there was room) and maybe a fold-out poster in that first flap too (the film poster is pictured on Pages 2 and 3 and its base sentences make for the backdrop on all three inner flaps as pictured). 

But as it is – the New Remaster on CD1 and those extras on CD2 make for a lethal combo. And "Shaft: Deluxe Edition 2-CD" does not come with an aircraft-carrier price tag either. 

I can indeed dig that the most my brothers and sisters and rappers and (oh do be quiet)…

"Tourist" by ST GERMAIN - Featuring Ludovic Navarre, Guest Musicians with Samples by Marlena Shaw and John Lee Hooker – Bonus Remixes by Blaze, Todd Edwards and Spiller (May 2000 EUROPE/UK Blue Note 2CD Edition with a Bonus Disc Containing Three Addition Remixes) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tourist-St-Germain/dp/B00005J7VJ?crid=K6DRMUPDNXUG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.p82ZcxyovrzWnE4C6cwM5w.Ug70upyi7j4dqfV2u4Dmn7jKB3riSYxUoubhmN_pg0Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=724353367107&qid=1708029132&sprefix=724353367107%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=29f30e7259172819c6535874063855c5&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

"…I Want You To Get It Together…"

French DJ, Mixer and Funky Pants writer Ludovic Navarre and his ST GERMAIN project of players took everyone in London by storm with "Tourist". 

I can remember this being the play of summer 2000 – the 2LP vinyl original being a prize that collectors of Nu Jazz, Deep House, Piano Funk and Downtempo cherished. The Twelve-Inch singles too used to fly – cool Future Jazz with Talking Drums and Downtempo Piano plinking - swirling flutes, vibes, and irresistible rhythms (Latin included) – all of it wrapped up in sexy Funky keyboard grooves and choice samples from Marlena Shaw and John Lee Hooker. 

"Tourist" even received a July 2021 reissue as a 20th Anniversary Tourist Travel Version where big names in mixes re-did key tracks. And it was on Blue Note too as if to steamroll home its effortless cool. 

But I have always loved the (still) cheap-as-chips 2000 twofer version presented here for your hip-snaking Future Jazz delectation. To the land of flutes, moaning and groaning and sure things…

EUROPE and UK released May 2000 - "Tourist" by ST GERMAIN on Blue Note 7243 5 36671 0 7 (Barcode 724353367107) is a 2CD Limited Edition that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (59:55 minutes)
1. Rose Rouge (7:02 minutes)
2. Montego Bay Spleen (5:41 minutes 
3. So Flute (8:29 minutes)
4. Land Of… (7:50 minutes)
5. Latin Note (5:47 minutes)
6. Sure Thing (6:22 minutes)
7. Pont Des Arts (7:25 minutes)
8. Le Goutte D'Or (6:17 minutes)
9. What You Think About… (4:48 minutes)

CD2 (22:05 minutes):
1. Rose Rouge (Blaze Early Shelter Mix) – 6:21 minutes
2. Sure Thing (Todd Edwards Deepline Remix) – 7:18 minutes
3. Rose Rouge (Spiller Rouge Remix) – 8:29 minutes

LUDOVIC NAVARRE - Written, Produced, Conducted and Mixed
PASCHAL OSE – Trumpet
EDOUARD LABOR – Saxophone and Flute
ALEXANDRE DESTRES – Keyboards
IDRISSA DIOP – Talking Drum
CARNEIRO – Percussion
CLAUDIO (Cacao) De QEIROZ – Baritone Saxophone

Guests/Samples: 
American Soul Diva Marlena Shaw is sampled on "Rose Rouge" which uses her vocals from the 1974 US Album "Live In Montreux" on Blue Note BN-LA 251-G
Ernest Ranglin – Guitar on "Montego Bay Spleen"
Jack Nitzsche wrote "Sure Thing" and the St Germain version includes a sampled vocal of John Lee Hooker singing "Harry's Philosophy" – a track on the 1990 Various Artists Soundtrack Album on Antilles Records

The gatefold slip of paper that laughably calls itself an insert barely manages a credit, but the Audio is fabulous – the swirling and thumping rhythms feeling like a cohesive whole. And back in the new millennium day - too many albums had a couple of good tracks – but it felt like "Tourist" was all good. The racing symbols and drums of "Rose Rouge" have bene used subsequently in movies to depict time travelling past rapidly – while the Blues moaning of John Lee Hooker from "The Hot Spot" soundtrack of 1990 that had sexy trumpet input from Miles Davis and guitar from Taj Mahal gets used to fabulous Bluesy effect on "Sure Thing" – a cover of a Jack Nitzsche song. "Sure Thing" feels like it was handmade for a Soundtrack like "Baby Driver" or the next Tarantino Movie Fest. 

Frantic Flute breathing makes for a hectic and aptly titled "So Flute" and there is sexiness aplenty in the sensual grooves of "Pont Des Arts" and "Le Goutte D'Or" – tunes that feel like the backdrop to an exotic holiday dancefloor by the beach-huts where the DJ is clued in and taking chances on the crowd. The only cut that kind of leaves me cold is the last one "What You Think About" – but I know there are those who like its Blue Note Jazz for Real vibe as it plays out a very Dance orientated album. 

CD2 offers three remixes (as Bonuses) of two hugely popular songs from the album – the Navarre-penned "Rose Rouge" and the Nitzsche cover version "Sure Thing". Producer and Remixer Blaze takes away the shuffling opening of "Rose Rouge" and replaces it with a more radical drum-whacking version that is backed up by funky Hammond-type organ. Smart enough not to remove the "…I want you to get together…" Marlena Shaw vocal sample – it suddenly becomes a more neck-jerking floor filler and is a brilliant re-working that compliments the original. And at 6:20 minutes it does not get terminal – just enough – does the business – then leaves. 

Todd Edwards is the Remix Engineer for the more Dance-orientated re-working of "Sure Thing" – again another genuine shake-up of what went before that also uses the vocal sample and Hooker guitar that made the album cut so memorable. It is too Dance and House for my pleasures – but cleverly done, nonetheless. The second mix of "Rose Rouge" (done by Spiller) uses the Marlena Shaw sample sparingly, but also throws in a Rupert Holmes one. At just over eight-minutes it feels like one of those Acid House moments that needs drugs to get through. Still, so cool, though.

It's been 24-years and St Germain's "Tourist" stills Rocks in my books. In fact, I would argue Navarre's creation is actually the definition of too-cool-for-school. 

And I always want to get together with it…

     

From your old fart (Mark) on Valentine's Day - 14 Feb 2024

KING and QUEEN of POSSIBILITY

Nothing impresses the ladies more than a sense of humour

Accompanied by a smile and reasonable presentation

It feels elevation-magical when a woman laughs with you

Mainlining infectious confidence, a personal validation

Even the first time you clasp hands as a newly minted duo

Declaring to the world that something warm is in town

The King and Queen of Possibility are Navigating Love City

The excitement might just bring society tumbling down

Sat in a coffee shop discussing every cultural touchstone

Books, films, music and your individual signature attire

Common ground popping up in every sphere and probe

Maybe this is when all previous Loserville gets to retire

Hours have passed like minutes, yet the talk tank is eager

For further moments, twin thump-hearts will not sit still

Despite protests of equality and sharing our lots amicably

This is one cost that is no burden, I gladly foot the bill

The years may diminish the initial rush, reality is often cruel

Exchanges now routine, maybe all is said and done

But there's still a part of you that opens up the door ahead

Offers a seat. The privilege of her is earned, not won…

"The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Thirty-Four Tracks from January 1972 to October 1974 – Seventeen US 45-Single-Sides (A&B) on the Stax-Related 'The Gospel Truth' Records Label – Featuring The Rance Allen Group, Terry Lynne Community Choir, Reverend Maceo Woods, Reverend Marvin Yancy, The 21st Century, Jacqui Verdell, Blue Aquarius, Jimmy Jones, Charles May and Annette May Thomas, Louise McCord, Joshie Jo Armstead and more (September 2020 US Craft Recordings/Stax 2CD 34-Track Compilation in a Three-Panel Gatefold Card Sleeve with Joe Tarantino Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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This Review Along With 334 Others Is Available In My

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R 'n' B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £6.95 (2024 Update)

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"…Just My Salvation…Running Inside Of Me…"

Although Stax was most closely associated with R&B, Soul and Funk for the Sixties and Seventies – between January 1972 and October 1974 when Stax was still a viable Record Company before their ignominious liquidation and closure in 1975 – they got behind the Lord.

Fans will know that smidgens of the American label The Gospel Truth have turned up on the Stax Singles Mega Boxes – particularly Volume 3 and 4 (I have reviewed all four separately). August 2010 also saw Ace Records of the UK via their Beat Goes Public label imprint offer up a CD compilation called "The Gospel Truth: The Gospel And Funk Of Stax Records" (see my separate review for Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGP 222 - Barcode 029667522229 - and pictures below). But that 20-track compilation concentrated primarily on the album output of the label and leaned (as it said in the title) towards the Funk and Soul of the label. 

This double has some Funk and Soul but is primarily about secular themes and is the first time their Entire Singles output has been put into one place. Remastered from original tapes and presented to an unwitting world with genuine class – seventeen US 45s and their (mostly) Non-LP B-sides - thirty-four sides in total. These single-sides are rare, and on digital have received scant attention until now

I have found that everything Craft Recordings does regarding reissued-Stax and the label's astonishing legacy, is invariably a classy affair. And this wee twofer from September 2020 is no different. Craft even issued a 3LP version 8 January 2021 in the US on Craft Recordings CR00331 (Barcode 888072180383) – a beautiful piece of kit and if it sounds anywhere as good as this does – then turntable Nirvana is not far away. But back to the 2CD variant – and how the angels won the day…

US released 17 September 2020 – "The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Craft Recordings/Stax CR00332 (Barcode 888072180468) is a 2CD 34-Track Compilation of Remasters covering US-only 45-Single releases between January 1972 and October 1974 that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (64:02 minutes):
1. Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation) – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
2. Up Above My Head – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
3. His Love Will Always Be – TERRY LYNNE COMMUNITY CHOIR
4. Consider Me – TERRY LYNNE COMMUNITY CHOIR
5. Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You (Don't Let The Devil Fool You) – REVEREND W. BERNARD AVANT, Jr., & THE St. JAMES GOSPEL CHOIR
6. God Is What You Let Him Be - REVEREND W. BERNARD AVANT, Jr., & THE St. JAMES GOSPEL CHOIR
7. There's Gonna Be A Showdown – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
8. That Will Be Good Enough For Me – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
9. The Magnificent Sanctuary Band (Marching For The Man) – REVEREND MACEO WOODS & THE CHRISTIAN TABERNACLE CONCERT CHOIR
10. Jesus Is Waiting - REVEREND MACEO WOODS & THE CHRISTIAN TABERNACLE CONCERT CHOIR
11. Keep My Baby Warm – CHARLES MAY & ANNETTE MAY THOMAS
12. Satisfied – CHARLES MAY & ANNETTE MAY THOMAS
13. Ride Out The Storm – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD
14. I Got The Vibes – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD
15. I Got To Be Myself – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
16. Gonna Make It Alright – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
17. Who's Supposed To Be Raising Who – THE 21ST CENTURY
18. All I Can Do – THE 21st CENTURY
NOTES ON CD1 (All Entries Below are US 45-Singles):
Tracks 1&2 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1201, January 1972 – a Gospel Cover of The Temptations Motown hit with words changed
Tracks 3&4 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1202, February 1972
Tracks 5&6 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1203, May 1972
Tracks 7&8 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1204, June 1972
Tracks 9&10 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1205, March 1972
Tracks 11&12 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1206, January 1973
Tracks 13&14 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1207, March 1973
Tracks 15&16 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1208, March 1973
Tracks 17&18 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1209, April 1973

CD2 (57:30 minutes):
1. I'm A Child Of The King – THE PEOPLE’S CHOIR OF OPERATION PUSH Under The Direction Of REVEREND MARTIN YANCY
2. He Included Me – as per Track 1
3. He's Mine – JACQUI VERDELL
4. We're Gonna Have A Good Time – JACQUI VERDELL
5. I Know A Man Who – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
6. Hot Line To Jesus – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
7. At The Feet Of The Master – BLUE AQUARIUS
8. Know Him While You Can – BLUE AQUARIUS
9. Stumblin' Blocks, Steppin' Stones (What Took Me So Long) – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD
10. Give A Little Loving – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD
11. Do It Yourself – JIMMY JONES
12. If I Had A Hammer – JIMMY JONES
13. Be True – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
14. We're The Salt Of The Earth – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP
15. Reflections – LOUISE McCORD
16. There's No Need To Cry – LOUISE McCORD
NOTES ON CD2:
Tracks 1&2 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1210, September 1973
Tracks 3&4 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1211, August 1973
Tracks 5&6 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1212, September 1973
Tracks 7&8 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1213, November 1973
Tracks 9&10 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1214, April 1974
Tracks 11&12 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1215, March 1974
Tracks 13&14 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1216, May 1974
Tracks 15&16 are the A&B-sides of Gospel Truth GTA-1217, October 1974

The 16-page CD-sized Booklet may feel a tad scant once out of its card-flap, but all the key players are featured in the newly penned JARED BOYD liner notes – fresh interviews from STAX Records chief executive AL BELL, their mainman gospel artist RANCE ALLEN and MARY PEAK (aka Mary Peak Patterson) – one-time assistant to the legendary DAVE CLARK - both of whom helped establish the label under the auspices of the STAX umbrella. From Jackson in Tennessee and in the music game since the 1930s, Dave Clark was called on by Bell to instigate the label. Clark recalled a story in a 1972 interview about being run out of Mississippi with his Aristocrat Records black music station vinyl piles burned on the side of the road by the State Police. How Clark found it in his heart to forgive those white racist scumbags must be literally down to the Lord and a wellspring of forgiveness I would not have. Peak and Bell also made sure that artists on the Gospel Truth label were treated like mainstream stars when they went touring – great cloths – decent accommodation and venues where they were appreciated. It is a fascinating read on a lesser-told side to Stax.

But you will be even more impressed by the Glorious Audio – JOE TARANTINO having done the Transfers and Remasters – a name associated with the other huge Stax Box Sets. I don't know how these Craft Recordings sets have such illuminating audio over previous stabs at Stax – but they do. Listening to the vocal pyrotechnics of Rance Allen on the debut-45 (Tracks 1 and 2 on CD1) and you are hit with gorgeous clarity – and just enough oomph to make you feel the choir lifting of with the spirit.

The Music: Northern Soul Dancers and Mod-moment chasers should know that "The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection" absolutely ain't loaded with 70ts Soul as we know it and only very occasionally gets Funky Righteous. But when it does – the results are (dare we say it) devilishly sexy. The Rance Allen Group takes on The Staples Singers "I Got To Be Myself" (Track 15) where the shouter gets all Sly & The Family Stone on the personal positivity vibe (he soon returns to Jesus on the equally good flipside). There are songs like "Keep My Baby Warm" by Charles May and Annette May Thomas on CD1 that have as lovely a Soul vibe as you've ever heard and does so without mentioning the man in the sky even once (their very Staples Singers flipside "Satisfied" is secular too but in a saved-my-soul Funky way). 

I can hear why the Ace CD featured The 21st Century – their fantastically Funky "Who's Supposed To Be Raising Who" towards the end of CD1 gets ants-in-its-pants about the generation gap – they need leadership and strenght - who is the child and who is the adult. The same social consciousness permates "If The Shoe Fits, Wear It" – the B-side which Ace did include on their CD in 2010. It ends CD1 of this twofer on a high and with cracking audio too. 

As I said before, in the main, the music is full-on Gospel-abandonment Good-Word-Spreading marching for the man type tunes (Jesus gets a lot of favourable mentions and there maybe occasional clapping). And that dominates CD2. It opens with a joyous palm-in-his-hand "I'm A Child Of The King" where Reverend Marvin Yancy lends his deeply rich and Soulful lead vocals to a huge choir – lovely and hopeful in tandem. As singular piano notes and a lone church organ sets the scene for the flipside "He Included Me" – Lead Vocalist Loretta Oliver and the Choir may just reduce your heathen heart to tears (a gorgeous find). Lush strings lead in Jacqui Verdell as she caresses "He's Mine" where she sanctifies how much she depends on the big guy – it’s a slow almost Stylistics groove and it's another lovely discovery. She decides to go Funky Piano on the B-side "We're Gonna Have A Good Time" – but her words are not about partying but the colours all getting together and digging the scene. 

Rance Alley goes soppy too for the Lord on his own "I Know A Man Who" advising us that He will let you leave your troubles behind (a more restrained vocal, but what a voice nonetheless). Funksters will dig the Mack Rice flipside with its clavinet keyboard chug – Rance calls on the man in "Hot Line To Jesus" then goes Halleujah (Good God!). Blue Aquarius decide to step right out of the Stax/Gospel Truth sound altogether and get ever so slightly Duncan Browne-Nick Drake-Al Stewart Spanish Guitar acoustic with their "At The Feet Of The Master". It's a Pop Love-Song to Jesus of 4:22 minutes length that feels very Folk UK in ways – halfway through it goes all Hair in its chorus about 'we're all love'. Unfortunately, its ooh-bop-bop-bop B-side is terrible sub-Fifth Dimension meets Sixties Neil Diamond and not in a good way. Better, deeply emotive and believing every note, Joshie Jo Armstead brings her fabulous set of pipes to a tale of coming out of cotton fields and finding that her stumbling blocks had become stepping stones to a higher way. She penned the flipside and sounding like a more mature Tammi Terrell doing a Jimmy Webb song - "Give A Little Loving" has Joshie Jo let rip on the kindness message. 

The astonishingly rich and canyon-deep Lou Rawls meets Fred Neil voice of Jimmy Jones wows in his time-for-action plea song "Do It Yourself". Mentions of inflation and politicians ignoring poverty sets the 1974 city scene (he does the Pete Seeger/Lee Hays anthem "If I Had A Hammer" on the flipside in a funky style but it feels hammy compared to the A). The set smooches home with Rance Allen and Louise McCord. Ace showed the Louise McCord US album "A Tribute To Mahalia Jackson" on the last page of their "The Gospel Truth: The Gospel Soul and Funk of Stax Records" CD booklet in 2010. Electric Organs and Sunday-Morning references fill her lovely "Reflections" (no giving up - keep on keeping on) coming into the back-stretch with her backing singers testifying on "There's No Need To Cry". God will heal your problems – McCord's rich voice filled with conviction as the love-ballad floats out of your speakers clear as a bell. 

For sure, much of what is on "The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection" will only be for a limited audience, but for STAX nuts like me and others even remotely interested in Soul, Funk and the occasional Righteous Groove that sometimes sidled up to those Genres – then this US 2020 2CD set on the wonderful Craft Recordings reissue label is a must own and a nice discovery all in one. 

Praise the Lord and ain't that the Truth, Gospel or otherwise…