"You Only Live Twice - Original Soundtrack Album" by JOHN BARRY (2003 EMI/Capitol CD – Doug Schwartz Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Improper Advances..."

When the entire James Bond musical catalogue turned up on remastered CD in 2003 - many fans got excited under their immaculately groomed tuxedos - quietly pawing their wallets in Soundtrack glee. I was one of those nerds and was/still am - giddily proud of it. I immediately ran out and purchased 1964’s “Goldfinger” and 1971’s “Diamonds Are Forever” on 2003 CDs - and this – for me the big daddy of them all – 1967’s “You Only Live Twice” – so brilliantly scored by the mighty JOHN BARRY.

Dugout volcanic lairs, cars being dropped into the ocean from helicopter magnets, capsules being gobbled up in space by a man with a dodgy eye and a purring cat, the self-assembly gyrocopter Little Nellie in four suitcases and Japanese babes Kung-Fu-ing their way through a dozen ugly bad guys before their lentil breakfast. What’s not to love? “You Only Live Twice” began the template for Bond that we’ve known and loved for more than 40 years and its music hasn’t aged – only grown in stature.

Not only that – but there’s also a huge haul of primo previously unreleased material made available for the first time here (most of it better than what was released). And like the other titles in this massive catalogue reissue series – DOUG SCHWARTZ has remastered the original master tapes for  “You Only Live Twice” with real skill. Everything about the stunning Audio Quality on this CD rocks. Here are the Bond Sab details...

UK released March 2003 (February 2003 in the USA) - "You Only Live Twice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" by JOHN BARRY on EMI Capitol 72435-41418-2-9 (Barcode 724354141829) breaks down as follows (72:45 minutes):

1. You Only Live Twice (Title Song) - Sung by Nancy Sinatra

2. Capsule In Space

3. Fight At Kobi Dock - Helga

4. Tanaka’s World

5. A Drop In The Ocean

6. The Death Of Aki

7. Mountains And Sunsets [Side 2]

8. The Wedding

9. James Bond – Astronaut?

10. Countdown For Blofeld

11. Bond Averts World War Three

12. You Only Live Twice (End Title) – Vocal Sung by Nancy Sinatra

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "You Only Live Twice: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - released July 1967 in the UK on United Artists ULP 1171 (Mono) and SULP 1171 (Stereo) and in the USA on United Artists UAL 4155 (mono) and UAS 5155 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used throughout.

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS:

13. James Bond In Japan

14. Aki, Tiger and Osato

15. Little Nellie

16. Soviet Capsule

17. Spectre And Village

18. James Bond - Ninja

19. Twice Is The Only Way

The 10-page booklet has affectionate, witty and informative liner notes from JEFF BOND (no relation) with Page 5 being a double foldout sporting an array of colour stills from the movie (Donald Pleasance as Blofeld, the Toyota 2000GT, Connery in Little Nellie etc).

But the big news here is the SOUND - this CD sounds utterly glorious. It opens with the ominous creep of “Capsule In Space” where Barry builds the music to a swirling climax – strings, wind instruments, the kettle drums – it all comes at you with such power and majesty as to be positively off-putting. It’s followed by the wicked “Fight At Kobe Docks – Helga” where Bond encounters baddies on the ground and rooftops of warehouses. It starts out warm but then the bass and keys kick in and that brass refrain as Connery punches his way out of trouble (unbelievable clarity). “The Death Of Aki” is merely the theme music played in a Japanese style and again there’s incredible depth in both the music and the transfer. Then you’re clobbered with true cinematic genius – Barry’s instrumental “Mountains And Sunsets” which literally conjures up the magic and glamour of Bond in your living room. Pure 007 comes in with “Bond Averts World War III” where all the themes we know and love about James come together in one climatic piece. Utterly brilliant...

As if the Soundtrack itself isn't the Georgie Best - you're hit with a wad of Previously Unreleased material from the original film that's been in the can for 40 years too long. "James Bond And Japan” lasts a fulsome 10:41 minutes and brings together all the best incidental music the movie has in a sort of mini Bond fest - menace and intrigue – warmth and beauty – danger looming - back to triumph - its just brilliant. But thrill of thrills is the brilliant 3:45 minutes of "Little Nellie" which will surely reduce most Bond devotees to a quivering wreck of nostalgia. As those plucked strings leads to big brass – it slinks along until you can see our Gyrocopter hurtling through the air being attacked – then you’re hit with the “007” theme which is too brill for mere words – wow is the only response...

BLOFELD: "We are now impregnable!

Goodbye Mister Bond!”

Well he wasn’t impregnable and James didn’t go bye-byes. Open your heart to your inner 007 and get this Ernst Stavro of a CD into your Little Nellie. Improper advances indeed...

"Diamonds Are Forever - Original Soundtrack Album" by JOHN BARRY (2003 EMI/Capitol CD – Doug Schwartz Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Bitten By The Bug..." 

When the entire Bond catalogue turned up on remastered CD in 2003 - many JOHN BARRY fans got fidgety - quietly pawing their wallets in Soundtrack glee (from 1962's "Dr. No" through to "Diamonds Are Forever" in 1972 and beyond). And having mitched from school six times in 1971 to see "Diamonds Are Forever" at Dublin's Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street (which I thought was the coolest thing in the world) - this little beauty was always going to be my first port of call when it reappeared in decent remastered form. And what a winner it is...

Not only is there a huge haul of previously unreleased material made available for the first time here (most of it better than what was released) - it's tastefully presented and has been remastered with pure love from the original master tapes by top Engineer DOUG SCHWARTZ (assisted and remixed by Michael McDonald) to truly spectacular effect - much like the films would be with the Lowry Process a few years later (frame-by-frame restoration). Here is the Dastardly Blofeld and comely Tiffany Case details...

UK and USA released March 2003 - "Diamonds Are Forever (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" by JOHN BARRY on EMI Capitol 72435-41420-2-4 (Barcode 724354142024) breaks down as follows (75:48 minutes):

1. Diamonds Are Forever (Main Title) - Sung by Shirley Bassey

2. Bond Meets Bambi And Thumper

3. Moon Buggy Ride

4. Circus, Circus

5. Death At The Whyte House

6. Diamonds Are Forever (Source Instrumental)

7. Diamonds Are Forever (Bond and Tiffany)

8. Bond Smells A Rat

9. Tiffany Case

10. 007 And Counting

11. Q's Trick

12. To Hell With Blofeld

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Diamonds Are Forever: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - released December 1971 in the UK on United Artists UAS 29216 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5220.

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS:

13. Gunbarrel And Manhunt

14. Mr. Wint And Mr. Kidd/Bond To Holland

15. Peter Franks

16. Airport Source/On The Road

17. Slumber, Inc

18. The Whyte House

19. Plenty, Then Tiffany

20. Following The Diamonds

21. Additional And Alternate Cues

The 10-page booklet has affectionate, witty and informative liner notes from JEFF BOND (no relation) with Page 5 being a double foldout sporting an array of colour stills from the movie - Sean Connery as James Bond swinging from pulleys outside the penthouse apartment of Willard Whyte's Vegas skyscraper, Jill St. John as Tiffany Case in a bath washing 007's hairy chest (I'm glad someone is), Charles Grey as Blofeld posing with a sword and a menacing look, Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole at the crap tables (posing with as little as possible) and a brief glimpse of the wonderfully camp killer couple Putter Smith and Bruce Glover (as Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd) trying to dispense with our James via a Bomba Supreme and some flaming kebab skewers (nice). Alas there are no photos of Lola Larson and Trina Parks as the acrobatic Bambi and Thumper kicking the crap out of 007 like he deserved it. The last page has reissue credits and some discography info (United Artists released the theme song as a 7" single in the UK and USA where it charted at 38 and 57 respectively).

But the big news here is the SOUND - this CD sounds utterly glorious. Recorded in October 1971 by Barry at CTS Studios in London (Engineered by John Richards) - it was afforded all the luxury of modern recording facilities - and man does it show. The moment the brass of "Diamonds Are Forever" hits you followed by Shirley Bassey's superb vocal - you know you're in for a thrill. The brilliantly scored "Moon Buggy Ride" is pure Bond - all blasting brass and strings building until it goes into that strings only centrepiece - the audio is truly fabulous. The slinky lounge piano of "Source Material" is gorgeous too but the absolute bees knees is surely "007 And Counting" where Bond is wrestling to stop the laser satellite from space starting World War III - it's just magisterial - beautifully recorded and transferred.

As if the Soundtrack itself isn't the Georgie Best - you're hit with a wad of Previously Unreleased material from the original film that's been in the can for 40 years too long. "Gunbarrel And Manhunt" is like a mini Bond fest all rolled up into one - first you get the Sixties 007 theme we know and love - then blasting brass - then smooching strings - then menace and intrigue - back to triumph - its just brilliant. But thrill of thrills is the brilliant 4 minutes of "Mr. Wint And Mr. Kidd/Bond To Holland" where the "bitten by the bug" duo of scorpion killers are gingerly dispensing with anyone who gave them diamonds. It's masterful John Barry - slinking along - adding so much to the film (you see the thing in your mind's eye).

"If God had wanted man to fly Mister Wint...

He would have given him wings Mister Kidd!"

Well now the dapper chap has been given wings. Open your heart to your inner 007 and get this fabulous CD in your Bath-O-Sub. La Bomba Supreme indeed...

"Second Winter: Legacy Edition" by JOHNNY WINTER (2004 Columbia/Legacy 2CD Remaster) - A Review for Mark Barry...

"...Been A Long Time Coming..."

Winter's third album – the impossibly cool "Second Winter" (a 3-sided 2LP set where Side 4 was left blank deliberately) was his second platter for Columbia Records and delivered on the Boogie promise of his May 1969 label debut "Johnny Winter" (both vinyl treasures I've had on my turntables for over 45 years). I never in my wildest dreams thought Sony would afford "Second Winter" a 'Legacy Edition' 2CD set – yet they have – and they've come up with a fan-pleasing barnstormer into the axe-wielding bargain. Here are the fret-burning details...

UK and Europe released 18 October 2004 (August 2004 in the USA) - "Second Winter: Legacy Edition" by JOHNNY WINTER on Columbia/Legacy COL 511231 2 (Barcode 5099751123125) is a 2CD Remaster housed in a Stickered Plastic Outer Slipcase and plays outs as follows:

Disc 1 - "Second Winter" (55:13 minutes):

1. Memory Pain [Side 1]

2. I'm Not So Sure

3. The Good Love

4. Slippin' And Slidin' [Side 2]

5. Miss Ann

6. Johnny B. Goode

7. Highway 61 Revisited

8. I Love Everybody [Side 3]

9. Hustled Down In Texas

10. I Hate Everybody

11. Fast Life Rider

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 3rd studio album "Second Winter" - released 27 October 1969 in the USA as a 3-sided 2LP set on Columbia KCS 9947 and January 1970 in the UK on CBS 66321 (Side 4 was left blank on purpose). Produced by Johnny Winter – it peaked at No. 55 in the USA (December 1969) and made No. 59 in the UK (May 1970).

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

12. Early In The Morning

13. Tell The Truth (Instrumental)

MUSICIANS for the LP:

JOHNNY WINTER – Lead Vocals, Guitars & Mandolin

EDGAR WINTER – Piano, Organ, Harpsichord & Alto Sax

TOMMY SHANNON – Bass (except DENNIS COLLINS on “Good Love”)

"UNCLE" JOHN TURNER – Drums & Percussion

Disc 2 (72:10 minutes): "Live At The Royal Albert Hall 17 April 1970" – All Tracks PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

1. Help Me

2. Johnny B. Goode

3. Mama Talk To Your Daughter

4. It's My Own Fault

5. Black Cat Bone

6. Mean Town Blues

7. Tobacco Road

8. Frankenstein

9. Tell The Truth

MUSICIANS for the Live Set:

JOHNNY WINTER – Lead Vocals, Electric and Slide Guitar

EDGAR WINTER – Saxophone, Keyboards and Vocals (Lead on "Frankenstein", Co-Lead with Johnny on "Tell The Truth")

TOMMY SHANNON – Bass

"UNCLE" JOHN TURNER – Drums

The 24-page Colour booklet features unpublished photos from the period, ANDY ALEDORT liner notes (Associate Editor for ‘Guitar World’ magazine) that include interviews with Johnny and Edgar Winter as well as the live band members who played the Royal Albert Hall show in April 1970 featured on Disc 2 – Bassist Tommy Shannon and Drummer John Turner. Each of the see-through CD trays features blue and white photos (in keeping with the original artwork) underneath the CDs.  JERRY RAPPAPORT produced the Legacy Edition while JOSEPH M. PALMACCIO did the overall Mastering. BOB AUGER recorded and mixed the Live set - produced for 2004 release by JERRY RAPPAPORT.

Some album covers are so damn cool – and “Second Winter” is one of them. Richard Avedon’s double-imaged picture is the very stuff of something simple turned into something great – that flying white hair suggesting guitar ecstasy – something fluid – like his playing. The album opens with a Percy Mayfield cover version – the wonderful “Memory Pain” – a hit for Mayfield way back in 1964 on Tangerine Records. Right from the off you get huge chugging guitar and the Remaster starts to shine. Not to be outdone by old magic – his own “I’m Not Sure” is superb – and introduces layers of keyboards in a Funky Stevie Wonder “Innervisions” kind of way. Bassist Dennis Collins plays once on the album – accompanying himself on his own “The Good Love” which Johnny turns into a rapidly played Rocker. That wicked track is followed by two out-and-out speedball classics – a duo of Little Richard Specialty sides – “Slippin’ And Slidin’” and “Mary Ann”. The piano boogie intro to “Slippin’ And Slidin’” reminds me so much of John Lennon’s version five years later on his 1975 “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album. About one-minute twenty into the piano and sax old time Rock 'n' Roll - Johnny lets rips with the most brilliant guitar solo - fusing the song into something so 1970. His six-minute cover of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is a souped-up slide fest but I've never been particularly fond of it.

The immediately impressive "I Love Everybody" turned up on the "Fill Your Head With Rock" CBS Records Double-Album Sampler in 1970 – alerting many a budding kid to his amazing guitar playing and slightly druggy nature (love that giggle at the start). "Hustled Down In Texas" has always been a fave of mine - rip-roaring up and down the frets like an unleashed freight train (you can hear him grunt in the solo). The organ-jazzy "I Hate Everybody" is a rapid-fire hybrid between Georgie Fame scat and Winter's chugging rhythm and the last cut - the seven-minute "Fast Life Rider" is even more experimental - feeling like a Drums and Guitar for much of its duration. Better for me is a Previously Unreleased cover of a Louis Jordan classic "Early In The Morning". The remaster is remarkable - mixed in 2004 by THOM CADLEY at Sony's studios in New York. It's a raucous rocker that would have ended the album better than "Fast Life Rider". That boogie is followed by another cover – this time we’re given the R&B flavored instrumental “Tell The Truth” by Ray Charles – a song the band turns into a 9-minute celebration on the live set (lyrics and all). Both could easily have been slotted onto a Side 4 of the album with some quickly recorded covers thrown in...ah well...

Johnny asks the crowd "...what's happening..." as he begins the live set. Immediately you're hit by the sheer power of his band and that incredible playing. The drums and bass of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" are spot on with the vocals maybe a little too far back. Things really start to jump with his Chuck Berry fave "Johnny B. Goode" where he assures the pleased audience that 'he played his guitar just like ringing a bell' - and indeed he did. J.B. Lenoir's cautionary tale "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" boogies even more - the band cooking by now. He brings it down to some real power Blues with B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" - eleven and half minutes of fabulous Rock-Blues from a master player. His own "Black Cat Bones" livens things up considerably with some sensational slide playing but that's as nothing to the brilliant Bo Diddley chug of "Mean Town Blues" that bops along like ZZ Top for a full eleven minutes. We get all jerky motion and Cream with their cover of "Tobacco Road" - a fantastic organ and guitar spectacle with rapped vocals from Edgar that very cleverly leads into the big one - a 9-minute "Frankenstein". The single would sit on top of the American charts in instrumental form in April 1973 (Epic 10967). Even though there are only four of them onstage - they seem to be making the racket of six. Drummer Turner gets his solo during "Frankenstein" which admittedly goes on a tad - but it ends on that huge riffage (no keyboards yet). They finish up with a crowd-pleasing "Tell The Truth" - a bopper that sees Johnny let rip while Edgar joins him on the verses and some rapid-fire scat.

Like many I suspect - I used to take Johnny Winter albums for granted. But since his sad passing I can't seem to get enough of him and his astonishing playing. Dreadful puns aside - there's no Johnny Winter of discontent here folks...

PS: If you want more - check out his late Seventies collaborations with MUDDY WATERS on Blue Sky Records which feature Winter producing and playing on all (see the 3CD "Original Album Classics" box set). See also my review for the "Woodstock Experience" version of "Johnny Winter" his debut for Columbia Records in 1969. It comes with a superb bonus disc of period live material and beautiful packaging including a poster (see reviews)...

"Bare Wires" by JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS (2007 Decca 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Open Up A New Door..."

When this CD was reissued in September 2007 – John Mayall had released his 55th album in 2005 called “Road Dogs”. This strapping Cheshire lad with the Blues hot-wired into his very DNA is 84 in November 2016 and still touring – wow!

In November 1968 Mayall would release the brilliant "Blues From Laurel Canyon" album only months after the June 1968 issue of the equally cool "Bare Wires". And on re-listening to this wicked CD remaster today (expertly transferred from first generation Stereo master tapes by Paschal Byrne) – I'm not in the least bit surprised we're still loving "Wires" and "Laurel Canyon" from that explosively creative decade. These albums represented John Mayall at the height of his Blues Rock songwriting powers – complimented by a band that featured collective genius in the shapes of Chris Mercer and Dick Heckstall-Smith on Saxophones, Jon Hiseman on Drums, Henry Lowther on Cornet and Violin, Tony Reeves on Bass and of course the future Rolling Stones guitar genius of Mick Taylor. And all of this musical exploration helmed by Mayall working Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica and four different types of keyboards. What’s not to love? And it’s less than a fiver in most places. Here is the Saxophone flicks, groovy chicks and zippy licks...

UK released September 2007 – "Bare Wires" by JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS on Decca 984 217-8 (Barcode 602498421789) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD and plays out as follows (73:58 minutes):

1. Bare Wires Suite (22:59 minutes)

(a) Bare Wires

(b) Where Did I Belong

(c) I Started Walking

(d) Open Up A New Door

(e) Fire

(f) I Know Now

(g) Look In The Mirror

ANOTHER SIDE

2. I'm A Stranger [Side 2]

3. No Reply

4. Hartley Quits

5. Killing Time

6. She's Too Young

7. Sandy

Tracks 1 to 7 are the album "Bare Wires" – released June 1968 in the UK on Decca LK 4972 (Mono) and SKL 4945 (Stereo) in the USA on London PS 537 in Stereo only (the Stereo mix is used for the CD). The album was co-produced by Blue Horizon label boss MIKE VERNON with John Mayall – and peaked at No. 3 on the UK LP charts - No. 59 in the USA – credited in both countries to JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS.

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Picture On The Wall

9. Jenny

Tracks 8 and 9 are the non-album MONO A&B-sides of a UK 7" single released February 1968 on Decca F 12732

10. Knocker's Step Forward

11. Hide And Seek

Tracks 10 and 11 are session outtakes recorded April 1968 that first appeared on the October 1971 UK compilation LP "Thru The Years" on Decca SKL 5086

12. Intro – Look At The Girl

13. Start Walkin'

Tracks 12 and 13 recorded at Falmer College, Brighton, UK on 25 May 1968 that were first released April 1983 on the "Primal Solos" LP in the UK on Decca TAB 66.

The 16-page booklet is beautifully laid out. There is a collage of black and white photos of the band in the studio, playing live at various UK venues, British and US trade adverts for the Decca album and even the lyrics at the end. Punctuating the period snaps (many in colour) are really informative and knowledgeable liner notes from MARK POWELL - head honcho at the revered Esoteric Recordings CD reissue company. And all of that reissue goodness is complimented by the best bit...the Audio...

PASCHAL BYRNE has done stunning Remasters at The Audio Arching Company in London from original tapes. Byrne has a long-standing Audio Engineer career and multiple prestigious reissue credits to his name (he also did the Mayall “So Many Roads” 4CD Anthology Book Set in 2010).  His work here is exemplary – great presence – the tracks allowed to breath so you can hear the musicians and not dampened to avoid hiss. This CD sounds fabulous...

The album is somewhat dominated by the 7-part 23-minute "Bare Wires Suite" - a kind of English Blues meets Frank Zappa avant-garde Jazz wig out. Each band member gets their soloist part - Mayall opening proceedings on a lone organ. And just when you think it's all getting out of hand - he slows the pace in "I Know Now" section singing "...they'll be needing me to lean on much more..." before bringing it all home with Saxophones on the last part. Even today it stands up and doesn't feel as long as its playing time would suggest.

Side 2 opens with some slinky Georgie Fame nightclub organ - "I'm A Stranger" sounding just fabulous - all Bluesy and Jazz at one and the same time. A 'one, two, three' count in prefaces the Harmonica shuffle boogie of the very cool "No Reply" while the band's goes all Colosseum with the Jazz/Guitar rock of the salacious yet honest "She's So Young" - a song about a lass whose just about to turn seventeen - an event our John is a little too eager to see arrive. It ends on the weird Acoustic Slide Blues of "Sandy" - the kind of ditty you'd hear on a John Mellencamp album in 1989.

But what elevates this CD reissue into the solid 5-star bracket is the superb extras - all six are more than worthy inclusions. "Picture On The Wall" is the kind of sliding Dobro Blues Rock that I adore slinking along like a naughty brat enjoying himself too much. That single's B-side is "Jenny" - a four and half-minute Slow Crawl that sounds like deep Fleetwood Mac Blues complete with that 'Mono' echo on the guitar and repeated vocals (the remaster here is so clean). The Stereo duo of 1968 outtakes that turned up on the 1971 compilation "Thru The Years" feature amazing guitar and Sax work on "Knocker's Step Forward" - an instrumental that boogies - and a rocking Harmonica and Guitar driver called "Hide And Seek" - which is just great. The live stuff only shows what a shin-kicking band they were live.

So there you have it - "Bare Wires" is still a wickedly good album and I can understand why kids in Blighty pushed it up to No. 3 on the LP charts. The Decca platter that followed in November 1968 "Blues From Laurel Canyon" was another winner cut from pretty much the same cloth (see separate review). And I’ll wear those duds any day of the week...

"Indianola Mississippi Seeds" by B. B. KING (1995 Beat Goes On CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Can't Break Loose Of These Chains And Things..."

Eagles Producer Bill Szymczyk first hooked up with B.B. King for the June 1969 "Live And Well" LP on BluesWay – then helmed the superb December 1969 studio album "Completely Well" too. Those two well-received live and studio sets introduced B.B. King classics like "The Thrill Is Gone" and "So Excited" to a new audience (largely white boys digging the Blues) and more importantly helped the legendary Blues Boy break the Billboard album charts after decades of absence - "Live And Well" made No. 56 and "Completely Well" went higher to No. 38.

Meanwhile on his 1969 travels to Cleveland - Bill Szymczyk spots a local band fronted by an amazing guitar player/singer rocking a club. It was The James Gang and the axe maestro was of course Joe Walsh.

Although beloved in the industry for her songwriting genius with Gerry Goffin and her largely unnoticed band work with The City – in 1970 Carole King hadn’t made "Tapestry" yet and wasn’t the household name she would become throughout 1971 and beyond. Oklahoma songwriter and keyboardist Leon Russell had only just released his self-titled debut LP "Leon Russell" in December 1969 on Shelter Records (Joe Cocker would cover "Delta Lady" from it and create a hit – BB King would do "Hummingbird" - also on that album). Soulful backing singer Merry Clayton had famously duetted with Mick Jagger on The Rolling Stones classic "Gimme Shelter" from their classic "Let It Bleed" album in 1969 and was about to emerge into the limelight in 1970 with her own debut album on A&M/Ode 70 Records not surprisingly called "Gimme Shelter” (see review).

The point of this musical history lesson is that B.B. King's 1970 LP "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" (Produced by Bill Szymczyk) brought 'all' of these mercurial talents together for the first time. And I'd argue that in 2016 - it's one of those criminally 'overlooked' albums that shouldn't be. Time to rectify that careless oversight on our part - we children of Alan Freed and a frothing Robert Johnson. Here are the plugged-in watermelon details...

UK released June 1995 (reissued December 2008) – "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" by B.B. KING on Beat Goes On BGOCD 237 (Barcode 5017261202376) is a straightforward CD transfer/remaster of that album and plays outs as follows (39:33 minutes):

1. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother

2. You're Still My Woman

3. Ask Me No Questions

4. Until I'm Dead And Cold

5. King's Special

6. Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore [Side 2]

7. Chains And Things

8. Go Underground

9. Hummingbird

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Indianola Mississippi Seeds" – released October 1970 in the USA on ABC Records ABCS-713 and October 1970 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6255 (gatefold sleeve in both countries). Produced by BILL SZYMCZYK with Strings and Horns arranged by JIMMIE HASKELL. It peaked at No. 26 on the US LP charts. Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are written by B.B. King – Tracks 2, 7 and 8 co-written with B.B. King and Dave Clark – Track 9 is a Leon Russell cover version. 

MUSICIANS:

B.B. KING - All Lead Vocals & Guitar

JOE WALSH - Rhythm Guitar on "Ask Me No Questions", "King's Special" and "Hummingbird"

CAROLE KING - Piano on "You're Still My Woman", "Until I'm Dead And Cold" and "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore"

CAROLE KING - Electric Piano on "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore" and "Chains And Things"

LEON RUSSELL - Piano on "Ask Me No Questions", "King's Special" and "Go Underground"

MERRY CLAYTON - Backing Vocals

BRYAN GARAFALO - Bass

RUSS KUNKEL - Drums

45s released around the LP:

1. Hummingbird b/w Ask Me No Questions

July 1970 USA 7" single on ABC Records 45-11268

August 1970 UK 7" single on Stateside SS 2176

2. Chains And Things [Edit] b/w King's Special [Edit]

October 1970 USA 7” single on ABC Records 45-ABC-11280

Chains And Things b/w King's Special

February 1971 UK 7" single on Probe PRO 516 (no edits)

3. Ask Me No Questions b/w Nobody Loves Me But My Mother

February 1971 USA 7" single on ABC Records ABC-11290

Ask Me Questions/Help The Poor b/w Hummingbird

June 1971 UK 7" single on Probe Records PRO 528 (Note: the A-side has two tracks)

The 8-page inlay has basic but entertaining liner notes from JOHN TOBLER. This is 1995 BGO – so the booklet isn’t like their 20-page tomes of late nor is there a pretty card slipcase (mores the pity) and could frankly do with some updating. It doesn’t say who did the Remaster but it was carried out at 'Sound Recording Technology in Cambridge' in early 1995. The audio is great – meaty in all the right ways. It has a very analogue feel - hissy in some places - but alive and kicking for all that.

With just B.B.accompanying himself on piano - it opens with the witty "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother" where the Blues Boy bemoans his womanless fate. Nobody loves him and he ain't sure about his mother either (could be jiving him). Next up is the slinky "You're Still My Woman" and we're introduced to another 'secret weapon' in the sessions - a writer's credit to a one 'Dave Clark'. B.B. co-wrote three of the songs with this Tennessee songwriting genius and although Clark never managed an album of his own – his songs crop up like good pennies in cool places. Clark’s "Homework" was covered by The J. Geils Band on their debut and used as a 7" single. "Homework" also turned up on the Fleetwood Mac and Friends double-album "Blues Jam At Chess" on Blue Horizon. B.B. would co-write with Clark again on the 1972 album "L.A. Midnight" on ABC Records (Probe Records in the UK). ABC decided to use Clark's wonderful "Chains And Things" as a 45 and you can so hear why. This sneaky electric piano riffs comes sailing in (Carole King) and it’s that fabulous 70ts fusion of Blues and Rock and Soul all rolled into one (a highlight for sure).

There are two funky instrumentals - "King's Special" (preceded by some studio chatter) features the band of King, Walsh, Carole and Leon all boogieing the session in a hipster jam. It's the kind of cool Rock-Soul-Funky instrumental that will turn up on some Soul Jazz double-album compilation in the next few years - an example of a long lost wicked groove that kids of today need to know about. The other is the Side 2 opener "Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore" which is a weird one - like two songs in one - both different but excellent grooves. "Go Underground" hails from the "Completely Well" sessions and is a Funky bopper - could have been a great single. His cover of Leon Russell's "Hummingbird" ends the record on another Funky Blues vibe - great piano and those orchestrated strings. The bass is so sweet, Leon plays piano on his own tune and Joe Walsh gives it some chug in the Rhythm section and Merry comes in with the choir voices at the finale.

"Indianola Mississippi Seeds" is a wicked album filled with musical bodies that only complimented and enhanced the great man's mojo.

"...She gets me where I live..." - B.B. King sings on the cool "Hummingbird". Well plug me into that watermelon one more time...