"Twelve Dreams Of. Dr. Sardonicus" by SPIRIT (1996 and 2009 Epic/Legacy 'Expanded Edition' CD - Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Turns Me On Man..." 

Sometimes you wonder why a genuine masterpiece album isn't raved about from on high? Overlooked, passed by and forgotten - and it shouldn’t be...

In June 2016 - Los Angeles band SPIRIT are making the news for their alleged plagiarism court case with Led Zeppelin over the opening acoustic guitar refrain for "Stairway To Heaven" which Spirit survivors feel the Zepsters lifted from their song "Taurus" off their June 1968 self-titled album - "Spirit". Personally I'd rather have punters focus on the good Doctor Sardonicus - their sophisticated 3rd platter from late 1970. So here are the dreamlike details...

UK released November 1996 (reissued October 2009) - "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" by SPIRIT on Epic/Legacy 485173 2 (Barcode 5099748517326) features the 12-track 1970 album Remastered onto CD with Four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (54:20 minutes):

1. Prelude - Nothin' To Hide
2. Nature's Way
3. Animal Zoo
4. Love Has Found A Way
5. Why Can't I Be Free
6. Mr. Skin
7. Space Child [Side 2]
8. When I Touch You
9. Street Worm
10. Life Has Just Begun
11. Morning Will Come
12. Soldier
Tracks 1 to 12 are their 3rd studio album "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" - released November 1970 in the USA on Epic E 30267 and February 1971 in the UK on Epic S EPC 64191. Produced by DAVID BRIGGS - the album peaked at No. 63 on the USA Pop LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).

Tracks 1, 2, 5, 10, 11 and 12 written by RANDY CALIFORNIA (Lead Guitars & Vocals) - Tracks 3, 6, 8 and 9 written by JAY FERGUSON (Lead Vocals & Percussion) - Track 7 written by JOHN LOCKE (Keyboards) - Track 4 co-written between JAY FERGUSON and JOHN LOCKE. The other band members were MARK ANDES on Bass and Vocals with ED CASSIDY on Drums and Percussion.

BONUS TRACKS:
13. Rougher Road - Previously Unreleased, Recorded 1970, Randy California song
14. Animal Zoo (Mono Single Mix) - July 1970 USA 7" single on Epic 5-10648, A-side
15. Morning Will Come - Previously Unreleased, Recorded 1970, Randy California song
16. Red Light Roll On - July 1970 USA 7" single on Epic 5-10648, Non-Album B-side to "Animal Zoo"
NOTES: Tracks 1 to 12 are STEREO - Tracks 13 to 16 in MONO

The 12-page booklet features new liner notes by Randy California that gives a track-by-track description of the song and its creation - there are several black and white promo photos of the group - Biogs on each original member of the band (the five listed above) - discussion of the famous 'distorted faces' artwork/photograph and the usual reissue credits with the whole effort dedicated to the original LP producer DAVID BRIGGS who did so much to get the sounds they wanted on different tracks. Produced for CD by BOB IRWIN - VIC ANESINI carried out the Remaster at Sony Studios in New York. He's a name I've sung the praises of before. Anesini has handled very prestigious SONY catalogue – Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, Nilsson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Paul Simon, Mountain and The Jayhawks to name but a few. I seek out his work because it’s the best to my ears. His work here is fabulous. I had the 1990 Mobile Fidelity CD for years and audio-wise they're as good as each other with the Epic/Legacy issue being a helluva lot cheaper and easier to acquire. Let's get to the Californian music...

"Prelude - Nothin' To Hide" is a wickedly good opener showcasing the Bluesy slide guitar of Randy California arising out of an Acoustic beginning. Its 3:43 minutes is full of clever chords, vocal layering and that unexpected slide break (funky) - it's lyrics about being "married to the same bride" sounding racy without knowing why. The acoustic balladry of "Nature's Way" comes as a melodic calmer after all the preceding speaker-to-speaker riffage. "Nature's Way" is a short but gorgeous song and one I return to again and again. It's followed by the album's lead off single "Animal Zoo" - the 7" Mono Single Mix of which is a Bonus Track. You can hear why Epic picked it's upbeat rhythms as an album taster - that hooky beat, the Bass break and Keyboard interlude making it more musically interesting that most anything else on the scene at the time. And as they sing "...much too fat...and a little too long..." during the sound-effect fade out in their best Todd Rundgren mad hatter voices - it had a 'Spirit' sound.

"Love Has Found A Way" floats in with speeded up guitar sounds floating over clever melodic vocal lines - sort of Frank Zappa with a melody at its vibe core. The one-minute and acoustic "Why Can't I Be Free" feels like a beautiful plea for peace of mind as it swirls around in a haze of marijuana. But then we get Side 1's other masterpiece - the brill "Mr. Skin" - it's fantastic choppy beat benefitting from Brass Arrangements done by David Blumberg. Epic in Britain gave it a belated 7" single release in February 1973 with "Nature's Way" on the B-side (Epic S EPC 7082).

Side 2 opens with probably my fave instrumental by them – the trippy brilliance of “Space Child” – a piano floater with superb sound scapes and ideas. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but my Mobile Fidelity CD played the track to 3:44 minutes while it’s always been 3:25 minutes on this Epic CD? We then get wickedly good speaker-to-speaker guitar in the driving "When I Touch You" - a Jay Ferguson song that already has Jo Jo Gunne in it - the band he would form after Spirit with Mark Andes and his brother Matthew. "Street Worm" could easily be "Stand Up" or "Benefit" Jethro Tull - a very catchy Guitar/Piano duo back up Ferguson's wailing about 'not making any deal' with the man. Things go seriously melodic with the beautifully produced "Life Has Just Begun" - an acoustic builder where all their voices are featured to great effect (wonderful remaster). The album goes into its only Rock 'n' Roll boogie in the shape of "Morning Will Come" (lyrics from it title this review) cleverly offset by the faded-in Elton John-type piano of "Soldier" - a serious song giving huge power by the pipe organ Producer David Briggs recorded for the finisher. It rounds off an album that just grows and grows with each listen...

I had expected the Bonus Tracks to be throwaway - but if anything the Previously Unreleased Byrds-sounding "Rougher Road" is a bit of a gem. The single mix of "Animal Zoo" has a visceral punch in Mono - not so sure about the Alternate Mono Mix of "Morning Will Come" which I think loses its power compared to the finished Stereo LP cut. The 'tapes rolling - this is Take No. 1' dialogue at the beginning of the non-album B-side "Red Light Roll On" only adds to its excellence (shame there appears to be no Stereo variant of this wicked groover).

Mid 2016 and there's a variant of SPIRIT is still kicking around today - but many will cast their hearts back 46 years to this period album - "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus". 

Strange, melodic, rocking, trippy, socially contemporary and so much more - the sum of all its crazy and disparate parts working together as a one very cool and cohesive whole. 

As we used to say in the schoolyard when we were being terminally hip - I dig it man...

"Two Steps From The Blues" by BOBBY BLAND (2001 Universal/MCA 'Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited' CD Reissue - Erick Labson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I Pity The Fool..." 

Like so many albums of the period - Bobby Bland's 1961 debut LP "Two Steps From The Blues" was made up primarily of proven hit singles on the Blues and R&B charts. A whopping 7 of its 12 tracks had been Duke 45's - with releases stretching as far back as March 1957 - while three of the five new songs would become singles themselves anyway.

The five new cuts recorded in November 1960 in Chicago were "Two Steps From The Blues", "Don't Cry No More", "I've Just Got To Forget You", "St. James Infirmary" and the soon to be a No. 1 smash "I Pity The Fool" (released with the album in January 1961). And yet this slapped together long-player makes for a great listen – moaning Blues sided by a few shuffling R&B mid-tempo dancers. Here are the Pitiful Fools, Cheatin' Women and Little Boy Blues...

US released 27 February 2001 - "Two Steps From The Blues" by BOBBY BLAND on MCA/Duke-Peacock 088 112 516-2 (Barcode 008811251628) is part of Universal's "Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited" CD Reissue Series (see list below) and offers the 12-track 1961 album plus two Bonus Tracks (singles from the period) and plays out as follows (35:12 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Two Steps From The Blues

2. Cry, Cry, Cry (also September 1960 USA 7" single on Duke 327, A)

3. I'm Not Ashamed (also April 1959 USA 7" single on Duke 303, A)

4. Don't Cry No More (also 1961 USA 7" single on Duke 336, A - withdrawn)

5. Lead Me On (also March 1960 USA 7" single on Duke 318, A)

6. I Pity The Fool (also January 1961 USA 7" single on Duke 332, A)

Side 2:

7. I've Just Got To Forget You

8. Little Boy Blue (also July 1958 USA 7" single on Duke 196, A)

9. St. James Infirmary (also June 1961 USA 7" single on Duke 340, B-side of "Don't Cry No More")

10. I'll Take Care Of You (also November 1959 USA 7" single on Duke 314, A)

11. I Don't Want No Woman (also March 1957 USA 7" single on Duke 167, B-side of "I Smell Trouble")

12. I've Been Wrong So Long (also September 1960 USA 7" single on Duke 327, B-side of "Cry, Cry, Cry")

Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut LP "Two Steps From The Blues" - released January 1961 in the USA in Mono only on Duke Records DLP 74.

BONUS TRACKS:

13. How Does A Cheatin' Woman Feel (recorded August 1960 - July 1962 USA 7" single on Duke 352, B-side of "Yield Not To Temptation")

14. Close To You (recorded August 1960 - also January 1961 USA 7" single on Duke 332, B-side of "I Pity The Fool")

Using period typeface - the 12-page booklet is a pleasant enough affair with short but informative new liner notes from noted Blues & R&B Historian BILL DAHL. You also get the original LP liner notes from Dzondria Lalsac - as well as trade adverts for "I'll Take Care Of You" and "Bobby "Blue" Bland’s newest hit "I Smell Trouble" (Duke were hoping to smell a hit alright). But all of that pales against the real deal - an ERICK LABSON Remaster from original analogue tapes done at Universal's Mastering suites in Hollywood. You get a glorious old school Mono punch out of this album - and whilst the playing time is admittedly short - the whole listen feels just 'right'.

Beneath the title of the album – the LP’s label declares 'Featuring The Scintillating Voice Of...' - and they'd be right. While his trademark growl isn't quite in place yet - his deep guttural voice is a thing of wonder. Tracks like "Two Steps From The Blues" and "I've Just Got To Forget You" features the bluesy guitar of Wayne Barnett with the punching brass of Joe Scott, Melvin Jackson, Pluma Davis, Robert Skinner, L.A. Hill and Rayfield Devers on all manner of tasty horns - while Teddy Reynolds tinkles faintly in the background on the old Joanna. "Little Boy Blue" and "Don't Cry No More" continue the emotional misery - but I love "Close To You" - the non-LP B-side to the album's milestone and Bobby Bland signature tune "I Pity The Fool".

Great stuff and a must-buy for fans of hard-hitting Chicago R&B and Blues that also dig the beginnings of early Soul...

PS: Universal put out seven releases in their Rock 'n' Roll "50th Anniversary Series" and eleven in their complimentary "Blues Classics Remastered & Revisited" Series - and I've loved the lot. Great sound, clever title choices and all bumped up with bonus tracks and decent booklets (I'm reviewed almost all of them). Each makes for the best basis of a collection in a minefield of lesser compilations. For info purposes...

The "Rock 'n' Roll 50th Anniversary" CD Series:

1. After School Session by CHUCK BERRY (1958 Chess debut LP)

2. St. Louis To Liverpool by CHUCK BERRY (1964 STEREO LP on Chess)

3. The Chirping Crickets by THE CRICKETS (1957 Debut LP on Decca)

4. Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger by BO DIDDLEY (1960 STEREO Chess LP)

5. Rock Around The Clock by BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS (1955 Decca LP)

6. Buddy Holly by BUDDY HOLLY (1958 1st solo LP on Coral)

7. Rock, Rock, Rock! - Original Soundtrack by VARIOUS (Chuck Berry, The Flamingos and The Moonglows) (1956 Chess 'Rock'n'Roll Movie Soundtrack LP)

The "Blues Classics Remastered & Revisited" CD Series:

1. Bad News Is Coming - LUTHER ALLISON (1972 USA LP with 4 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 56:10 minutes) (Barcode 044001340727)

2. Luther's Blues - LUTHER ALLISON (SUHA GUR Remaster) (1974 USA 9-track LP with 3 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes) (Barcode 044001340925)

3. Two Steps From The Blues - BOBBY BLAND (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (1961 USA 12-track LP on Duke with 2 bonuses, 35:12 minutes)  (Barcode 008811251628)

4. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (October 1966 and September 1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes) (Barcode 008811282127)

5. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (January 1966 on Chess and January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes) (Barcode 008811282028)

6. Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (January 1968 US 12-Track LP on Cadet - Tracks 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes) (Barcode 008811251826)

7. Live At San Quentin - B.B. KING (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (1990 13-Track Compilation on MCA, no extras, 64:11 minutes) (Barcode 008811251727)

8. At Newport 1960 - MUDDY WATERS (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:43 minutes) (Barcode 008811251529)

9. Fathers & Sons - MUDDY WATERS & Friends (ERICK LABSON Remaster)

(Tracks 1-10 and 15-20 is the August 1969 2LP set on Chess in Full with Tracks 11, 12, 13 being previously unreleased - and 14 previously unreleased in the USA). (77:38 minutes) (Barcode 008811264826)

10. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS (ERICK LABSON Remasters - 2LPs on 1CD) (Barcode 008811282226)

11. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON (ERICK LABSON Remaster) (January 1966 and January 1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes) (Barcode 008811282325)

"Breezes Of Patchouli: His Studio Recordings 1966-1969" by DONOVAN (April 2013 EMI 4CD Reissue - Peter Mew Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Sunshine Superman…" 

Fans will know that Donovan Leitch's Sixties catalogue is a labyrinth of different LPs pressed up by Pye in the UK and especially Epic in the USA - with a raft of non-album singles and rarities thrown into the complicated stew. His stay at both labels has been comprehensively covered by superlative EMI CD remasters in 2005 and 2009 - most bolstered up with copious amounts of bonus tracks. And that's where this 4CD Anthology comes in. It gathers up 5 of those albums (one a double) across the first 3 CDs and gives you a fourth 23-track disc which contains a smattering of the bonus material that came with those original 2005 CD reissues. Here are the Joss Sticks, Super Lungs, Magic Yellow Suns and Jennifer Junipers...

UK released April 2013 - "Breezes Of Patchouli: His Studio Recordings 1966-1969" by DONOVAN on EMI 928 6052 (Barcode 5099992860520) is a 4CD set in a double jewel-case and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (78:01 minutes):

1. Sunshine Superman

2. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda

3. Three Kingfishers

4. Ferris Wheel

5. Bert’s Blues

6. Season Of The Witch

7. The Trip

8. Guinevere

9. The Fat Angel

10. Celeste

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd album "Sunshine Superman" - released 'only' in the USA September 1966 on Epic Records BN 26217 (Stereo)

11. Mellow Yellow

12. Writer In The Sun

13. Sand And Foam

14. The Observation

15. Bleak City Woman

16. House Of Jansch

17. Young Girl Blues

18. Museum

19. Hampstead Incident

20. Sunny South Kensington

Tracks 11 to 20 are his 4th album "Mellow Yellow" - released 'only' in the USA February 1967 on Epic Records BN 26239 (Stereo)

Disc 2 (77:29 minutes):

1. Hurdy Gurdy Man

2. Peregrine

3. The Entertaining Of A Shy Girl

4. As I Recall It

5. Get Thy Bearings

6. Hi It’s Been A Long Time

7. West Indian Lady

8. Jennifer Juniper

9. The River Song

10. Tangier

11. A Sunny Day

12. The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow

13. Teas

Tracks 1 to 13 are his album "The Hurdy Gurdy Man" - released 'only' in the USA October 1968 on Epic Records BN 26420 (Stereo)

Track 14 is "Jennifer Juniper" (Italian Version)

15. Barabajagal

16. Superlungs My Supergirl

17. Where Is She

18. Happiness Runs

19. I Love My Shirt

20. The Love Song

21. To Susan On The West Coast Waiting

22. Atlantis

23. Trudi

24. Pamela Jo

Tracks 15 to 24 are the album "Barabajagal" -released 'only' in the USA September 1969 on Epic Records BN 26481 credited to DONOVAN with THE JEFF BECK GROUP

Track 25 is "A Poor Man's Sunshine (Nativity)" - a previously unreleased session outtake that first appeared on the May 2005 Expanded CD for "Barabajagal"

Disc 3 (62:05 minutes):

1. Wear Your Love Like Heaven

2. Mad John’s Escape

3. Skip-A-Long Sam

4. Sun

5. There Was A Time

6. Oh Gosh

7. Little Boy In Corduroy

8. Under The Greenwood Tree

9. The Land Of Doesn’t Have To Be

10. Someone Singing

11. Song Of The Naturalists Wife

12. The Enchanted Gypsy

13. Voyage Into The Golden Screen

14. Isle Of Islay

15. The Mandolin Man And His Secret

16. Lay Of The Last Tinker

17. The Tinker And The Crab

18. Widow With Shawl (A Portrait)

19. The Lullaby Of Spring

20. The Magpie

21. Starfish On-The-Toast

22. Epistle To Derroll

Tracks 1 to 22 are the album double-album "A Gift From A Flower To A Garden". This April 1968 2LP Box Set with Art Prints gathered together two American-Only LPs on Epic both issued in December 1967 in Mono and Stereo - "You're Your Love Like Heaven" (Side 1 and 2) and "For Little Ones" (Side 3 and 4). The "A Gift From A Flower To A Garden" Box set was issued in both the USA and UK in Mono and Stereo - this CD remaster uses the rare STEREO mix.

Disc 4 - Associated Recordings (75:41):

1. Breezes Of Patchuli

2. Museum (First Version)

3. Superlungs (First Version)

4. The Land Of Doesn’t Have To Be

5. Sunshine Superman (Original Longer Stereo Version)

Tracks 1 to 5 are 5 of the 7 bonus tracks that first appeared on the May 2005 CD remaster of "Sunshine Superman" (below are also May 2005 CD remasters)

6. Epistle To Dippy

7. Preachin’ Love

8. Good Time

9. There Is A Mountain

10. Superlungs (Second Version)

11. Epistle To Dippy (Alternate Arrangement)

Tracks 6 to 11 are 6 of 10 bonus tracks that first appeared on "Mellow Yellow"

12. Teen Angel

13. Poor Cow

14. Lalena

15. Aye My Love

16. What A Beautiful Creature You Are

17. Colours

18. Catch The Wind

Tracks 12 to 18 are all 7 of the bonus tracks that first appeared on "The Hurdy Gurdy Man"

19. The Stromberg Twins

20. Snakeskin

21. Lauretta’s Cousin Laurinda

22. The Swan (Lord Of Reedy River)

23. New Year’s Resolution (Donovan’s Celtic Jam)

Tracks 19 to 23 are 5 of the 12 bonus tracks that first appeared on "Barabajagal"

His first 2 LPs "What's Bin Did And What's Bin Hid" and "Fairytale" (both from 1965) are not covered by this set - they're available elsewhere (see my review fro "Fairytale"). The good news is that the 2005 and 2009 remasters carried out by PETER MEW at Abbey Road have been used for this release and the STEREO sound is glorious to say the least. Songs like "Sunshine Superman", "Goo Goo Barabajagal" and "Mellow Yellow" sound amazingly good. The audio clarity is wonderful. And when you veer away from the chart hits - it's the LP goodies like the unbelievable cool "Season Of The Witch" and "Sunny South Kensington" with their guitars and clavinets that impress so much. The 24-page booklet is also pleasingly comprehensive with period colour photos and superbly outlined liner-notes by noted writer and musicologist LORNE MURDOCH (even though those "Flower" art-prints are still AWOL due to contractual reasons).

The acoustic "House Of Jansch" and "River Song" are gorgeous as are the Sixties Dream anthems "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" and "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting". He can also get surprisingly Rock Funky with tracks like the previously unreleased "Snakeskin" and all Sitar groovy on "Fat Angel". Even the re-recorded 1968 versions of his classics "Colours" and "Catch The Wind" are lovely - they don't trump the originals -by any means but remind you of how beautiful they really were and what a tunesmith the man is.

"Fly Translove Airways...get you there on time..." DONOVAN sings on "Fat Angel" - I'd agree. Too often dismissed, as a sort of lesser Dylan from England - this superb-sounding 4CD retro is a fabulous reminder of his huge songwriting talent.  Buy it...

"At Last! + The Second Time Around" by ETTA JAMES (2012 Soul Jam Records 'The Definitive Remastered Edition' CD Reissue) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...At Last My Love Has Come Along..."

Soul Jam Records are a new name to me when it comes to Reissues - but on the strength of this effort - I'm going to be visiting their website a lot more to see what's coming next.

What you get here are her first two albums - "Etta James" (November 1960) and "The Second Time Around" (September 1961) - both originally on the Chess offshoot label Argo Records of the USA - with a healthy seven bonus tracks - singles put out in and around the album releases. They're both in glorious STEREO too (the singles in Mono) and sound fantastic. Here is the tough love and stormy weather...

UK released 22 October 2012 - "At Last! + The Second Time Around - The Definitive Remastered Edition" by ETTA JAMES on Soul Jam Records 600815 (Barcode 8436542011228) offers 2 LPs and 7 Bonus Tracks remastered onto 1 CD and plays out as follows (76:44 minutes):

1. Anything To Say You're Mine

2. My Greatest Darling

3. Trust In Me

4. A Sunday Kind Of Love

5. Tough Mary

6.  I Just Want To Make Love To You

7. At Last

8. All I Could Do Was Cry

9. Stormy Weather

10. Girl Of My Dreams

Tracks 1 to 10 are her debut album "At Last!" - released November 1960 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4003 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4003 (Stereo) - Stereo Mix is used. Produced by LEONARD and PHIL CHESS - the album peaked at No. 68 on the US LP charts (no UK issue).

11. Don't Cry Baby

12. Fool That I Am

13. One For My Baby

14. In My Diary

15. Seven Days Fool

16. It's Too Soon To Know

17. Dream

18. I'll Dry My Tears

19. Plum Nuts

20. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

Tracks 11 to 20 are her 2nd album "The Second Time Around" - released September 1961 in the USA on Argo Records LP 4011 (Mono) and Argo LPS 4011 (Stereo) - the STEREO mix is used. Produced by LEONARD and PHIL CHESS - it didn't chart (no UK issue). 

BONUS TRACKS:

21. Spoonful

22. It's A Crying Shame

Tracks 21 and 22 are the A&B-sides of a November 1960 US 7" single on Chess 1771.

Credited to ETTA and HARVEY as in Etta James and Harvey Fuqua (of The Moonglows)

23. If I Can't Have You - July 1960 A-side of a USA 7" single on Chess 1760. Credit as per Tracks 21 and 22.

24. Good Rockin' Daddy - August 1955 A-side of a USA 7" single on Modern 45x962

25. Market Place – March 1957 A-side of a USA 7" single on Modern 45x1016

26. Strange Things Happening - on the 1961 LP "Miss Etta James" on Crown Records CP 5209 as "Strange Things"

(Sister Rosetta Tharpe cover recorded in 1958 - also on the "Good Rockin' Mama" 10" LP released April 1981 in the UK on Charly 10 CH 33)

27. You Know What I Mean - on the 1961 LP "Miss Etta James" on Crown Records CP 5209

The liner notes are by SANTI COMELLES and the 16-page booklet is beautifully done - festooned with memorabilia photos - trade adverts - concert posters - Argo, Modern and Chess label repros and even has the original liner notes for the two LPs in colour at the rear. The attention to detail is impressive - in amongst the photo collages is the 10" Charly R&B LP "Good Rockin' Mama" from 1981 that wisely featured her cover of Rosetta Tharpe's gospel and guitar song "Strange Things Happening" only recently used to great effect in the opening episode of the American 'stopping Kennedy's assassination' TV program "11.22.63". There’s pictures of her at home, in the studio and even a handwritten thank you note.

Yet for such a beautifully presented booklet - as this stuff is outside copyright - the reissue credits are rather conveniently non-existent and no one is credited with mastering anything anywhere. Yet this CD sounds utterly stupendous - especially the STEREO LPs. The "At Last!" album comes off best - the full string arrangements of The Riley Hampton Orchestra swirling romantically around your speakers. Sure there is faint hiss on some of the "Second Time Around" tracks (only some) - but then songs like the smoocher "Don't Cry Baby" and drum-shuffling "Seven Day Fool" can only be described as awesome-sounding. Overall the Audio is top class throughout.

Her debut album is the stuff of early Soul legend - but in truth the overall listen is more of a crooner LP with a Soulful set of pipes out front - a shuffling R&b rhythm section backing her up - and the Riley Hampton Orchestra lushing-up every track with swooping strings. "Anything To Say You're Mine"  and the sappy "My Dearest Darling" set the pace - "please love me too" pleas in every sentence. Things go lounge-lizard with "Trust In Me" followed by her one a.m. torch ballad - a cover of The Harp-tones 1953 Vocal Group classic on Bruce Records - "A Sunday Kind Of Love". It's all leading up to the album's central masterpiece - the gorgeous "At Last" - a song that still touches and tingles after all these decades. Other highlights include the let's get frisky song "I Just Want To Make Love To You" - a Willie Dixon song made famous by Muddy Waters on Chess in 1954and covered by hundreds of band since. Sway with your double-brandy to the weepy "All I Could Do Was Cry" as you watch her walk down the aisle with someone else (stroppy cow) - but comfort yourself with the warmth of "Stormy Weather" - no sun up in the sky but feelin' fine. The debut is the kind of album you can listen to start to finish and wallow in its romanticism and bluesy needing...

1961's "The Second Time Around" LP continues in the same vein as the debut album - and with performances such as "Don't Cry Baby" and the smokey barroom shuffle of "Fool That I Am" - it seems odd that it didn't chart. Maybe the public weren't interested in yet another interpretation of Frank Sinatra's "One For My Baby" no matter how good she sang. Songs like "In My Diary" sound like teenage angst when she wasn't a teenybopper anymore and the brassy "Plum Nuts" just sounds out of place - a great vocal but a hammy song at its core. Mercer's "Dream" gets given an awful upbeat makeover while the Duke Ellington classic "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" finishes the album - but you can't help but feel you won't be getting round to this album much anytime soon. The singles include three duets with Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows and including the brill "Strange Things Happening" make for a much better listen as a seven piece than the entire 10-track 2nd album.

Soul Jam’s CD has really great presentation, mostly decent material (excepting that 2nd LP dip) including some balls-to-the-wall classics and properly gorgeous Stereo sound. A very, very impressive CD reissue and one that Etta James will need to own...

"Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" by BUDGIE (Newly Remastered In 2016's "The MCA Years: 1973-1975" Universal UMC 3CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk..."

Ah BUDGIE! Should have been as big as Humble Pie or Sabbath or Purple - but criminally Wales's finest power trio weren't. Yet today they not only elicit as much affection as they did four decades ago but are name-checked as hugely seminal influences on the likes of Metallica, Soundgarden and even Van Halen all of whom have covered their tunes with pride and glee.

Personally - Christmas 1972 and a 14-year old Markipoos has an LP pressy waiting for him beneath the festooned tree - their second album "Squawk" in a Dolphin Discs record bag! I've loved this Welsh power trio for over 45 years and this dinky Remaster Box Set that features 3 of their 5 albums on MCA Records in the 70ts has only sent me off on one.

There's so much to love on here – especially 1973's iconic "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" album. So let's get to the details of the original grunge rockers...

UK released Friday, 2 June 2016 (10 June 2016 in the USA) - "The MCA Years 1973-1975" by BUDGIE on MCA Records/Universal UMC 5363393 (Barcode 600753633939) is a 3CD Hard Card Slipcase Mini Box Set with new 2016 Remasters (with no Bonus Tracks) and Disc 1 which contains "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" plays out as follows (41:50 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Breadfan

2. Baby Please Don't Go

3. You Know I'll Always Love You

4. You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk

Side 2:

5. In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand

6. Hiding My Nightmare

7. Parents

Tracks 1 to 7 are the 3rd studio album "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" by BUDGIE - released June 1973 in the UK on MCA Records MDKS 8010 (reissued MCA Records MCG 3513 in 1974).

The first thing Budgie fans will notice is that the 2 or 3 Bonus Tracks that came with the 2004 singular Remasters of each album are AWOL - which is a damn shame because (a) they were good and (b) there's plenty of room (the non-album B-side "Honey" from the "I Ain't No Mountain" UK and US 7" single would have been a perfect addition for example). On the upside the "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" LP was always a gatefold with that Roger Dean artwork cover and the live shots of the band (and lyrics) on the inner gatefold - that's been reproduced in the rather tasty oversized card sleeve. But both "In For The Kill" and "Bandolier" original LPs only came with single sleeves - here they've been given gatefolds with promo photos of the band on the inside. Each CD is also colour coded with the 'Budgie In A Spacesuit' Logo on each disc.

Noted writer and Music Historian MALCOLM DOME did the excellent liner notes inside the colourful 16-page booklet. There's references to Producer Roger Bain (had Sabbath connections) who did so much to define their grungy hard rock sound on the July 1971 debut "Budgie" and its September 1972 follow-up "Squawk" and a nod to British DJ 'Kid Jensen' getting behind the first album on Pirate Radio thereby giving BUDGIE a career and following in Europe. There are 7" picture sleeves for rare foreign issues of the singles "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" and "Zoom Club" and a trade advert for the "I Ain't No Mountain" 45 as well as comments from key band members like Bourke Shelley and tributes from uberfans Dave Mustaine from Megadeath and Lars Ulrich from Metallica.

But the really great news is the AUDIO that absolutely rocks like the proverbial mother and her 'f' word. ANDY PEARCE has revisited the original mastertapes (he did a great job on the 2012 Rory Gallagher reissues) and these CDs trounce the 1991 and 2004 versions I've had for years. These transfers are loud and ballsy - but not loud for the sake of it. As the tracks play you can really hear that guitar - that chunky bass - those drum whacks. It's properly rocking and on stuff like the slide genius of "Breadfan" or the sweet ballad "Wondering What Everyone Knows" or the sheer riffage in the brilliant "Breaking All The House Rules" - the sound is genuinely great and makes everything feel new again.

With that Audio in mind - these albums suddenly feel far better than I remember them. Every Budgie fan loves "Never Turn Your Back..." which opens with a tune Metallica made famous by covering it – “Breadfan”. Originally the 1988 B-side of “Harvester Of Sorrow” 7” single – they later included it due to popular demand on their “Garage, Inc.” album from 1998. Immediately - you’re struck by that slashing slide-guitar – very in your face and for all the right reasons – and that acoustic break is so clear now too. That’s quickly followed by their blistering cover of "Baby Please Don't Go" – the classic Big Joe Williams tune from 1935 on Bluebird Records. The song has had a staggering recorded history – I’ve covers by John Lee Hooker, Lightnin Hopkins, Bukka White, Al Kooper, Tom Rush, Tony Joe White, Brinsley Schwarz, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters and even AC/DC did it on their 1975 Australian “High Voltage” debut album. But most people know the THEM version with Van Morrison at the microphone. BUDGIE rock up that version and turn it into a fast and furious slide guitar monster. 

Next up is the obligatory ‘acoustic’ tune – here it’s “You Know I’ll Always Love You” – Shelley almost embarrassing himself with those high notes. Side 1 finishes with the near nine-minute “You’re The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk” where drummer Ray Phillips gets his moment for the opening one minute forty three seconds before it settles into some great riffage. Side 2 opens with the speaker-to-speaker hard rock of "In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand" – a fantastic boogie that reminds me of FOGHAT at their grinding best. The remaster shines too on the swirling Acoustic Guitar of "Riding My Nightmare" – a pretty ballad that now seems huge - as does the doomy 10-minute-plus guitars of "Parents". There's a part about a minute in when it slows to Acoustic Guitar, Bass and echoed Lead - and the Remaster is fantastic.

This dinky Box set offers incredible value for money and a great reminder as to why BUDGIE still engenders such affection amongst ageing rockers like me whilst drawing in clued-up Metal newcomers too.

Christmas has come early and in even better packaging this time...