"Bad News Is Coming" by LUTHER ALLISON (2001 Universal/Motown 'Blues Classics - Remastered & Revisited' Expanded CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Raggedy And Dirty…"

On the evidence of this fab little CD reissue - Chicago's Luther Allison played some of the meanest and grittiest Seventies blues imaginable - and lucky for us was also possessed of a dirty low-down voice to match his fiery axework. Think of a black Jeff Beck circa 1972 with a tassels suede jacket, a spliff in his mouth, a Hendrix lean back pose as he plays and a Fender Stratocaster he wants to hurt - and you're there. "Bad News Is Coming" is his debut LP and a bit of a mule-kicking blinder it is too...

This ballsy uncompromising album first appeared in late 1972 on Motown's Gordy label imprint in the USA and has been remastered here as part of Universal's superlative "Blues Classics - Revisited & Remastered" Series (see list below) - bolstered up with four corking Bonus Tracks from the original sessions. Here is the Rooster in the Barn Yard details...

USA released in April 2001 - "Bad News Is Coming" by LUTHER ALLISON on Universal/Motown 440 013 407-2 (Barcode 044001340727) is an expanded CD remaster and breaks down as follows (56:10 minutes):

1. The Little Red Rooster [Willie Dixon song - Howlin' Wolf cover]

2. Evil Is Going On [Willie Dixon song - Howlin' Wolf cover]

3. Raggedy And Dirty [Luther Allison/Joe Peraino/Robert Kreinar/Andrew Smith/Ray Goodman song]

4. Rock Me Baby [B.B. King/Joe Bihari song - B.B. King cover]

5. Bad News Is Coming [Joe Peraino/Luther Allison/Paul White song] - Side 2

6. Cut You A-Loose [Mel London cover]

7. Dust My Broom [Elmore James cover]

Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut album "Bad News Is Coming" - released December 1972 in the USA on Motown/Gordy G 964L (No UK release).

BONUS TRACKS:

10. The Stumble [Freddie King cover]

11. Sweet Home Chicago [Robert Johnson cover]

12. It's Been A Long Time [Luther Allison song]

13. Take My Love (I Want To Give It All To You) [Mertis John song]

With all arrangements by Luther Allison, the album was recorded between February and August 1972 and produced by JOE PERIANO. The Band for the Sessions was:

LUTHER ALLISON - Lead Vocals and Guitar

RAY GOODMAN - Rhythm Guitar

PAUL WHITE - Piano and Organ

GARFIELD ANGOVE - Harmonica

ANDREW SMITH - Drums and Bass

SUHA GUR - one of Universal's top engineers - has given the remaster a fantastic quality with audio clarity on all of the tracks - pumping, muscular and superbly clear. Play only the opening bars of "The Little Red Rooster" which is essentially Rock-Blues and immediately you're kicked in the gut by the power of his playing and the wonderful muscle in the transfer. He powers down into a Harmonica and Piano Beat Blues with the second Howlin' Wolf classic on Side 1 - "Evil Is Going On" (great work from Garfield Angove and Paul White). Allison growls, "Another mule might be kicking in your stall..." as he allows Angove to dominate "Evil" with warbling harmonica. Things now get downright Funky with Organ/Harmonica battles on "Raggedy And Dirty" and a wicked rhythm section (this will surely turn up on some Kent-Soul/BGP CD as a Funky/Blues discovery). Allison closes the side with Soulful Robert Cray type fretwork on B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" - his excellent band supplementing the licks with Piano fills and warm Bass runs.

"Bad News Is Coming" is kind of Albert King at Stax territory - a slow piano beat allows aching lyrics and guitar fills to come to the fore (very nice Blues). We return to harder guitar on "Cut You A-Loose" and finish on a slashing version of the Elmore James classic "Dust My Broom" - making you wish you could have seen this band in full flow in a bar somewhere about one in the morning. The extras are surprisingly good opening with an Instrumental version of Freddie King's "The Stumble" and a jaunty go at Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago". But best is the near eleven-minute "It's Been A Long Time" where he gets to stretch out on the guitar while Paul White plinks away on the piano. Great stuff...

Probably because it was a label more associated with Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson - "Bad News Is Coming" and its 1974 follow-up "Luther's Blues" (also on Gordy and also in this series of CD reissues) simply got lost in the mix. No one seems to have noticed - which is astonishing given the quality of both albums. Perhaps if it had been on the Rare Earth label with the groups Rare Earth, The Undisputed Truth and Rustix - then the Rock crowd might have noticed it more. But like it's tasty follow up "Luther's Blues" - "Bad News Is Coming:" is a hard-to-find vinyl album for Motown collectors and I'd argue a real discovery for Blues enthusiasts (the CD is dirt cheap too).

In the early Fifties Luther Allison formed a band with his brother Ollie and called their group (cue a drumroll) -The Rolling Stones. You see how smart those British boys were - and how they and Led Zeppelin were always nicking the best ideas. A criminally forgotten guitarist in the pantheon of Blues Men - give this Luther Allison CD a go. It's recommended like grits and groceries...

Titles in 
Universal's 'Blues Classics-  Remastered and Revisited' CD Reissue Series:

1. Bad News Is Coming - LUTHER ALLISON

(1972 Gordy LP, 2001 Remaster + Four Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks) - Universal 440 013 407-2 (Barcode 044001340727)

2. Luther’s Blues - LUTHER ALLISON

(1974 USA 9-track LP with 3 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes)

Universal 440 013 409-2 (Barcode 044001340925)

3. Two Steps From The Blues - BOBBY BLAND (1961 USA 12-track Mono Debut LP on Duke Records with 2 Bonus Single Sides, 35:12 minutes)

Released 27 Feb 2011 on MCA 088 112 516-2 (Barcode 008811251628)

4. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER

(October 1966 and September 1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 821-2 (Barcode 008811282127)

5. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF

(January 1966 on Chess and January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028)

6. Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES)

(January 1968 US 12-Track LP on Cadet - 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2 (Barcode 008811251826)

7. Live At San Quentin - B.B. KING

(1990 13-Track Compilation on MCA, no extras, 64:11 minutes)

MCA America 088 112 517-2 (Barcode 008811251727)

8. Muddy Waters At Newport 1960 - MUDDY WATERS

(1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:43 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2 (Barcode 008811251529)

9. Fathers & Sons - MUDDY WATERS & Friends

(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)

MCA/Chess 088 112 648-2 (Barcode 008811264826)

10. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS

MCA/Chess 088 112 822-2 (Barcode 008811282226)

11. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON

(January 1966 and January 1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes)

MCA/Chess 088 112 823-2 (Barcode 008811282325)

NOTES: 1 and 2 remastered by Suha Gur - 3 to 11 by Erick Labson

"Looking On" by THE MOVE (2016 Esoteric Recordings 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Show Us Your Lettuce..." 

As someone who's worked a lifetime in record shops - I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually seen a decent-condition Vinyl copy of The Move's third album "Looking On" from either side of the pond. Its like Procol Harum's "Home" (also from 1970) - sank without a trace on release despite its Hard Rock credentials.

Released as the first LP on Fly Records - famously the home of T. Rex, John Kongos and all those 'Twofer' double-albums for Regal Zonophone artists like Procol Harum, Tyrannosaurus Rex and even John Williams - "Looking On" disappeared after its December 1970 release date and has been all but lost to the mists of time ever since. It was belatedly released on Capitol Records in the USA in the spring of 1971 but did bugger all business their either.

Moving forward and away from the "Blackberry Way" Pop-Rock of the April 1968 debut "The Move" and more in keeping with the Rock progression of the "Shazam" album in February of 1970 - the "Looking On" LP was grittier – a far heavier affair - and essentially a new direction for the band. "Looking On" was a deliberate musical-segue into Hard Rock with some Prog leanings - and I'd argue the LP is a bit of a lost gem.

Which brings us to this superb new reissue. Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red of the UK) have whomped MOVE fans with 2016 reissues of "The Move" and "Shazam" in single and multiple-disc 'Deluxe Edition' issues (see separate reviews and list below). Now we get their 3rd platter "Looking On" in a superbly presented 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' boasting a cache of Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions from the band line up that featured Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Rick Price and Bev Bevan (later with ELO). Here are the details...

UK released Friday, 27 May 2016 (3 June 2016 in the USA) - "Looking On" by THE MOVE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22547 (Barcode 5013929464742) is a 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' with a 2016 Remaster and plays outs as follows:

Disc 1 (47:48 minutes)

1. Looking on

2. Turkish Tram Conductor Blues

3. What?

4. When Alice Came Back To The Farm

5. Open Up Said The World At The Door [Side 2]

6. Brontosaurus

7. Feel Too Good

Tracks 1 to 7 are their 3rd studio album "Looking On" - released December 1970 in the UK on Fly Records FLY 1 and April 1971 in the USA on Capitol Records ST 658. Produced by ROY WOOD and JEFF LYNNE - it didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACK:

8. Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice - non-album B-side of "Brontosaurus" released March 1970 in the UK on Regal Zonophone RZ 3026 and in the USA on Deram 1197

Disc 2 (47:06 minutes):

"Looking On" - Outtakes And Rarities

1. The Duke Of Ellington's Lettuce

2. Looking on (Part One - Take 3/Part 2 - Take 12)

3. Brontosaurus (Mono US Radio Promo Edit -

4. Turkish Tram Conductor Blues (Take 5 - Rough Mix)

BBC Sessions - March to July 1970 (All PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

5. She's A Woman

6. Bev Bevan Interview

7. Brontosaurus

8. Falling Forever

9. Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice (Tracks 5 to 9 recorded 23 March 1970)

10. Looking On

11. When Alice Comes Back To The Farm

12. She's A Woman (Tracks 10 to 12 recorded 28 July 1970)

THE MOVE:

ROY WOOD - Oboe, Sitar, Slide Guitar, Cello, Guitar, Bass and All Saxophones

JEFF LYNNE - Guitar, Piano, Vocals Percussion and Drums on "Feel Too Good"

RICK PRICE - Bass

BEV BEVAN - Drums and Percussion

Guests:

DORIS TROY and P.P. ARNOLD - Backing Vocals on "Feel Too Good"

Each of Esoteric's reissues has come in single disc issues (plain jewel case) or - this - card digipak 'Deluxe Editions'. Here you get a chunky four-flap gatefold card sleeve with a 20-page colour booklet in the right pouch with a foldout two-sided poster in the left pouch and two picture CDs. The double-sided foldout POSTER is fab - a collage of black-and-white press clippings on one side with a full-page colour advert for the album on the opposite. Each flap has MOVE memorabilia (there's even photos beneath the see-through CD trays) and the 20-page booklet has in-depth liner notes from noted writer MARK PAYTRESS (author of many books from the period) with thanks to ROB CAIGER. There are trade adverts, reviews of the album and singles and photos of the hairy men themselves.

But the big news is a 2016 '24-Bit Digital Remaster' from original analogue tapes by the experienced Audio Engineer BEN WISEMAN done at Broadlake Studios in Hertfordshire (Tape Transfers done by ROB KEYLOCH at Church Walk Studios in London). The sound on here is HUGE and not without being overly bombastic for the sake of it. I think the word I'm looking for is 'muscle' - this CD sounds powerful - and as many tracks like "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" rock out - the benefit is very much 'in your face' and for all the right reasons.

The album's hard-rocking credentials are set in motion with Roy Wood's "Looking On" - a great combo of Move-melody bolstered up some serious riffage - Wood's vocals teasing along with the guitar. The audio on this sucker is huge and I'd say its improved over my 2008 Salvo edition. One of my fave raves on the "Looking On" album is the take-no-prisoners Hard Rock of "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues". Written by Bev Bevan - it’s THE MOVE gone all riffage-mad - the spirit of Leslie West's MOUNTAIN inhabiting both Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne as they hammer down on those heavy guitars. But that's trumped. You can literally feel The Electric Light Orchestra emerging from Jeff Lynne’s "What?" track - gorgeous string arrangements and that strange ELO melody thing that Lynne gets whenever he's at the helm of a song. I love “What?” - both the vocals and guitars treated so that they warble slightly for effect - it's brilliant stuff. Roy Wood ends Side 1 with the slide guitar and ELO cello of a rocker - "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm" - his playing on here is just brilliant and worthy of Juicy Lucy's Glenn Ross-Campbell ("Who Do You Love?"). Fly Records UK tried a 45 in September 1970 featuring Wood's "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm" with Lynne's fab "What?" on the B-side (Fly Records BUG 2) - but no one took interest in this superb double.

Side 2 begins with near eight-minute opus that is Jeff Lynne's "Open Up Said The World At The Door" - an inventive Prog Rock piece that sees Roy Wood use Sitar, Obie and just about any other instrument lying around the studio. The vocal layers are so forthcoming ELO and it even manages some impressive boogie-woogie piano stretches throughout its ambitious duration. Regal Zonophone UK had tried Roy Wood's heavy heavy "Brontosaurus" as a UK 45 as far back as March 1970 (Regal Zonophone RZ 3026) and despite its slightly odd nature was rewarded with a No. 7 chart position. It's non-album B-side "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" turns up as a Bonus Track on Disc 1 - and for me was always better than the A-side (sounds awesome too). The album proper ends with Roy Wood's "Feel Too Good" - almost ten minutes of THE MOVE getting Funky-Piano-Rock with a bank of different guitars and the Remaster punching out Rick Price's Bass lines and Bev Bevan's fantastic drumming. Both Apple's Doris Troy and Immediate's P.P. Arnold are credited as providing girly backing vocals but it's hard to hear them with all that's going on. In fact by the time it gets to the "Feel Too Good" vocals and the silly 'show us your lettuce' old geezer talk - the song has probably overstayed its welcome if I'm truthful - but man does the Remaster make it 'rawk'...

For fans Disc 2 represents something worth getting excited about - a bunch of Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions sat alongside three of the rarities that turned up on the December 2008 ‘Salvo’ CD reissue of "Looking On". I just love the Beach Boys Acapella Vocals of "The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce" - the silly Gardener portion of "Feel Too Good" - it only lasts for 1:29 minutes complete with studio dialogue lead in but it's just such great fun. Takes 3 and 12 of "Looking On" were issued as two separate outtakes on the 2008 Salvo CD reissue - here they've been segued into one nine-minute plus version. It sounds great too - much more guitar soloing while the piano tries to get a look in. I've never seen the 'Mono US Radio Promo Edit' of "Brontosaurus" on CD but it's worth having for collectors. Far better is the hard-rocking "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" - a very cool alternate. "...Here on Top Of The Pops we move back onto the Progressive Rock bit with THE MOVE..." the announcer gets very excited about the new addition to band - ex Idle Race singer Jeff Lynne - as he lays into a great cover of The Beatles "She's A Woman".

The audio is good rather than being great it has to be said - but the power of the band is there for all to hear. We get a short interview with Bev Bevan talking about Carl Wayne's departure and Jeff Lynne's introduction and the new 'heavy' direction of the band. "Falling Forever" comes off so well - very cool vocals and a sort of Byrds feel to the melody. The March 1970 session ends with the B-side "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" - a fantastically good re-working of the song but unfortunately with that 'buried back in the mix' sound to the whole recording. The July 1970 session has roughly the same sound and features a three-minute cut of the 'heavy' "Looking On" while the slide of "Alice" is great - Wood tearing it up and clearly listening to too much Juicy Lucy. If anything the BBC stuff only goes to show what an exciting proposition The Move was at that time - alive with new material and an exciting new direction...(the second interview talks of ELO's genesis)...

THE MOVE would manage one more album - 1971's excellent and witty "Message From The Country" which EMI/Harvest Remastered into an Expanded Edition in 2005 (see separate review). They would of course then morph into THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA or E.L.O. as they're now more commonly known and The Travelling Wilburys for Jeff Lynne with some of his lifelong musical heroes.

But I'd urge you to go back - way back - back to the days of "Brontosaurus" and his best buddy "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" - back to a time when 39 schillings and eleven old pence could procure you this tasty platter. THE MOVE had a B-side called "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice". With this superb reissue I think it has...

PS: UK released 29 April 2016 – THE MOVE CD Editions by Esoteric Recordings are:

1. The Move - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2537 (Barcode 5013929463745)

    The Move - 3CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32536 (Barcode 5013929463646)

2. Something Else From The Move (June 1968 EP Expanded) - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2546 (Barcode 5013929464643)

3. Shazam - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2539 (Barcode 5013929463943)

    Shazam - 3CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22538 (Barcode 5013929463844)

4. Looking in - 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22547 (Barcode 5013929464742)

"The Young Rascals" by THE YOUNG RASCALS (In Rhino's 2011 'Original Album Series' 5CD Box Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...We Got Good Love..."

Forever associated with two huge 60ts anthems - "Good Lovin'" and "Groovin'" - The Young Rascals started out as a straight-up raucous R&B outfit in 1966 with good vibrations in their hearts, Atlantic and Chess Records in their Souls and the occasional flower stalk in their hair. By the time they'd reached December 1969 - they'd shortened the moniker to THE RASCALS and released six studio albums and one 'Greatest Hits'. En-route they'd become increasingly more sophisticated in their output (ending up sounding like WAR on Freedom Suite's funky workout "Cute") and vocal in their wish to see the USA buck up and move on from all that was tearing it apart socially at the time.

And that's what this dinky little 5CD box set in the "Original Album Series" inadvertently proves. The Rascals were so much more than a rapid-fire happy-wappy hits group and a Summer of Love phenomenon - but an evolving musical force trying to get heard. But as the Sixties closed – like The Monkees - less and less were listening let alone buying their records - making a lot of this music in 2016 almost unknown to the average listener. Time to rectify that oversight. Here are the details...

UK and Europe released October 2011 (August 2013 in the USA) - "Original Album Series" by THE YOUNG RASCALS on Atlantic/Rhino 8122 79834 8 (Barcode 081227983482) is a 5CD Card Slipcase housing 5 x 5” Mini LP Repro Sleeves. Their debut LP "The Young Rascals" is Disc 1 and plays out as follows (36:15 minutes):

1. Slow Down

2. Baby Let's Wait

3. Just A Little

4. I Believe

5. Do You Feel It

6. Good Lovin' [Side 2]

7. Like A Rolling Stone

8. Mustang Sally

9. I Ain't Gonna Eat My Heart Out Anymore

10. In The Midnight Hour

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "The Young Rascals" - released March 1966 in the USA on Atlantic 8123 (Mono) and Atlantic SD 8123 (Stereo) and in the UK on Atlantic 587012 (Mono) and Atlantic 588012 (Stereo) - the Stereo mix is used. It peaked at No. 15 on the US LP charts.

As with all of these releases you get 5 x 5" card sleeves that repro the front and rear US LP artwork for the Stereo versions - and how cool is it to see these increasingly hard to find album covers. OK you might need a magnifying glass to read the details (there are none on the last two) - but at just about two quid per album - who’s complaining.

From what I can hear these are the BILL INGLOT/DAN HERSCH Rhino remasters and each sounds great - even if the inherent hiss of the first LP is still on these transfers. And once again I can't overstate how good these albums are. Let's get to this underrated music...

Quite apart from Gene Cornish's garage-guitar rocking throughout the self-titled debut - like a beast on a boozy mission – the group was also possessed of three Lead Vocalists (out of a four-piece band). Felix Cavaliere handled most of the bigger tunes whilst laying down that groovy organ - Gene Cornish wielded his choppy axe and sang too - Eddie Brigati provided voice number three whilst playing Percussion – and all the while Dino Danelli laid down the backbeat on the Drums. 

Their debut is top heavy with R&B and Soul covers - least not of all the opening blaster "Slow Down" - a hit for Larry Williams in 1958 and explored by The Beatles on their "Long Tall Sally" EP in 1964. Even their take on Bob Dylan's perennially overdone song "Like A Rolling Stone" is better than most. Also dig their chugging guitar/organ groove on Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour". The Beau Brummels had a hit with "Just A Little" in 1965 (Autumn Records 10) – The Rascals rein it back to an almost slow-burn Bluesy pace (bit hissy this track). Overall a great start to what would become a hugely successful career...

The Young Rascals would morph into The Rascals as the 60ts moved on. But their debut is pure pop for now people and "Good Lovin'" the song still thrills. The record's not all genius by any means - but the better stuff is (if you'll forgive the pun) groovy and groovin'...

"East-West" by THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND (In Rhino's 2010 'Original Album Series' 5CD Mini Box Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…All These Blues..."

Quite possibly one of the best Blues-Rock CD Mini Box Sets I have in my fine household (can’t tell the wife how many there are lest I suffer serious physical injury – after the mental torture that is) – Paul Butterfield’s Blues Band is a very definite jewel in the erratic crown of WEA's "Original Album Series" reissue series.

When the 5-disc sets began to appear in 2009  – 'some' of the first vanguard of 40 or so titles featured remasters (many unfortunately didn’t). This beauty is one that did – and from the second the opening track "Born In Chicago" on their incendiary debut LP hits your speakers – it rocks like a madman on Blues Boogie acid and doesn’t let up. And that’s only compounded by their equally wicked 1966 second-platter – the wonderful "East-West" LP on Elektra Records – supplied to us here in fabarooney Stereo. Here are the harmonica wails, guitar licks and chooglin’ white boys doing the blues…

UK released March 2010 - "Original Album Series" by THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND on Elektra/Rhino 08122 79834 0 (Barcode 081227983406) is a 5CD Mini Box Set. "East-West" is Disc 2 and plays out as follows (44:47 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Walkin’ Blues

2. Get Out Of My Life, Woman

3. I Got A Mind To Give Up Everything

4. All These Blues

5. Work Song

Side 2:

6. Mary, Mary

7. Two Trains Running

8. Never Say No

9. East-West

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "East-West" - released September 1966 in the USA on Elektra EKL 315 (Mono) and Elektra EKS 7315 (Stereo) and December 1966 in the UK with the same catalogue numbers. The STEREO mix is used for this CD. Produced by BARRY FRIEDMAN - the album peaked at No. 65 on the US LP charts.

ARTWORK/PACKAGING:

The five single card sleeves reflect the 'original' front and rear US LP artwork (the gatefolds are unfortunately not reproduced). Also each front sleeve is now 'bordered' with a colour and the label on the CD then reflects that colour code - Green for Disc 1, Light Blue for 2, Orange for 3, Dark Blue for 4 and Brown for 5. It would have been more appropriate to have the original label colour configurations - maybe even the Elektra inner bags (like they did on the Doors albums in the Complete Studio Recordings box set), but alas... The track list is to the left on the CD label with band members with recording credits listed on the right (as there's no booklet nor site to download details from - as there is on the Sony issues - this is some compensation to the lack of readable details). It has to be said that the outer card box is lightweight and therefore disappointingly flimsy (unlike the glossy hard-card Sony issues). Having said that the card sleeves still look cool once out of the box and it's nice to see the original artwork used. As you can see from the timings - there are no bonus tracks.

SOUND:

The music is incredibly bluesy and ballsy –truly stunning Paul Rothchild Sixties Production values coming at you on every disc. The instrumental “Thank You Mr. Poobah” for instance will probably have your speakers for breakfast. The opening guitars on “Walkin’ Blues” are the same – back in the mix – but still powerful. Don’t get me wrong – these CDs aren’t amped up for effect – they’re just beautifully handled – and it’s sonically obvious that the original master tapes are in tip-top condition. And throughout the records - you get Butterfield’s deep and muscular harmonica slaying all in its path.

"East-West" opens with a cover of Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues" - the mix deep, dark and Bluesy. I love the sound this band made - reverential but never po-faced - loose enough to make a noise recognisable as all their own. They then give it some chugging Funk-Blues with a take on Allen Toussaint's "Get Out Of My Life, Woman" - the piano and drums nicely to the fore. But then I go to mush because 'even' outdoing Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (and I bow in humility to that holy outfit) - Butterfield's "I Got A Mind To Give Up Living" is probably my absolute all-time 60ts Blues Rock craves. The band had both Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield as its guitarists - but it's on "I Got A Mind To Give Up Living" that Butterfield suddenly seems like some white boy genius on the axe. His Bluesy soloing throughout is the stuff of hair-raising legend. Driving-Harmonica action comes roaring in on the fantastic chugger "All These Blues" where our Paul urges his listeners to don their 'travelling shoes' if they can't sleep at night because she ain't treating you right (naughty woman). The remaster on this track too is fabulous - full of presence and powerful. Side 1 ends on the seven-minute instrumental cover of Nat Adderley's "Work Song" - Bloomfield letting rip on the axe and playing so fast at times that he feels like he's going to trip over his finger positions - while Butterfield just about manages to sneak in a Harp solo over all that riffage (superb remastered sound again).

Side 2 opens with Rock-Blues - a weirdly brill take on Mike Nesmith's Monkees Pop Classic "Mary, Mary" that completely grunge's up the original but still retains that slightly nasty streak that runs through the 'leaving you' lyrics. We get another boogie tune in their take on "Two Trains Coming" - the twin guitar set on fire throughout while Mark Naftalin's organ underpins the whole riotous thing. We slow right down to the wonderful Blues of "Never Say No" where a funeral-paced high-hat is accompanied by a pained organ note and guitar licks - while poor Mister Butterfield pleads "...baby please stop being mean to me..." (I'm not sure she's listening mate). And it finishes on the lengthy but brilliant title track "East-West". Co-written by keyboardist Mark Naftalin and Nick Gravenites (who would later join Janis Joplin's Big Brother & The Holding Co.) - it's a 13-minute wig out on Guitar and Harmonica that even to this day is mindblowingly good - ending a cracking album on a real high.

For me Paul Butterfield's "East-West" LP is even better than the great self-titled debut album of December 1965 (Disc 1 in this wicked 5CD Box Set) and has always felt to me like an 'overlooked' masterpiece of the Blues-Rock genre.

Complete with its dinky little card sleeve repro – just get with the beat brother, crank up that stereo and annoy the neighbours right away...Amen to that!

"Loaded" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (October 2015 Atlantic/Rhino 'Single CD' Expanded Edition Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...It Was Alright..."

*** This Review Is For The 2015 Single-CD Remastered Version of 1970's "Loaded" ***

Lou Reed described the Velvets as essentially being a small New York 'Rock 'n' Roll' band - a natty little Pop Group awash with three-minute ditties – peelable bananas and tunes aplenty - swimming ever upwards in the black heroin-addled veins of their streetwise hearts. 

I dare say those subjected to their 60ts sonic assaults (especially live) might have taken umbrage with the Louster's 'rounded off' description of The Velvet Underground as a 'Rock 'n' Roll' band - but I think I know what he was getting at. For their 3rd platter - "Loaded" - it's as if the band was trying to get back to 'songs' instead of frenzied workouts with lights and feedback – trying to form a cohesive work that would leave that old 'shock and awe' stuff firmly behind them. Only "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" goes to 7:29 minutes - and excepting "New Age" and the 'Full Length' versions of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" - the rest keep it hovering around three minutes. And it's a wickedly good record for such disciplines. For me 1970's "Loaded" has always been a more mature album - Lou Reed's songwriting moving on - getting better - his obvious Solo career beckoning.

The last time I bought "Loaded" on CD it was the February 1997 Rhino 2CD set called 'Fully Loaded' with Bill Inglot Remasters. That beauty came in a sliding card slipcase and an 'Alternate Version' of the entire album on Disc 2 along with a further 13 Outtakes across both discs.

This 2015 single-CD reissue of "Loaded" keeps the 10-track album, four of those 1997 Bonus Tracks and adds on a new 2015 Remaster from KEVIN REEVES – a vastly experienced Audio Engineer who has done huge numbers of reissues for the Universal umbrella of labels. This CD sounds better and warmer than my previous issue – fabulous clarity on key album tracks like "Cool It Down" and "Who Loves the Sun". Here are the finite details...

UK released Friday 30 October 2015 (November 2015 in the USA) - "Loaded" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND on Atlantic/Rhino 081227952426 (Barcode 081227952426) offers the 10-track 1970 LP with four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (55:30 minutes):

1. Who Loves The Sun

2. Sweet Jane (Full-Length Version - 4:06 minutes)

3. Rock & Roll (Full-Length Version - 4:43 minutes)

4. Cool It Down

5. New Age

6. Head Held High [Side 2]

7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill

8. I Found A Reason

9. Train Round The Bend

10. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 4th album "Loaded" - released November 1970 in the USA on Cotillion SD 9034 and April 1971 in the UK on Atlantic 2400 111. Produced by GEOFFREY HASLAM, SHEL KAGAN and THE VELET UNDERGROUND – the album didn’t chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. I'm Sticking With You

12. Ocean

13. I Love You

14. Ride Into The Sun

NOTES: "I'm Sticking With You" mixed by Kevin Reeves in June 2015, "Ocean", "I Love You" and "Ride Into The Sun" mixed by BILL INGLOT in March/April 1994

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND was:

LOU REED - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Piano and Harmonica

STERLING MORRISON - Lead and Rhythm Guitar

DOUG YOUL - Vocals, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Piano, Bass and Drums

MAUREEN "Mo" TUCKER - Drums (Vocals on the Bonus Track "I'm Sticking with You")

GUESTS:

TOMMY CASTANARO - Drums on "Cool It Down" and Head Held High"

BILL YULE - Drums On "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" and "Ocean"

ADRIAN BARBER - Drums on "Who Loves The Sun"

ADRIAN BARBER and /or BILL YULE - Drums on "Train Round The Bend"

The 12-page booklet features pictures of Atlantic Tape Boxes and Production Sheets, a Rolling Stone magazine review from the 24 December 1970 issue, reissue and remaster credits - but no new liner notes. The booklet looks nice but the total absence of any informative liner notes sort of leaves the reissue and the listener stranded - some history of what happened would have added so much. But what you do get is the new KEVIN REEVES Remaster (with Production Assistance from BILL INGLOT who did the 1997 version) and it Rocks. There is wonderful clarity on offer here...

Given the lack of initial public reaction to the LP - it's hardly surprising that Cotillion belatedly tried a US 45 in March 1971 using the sexily hooky opening track "Who Loves The Sun" with the full seven-minute glory of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" on the flipside (Cotillion 45-44107). But it aroused little interest. Atlantic in the UK tried too in April 1971 with "Who Loves The Sun" plopping "Sweet Jane" onto the B-side (Atlantic 2091 008) - but again with no chart joy (this English 7" single is a very hard-to-find vinyl item in Blighty nowadays). For some reason I always think of the brilliant "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" as a pair - a double-whammy of Lou Reed and VU tunes brimming with street smarts, tales of Jeannie and her radio overseen by an admiring Lou - happy that he's in a 'Rock & Roll Band'. Reed would open his fantastic "Rock & Roll Animal" live set with "Sweet Jane" - Hunter and Ronson tearing it on the guitars. And I love that "hey protest kids" lyric. What a great set of tunes these are.

For me "Cool It Down" has always been one of the album's hidden nuggets - an ubercool double vocal where Lou sings that he's "...looking for Miss Linda Lee..." and her naughty wares. The languid "New Age" hankers back to the dead-inside drugs feel of their debut album. The remaster makes you feel those "...you're over the hill right now and you're looking for love..." lyrics and that strangely beautiful melody - his voice that shouldn't work but does. Side 2 opens with the grunge anger of "Head Up High" and is followed by "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" where The Velvet Underground kind of go Rockabilly in their own unique 'yo-de-lay-de-ho' way. There is noticeable hiss at the beginning of the almost Beach Boys "I Found A Reason" - but it settles down when the band go into those multi-layered vocal coos. It's the kind of "life's lonely highways" song that seems so simple at first but over time seeps into your heart. Treated guitar ushers in "Train Round The Bend" where Lou is sick of trees in the country and wants to get back to the city. The remaster lifts this poisonous little groove right up - sexy and full. The album bows out with "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" - a song that feels epic only twenty seconds into it. Lou sings of Jimmy Brown who "...ain't got nuthin' at all..." - empathising with broken men and women who walk with their heads down - weight of the world on their shoulders...

The nursery ditty sounding "I'm Sticking With You" sees Maureen "Mo" Tucker take lead vocals - duetting with Lou in the centre passages. Genius move on the part of this reissue is to keep the superlative “Ocean” as one of the Bonus Tracks – originally mixed by Rhino’s Audio Engineers Bill Inglot and John Strother. Reed breaks down into giggles on the quirky "I Love You" while "Ride Into The Sun" feels huge with that floating church organ and those treated vocals. Very cool stuff indeed - a little like the band really.

"...You could just go out and dance to the Rock 'n' Roll station..." - Lou Reed sang 46 years ago. I still feel that affection too and especially towards this forgotten peach of an album...