"Ry Cooder 1970-1987" by RY COODER (November 2013 UK Warner Brothers 11CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 1 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Rock-Fusion, Psychedelic and Underground

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"...Look At Granny Run...Granddaddy Close Behind…"

I’m going to add to the chorus of approval given this dinky and brill little box set and add a few more details. Having had it a few weeks now and listened to all the discs - I estimate that most of the first 7 are REMASTERS with the remainder sounding like those CDs already issued - which sound great anyway. His huge hit album “Bop Til You Drop” from 1979 was the world’s first all-digital recording and has always sounded clean if not a little flat somehow. The CD here is definitely not the “UFO Has Landed” remaster (see separate review) - but - with a judicious amount of volume - it does sound lovely anyway. Here’s the breakdown of what’s on offer and what’s missing...

"Ry Cooder 1970 - 1987" by RY COODER was released Monday 11 November 2013 on Warner Brothers 8122796241 (Barcode 081227962418) and is an 11CD mini clamshell box set with each album in 5" Mini LP repro artwork card sleeves – it breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (30:13 minutes):

1. Alimony [Tommy Tucker cover]

2. France Chance [Joe Callicott cover]

3. One Meat Ball [Louis Singer & Hy Zaret song - Josh White cover]

4. Do Re Mi [Woody Guthrie cover]

5. Old Kentucky Home [Randy Newman cover]

6. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live? [Blind Alfred Reed cover]

7. Available Space [Ry Cooder song] [Side 2]

8. Pig Meat [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]

9. Police Dog Blues [Arthur Blake cover]

10. Goin' To Brownsville [Sleepy John Estes cover]

11. Dark Is The Night [Blind Willie Johnson cover]

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut solo LP "Ry Cooder" – released December 1970 in the USA on Reprise RS 6402 and January 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44093. Van Dyke Parks plays Piano (tracks not named).

Disc 2 (37:46 minutes):

1. How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too) [Traditional Song cover]

2. Billy The Kid [Traditional Song cover]

3. Money Honey [Jesse Stone song – Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters cover]

4. F.D.R. In Trinidad [Fitz MacLean cover]

5. Teardrops Will Fall [Dickey Doo, Marion Smith song]

6. Denomination Blues [Washington Philips cover]

7. On A Monday [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover] [Side 2]

8. Hey Porter [Johnny Cash cover]

9. Great Dreams From Heaven [Joseph Spence cover]

10. Taxes On The Farmer Feed Us All [Traditional Song cover]

11. Vigilante Man [Woody Guthrie cover]

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 2nd album "Into The Purple Valley" – released February 1972 in the USA on Reprise RS 2052 and in the UK on Reprise K 44142

Disc 3 (39:07 minutes):

1. Boomer's Story [Carson Robinson, Traditional Song cover]

2. Cherry Ball Blues [Ski James cover]

3. Crow Black Chicken [Lawrence Wilson cover]

4. Ax Sweet Mama [Sleepy John Estes cover]

5. Maria Elena [Bob Russell and Lorenzo Barcelata cover]

6. Dark End Of The Street [Chips Moman and Pan Penn song – James Carr cover] [Side 2]

7. Rally 'Round The Flag [Traditional Song cover]

8. Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer [Harold Adamson, Jimmie McHugh song]

9. President Kentucky [Sleepy John Estes cover]

10. Good Morning Mr. Railroad Man [Traditional Song cover]

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd album "Boomer's Story" – released November 1972 in the USA on Reprise MS 2117 and in the UK on Reprise K 44224; Randy Newman plays piano on “Rally ‘Round The Flag”

Disc 4 (37:22 minutes):

1. Tamp 'Em Up Solid [Traditional Song cover]

2. Tattler [Russ Titelman, Ry Cooder and Washington Philips song]

3. Married Man's A Fool [Blind Willie McTell cover]

4. Jesus On The Mainline [Traditional Song cover]

5. It's All Over Now [Bobby Womack cover]

6. Medley: I'm A Fool For A Cigarette/Feelin' Good [J.B. Lenoir cover] [Side 2]

7. If Walls Could Talk [Bobby Miller cover]

8. Mexican Divorce [Coasters cover]

9. Ditty Wa Ditty [Arthur Blake cover]

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 4th album “Paradise And Lunch” – release May 1974 in the USA on Reprise MS 2179 and in the UK on Reprise K 44260; Earl Hines plays Piano on “Ditty Wa Ditty”

Disc 5 (39:59 minutes):

1. The Bourgeois Blues [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]

2. I Got Mine [Traditional Song cover]

3. Always Lift Him Up [Blind Alfred Reed cover]

4. He’ll Have To Go [Jim Reeves cover]

5. Smack Dab In The Middle [Jesse Stone song – Charles Calhoun cover]

6. Stand By Me [Ben E. King cover]

7. Yellow Roses [Hank Snow cover]

8. Chloe [Traditional Song cover]

9. Goodnight Irene [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 5th album "Chicken Skin Music" – released October 1976 in the USA on Reprise MS 2254 and in the UK on Reprise K 54083

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1976

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Disc 6 (43:57 minutes):

1. School Is Out

2. Alimony

3. Jesus On The Mainline

4. The Dark End Of The Street

5. Viva Sequin/Do Re Mi [Side 2]

6. Volver, Volver

7. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live

8. Smack Dab In The Middle

Tracks 1 to 8 are his 6th LP "Show Time" – released August 1977 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 3059 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56386

Note: Track 1 “School Is Out” is a Studio song – the rest of the album is LIVE recorded 14 and 15 December 1976 at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and credited to RY COODER/CHICKEN SKIN REVUE

Disc 7 (38:28 minutes):

1. Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now

2. Face To Face That I Shall Meet Him [Traditional Song cover]

3. The Pearls/Tia Juana [Jelly Roll Morton cover]

4. The Dream

5. Happy Meeting In Glory [Traditional Song cover]

6. In A Mist [Bix Beiderbecke cover]

7. Flashes [Bix Beiderbecke cover]

8. Davenport Blues [Bix Beiderbecke cover]

9. Shine

10. Nobody [Bert Williams cover]

11. We Shall Be Happy [Traditional Song cover]

Tracks 1 to 11 are the album "Jazz" – released June 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3197 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56488

Disc 8 (40:12 minutes):

1. Little Sister [Elvis Presley cover]

2. Go Home, Girl [Arthur Alexander cover]

3. The Very Thing That Makes You Rich

4. I Think It's Going To Work Out Fine [Ike & Tina Turner cover]

5. Down In Hollywood [Ry Cooder song] [Side 2]

6. Look At Granny Run Run [Howard Tate cover]

7. Trouble You Can't Fool Me [Frederick Knight cover]

8. Don't You Mess Up A Good Thing [Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure cover]

9. I Can't Win [The Invincibles cover]

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Bop Till You Drop" – released August 1979 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3358 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56691. Bobby King sings Backing Vocals on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and Lead Vocals on 9. Chaka Khan sings Backing Vocals on 5 and 8.

Disc 9 (44:06 minutes):

1. 634-5789

2. Why Don't You Try Me

3. Down In The Boondocks

4. Johnny Porter

5. The Way We Make A Broken Heart

6. Crazy 'Bout An Automobile

7. The Girls from Texas

8. Borderline

9. Never Make Your Move Too Soon

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album “Borderline” – released October 1980 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3489 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56846

Disc 10 (39:18 minutes):

1. UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto

2. I Need A Woman

3. Gypsy Woman

4. Blue Suede Shoes

5. Mama, Don't Treat Your Daughter Mean

6. I'm Drinking Again

7. Which Came First

8. That's The Way Love Turned Out For Me

Tracks 1 to 8 are the album "The Slide Area" – released April 1982 in the USA on Warner Brothers BSK 3651 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56976

Disc 11 (40:52 minutes):

1. Get Rhythm [Johnny Cash cover]

2. Low—Commotion

3. Going Back To Okinawa

4. 13 Question Method [Chuck Berry cover]

5. Women Will Rule The World

6. All Shook Up [Elvis Presley cover]

7. I Can Tell By The Way You Smell

8. Across The Border Line

9. Let's Have A Ball

Tracks 1 to 9 are the album "Get Rhythm" – released December 1987 in the USA on Warner Brothers 25639-1 and in the UK on Warner Brothers WX 121

The CD labels reflect the original vinyl issues - 1 to 5 are the Riverboat Tan design, 6 is the Burbank Trees design and the rest the cream Warner Brothers issues (nice attention to detail). Of all the repro card sleeves only “Into The Purple Valley” is a gatefold (all the others were single sleeve issues anyway) but a few like “Boomer’s Story” are missing inserts. I say this because apart from the almost unreadable album covers - there’s little info to go on (no booklet) and on hearing this fantastic trawl through Americana, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Texmex and old time Blues - you desperately want to know more about the song origins. Most of the info is available on the net of course, but it would have put this groovy box set into the stratosphere if had been given a little bit more effort on the presentation front.

You also notice the gaps - “The Long Riders” soundtrack from 1980 is missing, as is the fabulous “Paris, Texas” from 1985. But what is here is just so consistently good. Admittedly when you get to “Borderline” and “The Slide Area” the quality control had begun to taper off (as had sales) which is what made the rollicking “Get Rhythm” from 1987 such a huge hit and return to form. 

I’d like to point out that for fans the real gems in here are “Boomer’s Story”, “Paradise And Lunch” and “Chicken Skin Music” which are beautiful sounding now. The gorgeous Mexican-feel instrumental “Marie Elena” on “Boomer’s Story” has been a rave of mine for years - the wicked combo of “I’m A Fool For A Cigarette/Feelin’ Good” is fabulous fun too and his warbling accordion version of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” on “Chicken Skin Music” is so touching - a wonderfully moving reinterpretation. The old-timey Woody Guthrie feel to the instrumental “Great Dream From Heaven” on “In The Purple Valley” is the kind of gem that litters these albums - its so simple yet so effecting - his playing so sympathetic to the material throughout.

“Bop Till You Drop” is a near perfect album and is littered with cleverly chosen covers opening with his take on Presley’s “Little Sister” given that distinctive Cooder jerky rhythm makeover (with Bobby Kind’s backing vocals adding so much to the tune). Arthur Alexander’s “Go Home Girl” has a wonderful ache to it while “Down In Hollywood” (his only original on the album) has ballbreakingly funny lyrics about Gays in Tinseltown. This classic 1979 LP ends with Chaka Khan and Bobby Kind getting duet Gospel on “I Can’t Win” – a song brought to the world by Clifton Knight when he was with the US Soul Group The Invincibles (1966 on Loma Records). It’s beautifully done.

With its mixture of Traditionals and Bix Beiderbecke rhythms 1978’s “Jazz” goes all Old Timey (“Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now”) and is one of those records that got ignored on release but gets rediscovered as a masterpiece years later. It’s also beautifully produced – the remaster shining like a diamond here – slide guitars, trombones, big bass drums and banjos coming at you from every angle. “The Slide Area” and the fabulous “Get Rhythm” albums feature witty nuggets like “UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto” and “Women Will Rule The World” (go Hilary Clinton).

Great stuff - and at a little over two quid per album – “1970-1987” is a frankly bit of a steal in a sea of overpriced and stodgy Anniversary reissues.

On Ry Cooder’s blinding cover of Howard Tate’s “Look At Granny Run Run” (written by that genius duo of Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman) our Ryland tells of Grandfather’s renewed libido because the Doctor has given him “a brand new pill...” Get this Americana Musical Tonic winging its way to someone you love as soon as possible...

"Blazing Saddles" on BLU RAY - A Review of Mel Brooks' Fabulous 1974 Film Now On BLU RAY - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Damn Near Lost A $400 Hand Cart!" 

Blazing Saddles on BLU RAY

I can vividly remember seeing "Blazing Saddles" at the cinema in Dublin in 1974. Even as the credits rolled - the entire audience was screaming – helpless with laughter as bullwhip-cracks accompanied a truly cheesy yee-haw song crammed with cornball lyrics like "...Conquer bad guys near and far…Bart was his name!"

But then as scene after scene unfolded and we began to realize that this latest Mel Brooks caper was a pisstake on racism using the Wild West idiom - we also sat there in utter astonishment - and even excitement. Here was a film breaking down barriers – tackling taboos and monsters - but using comedy to do it (like Chaplin did with "The Dictator").

It’s 1874 and the town of Rock Ridge is building a railroad through 200,000 acres of other people’s land and the local greedy District Attorney (a stunning turn by Harvey Corman as Hedley Lemarr) needs a way to frighten the locals so senseless – they’ll just up and leave. And one day while he’s watching hangings out his window by a one-eyed Cyclops – Hedley hits on the genius idea of making the new sheriff a black man.

Playing that part with just the right amount of inner-smirk is Cleavon Little as Bart – a smart Negro outfoxing all the rednecks as he rides into town sporting a Gold Sherriff Star, a Gucci side saddlebag and a shiny new outfit. He’s teamed up with Gene Wilder as The Wako Kid - once the fastest gunslinger in the West but now a drunk in jail. Cue an endless stream of ball-breakingly funny Wild West set pieces and fabulous one-liners about ‘nig*ers’ and hick white attitudes…

"You use your tongue prettier than a $20 whore!" Slim Pickens says after Hedley Lemarr recites a list of the worst scum ever he wants assembled for a posse. There’s a preacher at a town meeting that says of the impending doom – "We should act!" Then grabs his coat. "I'm leaving!" A bearded dusty prospector speaks 'Genuine Frontier Gibberish' you can’t understand. Slim Pickens helpfully suggests how to rid Rock Ridge of the simple folk getting in the way of the railroad - "We'll ride into town and kill every first born child!" and Hedley Lemarr replies "Too Jewish!"

Even something as simple as Cleavon standing on the town podium addressing an all-white crowd becomes loaded with black virility when he says "Excuse me while I whip this out!" and all the white women duck for cover. And then there’s Director and Co-Writer Mel Brooks as the Governor who can’t string two words together (has GOV on his jacket) and keeps lusting after his big-chested assistant (Robyn Hilton of Vixens fame). "Work! Work! Work!" he complains as he signs another dodgy Bill into law.

But best of all is the famous farting sequence where all the cowboys are sat around a campfire eating plates of beans - I remember some people in the audience very nearly suffered a coronary they laughed that hard. And equally as joyous is Alex Karras as the unstoppable MONGO –a huge monosyllabic klutz that punches horses who annoy him. And on it goes like "Airplane" – whomping you in the nuts with clever one-liners and unbelievably edgy gags - all of which lead up to a Randolph Scott joke and a very slapstick ending. Wow!

The print quality on the BLU RAY starts out very badly with a lot of heavy grain shimmering and even the occasional line down the negative. But after a short while it settles down. In truth (and rather disappointingly) - you’d have to say the picture is good rather than great. However even stretched to Full Aspect – "Blazing Saddles" still looks cool for a 1974 production. Audio is Dolby Digital: English 5.1, French 1-channel Mono and German 1-channel Mono. Subtitles are English, French and German.

Extras include: Additional Scenes, Scene-Specific Commentary by Mel Brooks, 2 Documentaries – Back In The Saddle and Intimate Portrait: Madeline Kahn (Excerpt), Black Bart: 1975 Pilot Episode Of The Proposed TV Series Spinoff and a Theatrical Trailer.

Re-watching "Blazing Saddles" on BLU RAY has been a joy. It’s easily in the top 5 funniest films ever made – still brilliantly anarchic – snotty – and fresh in a way that so many gross-out comedies of today can’t even get near.

Two black men are sent up the railway line they’ve been slaving on and sink in quicksand – Slim Pickens comes along and throws a rope. But it’s not over the two drowning Negroes - but onto the handcart (his line titles this review).

Do yourself a rootin’ tootin’ favour – and get this fabulous piece of un-pc cinematic crudity in-between your bowlegs…tarnation and varmit!

"The Spirit Of '67" by PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS (November 2016 UK Cherry Red/Now Sounds 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with MONO and STEREO Mixes) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Hungry For Those Good Things..."

Never mind James Brown and his claims to have been the hardest-working man in show business – as a band Paul Revere & The Raiders could lay safe claim to that title for the year of 1966. They were a weekly (and at times daily) feature on ABC-TV's programme "Where The Action Is!", played hundreds of live gigs up and down the USA, recorded and charted four singles (three went Top 10, the other Top 20) and released three albums - all in that same mercurial year! And none are more revered that this last gasp of the original classic 5-piece line-up -  "The Spirit Of '67" - released late November 1966. And that’s where this quality CD reminder from Blighty comes storming in...

Now Sounds is a subsidiary label of England's Cherry Red Records and they have to be like England's football team as they exit World Cup 2018 - proud of themselves and what they’ve achieved. Because this is a superb reissue offering both the rare Mono and Stereo variants of the 1966 American album (originally on Columbia Records – No UK release) as well as three bonus cuts - one an album outtake and another an Alternate Take on one the album's best cuts "Hungry". Let's get to the details of this very 'good thing'...

UK released 25 November 2016 - "The Spirit Of '67" by PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS on Cherry Red/Now Sounds CRNOW 56 (Barcode 5013929065628) is an 'Expanded Edition' offering the MONO and STEREO variants of the 1966 Columbia Records album as well as three bonus tracks and plays out as follows (70:30 minutes):

1. Good Thing [Side 1]

2. All About Her

3. In My Community

4. Louise

5. Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)

6. Oh! To Be A Man

7. Hungry [Side 2]

8. Undecided Man

9. Our Candidate

10. 1001 Arabian Nights

11. The Great Airplane Strike

Tracks 1 to 11 are the MONO variant of the album "The Spirit Of '67" - released 28 November 1966 in the USA on Columbia Records CL 2595

Tracks 12 to 22 (as per 1 to 11) are the STEREO variant of the album "The Spirit Of '67" - released 28 November 1966 in the USA on Columbia Records CS 9395

23. (You're A) Bad Girl - Album Outtake, later used as a B-side to the reissue 45 for "Ride Your Pony" in 2012 on Sundazed S 248

24. Hungry (Alternate Version)

25. The Great Airplane Strike (Mono Single Version) –

PAUL REVERE – Organ and Keyboards

MARK LINDSAY – Lead Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11)

JIM VALLEY – Guitars except Tracks 3 & 14

PHIL ‘Fang’ VOLK – Bass (All Tracks except 5 & 16), Guitars (Tracks 3 & 14) and Lead Vocals (Tracks 3 and 5)

MIKE ‘Smitty’ SMITH – Drums and Percussion except Tracks 5, 7, 16, 18 and 24 which is Hal Blaine - and Lead Vocals on Track 9

Guests:

TERRY MELCHER – Producer, Co-Writer and Keyboards

VAN DYKE PARKS – Keyboards (Tracks 1, 3, 5, 12, 14 & 16)

BRIAN JOHNSTON [of The Beach Boys] – Piano & Keyboards (Tracks 2, 13 & 23)

The fact-filled 16-page booklet features new Liner Notes from MIKE STAX of Ugly Things Magazine as well as photos of the boys in various poses (most with their trademark frontier outfits), the rare American picture sleeve for "Hungry" b/w "There She Goes" on Columbia 4-43678 and even an original tape box from Columbia's Square Station Studios in Hollywood (the CD label has that Columbia Records Mono/Stereo red design like the "360 Sound" labels of old - a nice touch).

But the best news is a magnificent Remaster from original Mono and Stereo tapes by ALAN BROWNSTEIN - both variants kicking like the proverbial mule. I cannot overstate how good this CD Reissue sounds - especially the STEREO MIX – beautifully clear and punchy without ever being overcooked or over trebled. Nice work done. Let's get to the music...

Of the eleven tracks - nine are band originals with the two outsiders being "Hungry" and "Louise". The songwriting duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil gave the band the demo of "Hungry" and they knew it was an out-and-out winner right away. Hooky as Hell - the single was released June 1966 ahead of the album and rewarded the band with a deserved No. 6 placing on the Billboard Charts. The out-of-season girl song "Louise" came courtesy of Jesse Lee Kincade of The Rising Sons - a kicking little bopper warning us of the dangers Louise and her wayward ways pose to your general wellbeing.

The records opens on a bopper - "Good Thing" - a Terry Melcher, Mark Lindsay and Paul Revere composition about a groovy world - a tune full of Beach Boys harmonies and no one around to bring you down. Along with Sound Man Ray Gerhardt as the fourth writer, the same trio provide the uber-melodramatic "All About Her" - a stop-being-a-pawn song that features beautifully produced acoustics and organ - Mark Lindsay telling us that he'll try love again even if he's left without a mind (ouch). Volk throws up the consciousness of "In My Community" and the achingly sad but true "Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)" - a break-up tune about his gal Carol of the time - he took the musician's highroad despite her tears. Side 1 ends with vaudeville piano notes and dire warnings about dead-end jobs - a boyhood to man song (left home when was 15, no more parental lectures) and again with stunning audio.

"Hungry" opens Side 2 on a winner - wicked Bass and Guitar - the kind of hit The Monkees would have used THRUSH to ruthlessly acquire (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity to you baby). Clearly enamoured with The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" from their 1966 masterpiece "Revolver" - the band hired two quartets to anchor "Undecided Man" - an impressive if not overly copyist take on that string-laden nugget. Back to Rock'n'Roll with the cool chugger "Our Candidate" sung and provided by Mike 'Smitty' Smith - a tune close in so many ways to "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" by The Hollies in 1972. But the album then ends of two fantastic period pieces - the swirling trippy "1001 Arabian Nights" complete with nasal whines and everything bar a sitar and incense coming out of your speakers. That's followed by a hard-hitting fuzzed-up guitar groover - "The Great Airplane Strike  - a tune and hip-single with wickedly smart lyrics based on a real event. The "Bad Girl" outtake was considered too weak at the time - but I like its effervescent Beach Boys pop vibe (Brain Johnston features) and that Alternate Take of "Hungry" is a genuinely brill bonus.

Soon after the album’s release – Volk and Smith took session guitarist Drake Levin with them and formed Brotherhood who would make three albums on RCA Victor. Revere, Lindsay and helmsman Terry Melcher brought in Freddy Weller on Guitar, Charlie Coe on Bass and Jo Carraro, Jr. on Drums and carried the torch forward.

Now Sounds have done a top job here - fans and newcomers should dive in and get revered...

"Naturally" by J.J. CALE - Debut US Album from 1971 on Shelter Records (June 2013 JAPAN-Only Universal SHM-CD Remaster In 5" Mini LP Repro Card Sleeve Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 3 of 3

- Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde, Underground

Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Rock and more

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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"...I Think I'll Get Me Some To Go..."

*** THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE JAPANESE-ONLY SHM CD REMASTER FROM 2013 ***

Since his tragic loss in July 2013 renewed interest in J.J. Cale and his wonderfully laid-back songwriting magic has never been higher. And his superb 1972 debut album "Naturally" will be a first port of call for many. Four tracks from it were remastered for the 2CD Anthology "Any Way The Wind Blows" in 1997 - but this 2013 Japanese SHM-CD represents the first time the entire album's been sonically overhauled. However - given the poor quality of the original 1970 and 1971 recordings - even this best ever audio remaster of "Naturally" has its drawbacks.

Released in Japan 26 June 2013 - "Naturally" by J.J.  CALE on Universal UICY-75627 (Barcode 4988005771582) is a SHM-CD (Super High Materials) and features Repro US LP artwork (including the colour-coded Track List/Musician breakdown on the rear cover that's missing from the card digipak of "Naturally" in the 2013 "Classic Album Selection" 5CD box set).

1. Call Me The Breeze[Side 1]

2. Call The Doctor

3. Don’t Go To Strangers

4. Woman I Love

5. Magnolia

6. Clyde

7. Crazy Mama [Side 2]

8. Nowhere To Run

9. After Midnight

10. River Runs Deep

11. Bringing It Back

12. Crying Eyes

Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut album “Naturally” – released November 1971 in the USA on Shelter SW-8908 and January 1972 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 68105

A SHM-CD doesn't require a special CD player to play it on (compatible on all machines) - nor does it need audiophile kit to hear the benefits. It's a new form of the CD format that picks up the nuances of the transfer better (top quality make). I own about 10 of them and they're uniformly superb. Also this 'actually remastered' reissue of his debut album is 13 seconds longer than the previous Eighties non-remaster (32:26 minutes as opposed to 32:13). The booklet is the usual 8-white pages of Japanese liner notes and a stab at the English lyrics - nothing to really get your teeth into. It should also be noted that the old issues of this CD and the one in a card digipak in the 2013 "Classic" box set are NOT REMASTERS.

SOUND:

I wore out original tan label issues (and silver and green label reissues) of "Naturally" on Seventies vinyl trying to find a copy that didn't sound like a wall of hiss coming out of the speakers. I now know why. Although the improvement in sound here is extensive - the original sessions were dogged with excessive hiss on the master tapes - and I'm afraid that's what you largely get on this 2013 reissue - only accentuated more in some cases.

Hiss culprits include "Call The Doctor", the lovely "Magnolia" and "River Runs Deep". But the piano on "After Midnight", the fiddles on "Clyde" and Mac Gayden's slide guitar on "Crazy Mama" - are all wonderfully clear - major improvements. "Woman I Love" and "Bringing It Back" (lyrics above) are the kind of tracks that don't turn up on "Best Of's" that often - and I'm thrilled to say that they both sound stupendous - stunning clarity on the bass and brass. "Call Me The Breeze" (covered to stunning effect by Lynyrd Skynyrd on 1974's "Second Helping") kicks in nicely too after that beat-box rhythm opening. Overall I'd say that those expecting audiophile from this release should probably cry off - but for those who love the man and his music - then this remaster is a must-buy. Even with that hiss - the clarity is the best yet.

J.J. Cale was one of my audio heroes growing up - and his influence on Eric Clapton, Dire Straits and even John Mayer is undeniable. What a loss and what an artist. And damn the Japanese for being so good with these bloody things (I've also reviewed "5" and "Troubadour") because I need all 8 of them now!

My long-suffering bank manager will be pleased...

Albums in the June 2013 

J.J. CALE

Japan-Only Universal SHM-CD Mini LP Repro Reissue Series are:

1. Naturally (1972 - his debut) on Universal UICY-75627 (Barcode 4988005771582)

2. Really (1973) on Universal UICY-75628 (Barcode 4988005771599)

3. Okie (1974) on Universal UICY-75629 (Barcode 4988005771605)

4. Troubadour (1976) on Universal UICY-75630 (Barcode 4988005771612)

5. "5" (1979) on Universal UICY-75631 (Barcode 4988005771629)

6. Shades (1981) on Universal UICY-75632 (Barcode 4988005771636)

7. Grasshopper (1982) on Universal UICY-75633 (Barcode 4988005771643)

8. No. 8 (1983) on Universal UICY-75634 (Barcode 4988005771650)