"Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present THREE DAY WEEK: When The Lights Went Out 1972-1975" by VARIOUS (March 2019 Ace CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Ordinary..." 

Reading the blurb on the rear inlay that accompanies this fourth themed compilation from Messer's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs (the compilers) - I can dig the idea for sure - I just wish I could dig the music because as far as I'm concerned much of this is either schlock or just plain boring - or worse - unlistenable. Here goes...

UK released Friday, 29 March 2019 - "Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present THREE DAY WEEK: When The Lights Went Out 1972-1975" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace CDCHD 1542 (Barcode 029667093927) is a 26-Track CD and 28-Track 2LP compilation that plays out as follows (CD, 77:06 minutes):

1. Part Of The Union [1972 Demo] - THE BROTHERS (Strawbs)

2. Ordinary Boy - SMALL WONDER

3. The Hertfordshire Rock - RICKY WILDE

4. When Work Is Over - THE KINKS

5. Sailing - THE SUTHERLAND BROTHERS

6. In Your Life - ADAM FAITH

7. Londonderry - PHIL CORDELL

8. Cut Loose - STUD LEATHER

9. I'm On Fire - THE TROGGS

10. Kill - MICHAEL McGEAR

11. And The Fun Goes On - LIEUTENANT PIGEON

12. Open Up - MUNGO JERRY

13. Rod - MATCHBOX

14. Urban Guerrilla - HAWKWIND

15. Homes Fit For Heroes - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND

16. Breathless - BOMBADIL

17. Why Am I Waiting - ROBIN GOODFELLOW

18. What Ruthy Said - COCKNEY REBEL

19. Clocks - PAUL BRETT

21. Mole On the Dole - CLIMAX CHICAGO

22. Northern Soul Dancer - WIGAN'S OVATION

23. Don't Ride A Paula Pillion - STAVELY MAKEPEACE

24. War Against War - PHEON BEAR

25. Roly Pin - ROLY

26. Stardust - DAVID ESSEX

The 2LP set has two extra tracks - "You Turn Me On" by THE TROLL BROTHERS and "I Feel So Down" by BARRACUDA

The 24-page booklet is the usual feast of period photos while the audio is care of long-time Ace Records Audio associate NICK ROBBINS – the usual mixture of great vs. good.

It opens promisingly enough - a 1972 demo of The Strawbs doing "Part Of The Union" (as The Brothers) - a rarity that turned up on the 5CD Box Set "A Taste Of Strawbs" in 2006. But that promise is quickly dashed by the dire "Ordinary Boy" from some no marks called Small Wonder (a small wonder it was released). Ricky Wilde is worse. And on it goes – song after song. But there has to be a special place in Hell for The Troggs doing dreck like "I'm On Fire" where we're informed she's 'a natural sex machine' – the lyrics snarled man (and not in jest) behind some awful rocking guitar - horrid. Phil Cordell's "Londonderry" is possibly the worst produced recording I've ever heard and appears only to be included here because of its city title and the times in which its set. Mike McGear's "Kill" is full of 'give us war, give us pain' and mentions of the IRA - but while its intentions are clearly in earnest, it's a woeful listen - no tune to deliver the message. The fuzz-guitar of "And The Fun Goes On" by the mouldy old dough merchants Lieutenant Pigeon is a pointless stomper instrumental like Slade forgot to include words. 

Mungo Jerry provide a slight uplift with their boogie "Open Up" as does Hawkwind singing about empires falling while Edgar Broughton tells of beating up prisoners and dockyard workers fighting for their rights - but Wigan's Ovation is an abomination I never want to hear again. And don’t get me started on Stavely Makepeace and his turkey “Don’t Ride A Paula Pillion” – a song that has to be some kind of sick joke. It thankfully ends with David Essex doing his pop-idol David Bowie moment “Stardust” which at least feels like half a tune.

I normally love Ace reissues, but I strongly urge the uninitiated to nab a listen before purchase so you can hear what you're letting yourself in for rather than being suckered by nostalgia (and what is that cover photo supposed to be about?) A rare drop of the reissue ball by Ace no matter how worthy the initial idea seemed...

"Tears Of Joy/Connection" by DON ELLIS (December 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 2CDs - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This and 100s more review like it available in my e-Book:

"...Euphoric..."

What you get here is the last two albums Big Band Leader and Jazz Trumpeter Don Ellis made for Columbia Records (USA) - one being a full double-album from 1971 of new material recorded over several nights live at the legendary Basin Street West Jazz Club in San Francisco - and the other, a 1972 single studio album of contemporary covers augmented with three new songs. Both albums are newly remastered here in 2017 from licensed Sony tapes - with the first's running order split across two CDs in order to make it fit without audio compromise.

A collection of contemporary cover versions across a wild scope of genres (Gilbert O'Sullivan to Yes, The Carpenters to The Crusaders), the second album "Connection" has probably Don Ellis' most sought after crossover moment – his jagged yet funky original theme to the ultimate gritty cop chase movie "The French Connection" starring Gene Hackman (Frog 1 baby).

But there's so much more - the fabulously inventive and superbly recorded and played "Tears Of Joy" 2LP set is rated by fans as one of his best – seventeen minutes of "Strawberry Soup" baby. And man does it all sound good too (England's Beat Goes On (BGO) has done a top job as usual). Here are the euphoric details...

UK released 15 December 2017 (22 December 2017 in the USA) - "Tears Of Joy/Connection" by DON ELLIS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1317 (Barcode 5017261213174) offers two albums (one a double, the other a single) Remastered in full onto 2CDs that play out as follows:

Disc 1 (60:11 minutes):

1. Tears Of Joy [Side 1]

2. 5/4 Getaway

3. Bulgarian Bulge

4. Get It Together

5. Quiet Longing [Side 2]

6. Blues In Elf

7. Loss

8. How's This For Openers? [Side 3]

9. Samba Bajada

Tracks 1 to 9 are Sides 1, 2 and 3 of the double-album "Tears Of Joy" - released October 1971 in the USA on Columbia Records G 30927.

Disc 2 (68:54 minutes):

1. Strawberry Soup [Side 4]

2. Euphoric Acid

Tracks 1 and 2 are Side 4 of the double-album "Tears Of Joy" - released October 1971 in the USA on Columbia Records G 30927. All songs written by Don Ellis except "Get It Together" by Sam Falzone, "Samba Bajada" by Hank Levy and "Euphoric Acid" by Fred Seldon

3. Put It Where You Want It [Joe Sample song, Crusaders cover] - Side 1

4. Alone Again (Naturally) [Gilbert O'Sullivan song]

5. Superstar (from the Rock Opera "Jesus Christ Superstar") [Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice song]

6. I Feel The Earth Move [Carole King song]

7. Theme From "The French Connection" [Don Ellis song]

8. Conquistador [Keith Reid and Gary Brooker song, Procol Harum cover]

9. Roundabout [Jon Anderson/Steve Howe song, Yes cover] - Side 2

10. Chain Reaction [Hank Levy song]

11. Goodbye To Love [John Bettis and Richard Carpenter song, Carpenters cover]

12. Lean On Me [Bill Withers cover]

13. Train To Get There [Richard Halligan song]

Tracks 3 to 13 are the single album "Connection" - released November 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31766.

The card slipcase lends the reissue an air of class and the 20-page booklet comes resplendent with new MATT PHILLIPS  (Musician and Founder of soundsosurprise.com and movingtheriver.com) and all the original artwork including the song-by-song notes from Ellis that adorned the inner gatefold of the mammoth "Tears Of Joy" double. It's nicely done with new Remasters from BGO's long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. These CDs sound great - the new transfers bringing out the best of the original Don Ellis and Phil Macy production values. To the Jazz...

Although "Tears Of Joy" was recorded live (climaxing a US tour) – such is the restraint of the crowd – you'd barely notice. But don't let that make you think the performances are too staid or po-faced reverential. If you want to know how a band 'cooks' – check out the staggering syncopation of the ensemble on "5/4 Getaway" – eight minutes of trumpet and horns merging – the two drummers Ralph Humphrey and Ron Dunn giving in some solo time before the whole group keeps it tight-tight to the end followed by whoops from a clearly geared-up crowd (sticks man Humphrey would join Zappa and his band just after this). From that and the wildness of the Sam Falzone contribution of "Get It Together" – we feel the complete contrast of "Quiet Longing" – a lone trumpet with some strings - sounding just like its title – images of a lone hombre on the range aching for his love as he stares up at the stars in the stillness of the night.

"Blues In Elf" begins in a reverential classical mode until piano player Milcho Leviev (much to the mirth of the crowd who spot the clever mood change) gets all sloppy New Orleans on its ass. Leviev is later joined by a string section and Don Ellis on Trumpet, the combo of which suddenly turning the initial Jazz Blues rhythm into something way cooler and more 1971-contemporary. "Loss" is equally beautiful and its complex string arrangements buffering off the trumpets and horns gives it a sort of magnificence that is truly epic. The hank Levy composition "Samba Bajada" that ends Side 3 feels like Santana crossbreeding with a Big Band by way of Herb Alpert – its eleven minutes again displaying amazing virtuosity from the whole ensemble (joyful stuff). Side 4 offers us two – an epic 17:38-minutes of "Strawberry Soup" where a lone sad cello is followed by cascading flute but is soon thrown into pure Zappa experimental territory – the band still managing to sound musical as it sounds at times like "The French Connection" – the extended car chase.

The predominantly covers album "Connection" opens with a very clever choice – Joe Sample’s fabulously funky and groovy "Put In Where You Want It" – an instrumental from the "Crusaders 1" double-album on Blue Thumb Records released only months earlier in 1972. Never one to take the easy route, Ellis then unfortunately embarks on an unwise cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's mega hit "Alone Again (Naturally)" but instead of sounding cool, his version feels destined for some horrible elevator somewhere (going down). His takes on the Jesus Christ Superstar title track is a bit better as is the lesser-heard Procol Harum single "Conquistador", but you can't help racing towards that real moment of cool – his jerky theme to "The French Connection" movie – very groovy stuff indeed. Another smart choice is his suitably brass-bopping take on the Fragile track "Roundabout" – a Yes cover that even features some Rick Wakeman copycat keyboard sounds.

The double is a wonder, a genuinely great release that's unfairly forgotten now while the 1972 platter may have been cool-ish back in the day, but sounds the most dated of the two despite its odd moments of brilliance. Still with presentation and great audio, this is another stellar five-star winner form BGO. Dig in and get connected...

"Earth Wind And Fire/The Need Of Love" by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE (October 2018 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs Remastered Onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Fan The Fire..."

Most folks know Maurice White's mighty Soul and Funk machine EARTH, WIND & FIRE through their Columbia Records output which almost immediately made huge inroads into the US R&B charts - "Last Days And Time" and "Head To The Sky" hit No. 15 and No 3 in 1973 whilst their 1974 platter "Open Our Eyes" went all the way to number one. Later in 1975, 1977 and 1979 they hit those top slots again and again – massive sales, global hits. You could safely say then that EWF were huge right from the get go...

But spare a thought for their other big label beginnings because that's what you're getting here - their first two American albums on Warners Brothers issued in the spring and winter of 1971 (no UK variants of either). And what utter musical blasts they are – righteous Soul and Funk and Fusion before the big hair, the big offices and the big limos. All this and a killer cover of a Donny Hathaway classic - you could say I'm a convert. Let's get to the 'everything is everything' details...

UK released Friday, 12 October 2018 (19 October 2018 in the USA) - "Earth, Wind And Fire/The Need For Love" by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1358 (Barcode 5017261213587) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD that plays out as follows (61:56 minutes):

1. Help Somebody [Side 1]

2. Moment Of Truth

3. Love Is Life

4. Fan The Fire

5. C'mon Children [Side 2]

6. This World Today

7. Bad Tune

Tracks 1 to 7 are their self-titled debut album in full "Earth, Wind And Fire" - released March 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1905 (no UK issue). It peaked on the US R&B LP chart at No. 24 (17 week stay).

8. Energy [Side 1]

9. Beauty

10. I Can Feel It In My Bones [Side 2]

11. I Think About Lovin' You

12. Everything Is Everything

Tracks 8 to 12 are their second studio album "The Need Of Love" - released November 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1958 (no UK issue). It peaked at No. 35 in the USA.

You get the usual classy card slipcase (jewel case within), a 20-page booklet that repros all the original artwork and has typically in-depth new liner notes from Mojo Magazine's main Soul and Jazz contributor - CHARLES WARING. The nine-ten piece ensemble are pictured and you get platter-by-platter analysis of their extraordinary career - right up to the sad passing of their Memphis founder Maurice White in 2016 aged 74. But of course the big news for fans is the availability of both albums and presented here in High Def with new Remasters from BGO’s long-standing Audio Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. This CD sounds fantastic as befits the original Joe Wissert Productions. Let’s get to the flames...

The moment the funky opener "Help Somebody" hits the speakers, I can hear the uplight from the mid Nineties euro CD - the ten-piece bopping and jabbing with real power. "Moments Of Truth" feels like Kool & The Gang giving it some y'all with a James Brown backing beat. Smooch-city comes at ya with "Love Is Life", a tune that feels a tad forced despite its positivity message. "Fan The Flame" features some Isley Brothers wild guitar soloing while "C'mon Children" is full-on Sly & The Family Stone 1971 Funk. "Bad Tune" ends a good opening album gambit well, but there's still a feeling that the group hasn't hit on that winning hook just yet.

Album number two opens with nine-minutes of "Energy" - a very Jazz Fusion number with Oscar Brashear providing the wild Miles Davis trumpeting. For sure it's going to be an acquired taste as a girly voice tells us "...as we float through time as energy, seeking no place, filling all space..." - you may want to light that Joss Stick and slap that Prana slipmat on your Garrard. "Beauty" feels far better - a pretty little blossom of Soul-Funky optimism - nice vocal breaks throughout as the 'open up your heart' choruses build. Harmonica opens "I Can Feel It In My Bones" - the kind of fuzzed-up guitar Funk that shows up on those "Funk Drops" CD compilations where someone smarter than you or I reminds us that we missed a 'What It Is' moment on Earth, Wind & Fire's second album. While the six minutes of "I Think About Lovin' You" benefits from Sherry Scott's lovely vocal turn, the tune feels a little too dangerously close to pastiche and the album is saved by a spirited cover version of that fabulous Donny Hathaway song "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)" - here shortened to "Everything Is Everything".

You wouldn't call these two albums masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination - EWF feeling for a direction more than finding one. But there's good to savour on here, and presented in such a classy way and with such top Audio, is going to make fans very happy indeed...

"Five Albums On Three Discs" by MIKE COOPER (22 March 2019 UK Beat Goes On Compilation - 5LPs Remastered onto 3CDs Plus Bonuses) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review And 212 Others Is Available In My AMAZON E-Book 

 

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"...Looking Back..."

How here's a treat, and a lot of it too. Hailing out of Reading in Berkshire, our Guitar-playing Harmonica-ingesting British hero MIKE COOPER sees his first five platters between 1969 and 1973 be given the BGO treatment - New Remasters, Digipak presentation and even three bonus tracks – rare stand alone single sides from 1970 and 1972 on Dawn Records.

His musical styles and influences progressed from Roots Blues, Folk and Americana in 1969 (on Pye) through to 1971’s Folk and Country Rock aided and abetted by guest players taken a hiatus from their day jobs as Jazzers in groups like Mike Westbrook’s Quintet, Nucleus and The John Dummer Band. The very Neil Young "Places I Know" set from 1971 is a collaboration album with Michael Gibbs and his next ensemble group 'The Machine Gun Co.' Playing superb 12-string guitar on one of Cooper's 'you never see them' British singles "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" is none other than Chris Spedding (it's the first of three bonus tracks tail-ending on Disc 3). There's a wad of open tunings to wade through, so let’s get at it...

UK released Friday, 22 March 2019 (29 March 2019 in the USA) - "Oh Really?!/Do I Know You?/Trout Steel/Places I Know/The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper/Bonus Tracks" by MIKE COOPER on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1371 (Barcode 5017261213716) offers 'Five Albums On Three Discs' plus Three Bonus Single Sides and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (73:30 minutes):

1. Death Letter [Side 1]

2. Bad Luck Blues

3. Maggie Campbell

4. Leadhearted Blues

5. Four Ways

6. Poor Little Annie

7. Tadpole Blues [Side 2]

8. Divinity Blues

9. You're Gonna Be Sorry

10. Electric Chair

11. Crow Jane

12. Pepper Rag

13. Saturday Blues

Tracks 1 to 13 are his debut album "Oh Really?!" - released February 1969 in the UK on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo and in the USA on Janus JLS-3004. Mike Cooper on Vocals and Guitar with Derek Hall on Second Guitar.

14. The Link [Side 1]

15. Journey To The East

16. First Song

17. Theme In C

18. Thinking Back

19. Thinks She Knows Me Now [Side 2]

20. Too Late Now

21. Wish She Was With Me

22. Do I Know You?

23. Start Of A Journey

24. Looking Back

Tracks 14 to 24 are his second studio album "Do I Know You?" - released March 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3005 and 1970 in the USA on Janus JLS-3021. Mike Cooper on Guitar, Vocals and Slide with Harry Miller of The Mike Westbrook Quartet on Double Bass

Disc 2 (70:40 minutes):

1. That's How [Side 1]

2. Sitting Here Watching

3. Goodtimes

4. I've Got Mine

5. A Half Sunday Homage To A Whole Leonardo Da Vinci (Without Words By Richard Brautigan)

6. Don't Talk Too Fast [Side 2]

7. Trout Steel

8. In The Mourning

9. Hope You See

10. Pharaoh's March

11. Weeping Rose

Tracks 1 to 11 are his third album "Trout Steel" - released November 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3011 (no USA issue)

12. Country Water [Side 1]

13. Three-Forty Eight

14. Night Journey

15. Time To Time

Tracks 12 to 15 are Side 1 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue)

Disc 3 (75:35 minutes):

1. Paper And Smoke [Side 2]

2. Broken Bridges

3. Now I Know

4. Goodbye Blues, Goodbye

5. Places I Know

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue). "Night Journey" and "Paper And Smoke" feature The Machine Gun Company [Co.] - Alan Cook on Piano, Bill Boazman, Geoff Hawkins on Saxophone and Pipes, Jeff Clyne of Nucleus, John Van Derrick, Laurie Alan, Les Calvert on Bass and Tim Richardson on Percussion with Chorus Vocals by Gerald Moore of Reggae Guitars, Jean Oddie and Jazz Vocalist Norma Winstone

6. Song For Abigail [Side 1]

7. The Singing Tree

8. Midnight Words

9. So Glad (That I Found You) [Side 2]

10. Lady Anne

Tracks 6 to 10 are his fifth studio album "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" - released November 1972 in the UK on Dawn DNLS 3031 (no USA issue).

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2) - UK 1970 7" Maxi EP single on Dawn Records DNX 2501, A-side, Non-Album

12. Time In Hand - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, A-side, Non-Album

13. Schaabisch Hall - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, B-side, Non-Album Instrumental

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 featuring Chris Spedding on 12-String Guitar

As far as I know this is only the second time BGO has used fold-out digipaks (Sonny & Cher was the other in 2018) and I must say I miss the classiness of the outer card slipcase because the four-panel digipak is a bit weedy and although every see-through tray has original artwork beneath it – this is one of those cases where you wish they’d done a Grapefruit Records reissue and stuck three card sleeves in a clamshell box with a bigger booklet. At 24-pages you get all the original artwork and new liner notes from noted writer JOHN O’REAGAN – but I think it ‘feels’ like one of those crappy Universal Deluxe Editions without the plastic titled slipcase.

And in 2006 when Japan reissued his most popular album "Trout Steel" on a SHM-CD with original repro artwork – they included both seven-minute sides of his 1970 Dawn Records single as two Bonus Tracks - "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with its B-side "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)". I mention this because "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)" is not here – a damn shame because as you can from the total playing time for Disc 2, there was room for one more important inclusion. But these are minor complaints because the real spoils lie in new 2019 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters that lift up the primarily acoustic-based music beautifully. This threesome sounds gorgeous and the music deserves it too.

The first album is pure Folk Blues – Acoustic one-man renditions by way of Scunthorpe – all songs originals except for the two openers – a cover of the Son House doomy classic "Death Letter" and a Blind Boy Fuller song called (not surprisingly) "Hard Luck Blues". The debut is a beginning and you can hear it – the whole album quietly good, but more functional than inspiring. But when Cooper hit the second platter "Do I Know You?" – it’s like he suddenly found his voice – the songs more distinctively him than copyist styling of some Americana dream. The most immediate comparison is Michael Chapman over on Harvest Records (the playing and voice) – the opening instrumental "The Link" getting a huge acoustic sound (like a 12-string). That promising entrée is followed by an impressive Roy Harper-ish duo of tunes "Journey To The East" and "First Song". Birdies and Froggies chirp and croak for the intro of "Them In C", a Bluesy Slide Acoustic with treated vocals that sound like Ray Dorset discovering the Delta as it segues into "Thinking Back". Other winners include the pretty but painful "Too Late Now", the panned Gallagher & Lyle acoustic guitars of "Wish She Was With Me" and the tidal wash of "Start Of A Journey".

Everything has changed Cooper sings on "That’s How" – another familiar acoustic strummer that opens album number three "Trout Steel". Stefan Grossman and Bill Boazman guest on guitars as do Mike Osbourne, Alan Skidmore and Geoff Hawkins on varying Horns. Very cool acoustic soloing on "Sitting Here Watching" while the run-together title "Goodtimes" feels like jolly Gallagher & Lyle or Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance rehearsing some slide acoustic melodies. The eleven-minutes-plus of "I’ve Got Mine" feels like experimental John Martyn, a bedroom of acoustic picking jabbed by Jazz musicians who know how to feel out something special – probably the album’s best moment – and something even Prog Folk lovers will crave.

After the acoustic-based Blues and Folk variations of the first three albums, the overtly Country-Rock of "Places I Know" feels like you’ve stumbled on Plainsong making their debut album - only a year earlier. At times "Three-Forty Three" even feels like Neil Young circa 1970 or Lindisfarne contemplating the Fog On The Tyne. While the Bluesy groove of "Night Journey" is uncomfortably close to Dylan and his Blonde On Blonde gem "Pledging My Time" – even the way the sliding guitar strings build. But Roy Harper type greatness comes in the epic 8:30 minutes of the Side 1 finisher "Time To Time" – all strummed acoustics and Alan Cook giving us aching piano echoing in the background only to be joined by gorgeous Norma Winstone and Chorus ooh and aahs as the strum builds – you don’t know, the way she can be from...

The strangely deflated mellow of "Song For Abigail" opens "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" album – the whole LP apparently supposed to have been the second half of the double-album "Places I Know". The fourteen-minute John Martyn Guitar and Rock Fusion noodle that is "So Glad (That I Found You)" is either going to test you or thrill you. But as much as I try to like the tunes, few move me and I can’t help thinking this half of the double was canned for a reason. Way prettier and a reminder of his fresh-faced genius is the ultra-rare 1970 single Mike Cooper "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with Chris Spedding elevating its seven minutes to gorgeousness by way of his 12-string guitar playing – Michael Gibbs directing the cello. Given a picture sleeve (repro’d on Page 16) – it was a Maxi single that played at LP speed and along with "Time In Hand" and its piano-ballad B-side "Schaabisch Hall" end Disc 3 on a high.

For sure not everything here is undiluted Mike Cooper genius (Michael Chapman or Roy Harper would thrash him song-wise any day of the week). But there is also a great deal to love and it’s been decades since I heard it all sound so well. Maybe next time though BGO – go for that clamshell box and some tasty card sleeves...