“Tighten Up (Volume 1): Deluxe Edition” by VARIOUS ARTISTS - A Review Of The Iconic 1969 Budget-Priced Reggae LP Now Reissued And Remastered Onto A 2008 Universal 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Come On And Dance…"

By the time the iconic first "Tighten Up" LP was released in early 1969 (and only operating since July of 1968) - Trojan Records of the UK had released a staggering 108 singles and 25 albums to a voracious cosmopolitan British public. But Trojan knew that they needed a way to expand the nation's knowledge of their excellent catalogue - so they hastily put-together this 12-track ragbag of British 7" singles as a compilation. Trojan then priced it cheap (14 schillings and 6 old pence) - put a fetching cover on it of a rather lovely Caribbean lady and plopped it into the racks of every Woolworths Store the length and breath of England.

Named after the opening song on Side 1 by THJE UNTOUCHABLES - by their own admission - Trojan Records hadn't expected much of "Tighten Up". Happily for them and us they were wrong. It sold in large quantities and was hugely influential in introducing reggae music not just to the youth of Britain but to many other countries as well. It became a genuine phenomenon - spurning 7 more volumes up to Vol. 8 in 1973 where it simply ran out of steam and Volume 9 was shelved.

UK released Monday, 11 August 2008 - "Tighten Up (Volume 1): Deluxe Edition" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Universal/Sanctuary/Trojan 1775154 (Barcode 602517751545) is a massive 2CD overhaul of that legendary 1969 LP - and what a peach it is too. The album was made up entirely of 7" singles – so I’ve provided hose catalogue numbers after each entry…

DISC 1 (66:04 minutes):

1. Tighten Up - THE UNTOUCHABLES (October 1968, Trojan TR-613, A)

2. Kansas City - JOYA LANDIS (November 1968, Trojan TR-620, A)

3. Spanish Harlem - VAL BENNETT (September 1968, Trojan TR-611, A)

4. A Place In The Sun - DAVID ISAACS (November 1968, Trojan TR-616, A)

5. Win Your Love For Me – GEORGE A. PENNY (November 1968, Trojan TR-625, A)

6. Donkey Returns - BROTHER DAN ALL STARS (July 1968, Trojan TR-601, A)

7. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - JOYCE BOND [Side 2] (November 1968, Island WIP 6051, A)

8. Angel Of The Morning - JOYA LANDIS (November 1968, Trojan TR-622, A)

9. Fat Man - DERRICK MORGAN (November 1968, Trojan TR-626, A)

10. Soul Limbo - BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES (November 1968, Trojan TR-624, A)

11. Mix It Up - THE KINGSTONIANS (November 1968, Trojan TR-627, A)

12. Watch This Sound (For What It’s Worth) - THE UNIQUES (October 1968, Trojan TR-619, A)

Tracks 1 to 12 are the original UK LP "Tighten Up" released January 1969 on Trojan Records TTL

BONUS TRACKS – are the B-sides of the 12 UK 7” singles listed above:

13. Good Ambition - ROY SHIRLEY

14. Out The Light [Aka Mommy Out De Light) - JOYA LANDIS

15. If I Didn’t Know - ROY SHIRLEY

16. Handy Cap - THE UPSETTERS

17. It’s All In The Game - VAL BENNETT

18. Tribute To K.B. _BROTHER DAN ALL STARS

19. Robin Hood Rides Again - AUBREY ADAMS & THE HIPPY BOYS

20. Love Letters - ALTON ELLIS & PHYLLIS DILLON

21. South Parkway Rock - VAL BENNETT

22. I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman (Aka The Whistling Song) - BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES

23. I’ll Be Around - THE KINGSTONIANS

24. Out Of Love - THE UNIQUES

Tracks 13 to 24 are the B-sides of Tracks 1 to 12 in exact order

(it should be noted that many of the B-sides were by different artists to those on the A, a common practice for reggae 7"s at the time)

DISC 2 (66:33 minutes):

Called "Tighten Up - The Alternatives" - Disc 2 is the A-sides of 24 UK 7" singles released between July and November of 1968. ISLAND RECORDS collectors should also note that 8 of the 24 listed below are from the coveted "WI" series (3126 to 3159) appearing here on CD for the first time anywhere to my knowledge.

1. Eastern Organ – BROTHER DAN ALL STARS (July 1968, Trojan TR-602, A)

2. Jackpot – THE PIONEERS (August 1968, Amalgamated AMG-821, A)

3. Penny For Your Song – THE FEDERALS (July 1968, Island WI-3126, A)

4. Memories By The Score – THE PARAGONS (August 1968, Island WI-3138, A)

5. Teardrops Falling – THE VERSATILES (August 1968, Island WI-3142, A)

6. Combination – KEELING BECKFORD (August 1968, Island WI-3144, A)

7. The Fiddler – NEHEMIAH REID (August 1968, Blue Cat BS 125, A)

8. Take Five [Aka "The Russians Are Coming"] – VAL BENNETT (August 1968, Island WI-3146, A)

9. Born To Love You – DERRICK MORGAN (August 1968, Island WI-3147, A)

10. Way Of Life – GLEN BROWN, JOE WHITE & TREVOR SHIELD (September 1968, Blue Cat BS 131, A)

11. Train To Soulsville – COOL STICKY (September 1968, Amalgamated AMG-825, A)

12. Intensified Girls – ANDERSON’S ALL STARS (September 1968, Blue Cat BS 132, A)

13. Bookie Man – THE RACE FANS (October 1968, Trojan TR-610, A)

14. Uncle Charlie – THE MELLOTONES (October 1968, Trojan TR-612, A)

15. Na Na – GEORGE AGARD [as JOHNNY MELODY & THE SLICKERS] (October 1968, Blue Cat BS 134, A)

16. Good Time Rock – HUGH MALCOLM (October 1968, Amalgamated AMG-827, A)

17. Rent Too High – RANNY WILLIAMS & GEORGE REGENT (October 1968, Trojan TR-621, A)

18. My Argument – LLOYD & JOHNNY [Lloyd Terrell and George Dekker] (October 1968, Island WI-3158, A)

19. A.B.C. Rock Steady – THE GAYLADS (November 1968, High Note HS-001, A)

20. In Like Flint – BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES (November 1968, Trojan TR-623. A - Instrumental)

21. Lady With The Starlight – KEN BOOTHE (November 1968, High Note HS-003)

22. Catch The Beat – THE PIONEERS (November 1968, Amalgamated AMG-828, A)

23. Dance With Me – DELANO STEWART (November 1968, High Note HS-004, A)

24. Hold Your Jack – DERRICK MORGAN (November 1968, Island WI-3159, A)

PACKAGING:

Each of the two foldout flaps has colour adverts on both sides - they’re very cool and fantastically evocative of the period while the 20-page fact-filled booklet is penned by LAURENCE CANE-HONEYSETT. Both he and MICHAEL de KONINGH co-authored the fabulous book "Young, Gifted And Black - The Story Of Trojan Records" (see my review). They did extraordinary work on the Trojan label's full discography - most of it published in the public domain for the first time anywhere. So this knowledge of both the album and the record label means the booklet’s liner notes are properly in-depth  - filled with pictures of tasty 7" singles, promo-photos of the artists, discussions of each song, producers of the tracks, catalogue numbers, release dates... really great stuff.

SOUND:

Mastered by NICK WATSON at Fluid Mastering, the liner notes don't mention what tapes (if any) the songs were mastered from. This is not surprising. Reggae music was invariably recorded on a shoestring budget - and that's what you get here - extreme lo-fi - most of the tracks sound like they were recorded in a bucket with someone holding a microphone over it! But that is of course what makes them so magical and charming. There is no pretension to audiophile here. This is party music - it's meant to be blasted out over a dancehall stack - pumped out of your stereo with a beer in your hand and your friends out back dancing in the sunshine! It's not all bad - it isn't - it's just that the sound does vary wildly, great one second, muddy and crackly the next. But I'm not sure that fidelity matters with this lovely album or indeed reggae music in general, because I'm sitting here grooving to "Soul Limbo" by BYRON LEE and THE DRAGONAIRES and it's hard to believe that any human being could resist this brilliantly joyful calypso/reggae groove - no matter what the sound quality is! Disc 2, as I said, is better sounding than Disc 1, but it's all about `feel' and once you accept that, there's so much goodness on offer here...

SONGS:

The album is heavy on cover versions - The Beatles, Ben E. King, Wilbert Harrison, PP Arnold and ""Watch This Song"" which is Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" under another name. "I'll Be Around" by The Kingstonians is a slow and fabulous song - one I suspect soul lovers will want to investigate. Island collectors should also note that tracks 7 and 19 on Disc 1 are the A & B of Island WIP 6051 and to my knowledge make their CD debut here. Disc 2 simply offers up more of the same - discovery after discovery...and for those who already own the excellent 2002 Sanctuary version with 25 tracks, thankfully there's little duplication on either disc.

To sum up, I've loved hearing this album again and its cleverly chosen additions. "Tighten Up DELUXE EDITION" is fun, evocative and a warm reminder of days when music seemed new and life changing. It transported me back to a time when I played sampler albums like this to death - when my sister and me bopped around the Dansette in the front room of our home and just couldn't get enough - going back to flip it over to Side One again once we'd finished! This is a great re-issue and about time that reggae music in general got the DELUXE EDITION treatment from a major label that it deserves. Mash it up indeed...

PS: To those at Universal - it would be nice to see "Club Ska '67" on Island given the same deluxe treatment as this - and what about "You Can All Join In", "Bumpers", "El Pea", "Nice Enough To Eat" and....

PPS: Along with "Strangers Almanac" by WHISKEYTOWN and the two ELTON JOHN sets "Elton John" and "Tumbleweed Connection" (see separate reviews), this is without doubt the best issue in the DELUXE EDITION series so far in 2008 – in my opinion this a REISSUE OF THE YEAR.

PPPS: see also a separate review for "Skinhead Moonstomp" by SYMARIP on 2CD DELUXE EDITION in Sept 2008

"1990" by THE TEMPTATIONS - December 1973 US and January 1974 UK LP on Gordy and Tamla Motown (November 2004 US Hip-O Select CD Remaster in 5" Card Mini LP Repro Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"…You've Got My Soul On Fire…"

Hip-O Select releases (especially for Soul and Blues) tend to sell out fast - and this now rare November 2004 US-only CD Remaster for an obscure Temptations album from late 1973 is no exception. But typically - and even if "1990" has acquired something of a fist-fight price tag - it's because the natty little bugger is exclusive and for much of the much - worth it. Here are the tempting details…

US released November 2004 (reissued December 2006) - "1990" by THE TEMPTATIONS on Hip-O Select B-000308602 (No Barcode) comes in an oversized 5" card repro sleeve which duplicates the original American die-cut vinyl album (with Inner Sleeve) and plays out as follows (37:36 minutes): 

1. Let Your Hair Down [Side 1]
2. I Need You
3. Heavenly 
4. You've Got My Soul On Fire
5. Ain’t No Justice 
6. 1990 [Side 2]
7. Zoom
Tracks 1 to 7 are the album "1990" - originally released December 1973 in the USA on Gordy G 966V1 and January 1974 on Tamla Motown STMA 016 in the UK.

All 7 tracks were written and produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD and are in the same vein as the "Masterpiece" and "All Directions" albums that preceded it. "1990" features songs similar to "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and "Law Of The Land" - great funky soul meets emerging social conscience. Personally it's a period of The Temptations catalogue that I dig so much more than the Sixties stuff. At under 38 minutes and without bonus single sides - admittedly this CD is a tad short on content - but as the cliche goes - what you do get is oh so sweet. 

The attention to detail in the repro of the US album cover artwork too is superb. The hard card sleeve itself is slightly oversized giving it a much chunky and substantial feel. The back of the album cover originally had a lip where you could see the titled "Temptations" inner sleeve - this has been done too. Inside the reproduced inner sleeve is a sepia tinted rice paper sleeve with the HIP-O SELECT details - but it also acts as a protective slip for the CD - something the Japanese MINI LP sleeves do so well. The CD label reflects the original purple Gordy label of the album, and even the barcode is on the outer shrink-wrap rather than being on the card sleeve itself thereby not marking it unnecessarily - all very nice touches - but the really great news is the SOUND...

Hip-O Select use several superlative tape engineers, ERICK LABSON, GAVIN LURSSEN and SUHA GUR among them. You see their names turn up across reviews. The fourth is ELLEN FITTON whose truly fantastic remastering here rivals the extraordinary work she put in on "The Supremes: This Is The Story...The Jean Terrell Years" 3CD Book Set (see separate review) and all 14 of "The Complete Motown Singles..." Book Sets. If you wanted to hear how good "1990" sounds - you can get an idea from iTunes where this is one of only a handful of Hip-O Select albums available for download at a reasonable cost. Try the ballad "Heavenly" or the funky single taken off the album "You've Got My Soul On Fire" - you'll get the idea - wonderfully soulful tunes - and now with the production muscle the songs have always deserved. 

Side 2 of the original album had only 2 tracks - "1990" and the near 14-minute "Zoom". "1990" begins with some slightly dated dialogue stuff, but it's still a powerful song - especially lyrically.  "How can you spend another dollar on the space race, with families at home starving right in your face..." painfully true some 40 years after the event.  After about 2 minutes of band dialogue, "Zoom" gets in its groove like "Papa..." and is fantastic. This is where the remaster really shines - great stuff.

An obvious downside is that this repro sticks too slavishly to the exact album. As you can see from the pitiful playing time above - there was ample room to put the single edits on - "Zoom" (Gordy 7135) - mono mixes from promo singles - outtakes - stuff like that, but no show... 

But this is still a recommended purchase - and one that has revelatory sound. Hopefully HIP-O SELECT will extend this kind of re-issue to the very hard to find TEMPTATIONS album "Solid Rock" from 1972 too…

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is SOUL, FUNK and JAZZ FUSION - Exceptional CD Remasters - an E-Book with over 250 entries and 2100 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

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"The Healing Game" by VAN MORRISON. A Review Of His 1997 Album Now Reissued And Remastered Onto A 2008 CD With A Bonus Track.

VAN MORRISON is part of my Series "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1970s Rock And Pop" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

"The Healing Game" is part of the 2nd wave of Van Morrison remastered reissues to hit the shops in 2008 (see full list below). Released Monday 30 June 2008 in the UK and 1 July 2008 in the USA, it boasts truly superlative remastered sound quality, an upgraded booklet and a single bonus track for the first time.

Here's the layout (58:26 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 10 make up the album "The Healing Game" released in March 1997 on Van's own Exile Label
Track 11 is a previously unreleased fully formed song from the album sessions called "At The End Of The Day"

The Band consisted of:
BRIAN KENNEDY and KATIE KISSOON on Duet and Backing Vocals
GEORGIE FAME on Hammond Organ & Backing Vocals with ROBIN ASPLAND on Piano
RONNIE JOHNSON on Lead Guitar with PETER O'HANLON on Dobro
LEO GREEN on Tenor Saxophone with PEE WEE ELLIS on Baritone and Soprano Saxophone
MATT HOLLAND on Trumpet
NICKY SCOTT on Electric Bass with ALEC DANKWORTH on Double Bass
GEOFF DUNN on Drums with RALPH SALMINS adding Additional Percussion

96K/24 Bit remastered from the original analogue master tapes; the sound quality on this re-issue is BEAUTIFUL - clear and clean - but then it should also be pointed out that the 1997 original CD sounded awesome too. The booklet is pretty much the same as the original, but with the lyrics to the bonus track tagged on at the end - there's no new photos, no history of the record - same as all the other issues in this series unfortunately.

Musically, this is a mellow Van Morrison album - a lot of pretty songs with slow pacing - very easy on the ear. Unfortunately the album is also inflicted with a playing technique that permeates every track - as Van sings a line, it's either repeated by BRIAN KENNEDY (formerly with SWEETMOUTH) immediately afterwards or shadowed by him as Van sings - the result feels like the album's been hijacked by someone else. For me, it wrecks every single song. You either like or loath Kennedy's voice, personally it irritates me to distraction. Take the beautiful "Piper at The Gates Of Dawn" for instance - it opens with lovely acoustic guitars and a great lead in vocal by Van alone, then lovely fills on Piano by PHIL COULTER and a truly beautiful Uileann Pipe solo by PADDY MALONEY of THE CHIEFTAINS - but it's all shadowed by that ever-present backing voice!

The bonus track opens with lovely Dobro playing from PETER O'HANLON, but again every line is doubled with Kennedy's whiney voice and a very interesting outtake is ruined.

To sum up - "The Healing Game" is probably one of Van's mellowest and loveliest offering in years, but in my mind it's completely wrecked by cluttering intrusive voices ruining the potential and sweetness of every track. It was a style choice at the time for sure, a production technique - but I'm note sure everyone will take to it.

If you can tolerate the double-vocals, "The Healing Game" is recommended with reservations.

PS:
30 Van Morrison albums are re-issued in remastered form throughout 2008 and into early 2009. Each title contains an upgraded booklet; previously unreleased bonus tracks and all will be at mid-price. The releases are in 4 batches as follows:

28 January 2008 (7 titles)
Tupelo Honey (1971), It's Too Late To Stop Now (2 CD Live Set) (1974),
Wavelenght (1979), Into The Music (1979), A Sense Of Wonder (1985),
Avalon Sunset (1989) and Back On Top (1999)
(see SEPARATE REVIEWS for all 7)

30 June 2008 UK/1 & 8 July 2008 USA (8 titles)
Veedon Fleece (1974), Common One (1980), Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart (1983), Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast (1984), No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986), Enlightenment (1990), A Night In San Francisco (2CD Live Set) (1994) and The Healing Game (1997)
(see also SEPARATE REVIEWS for "Veedon Fleece", "Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart", "Enlightenment", the live 2CD set "A Night In San Francisco", "Common One" and "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher")

September 2008 (7 titles)
Saint Dominic's Preview (1972), A Period Of Transition (1977), Beautiful Vision (1982), Poetic Champions Compose (1987), Hymns To The Silence (2CD Studio Set) (1991), How Long Has This Been Going On (Live At Ronnie Scott's) (1995) and Tell Me Something - The Songs Of Mose Allison (1996)

January 2009 (8 titles)
Hard Nose The Highway (1973), Irish Heartbeat (with The Chieftains) (1988),
Too Long In Exile (1993), Days Like This (1995), The Story Of Them (2CD Set) (1999), The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast (with Lonnie Donegan & Chris Barber) (2000), Down The Road (2002) and What's Wrong With This Picture? (2003)

PPS:
Those hoping to see desperately needed sonic upgrades of his 1st and 2nd album masterpieces on Warner Bothers "Astral Weeks" (1968) and "Moondance" (1970) or even "His Band & The Street Choir" (late 1970) will be disappointed to hear that they're NOT in this re-issue campaign - on either side of the pond. "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance" in particular have both been languishing around on crappy-sounding non-remastered CDs for over 20 years now and they're glaringly obvious omissions in this supposedly 'extensive' re-issue campaign. These universally recognized masterpieces have long deserved 2CD DELUXE EDITION treatment (some tracks in remastered form are available across the 3 volumes of "Best Of"). However, I've recently been informed by a good source that all 3 are NOW AVAILABLE since June 2008 in JAPAN in RHINO REMASTERED form. See the excellent Japanese site CDJAPAN.CO.JP for details (worded in English).

"Otis Blue" by OTIS REDDING (April 2008 and September 2015 Rhino/Atlantic 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Reissues and Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Give Me A Little Respect…"

*** 2008 and 2015 'Collector's Edition' of 

"Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul" ***

With the groundwork of his first two albums behind him - “Pain In My Heart” in 1964 and “The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads” in early 1965 - Otis Redding stepped into the Stax recording studio on McLemore Avenue in Memphis on the 9th of July 1965 to quickly slap down his 3rd album. And quick was the optional word. In one long adrenalin fuelled session (broken up by night gigs the band had to attend – only to reconvene in the early hours of the morning) - its 11 songs took less than 24 hours to produce. In fact Otis flew out of Memphis the very next day to do another gig. It is of course now recognised as a bona-fide 60ts Soul classic and this April 2008 2CD "Collector's Edition" is here to celebrate that.

"Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul" was released in the USA on the 15th of September 1965 on Volt 412. It charted on the Pop Albums chart at a lowly number 75, but hit the big number 1 spot on the R’n’B LP chart of that month. It was released in the UK in February 1966 on Atlantic ATL 5041, originally in Stereo only – but later re-issued in 1967, again on Atlantic, but this time in both Mono and Stereo (587 036 for Mono and 588 036 for Stereo). Any sixties variant of the vinyl album has always been hard to find in playable condition here in the UK – and pricey too. So this 2CD "Collector's Edition” is a welcome addition for Soul fans everywhere. Here are the Blue Details…

UK released Monday 28 April 2008 - "Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul: Collector's Edition" on Rhino/Atco 8122 79938 9 (Barcode 081227993894) is a 2CD Remaster that plays out as follows (see PS below re September 2015 Reissue version):

Disc 1 (72:30 minutes):

1. Ole Man Trouble

2. Respect

3. Change Gonna Come

4. Down In The Valley

5. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long

6. Shake

7. My Girl

8. Wonderful World

9. Rock Me Baby

10. Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No)

11. You Don’t Miss Your Water

Tracks 1 to 11 is the original MONO MIX of the US album released September 1965 on Volt 412

BONUS TRACKS:

Tracks 12, 14 and 15 are “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, “Respect” and “Ole Man Trouble - mono mixes of the stereo album versions and are previously unreleased

Track 13 is the non-album B-side to “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” issued April 1965 on the US 7” single Volt 126

Track 16 is the non-album B-side to “Satisfaction” issued in February 1966 on the US 7” single Volt 132

Track 17 is ”Shake” - a stereo mix of the mono single version – it was first issued on the 1993 “Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding” 4CD Rhino Box Set

Tracks 18 and 20 are “Ole Man Trouble (live)” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Live)” were recorded live at The Whisky A Go Go sessions in April 1966 and were first released on the 1982 Atlantic LP “Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances”

Tracks 19, 21, 22 and 23 are “Respect (Live)”, “Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No) (Live)”, “I’m Depending On You” and “Any Ole way (Live)” from the October 1968 Atco LP “Otis Redding In Person At The Whisky A Go Go”

Disc 2 (51:03 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 11 are the original STEREO MIX of the album on Volt S-412

Track 12 is the 1967 version of “Respect” which first appeared on the “Remember Me” album compilation from 1992 on Stax

Tracks 13 to 17 are “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Live)”, “My Girl (live)”, “Shake (Live)”, “Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No) (Live)” and “Respect (Live)” from the “Live In Europe” album from October 1967 on Volt 416 and feature the Stax House band

Musicians:

TOM DOWD was the Engineer, ISAAC HAYES, JIM STEWART and DAVID PORTER were the Producers and the Stax House Band were the session players:

WAYNE JACKSON and GENE “BOWLEGS” MILLER on Trumpets

ANDREW LOVE on Tenor Sax

FLOYD NEWMAN on Baritone Sax

ISAAC HAYES and BOOKER T. JONES on Keyboards

STEVE CROPPER on Guitar

DONALD “DUCK” DUNN on Bass

AL JACKSON, JR. on Drums

EARL SIMS on Backing Vocals

(Jones, Cropper, Dunn and Jackson, Jr make up the nucleus of Booker T. & The MG’s)

The “Collector’s Edition” has the same specialist gatefold digipak packaging that Universal’s 2CD “Deluxe Edition” series and EMI’s 2CD “Collector’s Edition” sets have – all wrapped up in an outer titled slipcase. There’s a 16-page booklet with detailed liner notes by ROB BOWMAN who has conducted interviews with the album’s engineer, the late TOM DOWD, Bass Player DONALD “DUCK” DUNN and Trumpeter WAYNE JACKSON among others. It pictures US Volt 7” singles and UK Atlantic 7” singles from private collectors, has a few black and white shots of Otis himself and detailed session notes. The release has been prepared by PATRICK MILLIGAN and CHERYL PAWELSKI for Rhino with Otis’ wife, Zelma Redding, adding her take on the re-issue in her own dedication – a very nice touch that.

DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT - Rhino’s long-standing collaborating engineers on all Atlantic CD reissues - have remastered the original master tapes at Digiprep Studios (no date supplied) and the 2CDs are laid out as follows:

As you will have noticed from the above breakdown, for the die-hard collector who already has all of Redding’s issued material to date, this 2CD set only really has 3 previously unreleased tracks, and they’re slightly alternate mono mixes of stereo album versions – so it’s hardly the great haul of soul joy the lovely outside packaging promises. The mono mix of the album is new to CD of course, but again, some may feel, it’s simply more of the same.

The mono mix of the album on Disc 1 is surprisingly clean – there is hiss on it given the less-than-sophisticated recording equipment and rushed nature of the recordings, but it is punchy and vibrant - and in many ways far more direct than the crude two-channel separation of the Stereo version. It’s better than I thought it would be and a nice addition.

Both discs contain live material - and a few seconds into any of the tunes - it’s easy to know why. Otis Redding ‘live’ must have been an awesome wonder to behold – you can only imagine what it must have been like to be in that audience – to see this force of nature literally slay an audience – and you get a sense of it 30 seconds into “Shake”. It explodes out of the speakers in that Sixties joyful way. The silver suit, the huge charisma, the guttural vocals, the band complimenting him – brass section choppy and tight – guitar, bass and drums funky as f**k – what a wow! In some respects, the live versions are far better than the studio ones ‘because’ they’re so ‘alive’. The live tracks are ballsy and far better recorded than you would imagine – they also give you a more rounded picture of the man and his talents – and to some degree – what all the fuss about Redding is all about.

The Stereo mix on Disc 2, however, is disappointingly drenched in hiss – and on the slower ballads like “Ole Man Trouble”, the Sam Cooke cover of “Change Gonna Come”, the William Bell song “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles cover “My Girl” and particularly “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” – it detracts way too much from the magic of the songs. Personally I find them very difficult to enjoy with a wall of hiss blasting out ‘over’ the instruments. The hip shakers like Solomon Burke’s “Down In The Valley”, Sam Cooke’s “Shake” and the Rolling Stones “Satisfaction” fare far better – they sound great – really alive and kicking - with the wonderful low-down groove of B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby” being a particular highlight (has a wicked Steve Cropper guitar solo).  Basically the effect on the stereo mix is that brass and piano are in the left speaker with the vocals and guitar entirely in the right with some imaging in between.  It works brilliantly on the mid-tempo Sam Cooke cover “Wonderful World” too. And when I A/B the 1992 remaster by Rhino with this 2008 version, the differences are there – much LOUDER and CLEARER. It’s just such a shame about the hiss levels on some of the tracks.

A classic album in a lovely package and one that fans will have to own. For those not wanting to fork out the near £15 price tag the hard copy commands - iTunes is offering the entire 40-track double set for £8.99 as a download (no booklet unfortunately)...

PS – 2015 Footnote: As many will know – the 'Deluxe Edition' April 2008 original has now been reissued into a rather meager September 2015 2CD 'jewel case version'. If you want the April 2008 Rhino/Atlantic 'Deluxe Edition' packaging of 'Otis Blue' - you will need to use the original Barcode for purchase (081227993894) and even then be sure to ask your seller if it's the '2008' original or the lesser packaged reissue which uses a different Barcode (081227951856)...