"The Duck" by JACKIE LEE (2010 Ace/Kent Soul 'Hip Pocket' CD Remaster in 6" Card Repro Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This review is part of my "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters Soul, Funk & Jazz Fusion" 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

"...There’s A Dance Going Around From Coast To Coast…They’re Calling It The Most…"

Back in August 2008 I did a Listmania on Amazon called "Ace Records Hip Pocket Series..." – it pictured 22 of 25 releases - 6" card repros in the British label’s eclectic and varied reissue series (covers many genres – see full list below).

This December 2010 CD of "The Duck" by JACKIE LEE on Ace/Kent Soul CDHP 032 (Barcode 0029667044226) is also on that ‘Hip Pocket’ list and features a CD transfer/remaster into a 6” Card Repro Sleeve. It plays out as follows (30:05 minutes):

1. The Duck

2. Hully Gully

3. The Shotgun And The Duck

4. Do The Temptation Walk

5. The Neighborhood

6. Land Of 1000 Dances

7. The Duck (Part 2) [Side 2]

8. Dancing In The Street

9. The Bounce

10. Do You Love Me

11. Everybody Jerk

12. Harlem Shuffle

Tracks 1 to 12 are a straightforward reissue of Jackie Lee's ultra-rare soul album called "The Duck" on Mirwood Records MW-7000. It was released in early 1966 in the USA and this 2010 CD features the original MONO tapes digitally remastered by NICK ROBBINS at Ace’s Sound Mastering studios in London. Being mid Sixties Soul and on a minor label - this is not exactly audiophile territory – but don’t let that put you off. These are the real tapes used here and the sound is just great – big, clear and full of vim and vigor.

Musically it’s wonderfully evocative stuff. The vibe is very uptempo mid-Sixties Motown – Jackie Lee’s lead vocal supporting by girly vocals, pinging vibes, brass and an incessant bass and drums backbeat – all of it done with an almost Wall-Of-Sound production. None of the tunes push past two minutes thirty seconds – they come in – do the business – and exit again. It’s proper Northern Soul territory and easy to see why Soul fans adore him on the dancefloors of the UK and Europe.

The title track on 7” was a huge hit the USA charts in December 1965 and the album charted too in February of the following year - 1966. The same irresistible beat infests "Hully Gully" (lyrics above) and as you can see from the track list, there are plenty of Atlantic and Motown covers tapping into the same territory.

The 5" card sleeve is dinky looking. The rear sleeve contains the original liner notes (not exactly readable I’m afraid) and the inner card sleeve reproduces the original Mirwood Records label on both sides (a nice touch). 

Apart from Ace's superb 2009 28-track CD "The Mirwood Records Masters", there’s been precious little of Jackie Lee in the marketplace. So if you already own that great CD, then you won’t need this. But if you don’t, then this is a very cool place to start appreciating the man’s mojo - and start practising those talcum-powder floor-filling moves…

Recommended like your baby doing the 'Temptation Walk' in hot pants...

Titles in Ace Records Mid-Price 'Hip Pocket' CD Series are:

1. DONALD AUSTIN – Crazy Legs (Ace/Westbound CDHP 016, Dec 2006)

2. THE BISHOPS – Cross Cuts (Ace/Chiswick CDWIKM 256, June 2005)

3. HADDA BROOKS – Femme Fatale (Ace CDCHM 1129, Nov 2006)

4. THE CHAMPS – Go, Champs, Go! (Ace CDCHM 1126, Sep 2006)

5. THE DAMNED – Machine Gun Etiquette (Ace/Chiswick CDHP 027, July 2007)

6. THE ESCALATORS [ex Meteors] – Moving Staircases (Ace CDHP 017, Dec 2006)

7. THE EVERLY BROTHERS – The Everly Brothers (Ace CDCHM 1127, Sep 2006)

8. FUNKADELIC – Maggot Brain (Ace/Westbound CDHP 030, Aug 2007)

9. CHUCK HIGGINS – Pachucko Hop (Ace CDHP 024, April 2007)

10. B. B. KING – The Jungle (Ace/Kent CDHP 031, Nov 2007)

11. JOHNNY MOPED – Cycledelic (Ace/Chiswick CDHP 029, Oct 2007)

12. JACKIE LEE – The Duck (Ace/Kent CDHP 032, Dec 2010)

13. LONNIE MACK – The Wham Of That Memphis Man! (Ace CDCHM 1134, Nov 2006)

14. MOTORHEAD – Motorhead [1977 Debut LP] (Ace/Chiswick CDHP 021, Oct 2007)

15. THE OLYMPICS – Something Old, Something New (Ace/Kent CDHP 018, Dec 2006)

16. THE RADIO STARS – Songs For Swinging Lovers (Ace/Chiswick CDWIKM 5, June 2006)

17. THE SONICS – Here Are The Sonics! (Ace/Big Beat CDHP 022, Feb 2007)

18. THE SONICS – The Sonics Boom (Ace/Big Beat CDHP 023, April 2007)

19. ROOSEVELT SYKES [aka 'The Honeydripper'] – Sings The Blues (Ace CDCHM 1132, Nov 2006)

20. VARIOUS – For Dancers Only [Kent's 1st Reissue LP compilation] (Ace/Kent CDHP 019, Feb 2007)

21. VARIOUS – For Dancers Also [Kent's 2nd Reissue LP compilation] (Ace/Kent CDHP 020, April 2007)

22. VARIOUS – Hollywood Rock 'n' Roll [80ts Rockabilly compilation] (Ace CDHP 026, July 2007)

23. VARIOUS – Fool's Gold [70ts Punk compilation] (Ace/Chiswick CDHP 028, August 2007)

24. LINK WRAY – Early Recordings (Ace/Chiswick CDCHM 6, June 2006

25. THE ZOMBIES – Odyssey And Oracle (Ace/Big Beat CDHP 025, June 2007)

"All About Eve" - A Review Of The 1950 Black & White Classic – Now Reissued Onto BLU RAY in 2011.

"…There Isn’t Another Like You…There Couldn’t Be…"

On 23 February 2006, 20th Century Fox issued their new "Cinema Reserve" Series on DVD in the UK. Fox’s mission-statement was to present their best back catalogue in the very best way. It some instances, this actually worked - in others it didn’t (see my review for the 1951 Sci-Fi masterpiece "The Day The Earth Stood Still" – Number 001 in the series). The list eventually petered out at Number 17 in July 2007 (“Some Like It Hot”) when the new High Definition formats began taking over and further issues seemed and were pointless.

Which brings us to this January 2011 single-disc Blu Ray reissue. Number 003 in the "Cinema Reserve" series is the 1950 black & white classic "All About Eve". It came in a 2-disc steel-tin (pictured below), had a specially shaped info-filled concertina-booklet inside, relevant extra features and a supposedly newly restored print. And this reissue simply apes the 'content' of that 2006 2DVD set completely - but without any fancy packaging or generic series name (mores the pity).


But is it any good? Yes and no. First and foremost is the PRINT itself – it claims to have been ‘restored to pristine quality’ which is just nonsense. There aren’t scratches on the negative like ruined old stock, but there are occasional lines and worse – there’s an ever-present blurring and blocking that afflicts large portions of the film. The print is good – it is - but it never really dazzles. This is not a Black & White British Film Institute clean up (“Saturday Night Sunday Morning”) or a Lowry Digital Restoration (“Roman Holiday”). As I say, just be prepared for the print to be ‘good’ rather than great…

The extras are a mixed bag – here’s what’s on offer:

1. Audio Commentary by Celeste Holm (the actress who played Karon Richards in the film), Christopher Mankiewicz (son of the Writer & Director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) and Kenneth Geist (Author of “Pictures Will Talk” – a biography on the sixty films of Joseph L Mankiewicz)
2. Audio Commentary by Sam Staggs (author of the novel “All About Eve”)
3. 4 Movietone News Segments
(a) 1951: Academy Awards Honor Best Film Achievement (2:22 minutes)
(b) 1951: Hollywood Awards Gala Premier Of “All About Eve” (1:50 minutes)
(c) Holiday Magazine Awards (2:42 minutes)
(d) Look Magazine Awards (1:50 minutes)
4. 3 Featurettes
(a) Backstory: “All About Eve” (24 minutes)
(b) Bette Davis Interviewed by “New Week” Magazine (1 minute)
(c) Anne Baxter Interviewed by “Woman’s Home Magazine” (1 minute)
5. Original Theatrical Trailer

As you can see from the above list, you 'seem' to be offered a lot in the way of extras, but much of it is very short and very disposable. The commentaries are excellent and the main featurette - “Backstory” - tells how Joseph Mankiewicz took a short story by Mary Orr called "The Wisdom Of Eve" from a magazine and adapted it into a screenplay he initially called "Best Performance". Fox’s Darryl F. Zanuck loved it, but noticed what he thought would be a better title in the first page (he circled it) – "All About Eve".

"Backstory" then goes into how Claudia Colbert threw out her back two weeks before principal shooting and only at the last minute and with great reluctance did Zanuck call in the hated Bette Davis ("You’ll never work in this town again..."). Davis saw the genius in it immediately – agreed to do it - was as sweet as light on set - and re-launched her fading career at 41. It opened 13 October 1950 to genuine critical acclaim - eventually earning it a staggering 14 Oscar Nominations (a record only equalled by “Titanic” in 1995).
Although "All About Eve" did win 6 Oscars including the big ones – Best Picture, Screenplay and Direction - four of its actresses – Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter – were all famously nominated, but lost out on that March 1951 night. All of this and a few lines for the luminous Marilyn Monroe in an early role.

The weirdest extra is “Holiday Magazine” Awards where none of the stars showed and it seems to be hosted by some morally uptight fascist hijacking the film to stamp his own agenda on things…it has a slightly sinister big-brother feel to it. The “Look Magazine” footage is badly corrupted so the vocal track is missing much of the time – and although it contains segments with Bette Davis, Bob Hope and even Jimmy Stewart – it’s chopped and very disjointed – fascinating though.

As to the movie itself - in a world where playwrights treat actors with disdain (“It’s about time the piano realised it didn’t compose the Concerto…”) and lead actresses are treated like Goddesses (Eve’s assessment of Margo titles this review), only George Saunders caustically casts a sceptic eye over the proceedings. He plays Addison De Witt – an aristocratic theatre critic who sees right through Eve’s single-minded determination to usurp Margo’s crown and be the toast of the theatre boards. Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington (wannabe actress) and Bette Davis plays the object of her lust – actress and beloved star Margo Channing – with Bette’s part literally being Art imitating Life. Davis is magnificent in the part.

Speaking of larger than life characters and genius, George Saunders (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) opens the film in a voice-over that goes for 4 minutes straight. Ruminating on all the principal characters in the movie (the camera pans to each sat at some dreary awards ceremony) - its quite possibly some of the best dialogue ever written - incredibly insightful stuff that would make Aaron Sorkin green with envy. And it’s biting assessments still sound relevant to this day - 61 years on.

To sum up - this is an acceptable Blu Ray reissue, but not a great one, when you can’t help but feel that such a classic deserved better.

As you’ve probably guessed - the “Cinema Reserve” issues are now being reissued by Fox one by one on Blu Ray. Personally, I’d check the reviews first ‘before’ you rush in and buy each and every one of them…(“The Hustler” has a beautiful print – “Lifeboat” is awful).

“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night…” Betty Davis warned. She was of course right…

CINEMA RESERVE LIST of 17 DVD REISSUES (2006 to 2007)
 
For those interested, I've compiled an alphabetical list of the 17 titles (2 were cancelled) with the Series Number, Film Title, Film Release Date and finally the Cinema Reserve Release Date:

1.    Number 003: All About Eve (1950) (26 Feb 2006)
2.    Number 013: Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970) (12 Feb 2007)
3.    Number 007: Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969) (22 May 2006)
4.    Number 019: Cleopatra (due 2007, cancelled)
5.    Number 001: The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) (26 Feb 2006)
6.    Number 009: The Fly (1986 Remake) (3 July 2006)
7.    Number 010: The Hustler (1961) (18 Sept 2006)
8.    Number 011: Kagemusha (1980) (27 Nov 2006)
9.    Number 004: Laura (1944) (27 Feb 2006)
10.  Number 005: Lifeboat (1944) (27 March 2006)
11.  Number 018: The Magnificent Seven (1960) (due 2007, cancelled)
12.  Number 016: Midnight Cowboy (18 June 2007)
13.  Number 002: My Darling Clementine (1946) (27 Feb 2006)
14.  Number 006: Patton (1970) (24 April 2006)
15.  Number 008: The Seven Year Itch (1955) (19 June 2006)
16.  Number 017: Some Like It Hot (1959) (23 July 2007)
17.  Number 012: Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) (18 Dec 2006)
18.  Number 015: Valley Of The Dolls (1967) (14 May 2007)
19.  Number 014: The Verdict (1982) (19 March 2007)

"Meet Joe Black". A Review Of The 1999 Film Now Reissued On A 2011 BLU RAY.

"...I Heard A Voice In My Sleep Last Night. What Did It Say?
It Said 'Yes'…"

"Meet Joe Black" is the kind of film that elicits derision and affection in equal measure - well if it’s one of your guilty pleasures – then you need to own it on BLU RAY.

I've had the now defunct HD-DVD format of Martin Brest’s 1999 movie for a while now to have the film in High Definition – and this Blu Ray reissue uses the same menus and extras. But it's the print-quality that will be the big draw here. With an aspect that fills the entire screen, the transfer is lush, detailed and a pleasure to look at practically all of the time. In short – “Meet Joe Black” is beautiful on Blu Ray...

Mixing the supernatural with romance could have been awkward and even 'silly' in places (it sometimes is - Pitt speaking jive in the hospital to a black woman who knows he’s the Grim Reaper is cringing), yet Brest has achieved an assured beauty throughout. This is a nice film in so many ways. And possibly because of its themes of death and loss and how we live our lives, it manages real warmth and a rare intelligence. The growing attraction between Claire Forlani (as Susan Parrish) and Brad Pitt (as Joe Black) is nicely set up in a café at the beginning of the film and then played out against preparations for her father’s 65th birthday in his mansion throughout the film (Death has taken over his body and is being shown around by a reluctant Hopkins). Thomas Newman’s lovely score also adds a classy feel to the film too and is used when it’s needed.

But it’s the cast that make you watch - Claire Forlani is luminously beautiful as Daddy’s ‘too busy to be in love’ daughter – she has eyes that could make most men literally lose their balance – while Anthony Hopkins as the corporate mogul William Parrish brings a sheer decency to the piece that gives it a beating heart (his dialogue above). The scene where he gets a heart attack in his office and the voice of death condescends and ridicules his advice to his daughter – is brilliant. You ‘feel’ his terror and disorientation. Throw in great supporting roles for Jake Weber as the dastardly boardroom schemer Drew, Marcia Gay Harden and Jeffrey Tambor as William’s sister Allison and his bumbling but honest friend Quince – and it zips along very nicely indeed despite its 3-hour length. Pitt is hugely impressive too - handsome, sinister, controlled and funny too. He may be eye-candy to some, but there’s real talent there – and often.

Apart from a 'Photo Montage' (still photographs of the cast and crew on location and on sets), there’s a lone extra called "Spotlight On Location" that features interviews with all the key people. It's barely 10-minutes long (and very lo-fi in terms of picture quality) but its hugely entertaining. You can literally feel the awe and affection with which Anthony Hopkins is held by the entire cast - and short as it is, the featurette provides genuine insights into why and how the movie got made.

Audio is English 5.1 with Subtitles in French and English For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing.

“Meet Joe Black” is never going to trouble an Oscar List or be a discussion point at the next MENSA Annual General Meeting (too gushingly romantic), but for those who have been touched by its themes of enjoying life while you have it – and love getting another chance – on BLU RAY it’s a winner.

“I want to see you get swept away…” William Parrish says to his daughter. Well, now you can…

"Have Mercy: His Complete Chess Recordings 1969 To 1974" by CHUCK BERRY (2010 Hip-O Select/Chess 4CD Book Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

BLUES, VOCAL GROUPS, RHYTHM 'n' BLUES and ROCK 'n' ROLL ON CD   

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"…She Worked Night And Day To Keep Us Six Kids Alive…"

Chuck Berry's "Have Mercy: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960 to 1974" is the 3rd and final volume of his Chess recordings reissued by the USA's premier Mail-Order label - HIP-O SELECT. And like so much of their product - it’s both a thing of reissue beauty and presentation mediocrity. Here are the merciful details...

Released in the USA via their website in January 2010 (general release March 2010) - "Have Mercy: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960 to 1974" by CHUCK BERRY on Hip-O Select/Geffen B0013790-02 houses 71 tracks across 4CDs, 23 of which are previously unreleased (plus one further track which is previously unreleased in the USA - Track 4, Disc 3). Its packaging consists of a slightly oversized 4-way foldout digipak that is itself tied with a string on a lapel on the front - aping the layout of the two preceding sets (see PS below). It's a non-numbered worldwide limited edition of 6000 copies and Discs 1 to 4 run to 69:23, 71:37, 69:45 and 65:10 minutes respectively.

FRED ROTHWELL and ANDY McKAIE have compiled the set with ROTHWELL handling the 24-page booklet liner notes (he is author of the book "Long Distance Information – Chuck Berry's Recorded Legacy") - while Universal's hugely experienced Audio Engineer ERICK LABSON (who does almost all the Chess material - has over 1000 credits to his name) has handled the expert transfers and Remasters from first-generation master tapes. This 4CD set sounds fantastic - the best I've ever heard this material.   

Pictured beneath the see-through trays and on the final flap are the following 5 albums from that period…

1. "Back Home" (November 1970 on Chess LPS-1550 in the USA, February 1972 on Chess 6310 113 in the UK)

2. "San Francisco Dues" (September 1971 on Chess CH-50008 in the USA, March 1972 on Chess 6310 115 in the UK)

3. "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" (June 1972 on Chess CH-60020 in the USA, July 1972 on Chess 6310 122 in the UK)

4. "Chuck Berry/Bio" [aka "Bio"] (September 1973 on Chess CH-50043 in the USA, October 1973 on Chess 6499 650 in the UK)

5. "Chuck Berry" [released as "Chuck Berry '75" in the UK] (February 1975 on Chess CH-60032 in the USA, March 1975 on Chess 9109 101 in the UK)

The three volumes of "Golden Decade" doubles are not referenced at all in the booklet neither is the "St. Louis To Frisco To Memphis" album from 1972 with The Steve Miller Band live on one side because that was released through Mercury Records. 

Guest are many - the studio side of "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" (Side 1) features Derek Griffiths of The Artwoods and Dog Soldier on Guitar, Rick Grech of Traffic and Family on Bass with Ian McLagan and Kenny Jones of the Faces on Piano and Drums respectively. Side 2 of that album was recorded live in Coventry in England and features the Average White Band as Berry’s backing group. Elliott Randall of Steely Dan's "Reelin' In The Years" guitar-solo fame plays Pedal Steel guitar on "I'm Just A Name" and “Too Late” on Disc 4 - while Jazz Fusion favourite and multi-instrumentalist Phil Upchurch plays Bass on Tracks 1 to 8 on Disc 1. A rarity for US collectors is the UK-only 7" single live version of "South Of The Border" (Chess 6145 027) in that it features Jimmy Campbell of Vertigo Spiral Label fame on Guitar (it's the previously unreleased in the USA track). Let's get to the music...

The A and B-sides of the US 7" single Chess 2090 ("Tulane" and "Have Mercy Judge") start things off strongly on Disc 1 and you immediately hear the quality song-writing and the cool sound upgrade. Although Labson's transfer work is exemplary throughout - there's hiss on a few tunes for sure and the unreleased live stuff is untreated so it sounds very rough. But to get an inkling of the fab sound - there's a wickedly cool instrumental called "Woodpecker" tucked away on Side 2 of "Bio" that I've been trying to get a good CD copy of for years – and here it is at last. Check out iTunes for this - it's (if you'll forgive the pun) ring- ringing like a bell. So too when the British band back up Berry on the T-Bone Walker cover of "Mean Old World" (from "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" LP) – you can really feel and hear that as well – thrilling stuff.

More than a few of the 23 previously unreleased tracks are shockingly good – "Untitled Instrumental" features the fab piano playing of Ellis 'Lafayette' Leake with great harmonica fills from Robert Baldori - while the 9-minute instrumental "Turn On The Houselights" sees Chuck play a blinding lead guitar. It's not all good of course. From the "Chuck Berry" LP sessions in 1975 (all of Disc 4) both outtakes "Jambalaya" and "The Song Of My Love" are truly awful - while the abomination that is "My Ding A Ling" on Disc 3 is on here in its full album length version of eleven minutes and the 7" single edit too and even has an added previously unreleased studio version. But it is to this day quite possibly the worst song ever made – and cringing to listen to (I dare say his bank balance rather enjoyed it though). But overall – the outtakes are excellent – and along with the largely unheard remastered album tracks – it all makes for a rather spiffing listen.

Niggles and speculation – like the other two sets, the packaging is o.k. rather than great and had Bear Family of Germany gotten their hands on this project - we would have had a 12" x 12" Box with a 180-page hardback book for about the same cost – and it would have been complete with visuals that would have taken 2 years to compile rather than two days to dash off. A fantasy reissue I know - but worth making the comparison…

Having said that - as it stands "Have Mercy..." is far better than I thought it would be – his Rock 'n' Roll mojo and lyrical brilliance still intact in the Seventies (the 6-minute poem "My Pad" is deep and prophetic as are the lyrics from "Bio" which titles this review). And if you were to make up a single disc representing the best of what's on this mini box set – then I guarantee you'd shock certain people as to how good it is.

So there you have it - fabulous in places, a let down in others – 2010's "Have Mercy..." does at least see Chuck Berry's Seventies’ legacy be given some proper respect at last. Recommended...

PS: His initial output for the famous label was released in 2008 as "Johnny B. Goode: The Complete 50's Recordings" - then followed in 2009 by the 2nd set - "You Never Can Tell: The Complete Chess Recordings 1960 to 1966" (see separate review for "You Never Can Tell...")