"Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON (2015 Ace/Big Beat CD Reissue - Duncan Cowell Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Dreaming On Some Sweet Repose..."

As simple and as plain a Folk album as you can get – Bonnie Dobson's 2nd album on Prestige Records was part of the American Folk boom in 1961 – and here it sees a beautiful New Remaster in 2015 by Ace Records of the UK. Here is the Maid of Constant Sorrow details...

UK released August 2015 – "Dear Companion" by BONNIE DOBSON on Ace/Big Beat CDWID 325 (Barcode 029667432528) plays out as follows (37:17 minutes):

1. Dear Companion

2. My Mother Chose My Husband

3. Girl Of Constant Sorrow

4. Vranyanka

5. Ben's Lullaby

6. The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town

7. When I Was In My Prime

8. Ah! Si Mon Moine

9. Blues Jumped A Rabbit

10. Dink's Song

11. Vertsa Dievcha

12. The Cruel Mother

Tracks 1 to 12 are her 2nd US Folk LP "Dear Companion" – released 1961 in Stereo in the USA on Prestige International Records PR-INT 13031. The Stereo LP (only "Ben's Lullaby" is in Mono) was Produced by Rudy Van Gelder – Bonnie Dobson plays Guitar and Lead Vocals on all tracks, Hennie Kubik does Duet Vocals on "The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore Town", Isabel Gardiner plays Flute and Arranged "Vranyanka" and "When I Was In My Prime", Peter Gardner plays Second Guitar on "My Mother Chose My Husband" and "Blues Jumped A Rabbit".

The 12-page booklet reproduces the albums original song-by-song details and adds on new liner notes by KRIS NEEDS which includes interviews Bonnie a paltry 50 years after the event - its informative and fun. Ace’s long-standing Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL has transferred the Van Gelder recordings with care and skill. There is a faint level of hiss – but only faint – and it's not been squashed out by Pro Tools to get it cleaner  - hence the recordings breath and sound startlingly clear - in your face for all the right reasons.

Her high-pitched vocals are the very epitome of American Folk in the early Sixties. This is purist stuff – girl, guitar and voice combining American Traditionals with Serbian, French-Canadian and Czech Folk songs while occasionally throwing in her own originals that compliment the bulk. Both “Dear Companion” and “My Mother Chose My Husband” are very sweet but her remaking of “Man Of Constant Sorrow” into a female “Girl Of Constant Sorrow” adds a seamless verse of her own at the end to great effect. The Acapella “Ben’s Lullaby” is her own compilation and was inspired by a friend’s 14-month old baby. The double-guitars greatly help the Bob Coltman ballad “The Bonnie Lass Of Kenmore” – a song about a man worshiping Jeanie as he drinks deep in a tavern. Isabel Gardner’s Flute and Arrangements help the lovely “When I Was In My Prime” and the Yugoslavian love song “Vranyanka”. The lyrics to “The Cruel Mother” tell of a disturbed unwed mum who kills both of her children and is visited by their ghosts who promise her a scorching time in the flames when she gets there (nice)...

Of a time and viewed by many as insufferable wailing – this kind of US Folk and Americana is an acquired taste for sure. But if you’re a fan – you will need this gorgeous-sounding reissue in your collection. And it’s mid-price too...

PS: see also my review for her 1960 debut album "She's Like A Swallow"...

"Straight Shooter" by BAD COMPANY - April 1975 UK Second Studio LP on Swan Song Records (2015 UK Rhino/Swan Song 'Deluxe Edition' 2CD Set – Jon Astley and Richard Digby Smith Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 199 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book 

BLOW BY BLOW - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters 

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves 

(No Cut And Paste Crap) 

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"...Shooting Star..."

There can't be many FREE and BAD COMPANY fans the worldwide that don't look misty-eyed at the cool Hipgnosis cover art for 1975's "Straight Shooter" and feel a quickening of the pulse and parallel movement in their ever so tight leather pants (well maybe not so tight in 2015). Bad Company’s self-titled debut from 1974 and this "Straight Shooter" (their 2nd smash album on Island Records in 1975) were always going to get 'Deluxe Edition' treatment at some point - and a 40th Anniversary seems like as good a time as any. 

It’s just that few of us could have expected such a bonanza of properly classic 70ts Rock on Disc 2 - because this is a wickedly good 2-disc 'DE' when a lot in the last few years have felt superfluous to requirements or worse - callous cash-ins. Here are the loaded dices...

UK released April 2015 – "Straight Shooter: Deluxe Edition" by BAD COMPANY on Rhino/Swan Song 081227955533 (Barcode is the same) is a 2CD Reissue of Remasters that breaks down as follows:

CD 1 – Original Album (2015 Remaster) – 38:49 minutes:

1. Good Lovin' Gone Bad

2. Feel Like Makin’ Love

3. Weep No More

4. Shooting Star

5. Deal With The Preacher [Side 2]

6. Wild Fire Woman

7. Anna

8. Call On Me

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 2nd studio album "Straight Shooter" – released April 1975 in the UK on Island ILPS 9304 and in the USA on Swan Song SS 8413. It peaked at No. 3 on both charts.

CD 2 – Bonus Tracks: Alternate Takes & Unreleased Songs – 68:48 minutes:

1. Good Lovin' Gone Bad (Alternate Vocal & Guitar)

2. Feel Like Makin' Love (Take Before Master)

3. Weep No More (Early Slow Version)

4. Shooting Star (Alternate Take)

5. Deal With The Preacher (Early Version)

6. Anna (Alternate Vocal)

7. Call On Me (Alternate Take)

8. Easy On My Soul (Slow Version)

9. Whisky Bottle (Early Piano Version)

10. See The Sunlight (Previously Unreleased Song)

11. All Night Long (Previously Unreleased Song)

12. Wild Fire Woman (Alternate Vocal & Guitar)

13. Feel Like Makin' Love (Harmonica Version)

14. Whisky Bottle – non-album track, B-side to "Good Lovin' Gone Bad' released as a 7" single in March 1975 on Island WIP 6223 in the UK and Swan Song SS-70103 in the USA

A clever touch in the foldout Deluxe Edition digipak is the photos adorning the inner flaps (they were on the inner sleeves of the original LPs). The leaning over the crap-table photo with the band dressed up in duds was taken by Aubrey Powell – but for some reason the US and UK inners had slight differences. The one used on the left flap of the digipak is the American version where Simon Kirke (on the far left) has just flung the two dices and they’re caught in mid air – the right flap has the UK variant where the dices have settled on the table (both showing sixes). What's also noticeable is that terrible photo of their posteriors that was on the other side of the LP inner sleeve is AWOL completely (someone clearly wants to forget that photo). The other inner flaps show master tape boxes and both CDs sport the Swan Song logos. The 20-page booklet is superbly laid out with new liner notes from band expert DAVID CLAYTON (author of "Heavy Load: The Story Of Free") and wonderful repros of French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian and Yugoslavian singles in rare Picture Sleeves (as well as other relevant memorabilia). Clayton (who coordinated and compiled the release) discusses the album's making and better still – gives a song-by-song breakdown of the Alternates so you know their musical history. Very tastefully done...

JON ASTLEY did the Remaster for the album at Close To The Edge Studios in the UK from the original production tapes - while RICHARD DIGBY SMITH did the Alternates and Bonuses on Disc 2 (mixed from the original multi-tracks). GEORGE MARINO did the original Remaster in 1994 and bluntly it's hard at times to hear the difference except that the Rhythm Section is clearer – a subtle warmth to the Bass and clarity to the Drums. What you can't mistake is the sheer power of the original RON NEVISON Production - this album sounds amazing - and Rocks for all the right reasons. Those who haven't heard it before on CD will be in for a treat...

Featuring Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke of Free on Vocals and Drums, Boz Burrell of King Crimson on Bass and Mick Ralphs from Mott The Hoople on Guitar - BAD COMPANY was virtually a Rock Supergroup right from the get go (apparently they took their name from a 1972 Jeff Bridges film). "Straight Shooter" is short as an album but oh so sweet (probably their best record). To tempt the market a month before the LP’s release Island Records put out the kick-ass "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" in March 1975 as a 7" single with the non-LP "Whisky Bottle" on its flip. It rose to a respectable 31 in the UK - but for such a Mick Ralphs winner you would have expected a better position. When the album turned up in April 1975 and the public realised how good it 'all' was – it sold in truckloads and leapt up to No. 3 on both sides of the pond. And with killer ballads like "Weep No More", "Anna" and the epic boy-does-good-then-dies storytelling of "Shooting Star" – somehow the lyrics of this song alone echoed the British band's fortunes. 

They were indeed ‘shooting stars’ – suddenly Bad Company had became huge. And being on the same label as Led Zeppelin in the States (Swan Song) and having the same maverick manager (Peter Grant) – helped proceedings too. By the time the sexy Rock Riffage of "Feel Like Makin' Love" hit the streets in August 1975 on island WIP 6242 – fans were digging the blistering axework of Side's 2 "Deal With The Preacher" and the funky swagger of “Wild Fire Woman" – as catchy a tune as Paul Rodgers and Mick Ralphs have ever penned. And the whole shebang sounds rip-roaring. But then you're hit with a genuine shock – nearly 70 minute of unreleased goodies on Disc 2...

CD2 - what's noticeable (and I'm sure this has been picked by many fans) is just how like FREE Bad Company sounded in rehearsal rather than the slick Rock machine of "Straight Shooter". There's a thrilling roughness and loose feel to these outtakes that makes you think you’re eavesdropping on a band recording greatness. Even though the earlier version of "Deal With The Preacher" (March 1973) lacks the magnificent riffage of the finished 1975 version – there's a gorgeous keyboard break and you can hear the amazing rhythm section of Burrell and Kirke for real this time. Simon Kirke's "Anna" has always been a pretty song – but here on the Alternate Vocal version Paul Rodgers gives it a really Soulful go and makes you appreciate what a great singer and interpreter he is (still sounds and looks great). Rodgers also keeps the keyboards going on a very rough version of "Call On Me" – the worst recorded of the lot.

Fans will know that Paul Rodgers' "Easy On My Soul" is a FREE track that turned up on their 6th album "Heartbreaker" in 1973. Here Bad Co. gives the songs a 'live-in-the-studio' spruce up and you can hear why – there's great stuff going on in the song as it boogies funkily along (I'm loving this outtake the most). We then get a barroom brawl version of that wicked B-side "Whisky Bottle" which was apparently marked as a master but never used (I'm glad – I think the version they did use is far better). That's not to say this take isn't worthy - it is. Here we get a Snafu/Micky Moody type slide guitar from Mick Ralphs and its properly great. Its at this point that things really take off with the inclusion of two new songs left in the can for 40 years – "See The Sunlight" and "All Night Long" – and both are fabulous. For "See The Sunlight" Ralph cranks up the boogie through those Island Studios Leslie Speakers and at times it feels like really good Foghat with Paul Rodgers on the mike. It's surmised that "All Night Long" sounded too much like "Movin' On" from the 1974 debut LP - but actually it feels like a lesser version of “Good Lovin' Gone Bad" to me – but in a really good way.

How cool is to hear one of the album’s hero tracks "Wild Fire Woman" in Alternate Form – here it features both different vocals and guitars and is just brilliant (you can hear the band cooking). It cleverly ends on a lethal double-whammy – a Harmonica Version of "Feel Like Makin' Love" and the finished mix of the kicking B-side "Whisky Woman". Then we get broadsided. Originally used on a short Promo Film of the band doing the single – the Alternate "Feel Like Makin' Love" has all the huge Production values of the finished article but different Vocal passages and at 2:46 - suddenly a lonesome cowboy Harmonica comes sailing in making Bad Co. sound like "Jailbreak" Thin Lizzy a year before the 1976 event. All the huge guitars are there and more – Ralphs letting it rip towards the end – and it even has a little Zeppelin "Physical Graffiti" mellow guitar moment as it fades out - wow - what a total winner this is. The released version of the rare "Whisky Bottle" B-side only cements this DE’s 5-star status.

Their following albums "Run With The Pack" (1976), "Burnin' Sky" (1977) and "Desolation Angels" (1979) somehow all fell way short of the opening salvo of "Bad Co." in 1974 and its best buddy "Straight Shooter" in 1975. But this 'Deluxe Edition' finally reminds us why we loved them in the first place...and how. No fallen angels here...

"Expecting Company" by SASSAFRAS (2014 Esoteric Recordings Expanded CD – Paschal Byrne Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Beans And Things..."

Now here's a sweetheart. I remember a pal of mine in Dublin who was Wishbone Ash mad at the time and was pigging out on "Argus" and "Pilgrimage" on an almost daily basis. It didn’t take him long to discover the twin lead guitars of Cardiff's SASSAFRAS who came on like a combo of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash – a mix I’ll take any day of the week. I never thought I’d see their brill 1973 debut on CD and you have to say that Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) have done a bang up job with it. Great audio from original tapes, interviews with Lead Guitarist Dai Shell, repro of the original and distinctive Ian Murray gatefold artwork, period photos etc - very tasty. Here are the beans and things...

UK released April 2014 – "Expecting Company" by SASSAFRAS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2442 (Barcode 5013929454248) is an 'Expanded Edition CD' with Two Bonus Tracks and breaks down as follows (46:28 minutes):

1. Electric Chair

2. Busted Country Blues

3. Beans And Things

4. Across The Seas Of Stars

5. School Days [Side 2]

6. The Way Of Me

7. The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg

8. (a) Expecting Company (b) Meanwhile Back In Merthyr

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Expecting Company" – released December 1973 in the UK on Polydor Super 2383 245.

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Oh, Don't it Make You Want To Cry

10. Kansas City Wine

Tracks 9 and 10 are a non-album UK 7" single released July 1974 on Polydor 2058 497 in the UK

The 5-piece Welsh band SASSAFRAS featured Vocalist Terry Bennett (ex Exit), dual Lead Guitarists Ralph Evans and Dai Shell, Ricky John Holt on Bass and Rob "Congo" Jones on Drums (Jones was ex Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture). PHIL SAMPSON produced the original album and PASCHAL BYRNE has done the transfers and CD remaster from original master tapes. Paschal Byrne has compiled, researched and co-ordinated the release in conjunction with the band – and his huge experience of CD remasters shows (has done hundreds of these reissues). This CD sounds fabulous – really great Audio – all the instruments 'there' in the mix – not too trebled up for the sake of it either.

It opens with a huge fan fave "Electric Chair" – a five-minute slice of wicked Classic 70ts Rock – riffs that hook and stay. You're also struck by the band’s sound (so Wishbone Ash) - Terry Bennett's great gravely vocals out front backed by interlocking guitars and a tight rhythm section – in fact the group sounding like they’ve been playing together since 1970 never mind early 1973. The trio of Ricky Holt, Ralph Evans and Dai Shell wrote all the songs except "Across The Seas Of Stars" which is by Ricky Holt and "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg" which is by Steve Finn. After the boogie of "Electric Chair" – the countrified jaunt that is "Busted Country Blues" comes as bit of a pleasant shock. It’s witty lyrics, harmonising vocals and Elvin Bishop hog-rhythm is very Area Code 615 - an American Country-Rock band Shell liked (their "Stone Fox Chase" was used as the theme to "The Old Grey Whistle Test"). We go back to Rock and MAN territory with the excellent "Beans And Things" – a crowd pleaser to this day whenever they play live (the licks flicker like wild in one speaker while the harmony vocals come out of the other – and it has that clever keyboard break half way into its 5:35 minutes). We end Side 1 with a guitar ballad – six minutes of the pretty "Across The Seas Of Stars" which is almost like the Byrds in its harmony structure.

Side 2 opens with more twin-axes in "School Days" which (with an edit) would have made a great lead-off single. "The Way Of Me" again mines that Man and Wishbone Ash groove – Bennett's vocals really making the tune (the bass on this track is amazing too). We get a little Heavy Metal Kids Rock 'n' Roll on "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg" – where (uncool title aside) the vocals and boogie-guitars chug along very nicely. The album finishes of a two-parter (a) Expecting Company and (b) Meanwhile Back In Merthyr – probably the best sounding tracks on this reissue. The complex vocal lines are impressive (almost Prog) - while Part 2 goes into a faster twin-guitar battle that is very Man. The single shows how they'd progressed – far removed from the sound of the album – why it's almost AWB in its brass Funk rhythm like Ned Doheny years later on Warner Brothers. The B-side is a straightforward 3-minutes of Barroom Boogie (boys in the band) that's actually impressive. Brilliant extras...

Their debut isn't an out-and-out masterpiece for sure – but it’s a hugely accomplished start. They would release two further LPs - "Wheelin' 'n' Dealin'" on Chrysalis CHR 176 in April 1975 followed by "Riding High" on Chrysalis CHR 1100 in July 1976 – both of which were put on CD by Gott Discs in 2005 but is hard to find now. In the meantime – check out the classic 70ts Rock of Sassafras – remembered with real affection for a reason...

"The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" (2007 EMI '40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 3CD Book Set – James Guthrie and Joel Plante Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Prowling Shifting Sand..."

Iconic, groundbreaking and damn it - cool. Pink Floyd's debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" is all of those things - but it has been plagued with half-assed CD reissues for years now. At last - this 2007 '40th Anniversary' 3CD celebration does that aural brute some justice. And that's before we even talk about the astonishing MONO mix. Here are the many-faced Astronomical and Interstellar details...

UK released September 2007 –"The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" by PINK FLOYD is a '40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' 3CD Book Set on EMI 50999-503919-2-9 (Barcode is the same) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 – MONO MIX – 42:15 minutes:

1. Astronomy Domine

2. Lucifer Sam

3. Matilda Mother

4. Flaming

5. Pow R. Toc H.

6. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk

7. Interstellar Overdrive

8. The Gnome

9. Chapter 24

10. The Scarecrow

11.Bike

Tracks 1 to 11 are the MONO MIX of their debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" – released August 1967 in the UK on Columbia SC 6157 and October 1967 in the USA on Tower T 5093. The US album had 9 tracks instead of 11 and featured the UK non-album single "See Emily Play" as its opening track. Using Disc 3 in this compilation and Disc 1 above – the US Mono LP can be sequenced as follows:

Side 1: 3 (from Disc 3), 5, 6, 2, 3 and Side 2: 10, 8, 9 and 7

Disc 2 – STEREO MIX – 41:58 minutes:

As per tracks 1 to 11 on Disc 1 – Stereo LP catalogue numbers are Columbia SCX 6157 (UK) and Tower ST 5093 (USA)

Disc 3 – BONUS TRACKS – 32:06 minutes:

1. Arnold Layne – non-album track, the A-side of their debut UK Mono 7" single released 10 March 1967 on Columbia DB 8156

2. Candy And A Currant Bun – non-album track, the B-side of "Arnold Layne" in Mono

3. See Emily Play – non-album track on UK release – the A-side of their 2nd UK 7" Mono single released 17 June 1967 on Columbia DB 8214 (B-side was "Scarecrow" from the Mono LP)

4. Apples And Oranges - non-album track on UK release – the A-side of their 3rd UK Mono 7" single released 18 November 1967 on Columbia DB 8310

5. Paintbox - non-album track, the B-side of "Apples And Oranges" in Mono

6. Interstellar Overdrive (Take 2) (French Edit) - Mono 

7. Apples And Oranges (Stereo Version) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

8. Matilda Mother (Alternative Version) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

9. Interstellar Overdrive (Take 6) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The outer hessian-feel Book Pack has been designed by STORMSTUDIOS (Storm Thorgerson has long been associated with Pink Floyd LP artwork) while the reproduction of the Syd Barrett 'Fart Enjoy' booklet is courtesy of Andrew Rawlinson. The facsimile booklet (60% size of the original) amounts to little more than painted sketches and random typed words - and with the centre booklet providing only the lyrics (no appreciation nor history of the album) – it all feels 'pretty' but lacking somehow. Thankfully the real meat and potatoes comes in the sensational new Audio...

JAMES GUTHRIE and JOEL PLANTE at Das Boot Recording (the same team who did all the 'Discovery Edition' Pink Floyd CD Remasters) have handled the Audio Transfers and Remasters and a stunning result has been achieved – especially on the elusive MONO mix (an extraordinarily expensive vinyl item out of the reach of most collectors). As you can see from the playing times provided above – they mixes of the LP differ in that the Mono variant is slightly longer (Disc 3 is all Mono except where stated).

When you play lead-in voices and plucked guitars of “Astronomy Domine” for the first time (on the Mono version) – the Audio kick is quite amazing. There’s the same punch applies to the almost 60ts Spy Series of “Lucifer Sam” with those strange background noises pushed further back as the guitar and bass take centre stage. But I’m properly amazed at the clarity on “Matilda Mother” – I played the Stereo version right after the Mono and I prefer the sound stage given to the vocals – but both are different beasts of the same colour. The voice-chants at the beginning of “Pow R. Toc H.” are so clear in the Stereo version – but the Piano notes have more centre impact in the Mono mix actually.

The lyrics to the wicked “Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk” where Syd gives us “Gold is lead...Jesus bled...Ghoul greasy spoon...” still sound so Doors to me. I think I still prefer the Stereo mix where they flange that wild guitar across the speakers. Some people love the near 10-minutes of “Interstellar Overdrive” – I’ve always felt it was an instrumental indulgence taken too far – but there’s no denying the Audio kick in the teeth the MONO mix gives it – like I’m listening to something new. “Gnome” and “Chapter 24” are much improved compared to my battered copy of 1973’s “A Nice Pair” – but if I was to nail down one track that shows up how good this remaster is – it would be the bare and percussive “The Scarecrow”. It sounds unbelievably clean – those vocals and that thinny organ – and then as the guitars fade in – amazing.

Disc 3 makes a good bedfellow – it allows fans (using “Scarecrow” from the Mono Mix) to sequence the A&B-sides of their first three UK 45s on Columbia – “Arnold Layne”, “See Emily Play” and “Apples And Oranges”. The French Edit of the Mono “Interstellar Overdrive” cuts the album take down from 9:40 minutes to 5:16 minutes but sounds to me like its been dubbed from a very used disc – its good but hardly great. Far better is the Previously Unreleased Take 6 of “Interstellar...” - again just over five minutes and is also in Mono. It offers different guitar parts and is heavy on that distorted Bass (wild soloing towards the end passage where the organ floats back in). The Alternate Take of “Matilda Mother” is almost Pop for them and probably closest to the finished album mix. How bizarre is it to hear “Apples And Oranges” in STEREO and with a small bit of studio chatter at the beginning – love it...

They would go on to bigger and better things with "Atom Heart Mother" (1970), "Meddle" (1971) and "Obscured By Clouds" (1972) – never mind "Dark Side Of The Moon" (1973) and "Wish You Were Here" (1975)...and beyond (I've reviewed all but "Atom"). 

Admittedly this over-the-top Sonic Psych barrage will not be everyone's cup of Typhoo in the 11's – but if you're a fan – the amazing Audio make it a must own...