"Crosby, Stills & Nash: Expanded & Remastered HDCD Edition" by CROSBY. STILLS & NASH (2005 Atlantic/Rhino HDCD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Ruby Throated..." 

The liner notes to this 2006 'Expanded & Remastered HDCD Edition' of CSN's monumental 1969 debut album opens with an Introduction from Ahmet Ertegun – founder and owner of the mighty Atlantic Records. It describes the first time he heard the tapes by ex Hollies man Graham Nash who had linked up with ex Byrd's tunesmith David Crosby and Buffalo Springfield's guitarist and songwriter Stephen Stills. The canny Record Man was stunned and knew something huge was happening. He quotes "Crosby, Stills & Nash immediately became my No. 1 project..." And even now - in the twilight months of 2015 – a full 46 years after the event – their opening salvo is 'so' damn good – a melodious masterpiece still casting a harmony-vocal shadow over today's myriad musical landscape. Here are the helplessly hoping details of three men on a sofa...

UK released January 2006 – "Crosby, Stills & Young: Expanded & Remastered HDCD Edition" by CROSBY, STILLS & NASH on Atlantic/Rhino-8122-73290-2 (Barcode 081227329020) offers you the 10-track album newly remastered and with 4 bonus tracks. It pans out as follows (53:17 minutes):

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
2. Marrakesh Express
3. Guinnevere
4. You Don't Have To Cry
5. Pre-Road Downs
6. Wooden Ships [Side 2]
7. Lady Of The Island
8. Helplessly Hoping
9. Long Time Gone
10. 49 Bye-Byes
Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut studio album "Crosby, Stills & Nash" – released June 1969 in the USA on Atlantic SD-8229 and in the UK on Atlantic 588 189. It rose to No. 6 and No. 25 on the US and UK charts. David Crosby wrote 3 and 9 - Stephen Stills wrote 1, 4, 8, and 10 – Graham Nash wrote 2, 5 and 7. "Wooden Ships" is a co-write between David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Paul Kantner (of Jefferson Airplane).

BONUS TRACKS:
11. Do For The Others [Stephen Stills song]
12. Song With No Words (New Remix) [David Crosby song]
13. Everybody's Talkin' [cover version of a Fred Neil song]
14. Teach Your Children [Graham Nash song]

The 16-page booklet is tastefully substantial – the gatefold lyric insert that came with original 1969 vinyl albums has been fully reproduced, there’s a detailed and informed essay on the album by DAVID WILD which includes quotes from the trio and reissue credits. They’ve even included the lyrics to the four bonuses. The centre pages have a gorgeous colour photo the harmonious trio wrapped up in furs. But the big news is the fantastic new Remaster. JOHN NOWLAND (who was involved in the highly praised first four Neil Young remasters) has used the original 2-and-8 track analogue master tapes and transferred them to HDCD (High Density Compatible Digital). It’s a better form of Remaster and HDCD do not require any kind of special player. STANLEY JOHNSON and GREG HAYES were also involved in the transfers with the Mastering done by the vastly experienced BERNIE GRUNDMAN. The results are the best I’ve ever heard this album sound (odd they haven’t followed this release up with a similar HDCD version of "Déjà Vu"?)

Right from opening Acoustic Guitars of "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (written about Judy Collins) and when those magical three voices blend – you realise you’re in the presence of something very special. Although the song is 7:24 minutes long and even includes a Spanish chant-and-dance break – it never seems to overstay its welcome. Having listening to this opener for over four and half decades on various vinyl originals (UK plum labels included) – the Audio achieved here is truly breathtaking. Graham Nash's chipper "Marrakesh Express" was the first 45 off the album coupled with "Helplessly Hoping" on both sides of the pond in July 1969 (Atlantic 584 283 in the UK, Atlantic 2652 in the USA) - it hit 28 in the USA and 17 in the UK. It's followed by the stunning ethereal beauty of "Guinnevere" sashaying into your living room with a softly plucked Acoustic. Then you get hit with the full harmonious power and beauty of those three voices as a wall of one. When the trio first got together in Joni Mitchell's house – they noticed the 'timber' of the combo – and this song more than any highlights that magic. As if that's not good enough - you get the 'life on the road' cautionary tale of "You Don't Have To Cry" where that Stephen Stills tuneful song magic kicks you in the nuts. Fabulous guitar pings, their voices and those words – "...you are living a reality I left years ago...it quite nearly killed me..." Side 1 ends with Graham Nash's "Pre-Road Downs" – a treated guitar gives us another touring-is-miserable song about missing the touch and presence of his ladylove.

"Wooden Ships" would turn up on the Jefferson Airplane album "Volunteers" in November of 1969 (it was a co-write with Paul Kantner) and I’ve always loved both versions – a strange hybrid of Soulful Rock that seemed to belong to California in 1969. CSN's original take is shorter and amps up the Guitar and Organ and once again the Remaster is gorgeous. The bass and rhythm section is so warm and sweet but it’s the Stills vocal followed by Crosby and back again that impresses – beautifully handled in the transfer. "Lady Of The Island" is tender and quiet and Nash's vocals almost aching with his love (written for Joni Mitchell). "...Letting myself wander through the world in your eyes..." he sings – and it's beautifully poignant. That harmony magic comes marauding through your speakers once again (but in the best possible way) with "Helplessly Hoping" – a stunning three-part harmony and probably the best Audio on the disc. Although from the pen of David Crosby - the slinky "Long Time Gone" nonetheless has Still's arrangement and production magic all over it – lifting the song into a CSN recording rather than a solo stab. It ends on "49 Bye-Byes" which always seems to get overlooked – but it has magic in it too – especially in that centre passage where all those melodies on the guitars and vocals build up.

The album was recorded straight (what you see is what you get) so technically there are no outtakes from the sessions per say - but the group continued recording that year and the four bonus tracks come from those sessions. "Do For The Others" would eventually show on "Stephen Stills" - his debut solo album from late 1970. The second it opens – you can hear why its been included on this Expanded CD Edition – not only is this song gorgeous to listen too – it’s beautifully recorded – essentially a Demo with Stills on Lead Guitar while the other two harmonise. It’s a genuine wow. Second up is another harmony winner in "Song With No Words" where they "dah dah" the melody that would eventually appear on David Crosby's magnificent "If I Could Only Remember My Name" debut solo album in 1971. Truly beautiful is the only way to describe the Trio doing Fred Neil's classic "Everybody's Talkin'" made famous by Nilsson's cover as used in the movie "Midnight Cowboy". Crosby describes it in the liner notes as "Stills at his best..." There's a demo of the "Déjà Vu" classic "Teach Your Children" which is nice but nothing as good as the magical trio that preceded it. Fans will know that there are five other 'outtakes' from the period on the "Carry On" 4CD Box Set (1991) - one day we might get a Deluxe Edition 2CD set covering the event in its entirety...helplessly hoping...

So there you have – an established 60ts nugget – cool and beautiful like a summer breeze and given a truly beautiful audio makeover. It’s even furnished and burnished in Aldershot Sun with Bonus Tracks actually worthy of the moniker.

"...Going to where the sun keeps shining... " – Stephen Stills sings on their gorgeous harmony vocal cover of "Everybody's Talkin'". 

I'd gravitate towards this ray of California gold if I were you...warm on your soul and on your mind...and then some...

This review is part of my COOL 1960s MUSIC e-Book available as one of the SOUNDS GOOD Series - Exceptional CD Remasters...

“The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues” by HOWLIN’ WOLF [featuring Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy] (2002 Universal/MCA/Chess CD – Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Three Hundred Pounds Of Heavenly Joy..."

'Look what you get' indeed. Don't let that big smiling face fool you. Standing at six foot three inches and with a neck as big as a tree trunk – Chester Burnett could scare the crap out of Beelzebub and out-sing his nastier brother too. But Howlin' Wolf was not just a musical force of nature (the real deal as Sam Phillips said when he first heard his famous vocal growl) – he was a mischievous and often very funny Blues Man. And never is that more evident than on this fabulous twofer that brings together two rare albums in the "Real Folk Blues" series Chess Records put out in the Sixties (1966 and 1967 to be exact). Both are studio sets and contain classics like "Killing Floor" (covered by Zeppelin on "II") and the 'look what you get' song "Built For Comfort". Here are the three hundred pounds of heavenly joy...

US released March 2002 (April 2002 in the UK) – "The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues" by HOWLIN’ WOLF on Universal/MCA/Chess 088 122 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028) is part of Universal's "Blues Classics: Remastered & Revisited" CD Series and pans out as follows (66:43 minutes):

1. Killing Floor
2. Louise
3. Poor Boy
4. Sittin' On Top Of The World
5. Nature
6. My Country Sugar Mama
7. Tail Dragger [ Side 2]
8. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy
9. The Natchez Burnin'
10. Build For Comfort
11. Ooh Baby Hold Me
12. Tell Me What I've Done
Tracks 1 to 12 are the LP "The Real Folk Blues" – released January 1966 in the USA on Chess LP 1502. Tracks 1, 2 and 6 were recorded August 1964 – Track 7 September 1962 – Tracks 8 and 10 are August 1963 – Tracks 11 and 12 are from August 1965 while the remainder are various Fifties recordings.

13. Just My Kind
14. I've Got A Woman
15. Work For Your Money
16. I'll Be Around
17. You Can't Be Beat
18. No Place To Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life)
19. I Love My Baby
20. Neighbors
21. I'm The Wolf
22. Rockin' Daddy
23. Who Will Be Next
24. I Have A Little Girl
Tracks 13 to 24 are the album "More Real Folk Blues" – released January 1967 in the USA on Chess LP 1512

The 12-page booklet features a short essay of The Wolf by the noted Blues Historian Mary Katherine Aldin who did Hip-O Select’s annotation for their magnificent Volume 2 of Muddy Waters' complete Chess recordings "Hoochie Coochie Man..." in 2004. Pages 6, 7 and 8 reproduced the original liner notes to both LPs from Willie Dixon and Paul Williams (of Crawdaddy Magazine) respectively while the rest is taken up with reissue credits. Good names like ANDY McKAIE and BETH STEMPEL have coordinated the series – but the big news is new Remastering by ERICK LABSON at Universal. His credits list runs like a who’s who of Chess artists (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, The Dells, Rotary Connection) as well as many prestigious Rock catalogues (Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Mamas and Papas, Neil Diamond, Wishbone Ash and The Who) to name but a few. The Audio on the first album which is mainly in Stereo rocks throughout - but the second LP which features 1953 to 1956 Mono material is only as good as the recordings were – lively and full of rough Blues - but not the sonic blast the first record is. Considering what he had to work with – the Audio overall is great – full of presence.

As you can see from the details beneath the track listing – "The Real Folk Blues” album is made up of tracks from 1963, 1964 and 1965 with a smattering of older Fifties cuts (almost all were American Chess 45s) and it opens with a double from an August 1964 session. "Killing Floor" is a Blues tune probably more famous to Rock fans through Led Zeppelin who naughtily tried to rename it "The Lemon Song" on certain copies of "Zeppelin II" in 1969 (other copies correctly credit it as "Killing Floor" by Chester Burnett). In some ways they were both at it. It's arguable that Wolf's version is a radical update of "Hard Times Killing Floor" by Skip James that dates back to the Thirties. In 1969 Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over in England then take Wolf's re-working and do exactly the same – reshape it into yet another beast called "The Lemon Song". Either way what you do hear in Wolf's opening salvo is the fantastic band. Both Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy are on the Guitars, Lafayette Leak plays Piano, Arnold Rogers and Donald Hankins play the Saxophones with Andrew McMahon on Bass and Sam Lay on Drums. "Louise" has wicked guitar work too and a fantastic vocal and Wolf lyrics like "...Louise you’d better come home...somebody's been fishing in your pond...baby since you've been gone..."

"Poor Boy" is an oldie from 1957 where you get to hear the Wolf’s underrated Harmonica playing while his cover of "Sittin' On Top Of The World" from the same session gives The Mississippi Sheiks Okeh 78" a run for its 1930 money. The jaunty CB original "Nature" again opens with his shockingly good Harp playing and from there we're back to a 1964 winner "My Country Sugar Mama" (often shortened by future copyists to just "Sugar Mama"). The fab "Sugar Mama" is one of those gem B-sides (Chess 1911 in 1964 with “Love Me Darlin’” was on the A) that once again offers his sneaky Bluesy brilliance - the kind of 'look-out-ladies' hoochie-coochie Blues he was so effortlessly good at. The moaning guitar of "Tail Dragger" was put out as a 45 on Chess 1890 in 1964 (with "Hidden Charms" on its flipside) and features prominent axework from another Chess Records hero Hubert Sumlin. With Johnny Jones on the Piano and J.T. Brown on Tenor Sax, “Ooh Baby, Hold Me” has fantastic Audio - every instrument in your face - and for all the right reasons.

His funniest tune "300 Pounds Of Joy" was issued as a masterpiece double-sided 45 by Chess in 1963 with the equally brill "Built For Comfort" on the flipside (Chess 1870). Both were wickedly hip at the time and remain so to this day – so much so that one or both will surely be flogging some luxury car in the next five years - as it comes sailing out of some wind-tunnel in a slick as snake oil TV advert. Dark and dangerous describes "The Natchez Burnin'" which comes at you with a hurt meanness. But my real crave is the album finisher - the properly Bluesy "Tell Me What I've Done" with Buddy Guy's accomplished guitar playing enriching everything – a fabulous A-side to Chess 1928 in late 1965.

You would have to say that the follow-up album released exactly one year after the first is not nearly as good – but still has moments that warrant purchase. It features old material recorded between 1953 and 1956 with Otis Spann at the Piano and a combo of Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams and Lee Cooper on the guitars (Willie Dixon on Bass). The whole album is rough and grungy with his huge set of pipes almost distorting the tapes. And once again with tracks like "I'll Be Around" you hear his wicked Harp playing while the keyboard prowess of Otis Spann puts a boogie into "Neighbors". Axeman Lee Cooper gives "I'm The Wolf" and "Neighbors" some chugging riffs and shuffling guitar respectively (what a band they must have been live). "Rockin' Daddy" is barroom boogie too as he growls "...I can rock you all night long..." and means it. The LP ends on the salacious "I Have A Little Girl" where his latest lady love is 18-years old - but you can't help thinking that she isn't as innocent now as she was when she left momma's house...

Born in the Mississippi Delta in June 1910 and finally lost to us too soon in January 1976 – I can only tremble at the thought of Howlin' Wolf in the live environment – wailing like a cross between an alligator and a mad dog – whooping it up as the band tears into "Built For Comfort" (and 'not for speed') - literally climbing the onstage curtains at one infamous gig and driving the audience wild. Wow!

"...I got everything that a good girl need..." he sang. I don’t doubt that for a nanosecond Mister Burnett...be with the angels...

PS: Titles in the Universal US-Only "Blues Classics - Remastered & Revisited" CD Series are:
(1 and 2 are SUHA GUR remasters, 3 to 11 are ERICK LABSON remasters and I've reviewed most)

1. Bad News Is Coming - LUTHER ALLISON
(1972 Gordy LP, 2001 CD Remaster + Four Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks) - Universal 440 013 407-2 (Barcode 044001340727)

2. Luther’s Blues - LUTHER ALLISON
(1974 USA 9-track LP with 3 Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes)
Universal 440 013 409-2 (Barcode 044001340925)

3. Two Steps From The Blues - BOBBY BLAND
(1961 USA 12-track LP on Duke with 2 bonuses, 35:12 minutes)
MCA 088 112 516-2 (Barcode 008811251628)

4. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER
(October 1966 and September 1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 821-2 (Barcode 008811282127)

5. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF
(January 1966 on Chess and January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 820-2 (Barcode 008811282028)

6. Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES
(January 1968 US 12-Track LP on Cadet - 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2 (Barcode 008811251826)

7. Live At San Quentin - B.B. KING
(1990 13-Track Compilation on MCA, no extras, 64:09 minutes)
MCA America 088 112 517-2 (Barcode 008811251727)

8. At Newport 1960 - MUDDY WATERS
(1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:41 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2 (Barcode 008811251529)

9. Fathers & Sons - MUDDY WATERS (with Paul Butterfield, Otis Spann, Mike Bloomfield, Donald 'Duck' Dunn and Buddy Miles)
(Tracks 1-10 and 15-20 is the August 1969 2LP set on Chess in Full with Tracks 11, 12, 13 being previously unreleased - and 14 previously unreleased in the USA). (77:38 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 648-2 (Barcode 008811264826)

10. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS
MCA/Chess 088 112 822-2 (Barcode 008811282226)

11. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
(January 1966 and January 1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 823-2 (Barcode 008811282325)

"Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL (September 2000 UK Columbia/Legacy CD Reissue with Bob Irwin and Vic Anesini Remasters – Part of the 'Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series' of CD Reissues) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Wake Up Mama...Turn Your Lamp Down Low..."

I've always had a soft spot for the Blues of Henry Fredericks from New York’s Harlem (Taj Mahal to you and I) - and his stunning 1968 self-titled "Taj Mahal" debut album still ranks in my books as one of the all-time-greats. Like "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" (1968), John Mayall's "Blues From Lauren Canyon" (1968), Johnny Winter's "Second Winter" (1969) or Shuggie Otis' 1970 debut album "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" - "Taj Mahal" is the kind of good-time hair-shaking bum-waddling Blues-Rock that I adore. And to me it still sounds as fresh as a daisy - with maybe less hair and a wee bit of a middle-aged droop around the tum tum (not mine you understand). Here are the 'Leaving Trunk' and 'E Z Rider' details…

UK released September 2000 - "Taj Mahal" by TAJ MAHAL on Sony/Columbia/Legacy COL 498173 2 (Barcode 5099749817326) is a straightforward CD transfer of his debut LP from 1968 and plays out as follows (33:00 minutes):

1. Leaving Trunk [Side 1]

2. Statesboro Blues

3. Checkin' Up On My Baby

4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime

5. E Z Rider [Side 2]

6. Dust My Broom

7. Diving Duck Blues

8. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut album "Taj Mahal" - released February 1968 in the USA on Columbia CL 2779 (Mono) and CS 9579 (Stereo) and in the UK on Direction 8-63279 (Mono) and S 8-63279 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used in this 2000 remaster and there are no bonus tracks.

The 12-page booklet is a nicely substantial affair reproducing the album’s original rear artwork and liner notes by Tom Nolan on the inner pages. There is then a short essay on Taj Mahal by Stanley Crouch, album and reissue credits – all peppered with a bunch of outtake photos from the recording sessions.

Remastered for CD by the dynamic duo of BOB IRWIN and VIC ANESINI in 2000 and put out as part of the “Columbia High Fidelity “360 Sound” Series” - these are Audio Engineer names I actively seek out. Anesini alone has handled hugely prestigious catalogues like Elvis Presley, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Hall & Oates, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Jayhawks, Mott The Hoople, Santana and many more. This CD reissue is part of Sony's "Columbia High Fidelity "360 Sound" Series" – a logo along the spine of the under inlay. When Columbia started issuing their 'Stereo' LPs in the USA in the 60ts they used the "360 Sound" logo on the album's artwork and label as a part of their selling point – best sound – all around - etc. I'm not sure anyone has noticed this CD logo down the spine inlay - but everyone knows that the 'Legacy' moniker on a CD is a mark of their remastering quality. Whatever way you look at it – this CD rocks like a mother and in the very best way.

Taj Mahal’s debut album is the stuff of Blues-Rock legend - an absolute gem. Recorded in August 1967 (released early 1968) and Produced by Dave Rubinson - the band consists of guitarists Ry Cooder (credited as Ryland P Cooder) and Jesse Edwin Davis with veterans James Thomas on Bass and Charles Blackwell on Drums. Taj sang all the tunes and mainly stuck to harp playing except on the brilliant 8-minutes of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" where he puts in some great slide-guitar work. Other guests included Bill Boatman on Rhythm Guitar and Sanford Konikoff on Drums.

It opens with a blaster – a cover of a Sleep John Estes classic called "Leaving Trunk" where our hero had better leave before his lady's husband gets home. Immediately you're in the presence of a huge warbling Harmonica and those chucky flicking guitars – it's a fantastic updating of old world Blues – sort of like what Paul Butterfield's band did on Elektra Records a few years earlier (see my review of his "Original Album Classics" 5CD Mini Box Set). Blind Willie McTell provides us with the Boogie of "Statesboro Blues" where Taj wants his woman to "...wake up mama...turn your lamp down low..." Continuing in that wicked rollicking vein – we get another shuffling winner in the shape of "Checkin' Up On My Baby" written by another great Harmonica warbler Taj deeply admired - Chess Records' Sonny Boy Williamson. The perfection of Side 1 ends with another nugget from the pen of Sleepy John Estes - "Everybody's Got To Change Sometime". Once again the audio is magnificent – loud and ballsy but not too trebled to ruin it. Direction Records tried it as a UK 45 on Direction 58-3547 with "Statesboro Blues" as the flipside – but despite the strength of both sides – no one seemed to notice in early 1968.

Side 2 opens with the only Taj Mahal original on the album "E Z Rider" which Direction tried as a 2nd UK 7" single with "You Don't Miss Your Water" as its flipside (Direction 58-4044) but again it failed to raise a ripple. The band counts in that slide-guitar barroom slasher from Elmore James "Dust My Broom" which oddly enough is good only – more workmanlike than great. Things pick up with "Diving Duck Blues" again from the fertile pen of Sleepy John Estes where an inebriated Estes tells us that "...if a river was whiskey...I'd dive to the bottom and never come up..." (thirsty and dangerous work). But it ends on a tour-de-force – the near nine-minute Slow Blues of "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues". It's a Traditional arranged by Taj and it captures everything that was great about his house band – that chugging Cooder Guitar – sweetly complimentary Mandolin plucking while he warbles on the Harp inbetween pleading lyrics. It's brilliant - and by the time the tune hits that Rhythm Section entry about 2:20 mnutes – you’re won over. Great stuff...

Niggles - the original album was also issued in MONO - and as you can see from the playing time provided above - it could easily have been fit on here as a first - but alas. There was a non-album single in 1967 on Columbia 4-44051 with "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" b/w "Let The Good Times Roll" – again both AWOL when there was loads of room. I would also love to one day see a LEGACY DOUBLE DELUXE of this fantastic debut - there must be some outakes in storage somewhere - and live sets with that stellar band...

Selling for less than four quid in most places – a Blues Rock barnstormer you need on your shelf and in your Stereo...all '360' degrees of it...