"Reflections Of A Golden Dream" by LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (2015 Ace/Beat Goes Public CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Journey Into Space..."

Using their Beat Goes Public imprint (BGP) - Ace Records of the UK continue their wonderful reissue of Lonnie Liston Smith's trio of Jazz-Funk meisterworks with his 'Cosmic Echoes' band on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records back in the mid Seventies – albums that collectors and lovers of the genre have lusted after on more than a few Funky occasions.

April 2013 saw Smith’s hugely popular "Expansions" album from May 1975 get a 5-star CD reissue – while the second LP "Visions Of A New World" from October of that same year came our CD way in July of 2015. And now in November 2015 – the third and forgotten nugget in his initial cannon – April 1976's "Reflections Of A Golden Dream" with the massively popular Soul-Funk smash "Get Down Everybody (It's Time For World Peace)". All three reissues are part of Ace's 'Flying Dutchman Jazz Classics' CD Remasters Series. Here are the dreamscapes for Volume 3...

UK released 27 November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) - "Reflections Of A Golden Dream" by LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 296 (Barcode 029667529624) is a straightforward mid-price CD transfer in their ‘Flying Dutchman Jazz Classics’ Reissue Series and plays out as follows (38:57 minutes):

1. Get Down Everybody (It’s Time For World Peace)

2. Quiet Dawn

3. Sunbeams

4. Meditations

5. Peace And Love

6. Beautiful Woman [Side 2]

7. Goddess Of Love

8. Inner Beauty

9. Golden Dreams

10. Journey Into Space

The 10-track album was originally released April 1976 in the USA on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-1460 and July 1976 in the UK on RCA Victor RS 1053.

Lonnie Liston Smith plays keyboards and 'funky electronic textures' on every track while singing lead on "Get Down Everybody (It's Time For World Peace)". As was the case on the "Visions Of New Worlds" LP earlier that year (1975) - Donald Smith puts in lead vocals on three songs – "Peace And Love", "Beautiful Woman" and "Inner Beauty" and also contributes Flute on three more - "Quiet Dawn", "Sunbeams" and "Golden Dreams". The band includes David Hubbard and Arthur Kaplin on Saxophones, Joe Shepley and Jon Faddis on Trumpets, Al Anderson on Bass, Wilby Fletcher on Drums with Guilherme Franco and Leopoldo Fleming on Percussion - while Maeretha Stewart, Patti Austin and Vivian Cherry sang Backing Vocals on tracks 1 and 5.

NICK ROBBINS has carried out the CD Remaster at Sound Mastering in London (an Engineer of long-standing and skill) and it sounds beautiful – bringing out the superb Bob Thiele Production values applied to all his Flying Dutchman releases (LLS co-produced this LP with him). The 8-page inlay features new liner notes by noted writer DEAN RUDLAND, label repros of Side 1 and 2 of the original Flying Dutchman LP and the US 7" single for "Get Down Everybody..." with "Goddess Of Love" on the B-side (Flying Dutchman JB 10616). There's also a two-page spread which repros the musician credits from the gatefold sleeve. It’s functional but highly informative.

It opens with the album’s most famous track – Lonnie Liston Smith giving it some rare vocals on the Jazz-Funk Rare Groove monster "Get Down Everybody (It's Time For World Peace)" – an anthem in clubs that pumps out the Brass and Rotary Connection vocals with a rapid backbeat. And again like "Visions Of A New World" from 1975 which I reviewed a few months back (also reissued by Ace’s BGP) - I'd forgotten how good the 'whole' LP is - giving you bedroom moods like the beautiful piano instrumental "Quiet Dawn" and then zither-slick grooves like the funky "Sunbeams" which feels like Dexter Wansel or Donald Byrd at their Philly International/Blue Note best. Swirling keyboard and vibe beauty follows once again with the gorgeous textures of "Meditations" - while the side ends on the Acoustic Bill Withers funk of "Peace & Love" – another stab at the vocal commercial hit of "Get Down Everybody" that even has a slightly Brazilian sway to it. It’s a winner and the label put it out as a 45 on Flying Dutchman DB-10702 with the wicked "Quiet Dawn" as its B-side. 

Side 2 opens with the good but slightly less convincing shuffle of "Beautiful Woman" which I always skipped for the far better chunky-funk of “Goddess Of Love” – a flute-driven mid-tempo number that sounds sexy and sweet. The swirling “Inner Beauty" is the kind of ethereal Fusion I love – all spacey and magical somehow yet you can’t quite define why. I personally would have followed with "Golden Dreams" as another slick 45 – the spoken vocals and that slinky rhythm would surely have had some DJ spinning that bad mother. It ends on “Journey Into Space” – a trippy instrumental that sounds like our Lonnie has been listening to the percussion opening parts in Santana's "Caravanserai" just once too often...

Another fabulous reissue then by Ace’s BGP of Lonnie Liston Smith's Cosmic Echoes trio of albums - and if you don’t have the album "Reflections Of A Golden Dream" – then waste no time – it’s a steal at twice the mid-price...

PS: Titles in the "Flying Dutchman Jazz Classics" Series of CDs includes:

1. Fenix - GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 268)

2. The Third World - GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 272)

3. El Pampero – GATO BARBIERI (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 283)

4. Cesar 830 – CESAR (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 261)

5. Friends And Neighbors: Ornette Live At Prince Street – ORNETTE COLEMAN (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 266)

6. Afrique – COUNT BASIE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 271)

7. Barefoot Boy - LARRY CORYELL (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 269)

8. George Russell Presents… - THE ESOTERIC CIRCLE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 284)

9. Small Talk At 125th & Lenox - GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 290) - see REVIEW

10. Pieces Of A Man – GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 274)

11. Free Will – GIL SCOTT-HERON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 281)

12. Astral Traveling – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 273)

13. Cosmic Funk - LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 278)

14. Expansions – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 263)

15. Visions Of A New World – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 294)

16. Reflections Of A Golden Dream – LONNIE LISTON SMITH & THE COSMIC ECHOES (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 296)

17. Cosmic Funk And Spiritual Sounds; The Best Of The Flying Dutchman Years – LONNIE LISTON SMITH (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 254)

18. Newport News, Virginia – ESTHER MARROW (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 264)

19. Swiss Suite: Recorded Live At The Montreaux Jazz Festival - OLIVER NELSON (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 279)

20. Soul Is… - PRETTY PURDIE (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 282)

21. Head Start – BOB THIELE EMERGENCY (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 265)

22. Spirits Known And Unknown – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 262)

23. The Leon Thomas Album - LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 270)

24. Blues And The Soulful Truth – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPM 277)
25. The Creator: The Best Of The Flying Dutchman Masters – LEON THOMAS (Ace/BGP Records CDBGPD 257)

The Revenant on BLU RAY - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Speak Of Honour When You Don't Know What It Is..." 

The Revenant on BLU RAY

Balls-to-the-wall, visceral, epic filmmaking - I haven't seen an audience glued to the screen and engaged both mentally and physically with a movie since the halcyon days of "Gladiator" way back in 2000. Make no mistake - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "The Revenant" will make you bleed-baby-bleed and more than earns it mighty 12 Oscar nominations by way of sheer bravura and the amazing visual feast your presented with from the first frame to the last. All this and you sit there thinking - I know they're only piddly nancy-boy ‘actors’ in the real world - but the cast must have gone through physical Hell to get this level of ‘real’ in the can...

Having said that – 2015’s “The Revenant” from the Oscar-winning Director of last year's "Birdman..." has its minor problems for sure. At 2 hours 40 minutes it’s overly long (feels more like three hours) – and in a bid to make you feel like you're in the moment - the dialogue comes at you off-screen at times as characters shout and scuffle - but I'm not sure if that trick works. Plus you could argue that you spend 70% of the movie watching Leonardo DiCaprio crawling around in mud and on icy ground (a lot) and Tom Hardy's Jeff Bridges "True Grit" mouth-full-of-marbles mumbling can be very difficult to decipher at times too. And that last shot stills puzzles. But overall - these are trivial things given that I noticed many people holding in wee-wee because they couldn't bear to miss twenty seconds of it.

And then there's the scenery brought to you by Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki – a malevolent beast one moment - soul-stirring the next. You get 1820’s fur-trading British Columbia in the fall and winter – a relentless snowy wilderness with muck and more muck – creaking bare trees – icy breathes broken up by life-giving campfires – arrows in the neck – muskets blasting... Scene after scene seers its way into your brain - DiCaprio plunging into the icy waters of a river where he’s built a rock nook to trap fish swimming upstream – grabbing one of them with his bare hands and proceeding to munch into with ravenous teeth and starvation gusto – removing the innards and squatting naked inside of a felled horse to survive the night - buried in a clay grave dug for him by the greedy trapper John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and left for dead – an Indian he befriends that builds a tepee of branches and furs as the blizzard rages so that the wounded and collapsed Glass can let his wounds recover - and the final knife battle with Hardy’s curmudgeon character as the snow turns a different colour than white.

But even more memorable than those is one of the film's centrepieces. Out scouting the woodland one morning - the two-prong attack on DiCaprio's character Glass by a three-ton grizzly bear (defending her two cubs) left the audience breathless and coiled in their seats in genuine horror. How they filmed this sucker I will never know – but if this is CGI's capability in 2015 - then it’s amongst the best I’ve ever seen – period. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto's instrumental music is haunting throughout too – huge string chords that feel as epic as the landscape and pack a mighty punch. Smartly Inarritu also does well to not let the rivers and mountains and forests dominate everything by having scenes of real emotion as DiCaprio's character talks to his Indian wife's ghost in their native tongue – mumbling to his son that everything's going to be all right - love transcending the elements that seem to want to kill you at every moment.

The huge and seriously dedicated ensemble cast is uniformly stunning and must be mentioned. Leonardo DiCaprio plays hunter and trapper Hugh Glass who has married an Indian girl (actress Grace Dove, herself a Shuswap Indian) and fathered a son Hawk (a breakthrough performance from Forest Goodluck). But soldiers raised their village to the ground (as they did much of the indigenous population) and murdered his wife who now comes to him in whispers and dreams. Trapper Glass therefore protects his boy with a near heathen tenaciousness as his half-breed origins and burnt face (from the initial village attack) are ridiculed by another force of nature – Pelt Trader John Fitzgerald (a towering performance from England’s Tom Hardy). Trying to keep all the savagery at bay is Captain Andrew Henry played by Ireland's Domhnall Gleason (Brendan Gleeson's son) – another properly brilliant performance after his superb turns in "About Time", "Ex Machina" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". But even more impressive is the young British actor Will Poulter who plays the cherub-faced Bridger - a frightened and gullible boy in a cunning man's world - he is magnificent here. The huge array of real Red Indians are cast from varying surviving tribes and are suitably ferocious and giving in their different guises – scalping the devil white man in one scene and trying to negotiate ‘honour’ with a bunch of drunken French trappers in another. The rage of what was done to them and their women and children permeates throughout the entire film.

But its DiCaprio and Hardy who hold the whole thing together – both putting in huge performances that deserve statues. Their warring duo dynamic reminds me of “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972) and “Seraphim Falls” (see reviews) where two frontier men fight it out in the elements with knives and hatchets and anything else that comes to hand. There’s a scene by a night time fire where Hardy’s character talks of his starving father in the wilderness who discovers God in a cluster of trees – Hardy’s chilling survivalist instincts are the stuff of budding actor’s dreams and will surely be used at the Oscar ceremony by way of demonstrating what a powerhouse he’s become. And if Leo doesn’t bag a statue for this film – then someone in the Academy needs to be led to the nearest snowdrift and dropped there in their Sears and Roebuck underpants...

When it’s released - the BLU RAY will be a feast for both the eyes and ears – and I’m pre-ordering that home-cinema monster today.

Besides - as the credits rolled I noticed that two of the real Red Indian Actors used (portraying a Pawnee Prostitute and an Arikara Warrior) were called  'Mariah Old Shoes' and 'Cody Big Tobacco'. This is my kind of movie.

“The Revenant” isn’t Laura Ashley cutesy or Daniel Boone sappy for damn sure – and not everyone will enjoy its hurting storyline and our even darker treatment of the indigenous population of such a breathtaking landscape. But it is an astonishing piece of ‘event’ cinema that demands your attention.

And when you think about the sheer amount of fluff and lazy sequels out there in 2015 (and yet to come in 2016) - that’s an achievement worth supporting with my comfy ass on them there wilderness seats...

"Moonshadows/Yesterday's Dreams/Spellbound" by ALPHONSO JOHNSON (2015 Beat Goes On 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…To Thine Own Self Be True…"

Philly-born virtuoso ALPHONSO JOHNSON was only 23 when he replaced Weather Report’s Miroslav Vituos on Bass in early 1974 and was soon after to also play with Fusion Giants George Duke and Stanley Clarke on their solo projects. By the time he got to 1976 - and with a little help from Weather Report stalwarts like Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter (Zawinul once described Johnson as "...disciplined…could lay down a groove that hurt…") – Columbia Records gave him a shot and he promptly popped out three Funk-Fusion LPs on their Epic Records imprint – "Moonshadows" and "Yesterday's Dreams" (both from 1976) and "Spellbound" (from 1977). The hugely revered first two were never issued in the UK (the 3rd was) and have been elusive on CD for decades. And that's where this gorgeous-sounding Beat Goes On 2CD Remaster comes in. Here are the funk-that-hurts details…

UK released 27 November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) – "Moonshadows/Yesterday's Dreams/Spellbound" by ALPHONSO JOHNSON on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1220 (Barcode 5017261212207) offers 3LPs on 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (40:48 minutes):

1. Slump

2. Involuntary Bliss

3. Cosmoba Place

4. Pandora's Box

5. Up From The Cellar [Side 2]

6. Amarteifio

7. On The Case

8. Unto Thine Own Self Be True

Tracks 1 to 8 are his debut album "Moonshadows" – released 1976 in the USA on Epic Records PE 34118 (no UK release)

Players included:

ALPHONSO JOHNSON – Basses, Electric Stick and Vocals

DAWILLI GONGA – Keyboards & Vocals

PATRICE RUSHEN – Keyboards

IAN UNDERWOOD – Keyboards & Synth Programming

ALPHONSE MOUZON – Orchestron Voice Choir Keyboard

GARY BARTZ – Soprano Saxophone

DAVID AMARO, LEE RITENOUR, CHRIS BOND and BLACKBIRD McKnight – Guitars

FLORA PURIM – Backing Vocals on "Involuntary Bliss", "Up From The Cellar" and "Upon Thine Own Self Be True" with Lead Vocals on "Amarteifio"

BENNIE MAUPIN – Reeds

ALEJANDRO ACUNA and AIRTO MOREIRA – Percussion

NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN – Drums & Keyboards

NDUGU LEON CHANCLER – Drums

Disc 2 (71:34 minutes):

1. Love's The Way I Feel 'Bout Cha

2. As Little As You

3. Scapegoat

4. Show Us The Way

5. Balls To The Wall [Side 2]

6. Tales Of Barcelona

7. Flight To Hampstead Heath

8. One To One

Tracks 1 to 8 are his second album "Yesterday's Dreams" – released 1976 in the USA on Epic PE 34364 (no UK release)

Players included:

ALPHONSO JOHNSON – Basses, Electric Stick, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

FLORA PURIM, JON LUCIEN, PHILIP BAILEY & DIANNE REEVES - Vocals

RAY GOMEZ and LEE RITENOUR – Electric & Acoustic Guitars

PATRICE RUSHEN – Keyboards

MARK JORDAN and DAVID FOSTER – Keyboards

IAN UNDERWOOD – Synths

SHEILA ESCOVEDO – Congas & Percussion

RUTH UNDERWOOD - Harpophone, Orchestra Bells, Marimbas & Vibraphone

GROVER WASHINGTON, JR., ERNIE WATTS & ERNIE FIELDS – Saxophones

CHUCK FINDLEY and GARY GRANT – Trumpets

GEORGE BOHANON and GARNETT BROWN – Trombones

CHESTER THOMPSON and MICK CLARK – Drums

9. Summer Solstice (First Movement)

10. Follow Your Heart

11. Bahama Mama

12. Nomads

13. Moonlight Conversations

14. Face Blaster [Side 2]

15. Feelings Are… (The Hardest Words To Say)

16. Earthtales Suite: Intro – Winter Solstice

I - Release From Bondage

II – Why

III – Voice Of Authority

IV Rushing Of The Wind

V – Sword And The Scepter

VI – Summer Solstice (Second Movement)

Tracks 9 to 16 are this third album "Spellbound" – released 1977 in the USA on Epic Records JE 34869 and in the UK on Epic S EPC 82197

The outer card slipcase lends the release a classy feel, the 24-page booklet is packed with album-by-album credits and new liner notes from noted writer CHARLES WARING – a regular contributor to Mojo and Record Collector. ANDREW THOMPSON has carried out the new 2015 Remasters licensed from Sony and the Audio here is stupendous – beautifully clear and reflecting the original top-class production values of Skip Drinkwater (Johnson did the 3rd set himself).

As you can see from the 'Players' lists given above – the guest names of talent featured for each record is astonishing – a virtual who's who of Jazz Funk talent with Johnson providing the Funky Bass backdrop. And they’re not just window-dressing either. The debut album opens with "Strump" and "Involuntary Bliss" – Funk workouts on a Jazz-tip that feel amazingly 'now' rather than 1976. Entering the territory of sublime Jazz/Soul/Fusion is the gorgeous sea-and-gulls ballad "Amarteifio" – the only song on the album with lyrics that Flora Purim slays in her path with her Soulful swoops and phrasing (lyrics reproduced in the booklet). It's a true highlight on a great album. It gets seriously funky with the bass-led "On The Case" where Johnson goes all slap stick wild in the first passage followed by Lee Ritenour letting rip on his axe for the second part (wonderful playing). It ends on a piece of joyous fusion that’s so Narada Michael Walden – Flora singing the title as a backing refrain while Dawilli Gonga plays a blinder on various keyboards.

Wisely trying for a more commercial angle - the number of vocalists increased for album number two "Yesterday's Dream" – released at the end of 1976. "Love's The Way I Feel 'Bout Cha" might as well be Con Funk Shun with Dianne Reeves and Philip Bailey on Vocals (lyrics in the booklet). Keyboard genius Patrice Rushen fills up both "As Little as You" and "Scapegoat" with her skills - while Grover Washington Jr. plays his horn. Jon Lucien adds his deep voice to "Show Us The Way" as Ritenour skilfully plucks the Acoustic Guitar. But my fave on here is the beautiful instrumental "Flight To Hampstead Heath" – a mid-tempo builder that feels more Prog Jazz than Fusion.

Prog dominates the opening "Summer Solstice (First Movement)" and for that matter much of the "Spellbound” album - sounding more like Jon Anderson has gone Jazz (but not in a good way). Guitarist Pat Thrall provides the Guitar Solos for "Follow Your Heart", "Bahama Mama", "Face Blaster" and "Feelings Are…" But it was a big mistake to forego the various quality vocalists that made the first two albums so good for his larynx on album number three. Johnson's voice is decidedly ordinary compared to what went before – and this is never more evident than on "Nomads" – a nice tune rendered impotent by his flat delivery. The short but pretty instrumental "Moonlight Conversations" features lovely playing from the other featured guitarist on the album – Kevin Shireve. It ends on the near nine-minute "Earthtales Suite" – a complicated but ultimately boring piece that unfortunately sums up the whole LP – virtuosity without any heart or tunes…

Jazz Fusion and Funk fans will love the first two albums – especially as neither received a UK release – but that third record rather lets the side down. Still – with its superb presentation and gorgeous Audio quality – this is a must buy for fans…and so good to see Johnson be given some well-deserved limelight at last...

"Infatuation: Singles & Demos 1966-1968" by THE SECRETS [featuring Clifford T Ward] (2015 Grapevine CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…See It Through…"

Before schoolteacher CLIFFORD T. WARD went all solemn singer-songwriter in the early Seventies with sensitive album classics like "Mantle Pieces" in 1972 on John Peel's Dandelion Records and especially "Home Thoughts" from 1973 on Charisma which featured his best known songs "Gaye" and "Wherewithal"  – he had a stab at Pop stardom with THE SECRETS in the 60ts. And that's what this feature-packed CD compilation from Grapevine of the UK gathers together – the ten sides of their five 7" single releases (last two credited to SIMON’S SECRETS) - adding on 18 other demos and other rarities from long deleted compilations – five of which see the CD light of day for the first time. Here are the embryonic details…

UK released December 2015 – "Infatuation: Singles And Demos 1966-1968" by THE SECRETS featuring CLIFFORD T. WARD on Grapevine CRSEG031 (Barcode 5013929183124) is a 28-track CD and plays out as follows (76:22 minutes):

SINGLES:

1. Infatuation (A-side of a UK 7" single on CBS 202585, released February 1967)

2. I Think I Need The Cash (B-side of "I Intend To Please" - UK 7" single on CBS 2818, released 23 June 1967)

3. She's Dangerous (B-side of "Infatuation" - a UK 7" single on CBS 202585, released February 1967)

4. Such A Pity (B-side of "I Suppose" – a UK 7" single on CBS 202466, released 2 December 1968)

5. Naughty Boy (A-side of a UK 7" single on CBS 3406, released April 1968)

6. I Know What Her Name Is (A-side of a UK 7" single on CBS 3856, released December 1968)

7. Keeping My Head Above Water (B-side of "I Know What Her Name Is" - a UK 7” single on CBS 3856, released December 1966)

8. I Suppose (A-side of a UK 7" single on CBS 202466, released 2 December 1966)

9. Sympathy (B-side of "Naughty Boy" - a UK 7" single on CBS 3406, released April 1968)

10. I Intend To Please (A-side of a UK 7" single on CBS 2818, released 23 June 1967)

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 10 credited to THE SECRETS

Tracks 5, 6, 7 and 9 credited to SIMON'S SECRETS

DEMOS and OUTTAKES

11. Path Through The Forest

12. What A Nice Surprise

13. The Gloria Bosom Show

14. I’ll Keep On Closing My Eyes

15. Looking Down The Glass

16. The Same Applies To You

17. Teacher

18. Coathanger (Demo Version No. 1)

19. Naughty Boy (Demo Version No. 1)

20. The Session Singer (Demo Version)

21. The Mule

22. Poor Johnny

23. Sympathy (Demo Version)

24. I Know What Her Name Is (Demo Version)

25. Keeping My Head Above Water

26. Coathanger (Demo Version)

27. Naughty Boy (Demo Version)

28. Path Through The Forest (Demo Version)

Track 11 first released 2001

Tracks 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24 to 28 were released 2009 on the 2CD compilation "Path Through The Forest: The Secret World Of Clifford T. Ward 1964-1971" on Wooden Hill WHCD028

Tracks 15, 18, 19, 22 and 23 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The 12-page booklet is nicely laid out with new liner notes from noted writer DAVID WELLS – label repro’s of those CBS 7” single demos – trade magazine mentions and even a signed sheet from a dapper-looking Cliff Ward and the Cruisers. The Audio is a very mixed bag indeed (remastered by Simon Murphy) with the liner notes admitting that master tapes (especially for the demo stuff) are 'extant'. But what is on here sounds really good given the limitations of the sources. The singles are in Mono and pack a punch - but the rest of it has to be taken as is...

Those looking for "Gaye" or "Wherewithal" should immediately look elsewhere – this is more 60ts Pop than 70ts singer-songwriter – although you can hear the cleverness of the lyrics already – the intelligence behind them. There's even a few moments of Beatles "I Am The Walrus" madness in the very rough sounding "Path Through The Forest" and rude humour in the ample "Gloria Bosom Show". Of the five 45s – I'm digging the Hollies/Love sounding "Such A Pity" and the Tremeloes pop of "I Suppose". Signs of his mellow future are evident in "Poor Johnny" and "The Same Applies Toy You" – if you can get past the ropey Audio and the slightly lacklustre nature of the material…

Not genius by any means and surely one that's for Clifford T. Ward fans and purists only – but at least Grapevine have presented it to them with real style and class...

"Method To The Madness & Smokin'" by THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH (2015 Robinsongs 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Get Ready To Get Down..."

The American Seventies-Soul-Funk group THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH has been ill served for decades now by CD – with only a few entries out there in the digital ether. I’ve already reviewed "Face To Face With The Undisputed Truth" – their 1972 album on Tamla put out by Universal in Europe in 2003 on one of their 'Original Funk LP Series' CDs – but at last - there’s some really good news...

Normally the preserve of 'Hip-O Select' out of the USA who have had the run of all things Motown and Chess for years now – up steps 'Robinsongs' of the UK (part of Cherry Red's set of labels) - and fast cementing a rep that's being building amongst Soul fans – they've pulled off a bit of a Reissue Scoop here with this clever 2CD set. It gathers together the last two LPs the Soul/Funk group did with Producer Norman Whitfield in 1977 and 1979 on his own Whitfield Records (distributed by Warner Brothers) - the pair being sought-after vinyl pieces on the collector's market for years now. It helps too that both are utterly wicked slices of Seventies P-Funk/Soul. Here are the Cosmic Details y'all...

UK released Friday, 20 November 2015 - "Method To The Madness/Smokin'" by THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH on Robinsongs WROBIN2CDD (Barcode 5013929950221) is a 2CD set (no Bonus Tracks) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (48:50 minutes):

1. Cosmic Contact

2. Method To The Madness

3. Sunshine

4. You + Me = Love

5. Hole In The Wall [Side 2]

6. Loose

7. Life Ain't So Easy

8. Take A Vacation From Life

9. Let's Go To The Disco

Tracks 1 to 9 are their 7th studio album "Method To The Madness" – released January 1977 on Whitfield WH 2967 in the USA and Whitfield K 56289 in the UK. Produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD – the band was JOE HARRIS, TAKA BOOM, TYRONE 'Lil Tye' BARKLEY and CALVIN 'Dhaakk' STEPHENSON with an array of various other musicians – mostly from ROSE ROYCE.

Disc 2 (40:46 minutes):

1. Show Time

2. Talkin' To The Wind

3. Atomic Funk

4. I Can't Get Enough Of Your Love

5. Space Machine [Side 2]

6. Tazmainian Monster

7. Sandman

8. Misunderstood

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 8th and last studio album "Smokin'" – released 1979 USA LP on Whitfield WHK 3202 and Whitfield K 56497 in the UK. Produced by NORMAN WHITFIELD – the band was JOE HARRIS, LLOYD WILLIAMS, MARCY THOMAS and MELVIN STEWART and an array of various other musicians – many of whom are ROSE ROYCE.

The 12-page booklet has succinct and informative liner notes from long-time Mojo contributor CHARLES WARING sided by album credits and label repros and discusses Norman Whitfield’s involvement with the group (freeing them from the tyranny of the 3-minute Motown tune imposed by Berry Gordy and letting them rip on socially conscious material about segregation, war and inner city poverty). The remasters are from licensed Warner Brothers tapes and were carried out by ALAN WILSON at Western Star Studios in Bristol. The Audio here rocks – this is fabulous layered funked up Soul from 1977 and 1979 – so the Production values are second-to-none - a gorgeous transfer (the cover to "Method" depicts a flying saucer beaming up the band for some cosmic probing - yum yum).

The influence of heavy-hitting P-Funk that dominated 1975's affectionately remembered "Cosmic Truth" continues on "Method To The Madness". It opens with a few minutes of synthesized nonsense - voices talking about beaming 'earthlings aboard' – aliens that question them and the group replies by saying "...we are The Undisputed Truth...and we've been waiting for a new world..." After that spoken cosmic claptrap – it's good to feel things return to slap-bass Funky normality with the brilliant title track "Method To The Madness" – a genius groove that feels like Graham Central Station firing on all sixes. We go mellow with the lovely "Sunshine" – a return to Whitfield's love-song roots of the early 70ts. But the Side (and indeed the whole album) is dominated by the near 11-minute Funkathon of "You + Me = Love" – a brilliant Rufus-like winner fronted by Chaka Khan’s sister Taka Boom (an edited version peaked at 37 on the American R&B charts in August 1976). What a blast this tune is...

Side 2 opens with another fantastic group effort – "Hole In The Wall" – where all four provide lead and harmony vocals behind a grooving guitar and brass Funk. With its 'dance all night long' mantra and wicked 'mother sucker' Chaka Khan shouts from Taka - it's the kind of neck-jerking dancer that used to have customers in Reckless run to the counter and demand to know 'whose playing!' The impossibly catchy "Loose" hits the same booty nerves - but another real crave of mine on this album is "Life Ain't So Easy" which returns to those deep-voiced Undisputed Truth masterpieces like "Smiling Faces Sometimes" in 1971. Mental smooch follows "Take A Vacation From Life (And Visit Your Dreams)" – a 'take a break from reality' mellow tune that Taka sings with tenderness while the backing vocals and acoustic guitar give it a beauty that makes you want to play it over and over again. It ends with commercial Funk on "Let's Go Down To The Disco" – a tune that is far better than its hip-with-the-dance-craze-of-the-moment title would suggest (great shared vocals).

After the high of "Method To The Madness" – thankfully "Smokin'" doesn’t let the side down. It opens with the near mine-minute shuffle Funk of "Show Time" – a typically brilliant groove written by Whitfield and fronted by the superlative vocals of (uncredited) Taka Boom (lyrics from it title this review). "Talkin' To The Wind" is very Rose Royce 'lurve' song fronted by the wonderfully expressive voice of long-standing band member Joe Harris. Equally good as the opener is "Atomic Funk" where Taka once again kicks the Funk ball out of the park (DOMU sampled this song for his "Springbreak" House 12" single on Tru Thoughts in 2009). We get a bit Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers CHIC slick with "I Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" - while the near seven-minutes of "Space Machine" is another brilliant builder of a song that feels like a cross between Soul and Rock (a wicked groove that plinks its way into your heart). "Tazmainian Monster" sees Whitfield get Prince dirty with the Funk - where wolf whistles assure us that wildly attired lady "...make all the other girls look like toys..." Gentle chimes lead in the love song "Sandman" written by Miles Gregory of Rose Royce – probably not the strongest tune on here. It ends on Marcy Thomas' "Misunderstood" which she sings with conviction and Soul and tried as a solo single years later.

It's a damn shame Robinsongs didn’t include the two-part single edits of the brilliant "Show Time" as Bonus Tracks - as the 2011 Wounded Bird CD did. But apart from that minor moan – this is an exciting release – and for me a definite 'Soul CD Reissue Of 2015'.

THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH and the incredible contribution Norman Whitfield made to Sixties & Seventies Soul and Funk in general are long overdue a major Box set offensive – they really are. But until such time - I'll be grooving to this fabulous twofer from Robinsongs until my cosmic booty drops. And that can only be a good thing Space Peopleoids of Plutonia...

"His Band And The Street Choir" by VAN MORRISON (2015 Warner Brothers 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review By Mark Barry...

"...Nice Feel..." 

When Van Morrison’s entire Back Catalogue was promised to us on shiny new Expanded CD Remasters in 2008 and 2009 - lovers of Van The Man’s music will know two things – the last two batches were cancelled – and even then there were exceptions not available as Remasters no matter what – "Astral Weeks", "Moondance" and this – "His Band And The Street Choir".

Fans have had to wait nearly a decade for the legal wrangles to be sorted out – and at last in late October 2015 – we get the first two physical fruitions – 1968's magisterial "Astral Weeks" and 1970's more approachable "His Band And The Street Choir" - both reissued by Warner Brothers in Gatefold Card Sleeves on 'Expanded Edition' CD Remasters and both pitched at mid-price. Here are the Gypsy Queens...

UK and USA released Friday, 30 October 2015 – "His Band And The Street Choir" by VAN MORRISON on Warner Brothers 081227952303 (Barcode 081227952303) plays out as follows (61:42 minutes):

1. Domino

2. Crazy Face

3. Give Me A Kiss

4. I've Been Working

5. Call Me Up In Dreamland

6. I'll Be Your Lover, Too

7. Blue Money [Side 2]

8. Virgo Clowns

9. Gypsy Queen

10. Sweet Janine

11. If I Ever Needed Someone

12. Street Choir

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "His Band And The Street Choir” – released November 1970 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1884 and December 1970 in the UK on Warner Brothers WS 1844 (re-issued in the UK in August 1971 on Warner Brothers K 46066). All songs are written and produced by VAN MORRISON.

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

13. Call Me Up In Dreamland (Take 10) – 4:14 minutes

14. Give Me A Kiss (Take 3) – 2:33 minutes

15. Gypsy Queen (Take 3) – 4:13 minutes

16. I've Been Working (Alternate Version) – 4:26 minutes

17. I'll Be Your Lover, Too (Alternate Version) - 4:14 minutes

Musicians:

VAN MORRISON – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica and Tenor Saxophone on "Crazy Face" and "Call Me Up In Dreamland"

JOHN PLATANIA – Lead and Rhythm Guitars and Mandolin

JACK SCHROER – Alto, Baritone, Soprano saxophone and Piano

KEITH JOHNSON – Trumpet and Organ

ALAN HAND – Piano and Organ

JOHN KLINGBERG - Bass

DAHAUD ELIAS SHAAR – Drums, Percussion, Bass Clarinet and Backing Vocals

THE STREET CHOIR – Ellen Schroer, Martha Velez, Janet Planet, David Shaw, Andy Robinson and Larry Goldsmith

EMILY HOUSTON, JUDY CLAY and JACKIE VERDELL – backing Vocals on "If I Ever Needed Someone"

This 2015 CD Reissue comes in a gatefold card sleeve (gold sticker on the outer shrinkwrap) - textured like the matt original American vinyl album cover with the word 'Stereo' centred at the top and the 'Seven Arts' Warner Brothers logo design on the rear cover. The rear artwork is as per the US original but has cleverly been altered to allow for the 'Bonus Tracks' to be placed in the same typeface alongside the text without looking odd (the new CD label also reflects the original issue in colour). The inner gatefold reproduces Janet Planet’s liner notes to the left and the collage of musicians involved in making the album to the right.

The 12-page booklet continues the theme of Master Tape Boxes that "Astral Weeks" has and shows the 'E.Q. Copy' of Side 1 as its cover. The texture of the pages is similar to the superb "Moondance: Deluxe Edition" of 2013 - recycled and woody - and contains new liner notes called "Street Choir, Sing Me The Song For The New Day" by CORY FRYE - an American Newspaper Editor and noted Musicologist. STEVE WOOLARD has produced the Reissue and CHRIS BELLMAN has carried out the Remaster at BERNIE GRUNDMAN MASTERING (the outer gold sticker declares it to be 'First Time Remastered' – has worked with Neil Young, Carole King and Alanis Morissette and been Grammy nominated). Including five bonus tracks (all outtakes) – the total playing time of 61:42 minutes is reasonably generous too. But all of that tasty aesthetics is as nothing to the glorious Audio...

Having had the occasional track remastered across the last 30 years or so (Japanese SHM-CDs and "Best Of" compilations) – it comes as something of a sonic shock to finally hear the 'whole album' sparkle. Like "Astral Weeks" - this thing sounds fabulous – really wonderful. All the instruments resonate and feel alive – the analogue warmth is very much intact and the happiness of Van’s headspace flows out of the playing and the short jaunty songs. This is a properly sweet sounding CD Remaster (well done to all involved).

Coming after the one-two sucker punch of "Astral Weeks" in 1968 and the crowd-pleasing chart-placing "Moondance" in early 1970 – November 1970's "His Band And The Street Choir" was bound to disappoint a tad and has therefore always had a 6 out of 10 rating amongst music historians. But for me this stunning new Audio Remaster and the genuinely useful/complimentary extras warrants a more appropriate 9 in the hindsight of 2015. Similar to the 2015 Expanded Remaster of "Astral Weeks" - there are hiss traces on "Crazy Face" and "I'll be Your Lover, Too" for sure - and I’m glad of that. None of the tracks sound compressed or dulled or tampered with for the sake of modern cleanliness - it's a careful transfer – yet alive - with the air circulating around the music.

The impact of this Remaster is absolutely immediate. The opening 15 seconds of "Domino" is just sensational – the band and the song cooking like never before. In December 1970 Warner Brothers USA and UK tried it as a 45 on WB 7434 with "Sweet Jannie" on the flipside and were rewarded with a No. 9 chart placing in the American charts (the album hit No. 32). "Crazy Face" has hiss at the outset but settles down and that warbling Van Morrison Saxophone solo sounds amazing. The jaunty pop of "Give Me A Kiss" is so pretty (the title for this review comes from the studio patter at the song's end) - but if I was to single out one song that shows just how good the transfer is - it would be the Soulful Acoustic Funk of "It's Been Working". Seems like I’ve been waiting 40 years (grinding so long) to hear this wicked little groover sound 'this good' - the clarity when he goes into that "...woman, woman, woman..." chant with the saxophones following is awesome. "Call Me Up In Dreamland" sounds just as good too and feels like a Moondance companion piece. But again the Audio on the Side 1 finisher "I'll Be Your Lover, Too" will knock fans sideways. As already mentioned it has hiss as the drummer soft-shoe-shuffles on the highhats – but those Acoustic flourishes and the sheer devotion of his Soulful vocal is why his singing sends chills up the spine. It's exquisite music as Frye quite rightly states in his excellent liner notes.

Side 2 opens with the fairly throwaway "Blue Money" – a poppy ditty that never really ignites for some reason. Far better is the beautifully produced "Virgo Clowns" – one of the album's true hidden nuggets where John Plantania's Mandolin playing compliments a simple and gorgeous acoustic guitar melody as Van sings "...let your laughter fill the room..." Just as pretty is "Gypsy Queen" while the B-side "Sweet Jannie" was another 'make everything alright' hit in the making. His spirituality and personal needs come pouring out of "If I Ever Needed Someone" where he implores (not for the first time) for 'someone to see me through'. He returns to Gospel for the album's lovely finisher "Street Choir" – the organ and ladies voices giving it a churchy feel (beautiful audio too).

The Bonus Material features five outtakes/alternate versions and for me makes this reissue a solid sender. A funky Bass run provides the lead in for Take 10 of "Call Me Up In Dreamland" offset against a faint girly chant in the background. Take 3 of "Give Me A Kiss" is beautifully recorded and has the joy quotient down pat – but Take 1, 2 and 3 of "Gypsy Queen" will thrill fans. It has witty 'spaceman' dialogue (in a Belfast accent) before Van finally gets all falsetto on the vocals and the band play a blinder –and although you can hear why the vocals got away from him - this is great stuff. But my crave is one of the final bonuses – "I've Been Working" – a track that turned up in long variants on the "Moondance" Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions and goes back to the "Astral Weeks" period. This 'Alternate Version' is just as Funky as the shorter 3:26 minute album cut - but with more prominence given to the Organ and Saxophone solo. I love this and I suspect Mods will be spreading the Talcum Powder on this 4:26 minute extended winner...

Like "Astral Weeks" - it has taken nearly fifty bleeding years to show this forgotten Van Morrison album some proper respect – and when fans clap ears on this remaster – they’ll let out a sigh of relief that WB finally got it right.

"...Rescue you from the pain...see you smile again..." – Van The Man sings on "Virgo Clowns". Amen to that...

This review and hundreds more like it can be found in my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series - CLASSIC 1970's ROCK - Exceptional CD Remasters is available to buy/download at Amazon at the following link...