"The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-55" by BIG MAYBELLE (1994 USA Epic/Legacy/Okeh CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Don't Run My Business…" 

One of the original big-framed shouters and reared on Sunday services where singing for the Lord meant reaching the people in the back seats as well as in the Heavens - Tennessee's Mabel Louise Smith (Big Maybelle) could probably floor a male suitor by just opening her mouth from a mile away. Yet beneath that huge brassy voice and sassy stage persona (backed by saxophones and a blistering rhythm section) beat the heart of a big softie and a habitual substance abuser. Perhaps it was a combination of all these things that imbibed her driving R'n'B with such pathos, fun and pain - all at the same time. Here are the 'just want your love' details...

USA released August 1994 on CD - "The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-55" by BIG MAYBELLE on Epic/Legacy/Okeh EK 53417 (Barcode 886972504322) CD breaks down as follows (73:48 minutes):

1. Just Want Your Love (1953 USA 7" single Okeh 6955, B-side to "Way Back Home")

2. So Good To My Baby (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

3. Gabbin' Blues (Don't Run My Business) (1953 USA 7" single Okeh 6931, A - reissued on Okeh 7069 - see 22 for B-side)

4. My Country Man (1953 USA 7"single on Okeh 7009, A)

5. Rain Down Rain (1953 USA 7" single Okeh 6931, B-side of "Gabbin' Blues (Don't Run My Business)")

6. Way Back Home (1953 USA 7" single Okeh 6955, A)

7. Please Stay Away From My Sam (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

8. Jinny Mule (1953 USA 7"single on Okeh 6998, B-side to "Send For Me")

9. Send For Me (1953 USA 7"single on Okeh 6998, A)

10. Maybelle's Blues (1953 USA 7"single on Okeh 7009, B-side of "My Country Man")

11. I've Got A Feelin' (1954 USA 7"single on Okeh 7026, A)

12. You'll Never Know (1954 USA 7"single on Okeh 7026, B-side of "I've Got A Feelin'")

13. No More Trouble Out Of Me (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

14. My Big Mistake (1954 USA 7"single on Okeh 7042, A)

15. Ain't No Use (1955 USA 7"single on Okeh 7053, A)

16. I'm Getting `Long Alright (1954 USA 7"single on Okeh 7042, B-side of "My Big Mistake")

17. You'll Be Sorry (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

18. Hair Dressin' Women (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

19. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (1955 USA 7"single on Okeh 7060, B-side of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On")

20. Don't Leave Poor Me (1955 USA 7"single on Okeh 7053, B-side of "Ain't No Use")

21. Ain't To Be Played With (first appeared 1983 USA 2LP set "The Okeh Sessions" on Epic EG 38456)

22. New Kind Of Mambo (1956 USA 7" single on Okeh 7069, B-side of "Gabbin' Blues" reissue)

23. Ocean Of Tears (first appeared on the July 1993 Various Artists 3CD Box Set "The Okeh Rhythm And Blues Story 1949-1957" on Epic/Legacy/Okeh E3K 48912)

24. Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin' On (1955 USA 7"single on Okeh 7060, A)

25. The Other Night (1956 USA 7"single on Okeh 7066, B-side of "Such A Cutie")

26. Such A Cutie (1956 USA 7"single on Okeh 7066, A)

The 12-page booklet has excellent liner notes from PETER GRENDYSA (who did both of The Chess Blues and Rhythm and Roll 4CD Box Sets) with the text peppered by Columbia/Okeh trade adverts ("Gabbin' Blues b/w Rain Down Man") and a photo of her live on a Detroit stage in 1956 mid rapture (a great snap). But the big news is stunning VIC ANESINI/WARREN BEBERG remasters and transfers - clean, clear and full of amazing Fifties echo and presence. This CD is gorgeous audio-wise (the same goes for the whole series really) and that's hammered home as you go from track-to-track.

Love - the lack of it, the throws of it, the sex of it - is not far from the surface of every song. "When it comes to lovin'...he really knows how..." Maybelle enthuses on "Country Man" - while a few minutes later she weeps and wails on "Maybelle's Blues" that "My baby up and left me around about midnight...have mercy...I'm in so much misery..." The bopping R'n'B dancer "So Good To My Baby" first turned up on the 1983 American double-album "The Okeh Sessions" - but better are the flurry of mid-tempo and slow bluesy workouts that came off that double-platter - "Please Stay Away From My Sam", "No More Trouble Out Of Me" and "You'll Be Sorry". There's cautionary advice in "Hair Dressin' Women" who apparently "love to run their mouth all day..." and she does a storming lead rasp on the moaning "Ain't To Be Played With" (quite possibly the best vocal on here).

There's incredibly rare studio chatter at the beginning of "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Goin On" (essentially a False Start with Take 2 being the master) while her formula of a slow A-side backed with a bopping flip is probably best sampled on the fab duo of "Ain't No Use" and "Don't Leave Poor Me" (Okeh 7053). The audio quality is amazing on these cuts - live and in your living room. As it is on the lively "just can't miss..." dancer "New Kind Of Mambo" with Sam "The Man" Taylor blowing up a fabulous Saxophone solo. A special mention should also go the great quality of "Ocean Of Tears" - the lone entry from "The Okeh Story" 3CD Box Set from 1993 (then previously unreleased) which features Mickey Baker putting in tasty licks on Guitar.

A lack of real world love, the needle fix and subsequent diabetes from a lifetime of substance abuse finally did for her in 1972 when she passed away aged only 48. At least this cool little American CD does her Legacy proud - a bit of a cutie frankly...

"Atlanta Twelve String: Blues Originals Vol. 1" by BLIND WILLIE McTELL (2012 Japanese 'Atlantic 1000 R&B Best Collection' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Broke Down Engine Blues…"

Back in the early Seventies Atlantic Records began reissuing a lot of Blues and old time R’n’B on vinyl – one such string of tastily presented albums was the “Blues Originals” series – historic names given a new airing in lavish gatefold sleeves. Apart from the occasional track on the “Atlantic Blues” 4CD Box Set from 2007 on Rhino Handmade – many of these albums have remained elusive on CD. Blind Willie McTell had two tracks on that 4CD retrospective but this is to my knowledge the first time the entire album has been made available on CD. Here are dying crapshooter details…

Released November 2012 – "Atlanta Twelve String: Blues Originals Vol.1" by BLIND WILLIE McTELL on Warner Brothers Japan/Atlantic 1000 R&B Best Collection WPCR-27595 (Barcode 4943674126972) pans out as follows (44:49 minutes):

1. Kill It Kid

2. The Razor Ball

3. Little Delia

4. Broke Down Engine Blues

5. Dying Crapshooter’s Blues

6. Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie

7. Blues Around Midnight

8. Last Dime Blues

9. On The Cooling Board  [Side 2]

10. Motherless Children Have A Hard Time

11. I Got To Cross The River Jordan

12. You Got To Die

13. Ain’t It Grand To Live A Christian

14. Pearly Gates

15. Soon This Morning

Tracks 1 to 15 are the album “Atlanta Twelve String: Blues Originals Vol.1” – released 1972 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7224

When the LP was released Stateside in 1972 – all but two tracks were Previously Unreleased at the time. The two that weren’t were “Kill It Kid” and “Broke Down Engine Blues” - originally issued in 1949 as the A & B-sides of a 78” on Atlantic 891 credited to Barrelhouse Sammy The Country Kid.

Just a word about the Japanese CD Series "Atlantic 1000 R&B Best Collection" – it first appeared in October and November 2012 and has been ongoing ever since (there's now a whopping 250+ titles across every WEA label, genre and time frame). The '1000' in the title refers to their price code - each features a budget price tag of 952 Yen which (depending on exchange rates) is roughly $9 to $11 for US customers, £5.50 to £7.50 for UK buyers and 8 to 9.20 Euros for Europeans (with P&P added on of course). As of early 2015 - roughly speaking they weigh in between £5 to £10 sterling per title including post - which is the cheapest I've seen quality Japanese CDs ever go for.

And what's really enticing is that most issues feature 2012, 2013 and 2014 Digital Remastering (DSD) with many titles reissued that are either entirely new to CD or have been long out of print and due sonic upgrades. Each release comes in a standard jewel case (not mini repro sleeves nor SHMs) with an inner booklet (16-pages on this one) containing the English lyrics. There's the usual outer Obi strip and an essay in Japanese (no liner notes nor other details). The CD label design will usually mimic the original release too (the Atlantic Black & Red logo here). These ancient Mono recordings have been digitally remastered (says so on the obi but doesn’t say who did it) and given the vintage they’re incredibly clean and clear.

Musically this is one man and his 12-string guitar singing songs about dying, gambling, cheating women and God (what’s new). This is the kind of album Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin must have swooned over – there’s an eerie edge to the recordings – “On The Cooling Board” and “Broke Down Engine Blues” being amongst the best. Lyrically “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues” has some howling lines like – “Jessie was a wild reckless gambler…police walked up and shot my friend Jessie down…at his bedside…how you wanna go Jessie…eight crapshooters to be my pallbearers…a crooked card put on my hearse…dig my grave with the ace of spades…” I like it…

Blind William McTell is a footnote in Blues history now - but on the evidence of this cool little CD - what an imprint he left…

PS: I've posted a full list of all 255 titles in the Series to January 2015 - just Google "Atlantic 1000 R&B Best Collection"...

"Calendar Girl/Your Number Please..." by JULIE LONDON (1997 Capitol 'Two On One' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Two Sleepy People..." 

Sultry, smooth and sassy – and that's just the left leg. Like her contemporaries Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, Nancy Wilson, Jeri Southern and Jo Stafford - JULIE LONDON had the sauce and the voice to caress a tune. And man is that evident on the wonderful sounding CD Reissue chockfull of lush songs presented to fans of Fifties Crooners in truly gorgeous Audio. Time to get the cocktail bar open and my chiffon gown ready for gentleman callers. Here are the nightcaps...

UK released September 1997 – "Calendar Girl/Your Number Please..." by JULIE LONDON on EMI/Liberty/Capitol CTMCD 125 (Barcode 724385995927) offers 2 x Fifties LPs Remastered onto 1CD (one in Mono, the other in Stereo) and plays out as follows (67:13 minutes):

1. June In January

2. February Brings The Rain

3. Melancholy March

4. I'll Remember April

5. People Who Are Born In May

6. Memphis In June

7. Sleigh Ride In July [Side 2]

8. Time For August

9. September In The Rain

10. This October

11. November Twilight

12. Warm December

13. The Thirteenth Month

Tracks 1 to 13 are her album "Calendar Girl" - released December 1956 in the USA on Liberty SL 9002 (Mono) – MONO Mix used. Orchestra conducted by PETE KING.

14. Makin' Whoopie

15. It Could Happen To You

16. When I Fall In Love

17. It's A Blue World

18. They Can't Take That Away From Me

19. One For My Baby

20. Angel Eyes [Side 2]

21. Love Is Here To Stay

22. The More I See You

23. A Stranger In Town

24. Two Sleepy People

25. Learnin' The Blues

Tracks 14 to 25 are her album "Your Number Please..." – released December 1959 in the USA on Liberty LST 7130 (Stereo) – STEREO Mix used. Music arranged and conducted by ANDRE PREVIN.

The 10-leaf foldout inlay pictures the gorgeous artwork in full for both LPs. There are no liner notes per say (mores the pity) – but the inlay is far better than a gatefold slip of paper. You get the full twelve months of famous pictorial poses – Julie is various swimsuits and leggy dresses showing off her womanly wiles and curves - sensationally saucy stuff for the day. But all of that is naught to the truly beautiful CD Audio you get the second you start playing the expertly crafted songs. RON HILL did the 24-bit Digital Remasters at Abbey Road Studios in London from first generation tapes and both albums sound spotless – clean – full of presence and warmth. The Stereo "Your Number Please..." is particularly gorgeous – every string pluck and breathy vocal as clear as bell.

The "Calendar Girl" album has a month-by-month song rota with the 'thirteenth' tagged on at the end. Even romantic slush like "Sleigh Ride In June" comes up roses and the Nat King Cole piano-roll of "September In The Rain" gives a welcome lift in pace. But it when she gets 'hot' and sexy in "Time For August" ('gals with only man a year' she croons) or smoulders on the gorgeous "November Twilight" where she purrs 'the ache of long lost things' - that you feel the magic of her persona. Admittedly some of the tracks like "June In January" and "This October" feature intrusive and coy backing singers that has dated them badly. But outside of that – it’s a great period album.

The Stereo "Your Number Please..." can only be described as 'sumptuous' - every song and arranging swirling around your boudoir in glorious Stereo. An album of cover version homages to her favourite Male Vocalists - she does Nat King Cole's "When I Fall In Love", the Freshman's "It's A Blue World and Matt Monroe's perennial classic "Angel Eyes". On tracks like Johnny Mercer's "One More For The Road", Fred Astaire's "They Can't Take Away From Me" and Bing Crosby's "It Could Happen To You" - her voice is close to sung perfection. Her rendition of the Bob Hope and Shirley Ross classic "Two Sleepy People" from the 1939 film "The Big Broadcast" is filled with swooping strings and echoed vocals. The whole bedroom swoon ends on a gorgeous "Learnin' The Blues" – a tune made famous by ole blue eyes himself (Frank Sinatra) as Julie sings forlornly "...the dancefloor is deserted...you play the same love song...it's the tenth time you've heard it..."

This is a sweetheart of a release and one that boasts exceptional Audio - classy like the good lady herself. And that "Your Number Please..." LP is an overlooked genre gem...

"You Only Live Twice - Original Soundtrack Album" by JOHN BARRY (2003 EMI/Capitol CD – Doug Schwartz Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Improper Advances..."

When the entire James Bond musical catalogue turned up on remastered CD in 2003 - many fans got excited under their immaculately groomed tuxedos - quietly pawing their wallets in Soundtrack glee. I was one of those nerds and was/still am - giddily proud of it. I immediately ran out and purchased 1964’s “Goldfinger” and 1971’s “Diamonds Are Forever” on 2003 CDs - and this – for me the big daddy of them all – 1967’s “You Only Live Twice” – so brilliantly scored by the mighty JOHN BARRY.

Dugout volcanic lairs, cars being dropped into the ocean from helicopter magnets, capsules being gobbled up in space by a man with a dodgy eye and a purring cat, the self-assembly gyrocopter Little Nellie in four suitcases and Japanese babes Kung-Fu-ing their way through a dozen ugly bad guys before their lentil breakfast. What’s not to love? “You Only Live Twice” began the template for Bond that we’ve known and loved for more than 40 years and its music hasn’t aged – only grown in stature.

Not only that – but there’s also a huge haul of primo previously unreleased material made available for the first time here (most of it better than what was released). And like the other titles in this massive catalogue reissue series – DOUG SCHWARTZ has remastered the original master tapes for  “You Only Live Twice” with real skill. Everything about the stunning Audio Quality on this CD rocks. Here are the Bond Sab details...

UK released March 2003 (February 2003 in the USA) - "You Only Live Twice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" by JOHN BARRY on EMI Capitol 72435-41418-2-9 (Barcode 724354141829) breaks down as follows (72:45 minutes):

1. You Only Live Twice (Title Song) - Sung by Nancy Sinatra

2. Capsule In Space

3. Fight At Kobi Dock - Helga

4. Tanaka’s World

5. A Drop In The Ocean

6. The Death Of Aki

7. Mountains And Sunsets [Side 2]

8. The Wedding

9. James Bond – Astronaut?

10. Countdown For Blofeld

11. Bond Averts World War Three

12. You Only Live Twice (End Title) – Vocal Sung by Nancy Sinatra

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "You Only Live Twice: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - released July 1967 in the UK on United Artists ULP 1171 (Mono) and SULP 1171 (Stereo) and in the USA on United Artists UAL 4155 (mono) and UAS 5155 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used throughout.

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS:

13. James Bond In Japan

14. Aki, Tiger and Osato

15. Little Nellie

16. Soviet Capsule

17. Spectre And Village

18. James Bond - Ninja

19. Twice Is The Only Way

The 10-page booklet has affectionate, witty and informative liner notes from JEFF BOND (no relation) with Page 5 being a double foldout sporting an array of colour stills from the movie (Donald Pleasance as Blofeld, the Toyota 2000GT, Connery in Little Nellie etc).

But the big news here is the SOUND - this CD sounds utterly glorious. It opens with the ominous creep of “Capsule In Space” where Barry builds the music to a swirling climax – strings, wind instruments, the kettle drums – it all comes at you with such power and majesty as to be positively off-putting. It’s followed by the wicked “Fight At Kobe Docks – Helga” where Bond encounters baddies on the ground and rooftops of warehouses. It starts out warm but then the bass and keys kick in and that brass refrain as Connery punches his way out of trouble (unbelievable clarity). “The Death Of Aki” is merely the theme music played in a Japanese style and again there’s incredible depth in both the music and the transfer. Then you’re clobbered with true cinematic genius – Barry’s instrumental “Mountains And Sunsets” which literally conjures up the magic and glamour of Bond in your living room. Pure 007 comes in with “Bond Averts World War III” where all the themes we know and love about James come together in one climatic piece. Utterly brilliant...

As if the Soundtrack itself isn't the Georgie Best - you're hit with a wad of Previously Unreleased material from the original film that's been in the can for 40 years too long. "James Bond And Japan” lasts a fulsome 10:41 minutes and brings together all the best incidental music the movie has in a sort of mini Bond fest - menace and intrigue – warmth and beauty – danger looming - back to triumph - its just brilliant. But thrill of thrills is the brilliant 3:45 minutes of "Little Nellie" which will surely reduce most Bond devotees to a quivering wreck of nostalgia. As those plucked strings leads to big brass – it slinks along until you can see our Gyrocopter hurtling through the air being attacked – then you’re hit with the “007” theme which is too brill for mere words – wow is the only response...

BLOFELD: "We are now impregnable!

Goodbye Mister Bond!”

Well he wasn’t impregnable and James didn’t go bye-byes. Open your heart to your inner 007 and get this Ernst Stavro of a CD into your Little Nellie. Improper advances indeed...

"Diamonds Are Forever - Original Soundtrack Album" by JOHN BARRY (2003 EMI/Capitol CD – Doug Schwartz Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 300+ Others Is Available In My

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"...Bitten By The Bug..." 

When the entire Bond catalogue turned up on remastered CD in 2003 - many JOHN BARRY fans got fidgety - quietly pawing their wallets in Soundtrack glee (from 1962's "Dr. No" through to "Diamonds Are Forever" in 1972 and beyond). And having mitched from school six times in 1971 to see "Diamonds Are Forever" at Dublin's Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street (which I thought was the coolest thing in the world) - this little beauty was always going to be my first port of call when it reappeared in decent remastered form. And what a winner it is...

Not only is there a huge haul of previously unreleased material made available for the first time here (most of it better than what was released) - it's tastefully presented and has been remastered with pure love from the original master tapes by top Engineer DOUG SCHWARTZ (assisted and remixed by Michael McDonald) to truly spectacular effect - much like the films would be with the Lowry Process a few years later (frame-by-frame restoration). Here is the Dastardly Blofeld and comely Tiffany Case details...

UK and USA released March 2003 - "Diamonds Are Forever (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" by JOHN BARRY on EMI Capitol 72435-41420-2-4 (Barcode 724354142024) breaks down as follows (75:48 minutes):

1. Diamonds Are Forever (Main Title) - Sung by Shirley Bassey

2. Bond Meets Bambi And Thumper

3. Moon Buggy Ride

4. Circus, Circus

5. Death At The Whyte House

6. Diamonds Are Forever (Source Instrumental)

7. Diamonds Are Forever (Bond and Tiffany)

8. Bond Smells A Rat

9. Tiffany Case

10. 007 And Counting

11. Q's Trick

12. To Hell With Blofeld

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Diamonds Are Forever: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" - released December 1971 in the UK on United Artists UAS 29216 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5220.

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS:

13. Gunbarrel And Manhunt

14. Mr. Wint And Mr. Kidd/Bond To Holland

15. Peter Franks

16. Airport Source/On The Road

17. Slumber, Inc

18. The Whyte House

19. Plenty, Then Tiffany

20. Following The Diamonds

21. Additional And Alternate Cues

The 10-page booklet has affectionate, witty and informative liner notes from JEFF BOND (no relation) with Page 5 being a double foldout sporting an array of colour stills from the movie - Sean Connery as James Bond swinging from pulleys outside the penthouse apartment of Willard Whyte's Vegas skyscraper, Jill St. John as Tiffany Case in a bath washing 007's hairy chest (I'm glad someone is), Charles Grey as Blofeld posing with a sword and a menacing look, Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole at the crap tables (posing with as little as possible) and a brief glimpse of the wonderfully camp killer couple Putter Smith and Bruce Glover (as Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd) trying to dispense with our James via a Bomba Supreme and some flaming kebab skewers (nice). Alas there are no photos of Lola Larson and Trina Parks as the acrobatic Bambi and Thumper kicking the crap out of 007 like he deserved it. The last page has reissue credits and some discography info (United Artists released the theme song as a 7" single in the UK and USA where it charted at 38 and 57 respectively).

But the big news here is the SOUND - this CD sounds utterly glorious. Recorded in October 1971 by Barry at CTS Studios in London (Engineered by John Richards) - it was afforded all the luxury of modern recording facilities - and man does it show. The moment the brass of "Diamonds Are Forever" hits you followed by Shirley Bassey's superb vocal - you know you're in for a thrill. The brilliantly scored "Moon Buggy Ride" is pure Bond - all blasting brass and strings building until it goes into that strings only centrepiece - the audio is truly fabulous. The slinky lounge piano of "Source Material" is gorgeous too but the absolute bees knees is surely "007 And Counting" where Bond is wrestling to stop the laser satellite from space starting World War III - it's just magisterial - beautifully recorded and transferred.

As if the Soundtrack itself isn't the Georgie Best - you're hit with a wad of Previously Unreleased material from the original film that's been in the can for 40 years too long. "Gunbarrel And Manhunt" is like a mini Bond fest all rolled up into one - first you get the Sixties 007 theme we know and love - then blasting brass - then smooching strings - then menace and intrigue - back to triumph - its just brilliant. But thrill of thrills is the brilliant 4 minutes of "Mr. Wint And Mr. Kidd/Bond To Holland" where the "bitten by the bug" duo of scorpion killers are gingerly dispensing with anyone who gave them diamonds. It's masterful John Barry - slinking along - adding so much to the film (you see the thing in your mind's eye).

"If God had wanted man to fly Mister Wint...

He would have given him wings Mister Kidd!"

Well now the dapper chap has been given wings. Open your heart to your inner 007 and get this fabulous CD in your Bath-O-Sub. La Bomba Supreme indeed...

"Second Winter: Legacy Edition" by JOHNNY WINTER (2004 Columbia/Legacy 2CD Remaster) - A Review for Mark Barry...

"...Been A Long Time Coming..."

Winter's third album – the impossibly cool "Second Winter" (a 3-sided 2LP set where Side 4 was left blank deliberately) was his second platter for Columbia Records and delivered on the Boogie promise of his May 1969 label debut "Johnny Winter" (both vinyl treasures I've had on my turntables for over 45 years). I never in my wildest dreams thought Sony would afford "Second Winter" a 'Legacy Edition' 2CD set – yet they have – and they've come up with a fan-pleasing barnstormer into the axe-wielding bargain. Here are the fret-burning details...

UK and Europe released 18 October 2004 (August 2004 in the USA) - "Second Winter: Legacy Edition" by JOHNNY WINTER on Columbia/Legacy COL 511231 2 (Barcode 5099751123125) is a 2CD Remaster housed in a Stickered Plastic Outer Slipcase and plays outs as follows:

Disc 1 - "Second Winter" (55:13 minutes):

1. Memory Pain [Side 1]

2. I'm Not So Sure

3. The Good Love

4. Slippin' And Slidin' [Side 2]

5. Miss Ann

6. Johnny B. Goode

7. Highway 61 Revisited

8. I Love Everybody [Side 3]

9. Hustled Down In Texas

10. I Hate Everybody

11. Fast Life Rider

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 3rd studio album "Second Winter" - released 27 October 1969 in the USA as a 3-sided 2LP set on Columbia KCS 9947 and January 1970 in the UK on CBS 66321 (Side 4 was left blank on purpose). Produced by Johnny Winter – it peaked at No. 55 in the USA (December 1969) and made No. 59 in the UK (May 1970).

BONUS TRACKS (Previously Unreleased):

12. Early In The Morning

13. Tell The Truth (Instrumental)

MUSICIANS for the LP:

JOHNNY WINTER – Lead Vocals, Guitars & Mandolin

EDGAR WINTER – Piano, Organ, Harpsichord & Alto Sax

TOMMY SHANNON – Bass (except DENNIS COLLINS on “Good Love”)

"UNCLE" JOHN TURNER – Drums & Percussion

Disc 2 (72:10 minutes): "Live At The Royal Albert Hall 17 April 1970" – All Tracks PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

1. Help Me

2. Johnny B. Goode

3. Mama Talk To Your Daughter

4. It's My Own Fault

5. Black Cat Bone

6. Mean Town Blues

7. Tobacco Road

8. Frankenstein

9. Tell The Truth

MUSICIANS for the Live Set:

JOHNNY WINTER – Lead Vocals, Electric and Slide Guitar

EDGAR WINTER – Saxophone, Keyboards and Vocals (Lead on "Frankenstein", Co-Lead with Johnny on "Tell The Truth")

TOMMY SHANNON – Bass

"UNCLE" JOHN TURNER – Drums

The 24-page Colour booklet features unpublished photos from the period, ANDY ALEDORT liner notes (Associate Editor for ‘Guitar World’ magazine) that include interviews with Johnny and Edgar Winter as well as the live band members who played the Royal Albert Hall show in April 1970 featured on Disc 2 – Bassist Tommy Shannon and Drummer John Turner. Each of the see-through CD trays features blue and white photos (in keeping with the original artwork) underneath the CDs.  JERRY RAPPAPORT produced the Legacy Edition while JOSEPH M. PALMACCIO did the overall Mastering. BOB AUGER recorded and mixed the Live set - produced for 2004 release by JERRY RAPPAPORT.

Some album covers are so damn cool – and “Second Winter” is one of them. Richard Avedon’s double-imaged picture is the very stuff of something simple turned into something great – that flying white hair suggesting guitar ecstasy – something fluid – like his playing. The album opens with a Percy Mayfield cover version – the wonderful “Memory Pain” – a hit for Mayfield way back in 1964 on Tangerine Records. Right from the off you get huge chugging guitar and the Remaster starts to shine. Not to be outdone by old magic – his own “I’m Not Sure” is superb – and introduces layers of keyboards in a Funky Stevie Wonder “Innervisions” kind of way. Bassist Dennis Collins plays once on the album – accompanying himself on his own “The Good Love” which Johnny turns into a rapidly played Rocker. That wicked track is followed by two out-and-out speedball classics – a duo of Little Richard Specialty sides – “Slippin’ And Slidin’” and “Mary Ann”. The piano boogie intro to “Slippin’ And Slidin’” reminds me so much of John Lennon’s version five years later on his 1975 “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album. About one-minute twenty into the piano and sax old time Rock 'n' Roll - Johnny lets rips with the most brilliant guitar solo - fusing the song into something so 1970. His six-minute cover of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is a souped-up slide fest but I've never been particularly fond of it.

The immediately impressive "I Love Everybody" turned up on the "Fill Your Head With Rock" CBS Records Double-Album Sampler in 1970 – alerting many a budding kid to his amazing guitar playing and slightly druggy nature (love that giggle at the start). "Hustled Down In Texas" has always been a fave of mine - rip-roaring up and down the frets like an unleashed freight train (you can hear him grunt in the solo). The organ-jazzy "I Hate Everybody" is a rapid-fire hybrid between Georgie Fame scat and Winter's chugging rhythm and the last cut - the seven-minute "Fast Life Rider" is even more experimental - feeling like a Drums and Guitar for much of its duration. Better for me is a Previously Unreleased cover of a Louis Jordan classic "Early In The Morning". The remaster is remarkable - mixed in 2004 by THOM CADLEY at Sony's studios in New York. It's a raucous rocker that would have ended the album better than "Fast Life Rider". That boogie is followed by another cover – this time we’re given the R&B flavored instrumental “Tell The Truth” by Ray Charles – a song the band turns into a 9-minute celebration on the live set (lyrics and all). Both could easily have been slotted onto a Side 4 of the album with some quickly recorded covers thrown in...ah well...

Johnny asks the crowd "...what's happening..." as he begins the live set. Immediately you're hit by the sheer power of his band and that incredible playing. The drums and bass of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" are spot on with the vocals maybe a little too far back. Things really start to jump with his Chuck Berry fave "Johnny B. Goode" where he assures the pleased audience that 'he played his guitar just like ringing a bell' - and indeed he did. J.B. Lenoir's cautionary tale "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" boogies even more - the band cooking by now. He brings it down to some real power Blues with B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" - eleven and half minutes of fabulous Rock-Blues from a master player. His own "Black Cat Bones" livens things up considerably with some sensational slide playing but that's as nothing to the brilliant Bo Diddley chug of "Mean Town Blues" that bops along like ZZ Top for a full eleven minutes. We get all jerky motion and Cream with their cover of "Tobacco Road" - a fantastic organ and guitar spectacle with rapped vocals from Edgar that very cleverly leads into the big one - a 9-minute "Frankenstein". The single would sit on top of the American charts in instrumental form in April 1973 (Epic 10967). Even though there are only four of them onstage - they seem to be making the racket of six. Drummer Turner gets his solo during "Frankenstein" which admittedly goes on a tad - but it ends on that huge riffage (no keyboards yet). They finish up with a crowd-pleasing "Tell The Truth" - a bopper that sees Johnny let rip while Edgar joins him on the verses and some rapid-fire scat.

Like many I suspect - I used to take Johnny Winter albums for granted. But since his sad passing I can't seem to get enough of him and his astonishing playing. Dreadful puns aside - there's no Johnny Winter of discontent here folks...

PS: If you want more - check out his late Seventies collaborations with MUDDY WATERS on Blue Sky Records which feature Winter producing and playing on all (see the 3CD "Original Album Classics" box set). See also my review for the "Woodstock Experience" version of "Johnny Winter" his debut for Columbia Records in 1969. It comes with a superb bonus disc of period live material and beautiful packaging including a poster (see reviews)...

"Bare Wires" by JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS (2007 Decca 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Open Up A New Door..."

When this CD was reissued in September 2007 – John Mayall had released his 55th album in 2005 called “Road Dogs”. This strapping Cheshire lad with the Blues hot-wired into his very DNA is 84 in November 2016 and still touring – wow!

In November 1968 Mayall would release the brilliant "Blues From Laurel Canyon" album only months after the June 1968 issue of the equally cool "Bare Wires". And on re-listening to this wicked CD remaster today (expertly transferred from first generation Stereo master tapes by Paschal Byrne) – I'm not in the least bit surprised we're still loving "Wires" and "Laurel Canyon" from that explosively creative decade. These albums represented John Mayall at the height of his Blues Rock songwriting powers – complimented by a band that featured collective genius in the shapes of Chris Mercer and Dick Heckstall-Smith on Saxophones, Jon Hiseman on Drums, Henry Lowther on Cornet and Violin, Tony Reeves on Bass and of course the future Rolling Stones guitar genius of Mick Taylor. And all of this musical exploration helmed by Mayall working Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica and four different types of keyboards. What’s not to love? And it’s less than a fiver in most places. Here is the Saxophone flicks, groovy chicks and zippy licks...

UK released September 2007 – "Bare Wires" by JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS on Decca 984 217-8 (Barcode 602498421789) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD and plays out as follows (73:58 minutes):

1. Bare Wires Suite (22:59 minutes)

(a) Bare Wires

(b) Where Did I Belong

(c) I Started Walking

(d) Open Up A New Door

(e) Fire

(f) I Know Now

(g) Look In The Mirror

ANOTHER SIDE

2. I'm A Stranger [Side 2]

3. No Reply

4. Hartley Quits

5. Killing Time

6. She's Too Young

7. Sandy

Tracks 1 to 7 are the album "Bare Wires" – released June 1968 in the UK on Decca LK 4972 (Mono) and SKL 4945 (Stereo) in the USA on London PS 537 in Stereo only (the Stereo mix is used for the CD). The album was co-produced by Blue Horizon label boss MIKE VERNON with John Mayall – and peaked at No. 3 on the UK LP charts - No. 59 in the USA – credited in both countries to JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS.

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Picture On The Wall

9. Jenny

Tracks 8 and 9 are the non-album MONO A&B-sides of a UK 7" single released February 1968 on Decca F 12732

10. Knocker's Step Forward

11. Hide And Seek

Tracks 10 and 11 are session outtakes recorded April 1968 that first appeared on the October 1971 UK compilation LP "Thru The Years" on Decca SKL 5086

12. Intro – Look At The Girl

13. Start Walkin'

Tracks 12 and 13 recorded at Falmer College, Brighton, UK on 25 May 1968 that were first released April 1983 on the "Primal Solos" LP in the UK on Decca TAB 66.

The 16-page booklet is beautifully laid out. There is a collage of black and white photos of the band in the studio, playing live at various UK venues, British and US trade adverts for the Decca album and even the lyrics at the end. Punctuating the period snaps (many in colour) are really informative and knowledgeable liner notes from MARK POWELL - head honcho at the revered Esoteric Recordings CD reissue company. And all of that reissue goodness is complimented by the best bit...the Audio...

PASCHAL BYRNE has done stunning Remasters at The Audio Arching Company in London from original tapes. Byrne has a long-standing Audio Engineer career and multiple prestigious reissue credits to his name (he also did the Mayall “So Many Roads” 4CD Anthology Book Set in 2010).  His work here is exemplary – great presence – the tracks allowed to breath so you can hear the musicians and not dampened to avoid hiss. This CD sounds fabulous...

The album is somewhat dominated by the 7-part 23-minute "Bare Wires Suite" - a kind of English Blues meets Frank Zappa avant-garde Jazz wig out. Each band member gets their soloist part - Mayall opening proceedings on a lone organ. And just when you think it's all getting out of hand - he slows the pace in "I Know Now" section singing "...they'll be needing me to lean on much more..." before bringing it all home with Saxophones on the last part. Even today it stands up and doesn't feel as long as its playing time would suggest.

Side 2 opens with some slinky Georgie Fame nightclub organ - "I'm A Stranger" sounding just fabulous - all Bluesy and Jazz at one and the same time. A 'one, two, three' count in prefaces the Harmonica shuffle boogie of the very cool "No Reply" while the band's goes all Colosseum with the Jazz/Guitar rock of the salacious yet honest "She's So Young" - a song about a lass whose just about to turn seventeen - an event our John is a little too eager to see arrive. It ends on the weird Acoustic Slide Blues of "Sandy" - the kind of ditty you'd hear on a John Mellencamp album in 1989.

But what elevates this CD reissue into the solid 5-star bracket is the superb extras - all six are more than worthy inclusions. "Picture On The Wall" is the kind of sliding Dobro Blues Rock that I adore slinking along like a naughty brat enjoying himself too much. That single's B-side is "Jenny" - a four and half-minute Slow Crawl that sounds like deep Fleetwood Mac Blues complete with that 'Mono' echo on the guitar and repeated vocals (the remaster here is so clean). The Stereo duo of 1968 outtakes that turned up on the 1971 compilation "Thru The Years" feature amazing guitar and Sax work on "Knocker's Step Forward" - an instrumental that boogies - and a rocking Harmonica and Guitar driver called "Hide And Seek" - which is just great. The live stuff only shows what a shin-kicking band they were live.

So there you have it - "Bare Wires" is still a wickedly good album and I can understand why kids in Blighty pushed it up to No. 3 on the LP charts. The Decca platter that followed in November 1968 "Blues From Laurel Canyon" was another winner cut from pretty much the same cloth (see separate review). And I’ll wear those duds any day of the week...