"Dirty Blues Band/Stone Dirt" by DIRTY BLUES BAND (2007 Beat Goes On 2LPs Remastered Onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Bring It On Home..." 

I came to the DIRTY BLUES BAND via Led Zeppelin. I was trawling the racks of some dusty record shack back in the murky 70ts when I stumbled on the rather cool-looking "Stone Dirt" LP for a couple of nicker - sat there in the small 'Blues' section - forlorn, unloved and without a prom date. I was on a massive Zeppelin tip at the time (probably "Physical Graffiti") and noticed the first track "Bring It On Home" and then "I Can't Quit You Baby". The Zepsters had of course 'adapted' both for 1969's "Zeppelin II" and "Led Zeppelin" respectively.

Written by Chess Records in-house genius Willie Dixon and made a hit by Sonny Boy Williamson – "Bring It On Home" had always been a favourite Blues-Rock poison of mine. So I bought the LP anyway (back when you could afford to experiment with titles) – got it home - slapped it onto my trusty Garrard SP25 - and to my utter amazement - out pops an almost identikit rendition of the Zeppelin 'adapted' version. And given that the album received its UK release on Liberty Records in February 1969 - this is where they lifted the idea from (naughty boys).

In 2016 few remember the six California White Boys of the DIRTY BLUES BAND - but this fantastic Blues-Rock CD is a stone-winner if you dig Paul Butterfield, Jellybread, Bacon Fat and Johnny Winter's early career with Columbia in the late Sixties. Featuring the combined talents of singer and Blues Harmonica player ROD "Gingerman" PIAZZA (see my review for 'The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions' for Bacon Fat and George Smith which featured Piazza) and ace guitarist GLENN ROSS CAMPBELL (The Misunderstood, Juicy Lucy and Joe Cocker's Grease Band) – the debut was recorded September 1967 and like it’s follow up offers up a straightforward diet of hard-hitting Blues-Rock that channels the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on every song. Here are the murky details...

UK released November 2007 (reissued October 2009) - "Dirty Blues Band/Stone Dirt" by DIRTY BLUES BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD 784 (Barcode 5017261207845) offers their 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (79:47 minutes):

1. Don't Start Me Talkin' [Sonny Boy Williamson cover]

2. What is Soul, Babe? [John Milliken and Rod Piazza song]

3. Hound Dog [Leiber/Stoller song - Elvis Presley cover]

4. New Orleans Woman [Roy Brown cover]

5. I'll Do Anything Babe [Rod Piazza song]

6. Checkin' Up On My Baby [Sonny Boy Williamson cover] - Side 2

7. Shake It Babe [Robert Sandell and Rod Piazza song]

8. Worry, Worry Blues [Rod Piazza song]

9. Born Under A Bad Sign [Booker T. Jones and William Bell song - Albert King cover]

10. Spoonful [Willie Dixon song - Howlin' Wolf cover]

11. Chicken Shack [Ike Turner cover]

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Dirty Blues Band" - released February 1968 in the USA on Bluesway BL 6010 (Mono) and Bluesway BLS 6010 (Stereo) and August 1968 in the UK on Stateside SL 10234 (Mono) and Stateside SSL 10234 (Stereo) - this CD uses the STEREO Mix.

"Dirty Blues Band" LP Line Up:

ROD "Gingerman" PIAZZA - Harmonica and Lead Vocals

GLENN ROSS CAMPBELL - Lead Guitar

ROBERT SANDELL - 6-String Guitar

PAT MALONEY - Organ

LEE MORRISON - Bass

JOHN MILLIKEN - Drums

12. Bring it On Home [Willie Dixon song - Sonny Boy Williamson cover]

13. It's My Own Fault Baby [John Lee Hooker cover]

14. I Can't Quit You Baby [Willie Dixon song - Otis Rush cover]

15. Tell Me [Rod Piazza song]

16. She's The One [Rod Piazza song]

17. My Baby [Willie Dixon song - Little Walter cover]

18. Sittin' Down Wonderin' [Rod Piazza song]

19. Six Sides [Rod Piazza song]

20. You've Got To Love Her With Feeling [Freddie King and Sonny Thompson cover]

21. Gone Too Long [Rod Piazza song]

Tracks 12 to 21 are their second and last studio album "Stone Dirt" – released October 1968 in the USA on Bluesway BLS-6020 (Stereo) and February 1969 in the UK on Stateside SL 10268 (Mono) and Stateside SSL 10268 (Stereo) - the STEREO mix is used for this CD.

"Stone Dirt" LP Line Up:

ROD "Gingerman" PIAZZA - Harmonica and Lead Vocals

RICK LUNETTA - Guitar

PAT MALONEY - Organ and Piano

GREGG ANDERSON – Bass

DAVE MITTER – Drums

Guests:

JIMMY FORREST – Tenor Sax

WILLIE GREEN – Baritone Sax

FREDDIE HILL - Trumpet

It comes with a tasty looking card slipcase - a 12-page booklet with affectionate and very informative liner notes from DAVID WELLS (with acknowledgments to Mike Stax and the Ugly Things magazine). There are recording credits and a few repro photos. But the big news is a fabulous new Remaster from ANDREW THOMPSON using original tapes. This CD Boogies, Blues and generally wants to start a fight with your Stereo. And it has a near 80-minute playing time. Really great stuff and a blast to listen too...

LEE MAGID produced both albums – but in different ways. While the second benefitted from a polished audio – he went for a loose 'live and raw as a wound' sound on the first record. The band was reportedly unhappy with the sonic results but I'd argue that its 'miked up raw ands real dirty' sound actually produced an exciting uncluttered feel. This sucker Rocks. What you have here is hard-hitting Chicago Blues with Glenn Ross Campbell blistering away on the Guitar while Piazza blasts that deep 'Blues' Harmonica into the microphone like he’s literally tapping into the Delta. The first album sounds like Jeff Beck's "Truth" - huge and rocking. Drummer John Milliken had seen the Paul Butterfield Blues Band supporting The Byrds a year prior to recording the album in September 1967 and was duly blown away. And you can 'so' hear that Elektra artist’s influence all over the album – especially in the covers of Roy Brown's "New Orleans Woman" and the loud and bluesy opener "Don't Start Me Talking". It's a bit like a crude version of Stan Webb's Chicken Shack in your living room.

But even more impressive is the emergence of Piazza as a Blues songwriter. His "I'll Do Anything Babe" is probably the best thing on the first LP and you wish he'd penned more. And what can you say about the Mike Bloomfield meets Ritchie Blackmore guitar genius of Glenn Ross Campbell. He left after the first album but was the axeman who did that staggering slide guitar on Juicy Lucy's wild debut 7" single "Who Do You Love?" on Vertigo VO 1 in February 1970 – surely one of 'the' great Slide-Guitar Rock singles of the decade. His playing on the debut is the same – unbelievable for a kid under 20...

Magid didn't mess around for the production of "Stone Dirt" - more polished and therefore in many ways more accessible. And the accomplishment and progression of the band on the second album is startling - plus it's a more even-handed affair with five covers sided by five cracking originals. The opener is my poison - a cover of "Bring it On Home" the arrangement of which Zeppelin half-inched. I've played this song on CD-Rs to people and they're jaws drop open - don't I know that tune from somewhere?

While Bluesway in America tried "Hound Dog" b/w "New Orleans Woman" as a 45 way back in April 1968 (Bluesway 61016) for the debut LP - neither they nor Stateside in the UK put out a 45 for "Stone Dirt". Shame really as the punchy three-minute Piazza original "Six Sides" with its Little Walter fun-time vibe would have been a good choice (with the superb full-on Blues cover of John Lee Hooker's "It's My Own Fault Baby" on the flip-side). Replacing Campbell Ross it was the turn of Rick Lunetta to shine on guitar for the slow and powerful "You Got To Love Her With A Feeling" - a rare case of it being better than the Freddie King original. The LP ends on the R&B boogie of "Gone Too Long" and you're reminded of Johnny Winter meets Spencer Davis Group (guitar and organ). The whole record is just 'so' enjoyable - in fact - top marks to all at Beat Goes On of the UK for making these forgotten nuggets available again.

"...I done bought my ticket...got my load...conductor hollered...all abroad..." - they Harmonica warble on "Bring It On Home".

Watch this train move down the track and into your CD player... 

"Freedom Flight" by SHUGGIE OTIS (Inside The 2012 Sony/Epic 'Original Album Classics' 3CD Mini Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Pretty Music I Hear…"

Like most people I came across this superlative American guitarist in a roundabout way - via The Brothers Johnson and their huge Funk/Soul hit of 1977 "Strawberry Letter No. 23" (which Shuggie Otis wrote). That Otis original came off his lesser-seen "Freedom Flight" album from 1971.

This 2012 Mini Box Set from Sony is the first time that three of his fabulous (and rare) Seventies LPs have been brought together in one place - and at a more than reasonable price too. It breaks down as follows...

UK and Europe released Monday 9 January 2012 (17 January 2012 in the USA) - "Original Album Classics" by SHUGGIE OTIS is a 3CD mini box set on Sony/Epic 88691901782 (Barcode 886919017823) and contains three solo LPs from the Seventies in single 5" card repro sleeves. “Freedom Flight” is the second (38:30 minutes):

1. Ice Cold Daydream

2. Strawberry Letter 23

3. Sweet Thang

4. Me And My Woman

5. Someone Always Singing [Side 2]

6. Purple

7. Freedom Flight

Tracks 1 to 7 are his 2^nd solo LP "Freedom Flight" - released September 1971 in the USA on Epic Records E 30752. Produced by JOHNNY OTIS - it had no UK release

It doesn't say who remastered these albums or where, but the sound quality is wonderful (probably the 2001 versions). The debut is a little hissy in places as are the beat boxes used as percussion on the 3rd LP "Inspiration Information" (sounds like the back beat used on the Timmy Thomas classic "Why Can't We Live Together"), but other than that it all sounds so much better than other releases I have of the same material. The bass in particular is so sweet and by the time you get to the improved production qualities of the second and third LPs - the audio quality is great. And as with all of these "Original Classic Albums" 3/5 CD mini box sets, the lyrics and recording details are downloadable from Sony's website [...]

His 2nd solo LP "Freedom Flight" is the one that will interest Soul Boys who like their Blues and Rock with a slightly trippy even spacey feel. It has only 7 tracks because its title song is a 13-minute instrumental that sounds like Jazz meets Blues meets Mellow meets Santana - it's 'so' good. "Purple" is a very B.B. King number, while it gets a little Stax funky with the superb "Sweet Thang" which opens the album. "Me And My Woman" is a Gene Barge song once covered by Albert King - and of course there's the brilliant "Strawberry Letter 23" (lyrics above) that still sounds effortlessly cool to this day. In fact "Freedom Flight" was a huge leap forward from the first album and featured high-profile guests included Jazz fusionist George Duke, the drummer Aynsley Dunbar, his dad Johnny Otis and Wilton Felder of The Crusaders.

Niggles - as I mentioned above - his first LP was "Kooper Session..." on Epic and combining that with the rare "Cuttin' Up" album by The Johnny Otis Show (which featured Shuggie) - this could have been a gobsmacking 5CD mini box set, but that would probably have been cost prohibitive. Other than that - like the dinky 3CD Fleetwood Mac box in this series - this is a peach of a release and finally makes music available to the masses that should be heard by the same.

To sum up - part Blues, part Soul, Rock, Acid House and Soulful - Shuggie Otis' music has always been hard to pigeonhole and all the better for it.

So - if you haven't heard his catalogue before, I urge you to take on a chance on this. It's a genuine voyage of discovery - especially if you like your Blues, R'n'B and Soul poison with a slightly spacey tint.

Fabarooney people – and easily a 2012 'Reissue of the Year' for me... 

"Will The Circle Be Unbroken" by THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND and FRIENDS (2002 Capitol 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Let's Do It The First Time And To Hell With The Rest Of It…" 

Hand me that Jack Daniels buddy and the phone number of Hank Williams’ booking agent… 

Bringing together the old and new worlds of Country, Bluegrass and Old Timey Music could have been a fool’s errand for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1972 – but as you can hear from this beautifully remastered 2CD set – the music transcends everything. 

What you get here is old-school musicianship steeped in eons of tradition (Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, Mother Maybelle Carter and Jimmy Martin) enjoying themselves with enthusiastic young bucks wanting to be respectful to people they love with every part of their DNA. It’s a feast of music, talent, characters and Americana…

And although the songs are mostly about the misery of whiskey, car crashes on the highway, coal mines, relatives and cattle going to that great gig in the sky, cheating women and even more untrustworthy husbands (while God oversees the whole shebang) – this is a jolly album – and with the giggling and friendly studio chatter in between takes  – a warm listen too. In fact as an event - you’re musically reminded of that other fantastic Old Timey Revival and Celebration some 30 years after this coming together – the Coens’ majestically filmed “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” from 2000  - a soundtrack that quietly nicked tunes from this 3LP set wholesale. Here are the black mountain rags and Tennessee studs…

Released May 2002 – “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” by THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND and FRIENDS on Capitol 5351482 (Barcode 724353514822) offers the 3LP set Remastered onto 2CDs and fiddles and banjos its way into your heart as follows:

Disc 1 (57:28 minutes):

1. Grand Ole Pry Song [Jimmy Martin Lead Vocals]

2. Keep On The Sunny Side [Mother Maybelle Carter Lead Vocals]

3. Nashville Blues [Instrumental with Earl Scruggs on Leads Banjo]

4. You Are My Flower [Jeff Hanna, Les Thompson and Gary Scruggs on Lead]

5. The Precious Jewel [Roy Acuff on Lead Vocals]

6. Dark As A Dungeon [Merle Travis on Lead Vocals]

7. Tennessee Stud [Doc Watson on Lead Vocals]

8. Black Mountain Rag [Doc Watson on Lead Vocals]

9. Wreck On The Highway [Roy Acuff on Lead Vocals]

10. The End Of The World [Instrumental with Doc Watson and Earl Scuggs on Guitars and Pete “Oswald” Kirby on Dobro]

11. I Saw The Light [Roy Acuff on Lead Vocals – Hank Williams cover]

12. Sunny Side Of The Mountain [Lead Vocals and Guitar by Jimmy Martin]

13. Nine Pound Hammer [Merle Travis on Lead Vocals and Guitar with John McEuen on Banjo and Jimmie Fadden on Harmonica]

14. Losin’ You (Might Be The Best Thing yet) [Jimmy Martin on Lead Vocal and Guitar]

15. Honky Tonkin’ [Jimmie Fadden on Lead Vocals – Hank Williams cover]

16. You Don’t Know My Mind [Jimmy Martin on Lead Vocal and Guitar – Jimmie Skinner cover]

17. My Walkin’ Shoes [Jimmy Martin on Lead Vocals and Guitar]

Disc 2 (72:40 minutes):

1. Lonesome Fiddle Blues [Vasser Clements on Fiddle - Instrumental]

2. Cannonball Rag [Merle Travis on Guitar and Junior Huskey on Bass - Instrumental]

3. Avalanche [Vasser Clements on Fiddle and John McEuen on Banjo - Instrumental]

4. Flint Hill Special [Earl Scruggs on Banjo – Instrumental]

5. Togary Mountain [John McEuen on Banjo – Instrumental]

6. Earl’s Breakdown [Earl Scruggs on Banjo – Instrumental]

7. Orange Blossom County [Vasser Clements on Fiddle, John McEuen on Banjo]

8. Wabash Cannonball [Pete “Oswald” Kirby on Dobro – Instrumental]

9. Lost Highway [Jim Ibbotson on Lead Vocals and Guitar]

10. Doc Watson & Merle Travis First Meeting – Dialogue about albums and guitar styles

11. Way Downtown [Doc Watson on Lead Vocals and Guitar]

12. Down Yonder [Doc Watson on Guitar, Vasser Clement on Fiddle – Instrumental]

13. Pins And Needles (In My Heart) [Roy Acuff on Lead Vocals]

14. Honky Tonk Blues [Jeff Hanna on Lead Vocals – Hank Williams cover]

15. Sailin’ On To Hawaii [Pete Kirby on Dobro and Doc Watson on Guitar – Instrumental]

16. I’m Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes [Mother Maybelle Carter on Lead Vocals and Guitar with Merle Travis on Guitar and Pete Kirby on Dobro – Carter Family cover]

17. I Am A Pilgrim [Merle Travis on Lead Vocals and Guitar]

18. Wildwood Flower [Mother Maybelle Carter on Lead Vocals and Guitar with Earl Scruggs on Guitar – Carter Family cover]

19. Soldier’s Joy [Earl Scruggs and John McEuen on Banjos – Instrumental]

20. Will The Circle Be Unbroken [NGDB with all Guests with Mother Maybelle Carter on Lead Vocals - Carter Family cover]

21. Both Sides Now [Randy Scruggs on Guitar alone – an Instrumental cover of a Joni Mitchell song]

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS:

22. Foggy Mountain Breakdown [NGDB cover of an Earl Scruggs song]

23. Warming Up For “The Opry” (Dialogue with False Starts Of Music)

24. Sunny Side (Talk with Maybelle Carter and other musicians rehearsing)

25. Remember Me [Doc Watson on Guitar]

Produced for Reissue by original band member JOHN McEUEN – the first generation 30 IPS masters were transferred/remastered at 24-bit resolution by MARK WALDREP and the sonic results are just gorgeous. This is a beautiful sounding set – warm and full of presence- all are to be praised for exceptional work here.

Those who bought the vinyl triple album when it came out in December 1972 on United Artists UAS 9801 in the USA were met with an elaborate package – a gatefold with an inner flap. Much of that detail has been transferred to the 16-page booklet with additional liner notes by the band in February 2002. Luckily someone has been smart enough to musician-credit every single song – otherwise you’d get lost as to who does what and where. I’ve filled out those details in my track list.

At first the studio-chatter and dialogue that precedes every track kind of throws you - but you very quickly twig why its there – it adds huge warmth to overly familiar Country songs – discussed with laughter and chat by the people who made them famous. It’s a clever trick and it works nine times out of ten. The first instrumental of many is a gem – “Nashville Blues” has Earl Scuggs tearing up a Lead Banjo storm while everyone else compliments the footstomping hoot. Back to songs and tunes as simply and as lovely as “You Are My Flower” hook you from the outset. Superlative acoustic playing and Norman Blake’s Dobro keep you there for the duration. So many are like this – just great tunes steeped in emotional longing and life struggle. Roy Acuff precedes “The Precious Jewel” with his policy for singing in the studio (dialogue titles this review)…

Then there are the ludicrously accomplished instrumentals like “The End Of The World” where Pete “Oswald” Kirby’s Dobro playing amazes. The frantic pace of all that picking is broken up very nicely by Mother Maybelle Carter doing two covers of Carter Family done-me-wrong ballads – “I’m Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes” and “Wildwood Heart”. The dialogue between Doc Watson and Merle Travis is like eavesdropping on history – two giants of the genre enjoying each other’s art. Roy Acuff does his best Hank Williams impression on the Floyd Jenkins classic “Pins And Needles (In My Heart)” which is followed by an actual Hank Williams song – “Honky Tonk Blues”. Mother Maybelle Carter returns to lead the congregation on the massive title track. The whole rollercoaster ride ends on the loveliest and most peaceful of moments – Randy Scruggs on his lonesome with his Acoustic Guitar doing an instrumental of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”. It last only two and half minutes but it feels perfect and reminds the listener of what brought them all together in the first place – music and a mutual love of tunes from whatever quarter.

All the musicians involved wanted their Country and Bluegrass musical heritage to be passed on to the next generation and you have to say they pulled it off. Thank God someone with skill was behind the control booth to document that poor boy paying the price for a life of sin…

"Now That Everything's Been Said" by THE CITY featuring CAROLE KING and DANNY KORTCHMAR - December 1968 US LP on Ode Records (October 2015 US Light In The Attic CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Wings Of Her Rhythms..."

After a full decade of writing winning hits with her husband and childhood sweetheart Gerry Goffin for other acts (Neil Sedaka, Chiffons, Shirelles, Crystals, Billy Fury, Bobby Vee, Drifters, Monkees, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield all benefitted) - it was time for the consummate songwriter CAROLE KING to step out of the Brill Building machine and up to a microphone in a band of her own. Thus the ill-fated one-album group THE CITY was born - and it appears pretty much stopped dead in its tracks only months after it was unleashed on a public that barely registered its existence.

THE CITY was:
CAROLE KING – Lead Vocals and Keyboards
DANNY "COOCH" KORTCHMAR [ex The Fugs]
Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals - Lead Vocals on "Man Without A Dream"
Duet Vocals with Carole on "My Sweet Home" and "I Don't Believe It"
CHARLES LARKEY [ex The Myddle Class] – Bass
JIMMY GORDON – (Guest) Drummer

Far from being wanting on the material front (there's genuine beauty and brilliance on display here) - a combination of other factors saw the album never get a chance. It’s trying-to-drum-up sales arrival was initially announced in a full-page Columbia Records advert for Billboard in early January 1969 (released 18 Dec 1968)  - the three-piece band 'crouched in front of an abandoned car' artwork pictured alongside the eclectic likes of space cadets Spirit, barroom brawler John Kay from Steppenwolf and electronics noodler Terry Riley. But instead of having the publicity and promotional might of Columbia behind the record - Lou Adler's 'Ode Records' (to whom they were signed) changed distributers to A&M Records and left the 'Ode' label stranded and without people to promote the album. 

Listed as being released 18 December 1968 in the 1998 Carole King 2CD Anthology "A Natural Woman: The Ode Collection 1968-1976" - the LP is booked at over $80 in Price Guides. Why? It's said that "Now That Everything's Been Said" on Ode Records Z12 44012 barely made into the LP stores and no one seems to know how many copies of this elusive record was pressed in its original 'colour' sleeve (on the back of the massive success accrued by "Tapestry" - a black and white cover reissue appeared in 1971 with the same catalogue number). There was a distribution change from Columbia Records to A&M Records too which meant the album appears to have not been repressed or even distributed properly. As 1969 went into 1970, King was finally ready for a Solo career proper - and with the recording and release in September 1970 of "Carole King: Writer" - The City's lone album got lost in the singer-songwriter stampede.  

Ode tried two American 45s - "Snow Queen" b/w "Paradise Alley" in September 1968 on Ode ZS7 113 and then "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)" b/w "Why Are You Leaving" the following year in May 1969 on Ode Records ZS7 119 – but neither took let alone received airplay. It wasn't that the material lacked somehow - because Columbia Records label mates Blood, Sweat And Tears would take "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)" and shorten its title to simply "Hi-De-Ho" and make a No. 14 hit out of the song in July 1970 - long after The City's lone album had disappeared (the last CD reissue was a limited edition in 1999 that was deleted quickly). 

Which brings us to this fabulous sounding 2015 CD reissue from the revered 'Light in The Attic Records' of the USA who have done this overlooked and criminally forgotten obscurity a solid. Here are the urban details...

US released October 2015 –  "Now That Everything's Been Said" by THE CITY on Light In The Attic Records LITA 136 (Barcode 826853013628) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 12-track 1969 Ode Records album and plays out as follows (37:48 minutes):

1. Snow Queen [Side 1]
2. I Wasn't Born To Follow
3. Now That Everything's Been Said
4. Paradise Alley
5. Man Without A Dream
6. Victim Of Circumstance
7. Why Are You Leaving [Side 2]
8. Lady
9. My Sweet Home
10. I Don't Believe It
11. That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)
12. All My Time
Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Now That Everything's Been Said" - released 18 December 1968 in the USA on Ode Records Z12 44012 (no UK release). Produced by LOU ADLER - it didn't chart.

NOTES: Tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 11 and 12 written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin - Tracks 3, 7 and 10 written by Toni Stern and Carole King - Tracks 4 and 6 written by David Palmer and Carole King. The only cover version on the album is "My Sweet Home" written by Gospel singer Margaret Allison. Carole sings Lead Vocals on all tracks except three - "My Sweet Home" and "I Don't Believe It" which are duets with Danny Kortchmar - while Kortchmar takes the Lead Vocal wholly on "Man Without A Dream" with Carole providing some backing vocals during the chorus.

Produced for re-release by MATT SULLIVAN and PAT THOMAS - it comes in a card gatefold digipak with one of those annoying OBI bandana strips that isn't attached to the side of the digipak (who thought this was a good idea). The 24-page booklet has great liner notes from Los Angeles writer STEVE HOCHMAN that features newly attained interviews with Palmer, Kortchmar and Larkey. In truth the booklet is a little dull without photos (where are those singles, adverts etc) and it doesn't even bother with a catalogue number for the original LP? DAVE COOLEY did the 24-Bit/96kHz Remaster at Elysian Masters and its properly gorgeous. A gorgeous job done...

As well as Gerry Goffin - King started writing with two new lyricists for this album - David Palmer and Toni Stern. Guitarist Danny Kortchmar had been with The Fugs - Bassist Charles Larkey and New Jersey Vocalist/Songwriter David Palmer had both been part of THE MYDDLE CLASS who managed three 45s in 1966 on Tomorrow Records. Along with Carole King they formed the core of the group (the three on the cover). Legendary Drummer Jim Gordon was brought in for the sessions and was asked to join the band after the LP was completed but refused (went to the UK to Clapton to form Derek & The Dominoes).

Los Angeles tunesmith Toni Stern has had her songs recorded by huge names like Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters and The Isley Brothers but will be forever remembered for "It's Too Late" from Carole's "Tapestry" - often cited as one of the Top 100 tunes of all time. Her lyrical collaboration with Carole King began with The City LP and you can 'so' hear the beginnings of "It's Too Late" in the hurting melody "Why Are You Leaving". The more bopping element of "Tapestry" surfaces with the title track "Now That Everything's Been Said" (another co-write with Stern) - a finger-clicking tune about pain. "Paradise Alley" is excellent and is the first of two co-writes with Steely Dan's David Palmer. The other is "Victim Of Circumstance" but it's not as good.

The album's most famous song "Snow Queen" is a staggering beginning - a truly brilliant and very spacey song to have the 'Goffin/King' credit to its name. If I were trying to convince someone of the album's merit - I would play this first and it's hardly surprising that it became a (failed) lead off single. Ace Records of the UK quite rightly gave the song pride of place on their February 2014 CD compilation "LOU ADLER: A Musical History" - a fantastic set that covers the Producer's career and long-association with Carole King (see my separate review for Ace CDCHD 1384). The other track that sends me is the beautiful and moving "Man Without A Dream" sung by Danny Kortchmar with help on the choruses from Carole - the kind of hidden nugget that blows you away with its lovely melody. By their own admission the band was listening to every important album around at the time (1968) - Laura Nyro's "Eli And The Thirteenth Confession" comes shining through on "Lady" (piano and vocal runs) while they were definitely channelling the Stax Records output of The Staples Singers while recording the warbling guitar and vocals of "My Sweet Home" sounding like they auditioning for Pops Staples. They were consuming Miles Davis and John Coltrane - which explain the jazzier elements of "Snow Queen" - but "I Wasn't Born To Follow" (covered by The Byrds on their "Notorious" album) and the incessantly catchy "Hi-De-Ho" (covered by Blood, Sweat & Tears on their second self-titled album) is pure Goffin/King hit making material. The LP ends on the lovely "All My Time" - the remaster soaring as the melody plays. For sure the whole album is not all genius by any means - but the beauty is definitely there on many of the songs - and when it hits you - look out...

Danny 'Kootch' Kortchmar went with Charles Larkey into JO MAMA who had albums on Atlantic Records - Kortchmar would get his own solo album on Warner Brothers in 1973 not surprisingly called "Kootch" (Warner Brothers BS 2711 was reissued in 2008 by Wounded Bird and contains the excellent "Come Strollin' Now"). He would also be forever a part of the East Coast mafia of musicians who played with absolutely everyone of California singer-songwriter significance - Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell to name but a few.

David Palmer would of course join the hallowed ranks of Steely Dan for their stunning October 1972 debut album "Can't Buy A Thrill" on ABC Records on which he takes Lead Vocals away from Donald Fagen for "Dirty Work", "Midnite Cruiser" and "Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me)". He sung backing vocals on their 1973 platter "Countdown To Ecstasy" and would later do vocal work with Big Wha-Koo on ABC Records - even punching out a single called "She's My Baby (And She's Outta Control)" with Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles on the 1982 soundtrack to "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". More importantly he would join up with Carole again for the No. 1 album "Wrap Around Joy" where he co-wrote every song.

The City asked the legendary drummer Jimmy Gordon (who had played with The Everly Brothers and drummed on "Pet Sounds") to join the group but took a call instead from Eric Clapton and swelled the ranks of Derek & The Dominoes. He is credited as writing the beautiful piano-coda that centres "Layla" and also graced the ranks of George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass". Carole would release "Writer" in 1970 on A&M Records (with the Ode Records logo on the label) – another than nearly failed too - and then level all albums in sight with her magnificent "Tapestry" LP in 1971.

"...The key to my happiness...I let it slip away..." – Danny Kortchmar sang with Carole King on the beautiful and moving "Man Without A Dream".

Don’t let this happiness pass you by. And well done to the good bodies at LIGHT IN THE ATTIC for warming us with Carole King and The City's lone LP - available again after all these decades in the digital permafrost...

"Stones" by NEIL DIAMOND (Inside The 2002 MCA/Universal 3CD Set ‘Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings…Plus!’ - Erick Labson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Feeling's Laid Back..."

If you're a fan - or even casually browsing Neil Diamond's early career - you will probably notice the photos that accompany the Amazon entry for this 80's MCA CD of his 1971 album "Stones". It features that dreaded plain rear sleeve. In means the single disc offered here is from the first vanguard of CD reissues and most 'weren't' remastered - leaving you the listener with decidedly average sound. If you want the 'actual' best audio for "Stones" - you have to look elsewhere and spend a few quid (but it will be well worth it).

Using Discs 2 and 3 - the very best audio variant of the "Stones" LP by NEIL DIAMOND can be found within "Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings…Plus!" on MCA/Universal 088 112 824 2 (Barcode 008811282424) released in the UK and USA in May 2003 (use the Barcode supplied to get the right issue). Here are the details...

Disc 2 (77:26 minutes):

21. I Am…I Said [Neil Diamond song]

22. The Last Thing On My Mind [Tom Paxton cover]

23. Husbands And Wives [Roger Miller cover]

24. Chelsea Morning [Joni Mitchell cover]

Disc 3 (77:27 minutes):

1. Crunchy Granola Suite [Neil Diamond song]

2. Stones [Neil Diamond song]

3. If You Go Away [Jacques Brel – Rod McKuen cover]

4. Suzanne [Leonard Cohen cover]

5. I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today [Randy Newman cover]

6. I Am…I Said (Reprise) [Neil Diamond song]

Tracks 21 to 24 on Disc 2 combined with Tracks 1 to 6 on Disc 3 are Sides 1 and 2 of the album "Stones" – released November 1971 in the USA on Uni Records 93106 and December 1971 in the UK on Uni Records UNLS 121. Produced by TOM CATLANO – it peaked at No. 11 in the US LP charts and No. 18 in the UK.

The 24-page 'Play Me' booklet has full Discography info including mini pictures of the album artwork and incisive liner notes by ROBYN FLANS (of People Magazine). But the big news is the 96K/24bit remasters by ERICK LABSON of Universal – a man who has over 1200 Audio restoration credits to his name including most of the Chess Label and huge swathes of Universal's monster back catalogue (Mama's & Papa's, Steppenwolf, Buddy Holly, Etta James, Bobby Bland, Bo Diddley, Joe Jackson, Three Dog Night, Wishbone Ash, The Who - the list of his accomplished transfers is long and illustrious). The sound quality here is awesome and adds huge power to every track - but especially to the beautifully produced "Stones" LP - the most underrated album of Neil Diamond's on-going catalogue.

As you can see from the track list provided above - of the 9 songs (the last is a 'Reprise' of "I Am...I Said") - only three are Neil Diamond originals - but all are proper corkers. 

You get "I Am...I Said", "Stones" and "Crunchy Granola Suite" – each taken by Uni and flogged as successful 45s. The other seven songs are covers of the best contemporary artists of the day - Tom Paxton’s plaintive and lovely “The Last Thing On My Mind", Joni Mitchell's upbeat and summery "Chelsea Morning" (not as good as her original it has to be said) and Randy Newman's aching and sad "I Think It's Going To Rain Today". 

We even get a go at Roger Miller’s domestic morality tale “Husbands And Wives” and Leonard Cohen’s mumbling shagpad classic “Suzanne”. And on all - Diamond manages to respect the original while adding his own slice of Neil-ness to the proceedings.

I've often thought that the beautiful ballad "Stones" should have been a number 1 - backing on the B-side by the "dig!" of "Crunchy Granola Suite" - the closest he ever got to Rocker-Cool. And what can you say about "I Am...I Said" – surely the album’s penultimate song. It's cheesy I know - but it's my kind of Gorgonzola and Wensleydale – still tickles me. Hell - he even looks good in his bare feet on the cover...

"...L.A.'s fine…the sun shines most the time…and the feeling's laid back…"

The 2003 American MCA 3CD haul of "Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!" is probably more Big D than most can handle (a single disc "Best Of" would most likely suffice that also includes his later Columbia/CBS stuff). But if you're prepared to dig a bit deeper and embrace your inner Neil - the good stuff like the “Stones” album is truly great.

More forgotten and overlooked album goodies include May 1969's "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" and November 1970's "Tap Root Manuscript". And that audio quality will blow you away…

"Countdown To Ecstasy" by STEELY DAN (2008 and 2011 Japan Universal SHM-CD in 5" Mini LP Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...I Detect The El Supremo..."

How do you follow a debut like "Can't Buy A Thrill" - classy, precise, rammed to the gills with tunes that still stand up a whopping 44 years? And it had two-headed sucker punch of tunes - the Farfisa organ twinkle of "Do It Again" and Elliott Randall's Guitar pyrotechnics on "Reelin' In The Years". How do you follow one of the best starts? Simple – for round two - you go one better.

Yet their second platter of brilliance "Countdown To Ecstasy" (along with 1975's "Katy Lied") always seems to lag behind - overlooked for the obvious genius of 1976's "The Royal Scam" and especially 1977's meisterwork - "Aja". Yet of all the albums I play to death from that Golden Era - it's "Countdown To Ecstasy" that amazes me the most. With the twin vocalists of Don Palmer and Donald Fagen on the debut reduced to just Donald Fagen - this record feels like the first 'real' Steely Dan album - a Becker/Fagan album - their sound - their songs - done their way. Which brings us to this gorgeous Japan-Only SHM-CD reissue...

This review is for the 25 June 2008 SHM-CD Issue of "Countdown To Ecstasy" by STEELY DAN on Universal/Geffen UICY-93518 (Barcode 4988005518309). 

It comes in 5" Mini LP Repro Artwork (the US album on ABC Records) and includes a repro of the lyric insert that came with original copies (41:13 minutes total playing time). There's an outer OBI band with reissue details, the fold-out colour booklet that came with the 1998 Becker/Fagen CD Remasters (their caustic liner notes) as well as a separate 16-page Japanese booklet in white (all details in Japanese). Please also note that this SHM-CD of "Countdown To Ecstasy" was reissued 29 December 2011 with the same catalogue number and Barcode (to confuse matters) and there's been a further Platinum SHM-CD version too from July 2014 using a new remaster.

What is a SHM-CD and does it sound better than the standard 1998 issue that's available very cheaply? Some say yes, others say it's a con. It was developed in 2008 by JVC as a brand new form of CD with far better retrieval capabilities. The problem is that they are ONLY available in JAPAN and usually at considerably higher cost. Also one of the biggest arguments put forward 'against' them is that you need a high-end player to get the best out of these CDs. I don't agree. I own about 15 of these beauties and the sound on all is more than impressive - it's in the musicality - it's in the details. I would say however that if the remaster is recent - and its on SHM - and you've a half decent player - then the combo of all 3 will produce wonderful sonic results (see my recent review for James Taylor's "Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon" on Japanese SHM-CD). Let's get to the album itself and the Audio on this 2008 and 2011 SHM-CD reissue...

1. Bodhisattva

2. Razor Boy

3. The Boston Rag

4. Your Gold Teeth

5. Show Biz Kids

6. My Old School

7. Pearl Of The Quarter

8. King Of The World

Tracks 1 to 8 are their 2nd studio album "Countdown To Ecstasy" - released July 1973 in the USA on ABC Records ABCX-779 and September 1973 in the UK on Probe Records SPB 1079 (reissued October 1974 in the UK on ABC Records ABCL 5034). Produced by GARY KATZ and Engineered by ROGER NICHOLS - it peaked at No. 35 on the Pop Charts in the USA but didn't chart in the UK.

It opens with utter brilliance - "Bodhisattva". Described on their lyric insert as 'Diaz the Bebopper meets Baxter the Skunk beneath the Bo Tree in this altered Blues' - you're immediately walloped with the clarity of Jim Hodder's Drums and both Denny Dias and future Doobie Brother Jeff "Skunk" Baxter tearing it on their respective guitars. As Guitar Rock goes – it’s a stormer. The Victor Feldman Vibes and Donald Fagen Piano playing on "Razor Boy" is startling - that beautifully tight rhythm section too sailing out of your speakers with a sexy swagger. In August 1973 both ABC in the States and Probe Records in the UK put it on the B-side of “Show Biz Kids” as a 45 (ABC Records 11382 vs. Probe PRO 602). On the strength of the A-side – it peaked at No. 61 in the USA.

Brilliant is the only word to describe the deceptively simple Guitar run that works its way throughout the whole of "The Boston Rag". You can now also hear those Acoustic Guitars played by guest musician Ben Benay. I’ve still no idea what the “...Lonnie was the Kingpin...” lyrics are about - but given those guitar solos and clever keyboard breaks – I get the lyric insert explanation telling us that ‘several members of The Dan get to “stretch out”’ on the song. Side one ends with the seven-minute chug and shug of "Your Gold Teeth". A wickedly groovy keyboard jaunt with Donald disdainfully sneering as he sings "...Torture is the main attraction...I don't need that kind of action..." I'd also forgotten how good the guitar flicks throughout are - that keyboard solo - and the treated backing vocals of Sherlie Matthews, Myrna Matthews, Patricia hall, David Palmer, Royce Jones, James Rolleston and Michael Fennelly - it all sounds amazing on this SHM-CD.

Probably the bitterest and most self-knowing of songs in their amazing repertoire – "Show Biz Kids" lays into self-obsessed party types and showcases the extraordinary Slide Guitar of Rick Derringer who gives the song the kind of muscle and magic Elliott Randal gave to “Reelin’ In The Years”. As the girls chant "...it's only life's wages..." and sing "...while the poor people sleepin' with the shade of the light...all the stars come out at night..." - many of them wearing Steely Dan teeshirts as they make films about themselves. The chipper "My Old School" features a four-man Brass Section arranged by Jimmie Haskell and was also chosen as an A-side on both sides of the pond in November 1973 (ABC Records 11396, Probe Records PRO 606). As it jaunt and funks along like its Tower Of Power meets Steely Dan - the lyrics tell us that Daddy is going to be "...quite surprised to find you with the working girls in the County Jail..."(nice). “My Old School” is a brilliant little bopper and an emotional upper on a largely sarcastic album.

The lovely pedal steel of "Pearl Of The Quarter" (the B-side of "Show Biz Kids" on both sides of the pond) bolsters up a gorgeous melody and the closest the album gets to an actual 'love song'. The audio on this baby perhaps impresses most. It ends on the weird yet thrilling wah-wah rhythms of "King of The World" - treated guitars and keyboards while Jim Hodder keeps it so tight on the drums. The Remaster brings out all those guitar and keyboard parts as Fagan sings "...no marigolds in the promised-land...there's a hole in the ground where they used to grow..." And that stomping break towards the end is f**king brilliant...

Even now - with a distance of 43 years - I'm gobsmacked at the musical accomplishment on "Countdown To Ecstasy". Rooted in the brilliance of their October 1972 "Can't Buy A Thrill" debut LP and yet advanced a million miles away from it in less than nine months.

You can get the 1998 CD for peanuts - but if like me you have to have the best when it comes to the best band of the Seventies - then these dinky Japanese SHM-CDs are the 'gold teeth' for you...

"Rosemary Lane" by BERT JANSCH (2001 Sanctuary/Castle Music CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Your Heart Is Filled With The Pain Of True Love..."

Given the predominately 'Rock and Prog' musical landscape of May 1971 when it was released (George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" in February, "The Yes Album" by Yes in March, "Sticky Fingers" by The Rolling Stones in April and Mountain's "Nantucket Sleighride" in May) - is it any wonder that no-one on either side of the pond paid any attention to a purely Folk-Acoustic album on Transatlantic Records by BERT JANSCH (resplendent in its stippled-effect sleeve or not).

"Rosemary Lane" was an LP out of time in Blighty's May 1971 and the Ex Pentangle guitarist saw his seventh studio album sink without a ripple or a lifeboat. Yet I'd argue it's a total gem in a sea of noise (great noise mind you) - a beautiful, romantic and peaceful thing that's ripe for rediscovery. And this dinky little CD remaster of it from Sanctuary Records of the UK (part of Castle Music) - is an overlooked gem. Here are the dulcimer details...

UK released December 2001 - "Rosemary Lane" by BERT JANSCH on Sanctuary/Castle Music CMRCD335 (Barcode 5050159133529) is a straightforward 13-track CD Remaster of the 1971 album and plays out as follows (37:28 minutes):

1. Tell Me What Is True Love?

2. Rosemary Lane

3. M'Lady Nancy

4. A Dream, A Dream, A Dream

5. Alman

6. Wayward Child

7. Nobody's Bar

8. Reynardine [Side 2]

9. Silly Women

10. Peregrinations

11. Sylvie

12. Sarabanda

13. Bird Song

Tracks 1 to 13 are his 7th studio album "Rosemary Lane" - released May 1971 in the UK on Transatlantic TRA 235 and in the USA on Reprise RS 6455. Produced by BILL LEADER - all songs written by Bert Jansch (a co-write with John Renbourn on "Peregrinations") except the English Traditional covers of "Rosemary Lane", "Reynardine" and "Sylvie" - with "Alman" by British 16th Century Lute player Robert Johnson and "Sarabanda" by Italian violinist Archangelo Corelli.

The 12-page booklet has warmly written and informative liner notes from COLIN HARPER - Author of "Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch And The British Folk And Blues Revival" on Bloomsbury in 2000. There are several black and white snaps of Bert in his flat making tea and tuning his guitar. Beneath the see-through CD tray is a photo of the battered Transatlantic Records Master Tape Box and we get a truly beautiful Remaster by SEAN COTTER and ANDY PEARCE done at Masterpiece Mastering. The album is entirely acoustic and requires the deftest of touches and that's what you get - clarity and warmth and air around the gentle strums and guitar plucks. It's a top job done...

Keeping it simple yet interesting is a hard thing to get right - but that's where "Rosemary Lane" wins. None of the songs feature anything more than Acoustic Guitar and Voice - so the songs have to be strong to hold your attention let alone stroke the old soft machine. It opens with a firm fan fave-rave - the lovely "Tell Me What Is True Love?"  It's followed by another gorgeous melody sung in that minstrel twang by Jansch - "Rosemary Lane" - a tale of a service man who meets a sailor and the maid "Pretty Polly" and that's when his misery began (oh dear).

"M'Lady Nancy" is the first of three instrumentals on the album - another being "Peregrinations" - a co-write with that other great stalwart of English Folk - John Renbourn. The Italian Violinist Archangelo Corelli penned "Sarabanda" way back in 17-hundred-and-something and provides us with the third instrumental. Another of my poisons is the lovely Traditional "Reynardine" which is so simple - so beautiful - a rambler song. His own "Bird Song" finishes the album on a quietly magisterial note...

A deeply old-fashioned LP rooted in the oldest of Traditions - one man, his guitar, his voice and his interpretations of old and new songs. "Rosemary Lane" is as lovely as it sounds. And well done to those Remaster Engineers (Sean Cotter and Andy Pearce) for making it sparkle anew...

"Hermit Of Mink Hollow" by TODD RUNDGREN (2014 Edsel 'Case Bound Book Edition CD' Reissue - Rhino/Peter Rynston Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Heartbreak’s Never Easy To Take..."

Back in May 2014 - Edsel of the UK began celebrating TODD RUNDGREN albums with ‘Deluxe Edition’ packaging upgrades – hardback book editions of key albums in his extensive back catalogue. The first three were "Something/Anything?" (a double-album from 1972), "A Wizard A True Star" (a single album from 1973) and "Todd" (another double from 1974). So here’s the next batch of three for September 2014 – "Runt" - his debut solo album from December 1970 on Ampex Records now extended into a double-CD edition with bonuses – "Initiation" from June 1975 (see review) and this - "Hermit Of Mink Hollow" from May 1978 on Bearsville Records – one of his most popular Seventies albums. Here are the people who can’t be friends…

UK released 9 September 2014 (16 September in the USA) - "Hermit of Mink Hollow: Deluxe Edition" by TODD RUNDGREN on Edsel EDSA 5033 (Barcode 740155503338) is a single-CD reissue of their February 2012 2CD set which combined  "Healing" and "The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect" - only this time it's just the album straight in a 'Case Bound Hardback Book' Edition (35:48 minutes).

1. All The Children Sing

2. Can we Still Be Friends?

3. Hurting For You

4. Too Far Gone

5. Onomatopoeia

6. Determination

7. Bread [Side 2]

8. Bag Lady

9. You Cried Wolf

10. Lucky Guy

11. Out Of Control

12. Fade Away

The attached 12-page booklet within has liner notes by Paul Myers from his superb tome "A Wizard, A True Star – Todd Rundgren In The Studio" and is an excellent read. There's photos of Rundgren's house on Mink Hollow Road in Lake Hill where he built his Utopia studio and recorded the album. The front and rear sleeve artwork of the May 1978 Bearsville vinyl album is here (BSR 6981 in the USA and K 55521 in the UK) – as are the lyrics. The hard card case bound book has a details sticker on the outer shrink-wrap that easily peels off (if you want to attach it to the book cover). There are no extras.

There is no new remaster that I can hear – this is the Edsel February 2012 version - that in itself was a Peter Rynston UK master using the 1993 American Rhino remasters. Don't get me wrong – the sound is superb. The only upgrade here is the cool-looking book packaging – which is a rather lovely thing to behold…

After the full-on Synth and Prog excesses of "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" (1974) and "Initiation" (1975) – Rundgren seemed to get back to 'tunes' with 1978's "Hermit Of Mink Hollow" – containing as it does some of his most beloved songs to this day – "Hurting For You" and the magical "Can We Still Be Friends?" (lyrics above). Other goodies include "Too Far Gone" – even the silly-word song "Onomatopoeia" is great fun. "Determination" combines that 'guitar-and-keyboards' sound he gets into a cool upbeat song that would have made a great single too. He called Side 2 "The Difficult Side" and it opens with a song about poverty – the brilliant "Bread". But my favourite – and for my money one of his greatest songs – is the aching homeless anthem "Bag Lady" ("...fifty cents rent goes pretty far when you live in a subway car…"). The hurting "Lucky Guy" is excellent too. It finishes with "Out Of Control" and "Fade Away" – a superb duo of layered deep melodies.

1978's "Hermit Of Mink Hollow" was a 'return to form' for many (a return to songs). Personally I think Rundgren never left – like Bowie he just went in musical directions most wouldn’t have tried - and I for one dug them all.

I’ve loved rehearing this gem of an LP again – a very sweet and pretty looking CD reissue…

PS: see also my reviews for "Runt" (1970), "Something/Anything?" (1972), "A Wizard, A True Star" (1973) and "Todd" (1974) in this series of 'Book Edition' CD reissues...