"My Time/Slow Dancer" by BOZ SCAGGS (March 2008 Beat Goes On CD Reissue - 2LPs on 1CD - Andrew Thompson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Sharpest Cat In Town...Must Be Hercules…"

With his 1969 Atlantic Records debut album under his perfectly coiffured belt (it didn't chart in either the UK or USA) - William Royce Scaggs singed to Columbia Records in the early Seventies and hoped for bigger things.

Beat Goes On of the UK have already reissued his 2nd and 3rd albums "Moments" and "Boz Scaggs & Band" (both from 1971) onto 1CD in this series - here you get the next in line from 1972 and 1974 lumped together onto another single CD. You can literally hear the Rock/Soulful songwriter he would become with 1976's breakthrough album "Silk Degrees" coming to the fore on these records. Here are the tuneful Seventies details...

Originally UK released March 2008 (reissued 2010 and 2015) - "My Time/Slow dancer" by BOZ SCAGGS on Beat Goes On BGOCD813 (Barcode 5017261208132) features his 4th and 5th albums remastered onto one CD and breaks down as follows (69:56 minutes):

1. Dinah Flo

2. Slowly In The West

3. Full-Lock Power Slide

4. Old Time Lovin'

5. Might Have To Cry

6. Hello My Lover [Side 2]

7. Freedom For The Stallion

8. He's A Fool For You

9. We're Gonna Roll

10. My Time

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd LP "My Time" - issued September 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31384 and in the UK on CBS S 64975

Tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 are Boz Scaggs originals. "Slowly In The West" is a David Brown (aka Norton Buffalo) cover, "Old Time Lovin'" is an Al Green cover and both "Hello My Lover" and "Freedom For The Stallion" are Allen Toussaint songs. EDDIE HINTON plays guitar on Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10.

11. You Make It So Hard (To Say No) [Boz Scaggs]

12. Slow Dancer [Boz Scaggs/George Daly]

13. Angel Lady (Come Just In Time) [Scaggs/Johnny Bristol/Jim McDonagh]

14. There Is Someone Else [Boz Scaggs]

15. Hercules [Allen Toussaint song/Meters cover]

16. Pain Of Love [Johnny Bristol] [Side 2]

17. Sail On White Moon [Johnny Bristol]

18. Let It Happen [Boz Scaggs/Johnny Bristol]

19. I Got Your Number [Johnny Bristol/Greg Reeves]

20. Take It For Granted [Boz Scaggs/Barry Beckett]

Tracks 11 to 20 are his 4th LP "Slow Dancer" - issued March 1974 in the USA on Columbia KC 32760 and April 1974 in the UK on CBS 65963. Songwriting credits listed track-by-track above.

The 12-page inlay has affectionate and knowledgeable liner notes by noted music writer JOHN O'REGAN and features repro'd artwork and full musician/album credits. There's a nice card-wrap on the outside of the jewel case and the sound quality is beautifully clear and punchy throughout - digitally remastered in 2008 by ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Performance in London.

That template of Soulful Rock he would adopt for much of the Seventies and Eighties kicks in with the "Dinah Flo" opener - strings and girl singers and a slightly funky edge to his Rock. Sweeter is the ballad "Slowly In The West" which is followed by the Big-Guitars Rock of "Full-Lock Power Slide" - a sort of Joe Walsh riff that boogies along very nicely. But Side One belongs to his gorgeous cover of an Al Green Hi Records classic "Old Time Lovin'" where Boz's band sound not just comfortable but positively inhabiting the Soulfulness of the tune (big organ sound and lady singers throughout). The remaster on the love song "Might Have To Cry" is gorgeous - so sweet. Things are taken up a New Orleans notch or too with the excellent Toussaint tracks - the funky "Hello My Lover" and the Gospel feel of "Freedom For The Stallion". After the guitar-poppy "We're Gonna Roll" - the "My Time" album ends of a very Soulful note - the title track - sounding so smooth. And two of my session heroes get their moments – EDDIE HINTON plays Acoustic Guitar on Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 alongside his pal BARRY BECKETT who lays down Piano on the same six tracks.

Things move a very big step towards 1976's "Silk Degrees" with the slinky "Slow Dancer album" from 1974. It opens with the very Philly strings and brass of "You Make It So Hard (To Say No)" - a hit single if ever there was one. After the smooch of "Slow Dancer" we get down to Funky business with "Angel Lady..." where Boz has clearly been listening to Stevie Wonder. After the "gotta go with someone else" pleading smooze of "There Is Someone Else" fades - we get the fantastic "Hercules" (written by Allen Toussaint and covered by The Meters) - a track that for me single-handedly elevates the whole album into something special - what a tune. This is followed by a clump of Johnny Bristol white-boy soulful jaunts like "Let It Happen" and "I Got Your Number" which are very 1974 Funk Rock.

It's not all genius for sure and his 1976 return with "Silk Degree" would finally culminate in a worldwide winner - but this is where that class started. And with the nice presentation and superb sound - a must-have for fans... 

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"The Stranger: 30th Anniversary Edition" by BILLY JOEL (July 2008 Columbia/Legacy 2CD and 1DVD Long Book Set Reissue - Ted Jensen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Mister Cacciatore's Down On Sullivan Street…" 

It’s hard now in March 2017 to imagine just how huge Billy Joel’s The Stranger was at the time of release in late September 1977 - almost 40 years after the event. 

Not since Carole King’s Tapestry album way back in March 1971 and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours in February of that same eventful year (1977) - had an album so grabbed the public by the neck – hammering them with dollops of palatable romance and pain in equal measure. And all it came wrapped up in great hooky tunes that the radio loved. Before 1977 few people knew Billy Joel’s name – by the end of 1978 there were few who didn’t.

Joel had been bubbling under since 1971 and produced four whole albums prior to his 1977 breakthrough - "Cold Spring Harbor" (1971), "Piano Man" (1973), "Streetlife Serenade" (1974) and "Turnstiles" (1976) – each featuring songwriting brilliance on an escalating scale with "The Stranger" seeing that craft and promise come to full fruition. 

Every track rocked both musically and lyrically - and this '30th Anniversary Edition' Long Box Set (there is also a smaller 2CD Legacy Edition) does that musical milestone a solid. Here are the Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Down On Sullivan Street)…

US released July 2008 – "The Stranger: 30th Anniversary Edition" by BILLY JOEL on Columbia/Legacy 88697308012 (Barcode 886973080122) is a 2CD and 1DVD Long Book Set of Remasters and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (42:33 minutes):

1. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)

2. The Stranger

3. Just The Way You Are

4. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

5. Vienna [Side 2]

6. Only The Good Die Young

7. She’s Always A Woman

8. Get It Right The First Time

9. Everybody Has A Dream

Tracks 1 to 9 are the vinyl album The Stranger – released September 1977 in the USA on Columbia JC 34987 and December 1977 in the UK on CBS Records 86108. Mastered for CD by TED JENSEN at Sterling Sound in New York. The album rose to Number 2 in the States and 25 in the UK.

Disc 2 Live At Carnegie Hall, 3 June 1977 (64:04 minutes):

1. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

2. Prelude/Angry Young Man

3. New York State Of Mind

4. Just The Way You Are

5. She’s Got A Way

6. The Entertainer

7. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

8. Band Introductions

9. Captain Jack

10. I’ve Loved These Days

11. Say Goodbye To Hollywood

12. Souvenir

Original recordings produced by DON DeVITO, Produced for Record by PHIL RAMONE and mastered by MARK WILDER at Battery Studios in New York

DVD (90:00 minutes) Region 0 NTSC:

Live Promotional Videos (Recorded USA - No Dates Provided)

1. The Stranger

2. Just The Way You Are

Billy Joel filmed in concert for The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC1 – recorded and first transmitted 14 March 1978

3. Intro

4. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)

5. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)

6. New York State Of Mind

7. The Entertainer

8. She’s Always A Woman

9. Root Beer Rag

10. Just The Way You Are

11. Only The Good Die Young

12. Souvenir [extra track to original broadcast]

13. Ain’t No Crime [extra track to original broadcast]

14. A 30-minute bonus documentary on the making of "The Stranger" featuring new interviews with Billy Joel and Phil Ramone

Before we get into the album itself and the extras – let’s talk about the gorgeous packaging. The long box gives you a 48-page glossy booklet with loads of professionally shot black and white outtake photos from the album cover session – round the world 7” single picture sleeves, the British “Now Playing” promo-only LP on CBS BJ 1, A Japanese-Only 1978 Concert Promo LP, American Tour Posters, Live Shots of his band, trade adverts, the lyrics, an essay by DAVID FRICKE and even a facsimile of a Billy Joel Valentine’s Day gift card! But better than this is a reproduction of his small notebook containing the lyrics for “The Stranger” and other thoughts. “Vienna” he notes is about ‘work and friends’ while “Scenes” is about ‘divorce and nostalgia’. There’s a list on the first page of quality bands and artists he opened for – Yes, Bill Withers, Crazy Horse, Hall & Oates, Badfinger, The Eagles and Janis Ian to name but a few. How about quality placing by his management making him open for Jazz-Fusion monsters The Mahavishnu Orchestra, pseudo Rock ‘n’ Rollers Sha Na Na and Australian Popstral Olivia Newton John – wow did this guy pay his dues! There’s also a gorgeous foldout repro poster of the 2, 3 and 4 June 1977 Carnegie Hall Concert in New York which I’ve never seen – very tasty. 

The TED JENSEN Remaster of the album sounds like the 1998 version but with more oomph and to my ears is better than that first attempt. The second the street-punk lyrics to “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” hits your speakers – you can hear the upgrade – all the instruments clear and with so much more punch. Particularly impressive is opening piano notes of the title track and the vocals on “Just The Way You Are”. It has to be said there’s noticeable hiss in the background on some portions of both - but as Joel quite rightly points out – Producer PHIL RAMONE went for ‘feel’, ‘the right take’ and you can hear why – they’re full of feeling. It still sounds magical and the rhythm section is now more to the fore. “A bottle of white, a bottle of red…” – who doesn’t love the Side 1 finisher “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” with Accordion by DOMINIC CORTESS beautifully captured. When the Saxophone of RICHARD CANNATA and the Strings kick in – it’s full of power and presence. And those fabulous lyrics about “Brenda and Eddie” who “didn’t account for the tears…” Side 2 opens with the superb “Vienna” – another double-whammy of a great melody and brutally honest lyrics. But for me the album’s true masterpiece is “She’s Always A Woman” which sounds just glorious. What a beautiful song.

I now know why fans have loved the bootlegs of the famous ‘Carnegie Hall’ concert – it’s an absolute blinder – every song rocking – his band tight and on the cusp of success – playing quality new material – mixing with the best of the old. It also features the JOE MALIN ORCHESTRA backing the band (conducted by Frank Owens) – giving a large number of the songs an epic feel. You’re wowed never mind impressed. What I wasn’t expecting however is the stunning Production Values. This thing sounds amazing and is better in some respects than the officially released live set “Songs In The Attic” from 1981. The two openers rapidly set the pace with his piano playing on “Prelude/Angry Young Man” being just brilliant – but it’s the eight and half-minute “New York State Of Mind” that slays everything in its path – the crowd eating it up (check out the Sax solo). To this day the song evokes New Yawk for me – fabulous (“taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River line…”). A clever choice for romance is “She’s Got A Way” - as gorgeous a song as he’s ever written. He gets all Phil Spector on “Say Goodbye To Hollywood”. And as the short but pretty finisher “Souvenirs” (from “Streetlife Serenade”) plays out – he says “Good Night New York...” - and you can hear they want more. In a few months Billy Joel would arrive for real everywhere else.

The DVD is yet another level – giving you visuals. First up are two American promo videos of Joel and his band before an audience (no dates, no locations) as he whistles his way through “The Stranger” and introduces a ‘new one’ called “Just The Way You Are”. They’re well-filmed and full frame. The BBC show aired the night it was recorded 14 March 1978 is introduced by a laidback BOB HARRIS in front of an invited audience at BBC Television Centre. Like the live promo videos, luckily its defaulted to full screen so there’s no bars top or bottom and the sound is excellent. It’s typical of Seventies footage – a tiny bit blurry but not enough to detract. The British crowd you suspect don’t know much of his material and the album’s only been released in the UK 3 months – but as the gig goes on – their appreciation and the band’s rather ‘fish-out-of-water’ mood lifts. This footage hasn’t been seen since it was first aired – and not seen at all apparently are the two rather great encores – a solo “Souvenir” on his Bechstein piano – an then the band is brought on for a rollicking “Ain’t No Crime” (also from “Streetlife Serenade”). He even manages a Joe Cocker impression before he starts the song. The Documentary is great fun too – the artist and Producer clearly proud of their achievement. Along with the two discs before it – the whole shebang is impressive.

If you want a cheaper option – the 2CD Legacy Edition is available for peanuts – but I’d plum the extra few quid for this thoughtfully put together celebration of a classic Seventies album.

"...Don't imagine you're too familiar…" - Billy Joel sings on the classic "Just The Way You Are". Apply the same logic with this superb reissue… 

"Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" by THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (2004 Beat Goes On 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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                                                                  "...Evolution Rag..." 

I've reviewed the earlier catalogue of THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND from 1967 to 1970 on other superlative Beat Goes On CD Reissues - but have been avoiding this release because I can't abide the hippy claptrap of "Be Glad For The Sing Has No Ending" - especially its associations with the destructive and appalling Scientology Cult that is imbedded into the lyric-songs on Side 1. The album is partially saved by some interesting and eclectic passages on Side 2's nine-part instrumental "The Song Has No Ending" - music from the 1970 limited-release film "Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending". That 26-minute opus is similar to the 20-minute Side1 suite on Amazing Blondel's "Fantasia Lindum" LP on Island Records in 1971 - but not as good or as pretty (see separate review for "Evensong/Fantasia Lindum" also on BGO Records, 2004).

And then there's "Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" - coming at the tail end of 1971 - an underground album that fascinates to this day (spoken of in hushed tones by some). There are unfortunately still traces of Hubbard’s reality-bending cosmic psychobabble (indoctrinating young impressionable minds for momentary gain) – but the music was better and for its time – a bit out there. Let's get to the Cosmic Boys and their Evolution Rags...

UK released June 2004 (reissued October 2010) - "Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" by THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND on Beat Goes On BGOCD 627 (Barcode 5017261206275) offers 2LPs from 1971 (March and October) - Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (50:54 minutes):

1. Come With Me [Side 1]

2. All Writ Down

3. Veshengro

4. See All The People

5. Waiting For You

6. The Song Has No Ending (A Selection Of Instrumental Pieces - 26:45 minutes) [Side 2]

Tracks 1 to 6 are the album "Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending" - released March 1971 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9140 (No US release). "Save All The People" recorded live March 1968 at The Royal Festival Hall - all other tracks studio.

Disc 2 (48:44 minutes):

1. Talking Of The End [Side 1]

2. Dear Old Battlefield

3. Cosmic Boy

4. Worlds They Rise And Fall

5. Evolution Rag

6. Painted Chariot

7. Adam And Eve [Side 2]

8. Red Hair

9. Here Till Here Is There

10. Tree

11. Jigs: Eyes Like Leaves/Sunday is My Wedding Day/Drops Of Whiskey/Grumbling Old Men

12. Darling Belle

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" - released October 1971 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9172 and February 1972 in the USA on Elektra EKS-74112

The card slipcase always lends these BGO releases a feel of class. ALAN ROBINSON provides the very informative and entertaining liner notes in the tastefully laid out 16-page booklet – a lot of which is taken from/in collusion with Adrian Whittaker – author of the 2003 Book "Be Glad: An Incredible String Band Compendium" published by Helter Skelter. Adorning both sides of the text pages are small black and white period photos of the mad ensemble doing their flowers & cosmos thing – whilst the rest of the pages provide you with original recording credits and lyrics for both 1971 LPs.

Audio-wise - it doesn't say who or where these were Remastered - but I'm presuming it's the work of ANDREW THOMPSON because it sure sounds like it. Anyway - the Audio is superb throughout - most of the Acoustic-based songs benefitting from that extra oomph the transfer has given them. With John Woods as the original Engineer (Nick Drake etc) – it’s hardly surprising that these CDs sound so sweet. But the music for me is very much a tale of two cities - good and bad...

"Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending" feels like an odds and sods record - whatever was left in the can - thrown into one lump and issued regardless. Side 1 has the five lyric-based studio songs (One live in 1968) - while Side 2 is the 26-minute-plus Instrumental in nine different parts. The 'ha ha ha' chorus of the live track "See All The People" is insufferable hippy chanting and like most of Side 1 - I find it unlistenable now. There are pretty acoustic passages around the six-minute mark in the Side 2 instrumental that suddenly locate that ISB magic again - and later in the sitar break - but mostly it feels disorganised and rambling for the sake of it. Best track is the slightly vaudeville singing/talking more-tea-vicar song - "Waiting For You".

The harpsichord, the monastic voices and the clever Hari Krishna chanting percussion of "Talking Of The End" make it an extraordinarily odd yet intoxicating opening track. And just when you think you know where the song is going - it suddenly goes into a Sitar break that's both cool and eerie. "...Death is unreal...there's more to be revealed..." they sing on "Dear Old Battlefield" - the most Liege & Lief track on the LP. Mike Heron plays the Randy Newman piano while Likky handles the girly vocals on the pretty yet weird "Cosmic Boy" where the ISB of old is almost unrecognisable. Back to Folk-Prog business with "Worlds They Rise And Fall" - quite possibly the best melody on the album and beautifully played too.

The very Richard and Linda Thompson guitar vibe of "Painted Chariot" got picked as a representative of the band on the "Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal" 3CD Box Set for Island Records in 2005. The English Traditional "Here Till Here Is There" is almost Acapella - Heron and Likky sharing the microphone initially with Recorders thereafter providing the plaintive backing. But the sophisticated story-telling, cod-faced funny, World War sad and beautiful "Darling Belle" dominates the LP – an elongated finisher about life and loss that is all flutes and hissing swans and glockenspiels giving it some banjo yearning. I don't know about them getting their 'heads together in the country' like so many bands tried to do in the wake of Traffic - but the song is so typically ISB and a great way to end the record - mad as a dingbat on some very potent mushrooms - stoner rural music with an accent and a certain charming innocence...

As a group and listening experience - The Incredible String Band has always divided listeners - they're a Marmite band - love or loathe them. Those silly youthful indoctrinations aside - "Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" is still pretty much unlike anything you've ever heard - then or since. And for that they have our thanks and admiration.

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Put succinctly - this is keep the home fires burning music - while the leaves fall with whispers and the foggy dew is wet with aura daffodil love (know what I'm saying pal)...

"Classic Thin Lizzy - Universal Masters Collection" by THIN LIZZY (1999/2009 Decca/Deram CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

(Original 1999 Cover)

(2009 Reissue Artwork)

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"…Remembering Part One…"

The budget-to-mid price Series "Universal Masters Collection" spans a huge range of artists on the Universal roster of Labels - from ABC through to DONNA SUMMER - and all points in between. But this little gem given over to THIN LIZZY and the Irish band’s early Decca Label material seems to have gone largely unnoticed.

The booklet is a 4-page foldout inlay with a decent essay on the band at that time by DARYL EASLEA and a basic track listing.

But the really good news is that all 18 of its tracks have been Digitally Remastered and many of them are hard-to-find rarities. The compilation covers the period 1971 to 1974, their first 3 albums and the non-album 7" singles around them. As you can see from the photo they've used for the front cover of the booklet, the rocking Dublin band was still a POWER TRIO at that time - PHIL LYNOTT on Bass and Vocals (principal songwriter), ERIC BELL on Guitar and Vocals with BRIAN DOWNEY on Drums and Percussion (the famous dual-guitars of BRIAN ROBERTSON and SCOTT GORHAM began with "Nightlife" in 1974).

The albums featured here are "Thin Lizzy", their debut from April 1971, "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage", their second album from March 1972 (un-issued in the US) and their fantastic third album from September 1973, "Vagabonds Of The Western World" (on the Decca label in the UK and the London label in the USA). As the first three albums were put out onto CD in 1990, 1993 and 1993 respectively with 'ok' sound quality - these 1999 sonic upgrades are both long overdue and superb-sounding into the bargain.

Originally UK released December 1999 (reissued 2005 and 2009) - "Classic Thin Lizzy: The Universal Masters Collection" by THIN LIZZY is an 18-track CD compilation on Universal/Deram/Decca 844 945-2 (Barcode 042284494526). Here’s the track-by-track breakdown (most of this info isn’t on the outer sleeve):

1. Whisky In The Jar

Their 1st UK 7" single from November 1972 and originally a non-album track – the song is an updated cover version of a 1729 Traditional Irish air. The cut supplied here is the rare 'Promotional Edited Version' used on UK Demos and the US issue of the single that cut down the standard 7" release from its full running time of 5:44 minutes to a shorter 3:40 minutes

2. The Rocker

Their 3rd UK 7" single, this is the rare ‘Edited Single Version'. It chops down the full "Vagabonds Of The Western World" album cut of 5:12 minutes to 2:41 minutes - essentially editing out Eric Bell's guitar solo

3. Look What The Wind Blew In (on "Thin Lizzy" - their 1st album)

4. Randolph's Tango

Their 2nd UK 7" single from May 1973 and again a non-album track. This is credited as the ‘US Edited Single Version’ - but as the original UK version runs to 3:53 minutes and this cut is 3:49 minutes - in a crazy world of 45 playing times - 4-seconds is seen as an 'edit'…

5. Sarah (Version 1) (on "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" - their 2nd album)

6. Things Ain't Workin' Out Down At The Farm (Version 1)

The 4th of 4 tracks on the ultra-rare "New Day" EP - a UK-only 7" single-only release from 21 August 1971. The 1st track on the EP "Dublin" is also on this compilation - Track 12. For CD versions of the other two songs on the EP, "Remembering Part II (New Day)" and "Old Moon Madness” - they can be found as bonus tracks on both the 1990 and 2010 CD reissues of "Thin Lizzy”

7. Vagabond Of The Western World

Edited 7” Single Version - it cuts down the "Vagabonds..." album track of 4:49 minutes to a running time of 4:06 minutes

8. Here I Go Again (non-album B-side to the November 1973 UK 7” single of "The Rocker" on Decca F 13467)

9. Buffalo Gal (on "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage” - their 2nd album)

10. Honesty Is No Excuse (on "Thin Lizzy” - their 1st LP)

11. Black Boys On The Corner

Released in the UK in November 1972 as Decca F 13356 - it's the non-album B-side to both the UK and USA 7" single "Whisky In The Jar" (spelt without an 'e' in the UK and EUROPE but with an 'e' in the USA.

12. Dublin (1st of 4 tracks on the ultra-rare "New Day" EP, a UK-only 7" single-only release from 21 August 1971)

13. Little Darling (a UK 7" single-only release from April 1974 on Decca F 13507 featuring GARY MOORE (ex Ireland's SKID ROW) on Guitar)

14. Brought Down (on "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage” - their 2nd LP)

15. Remembering Part One (on "Thin Lizzy". This is credited as the 'US Edited Version' - but at 6:00 minutes it appears to me to be the same as the UK album version)

16. Chatting Today (on "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage” - their 2nd LP)

17. Broken Dreams (non-album B-side to "Randolph's Tango" – released May 1973 as their 2nd UK 45 on Decca F 13402 – both tracks were non-album at the time)

18. Little Girl In Bloom

(US Edited Version - it cuts down the "Vagabonds..." album cut from 5:14 minutes to 5:06 minutes and was apparently released like this on the 1973 AMERICAN versions of the "Vagabonds..." album)

Apart from the obvious rarity nature of many of these tracks what is thrilling is the stunning upgraded remastering that each has been given. A comparison of "Black Boys On The Corner" is one good example. Originally only available on the 1991 CD issue of “Vagabonds Of The Western World" as a bonus track in ok remastered sound - the upgrade here is just breathtaking. A truly great B-side (and far more indicative of their rockin' nature than the A) - it's been a fan-favourite for years and to hear it sound this good is an absolute blast.

Initially penciled in for release February 2008 - the first three albums on Decca "Thin Lizzy" (1971), “Shades Of A Blue Orphanage" (1972) and a 2CD Deluxe Edition of their wonderful 1973 LP "Vagabonds Of The Western World” finally arrived in 2010 after five or even six delays - and all of them with copious bonus tracks and top-quality remastering well worth the wait (see my reviews for all of them).

'Classic Thin Lizzy' is probably pushing the term here - but if you want a taster of those early years - “Classic/Universal Masters Collection" is an excellent CD compilation and a cheap way of accessing their earlier and wildly underrated material. And it’s a cool way to remember this beloved (original trio) of an Irish Rock Band and its much-missed leader - PHILIP PARIS LYNOTT. Rock on you peach…