"I'm A Freak, Baby... A Journey Through The British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-1972" by VARIOUS (July 2016 Grapefruit 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 1 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters

As well as 1960s and 1970s Rock and Pop - It Also Focuses On

Blues Rock, Prog Rock, Psych, Avant Garde and Underground 

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"...Hot Smoke And Sassafras..."

  

Trying to reach into every musically uncharted corner whilst still pleasing everybody and taking no prisoners on content while you do it is a tall order. And for damn sure "I'm A Freak, Baby..." isn't going to please your Auntie Flo's Sunbury-On-Thames Bridge Class as quality pastoral background music. But over at Lemmy's house they'll be breaking out the beer-crates in celebration while a visiting Ozzy Osbourne polishes his upside-down cross with glee and lines up blood-drained headless bats for guest snacks.

Getting a 3CD compilation like this right is a rare achievement. But Cherry's Red's 'Grapefruit' label has been grabbing collectors by the small people for some time now and impressing with beautifully presented and collated retrospectives that touch on underground areas most major labels can’t be assed with (then or now).

Rocking and Heavy Psyching like a marauding mushroom-manic beast - 2016's "I'm A Freak, Baby..." amply shows the reason why devotees to off-the-beaten-track music are whispering the 'Grapefruit' name in hushed tones. I've been a reviewer and Rock Music lover for more decades than I care to remember and even armed with a fairly deep level knowledge - there are bands and titles on here that I've never heard of nor seen in my 20-years as a Rarities Buyer for Reckless in London's Soho (a busy place I can assure you with a high turnover of what's genuinely rare). Unreleased recordings, acetate albums and tracks from privately pressed LPs and Singles of only 30 or 99 copies sit nestled amidst actual chart hitters like Deep Purple, The Move and Hawkwind. The whole mad lot is present and they're damn good too.

There's a ton of stuff to wade through here so once more my Imperial Leather friends unto the tangled underarms of Heavy Psych and Hard Rock. And pass the Vosene Extra Strength and neck-brace darling - we're going to need both. Going underground - here are the overhead details...

UK released 29 July 2016 (7 August 2016 in the USA) - "I'm A Freak, Baby... A Journey Through The British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-1972" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEGBOX032 (Barcode 5013929183209) is a 3-CD 48-Track Mini Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (78:24 minutes):
1. All In Your Mind - STRAY (from the June 1970 UK debut LP "Stray" on Transatlantic TRA 216)
2. Cast A Spell - THE OPEN MIND (August 1969 UK 7" single on Philips BF 1805, B-side of "Magic Potion")
3. Hot Smoke And Sassafras - THE MOOCHE (May 1969 UK 7" single on Pye 7N 17735, A-side. A Bubble Puppy cover version)
4. My Son's Alive - CRUSHED BUTLER (1970 recording not originally issued - Jesse Hector and Alan Butler later formed The Hammersmith Gorillas)
5. Going Down - CHICKEN SHACK (from the February 1972 UK LP "Imagination Lady" on Deram SDL 5)
6. Father Of Time - CYCLE (from the October 1971 UK LP "Cycle" on SRT Records 71143, private pressing, 99 copies only)
7. I'm Coming Home - THE DEVIANTS (from the June 1968 UK LP "Ptooff!" on Underground Impresarios IMP 1)
8. Do It - THE PINK FAIRIES [feat Twink] (January 1971 UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 089, B-side of "The Snake")
9. Time Machine - FACTORY (February 1971 UK 7" single on oak RGJ 718, A-side, 99 copies only. Featured Andy Qunta later of Icehouse)
10. Cherry Red - GROUNDHOGS (from the March 1971 UK LP "Split" on Liberty Records LBS 83401)
11. I'm A Freak - WICKED LADY (early 1972 recording not originally issued - featuring Martin Wearer of Dark)
12. Rock My Soul - CHARGE (from the January 1973 UK LP "Charge" on SRT Productions 73275)
13. Sweet Mistress Of Pain [aka "Kiss Of The Velvet Whip"] - HAWKWIND ZOO [Hawkwind] (late 1969 recording at Abbey Road not originally issued)
14. Nightmare - STONEHOUSE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Stonehouse Creek" on RCA SF 8197. Featured Jim Smith and Ian Snow later with Asgaerd on The Moody Blues label Threshold Records)
15. Falling - THE IRON MAIDEN [not the British heavy metal band] (November 1971 UK 7" single on Gemini GMS 006, A-side)
16. Apocalypse - BARNABUS (recorded November 1971, previously unissued)

Disc 2 (79:58 minutes):
1. Bogeyman - WRITING ON THE WALL (from the November 1969 UK LP "The Power Of The Picts" on Middle Earth MDLS 303)
2. Fireball - DEEP PURPLE (from the August 1971 UK LP "Fireball" on Harvest SHVL 793)
3. Primitive Man - JERUSALEM (from the March 1972 UK LP "Jerusalem" on Deram SDL 6. Produced by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple)
4. Love In The Rain - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND (from their July 1969 UK debut LP "Wasa Wasa" on Harvest SHVL 757)
5. Trust - HELMUT (Previously Unreleased 1970 recording. Featured Terry Aitken later with Prog Rock group 'Elegy')
6.  Rhubarb - SECOND HAND (from the March 1969 UK LP "Reality" on Polydor 583 045)
7. Dream - LITTLE FREE ROCK (from the December 1969 UK debut LP "Little Free Rock" on Transatlantic TRA 208)
8. Skullcrusher - IRON CLAW (Not originally issued, recorded 5 December 1970)
9. Zero Time - DARK (from the July 1972 UK LP "Dark Round The Edges" on SIS Studios 0102, 30 copies only plus 2 test pressings)
10. Jehovah - THE VELVET FROGS (not originally issued, recorded late 1969 - featured Dennis Muchmore and John Carrod later with The Method)
11. Brontosaurus - THE MOVE (March 1970 UK 7" single on Regal Zonophone RZ 3026, A-side)
12. STACK WADDY - Bring It To Jerome (from the February 1971 debut album "Stack Waddy" on Dandelion Records DAN 8003. A Bo Diddley cover)
13. Mr. Make Believe - SAMUEL PRODY (from the 1971 German LP "Samuel Prody" on Global 6306 906. Features Tony Savva later with Rusty Butler. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker of Queen fame)
14. Flash - BARE SOLE (Not originally issued, recorded 1969)
15. Street Walking Woman - THE PHOENIX (Previously unissued, recorded 1969)
16. Go, I'm Never Gonna Let You - SKID ROW (from their July 1971 2nd and last album "34 Hours" on CBS Records S 64411. Featured Brush Shiels, Noel Bridgeman and a young Gary Moore on Guitar)

Disc 3 (74:57 minutes):
1. Race With The Devil - THE GUN (October 1968 UK 7" single on CBS Records 3764, A-side. Featured Adrian and Paul Gurvitz later with The Baker-Gurvitz Army)
2. Heart Without A Home - BLONDE ON BLONDE (from the November 1970 UK LP "Rebirth" on Ember Records NR 5049)
3. Ascension Day - THIRD WORLD WAR (from the February 1971 debut LP "Third World War" on Fly Records HIFLY 4. Featured Jim Avery of Thunderclap Newman and Terry Stamp)
4. Street - EGOR (from the 1971 Various Artists showcase LP for new bands "Oddsocks" on Splat DBR 4286)
5. Escalator - SAM GOPAL (from the January 1969 UK LP "Escalator" on Stable Records SLE 8001. Featured Lemmy of Motorhead and Viv Prince of The Pretty Things)
6. Gypsy - URIAH HEEP (from the June 1970 UK debut LP "Very 'Eavy... Very 'Umble" on Vertigo 6360 006)
7. Garden Of My Mind - THE MICKEY FINN (December 1967 UK 7" single on Direction 58-3086, A-side. Mickey Waller and Danny Peyronel would later form Heavy Metal Kids with Gary Holton)
8. Think About It - THE YARDBIRDS (March 1968 USA 7" single on Epic 5-10303, B-side of "Goodnight Sweet Josephine". Features Jimmy Page on Lead Guitar)
9.  Trying To Find My Way Back Home - MORNNG AFTER (from the January 1971 UK LP "Blue Blood" on Sky Records 71014. Features Norman Hume [aka Norman Beaker] later with Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation)
10. Yellow Cave Woman - VELVETT FOGG (from the January 1969 UK LP "Velvett Fogg" on Pye Records NSPL 18272)
11. Too Old - ANDROMEDA (from the September 1969 UK LP "Andromeda" on RCA SF 8031. Features John Du Cann and Mick Hawksworth of The Attack)
12. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) - FLEETWOOD MAC (May 1970 UK 7" single on Reprise RS 27007, A-side)
13. Twisted Trip Woman - SWEET SLAG (from the February 1971 UK LP "Tracking With Close-Ups" on President PTLS 1042)
14. Occult - THE KULT (Previously unissued recording, recorded circa May 1969)
15. Born On The Wrong Side Of Time - THE TASTE (March 1969 UK 7" single on Polydor 56313, A-side)
The Irish Rock band famously featured Rory Gallagher on Lead Guitar and Vocals. Originally the B-side of "Blister On The Moon" - "Born..." was initially entitled "Born On The Wrong Side Of Town" and came with a different mix on Major Minor Records MM 560 in April 1968. The song was retitled and re-recorded for the April 1969 debut "Taste" LP on Polydor 583 042.
16. Hollis Brown - FUSION FARM (from the December 1971 UK LP "Rush Job" on SRT 71169. A cover of Bob Dylan's "Ballad Of Hollis Brown". Shortened their name to Farm and signed to Spark Records for one 45 in February 1974 - "Fat Judy").

Compiled and Annotated by DAVID WELLS with JOHN REED as Project Manager - these are names well known to fans and collectors alike. I know John Reed personally from my days with Reckless and his days suffering for the Record Collector magazine where he literally compiled those first Rare Records Price Guides. His knowledge of British Music is frankly frightening and especially the Avant Garde and Underground scenes and along with the hugely experienced David Wells who does the superlative liner notes - it goes a long way to explaining why this compilation is so good.

ANDY MORTEN at Pepperbox did the gorgeously laid-out design with the 35-page booklet being a feast for the eyes and brains. You get page after page of photos for each act (some of these are so obscure), singles and album sleeves pictured – key players acknowledged and so on. In-between the text are posters, flyers, gig cards, buttons and other tasty memorabilia. Each CD card sleeve has a different festival photo where some unwashed inebriated reprobate is wigging out to another three-day long guitar solo - Weeley Festival, August 1971 for Disc 1 - Glastonbury Festival, June 1971 for Disc 2 and The Isle Of Wight Festival, August 1970 on Disc 3...

SIMON MURPHY over at Another Planet Music has done the Mastering and considering the disparate sources - the Audio is fantastic - suitably grungy, hard rocking and even Punk when it needs to be. And the set is dedicated with warmth to two sad losses in 2015 - Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister and John Whittington. To the music...

Accounts are opened with "All In Your Mind" from Stray - a fantastic nine-minute amalgamation of both box set subtitles - Heavy Psych and Hard Rock. The lads from Shepherd Bush were mere teenagers when they recorded it and you can so hear their Small Faces/Humble Pie fixation in that driving Steve Marriott riffage. England's uber metal merchants IRON MAIDEN would pay Stray and Del Bromham's song the ultimate accolade by recording it as a cover nearly two decades later - landing on the B-side of The Maid's "Holy Smoke" in 1990. We trip back a couple of years to 69's "Cast A Spell" - a proper kick-ass Rocker with The Open Mind more than justifying its £600 (2018) Record Collector Rare Record price tag. Another corking B-side then hits you - The Mooche covering a Bubble Puppy song delightfully called "Hot Smoke And Sassafras". The deeply Atomic Rooster grind of "My Son's Alive" from Crushed Butler feels more early Punk than its 1970 recording date indicates. Forsaking his Blues-Rock and R&B sound for four albums on England's Blue Horizon Records - Stan Webb's Chicken Shack was a power-trio by 1972 and their powerful cover of Don Nix's "Going Down" sledgehammers home this new direction. A huge meaty guitar piles down on the riff as John Glascock (of Toe Fat) and Paul Hancox (of The Mindbenders) try to keep up on Bass and Drums. The batty and very Velvet Underground "I'm Coming Home" from The Deviants features Mick Farren shouting about walking up your stairs until I reach your landing - but that's not before the band go into a proper full-on fuzz-guitar melt down that would make The Stooges terminally envious. Standing naked with newspapers covering their crown jewels - the four members of The Pink Fairies are clearly proud of the very Rock 'n' Roll "Do It" - a spunky rocker Twink would resurrect on Chiswick Records in the Punk explosion of 1977 and 1978. Although I've never been enamoured with the Hawkwind track - other highlights on Disc 1 include the almost Canned Heat boogie of The Groundhog's "Cherry Red" with Tony McPhee letting rip on that guitar - Plymouth's Stonehouse rocking like MC5 on the overlooked album track "Nightmare" on RCA in 1971 - and the impossibly rare Barnabus track where there's said to be only four copies of their double-album "Beginning To Unwind" in existence.

Disc 2 opens with a knees-up Mother Brown moment as an accordion and a deranged man whoop-start "Bogeyman" by Writing On The Wall - only to be quickly replaced with an 'armies of the night' doomer driving rhythm that is surprisingly Funky in its own way. I can remember when this 1969 Middle Earth Records LP used to shift for a ton - nowadays you're looking at £400+. CD number two also introduces familiar British band names and their chart-busting rockers - Deep Purple's utterly brilliant "Fireball" lets Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord do their thing on Guitar and Organ (that intro sound is apparently an air-conditioner and no one seems to know why) while ex Idle Race man Jeff Lynne injects new vitality into The Move on their chunky little raver "Brontosaurus". Primitive and at times hard-to-take Heavy Rock comes in the shape of Deram's Jerusalem and Harvest's Edgar Broughton Band but I suspect most will be shocked at the Heavy-cool of "Trust" - a previously unreleased dinosaur of its own by the sexily-named Hellmut (though rough-sounding it's a find ala Sabbath). Speaking of the Sabbs - their doomy influence is everywhere - from the frankly loony power-rocker "Rhubarb!" by Second Hand to the 'their name liveth' Iron Claw who apparently incorporated the entirety of Black Sabbath's debut into their live act. Peter Illingworth of Lancashire's Little Free Rock rocks out on his axe for the rather excellent "Dream" while Mancunians Stack Waddy dream of Bo Diddley on their Rock-R&B cover of "Bring It To Jerome" (great drum sound). And that's the already extraordinary playing of a 19-year old Gary Moore on Skid Row's groovy and vital "Go, I'm Never Gonna Let You Go" from their second and last album for CBS - "34 Hours" - titled after the amount of time it took to record the album.

Adrian and Paul Gurvitz of Gun were dreaming no doubt of Ginger Baker and laughing gas when they penned the galloping "Race With The Devil" - though it's not a tune I've ever really liked if I'm honest. Disc 3 continues in suitably madcap fashion with the very cool sitar-rock feel to "Heart Without A Home" from Blonde On Blonde - named as you've no doubt guessed after Dylan's monumental 1966 double-album. The incendiary guitar solo at its core is the stuff that Heavy Rock fans dream of and it comes roaring out of your speakers with huge production values too. I don't know if I'd have chosen "Ascension Day" by Third World War - but I reviewed this brilliant and largely forgotten pre-Punk album put out by Esoteric Recordings not so long ago on a typically great CD reissue. Featuring a clearly socially aware and very angry Terry Stamp - I would have gone for the "M.I. 5" track instead - but whichever you song you chose - this 1971 Third World War LP on Fly Records defies its age, label and date. Instead of John Kongos or T. Rex it feels like a 1976 and 1977 album - a full six years before Punk exploded across the UK.

But even that is trampled on by the wonderfully named 'Egor' whose "Street" will have Heavy Rock fans reaching for the superlatives right soon. Apparently a resident band at The Plough and Harrow Pub in Leytonstone back in the day - Egor recorded a showcase LP for new bands album called "Oddsocks" and the astonishing "Street" was their lone contribution. It opens with a World War II air raid siren (I kid you not) and then launches into the most savage riffage you've ever heard - like the band had been mainlined "Fun House" by The Stooges for 12-months straight and amidst a whiskey-fuelled mayhem session added a Harmonica as well. Wow is the only appropriate response! I love The Mickey Finn and I can completely understand why their singles render collectors weak at their very knobbly knees. "Garden In My Mind" is a fantastic rocker that feels way ahead of its December 1967 release date and the band contained Mickey Waller on Guitar and Danny Peyronel on Keyboards who along with another hero of mine Gary Holton would form The Heavy Metal Kids in the Seventies (auf weidersehen pet).

For sure you will 'need' to be seriously into Heavy Psych and Hard Rock to get the toppermost of the poppermost out of "I'm A Freak, Baby...

But if you are – you may need to postpone that trip to Elveden Forest Center Parc with a Physiotherapy Nurse from E17's Whipps Cross and order in a double-strength neck-brace from Amazon. Because after three discs of this mighty sucker – you’re gonna need both...

"On Vine Street: The Early Songs Of Randy Newman" by VARIOUS (March 2008 Ace Records CD - Duncan Cowell and Rob Shread Remasters)

This Review Along With 300+ Others Is Available In My

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1960s and 1970s MUSIC ON CD - Volume 1 of 3 - Exceptional CD Remasters  

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(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Come And See Us..."

Begun in 1975 London - England's Ace Records have been at this reissue malarkey as long as most us have had dental appointments for a sweet tooth. For more than forty years now they've compiled out likes and dislikes on vinyl and CD and nine-times out of ten their superb reissues regularly elicit four and five stars - almost as a norm. But sometimes they just utterly nail it - and with a subject matter that deserves our attention and rediscovery. Even half way through "On Vine Street: The Early Songs Of Randy Newman" - you can 'feel' the class seeping off track-after track on this 2008 CD compilation.

As the risk of sounding trite here (and I don't mean to be) - the reason is Randy Newman's writing. Many (not all) of these Sixties artists couldn't pen a song of their own and would have been at the mercy of 'other' suppliers - the Brill building Pop machine that fed them by-the-numbers hits – another bopper in tune with the latest fad sweeping the dance floors of the nation. But even in cover versions that throwaway sensibility isn't present. You can literally hear these interpretations be sung with genuine soul and passion because the artists singing them 'know' a real song when they sing it.

Split into his two most recognisable styles - wry acidic humour on the one hand sat alongside piano-led pain on the other - most of the best songs on here are ballads actually. And even though there's simplicity to Newman's melodies - his words are deceptively deep - not just a boy and a girl sat in a Chevy on a Saturday night at the Drive-In - all fumbling thumbs and chewing-gum nerves. When you put hurting odes like "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" into the hands of masters like Dusty Springfield or "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore" into the lungs of Scott Walker - something magical happens.

I’ve played this compilation from start to finish on more than one occasion (even if I don’t dig everything on here) and on each new listen – my admiration for this classy songsmith only grows. Here are the dancing details...

UK released 31 March 2008 (7 April 2008 in the USA) - "On Vine Street: The Early Songs Of Randy Newman" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDCHD 1186 (Barcode 029667032629) is a 26-song CD compilation covering 1962 to 1970 that plays out as follows (68:57 minutes):

1. The Biggest Night Of Her Life - HARPERS BIZARRE (from their 1967 US Stereo album "Anything Goes" on Warner Brothers WS 1716)

2. Simon Smith And The Amazing Dance - ALAN PRICE SET (February 1967 UK 7" single on Decca F 12570, A-side)

3. Mama Told Me Not To Come - ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS (from their 1967 US Stereo album "Eric Is Here" on MGM Records SE 4433)

4. Have You Seen My Baby - FATS DOMINO (from the 1969 US album "Fats Is Back" on Reprise RS 6304, also February 1970 US 7" single on Reprise 0891, A-side)

5. Old Kentucky Home – THE BEAU BRUMMELS (from their 1967 US Stereo LP "Triangle" on Warner Brothers WS 1692)

6. So Long Dad - NILSSON (from the January 1970 US LP "Nilsson Sings Newman" on RCA Victor LSP-4269, an entire album of RN covers)

7. Love Story - RICKY NELSON (from his 1968 US Stereo LP "Perspective" on Decca DL 75014)

8. (Intro: Black Jack David)/Vine Street - VAN DYKE PARKS (from the 1967 US Stereo LP "Song Cycle" on Warner Brothers WS 1727)

9. I'll Be Home - LORRAINE ELLISON (1970 recording first issued 1995 on the CD album "Stay With Me/The Best Of..." on Ichiban SCL 2016)

10. I Think It's Gonna Rain Today - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (from the 1968 UK Stereo LP "Dusty...Definitely" on Philips SBL 7864)

11. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore - WALKER BROTHERS/SCOTT WALKER (from their 1965 debut UK Stereo LP "Take It Easy With..." on Philips SBL 7691 - called "Introducing The Walker Brothers" in the USA. Same recording also issued as a SCOTT WALKER solo 7" single in the USA in April 1968 on Smash S-2156, A-side)

12. I've Been Wrong Before - CILLA BLACK (April 1965 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5269, US 7" single on Capitol 5414, Produced George Martin)

13. Take Me Away - JACKIE DeSHANNON (from her 1965 UK Stereo LP "This Is Jackie DeShannon" on Liberty SLBY 3063)

14. Happy New Year - BEVERLEY [later Beverley Martyn, wife of John Martyn] (September 1966 UK 7" single on Deram DM 101, A-side. Features Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on Guitar and Bass with Nicky Hopkins on Piano)

15. Baby, Don't Look Down - BILLY STORM (September 1964 US 7" single on Loma 2001, A-side)

16. Friday Night - THE O'JAYS (August 1966 US 7" single on Imperial 66197, B-side of "Stand In For Love")

17. Big Brother - CALVIN GRAYSON (October 1964 US 7" single on Capitol 5308, B-side of "Where Do I Belong", produced by David Axelrod)

18. Nobody Needs Your Love - GENE PITNEY (June 1966 UK 7" single on Stateside SS 518, A-side)

19. Just One Smile - THE TOKENS (August 1965 US 7" single on B.T. Puppy Records 45-513, B-side of "The Bells Of St. Mary")

20. I Can't Remember Ever Loving You - TAMMY GRIMES (Previous unissued 1966 session - arrangements Jack Nitzsche)

21. While The City Sleeps - IRMA THOMAS (from the 1964 US Stereo LP "Wish Someone Would Care" on Imperial LP-12266)

22. Take Her - FRANKIE LAINE (September 1963 US 7" single on Columbia 4-42884, B-side of "I'm Gonna Be Strong", arranged by Jack Nitzsche, produced by Terry Melcher)

23. Love Is Blind - IRMA FRANKLIN (August 1963 US 7" single on Epic 5-9610, B-side of "Abracadabra")

24. Somebody's Waiting - GENE McDANIELS (December 1962 UK 7" single on Liberty LIB 55510, B-side of "Spanish Lace")

25. Looking For Me - VIC DANA (January 1963 UK 7" single on Liberty LIB 64, B-side of "A Very Good Year For Girls")

26. They Tell Me It's Summer - THE FLEETWOODS (July 1962 US 7" single on Dolton 62, B-side of "Lovers By Night, Strangers By Day")

Tracks 9, 14, 15, 19, 20, 23 and 25 are in MONO - the remainder in STEREO

The 20-page booklet is a feast of photos and in-depth info provided by the frighteningly well-informed MICK PATRICK - a man (like me) who clearly needs to get out more. You wouldn't know it by looking at its rare Deram DM 101 label - but Beverley's lone UK seven-inch single entry here features Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on Guitar and Bass while Nicky Hopkins adds the keyboards. Patrick informs the collectors in us all of this kind of info (I’d add that in a few years time the gorgeous Londoner would meet and marry a young Ian David McGeachy from Scotland who would then change his name to John Martyn and they would of course become John and Beverley Martyn on Island Records). Patrick also mentions stuff like the Eric Burdon & The Animals earlier take on "Mama Told Me Not To Come" was produced by Tony Wilson who was closely associated with The Velvet Underground and that the EB version was what Three Dog Night based their cover on - a song that gave them a No. 1 in the USA and a lot of other places too. The photos of rare album covers for Irma Thomas, Jackie DeShannon, The Beau Brummels and Rick Nelson and more spice up the text - while DUNCAN COWELL and ROB SHREAD have done their usual bang up job with the mastering and audio restoration - so many in glorious and ballsy Stereo. To the music...

At first the Harpers Bizarre vaudeville pop of "The Biggest Night Of Her Life" seems slightly throwaway but then the depth of the words hit you - Suzie attending her 16th birthday party where her neat-haired boyfriend might get his crew-cut ruffled. The wit continues with a huge hit for both Newman and ex-Animals main-man Alan Price - "Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear". It's not a tune I've ever particularly warmed too but it does have great audio here. Things really start to cook with the shimmering "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Eric Burdon. Sure his earlier version is more heavy-handed than the brilliant and frankly better Three Dog Night version that would top charts everywhere in 1970 - but it's a truly fascinating listen. Virtually unheard nowadays - Fats Domino lays down a typically swaying and piano-storming version of "Have You Seen My Baby"  - for many people a genuine discovery on here. "Old Kentucky Home" suits The Beau Brummels to a tee.

Things heat up with the impossibly pretty and forlorn "So Long Dad" from the 1970 "Nilsson Sings Newman" album - a record I've reviewed as a separate entity because I think it's a forgotten masterpiece. The Rick Nelson track is from his equally ignored "Perspective" LP from 1968 where each track is linked with natural sounds (here it's slurping water at the beginning of the song). The bizarre Van Dyke Parks track "Vine Street" is made all the more difficult by having 'Black Jack David' lead it in before strings and his strange voice take over. Recorded in 1970 - the Lorraine Ellison track is a sweetheart too but its firmly trounced by both Dusty Springfield and Scott Walker who nail "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" and "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore" with fabulous arrangements. The Beverley Martyn track is superb too - a bit of a Rocker with jobbing-musicians Jimmy Page and John-Paul Jones giving it some in the background while the Soul Boys and Gals bring up "Friday Night" (O'Jays), "I Can't Remember Ever Loving You" (Tammy Grimes) and and a wonderful Northern Soul and Phil Spector feel to "Somebody's Waiting" (Gene McDaniels).

Odd - musical - and yet somehow thoroughly satisfying – 2008’s "On Vine Street: The Early Songs Of Randy Newman" is a very cool CD. Hats off to Ace and its compiler crew once again...

"...You Promised..." - Gifted - A Review of the 2017 Movie now on DVD and BLU RAY...

"Gifted" - The Film

Sure its clunky and even clichéd in places - but having just come from the cinema - "Gifted" is also a rather lovely and moving little film. It's helped in no small part by a great script from Tom Flynn, an uncluttered direction from Marc Webb and most especially - fabulous leads who don't waste a moment of what they know is a sweetheart of a movie.

Chris Evans wisely steps out of that clean-cut Captain America persona, peels back the macho and actually acts. And he's good when he does - hugely likeable - and as some of the film's early jokes involving teachers at his daughter's school and ladies at the local bar indicate - in his ah-shucks teeshirt and disheveled beard - kind of cute eye-candy too.

Evans plays Frank Adler - a freelance boat-repairer living in a modest Florida home - rearing what appears at first to be his very precocious seven-year old daughter Mary. Mary questions everything (Latin in the English language, the validity of breakfast cereals, just who is this git God) and wants the answers right now and as a caveat – they should make sense too. But on the first day at school - Mary's combative nature comes out to a point where she feels 'odd' with the other kids - something she's dreaded – hence her thinly disguised defensiveness. And there's something else. It turns out Mary's a whizz at Maths. In fact not just a human calculator but also a genius - a gifted prodigy who is down with calculus, advanced algebra and differential equations when the other innocents are struggling with three plus three.

It doesn’t go unnoticed. Mary's young and kind-hearted teacher Bonnie Stevenson (a luminous Jenny Slate) is determined to talk to Dad Frank after class - and of course beneath the parent-teacher patter - sparks are ignited. They date quietly (not that Mary doesn’t spot the exit from a bathroom in a towel) and Bonnie learns more. It turns out that Frank is the brother of Mary's mum Diane Adler - who was also a troubled Math’s genius who couldn't take the oddity, the fame, and the pressure to prove a hugely difficult theory most professional Mathematicians wouldn't go near with a barge pole. Physically and emotionally stifled and somehow feeling she is a mentally frazzled and unworthy mum – Diane tragically ended her life at 27 leaving Frank with a niece/daughter to raise (the child’s real Dad has always been absent from her upbringing and cruelly it turns out that's just fine by him).

Enter Lindsay Duncan as Mary's prim-and-proper British Grandmother Evelyn (Diane's Mum) who lives in a wealthy and just-so residence in Massachusetts – the exact physical and mental opposite to loose-living Frank. Determined to raise the 7-year old Mary and unleash her obvious and awesome potential – unfortunately for the close bond between Frank and Mary - the points Evelyn raises don't just make sense but may well be the right thing to do for the child - and deep down Dad-Frank knows this. But Frank just wants Mary to have a normal life (as per mum's instructions) and even have (God forbid) some fun en route. Aunty has other ideas and enlists expensive lawyer types to apply some brutal but what she sees as necessary tough-love. Frank hires the street-savvy but humane Greg Cullen as his attorney - subtly played by a superb Glenn Plummer. Trouble brews, stews and boils over...and on it goes...

This is the best I've ever seen Lindsay Duncan because she's given a script of real meat. Her reasoning and sparring with Evans is both contained and realistic and her intellectual moneyed tantrum in a courtroom would cram more ice into an already stuffed refrigerator. Octavia Spencer adds gravitas too as the ever-present neighbour Roberta who loves Mary and her one-eyed cat Fred with a passion - but can't raise her because in the eyes of the law - the child is not her blood. But the whole movie is stolen by an astonishing performance from 11-year old McKenna Grace who already has a resume that would make your eyes bleed. She's vulnerable, funny, smart-assed, childish, wise (the scenes between her and Evans will reduce most to inner mush) and when it comes to key sequences later in the movie – this young actress reduced the audience I was with to tears and audible sobs. She's Saoirse Ronan good and that's really saying something...

Don't get me wrong. "Gifted" is not a relentless broken-family weepy that taps your emotions like a lump-hammer for the sake of it (even though it does resort to obvious filmic tricks in certain places – especially the choices of powerful and moving songs). But "Gifted" has that rare thing nowadays - a heart - a calmness even - and it reaffirms the power of family and love with a gentle grace that washes over you like a warm breeze and sunlight on water. And for once there's genuine believable chemistry between every single member of the cast (even the minor parts are beautifully realised and therefore ultimately believable). I liked it a lot and I suspect millions of other people will feel exactly the same.

Well done to all involved with "Gifted" and recommended big time.

Just remember to bring the face wipes with you to the cinema - and after it’s done - be prepared to want to hug your children with all the might you can physically muster...

"Hard Workin' Man: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 2" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (October 2006 Ace Records CD - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Like Someone In Love..."

I worked in the rarities department of a well-known and well-respected London record shop for 20 years and music-biz insiders (for the want of better words) know the name JACK NITZSCHE well - a behind-the-scenes arranger and producer of real genius. We know him well - most others don't.

Well - England's Ace Records are determined to rectify our collective musical myopia on a musical force whose legend only grows since his way-too-early passing in 2000 at the age of 63 – Chicago's Jack Nitzsche.

Nitzsche's resume is jaw dropping in its sheer variety - initial arranging stints with visionary loon Phil Spector and the Specialty Records label in the Fifties (Crystals, Ronettes, Darlene Love and Larry Williams) - shaping the sound of Sixties luminaries like The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, The Righteous Brothers, Bob Lind, The Turtles, Neil Young - aiding and abetting The James Gang, Crazy Horse, Ry Cooder, Mink DeVille, Graham Parker and The Ramones in the Seventies – moving into soundtracks like "Head" (The Monkees), "Performance" (Mick Jagger), "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", "Blue Collar" (with Captain Beefheart) and later on in the 80s and 90s on "Hot Spot" (with John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis and actor Dennis Hopper). His final discovery in 1999 was the Willy DeVille soundalike CC Adcock from Louisiana (there's a four-page interview with Adcock at the end of the booklet that makes for revealing and affectionate reading).

Some say Jack was a direct descendent of the German classical composer Wagner and a relative to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In fact legend has it that Jack's Mum (a renowned witch apparently) was the one responsible for dropping the 'e' in the family surname because she felt it conjured up some numerical bad vibes and dodgy voodoo jabberwocky of some kind (don't you just want that on your Facebook page). The e-less Jack even nabbed an award for co-writing "Up Where We Belong" from the 1983 global film smash "An Officer And Gentleman".

This is the second volume of three Various Artists CD compilations Ace have put out chronicling his amazing legacy - the first "Hearing Is Believing: The Jack Nitzsche Story 1962-1979" on Ace Records CDCHD 1030 (Barcode 029667008327) came out 28 March 2005 and the third installment "Night Walker: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 3" on Ace Records CDCHD 1430 (Barcode 029667059923) finally arrived 30 June 2014. We're going to deal with an overlooked nugget - piggy-in-the-middle – Volume 2 from 2006. Here are the Hard Workin' Men and the Teardrops At Dawn Women...

UK released 9 October 2006 - "Hard Workin' Man: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 2" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDCHD 1130 (Barcode 029667022323) is a 26-Track CD compilation stretching from 1960 to 2004 (Volume two in a series of three) that plays out as follows (76:25 minutes):

1. Hard Workin' Man - JACK NITZSCHE with vocals by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (from the 1978 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to "Blue Collar" on MCA Records 40897) - written by Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder and Director Paul Schrader)
2. Surfer Finger - JACK NITZSCHE (Previously unissued 1966 Reprise Recordings instrumental recording)
3. Just Like That - THE ROBINS (1960 USA 7" single on Avree 5001, A-side)
4. I'm Gonna Be Strong - FRANKIE LAINE (1963 USA 7" single on Columbia 4-42884, A-side)
5. You Just Gotta Know My Mind - KAREN VERROS (1965 US 7" single on Dot 16780, A-side)
6. Some Of Your Lovin' - EMIL O'CONNOR (1962 US 7" single on Columbia 4-42617,A-side - Phil Spector co-write)
7. Nobody Needs Your Love More Than I Do - TAMMY GRIMES (1966 US 7" single on reprise 0487, A-side - a Randy Newman song)
8. It's In His Kiss - MERRY CLAYTON (1963 US 7" single on Capitol 4984, A-side)
9. Don't Put Your Heart In His Hand (1963 US 7" single on Reprise R-20176, A-side - written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley)
10. Just Once In My Life - THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS (1965 US 7" single on Philles Records 127, A-side - Spector, Goffin & King song)
11. Teardrops 'Till Dawn - TIMI YURO (1965 USA 7" single on Mercury 72478, A-side)
12. Like Someone In Love - BOBBY VEE (Previously unreleased 1965 Liberty Records recording)
13. Baby I'm So Glad It's Raining - THE SATISFACTIONS (Previously unreleased Sunset Sound Recorders 1965 recording)
14. Blow Your Mind - THE GAS CO (1965 US 7" single on Mirwood 5501, A-side)
15. Woman In Love (With You) - DONNA LOREN (Previously Unissued 1968 Capitol recording)
16. As Long As You're Here - ZALMAN YANOVSKY (1967 US 7" single on Buddah BDA 12, A-side)
17. A Man Needs Love - NOONEY RICKETT (Previously unissued 1966 recording)
18. Mr. Soul - THE EVERLY BROTHERS (a 1968 Warner Brothers recording first issued on the "Nice Guys" UK LP on Magnum Force Records MFLP 1028 in September 1984 - a Neil Young song from his days with Buffalo Springfield)
19. You Know What I Mean - THE TURTLES (1967 US 7" single on White Whale 264, A-side)
20. Porpoise Song - THE MONKEES (1968 US 7" single on Colgems 1031, A-side - Goffin & King song)
21. I Don't Want To Talk About It - CRAZY HORSE (from their February 1971 debut LP "Crazy Horse" on Reprise Records MS 6348 - Danny Whitten song later made famous by Rod Stewart)
22. I'm The Loneliest Fool - JACK NITZSCHE (1974 unreleased solo LP first issued 2004 on the "Three Piece Suite" CD album on Rhino Handmade RHM2 2287)
23. Don't Touch Me There - THE TUBES (June 1976 US 7" single on A&M 1826-S, A-side)
24. Bank Robbery - JOHN LEE HOOKER, MILES DAVIS and TAJ MAHAL (1990 US CD and LP to the Dennis Hopper Soundtrack "The Hot Spot" on Antilles 846 813-2)
25. Break Away - THE NEVILLE BROTHERS (from the 1978 US LP "The Neville Brothers" on Capitol 11675)
26. Stealin' All Day - CC ADCOCK [Charles Clinton Adcock] (from the 2004 CD album "Lafayette Marquis" on Yep Roc CD 2040)
Tracks 2, 12, 13, 15 and 17 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Tracks 1, 10, 18, 19, 21 to 26 are in STEREO – all others are in MONO

Compiled by MICK PATRICK and TONY ROUNCE - the 24-page booklet is a veritable feast for the eyes and a properly in-depth read – 26-tracks expertly put together by two names synonymous with good reissues. You get rare pictures sleeves for The Righteous Brothers on Spector's Philles and Merry Clayton on Capitol, a promo photo of The Turtles in colour and an NME front cover that features the Spector Girl-Group-pastiche "Don't Touch Me There" by The Tubes. Apart from occasional forays into the late Seventies and beyond – the vast majority of the songs are Sixties and come in evenly spread dollops of hard-hitting Mono and speaker-spaced Stereo. I've never heard the Beefheart track with so much muscle and that huge soundstage that Spector got is wonderfully realized on The Righteous Brothers track (superb NICK ROBBINS remasters).

Featuring 12-tracks new to CD - the compilation starts on a very oddly-placed but still mightily catchy 1978 Stereo cut – the fantastic Muddy Waters 'I'm A Man' blues riff of the compilation's title track - "Hard Workin' Man". I mention this because much of the CD plays like a Sixties Pop and Rock fest rather than a late Seventies Johnny Winter stomper – so don’t be expecting a lot of that. The ladies bring up the melodrama Soul sides in real upbeat chest-bracing style – Tammy Grimes, Merry Clayton and a Northern Soul Scene fave – Timi Yuro. Nitzsche's own instrumental "Surf Finger" gets a CD airing for the first time too and damn good it is too. Overlooked discoveries include The Everly Brothers doing a very cool cover of the Buffalo Springfield song "Mr. Soul" penned by our favourite Canadian whinge bag Neil Young. It's a 1968 Warner Brothers out-take that would have to wait until 1984 in the UK to see release on vinyl. Loving this...

And its slightly trippy vibe makes for perfect bedfellows with The Monkees, The Gas Co and the hilarious Tubes track towards the end of the disc - "Don't Touch me There" (I'll try not to honey). Emotional wallop comes with the 1971 Danny Whitten masterpiece of heartbreak he penned for Crazy Horse and their brilliant debut album - "I Don't Want To Talk About It" – a song that would of course be made into a global smash by Rod Stewart in 1975 on his "Atlantic Crossing" LP on Riva Records. The other inclusion likely to send you running for a whole album purchase is the incredibly sexy and cool "Bank Robbery" theme from "The Hot Spot" Soundtrack of 1990. It features a truly stellar line up of groovy types - Miles Davis on Trumpet, Taj Mahal on Vocals and Guitar, John Lee Hooker on Second Guitar with Roy Rogers on Slide Guitar. And what a fantastic groove it is. The compilation ends on the Seasick Steve/Willy DeVille Blues mojo of CC Adcock bringing the production values right up to the present day.

It’s not all genius for sure (some of the Pop tracks can feel period twee) – but the best thing you can say about any CD compilation called Volume 2 is that it made me want to own Volume 1 and 3 as well. And I will admit that Jack Nitzsche Volume 4 will be welcome too.

Jack Nitzsche Volume 2 is recommended...e or no e...