"The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier" by TERRY CALLIER – Debut US Album from 1965 on Prestige Records in Mono (July 2003 Ace/Beat Goes Public 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue - Joe Tarantino Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Better Days Coming…
You And Me Brother…We Can Make It So…"

There are now TWO CD issues of this gorgeous and cool 60ts Folk-Soul album on Ace/Beat Goes Public that requires some explanation...

The first CD was released in November 1995 in the UK on one of Ace Records label imprints - Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 101 (Barcode 029667510127). It was a straightforward reissue of the 8-Track Mono 1965 US vinyl album on Prestige 7383 (also credited as PRLP-7383 on some original copies). It ran to 37:46 minutes and had no mastering or remastering credits. The sound quality was ok but it has been made redundant by...

This 2nd issue of "The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier" by TERRY CALLIER was UK released July 2003 on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 156 (Barcode 029667515627) and is an upgraded Remaster that adds on Three Previously Unreleased Outtakes from the original session to the album's eight tracks upping the playing time to 55:01 minutes.

1. 900 Miles [Side 1]

2. Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be

3. Johnny Be Gay If You Can Be

4. Cotton Eyed Joe

5. It’s About Time [Side 2]

6. Promenade In Green

7. Spin Spin Spin

8. I’m A Drifter

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Be My Woman

10. Jack O’ Diamonds

11. The Golden Apples Of The Sun 

This new version on Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 156 has been transferred by JOE TARANTINO at the Fantasy Studios in California - and if I was to describe what's better - it's the vocals - they're far more amplified and to beautiful effect. Unfortunately, it's still a gatefold slip of paper that provides no history of the record (the original May 1965 liner notes are reproduced, but it's the usual vague Sixties babble that doesn't actually inform you of anything).

Aged only 23 - "The New Folk Sound Of..." was recorded by Samuel Charters in the Webb Recording Studios in Chicago in just one day - 29 July 1964 - and released late summer of the following year 1965 (no one seems to know the exact month - there’s even talk that it wasn’t released until late 1968 because the first reviews appeared January 1969). There are only 3 musicians - TERRY CALLIER on Guitar and Vocals, TERBOUR ATTENBOROUGH on Bass and JOHN TWEEDLE also on Bass. Another surprise is that all the songs are covers - five being Public Domain Traditionals while the other three were from songwriter catalogues of the time. 

Side 1 opens with the lovely and lonesome "900 Miles" which sets up his style and the album's overall feel. Although it's just him on Acoustic Guitar with his voice high up in the mix and the other instruments behind him, the effect is more FOLK-SOUL than just Folk or Roots. It's beautifully atmospheric - the kind of album you'd play on a quiet Sunday morning when you just want something soothing on the ear and brain.

Some tracks work better than others. It's difficult to hear "Oh Dear What Can The Matter Be" now without thinking of a schoolyard song we used to sing which rudely rhymed a "Lavatory" with "Matter Be". But things get better with the quietly lovely "Johnny Be Gay If You Can Be" and "Cotton Eyed Joe". The difference on the Remaster of "Cotton Eyed Joe" is stark - the vocals soar out of the speakers.

One of the album's true masterpieces is Side 2's opener - the plea for racial equality and an end to all war - "It's About Time" (lyrics above). Written by a beat poet and a female US songwriter (Kent Foreman and Lydia Wood) and running to a mere 3:33 minutes, it features a lovely guitar strum, but this time it has the added double bass of TERBOUR ATTENBOROUGH which lifts the song out of it's folk-roots feel into something so much more powerful and substantial. It still sounds awesome to this day - as relevant then as it is now. It's followed by "Promenade In Green" which is a Negro song from Alabama copyrighted by Robert Kaufman and Len Chandler in 1961 (a year before Callier started singing) - it's heart-meltingly lovely. "I'm A Drifter" is excellent too, but probably overstays its welcome at just short of nine minutes.

The extras are a revelation. It's easy to see why they were left off the album - it's not that they're sub-standard - it's just that they were more of the same and something had to give. Which is good news for us some 45 years later because the gambling song "Jack O' Diamonds" is superb. But the real winner is his cover of the Judy Collins song "The Golden Apples Of The Sun" which incorporated the poetry of William Butler Yates into the words. It's gorgeous. What a find!

As you've no doubt gathered, I've been soppy about Terence Orlando Callier for years, so perhaps my review is overly gushing - but once your weary lugs actually hear this criminally forgotten gem, you'll understand why...

Despite the lack of notes and an appreciation of the man's legacy - this is a great reissue of a soft and graceful start - and a philosophy to life that continues to inspire to this day.

I strongly urge you to get this superb CD reissue into your life...

PS: see also my reviews for the three albums that followed on Cadet Records - "Occasional Rain" (June 1971), "What Color Is Love" (March 1973) and "I Just Can't Stand Myself" (October 1973)

"Occasional Rain" by TERRY CALLIER – Second Album from June 1971 on Chess/Cadet Records (USA) featuring Charles Stepney Arrangements and Production with Minnie Riperton and Kitty Haywood from The Rotary Connection on Backing Vocals (July 2008 Universal/Verve Originals CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Outside The Golden Circle Of Your Love…"

'Lost Masterpiece', 'Forgotten Classic', 'An Album You Must Hear Before You Die' - take your pick... Because 1971's "Occasional Rain" by TERRY CALLIER genuinely fits them all - it really does.

Hailing out of Chicago and a childhood pal of Curtis Mayfield - Callier had put out only 1 album before this called "The New Folk Sound Of..." on US Prestige in early 1965 (see separate review). It did little business. Session years then went by until his signing to the Chess offshoot label Cadet, where he made 3 albums with legendary producer and writer CHARLES STEPNEY. The other two albums are "What Color Is Love" (1973) and "I Just Can't Help Myself" (1974) which are equally good - especially "Color" (see reviews for all).

Charles Stepney is another big name in small circles - a hero of sorts for soul lovers. He was involved in The Rotary Connection with Minnie Riperton, produced four albums with The Dells and even twiddled the knobs on the iconic and now much-vaulted psych-blues-fusion album "Electric Mud" by Muddy Waters. I'd personally scour down anything he had a hand in...a genius...

UK and Europe released July 2008 - "Occasional Rain" by TERRY CALLIER on Universal/Verve Originals 0602517664883 (Barcode 602517664883) is a straightforward CD transfer and remaster of the June 1971 US LP on Cadet Records CA 50007 (his 2nd album) and plays out as follows (43:26 minutes):

1. Segue No.1 - Go Ahead On [Side 1]

2. Ordinary Joe

3. Golden Circle

4. Segue No. 5 - Go Head On

5. Trance On Sedgwick Street

6. Do You Finally Need A Friend

7. Segue No. 4 - Go Head On [Side 2]

8. Sweet Edie-D

9. Occasional Rain

10. Segue No. 2 - Go Head On

11. Blues For Marcus

12. Lean On Me

13. Last Segue - Go Head On

Two other words printed on the back inlay beneath the CD also give this reissue the edge - GAVIN LURSSEN. He's an American sound engineer and I've sung his praises before (see separate reviews for "Gold" by THE CRUSADERS and "Careless" by STEPHEN BISHOP). Lurssen has just short of 900 mastering, remastering and audio restoration credits to his name (Universal, Hip-O Select) - his work stretches back decades, so he knows his way around a master tape or two. He was also called upon by the George Harrison Estate to handle the 2014 remaster of the Triple-LP Box Set/2CD Remaster for “All Things Must Pass” (see review).

I mention this because a lot of the songs on here are quietly soulful, Stepney didn't clutter them with instruments except when it complimented the melody - so the remaster needed the deftest of touches and Lurssen has done that. The sound quality isn't trebly or loud or showy - it's just there - sweet as a nut - the music just 'sails' out of your speakers in the most gorgeous way. You're left with a genuine sense of shock on two fronts (a) why has this beautiful soul album gone unnoticed for so long by the vast majority of music lovers out there and (b) a sense of relief - that in finally releasing "Occasional Rain" in 2008, Universal have picked the right guy to do the job.

Musically it breaks down like this - there's eight 8 songs separated by five 40-second "Segue" bits. No one knows why the first Segue is called "Go Ahead On" and the other 4 "Go Head On" (which is what the lyric is)? Some people think the Segues cool, while others feel they haven't worn well and now sound gimmicky. Personally, I find the songs surrounding them so beautiful that I don't notice...they're that good. I would love to hear the full song proper...

The most famous track off the LP is "Ordinary Joe" which has turned up on Acid Jazz type compilations and was a big draw in the UK. Other highlights are the acoustic urban trouble song "Trance On Sedgwick Street" which along with "Blues For Marcus" features the beautiful Cello work of EARL MADISON - and combined with Callier's impassioned vocals makes the tracks sound like Cat Stevens meets Nick Drake - really lovely and soulful. The love songs are up there as well - "Do You Finally Need A Friend" and the truly gorgeous "Golden Circle" (lyrics above). There's a strange guitar ping that floats over "Occasional Rain" giving it an ethereal otherworldly feel - very soulful and very Donny Hathaway in structure and churchy feel. Then comes the album's big finisher - and what a peach it is. "Lean On Me" is an impassioned six and half minute long friendship song with backing vocals from Minnie Riperton and Kitty Haywood - it's just gorgeous and finishes the mellowest of LPs on a genuine high.

Downside - although the gatefold card digipak is nice to look at, for me one of the big let downs is the complete lack of a booklet and therefore a sense of history, photos, insights etc... If ever a soul album deserved a little more luxury shown, then "Occasional Rain" is it.

If you're unconvinced and have heard too many praising reviews before - the entire LP is available on iTunes as a download - I'd recommend trying "Golden Circle" or "Occasional Rain" or "Lean On Me"- you'll be hooked. (The 2008 "Originals" remaster of "What Color is Love" is also available on iTunes).

Like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Donny Hathaway's "Extension Of A Man" and Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" - this is a proper soul album - a gem all the way through and sill beautiful and inspiring to this day - some 30/40 years after the event.

Of late Terry Callier has morphed (like Richie Havens) into a sort of elder statesman of soul still spreading his gospel of love and understanding - check out "Timepeace" from 1998 - unbelievably good and relevant to the now and not just past glories.

I've warbled on a bit I know, but this album deserves it. Buy it, cherish it, enjoy it - and I envy you the journey...

"Original Album Series" by TERRY REID Including The Albums "Bang, Bang You're TERRY REID" (1968 USA), "Terry Reid" (1969 USA and UK), "River" (1973), "Rogue Waves" (1979) and "The Driver" (1991) (April 2015 Rhino/Warners Music Group 5CD Mini Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Hold Your Peace..."

Fans of the mighty pipes of British Rock Vocalist TERRY REID have been quietly waiting for something like this - a decent spread of his better albums in reasonable sound and at an affordable price (two quid a disc for Gawd's sake). And that's exactly what "Original Album Series" delivers - and in an aesthetically pleasing manner too (albums from 1968, 1969, 1973, 1979 and 1991). Here are the detailed Super Lungs...

UK released Monday 27 April 2015 (May 2015 in the USA) - "Original Album Series" by TERRY REID on Rhino/Warner Music Group 0825646163960 (Barcode the same) is a 5CD Mini Box Set with 5" Card Repro Sleeves and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (50:45 minutes)

1. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

2. Tinker Taylor

3. Erica

4. Without Expression

5. Sweater

6. Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart [Side 2]

7. Season Of The Witch

8. Writing On The Wall/Summertime Blues

9. When I Get Home

10. Loving Time

Tracks 1 to 10 are his debut LP "Bang, Bang You're TERRY REID" - released December 1968 in the USA on Epic BN 26427 (no UK release - Produced by Mickie Most). All tracks written by Terry Reid ("Loving Time" co-written with Eric Leese) except - "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" which is a Cher cover (written by Sonny Bono), "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart" which is a David and Jonathan cover (written by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook and also made famous by Gene Pitney), "Season Of The Witch" which is a Donovan cover and "Summertime Blues" which is an Eddie Cochran cover. A 2004 Remaster is used for the CD.

Disc 2 (37:32 minutes):

1. Superlungs My Supergirl

2. Silver White Light

3. July

4. Marking Time

5. Stay With Me Baby

6. Highway 61 Revisited/Friends/Highway 61 Revisited [Side 2]

7. May Fly

8. Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace

9. Rich Kid Blues

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 2nd LP "Terry Reid" - released November 1969 in the USA on Epic BN 26477 and in the UK on Columbia SCX 6370 (Produced by Mickie Most). It was reissued September 1971 in the UK with a different sleeve as "The Most Of Terry Reid" on EMI/Music For Pleasure MFP 5220. All songs are written by Terry Reid - except "Superlungs My Supergirl" (Donovan cover), "Stay With My Baby" (Lorraine Ellison cover) and "Highway 61 Revisited" (Bob Dylan cover). A 2004 Remaster is used for the CD.

Disc 3 (36:28 minutes):

1. Dean

2. Avenue

3. Things To Try

4. Live Life

5. River [Side 2]

6. Dream

7. Milestones

Tracks 1 to 7 are his 3rd album "River" - released April 1973 in the UK on Atlantic K 40340 and March 1973 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7259. Produced by Tom Dowd (1 to 5) and Eddie Offord (6 and 7). No CD Remaster date is specified.

Disc 4 (42:12 minutes):

1. Ain't No Shadow

2. Baby I Love You

3. Stop And Think It Over

4. Rogue Wave

5. Walk Away Rene

6. Believe In Magic [Side 2]

7. Then I Kissed Her

8. Bowangi

9. All I Have To Is Dream

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 5th album "Rogue Waves" - released February 1979 in the UK on Capitol E-ST 11857 and in the USA on Capitol ST-11857 (Produced Chris Temsey and Terry Reid). All tracks written by Terry Reid except "Baby I Love You" (Ronettes cover), "Walk Away Rene" (Left Banke/Temptations cover), "Then I Kissed Her" (Beach Boys cover) and "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (Everly Brothers cover). No CD Remaster date is specified.

Disc 5 (45:19 minutes):

1. Fifth Of July

2. There's Nothing Wrong

3. Right To The End

4. The Whole Of The Moon

5. Hand Of Dimes

6. The Driver (Part 1) [Side 2]

7. If You Let Her

8. Turn Around

9. Gimme Some Lovin'

10. Laugh At Life

11. The Driver (Part 2)

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 6th album "The Driver" - released April 1991 in the USA and June 1992 in the UK on CD on WEA (Produced by Trevor Horn). All tracks are written by Terry Reid except "Fifth Of July" (written by Louise Goffin the daughter of Gerry Goffin and Carole King and Reid Savage of Sore Throat), "The Whole Of The Moon" (Waterboys cover with Enya on guest vocals) and "Gimme Some Lovin'" (Spencer Davis Group cover). No CD Remaster date is specified.

As is mostly the norm with this series - none of these discs have any extras and are straightforward transfers of the original vinyl LPs (with repro artwork front and rear). As you can also see from the lists given above - the first two albums use a remaster which is from the May 2004 EMI 2CD set "Super Lungs: The Complete Studio Recordings 1966-1969" transferred by Top Engineer PETER MEW at Abbey Road Studios. The audio is terrific - full of great presence and power. Mew has a very long and distinguished remaster track record - Jethro Tull, Dr. Feelgood, Deep Purple, Jeff Beck Group, Kevin Ayers, Ten Years After, Man, Blodwyn Pig, Donovan, Robin Trower, Free, Sandy Denny, Horslips (all reviewed) - the list of albums he's worked magic on is huge.

Audio-wise the other three are non-specific. The 1991 "Driver" album has a highly stylized big hairdo Nineties sound by Yes and ZTT Producer Trevor Horn (amongst a host of other Producers) - so you could say that it's least in need of an audio polish amongst the five. But the other two - "River" and "Rogue Waves" are unspecific. Beat Goes On has done three superb remasters of 1973's "River", the missing album in this set 1976's "Seed Of Memory" (see my reviews for both) and 1979's "Rogue Waves". Both the albums "River" and "Rogue Waves" sound great here - nice and clear - no cheap Eighties transfers - so that's a relief.

"Bang Bang, You're TERRY REID" came out in late 1968 in the USA-only on Epic Records. Reid sings and plays guitar, Eric Leese on Organ and Keith Webb on Drums. It opens with his cover of Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (written by Sonny Bono) and immediately gets into a very Reid groove - a sort of funky Rock strut. His "Tinker Tailor" continues in that vein while "Erica" starts out as a ballad, which morphs into a shuffle, that includes some cool brass arrangements (the remaster is excellent too). We get a bit hippy-dippy with the awful "Sweater" (not one of his finest compositions) - far better is the almost Zeppelin 1 sounding organ and guitar version of "Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart". But these are trumped by the album standout - his wicked 10-minute take of Donovan's "Season Of The Witch" where all the fey pop stops and we get into a cool Blues chug that stays and stays  - fabulous stuff. He goes for a hit with "When I Get Home" and ends the album on the slightly Prog tip of "Loving Time" where the organ playing of Eric Leese goes to the fore (he co-wrote the song with Reid). Those seeking the May 1968 UK-only 7" single on Columbia DB 8409 with "Better By Far" b/w "Fire's Alive" will found those rarities on the 2004 "Super Lungs" double (along with outtakes and Jaywalkers earlier material involving Terry Reid).

Things got more ROCK and far better on his 2nd outing the self-titled "Terry Reid" - reissued in 1971 on EMI's budget MFP Label as "The Most Of Terry Reid". Stuff like his cover of Donovan's "Superlungs My Supergirl" and his own superb "Silver White Light" rock so good. But things go stellar on "July" - an acoustic slice of magic where his voice is echoed like its live in a small nightclub and he lets rip with that utterly astonishing voice. You can ‘so hear' why Page wanted him to front Led Zeppelin (Reid couldn't for contractual reasons but generously led our Jimmy to both Robert Plant and John Bonham and the world has owed him a debt ever since). "Marking Time" is Funky Rock again while his slowed-to-a-crawl cover of Lorraine Ellison's torture ballad "Stay With Me Baby" was a natural for his voice and passions. But for me you're then hit with a one-two of Terry Reid genius (both written by him) - the utterly gorgeous "May Fly" and the jangle-rock of "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace" - like the Small Faces on a roll - stunning stuff. These tracks are everything the first LP was trying to be.

The 7-track "River" is an album I can't be rational about - I've loved it for decades. Here the opening "Dean" and "River" (from Side 2) are admittedly hissy - but then they always were. The other Funk-Rock tracks like "Things To Try", "Live Life" and "Dream" sound fabulous - properly chunky for all the right reasons. It isn't the BGO remaster but it gets close I'm glad to say - loads of clarity and not in any way muffled or muddied.

The problem for me with "Rogue Waves" has always been the Production. Reid's voice is often echoed or simply disjointed from the mix in a weird way with the guitars rammed right up in your face. As you see from the garish album cover - it's a ROCK LP - and his radical re-working of three covers reflect this. His ballsy rocker version of "Baby I Love You" by The Ronettes and The Left Banke/Temptation's "Walk Away Renee" will be acquired tastes for sure - while for me his re-working of "Then I Kissed Her" amounts to butchery - its truly awful - the kind of dreadful pretentious Rock Punk was destined to blow away. But his fourth cover version on the record - the album finisher "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (Everly Brothers) is stripped down to him and an acoustic guitar - and even though his voice is slightly echoed - it works - it's a gorgeous take on an overly familiar song and melody and really shows off those incredible lungs of his. "Bowangi" comes out of the speakers too with force - really great sound. A good album though rather than a great one.

"The Driver" elicits mixed reactions - I think it's a blinder personally and opens with the lovely "5th Of July" (written by Louise Goffin - daughter of Gerry Goffin and Carole King - along with Reid Savage of Soar Throat). The 1991 album has been deleted decades now - so it's very cool indeed to have Driver's 11 tracks back in circulation and not costing a packet (Trevor Horn along with many other Producers on the album turned in a very slick finished article). Reid does wonderful covers of The Waterboys "Whole Of The Moon" and the Spencer Davis Group classic "Gimme Some Lovin'" - taking both up a notch and winning. I love the title track "The Driver" with its slick swirling synths (co-written with Hans Zimmer and Trevor Horn) sounding contemporary yet old too (in a good way). Reid's version of Gerry McMahon's "Right To The End" is the kind of Rock Love Song that makes people mushy inside. The Acoustic "Hand Of Dimes" is gorgeous highlighting how good his vocals are even when he tones it down. He ups the pace and rocks out big time on the fab "If You Let Her" sounding not unlike the best of Nineties Rolling Stones. What a cool little album -and it ends the whole listen on a high...

When the "Original Album Series" began in March 2010 it was entirely a WEA affair. But with EMI's acquisition into the fold - we're now getting compilations from those amazing umbrella of EMI labels (Liberty, Parlophone, Regal Zonophone, Chrysalis, Harvest and United Artists to name but a few). Frankie Miller, Barclay James Harvest and Dr. Feelgood will probably be coming soon (amongst others) - maybe even a Pub Rock 5CD Mini Box or a Stiff Records set. In the meantime - we get this absolute corker from the man who almost fronted Led Zeppelin as a lead vocalist (couldn't get out of a contract) and instead generously put guitarist Jimmy Page towards singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham - thereby claiming his own stake in the creation of a legendary rock band that has shaped all modern music.

I've loved rehearing this tremendous run of albums - what great memories. Long Live Terry Reid. I'm off now to lash into the Jimmy Webb set that arrived this morning too...