"Live/Dead" by THE GRATEFUL DEAD – November 1969 US 2LP Live Set on Warner Brothers Records (February 1970 in the UK) featuring Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Tom Constanten and Pigpen (March 2003 UK Warner Strategic Marketing/Rhino Reissue – 2LPs onto 1HDCD Plus Two Hidden Bonus Tracks - Joe Gastwirt Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Dark Star..."

Hidden flavours in a forgotten broth...

Even back in 1988 when I first started collecting CDs proper - I always loved Rhino reissues. They were just that bit above everyone else in terms of giving punters what they wanted – packaging, extras and fab sound (usually care of Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot). It helped of course that Rhino had the massive and ludicrously rich WEA catalogue at their fingertips - something they laid into on all genre fronts - especially Soul and Jazz. I've got almost 40 of the 60 three-inch CD singles they issued in 1988 and 1989 called "Lil' Bit Of Gold" – stunning four-track mini-hits sets in cute picture card sleeves and gold-coloured CD singles (remember those long blister packs they came in, pretty but wasteful - but man did they sound good).

So it's hardly surprising to find that once again come the Dead's 1969 fourth outing and their first official live release (an area everyone agrees they excel in) - Rhino have taken that now forgotten stew of a double-album and pumped it up with a remix and a remaster, even tagging on two cleverly chosen 'hidden tracks' in the close out of this RhinOphonic sounding reissue. And it's another winner. Here are the hairy men and their dark stars...

UK released 10 March 2003 - "Live/Dead" by THE GRATEFUL DEAD on Warner Strategic Marketing/Rhino 8122-74395-2 (Barcode 081227439521) offers the 1969 US 2LP set Remixed and Remastered onto 1 HDCD (High Density Compatible Digital) in a Card Digipak with Two Hidden Bonus Tracks. It plays out as follows (79:30 minutes):

1. Dark Star (23:19 minutes) [Side 1]

2. Saint Stephen (6:32 minutes) [Side 2]

3. The Eleven (9:19 minutes)

4. Turn On Your Love Light (15:05 minutes) [Side 3]

5. Death Don't Have No Mercy (10:28 minutes) [Side 4]

6. Feedback (7:49 minutes)

7. And We Bid You Goodnight (0:37 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 7 are their fourth album "Live/Dead" - US released 10 November 1969 as a 2LP set on Warner Brothers 2WS-1830 and February 1970 in the UK as a 2LP set on Warner Brothers WS 1830 (UK issues were pressed with Record featuring Sides 1 and Side 4, whilst Record 2 featured Sides 2 and 3).

NOTE:

Like the original vinyl double, this CD reissue lists Track 7 in the booklet as having a playing time of 37 seconds, but you quickly realise that it runs to a combined three track playing time of 3:13 minutes. This is because there are two hidden tracks - 8 is "Dark Star (Studio version)" at 2:45 minutes and 9 is a "Radio Advertisement" for the album at 1:01 minutes.

The gatefold card digipak allows the attached 15-page booklet to reproduce the gatefold artwork (outside and in) of the original American double-album on Warner Brothers - while the new LENNY KAYE liner notes waxes lyrical about the material's sources and the scene around their shows ("Aoxomoxoa" for "Saint Stephen" and "The Eleven" from "Anthem Of The Sun" while the cover of Bobby 'Blue' Bland's incendiary R&B screamer "Turn On Your Love Light" allowed to band to jump off into improv - stints into even Bluegrass amidst the trippy Rock).

Long-time associate and Audio Engineer for Rhino and WEA's Rock Catalogue JOE GASTWIRT did the Remaster and Remix at OceanView Digital in 2001 and 'bully beef' comes to mind (he has handled Zeppelin, Stephen Stills, Yes and more). This thing Rocks and Rolls bringing alive that instrument interplay their live shows were famous for. To the tunes...

Recorded 27 February 1969 at The Fillmore West in San Francisco - Side 1 is dominated by the huge "Dark Star" - a beast that slides in all casual like at first. Bass and Guitar play off each other before the vocals take over - before they just trip off on random guitar notes punctured by keyboard fills. Side 2's "St. Stephen" was new - wherever he goes, the people all complain - a Rock-funky set of duet vocals. The improv guitars continue apace with "The Eleven" - a meandering piece that will have you seeing hippies shaking their heads in a concert crowd - stoned and digging the freeform groove.

"Turn On Your Love Light" gets the crowd hollering - its sexy R&B lyrics fun and sassy - the percussion doing battle with the vocals (come on baby please) - fifteen minutes of white boys enjoying their inner funky selves. The suitably doomy Gary Davis cover "Death Don't Have No Mercy" gives the Dead a decent shot at the Blues - their slow, deliberately funeral-paced rendition feeling like Janis Joplin (somehow) getting in deep.  As "And We Bid You Goodnight" fades out, we get that Hidden Bonus Track following - the studio version of "Dark Star" - so trippy and cool.

For absolute sure, there are those that will take one listen to this set of live improvs from 1969 and say no thanks - and I can understand that. But longstanding fans will know no shame and 'hurry hurry' (as the radio advert asks) to this superb-sounding HDCD reissue and shed a wee hippy tear...

"Hot Runnin' Soul: The Singles 1965-71" by PAUL KELLY (30 January 2012 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation – Duncan Cowell and Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Just My Speed..."

Like most I came to Southern Soul Singer and ace songwriter Paul Kelly via his stunning 1970 single "Stealing In The Name Of The Lord" on Happy Tiger Records - a stinging and full-frontal attack on tele preachers tapping believers in their communities all over the USA at the time. In fact, at first, most race stations wouldn't touch the incendiary subject matter preferring to play and tap the softer flip-side "The Day After Forever" - a beautiful love song in the vein of Howard Tate and Curtis Mayfield. Kelly felt he'd over-stepped the mark - and sexy Tony Joe White piano and guitar funk hook or not - the single was doomed to obscurity y'all (God ain't gonna bless this one).

But Producer and entrepreneur Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams, Jr.) took our bruised Paul to a Baltimore Radio Station (WWIN) where savvy DJ Rockin' Robin recognised the real hit and the need for its internally socially aware message. Rockin' Robin championed the catchy and pertinent tune until other stations followed playlist suit. And with months of momentum, both he and Kelly eventually saw the 45 hit Cashbox 13 June 1970 with Billboard the week after on the 20th of June - catching a zeitgeist. The Billboard R&B charts finally succumbed to big sales and saw it register the 4th of July 1970 where it took off and made for his highest chart placing weeks later at No. 14. When the mighty Bear Family of Germany were putting together their award-winning "Sweet Soul Music" CD-series from 1960 to 1975 – Bear's "1970" volume including this great song (see separate review).

But what else is there and does it match up – yes and no. This rather cool and brilliant CD compilation from Ace's Kent Soul label imprint gathers together the A&B-sides of twelve 45s from October 1965 on Dial Records through to June 1971 on Happy Tiger Records - many on CD for the first time anywhere. From 1968 onwards is giving me the chills and fever...here are the details...

UK released 30 January 2012 - "Hot Runnin' Soul: The Singles 1965-71" by PAUL KELLY on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 367 (Barcode 029667236720) offers twenty-four USA single-sides in Mono and Stereo and plays out as follows (64:51 minutes):

1. Chills And Fever

(1965 US 45 originally on Lloyd 007. Reissued October 1965 US 45 on Dial 4021, A-side - see 6 for B-side)

2. It's My Baby (1965 US debut 45 on Lloyd 226, A-side - see 4 for B-side)

3. Since I Found You (February 1966 US 45 on Dial 45-4025, A-side - see 5 for B-side)

4. The Upset (1965 US debut 45 on Lloyd 226, B-side - see 2 for A-side)

5. Can't Help It (February 1966 US 45 on Dial 45-4025, B-side - see 3 for A-side)

6. Only Your Love

(1965 US 45 originally on Lloyd 007. Reissued October 1965 US 45 on Dial 4021, B-side - see 1 for A-side)

7. I Need Your Love So Bad

8. Nine Out Of Ten Times (tracks 8 and 7 are the A&B-sides of a November 1966 US 45 on Philips 40409 – note running order)

9. Sweet Sweet Lovin'

10. Crying For My Baby (tracks 9 and 10 are the A&B-sides of a May 1967 US 45 on Philips 40457)

11. You Don't Know, You Just Don't Know

12. If This Old House Could Talk (tracks 12 and 11 are the A&B-sides of a September 1967 US 45 on Philips 40480 - note running order)

13. Glad To Be Sad

14. My Love Is Growing Stronger (tracks 13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of a March 1968 US 45 on Philips 40513)

15. We're Gonna Make It (After Awhile)

16. Call Another Doctor (On The Case) (tracks 15 and 16 are the A&B-sides of a December 1968 US 45 on Dial 4088)

17. Stealing In The Name Of The Lord

18. The Day After Forever (tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of an April 1970 US 45 on Happy Tiger HTS-541)

19. 509

20. Sailing (tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of an August 1970 US 45 on Happy Tiger HTS-555)

21. Hot Runnin' Soul

22. Poor But Proud (tracks 22 and 21 are the A&B-sides of a November 1970 US 45 on Happy Tiger HTS-568 - note running order)

23. Soul Flow

24. Hangin' On In Here (tracks 23 and 24 are the A&B-sides of a 1971 US 45 on Happy Tiger HTS-573)

NOTES: 
Tracks 1 to 14 and 16 are MONO - Tracks 15 and 17 to 24 are STEREO

The 12-page booklet has quality TONY ROUNCE liner notes with help from DAVID COLE - TR clearly enjoying his subject matter. There are photos of those American 45 labels and even a rare UK November 1965 stock copy of Atlantic AT 4053 that carried his first outings - the Northern Soul "Chills And Fever" b/w "Only Your Love" - a twofer that was reissued by Atlantic in the UK in January 1973 at the height of the Wigan dance scene. They even have photos of both sides to the promo-only photo for "Nine Out Of Ten Times" on Philips 40409 informing the US public of "who's new and exciting?" The Remasters are care of two hugely experienced Audio Engineers - DUNCAN COWELL and NICK ROBBINS - and typically they punch on the Mono and sound spaciously fab on the later STEREO cuts. Those Happy Tiger and Philips masters are in fine shape...

I'd admit that the first two 45s will probably only appeal to diehard Northern Soul nuts who will slaver over their copycat Motown dancer vibe. But by the time you get to 1966's "Nine Out Of Ten Times" coupled with "I Need Your Love So Bad" where Kelly began penning the tunes himself (stepping out of the shadow of Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke) - then things start to cook. Tunes like 1968's "Glad To Be Sad" (dig that descending guitar) b/w with the wicked "My Love Is Growing Stronger" - you're getting A&B-sides of really great Sixties Soul - neck-jerking R 'n' B with punchy rhythms - girly vocal backing - yeah baby. Got no money, payday far away, job strikes threatened, both the rent and hock man are at the door - poor Paul pleads with his lady to hang on in there until times get better in the brass-upbeat "We're Gonna Make (After Awhile)". The blood pressure and pulse beating too fast B-side "Call Another Doctor (On The Case)" is good rather than great. 

You're then hit with the double-whammy winner that is "Stealing In The Name Of The Lord" b/w "The Day After Forever" - a fantastic Soul Single that makes my top 50 with a wallet-wallop. "509" is another cool A-side - our hero standing at the train station with a preacher man to finally nail his lady love when she steps off the "509" (its flip-side being a less-convincing plea for peace in the ghetto in troubled times). Better is the compilation's title tune "Hot Runnin' Soul" with its Staple Singers at Stax vibe (but with more guitars). Born in the ghetto and always on the skid - "I've always lived a simple life, worked hard for what I got..." Kelly sings in full-on Curtis Mayfield social commentary mode - thankful for what he's got even if he is "Poor But Proud". 

It ends on a great Sly & The Family Stone funkin' moment with the wild-guitar driven "Soul Flow" - a sort of Rare Earth meets Norman Whitfield Temptations groover - a winning combo in my books. Still trying to make it, Kelly goes balladeer in the truckload of trouble song "Hangin' On In There" - a very cool flip-side that combined with "Soul Flow" makes for damn good 7" single.

There are definitely two PAUL KELLY Soul periods here - the slightly innocent mid-60ts stuff that is more Northern Soul and Motown-ish than Southern Soul gentleman bemoaning his girl or his fate. But that second half floats my boat completely – just my speed - over and over again. And that's a winner to me...

"Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring LP Tracks, Single Sides, Rarities and Two Previously Unreleased Recordings by John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Graham Bond Organization, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Jo-Ann Kelly, Jeff Beck, Duster Bennett, Love Sculpture, Alexis Korner with Robert Plant, John Dummer Blues Band, Taste, Savoy Brown, Blodwyn Pig, Stone The Crows, Ten Years After, Free, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Black Cat Bones, Icarus, Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac, Edgar Broughton Band, Jaklin, Steamhammer, Status Quo, Mungo Jerry, Linda Hoyle and more (March 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Box Set – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...You Shook Me..."

It's a piddly thing really and shouldn't elicit such joy in a 62-year old Dubliner badly in need of a post-lockdown haircut (I'm currently sporting a mad professor look with heaven bound sprouts of grey). And I've provided photos with this review to prove it.

Inside this terminally hip 56-Track Box Set are three single card sleeves with 'alternate' artwork – the hugely important and influential John Mayall and The Blues Breakers self-titled debut LP from July 1966 with Eric Clapton smiling and the Beano comic not fully visible - Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer looking like he's about to be arrested and cry for not being black enough in his undoubtedly tainted white soul - and finally Rory Gallagher's fantastic Taste (as The Taste) in a colour-red tinted live photo of the Irish rockers in full "What's Going On" reverie.

It's the attention to detail that gets me. No major label would have bothered with this - but Cherry Red's Grapefruit Records knows what its fans and collectors want - respect shown and affection too. This is smart sequencing and for a subject that's been done before (albeit in a piecemeal sort of way), the best presentation of such material that I've ever seen or heard. Before I start weeping into my stale Guinness, we'd better get to the details 'cause there's a shed load of 'em to wade through. Here goes...

UK released 27 March 2020 - "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit CRSEGBOX068 (Barcode 5013929186804) is a 3CD 56-Track Clamshell Box Set of Remasters that pans out as follows:

Disc One (76:28 minutes):

1. All Your Love - JOHN MAYALL'S BLUES BREAKERS with ERIC CLAPTON (from the July 1966 UK Debut LP "Blues Breakers" on Decca LK 4804 in Mono)

2. Crawling Up A Hill - THE ZANY WOODRUFF OPERATION (Previously Unreleased, recorded December 1966, John Mayall cover)

3. Louise - ANDERSON JONES JACKSON [Ian Anderson, Al Jones and Elliot Jackson] (Track 1 of a January 1967 UK 5-Track 7" EP on Saydisc 33SD 125)

4. I Love You - THE GRAHAM BOND ORGANISATION (February 1967 UK 7" single on Page One PDF 014, B-side of "You Gotta Have Love Baby")

5. I'm A Man (Live) - THE YARDBIRDS (not originally issued, recorded April 1967, features Jimmy Page)

6. Don't Want You No More - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP (July 1967 UK 7" single on Fontana TF 854, B-side of "Time Seller")

7. I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes - TEN YEARS AFTER (from the November 1967 UK debut LP "Ten Years After" on Deram DML 1015)

8. Jumping At Shadows - DUSTER BENNETT (not originally issued solo Demo Version, recorded early 1968)

9. Charlie - THE DEVIANTS (from the June 1968 UK debut LP "Ptooff!" on Impresarios IMP 1)

10. You Shook Me - JEFF BECK (from the July 1968 US debut LP "Truth" on Epic BN 26413, November 1968 UK debut LP on Columbia SCX 6293 in Stereo)

11. Ain't Nothin' In Ramblin' – JO-ANN KELLY (from the July 1968 UK compilation LP "Blues Like Showers Of Rain" on Saydisc Matchbox SDM 142)

12. Love That Burns - FLEETWOOD MAC (from their August 1968 UK 2nd LP "Mr. Wonderful" on Blue Horizon 7-63205)

13. Wang Dang Doodle - LOVE SCULPTURE (September 1968 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5731, A-side)

14. Operator - ALEXIS KORNER featuring ROBERT PLANT (not originally issued, recorded September 1968)

15. Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? - THE BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND (from their November 1968 UK second LP "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" on Liberty LBS 83158 in Stereo)

16. Walking - DR. K's BLUES BAND (from the December 1968 debut LP "Dr. K's Blues Band" on Spark SRLP 101)

17. Little Woman You're So Sweet - SHAKEY VICK (from the January 1968 UK LP "Little Woman You're So Sweet" on Pye NSPL 18276 in Stereo)

18. A Stranger In Your Town - THE CLIMAX CHICAGO BLUES BAND (from the February 1969 UK LP "The Climax Chicago Blues Band" on Parlophone PCS 7069 in Stereo)

19. Lord Of The Rings - DOWNLINERS SECT (from a February 1969 Swedish 4-Track EP on Juke Box JSEP 5584)

Disc Two (75:29 minutes):

1. Sweet Tooth - FREE (from their March 1969 UK debut LP "Tons Of Sobs" on Island ILPS 9089 in Stereo)

2. Death Letter – MIKE COOPER (from the March 1969 UK LP "Oh Really!?" on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo)

3. Blister On The Moon – TASTE (from their April 1969 debut LP "Taste" on Polydor 583 042 in Stereo featuring Rory Gallagher)

4. I Just Can't Keep From Crying – LEVEE CAMP MOAN (from the April 1969 UK LP "Levee Camp Moan" on County Recording Service COUN LP 132)

5. Sometime Girl – SAM APPLE PIE (May 1969 UK 7" single on Decca F 22932, B-side of "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)"

6. Skin Game - JOHN DUMMER BLUES BAND (not originally issued alternate version, recorded May 1969)

7. Diamond Joe - QUIET MELON (not originally issued, recorded May 1969)

8. Nobody By My Side - KILLING FLOOR (from the May 1969 UK debut LP "Killing Floor" on Spark SRLP 102)

9. Dear Jill (Live) - BLODWYN PIG (not originally issued, recorded circa May 1969)

10. There's An Easy And A Hard Way Of Living - ICARUS (not originally issued, recorded July 1969)

11. Tears In The Wind - CHICKEN SHACK (August 1969 UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3160, A-side)

12. Bring It On Home - BAKERLOO (from the September 1969 UK debut LP on Harvest SHVL 762 in Stereo)

13. The Same For You - JAKLIN (from the October 1969 UK LP "Jaklin" on Stable SLE 8003)

14. Train Comes, Train Goes - FROZEN TEAR (Previously Unissued, recorded October 1969) 

15. Telephone Blues (aka "Talk To Me Baby") - THE RATS (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

16. Madison Blues - ANGEL PAVEMENT (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

17. It's You I Miss - CHRISTINE PERFECT BAND (not originally issued, recorded November 1969)

18. This Love Of Old - MEDICINE HEAD (from their May 1970 UK second LP "New Bottles, Old Medicine" on Dandelion S 63757 in Stereo)

19. Baby Please Don't Go - JASPER (from the November 1969 UK LP "Liberation" on Spark SRLP 103)

Disc Three (78:16 minutes):

1. I've Got Those Fleetwood Mac Chicken Shack John Mayall Can't Fail Blues - LIVERPOOL SCENE (from the November 1969 UK LP "Bread On The Night" on RCA Victor SF 8057 in Stereo)

2. Ride With Your Daddy Tonight - BRUNNING SUNFLOWER BLUES BAND featuring PETER GREEN (from the December 1969 UK LP "Trackside Blues" on Saga EROS 8132)

3. Time To Move - RED DIRT (not originally issued, recorded December 1969)

4. A Hard Way To Go (Live) - SAVOY BROWN (not originally issued, recorded circa January 1970)

5. Mean Blues - JEREMY SPENCER (from his January 1970 UK debut solo LP "Jeremy Spencer" on Reprise RSLP 9002)

6. Chauffeur - BLACK CAT BONES (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich" on Decca Nova SDN 15)

7. Gardener Man - SIREN (featuring Kevin Coyne on Lead Vocals) (from their February 1970 UK debut LP "Siren" on Dandelion 63755)

8. Dupree Blues - BLUE BLOOD (from the February 1970 UK LP "Blue Blood" on Sonet SNTF 615)

9. Passing Through - STEAMHAMMER (from the March 1970 UK debut LP "Steamhammer" on CBS Records S 63694)

10. Raining In My Heart - STONE THE CROWS (from their May 1970 UK debut LP "Stone The Crows" on Polydor 2425 017)

11. Old Gopher - EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND (from the June 1970 UK LP "Sing Brother Sing" on Harvest SHVL 772)

12. Roadrunner - STACK WADDY (July 1970 UK 7" single on Dandelion S 5199, A-side)

13. Take Me Down To The Water - HEAVY JELLY (from the September 1970 Unissued LP "Heavy Jelly" on Head Records HELP 4 - Test Pressings Only)

14. The Man Who Never Was - SKID ROW featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels (from their October 1970 UK debut LP "Skid" on CBS Records S 63847)

15. Take Your Money - BRETT MARVIN & THE THUNDERBOLTS (from the May 1971 UK LP "12 Inches Of Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts" on Sonet SNTF 619)

16. The Sun Is Shining - MUNGO JERRY (from the September 1971 UK 4-Track EP "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" on Dawn records DNX 2513)

17. Backlash Blues - LINDA HOYLE (from the November 1971 UK LP "Pieces Of Me" on Vertigo 6360 060)

18. Railroad - STATUS QUO (from the November 1971 UK LP "Dog Of Two Head" on Pye NSPL 18371)

The 40-page booklet is the usual feast of images and words - compiler and annotator DAVID WELLS pouring on the factoids to keep even nerdish disciple like me in rapture for hours. And once again the visuals are a knockout - cool pictures of a guitar-wielding Alexis Korner with P.P. Arnold at a microphone - Jimmy Page fronting the (new) Yardbirds - the Emidisc acetate for Frozen Tear's "Train Comes, Train Goes" offering - Maggie Bell giggling as she reads a comic with her fellow band mates in Stone The Crows - and so much more. Posters, Trade Adverts, Magazine Reviews, Badges – it’s all here and more. SIMON MURPHY at Another Planet has done the mastering and it all feels great even when the source is something as crude as Levee Camp Moan doing "I Just Can't Keep From Crying". To the music and choices...

Disc One

Zeppelin's absence from this Box Set makes for an obvious chasm but "Crawling Up A Hill..." has a clever way of plugging that gaping hole. In September 1968 the gravel-voiced Godfather of British Blues Alexis Korner (later of the much loved C.C.S.) brought into the studio a new young vocal talent from the Midlands called Robert Plant. They recorded two songs "Operator" and "Steal Away" in what was supposed to be an album project, but Percy of course got lured away by some guitarist called Jimmy Page who would then go on to form some minor English band that no one even remembers now. Both of these truly fantastic vocals performances first turned up on the Alexis Korner "Bootleg Him!" double-album from August 1972 on Mickie Most's RAK Records where they were simply credited as 'The Duo'. To hear a pre-Zep Plant in that staggering vocal form that he would then bring in spades to Led Zeppelin's debut is hair-raising stuff and a very smart inclusion.

And just when it's all getting a tad too po-faced, time to bring in the sort-em-out humour of The Bonzo’s with their fab "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?" on the best-album-title-ever "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse". The box set's namesake "Crawling Up A Hill" is more fast-paced 60ts R&B than Blues but both Graham Bond's "I Love You" and the Spencer Davis Group B-side "Don't Want You No More" are great choices - Steve Winwood's God-given set of pipes still amazing us even after 50+ years. Acoustic Blues lovers will zip to the Jo Ann Kelly contribution - such a fantastic voice and interpreter. Fronting Love Sculpture, Dave Edmunds tells fast-talking Fanny that we're gonna "Wang Dang Doodle" all night long. And I recently re-discovered how good The Climax Chicago Blues Band were on their "A Stranger In Your Town" while I admit I've never heard the Anderson Jones and Jackson track "Louise" - a sweetest girl I know jug-band shuffle with harmonica accompaniment.

Disc Two

Free get heavy with "Sweet Tooth" but as much as I love the band, I would have chosen another track. The sliding acoustic blues of Son House's "Death Letter" however finds a sympathetic home with Mike Cooper (great stuff). The re-recorded "Blister On The Moon" for the April 1969 debut "Taste" LP is beefier than the Major Minor single variant of the previous year (they dropped The Taste in favour of just Taste from thereon in). It also shows off the fantastic axeman talent of Rory Gallagher still only a young man when his band supported Cream on their farewell tour of November 1968. It tickles me pink that a colorised variant of a live photo for TASTE has been used as the cover art for Disc Two. Absolutely any version of the fabulously Bluesy "Dear Jill" by Blodwyn Pig is cool by me. The studio version is on the smoking-porker-with-headphones debut album "Ahead Rings Out", but what we have here is a live cut I've not heard before recorded about May 1969 making a welcome inclusion (guitarist Mick Abrahams includes the fan-fave tune in his sets to this day).

Stan Webb takes the lead vocals on Chicken Shack's follow-up to "I'd Rather Go Blind" - the similarly mournful "Tears In The Wind" - with Plastic Penny's keyboardist Paul Raymond having just joined the band. Quite by accident The Bakerloo Blues Line (shortened to Bakerloo for their one and only LP on Harvest in September 1969) famously opened for the newly formed Led Zeppelin in October 1968 then still hogging the moniker of The Yardbirds (albeit as the 'New' Yardbirds). Zep's cover of Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home" that ended Side 2 of October 1969's "Led Zeppelin II" owes an uncomfortable amount to the Bakerloo arrangement. But still it's a smart inclusion and shows the bridge being formed between old Blues and the new Blues Rock and Heavy Metal. Killing Floor's wickedly good "Nobody By My Side" feels the same - heavy heavy. Misses for me include Christine Perfect's "It's You I Miss" which is awful and an odd choice - and while the melancholic Medicine Head "This Love Of Old" may be a really lovely song 

Disc Three

Opening with a frighteningly impressive amount of riffage, The Liverpool Scene then quickly begin to take the almighty Michael out of their band compatriots in the British Blues Boom with lyrics like "I woke up this morning with Mike Vernon from Blue Horizon Records in my room..." (that's Plainsong's Andy Roberts on impressive slide guitar). Actual Blues Rock then shows with the impressive snake-boogie of "Ride With Your Daddy Tonight" where you could easily mistake the wildly similar vocals and harmonica of Bob Brunning for an uncredited Peter Green (he plays guitar). The flute-rocker "Time To Move" by Red Dirt could easily have been a Blodwyn Pig outtake from the "Ahead Rings Out" LP featuring guitarist Steve Howden (formerly Fickle Pickle). Unissued was probably the right move for the plodding live version of "A Hard Way To Go" by Savoy Brown that is followed by an equally lost and bemused offering from Jeremy Spencer - "Mean Blues" pre-ambled by an ill-advised mock announcement to an indifferent crowd that is supposed to be funny but just isn’t (has some fab wild grungy guitar though).

Future Savoy Brown and Foghat guitarist Ray Price gives the Memphis Minnie cover of "Me And My Chauffeur Blues" a very Free feel - weird as Guitarist Paul Kossoff, Drummer Simon Kirke and Vocalist Paul Rodgers had all sat in on Black Cat Bones rehearsals and sessions. Before going solo, Kevin Coyne leant his vocals and wit to the Bluesy "Gardener Man" for Dandelion Records act Siren giving in some Them's Gloria by spelling out G-A-R-D-E-N-E-R lyrics in the same way Van the Man did. Far better is the Acoustic/Harmonica Blues playing of Roger Barnes in the obscure band Blue Blood - doing a damn good job covering the Blind Willie Walker stuck in Atlanta Jail classic "Dupree Blues" (tell my baby to sail on). Steamhammer give us the 70ts Rock of "Passing Through" – a tune that feels slightly plodding at first but soon develops into a deceptively hooky melody something Guitarist Martin Quittenton who would of course do for future collaborator Rod Stewart when he co-penned both "Maggie Mae" and "You Wear It Well" with Rodders for the 1971 smash album "Every Picture Tells A Story".

I can understand the rocking choice of "Raining In Your Heart" by the fabulous Stone The Crows given that the rapid-paced thrasher highlights both stunning vocalists in the band – Maggie Bell and future Robin Trower Band leading man James Dewar. But I’d have gone for the genuinely great Josh White cover version "Blind Man" (also on their July 1970 self-titled debut album) where Maggie Bell pulls off one of the most authentically brilliant Blues Vocals performances I've ever heard (but that's just me). Disc 3 begins to lose its way with the bruiser vocals of Edgar Broughton killing "Old Gopher" and the ordinary cover of Bo Diddley's beep-beep "Roadrunner" by Stack Waddy - only to pick up again with the Slow Rock Blues discovery that is Heavy Jelly's "Take Me Down To The Water". This brooding beast features sloppy heavy guitar work from John Morshead of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation along with a trio of Apple artists - Jackie Lomax and two from Badfinger, Pete Ham and Tommy Evans - all on Vocals (very cool).

Other Disc Three highlights include the happy-go-lucky jug-band shuffle of "Take Your Money" by Brett Marvin & The Thunderbirds on Sonet Records and Ray Dorset already showing frontman/songwriting genius in the self-penned "The Sun Is Shining", a gutbucket-sounding live-in-the-studio B-side from their September 1971 "You Don't Have To Be In The Army" EP on Dawn Records. Affinity's Linda Hoyle provides sexy vocals on the fantastic and hard-hitting "Backlash Blues" (second-class schools for second-class folks and then send my son to Vietnam) - a Nina Simone social satire cover version that features superb slide-acoustic and electric geetar from Chris Spedding. And it all comes to and end with the Quo giving us "Railroad" from their excellent "Dog Of Two Head" LP - a song that sets the Blues-Rock template for an entire 40 years of heads down boogie to come.

For sure not everything on "Crawling Up A Hill: A Journey Through The British Blues Boom 1966-71" will appeal to all (The Downliners Sect grunge-Tolkien track may make many punters run for the hill) and there are absences that probably couldn't be included because of licensing rights. But in my mind, this is still one helluva impressive release and a damn good reminder of what's bin did and what's bin hid. Grapefruit Records do it again folks...