"Fields Of People: The Elektra and Atlantic Recordings 1968-1969" by ARS NOVA – Featuring Their Two US Albums, the Debut "Ars Nova" from April 1968 on Elektra Records and Their Second And Final Album "Sunshine & Shadows" from June 1969 on Atlantic Records – Both in Stereo (February 2020 UK Esoteric Recordings 2CD Compilation – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Temporary Serenade..."

In August 2020 - few people know of, let alone care about, New York's student ensemble ARS NOVA (Latin for 'New Art'). Unfortunately, it was pretty much the same when they were a new band in the late Sixties.

Formed in the melting pot of 1967, the musically ambitious six-piece popped out two Blood, Sweat & Tears/Chicago-type albums that fused Psych with Sixties Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical and even a wee bit of Latin-Spanish where principal players Wyatt Day and Jon Pierson had holidayed and absorbed local influences during a European summer of love (Spain and France). Ars Nova even opened for The Doors at the Fillmore East in March 1968 (albeit not every successfully) just before the release of their Elektra Records debut a month later. Typically, Esoteric Recordings of the UK doesn't care about our foolish indifference and has given these forgotten troubadours a fat digipak and a digital mouthwash.

"Fields Of People..." combines their two stereo albums - the "Ars Nova" debut from April 1968 on Elektra Records and its equally unheard-of follow-up "Sunshine And Shadows" from June 1969 on Atlantic Records - remastering both to splendid new heights and tickling our fusion appetites in the process. It may not be all genius and there is a non-album B-side missing that could easily have been included, but there is still enough to enjoy and rediscover (and it sounds the biz-schnizz). Here are the Enacte Pavans, Ibiza Ribbons and Temporary Serenades...

UK released 28 February 2020 - "Fields Of People: The Elektra And Atlantic Recordings 1968-1969" by ARS NOVA on Esoteric Recordings QECLEC22711 (Barcode 5013929481183) is a 2CD Remastered compilation that plays out as follows:

CD1 "Ars Nova" (34:38 minutes):

1. Pavan For My Lady (Fall, Winter, Summer and Spring) [Side 1]

2. General Clover Ends A War (Enacte: Le Messe Notre Dame (Guillaume de Machaut arr. Ars Nova) 

3. And How Am I To Know (Enacte: Dancer)

4. Album In Your Mind

5. Zarathustra

6. Fields Of People [Side 2]

7. Automatic Love

8. I Wrapped Her In Ribbons (After Ibiza)

9. Song To The City

10. March Of The Mad Duke's Circus

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "Ars Nova" - released April 1968 in the USA on Elektra EKS-74020 in Stereo and June 1968 in the UK on Elektra EKL 4020 (Mono) and Elektra EKS 74020 (Stereo). Produced by PAUL A. ROTHCHILD - it didn't chart in either country. This CD uses the STEREO Mix.

For their debut ARS NOVA was:

JON PIERSON - Lead Vocal and Bass Trombone

WYATT DAY - Piano, Organ, Rhythm Guitar and Vocals

GIOVANNI PAPALIA - Lead Guitar

BILL FOLWELL - Trumpet, String Bass and Vocals

JONATHAN RASKIN - Bass Guitar and Vocals

MAURY BAKER - Percussion and Organ

CD2 "Sunshine & Shadows" (38:55 minutes):

1. Sunshine And Shadows [Side 1]

2. I Was Once

3. Temporary Serenade

4. She Promises Everything

5. Well, Well, Well

6. You Had Better Listen

7. Round Once Again [Side 2]

8. Walk On The Sand

9. Rubbish

10. Please Don't Go Now

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second and final studio album "Sunshine & Shadows" - released June 1969 in the USA on Atlantic SD 8221 (US Promo-Copies were Mono) and July 1969 in the UK on Atlantic 588 196 in Stereo. Produced by ARTHUR GORSON and ARS NOVA - it failed to chart in either country

For their second album ARS NOVA was:

SAM BROWN - Lead Guitar

WYATT DAY - Guitar and Vocals

JON PIERSON - Bass Trombone and Vocals

JIMMY OWENS - Trumpet

WARREN BERNHARDT - Keyboards

ART KOENING - Bass

JOE HUNT - Drums and Percussion 

The three-way foldout card digipak reproduces the 'life masks' artwork of the debut album on the inner flaps while both CDs are picture discs reflecting the respective 1968 and 1969 LPs. The 20-page booklet has the lyrics to the debut (not the second LP), artwork, a colour photo of the six-piece band and new liner notes from Esoteric's knowledgeable MARK POWELL (compiled and co-ordinated the release). Powell details their US beginnings in an Upper West Side of Manhattan college through to exploratory sojourns in Spain (Jon Pierson and Wyatt Day) followed by a return to New York for a hook-up with Maury Baker to absolve all those Psych/Latin/Rock influences. It even reproduces the Jon Borgzinner (Life Magazine) liner notes for the "Sunshine & Shadows" LP. It's very nice to look at (if not a little light on any new images) and explains how bad luck and management decisions saw the band loose any real chance of momentum (the second LP's material was almost a year old when it finally surfaced in June 1969, so already dated to some degree).

The 24-bit Remastered Audio comes courtesy of PASCHAL BYRNE at Audio Archiving and has been licensed from Rhino and feels huge even if their youthful enthusiasm for the material outweighs their technical capabilities of the day. To the music...

Anyone who bought the stunning "Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records 1963-1970" Multiple -Disc Box Set on Rhino in 2006 will have liked the huge Sunshine Pop musicality of "Fields Of People" by ARS NOVA - the band's lone representation on that behemoth. Elektra saw its commerciality at the time too and issued "Fields Of People" as a cool 45 in both the USA and UK (the first of only two singles issued for them in Blighty). Elektra put another debut album track on the flipside - "March Of The Mad Duke's Circus". The A-side sang of the awakening times - strange new ideas of love – worlds beginning again – fields of positive people losing their seeds of hatred. The same clever musicality flows through "General Clover Ends A War" and there is a very definite Byrd’s guitar-jangle in "And How Am I To Know" - a finger to my lips ballad that cries out to be covered.

"Album In Your Mind" is a parody on worried parents (I went through the same thing at your age) that was probably hip in 1968 but feels terribly dated 50 years after the smug event. The instrumental "Zarathustra" is a Maury Baker composition that feels like a backing track in need of lyrics (in need of something). Over on Side 2 "Automatic Love" tells of computers where you pay only four dollars to find the right girl as trombones blast like a vaudeville nightmare. Best on that side is "I Wrapped Her In Ribbons" - a pretty melody that far outshines "Song To The City" and "March Of the Mad Duke's Circus" that end the album. Elektra UK tried a second 45 in the shape of "Pavan For My Lady" with the non-LP "Zoroaster" on the flipside in late October 1968 (Elektra EKSN 45029) but to no avail (it had been their first 45 in the USA in February 1968 on Elektra EK-45627). The problem with the debut is that you can 'feel' good ideas and clever melody structures trying to break through but their youth combined with perhaps a bit more time polishing the material would actually have produced a debut as good as say "Child Is Father To The Man" (B, S & T).

Despite a reinvigorated line-up that added Sam Brown on Lead Guitar and Warren Bernhardt on Keyboards - the second albums feels like songs from "Hair" - Trumpets and Trombones on stuff like "Temporary Serenade" - neither good nor bad. Wyatt Day provided the guts of the tunes except for three – two of them "Sunshine & Shadows" and "She Promises Everything" were co-written with Gail Collins who would become Gail Pappalardi, the wife of Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and Cream fame while number three "Temporary Serenade" was a co-write with songwriter Greg Copeland who would eventually have his debut album "Revenge Will Come Back" on Geffen Records produced by Jackson Browne as far ahead as 1982. "You Had Better Listen" is the only cover on the LP – a Jimmy Owens song – one-time trumpeter with Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band.

Atlantic pre-empted the second LP with a taster 45 in April 1969 - Atlantic 45-2625 combining the hungry title track "Sunshine & Shadows" on the A-side with Side 2's Wyatt Day song "Walk On The Sand" (and smell the sea) on the flip. At least there's some punch and life to "You Had Better Listen" but Side 2's "Round Once Again" is typical of the record - good but never really great.

For sure the music of Ars Nova is a very dated business indeed 52 years after the event (2020) - but lovers of late Sixties Rock will find enough to interest and the presentation/audio is top notch...

"Ready Or Not: THOM BELL Philly Soul Arrangements & Productions 1965-1978" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring The Stylistics, The Spinners, The Delfonics, The Three Degrees, Archie Bell & The Drells, The Intruders, Ronnie Dyson, Connie Stevens, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, Laura Nyro and Labelle, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield and more (June 2020 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation – Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Could It Be I'm Falling In Love..."

It's funny what fifty years (or thereabouts) can do to perspective.

When I was a hairy-galoot in the early Seventies (where much of this music hails from), most aspiring young hard-rocking dudesters like me (wearing our cheesecloth shirts, desert boots and donkey jackets) would have looked at names like The Stylistics, The Delfonics and The Spinners and made a face akin to stepping into a freshly minted dollop of poodle doo-doo. All those strings and words about making you feel brand new and could I be falling in love and was I ready or not for her special kind of lurve - yucksville central. Where are the Tolkien hoards of Ork un-dead or immortal souls being sold at the crossroads for guitar licks we asked? Why weren't these people Searching For Space, Masters of Reality or at least looking for a Demon's Eye or something eminently sensible like that, eh, eh?

This was the kind of schlock music your sister and her crocheted-smock pals liked – double yuck! And then to throw in cardigan-inducing types like Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis and those matching Three Degrees with all those perfect teeth – why it was enough to make a chap denounce Deep Purple and publicly acknowledge liking Carole King or Cat Stevens or some such horribly sensitive sacrilege...

And yet here we are in 2020, quite rightly worshiping at the podium of THOM BELL – at the feet of melody and composition once again, and not at what was terminally unhip back in the day. And as one of my fellow reviewers has already eloquently pointed out (Runmentionable) - why hasn't this compilation acknowledging the genius of Philly’s Third Man been done before now, who along with Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff put TSOP on the map? It does seem odd actually.

Still, never mind the elephant flares, it's here now, and as you've no doubt gleaned from the flood of five-star reviews, Ace Records and their stunning Kent Soul label imprint have pulled off yet another wise and wily compilation wonder. The Sound Of Philadelphia here we come...to the details...

UK released 26 June 2020 (10 July 2020 in the USA) - "Ready Or Not - THOM BELL: Philly Soul Arrangements And Productions 1965-1978" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Kent Soul CDTOP 488 (Barcode 029667098021) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (77:15 minutes):

1. Here I Go Again - ARCHIE BELL and THE DRELLS (December 1969 US 45 on Atlantic 293, B-side of "A World Without Music" - Stereo Version also available on the LP "There's Gonna Be A Showdown" on Atlantic SD 8226)

2. I Can't Take It - THE ORLONS (July 1965 US 45 on Cameo 372, B-side of "Don't You Want My Lovin'")

3. You've Been Untrue - THE DELFONICS (April 1967 US 45 on Cameo C-472, A-side)

4. Look The Other Way - LESLEY GORE (October 1968 US 45 on Mercury 72867, B-side of "I'll Be Standing By")

5. Tick-Tock - CONNIE STEVENS (October 1970 US 45 on Bell B-922, B-side of "Keep Growing Strong")

6. What I See - THREE DEGREES (February 1970 US 45 on Neptune N-23, A-side)

7. Moody Woman - JERRY BUTLER (May 1969 US 45 on Mercury 72929, A-side - also from the Stereo LP "Ice On Ice" on Mercury SR 61234)

8. What Kind Of Lady - DEE DEE SHARP (September 1968 US 45 on Gamble G-219, A-side)

9. Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love) – THE DELFONICS (November 1968 US 45 on Philly Groove 154, A-side – also from the 1968 US Stereo LP "Sound Of Sexy Soul" on Philly Groove PG 1151)

10. I Wanna Be A Free Girl – DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (April 1970 US 45 on Atlantic 2729, A-side)

11. It's The Same Old Love - THE COURTSHIP (May 1972 US 45 on Tamla T 54217F, A-side)

12. People Make The World Go Round - THE STYLISTICS (May 1972 US 45 on Avco AV-4595, A-side)

13. Back Stabbers - THE O'JAYS (June 1972 US 45 on Philadelphia International ZS7 3517, A-side - also from the 1972 US LP "Back Stabbers" on Philadelphia International KZ 31712)

14. One Man Band (Plays All Alone) - RONNIE DYSON (January 1973 US 45 on Columbia 4-45776, A-side)

15. Do You Remember Yesterday – THE INTRUDERS (September 1971 US 45 on Gamble G-4016, B-side of "I Bet He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)")

16. I'm Doin' Fine Now - NEW YORK CITY (February 1973 US 45 on Chelsea 78-0113, A-side – also from the 1973 US LP "I'm Doin' Fine Now" on Chelsea BCL1-0198)

17. Life Is A Song Worth Singing - JOHNNY MATHIS (from the 1973 US LP "I'm Coming Home" on Columbia KC 32435)

18. Something For Nothing - MFSB featuring THOM BELL (February 1974 US 45 on Philadelphia International ZS7 3540, B-side of "TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)" - also from the 1973 US LP "MFSB" by MFSB on Philadelphia International KZ 32046)

19. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - THE SPINNERS (December 1972 US 45 on Atlantic 2927, A-side - also from the 1972 US LP "Spinners" on Atlantic SD 7256)

20. You Make Me Feel Brand New - THE STYLISTICS (from the 1973 US LP "Rockin' Roll Baby" on Avco AV-11010-598)

21. Close The Door - TEDDY PENDERGRASS (May 1978 US 45 on Philadelphia International ZS7 3648, A-side)

22. It's Gonna Take A Miracle - LAURA NYRO and LABELLE (January 1972 US 45 on Columbia 4-45537, A-side - also from the November 1971 US LP "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" on Columbia KC 30987)

23. Track Of The Cat - DIONNE WARWICK (from the 1975 US LP "Track Of The Cat" on Warner Bros BS 2893)

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 15 and 16 in MONO - all others in STEREO

The 20-page booklet is the usual feast of indepth song-by-song analysis sidled by period promo photos, rarely seen seven-inch single picture sleeves, unusual sheet music, and of course those gorgeous Philadelphia International, Atlantic, Columbia, Avco et al 45-labels reproduced by the text (some in promo-form). Many of the entries (Orlons, Jerry Butler, Delfonics, Dusty Springfield etc) by trusted compiler and genuine enthusiast BOB STANLEY benefit from interviews with TB on the making of gems like "Ready Or Not" (the clever use of Trombone and French Horn) or "Back Stabbers" (proud of his string arrangements) and so on. Sometimes his remarks are often sideways to the entry (about other things and not how it was recorded) like how he was surprised to find that The Spinners and their hugely liked Atlantic Records hit "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" was in fact outselling The Rolling Stones at one point. It's a brill little read and like all good liner notes, leaves you wanting to know more. Ace's longstanding Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL has mastered the compilation and I can honestly say it's a joy to listen to from start to finish.

At times the criss-cross of Mono 45s with Stereo album cuts and the upbeat vs. smooch programming makes the listen feel like a Northern Soul night out – even if it is Philly Soul that dominates everything. It opens with the irrepressibly chipper "Here I Go Again" which at ten seconds past two minutes, comes in, does the business and then quickly leaves having satisfied all and sundry. In fact as I recall, "Here I Go Again" was reissued in September 1972 on Atlantic in the UK at the height of the British Northern Soul boom - a dancer par excellence. Cameo Parkway girl-group melodrama follows that with another B-side, only this time by The Orlons. Silly little quarrels make sure the phonecalls are not returned in "I Can't Take It" (you will get past this girls, I promise). Falsetto vocals shimmy in when The Delfonics assure us that he still wants her even though "You've Been Untrue" (love that Harpsichord). I didn't have the Lesley Gore cut "Look The Other Way" nor the Connie Stevens gotta-make-it melodrama of "Tick-Tock" with a wall of strings and drum whacks to make Phil Spector proud (another pair of forgotten B-sides). 

The goodies keep romancing our stones with "Ready Or Not Here I Come..." - the vocals almost drowned out with those backing arrangements - gonna make you love me. Equally sweeping is the longing of I gotta travel in Dusty Springfield's "I Wanna Be A Free Girl" - the mighty Linda Creed being one of the four writers (Thom Bell, Gamble and Huff were the other three). The last time I listened to the la-l-la of "It's The Same Old Love" by The Courtship -(an obscure Tamla act) was on Volume 12A of The Motown Singles sets covering 1972 - a thrilling lead vocal from Billy Hill (aka Billy Proctor) who could have been Little Anthony's twin brother.

From Track 12 onwards the songs become more familiar but nonetheless for it - winners like "People Make The World Go Round" (Stylistics), "Back Stabbers" (O'Jays), "I'm Doin' Fine Now" (New York City) and a very smart inclusion of Laura Nyro's collaboration with Labelle on an album of cover versions they did on Columbia called "It's Gonna Take A Miracle". Kent Soul CDTOP 488 culminates with 1978 and Dionne Warwick's whole album of Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff material - "Track Of The Cat" – a song apparently written about literally about her feline qualities and presence.

It's become something of a cliché to say that Ace Records of the UK have Soul CD compilations down to a fine art - something they've doing not for years - but actual decades. Still, every now and then, they pull out a true humdinger. 

Congrats to Bob Stanley, Ady Croasdell, Mick Patrick, Sheila Burgel and Gareth Sweeney and all the good bodies involved. Up there for me as one of the Reissues of 2020...

"Do You Ever Think Of Me?" by FRED NEIL – Including His Third US Album "Fred Neil" from January 1967 and Fourth US Album "Sessions" from February 1967 both originally on Capitol Records in Stereo (August 2003 and October 2012 UK Rev-Ola CD Compilation – Remasters Licensed from EMI) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"... That's The Bag I'm In..."

Anyone wanting to explore the short but stunning career of Ohio's greatest known/unknown Folk Hero FRED NEIL will probably be alarmed at the sheer array of CD titles afforded him and their equally uninviting price tags.

Almost everything about Neil invites the word 'cult' which is usually followed by 'oh my God' and 'how did I live without this', then the inevitable mumbling of the moniker 'genius' followed by the world-weary admission of 'I missed a trick here man – what a putz'. But what do you buy and why? I’d like to suggest two (this nugget being one of them). To the other first...

The cavernous-voiced Fred Neil began his album career with two storming Americana/Folk Rock LPs on Elektra Records in 1964 and 1965. "Tear Down The Walls" was a duet set with pal and fellow guitarist and singer Vince Martin who in turn would have a solo LP on Capitol Records in June 1969 (see my review for “If The Jasmine Don’t Get You...The Bay Breeze Will” on Barcode 5013929443921 – a January 2006 Rev-Ola CD reissue). That tandem effort was followed by the fabtastic "Bleecker And MacDougal" - a huge one in Fred Neil's catalogue – his first solo album proper titled after the famous street in Greenwich Village where he busked and played gigs with Bob Dylan and Karen Dalton (there is a photo of all three at the microphone on the A-side of the foldout inlay – now there's an unplugged gig I wouldn't mind seeing!). It also contained his most famous song outside of "Dolphins" - the gorgeous "Everybody's Talkin'" made a worldwide smash by Harry Nilsson when it was used to play out that greyhound bus sequence in the Jon Voight/Dustin Hoffman movie "Midnight Cowboy". In fact such was the success of the film and the song, that Elektra repackaged "Bleecker And MacDougal" in January 1970 after a song on the LP called "Little Bit Of Rain" and reissued it on Elektra EKS-74073 in Stereo only (its different artwork and "Little Bit Of Rain" title is shown on the flipside of the foldout inlay).

Soon to become a legendary Producer at Elektra with Paul Butterfield and The Doors, PAUL ROTHCHILD twiddled the knobs on "Bleecker and MacDougal" whilst both albums benefitted from and featured The Lovin' Spoonful main-man John Sebastian on Harmonica and future Cream Producer and Mountain rocker Felix Pappalardi on varying guitars (Pappalardi produced "Disraeli Gears" for Cream). Rhino reissued and remastered both of these rare and desirable albums onto 1CD in October 2001 as part of their '2 Classic Elektra Albums' CD Reissue Series (cut and paste the following Barcode 081227356323 to locate the disc and read my gushing gussets review).

Which brings us here - to door number two - the second and final part of his musical career that played out on Capitol Records (USA). Neil signed to the EMI label and recorded the self-titled "Fred Neil" in late 1966 - issued January 1967 - and a barebones recorded live-to-two-track follow-up album called "Sessions" issued in February 1968. And that's where this jumping little beauty comes a-swirling in - containing as it does both of those Capitol records in their STEREO entirety. Here are the CD details...

UK and EUROPE released 5 August 2003 (reissued 15 October 2012) - "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" by FRED NEIL on Rev-Ola CR REV 47 (Barcode 5013929434721) is a 17-Track CD Compilation of Sixties Capitol Records Remasters that plays out as follows (80:12 minutes):

1. The Dolphins [Side 1]

2. I've Got A Secret (Didn't We Shake Sugaree)

3. That's The Bag I'm In

4. Ba-De-Da

5. Faretheewell (Fred's Tune)

6. Everybody's Talkin' [Side 2]

7. Everything Happens

8. Sweet Cocaine

9. Green Rocky Road

10. Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga

Tracks 1 to 10 are his third album "Fred Neil" - released January 1967 in the USA on Capitol Records T 2665 (Mono) and Capitol ST 2665 (Stereo) - the STEREO MIX is used for this CD. Produced by NICK VENET. On the success of the John Schlesinger Directed movie "Midnight Cowboy" (issued into theatres May 1969) and the use of the Fred Neil cover version song "Everybody's Talkin'" in its closing credits, Capitol reissued the "Fred Neil" album as "Everybody's Talkin' (Theme From Midnight Cowboy)" with the same ten tracks but in Stereo only on Capitol Records ST 294.

11. Felicity [Side 1]

12. Please Send Me Someone To Love

13. Merry-Go-Round

14. Look Over Yonder

15. Fools Are A Long Time Comin' [Side 2]

16. Looks Like Rain

17. Roll On Rosie

Tracks 11 to 17 are his fourth studio album "Sessions" - released January 1968 in the USA on Capitol Records T 2862 (Mono) and Capitol ST 2862 (Stereo) - the STEREO MIX is used for this CD. Produced by NICK VENET and recorded in October 1967 - musicians included Bruce Langhorn, Cyrus Faryar, Peter O. Child and Eric Glen Hord all on Acoustic Guitars with James E. Bond, Jr. on Bass (Fred Neil played Twelve-String Guitar and did all Vocals)

JOE FOSTER did the new 2003 liner notes on the six-leaf double-sided foldout inlay. It pictures the two Elektra Albums, the two on Capitol and his live set that finished out his three-album deal with Capitol Records - "Other Side Of This Life" (his only album issued in the UK, June 1971). The info comes hard and fast and like so much about this deep-voiced giant of US Folk is laced with fascinating tales of the man who was famous amongst contemporaries but unrecognised by most everyone else (until 1969 really). An enigma to the end, Neil famously quit music and fame in 1971 to spend the next thirty years of his life defending and championing the study of water life - especially Dolphins in the warm waters of his beloved Florida. Loads of admirers have covered his tunes, there are details from Nick Venet who produced both records and on it goes to his sad demise in July 2001 – thirty years on and no new music (Foster gives websites too worth visiting).

There is literally no Audio credit except that Rev-ola have licensed the tapes from EMI - but whatever way you dig this - the audio is gorgeous - truly lovely - especially on that very Tim Buckley-sounding "Sessions" album – loose and trippy like Buckley doing "Song To The Siren". Both records are full of original beguiling tunes and the second album - a wildly underrated platter in my book – despite the fact that many feel it was a slap-dash effort due to the way in which it was recorded (most are Take 1). To the songs...

The first thing that hits you when you play "Fred Neil" is the VOICE - a huge expressive deep-lunged thing not dissimilar to Tim Buckley at his deep-vocal-dancing best when he was over on Elektra and Straight Records between 1966 and 1970. All songs are FN originals and the gorgeous opener "Dolphins" sets the tone – swirling lead guitars courtesy of Peter 'Super Fingers' Childs and John Forsha while Cyrus Faryar and Bill Mundi bring up the rhythm section rear. Contemplating war and a world that seems destined to screw itself over no matter what, Neil tells us he's been searching for Dolphins in the sea, but then wonders when he thinks of a certain lady – do you ever think of me? Neil whistles the opening to "I've Got A Secret..." - lovely guitar solo too. Out comes the Harmonica for "Ba-De-Da" - tired of city life to the extent that he just mumbles the song's zippity doo-dah title. Far better is the shimmering beauty of "Faretheewell (Fred's Tune)" - a slow love song that feels like its actually trembling in front of you as he says goodbye in the drizzling rain - all around his heart - an aching pain.

Side 2 of "Fred Neil" opens with a song that he'd recorded in 1966 that would change his life - "Everybody's Talkin'". Even now its a stunner - I'm going where the sun keeps shining - where the weather suits my clothes - skipping over the ocean like a stone - gorgeous Remaster quality as the acoustic guitars ping and shake. Though I would have to be truthful in saying that when Nilsson speeded up its pace for his "Midnight Cowboy" versions and added his equally expressive vocal turns - it became something altogether bigger than both of them. It's probably one of my favourite songs evah! "Everything Happens" is good without ever being great - nice audio too. Truer to his reflective personality, the same thing is going to happen again, whistling the blues, cops called by some snake, just can't win on "That's The Bag I'm In". Almost jaunty country blues, "Cocaine" runs around his heart and brain - bittersweet but smart enough to know that its making his very soul sick. I love "Green Rocky Road" - that Fred Neil languid vibe - rolling acoustic guitars as Mary stumbles by the wall and Fred asks "...who do you love?" The album ends on 8:13 minutes of "Cynicrustpetefredjohn Raga" - an acoustic instruments freak out that can be seen as genius or obvious filler (or both).

For me the second album "Sessions" from February 1968 is a winner too – albeit one that is completely forgotten now. The simple-acoustic opener "Felicity" is apparently Take 5 and at 2:12 minutes represents one of the album’s shorter cuts. Somewhere the sun will shine, the melody returning again as a Dobro comes sexily in when you least expect it. He follows that with the LP's only cover version – Percy Mayfield's old R&B hit "Please Send Me Someone To Love". A huge double-bass note gives the BIG voice its lead in – like Danny Thompson playing with John Martyn – if it’s not asking too much – love it and gorgeous audio as the boys play an acoustic blinder.

There follows a three-song-smash for me. "Merry-Go-Round" is 5:51 minutes of swirling acoustic guitars lazily floating out of your speakers - his shaking vocals beautifully controlled as the players pick out complimentary notes and fills (sometimes I often think of Steve Hackett's acoustic work with Genesis in the early Seventies). "Look Over Yonder" stretches to 8:32 minutes and is even quieter - a gorgeous vibe as he moans the opening words - its Van Morrison unplugged and inspired - the sun won't go down - whippoorwill wind - stunning stuff. "Fools Are A Long Time Comin'" weighs in at 5:15 minutes - idiots in the backyard - looking glass telling you lies as the guitars twang and ping. It rolls to a finish with two more Buckley-like work-outs - 7:16 minutes of "Looks Like Rain" and 8:26 minutes of "Roll On Rosie" - an acoustic romper that reminds me of the magic Bruce Langhorn created on Bob Dylan's "Main Title Theme (Billy)" to the 1973 "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" soundtrack - an instrumental many have used for weddings because of its evocative beauty as the bride walks towards her future (Langhorn plays lead acoustic guitar on this Fred Neil album). You can be my woman Rosie, because I'm gonna be your man. Amen...

For sure this CD has been deleted a while now and is in itself pushing the thirty-quid mark regularly. But alongside that Rhino reissue of 2001 - "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" by FRED NEIL on Rev-Ola CR REV 47 of 2003 is so worth the punt. I know with all the legend that surrounds Fred Neil - some are disappointed when they hear the albums - but not me. I worship this stuff and him and that's most definitely the bag I'm in (baby)...

"The Well Below The Valley" by PLANXTY – December 1973 Ireland and UK Second Studio Album on Polydor Records – featuring Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Liam O’Flynn (1988, 1990 and 2001 US Shanachie Records CD Reissue – Bill Giolando Master At CMS Digital in California) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...As I Roved Out..." 

By the time PLANXTY had released their second studio album "The Well Below The Valley" on Polydor Records 2383 232 in December 1973 - both it and the February 1973 self-titled "Planxty" debut on Polydor 2383 186 had made them Traditional Irish Music revivalist legends. Both the public and the press were enthralled – and rightly so (their name is apparently an expression of goodwill in Gaelic – like cheers or thanks).

A 25-date UK tour beginning 14 February 1973 in Brunel University in Uxbridge and ending St. Patrick's Day (17 March 1973) in a Technical College in South East London only cemented for British listeners what many already knew in their native Ireland where they'd released a stand-alone debut 45 in December 1972 (months after they'd formed during sessions for the Christy Moore album "Prosperous") - the fiercely talented foursome of Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny and Liam O'Flynn made a beautiful racket. 

PLANXTY played real Folk - a sound deeply rooted in centuries-old jigs, reels, hornpipes, bothies and heartache ballads from Connemara, Donegal, Roscommon and Kildare - but all of it updated into commoner tales that suddenly felt fresh and new again.

Their third outing "Cold Blow And The Rainy Night" would appear in October 1974 (Polydor 2383 301) with Johnny Moynihan having replaced Donal Lunny who would shortly be forming The Bothy Band with Triona and Michael O'Donnell - their March 1976 debut LP also on Polydor Records. Indeed, the Seventies proved a beautiful and productive time for Trad in Ireland, England and the whole of the Celtic isles. Both Andy Irvine and Johnny Moynihan had been with SWEENEY'S MEN over on Nat Joseph's Transatlantic Records. 

Which brings us to these bare bones American-based Shanachie Records reissues for PLANXTY...

Shanachie released all three albums onto CD in 1990 and have been reissuing them ever since. In August 2020 (the time of this review) – theirs appears to be the only way you can get hard copies of the music on digital. Today we concentrate on platter number two specifically – framed as it was in that gorgeous Jim Fitzpatrick Celtic-folklore artwork. To the humours of mountains, dogs in the bushes and dodgy men named Reilly roving out...

UK released 1988, then reissued 25 October 1990 (and again March 2001) - "The Well Below The Valley" by PLANXTY on Shanachie SH 79010 (Barcode 016351791023) is a straightforward CD transfer of their second studio album from 1973 and plays out as follows (45:59 minutes):

1. Cúnla [Side 1]

2. Pat Reilly

3. Slip Jigs: (a) The Kid On The Mountain (b) An Phis Fhliuch

4. As I Roved Out (Andy)

5. Reels (a) The Dogs Among The Bushes (b) Jenny's Wedding

6. The Well Below The Valley

7. Hewlett [Side 2]

8. Bean Pháidín

9. Hornpipes: (a) Fisherman's Lilt (b) Cronin's Hornpipe

10. As I Roved Out (Christy)

11. Solo Jig: Humours Of Ballyloughlin

12. Time Will Cure Me

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second studio album "The Well Below The Valley" - released December 1973 in Ireland and the UK on Polydor Records 2383 232 - Produced by PHIL COULTER. 

PLANXTY was:

CHRISTY MOORE – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica and Bodhran

ANDY IRVINE – Second Lead Vocals, Mandola, Mandolin, Hurdy-Gurdy and Harmonica

LIAM O'FLYNN – Uilleann Pipes and Tin Whistle

DONAL LUNNY – Third Lead Vocals, Bouzouki, Guitar and Bodhran

The gatefold inlay merely reproduces the liner notes from the 1973 album's rear sleeve, a brief history of each song and recording/reissue credits on the last page. All of these Shanachie Records CD reissues are like this – gatefold slips of paper (at least in this case the beautiful Jim Fitzpatrick Celtic artwork in here - he would famously adorn many of the Thin Lizzy LPs including "Vagabonds Of The Western World", "Jailbreak" and "Johnny The Fox"). Audio-wise, Shanachie 79101 offers one brief transfer credit – BILL GIOLANDO at CMS Digital – and despite the 1988 copyright date credit on the rear inlay (never changed from the 1990 first issue) – the CD itself has a 2001 copyright date. Having said that, the remaster feels big and hearty and full of life – the original recording work of Producer Phil Coulter and Engineer Barry Ainsworth shining through. To the music...

It's only the rakish "Cúnla" knocking at the window - the opening track featuring a full-on display of playing dexterity - Bouzouki, Uilleann Pipes and a rapid-spoken vocal from Christy Moore combining to open Side 1 with a slice of Irish Folk joy. Even now, it makes me soppy. Sergeant Jenkins dupes "Pat Reilly" on Monday morning payday with gushing compliments and the promise of a dram in John Kelly's pub - the naive youngster inveigled into the Black Horse regiment and thereafter regretting taking the King's schilling. Two jigs follow - "The Kid On The Mountain" learned from the Dublin's Seamus Ennis - often considered the best piper ever - while the other "An Phis Fhliuch" came from the repertoire of flute-player Willie Clancy.

Up pops the first of two songs called "As I Roved Out" - Side 1's sung by Andy Irvine - a ballad of broken vows said to go back to the Great Famine - where the chap marries 'the lassie with the land' instead of starving with his true love. Side one has its greatness sealed with two lively reels - Liam making those notes dance like locals around a beach bonfire on a summer's night - magical stuff. Christy Moore sings that green grows the lily in "The Well Below The Valley" – an acoustic-instruments builder that feels both joyous and ominous whilst being a perfect end to Side 1.

Up comes the pace as "Hewlett" opens Side 2 with a jolly piper – a tune said to be associated with the blind harper Carolan. The liner notes try to translate the Irish in "Bean Pháidín" – a tale of female woe where some local lad is seriously aggrieved to not be The Woman of Pháidín – Liam playing a blinder as the Bodhran builds the pace. Things continue on the road to happiness with two hornpipes from County Kerry – piping awash with shingles, nets and fishermen. After a solo jig, Christy Moore sings of a pretty fair maid in the second song (different to the first) called "As I Roved Out" – too ray ah – plenty of oats for the soldier’s horse and some wine for the soldier boy. It ends on a rare solo song – Andy Irvine's own "Time Will Cure Me" – a deep talking song about love in the night that is gone in the morning – leaving our singer with a powerful longing and much soul-searching. A great album comes to a quality end.

After an October 1975 farewell tour of Ireland and the UK (with Paul Brady filling in for the absent Christy Moore) - Planxty disbanded for some years only to reform for the 1979 album "After The Break" on Tara Records TARA 3001 (they would make more LPs after that on Tara). August 1976 saw Polydor-UK release the mop-up Best Of LP and Cassette "The Planxty Collection" (Polydor 2383 397) that featured four cuts from "The Well Below The Valley" and the rare December 1972 Irish-only non-album Mono 45 "Cliffs Of Dooneen".

Andy Irvine would make a hugely revered solo album on Mulligan Records also in 1976 with Paul Brady of The Johnstons simply titled "Andy Irvine/Paul Brady" (Mulligan LUN 008) with a new seven-minute rendition of "Arthur McBride And The Sergeant" – a song neither of them seems to be able to escape even in August 2020. Donal Lunny would form the fabulous BOTHY BAND (in my opinion better than Planxty) and launch Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin where U2 practically lived. Liam "Og" O'Flynn would become young again in The Chieftains. Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and piper Davey Spillane alongside guitarist Declan Sinnott were just some of the illustrious names to form MOVING HEARTS in 1981 – another Irish Folk-Rock band fondly remembered who managed three albums on WEA Ireland between 1981 and 1983. Christy would of course continue well into the 2020s and was the subject matter of a March 2004 Sony/Columbia 6CD Box set celebrating his career to as far back as 1964. 

But PLANXTY will always have a special corner in any Irish soft machine and Folk lover’s soul - a band that made new what was old and returned it to a platform of respect. Jesus is at the well and they're searching for a lassie in Matthew O'Casey's place in Galway (notorious git mentioned in the West Coast of Ireland lament "Bean Pháidín") - was it ever thus...

Ireland's PLANXTY - Discography 1972 to 1976:

SINGLE: 

"Cliffs Of Dooneen" b/w "Yarmouth Town"

December 1972 Ireland-Only 45-Single on Polydor 2078 023

ALBUMS: 

"Planxty" – February 1973 UK debut vinyl album on Polydor Records 2383 186

CD Reissue on Shanachie 79009, released 25 October 1990 originally with no Barcode, reissued 1 March 2000 with Barcode 016351790927

Master at CMS Digital in California

"The Well Below The Valley" - December 1973 UK second studio album on Polydor Records 2383 232

CD Reissue on Shanachie 79010, 1988 originally and 1 March 2001 with Barcode 016351791023

Bill Giolando Master at CMS Digital in California

"Cold Blow And The Rainy Night" - October 1974 UK third studio album on Polydor Records 2383 301

CD Reissue on Shanachie 79011, 6 November 1989 original release date, then with Barcode 016351791122 and 2002 Copyright date on disc itself

"The Planxty Collection" - August 1976 UK Compilation LP on Polydor Records 2383 397 - features tracks from all three albums above plus the rare Mono "Cliffs Of Dooneen" Irish-only single A-side. Both sides of the single appear on the 1977 Irish LP "A Feast Of Irish Folk" on Polydor 2475 605. CD Reissue on Shanachie SH 79012, 12 December 1989, No barcode originally, then Barcode 016351791221