Sounds Good, Looks Good...

Welcome to Mark Barry's Review Blog - SOUNDS GOOD, LOOKS GOOD... It features in-depth reviews for Quality CD Reissues and Remasters - all with Discography Info (six times Amazon 'Hall of Fame' Reviewer). With over 2,600 posts - genres covered include Rock, Pop, Soul, Funk, Jazz Fusion, Blues, Rhythm 'n' Blues, Doo Wop, Vocal Groups, 1960s and 1970s, Prog, Psych, Folk, Blues-Rock, Goth, Punk, New Wave, 1980s, Reggae and more. I also review FILMS, TV Shows, BLU RAYS and BOOKS. Enjoy the reads...

Tuesday 8 June 2021

"Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" by BOBBY WOMACK – July 1973 and May 1975 US LPs on United Artists - September 1973 and May 1975 UK (September 2004 UK-Only Stateside Compilation – 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD - Steve Rooke Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...Check It Out..."

Bobby Womack's fab ninth album (eight studio set) "I Don't Know What The World Coming To" from May 1975 rose to the peak of No. 20 on the US R&B LP charts. Perhaps not the dizzying heights of his five-album run that preceded it - from "Communication" in 1971 to "Lookin' For A Love Again" in 1974 – those LPs achieving chart-placing numbers like No. 7, 7, 6, 6 and 5 (impressive stuff for the Seventies when copy numbers sold were large). But despite not breaking the top 10 as he used to do - "...World Is Coming To" was nonetheless a welcome return of a great Soul Man.

And it's been cleverly coupled here on this UK-EUROPE-only 2LPs-onto-1CD reissue with the "Facts Of Life" album from July 1973 (one of those number-six chart placing LPs named above). There's a lot to wade through, so lets 'Check It Out'...

UK/EUROPE released 24 September 2004 - "Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" by BOBBY WOMACK on Stateside 874 4032 (Barcode 724387440326) offers 2LPs from 1974 and 1975 (originally on United Artists Records) Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (75:10 minutes):

1. Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out [Side 1]

2. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You

3. If You Can't Give Her Love Give Her Up

4. That's Heaven To Me

5. Medley: Holding on To My Baby's Love / Nobody

6. Medley: Fact Of Life / He'll Be There When The Sun Goes Down [Side 2]

7. Can't Stop A Man In Love

8. The Look Of Love

9. Natural Man

10. All Along The Watchtower

Tracks 1 to 10 are his seventh album (sixth studio set) "Facts Of Life" - released July 1973 in the USA on United Artists UA-LA043-F and September 1973 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29456. Produced by BOBBY WOMACK - it peaked at No. 6 on the US R&B LP charts (No. 37 on the Rock & Pop LP charts) - didn't chart UK. "Facts Of Life" featured Keyboardists Clayton Ivey and Barry Beckett with Guitarists Dave Turner, Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carr, David Hood on Bass and Rodger Hawkins on Drums with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

11. Interlude No. 1 / I Don't Know [Side 1]

12. Superstar

13. (If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It

14. Git It

15. What's Your World

16. Check It Out [Side 2]

17. Interlude No. 2

18. Jealous Love

19. It's All Over Now

20. Yes, Jesus Loves Me

Tracks 1 to 10 are his ninth album (eight studio set) "I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" - released May 1975 in the USA on United Artists UA-LA353-G and May 1975 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29762. Produced by BOBBY WOMACK – it peaked at No. 20 on the US R&B LP charts (No. 126 on the US Pop & Rock LP charts) – didn’t chart UK. "I Don't Know What The World Coming To" featured Keyboardists David Foster, Truman Thomas, Leon Ware with Pedal Steel Guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow with Glen Goins of Parliament/Funkadelic and Bill Withers Guest Vocals on one track and Linda Laurence of The Supremes on another.

The 12-page booklet has some decent shots from the "I Don't Know..." album cover sessions nestled amongst DEAN RUDLAND liner notes that loosely fill out the period details while the last pages line up track-by-track details and reissue credits. But the big news is freshly minted Abbey Road Remasters done by STEVE ROOKE in the famous British Studios. They feel so much better than the neither-here-nor-there audio given to those earlier Charly reissues. This feels like a proper upgrade, and the music on both LPs matches that.

A sexy bass-line opens "Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out" where at first BW is taking his friends out for a mighty good time, but as soon as the money is gone - so are his so-called buddies. I love this tune - guitars and Soul and Funk - it feels like Bobby Bland's "Dreamer" or "His California Album" from the same period on Dunhill Records (genius LPs). The smooch starts with a chat from the man about women doing him wrong (who knew). But Bobby soon reconciles his woes with a dirty chuckle as he opens "If You Can't Give Her Love, Give Her Up" - where he pleads with his crew to stop messing with the ladies - a sexy brass and keyboard combo sound lifting it up. Next up is a lovely cover of Sam Cooke's "That's Heaven To Me" - heavy on the strings and the ooh vocals. A two-track medley (first part co-written with George Jackson and Raymond Moore) "Holdin' On To My Baby's Love" segues into "Nobody" - short for snippets of Track 1 "Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out".

On Side 2 Bobby tries another talking medley in the album's title track "Facts Of Life" where he picks up a lady giving him vibes after a show but has a hard time convincing her that its her mind he wants and not no-talk just action in the hotel bedroom. Better is "Can't Stop A Man In Love" followed by a slew of covers - Bacharach & David's "The Look Of Love", Carole King's "Natural Woman" (made famous by Aretha Franklin) and Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". As cool as they are for Soul re-interpretations, the only one I really like is the wah-wah guitar-heavy "Watchtower" where Bobby comes on like The Isley Brothers.

Album number two opens with sisters and brothers shooting each other in American cities gripped by drugs and out-of-control crime "Interlude/I Don't Know" reflecting the genuine worry he has in the very LP title. Cecil & Bobby penned "Superstar" – a warning song about kids with stars in their eyes and the creeps who will turn that dream into a nightmare. Better is "If You Want My Love, Put Something Down On It" with its Curtis Mayfield groove - familiar string refrain and those hard 'n' ruff tumbles you take when you're in love. "Git It" is a funky keyboard strut co-written with Leon Ware that feels like Dexter Wansel had a baby with The Isley Brothers rhythm section before James Brown and The O'Jays join in for the shouts and oohs at the end (the Remaster is fantastic).

Keyboardist Leon Ware also contributed "What's Your World" - a soulful guitar-shimmy where Cindy Scott (real name Sundray Tucker) gives Bobby answer-vocals to his every question while the fabulous brass elevates its cool feel (stunning guitar-work too from Glen Goins of Parliament and Funkadelic fame). "Check It Out" - an infectious 'somethin's on yer mind' dancer was the first 45 off the album in March 1975 with "Interlude No. 2" on the flipside (United Artists UA-XW621-X). Everyone's fave singer Bill Withers does duet vocals with Bobby on an update of "It's All Over Now" and it ends with a reaffirmation of his deeply held religious beliefs on "Yes, Jesus Loves Me".

These are two great albums from Womack – neither a masterpiece really but both chock full of enough goodies to make you want to press replay. And isn't that the best way to remember him...

List of the BOBBY WOMACK Twofer Compilations on

UK-Only EMI/Stateside CD Reissue and Remaster Series

1. Fly Me To The Moon/My Prescription

January 1969 and May 1970 US LPs on Minit in Stereo (no UK releases)

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0592 (Barcode 724386605924)

NOTE: the UK catalogue number is miscredited on the rear inlay as 866 0782 which is the Understanding/Communication set – should read 866 0592

2. The Womack "Live"/Safety Zone

March 1971 on Liberty and October 1975 US LPs on United Artists

February 1976 UK LP on United Artists only for Safety Zone (no UK for "Live")

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0802 (Barcode 724386608024)

3. Understanding/Communication

September 1971 (Communication) and March 1972 (Understanding) US LPs

June and September 1972 UK LPs on United Artists

August 2004 UK CD on Stateside 866 0782 (Barcode 724386607829)

4. Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To

July 1973 and May 1975 US LPs on United Artists

September 1973 and May 1975 UK LPs on United Artists

24 September 2004 UK CD on Stateside 874 4032 (Barcode 724387440326)

5. Lookin' For A Love Again/B.W. Goes C.W

January 1974 and June 1976 US LP on United Artists

April 1974 and August 1976 UK LPs on United Artists

24 September 2004 UK CD on Stateside 874 4062 (Barcode 724387440623)

"The Who By Numbers" by THE WHO – October 1975 UK LP on Polydor Records (MCA Records in the USA) featuring Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon with Nicky Hopkins guesting on Piano (December 1996 UK Polydor 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks - Jon Astley/Bob Ludwig Remixes/Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...Control Myself..."

"No easy way to be free – I'm a soldier at 63 – off to the civil war... " - Daltrey snarled on "Slip Kid". Further into the LP "Success Story" echoes that weariness again, "This used to be fun..."

Ten years together burning down that Rock and Roll road, in 1975 The Who were battling internal demons that threatened to rip them apart. Principal songwriter and spiritual soldier Pete Townshend (turning 30) was clearly questioning where they fit in after a disconcerting American Tour that he felt had reduced them to an oldies act where fans only wanted what had gone before and not what was new – break yer guitar and give us a jump – they demanded.

PT didn't feel inclined any more to oblige. With Punk whiffing at their heels (they even prophetically cite Punks in the lyrics to "They Are All In Love") - were The Who the greatest R&R band ever as so many had claimed - or were they fast becoming a cliché that could no longer be sustained? Townshend needed to answer all these questions and more and much of that turmoil and searching came out in this 'maturely' worded LP.

Put down at Shepperton Sound Stage using Ronnie Lane's Mobile in April and May 1975 - The Who's seventh album is certainly a professionally recorded affair (this CD sounds so damn good). But I recall that after the mighty "Quadrophenia" double-LP-splurge of 1973 on Track Records – "The Who By Numbers" had huge boots to fill – and many felt this single LP with its rather naff Entwistle-designed join-the-dots numbered sleeve barely squeezed into the left foot never mind both plates of meat.

But as with so much around them, time has been kinder to the 'oo' and this 1996 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of "...By Numbers" is a wee belter to me – not a masterpiece - but still an album full of songs rather than just bluster and riffage. "I'm dreaming of the day I can share the world... " Townshend channeled on "Dreaming From The Waist" (originally called "Control Myself"). Well, let's wrestle back some of that control and share it again...

UK released December 1996 - "The Who By Numbers" by THE WHO on Polydor 533 844-2 (Barcode 731453384422) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (49:51 minutes):

1. Slip Kid [Side 1]

2. However Much I Booze

3. Squeeze Box

4. Dreaming From The Waist

5. Imagine A Man

6. Success Story [Side 2]

7. They Are All In Love

8. Blue Red And Grey

9. How Many Friends

10. In A Hand Or A Face

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "The Who By Numbers" – released 18 October 1975 in the UK on Polydor Records 2490 129 and 25 October 1975 in the USA on MCA Records MCA 2161. Produced by GLYN JOHNS – it peaked at No. 7 and No. 8 in the UK and US LP charts.

Roger Daltrey on Lead Vocals, Pete Townshend on All Guitars, Keyboards, Lead and Shared Vocals, John Entwistle on Bass and Vocals (Brass and Arrangements on "Blue, Red And Grey"), Keith Moon on Drums with Pianist Nicky Hopkins guesting on "They Are All In Love".

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Squeeze Box (Live) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

12. Behind Blue Eyes (Live) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. Dreaming From The Waist (Live)

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 recorded live at Swansea Football Ground on 12 June 1976 – Track 13 first issued June 1994 and only available on the 4CD Box Set "Thirty Years Of Maximum R&B"

The poster to THE WHO 'Put The Boot In' 1976 UK Tour with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers on the same bill (what a line-up) fills Page 23 of the 24-page booklet. It's there because it lists the Swansea Football Ground gig of 12 June 1976 – the date for the two Previously Unreleased Live Tracks. But I’m disappointed to once again not see the lyrics in a reissue of this most literate of Who albums. All that searching and life observation and social commentary is absent and I really think if there is ever a 2CD Deluxe Edition of this album, the brilliant and highly literate lyrics should be present.

What you do get is new JOHN SWENSON liner notes and classy black and white live shots of the band on their 1975 and 1975 tours. Swenson also gives indepth insights into each and every song and along with Townshend and Entwistle recollections of old, all of it gives you a fuller picture of an album many have written off over the years. The tapes (and reissue) were prepared by long-time Who-associates and archivists JON ASTLEY and ANDY MacPHERSON with Remasters done by the legendary BOB LUDWIG and as I said earlier, this is full WHO sound and the CD properly rocks because of it. To the music...

"Slip Kid" kicks open proceedings strongly, Daltrey's voice full of ballsy maturity as he snarls out words about a second-generation lad who already feels he's faking it. 13 going on 63 – well, is he going to die inside and out before he gets old? But best of all is that fabulous guitar-solo towards the end - the remaster lifting it up - PT's playing inspired and not just impressive (he never gets enough credit for what a good player he is). Things darken on the PT-sung "However Much I Booze" – our man having been on a bender – shakily picking through his thoughts the morning after – at the least the one he can remember. The strummed acoustics combined with a jaunty guitar and drums backbeat gives it an almost upbeat Country-Rock lilt, like a ditty, but with lyrics that namecheck Brandy and no way out and a destiny he can’t seem to prevent, it has a walls-closing-in dark heart.

By immediate contrast, the Daddy-never-sleeps-at-night saucy banjo-soloing "Squeeze Box" is great fun and a typically cool WHO song. Issued 9 January 1976 in the UK, Polydor 2121 275 featured the superb "Success Story" on the flipside. The British 45 gave them a No. 10 chart hit whilst it had been issued November 1975 in the USA on MCA Records MCA-40475 in an album-artwork picture sleeve that attained a No. 16 chart position. In some ways it’s decidedly odd that such a ‘fun’ tune is associated with an album mired in such personal turmoil. Both "Dreaming From The Waist" and the Side 1 finisher "Imagine A Man" are up there in my Who books – especially the strangely beautiful acoustic-led "Imagine A Man" where Roger Daltrey's expressive voice elevates PT's poetic lyrics (gorgeous clarity too).

A Rock and Roll singer is on television giving up his music for religion in "Success Story" - a tune I always thought a winner. Ace sessionman Nicky Hopkins lends his distinctive and lovely piano playing to "They Are All In Love" - a sort of kids-are-alright homage from Townshend to the young. And once again on "Success Story" he lambastes his musical output as 'recycling trash' (a tad unfair), while the recrimination goes even further on the core-deep "How Many Friends" - a song so personal it actually makes for affection and uncomfortable listening at one and the same time. Out comes the George Fornby Ukulele for the quietly lovely "Blue, Red And Grey" - Bassist Entwistle stepping up the plate with truly gorgeous Silver Brass fills (he arranged them too). The LP ends with the riffage of "In A Hand Or A Face" - a reflection on society's inequalities - going round and round - one man sipping champagne while another goes through your dustbin looking for food.

We get to hear Keith Moon work the crowd for the unreleased live cut of "Squeeze Box" (introduces the song) - Townshend turning it into a guitar-driven beast (no banjo in sight). In fact the last minute of it is a witty intro to "Behind Blue Eyes" (Keith Moon left the stage) - and it's really good. My love is vengeance that is never free - Daltrey and Entwistle holding it intact as Pete strums that "Who's Next" gem. And the live cut of the LP’s "Dreaming From The Waist" turns into a barnstormer – a genuinely great addition and not surprising it was included on the 30 Years Box set.

The more I rehear this 1975 WHO album, the more I realize I dismissed it all too easily back in the day. "Imagine a man tied up in life...a road so long...you will see the end..." I can’t imagine a world where my love of The Who will ever diminish and this cool CD only reaffirms that...

Wednesday 2 June 2021

"The Best Years Of Our Lives" by STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL – March 1975 UK Third Studio Album on EMI Records featuring Steve Harley, Jim Cregan, Stuart Elliott, Duncan Mackay and George Ford with Guest Vocalists Liza Strike, Linda Lewis, Tina Charles, Martin Jay and Yvonne Keeley (August 2018 UK 3CD-Only Reissue on Chrysalis Records in a Mini Clamshell Box Set (no DVD) with Andy Pearce Remasters – Originally A 2014 UK 4-Disc Box Set on Parlophone/EMI) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...Mad Moonlight..."

What we have here is a reissue of a reissue – but one that still rocks as good as the first outing.

29 May 2014 finally saw the UK end of Parlophone/EMI reissue their brilliant Alan Parsons-Produced 1975 third studio album "The Best Years Of Our Lives" as a 'Definitive Edition' remaster with mucho Bonus Material (the first credited to Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel rather than just the band).

Parlophone/EMI EMCDX 3068 came with 3CDs and 1DVD (Barcode 825646343348) – Four Bonus Tracks added on to the album on Disc 1 with a largely unreleased Live Concert spread across Discs 2 and 3. The DVD sported visuals for seven of the fourteen live tracks from the April 1975 London Hammersmith Odeon gig, while an expanded 16-page booklet featured new liner notes from GEOFF BARTON with reminiscences on that manic time from principal songwriter and bandleader, Steve Harley.

What you have here is a 2018 reissue of that Remastered Mini Box Set that keeps the 3CDs but loses the visuals of the DVD. Here are the man-it-was-mean details...

UK released 22 August 2018 - "The Best Years Of Our Lives" by STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL on Chrysalis CRB 1072 (Barcode 5060516091232) is a 3CD Mini Clamshell Box Set Reissue of the May 2014 'Definitive Edition' (minus the DVD) that plays out as follows:

CD1 "The Best Years Of Our Lives" (55:37 minutes):

1. Introducing "The Best Years" - Side 1

2. The Mad, Mad Moonlight

3. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)

4. It Wasn't Me

5. Panorama

6. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Side 2

7. Back To The Farm

8. 49th Parallel

9. The Best Years Of Our Lives

Tracks 1 to 9 are their third studio album "The Best Years Of Our Lives" - released March 1975 in the UK on EMI Records EMC 3068 and in the USA on EMI Records ST-11394. Produced by ALAN PARSONS and STEVE HARLEY - it peaked at No. 4 in the UK (didn't chart in the USA).

BONBUS TRACKS:

10. Another Journey - 31 January 1975 UK 45-single on EMI Records 2263, Non-Album B-side of "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)"

11. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean) (Single Version) - 16 May 1975 UK 45-single on EMI Records 2299, A-side

12. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) (Rough Mix) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. The Best Years Of Our Lives (Acoustic Version) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD2 "Live At Hammersmith Odeon, London, 14 April 1975 (Part 1)" (54:06 minutes):

1. The Mad, Mad Moonlight

2. Hideaway

3. Panorama

4. Medley: Bed In The Corner/Sweet Dreams/Psychomodo/Sling It!

5. Sebastian

6. Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)

7. Back To The Farm

Track 1 "The Mad, Mad Moonlight" was first issued 4 November 1975 as the Non-Album B-side to the UK 45-single for "Black Or White"

Tracks 5 "Sebastian" was first issued 16 May 1975 as the Non-Album B-side to the UK 45-single for "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)"

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD3 "Live At Hammersmith (Part 2)" (45:40 minutes):

1. 49th Parallel

2. Death Trip

3. Judy Teen

4. Mr. Soft

5. The Best Years Of Our Lives

6. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)

7. Tumbling Down

Tracks 1 to 7 all PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The 16-page booklet for this 'Definitive Edition' offers up eight foreign picture sleeves for the three 45s surrounding the LP - "Make Me Smile...", "Mr. Raffles" and the straggler "Black And White". Band chronicler GEOFF BARTON fills in the discography gaps for out Deptford hero (not quite the Cockney, but a Rebel nonetheless) with intermissions from Harley explaining how 1975 unfolded - an early No. 1 for "Make Me Smile..." months before the album arrived and a No. 14 slot for the follow-up tale of a con-man "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)". There are other period photos, discussions of his journalistic run-in's with the British Press who seemed to love Cockney Rebel one minute and then loath them the next. Success soon shut them up.

Mastering is by a name I actively seek out when it comes to Remasters - ANDY PEARCE. Along with his Engineering partner MATT WORTHAM - they've done the Budgie catalogue for Universal, Wishbone Ash, Rory Gallagher, Taste, Free, ELP and loads more. Pearce gets a natural 'feel' to the transfer that is just as well as this album has never really had an audiophile rep. But this version is without doubt the best I've ever heard it. The two discs of live stuff are shockingly good too - punchy and kicking - the band's sound sort of freed by being away from studio trickery.

After a minute-long fade in, the "Introducing" opening melts into a rapid-paced flirt song called "The Mad, Mad Moonlight" where a 'big girl' asks him upstairs who may or may not be concerned with his/her gender. That synth comes over better and the snarled lyrics kick just as much as they did back in the day. One of the Seventies great slick-willy songs - "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)" lulls you into a false sense of 'walk on the wild side' almost easy listening suave when it's actually a tune about a shifty git who doesn't care who he hurts. Once again that Pearce remaster really kicks in as the keyboards float across your speakers during "It Wasn't Me" - taxis in the early hours - whiffs of withered flowers - accusations from she who has her suspicions about Steve's whereabouts earlier in the evening. Side 1 ends with guest vocalists Liza Strike, Linda Lewis, Tina Charles, Martin Jay and Yvonne Keeley aiding Harley on "Panorama" - a five and half minute opus about the coldness of city life - and with an edit could easily have been another single.

Side 2 opens with the magical "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" - a tune that feels so sophisticated even now - a genuine slice of Pop greatness and some 45 years after the event - probably played more times on oldies stations than any other Cockney Rebel song. It's rare that you'd call such an overtly pop beat 'beautiful' - but when that organ solo comes sailing in and the girls do their backing vocals magic once again - that was it's number one moment on the hit parade and has been so ever since. "Back To The Farm" gives us six-minutes of paranoia - people listening in - the girls echoed vocals giving the song a Sensational Alex Harvey Band menace (power in those guitars). Things get clavinet funky with "49th Parallel" - probably the best Production on the album - dig that warm and clear Bass underpin. A slow six-minute event-lurch ends the album - "The Best Years Of Our Lives" talking about no room for laughter - changes twisting perceptions - it's an epic tune and the Remaster has lent it real muscle.

Fans are going to love "Another Journey" being on CD with great sound - a B-side that could easily have been on the album. I was dubious about a 'Rough Mix' of "Make Me Smile..." where his lead vocals seem too weak in the stew but that musical accompaniment is fantastic and the acoustic solo vs. keyboards crescendo still sounding awesome albeit a wee bit different (but not in a bad way). The five and half-minute 'Acoustic' cut of the title track will thrill true SH fans - bare and truthful lyrics you can now actually hear - Harley sounding not unlike Ray Davies of The Kinks giving it some. I like a release like this one where the four bonuses step up to the musical plate and feel like extras you actually want. Amongst the live stuff, Prog fans are going to dig the 14-minutes of "Death Trip" - a sort of Atomic Rooster rocker that meets with Gentle Giant. The crowd joins in for an eleven-minute "Tumbling Down" - the band clearly digging it.

You could argue that more in the way of unreleased studio stuff would have bolstered an already great package, but even without that visual from the first issue - this is a winner. "Made us happy..." they sang on "Judy Teen". At it again boys...

"Pour Down Like Silver" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON – November 1975 UK Third Studio Album on Island Records featuring Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention, Pat Donaldson of Poet And The One Man Band and Fotheringay, Ian Whiteman of Mighty Baby, John Kirkpatrick of Steeleye Span and The Albion Band, Timi Donald of Trash and Blue with Nic Jones and Aly Bain of The Boys Of The Lough (April 2004 UK Universal/Island Remasters Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...For Shame Of Doing Wrong..."

For their second album of 1975 and third as a duo – Richard and Linda Thompson kept up the high songwriting standards with "Pour Down Like Silver" (November 1975 on Island Records) – even if once again and like the previous two ("I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" from April 1974 and "Hokey Pokey" from March 1975) sales still didn’t see it chart.

Fronting each song with alternating lead vocals and RT on guitars - back on board came their Folk-Rock crew of old alongside some guests – Drummer Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention and The Albion Band, Bassist Pat Donaldson of Poet And The One Man Band and Fotheringay, Flutist Ian Whiteman of Mighty Baby, Concertina and Accordionist John Kirkpatrick of Steeleye Span and The Albion Band, Drummer Timi Donald of Trash and Blue, legendary Trumpeter Henry Lowther with the virtuoso Fiddle Player Aly Bain of The Boys Of The Lough (Folkie Nic Jones also on fiddle) - all making an impact to the rich dark materials. Beautifully engineered and produced by both Thompson and John Wood (of Nick Drake fame and many more Island Records artists) - it sounded the biz too (and still does now, especially on this CD).

Looking not unlike the Shiek of Araby on the front cover while a be-scarfed Linda looks tasty as one of his many harem concubines on the rear (come to your desert-daddy my dear) - I’ve always thought "Pour Down Like Silver" is the kind of mid 70ts charmer that got lost somehow in the sheer deluge of albums in that apex year for the decade. And it contains a genuine masterpiece in "The Dimming Of The Day..." – a song covered by contemporary artists like Bonnie Raitt, The Corrs, Mary Black and Any Trouble. Luckily this rather cool 2004 Island Remasters CD Reissue does that lost-in-the-shuffle R&LT album proud. To the shame of doing wrong...

UK released April 2004 - "Pour Down Like Silver" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON on Universal/Island Remasters IMCD 306 / 981 790-1 (Barcode 602498179017) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (67:43 minutes):

1. Streets Of Paradise [Side 1]

2. For Shame Of Doing Wrong

3. The Poor Boy Is Taken Away

4. Night Comes In

5. Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair [Side 2]

6. Beat The Retreat

7. Hard Luck Stories

8. Dimming Of The Day/Dargai

Tracks 1 to 8 are their third album (Richard Thompson's fourth) "Pour Down Like Silver" - released November 1975 in the UK and USA on Island Records ILPS 9348. Produced and Engineered by RICHARD THOMPSON and JOHN WOOD - it didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Streets Of Paradise (3:55 minutes) - Live

10. Night Comes in (12:10 minutes) - Live

11. Dark End Of The Street (4:12 minutes) - Live

12. Beat The Retreat (6:23 minutes) - Live

Tracks 9 and 12 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, 9 recorded at The Roundhouse 1975, 12 at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, April 1975

Tracks 10 and 11 first released May 1976 on the 2LP anthology "Guitar, Vocal" on Island Records ICD 8. Track 10 recorded in Oxford, November 1975 and Track 11 at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, April 1975 ("Dark End Of The Street" is a cover version of the James Carr 60ts Soul classic penned by Dan Penn and Chips Moman).

Original copies of this CD reissue came in a stickered card slipcase (later copies lose this) with a 12-page booklet inside the jewel case. The lyrics that were on the inner sleeve of the original 1975 LP are here, a photo and a short history of the project by DAVID SUFF (of Fledgling Records). The liner notes expound on their embracing of the Sufi faith, the 'recorded live in the studio' nature of the recordings, the sad songs bolstered up by many Fairport Convention musician pals with Thompson concentrating on Guitar - leaving all tracks minus keyboards. The CD label sports a 'black and orange eye' pink label logo that was actually only on 60ts Island pressings (it should have been a palm-tree orange label), but it's a minor glitch because the Audio Remastering (doesn't say who did it but I suspect Denis Blackham of Sky Mastering) is glorious. To the music...

There is an anger pouring of the lyrics in the decidedly accordion-led Folk-Rock of "Streets Of Paradise" that give the song a strange lilt - Richard asking for a racehorse and being given a mule. Linda's lovely voice opens the 'lover lover' of "For Shame Of Doing Wrong" - our lady nursing a broken heart and missing the times before she and her man went their separate ways. There's a warmth to this song that reminds me of The Waterboys when they hit that sweet melody note - Thompson's guitar and duet vocals so clear in the transfer. I wish I was a fool for you again, they sing, well, I am.

As if that track wasn't good enough, the album now moves into real beauty for me - both Linda and Richard handling the haunting leads on the gorgeous "The Poor Boy Is Taken Away". As it smooches into your listening space - Thompson's acoustic guitar is complimented by mandolin strums and lyrics about a poor boy dressed for the 'tinkering trade'. Then Side 1 ends on the magnificent rambling shimmering guitar-based beauty of "Night Comes In" - a brooding 8:11 minutes of tears and rooms closing in and dancing until your feet don't touch the ground. Fantastic stuff and a stunning Remaster transfer as he doubles up the guitars – swanning its way to an elegant crescendo finish. It reminds me of Fairport at their Folk-Rock best.

"I've been looking for a love like you..." both sing on the jaunty "Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair" - soft soap shuffle with nothing to sell. While I like this Side 2 opener, I worship at the altar of "Beat The Retreat" - such a simple song yet so powerful - a world so full of sadness - burning all his bridges - running back home to you. And again the acoustic guitar and subtle flute/Shakuhachi notes lingering behind are brought to beautiful life by a superb Remaster. Can't say I've ever liked "Hard Luck Stories" - everybody's idea of a waste of time but a true gem in the RT catalogue - “Dimming Of The Day/Dargai”, saves the Side. Linda sings of a house falling down around her ears - drowning in a river of tears - needing you at the dimming of the day. I've loved this love song and ballad for near 50 years now and it still makes me shiver. And about four minutes in - it suddenly ends and goes into the three-minute-plus acoustic instrumental "Dargai" - magical stuff.

While the unreleased live cut of "Streets Of Paradise" is good, my poison is the stunning twelve minutes of "Night Comes in" - accordion and electric guitar soon joined by a band enjoying this dark march. A surprisingly delicate acoustic take on "Dark End Of The Street" finds Linda in lovely vocal form and sounding not unlike a hurting Sandy Denny (it's credited as 'Live' but you can't hear the audience until their final applause). That delicate performance is cleverly followed by another Acoustic gem - "Beating The Retreat" – a smart extra that feels like it was always meant to be here and yet it's Previously Unreleased.

Maybe the Muslim garb of both on that striking cover art put people off - I don't know. But I do know that "Pour Down Like Silver" is an overlooked gem of an album and this 2004 CD transfer rocks in every way (running on back home to you). And I've seen it online for as little two quid. Now that's what I call a deal...

Monday 3 May 2021

"Minstrel In The Gallery" by JETHRO TULL – September 1975 UK and US Eight Studio Album on Chrysalis Records featuring Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Evan, Jeffery Hammond-Hammond with Barriemore Barlow – Guests Include Orchestral Arrangements by David Palmer (May 2015 UK Chrysalis 40th Anniversary Edition 1CD Reissue Version – A New Steven Wilson Stereo Remix) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...Mother England Reverie..."

Tull's eight studio-album of Folk/Prog Rock "Minstrel In The Gallery" originally hit the shops in vinyl form in September 1975 and has been subject to many digital variants ever since. But this May 2015 beauty from remix/remaster maestro Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree) is the very best – thorough, affectionately handled and revealing in ways that none before have ever been. As with all things JT-reissue, the Wilster has only gone and done it again...

There are two UK/EUROPE CD variants issued on the same day 5 May 2015 – the Deluxe 2CD + 1DVD "La Grande Edition" on Chrysalis 0825646157204 (Barcode 0825646157204) that comes in an 80-page Hardback Digibook presentation. It offers seven Bonus Tracks on CD1, a Jakko Jakszyk Stereo Remix of a 5 July 1975 live show staged at the Palais Des Sports in Paris on CD2 with the album presented in 5.1 Surround and other various digital mixes on the DVD-A. Tull aficionados will have to own the book baby – a thing of beauty and reissue excellence bar none. But the rest of us will only need to settle for Door No. 1...

What we have here is the plain-old single-CD '40th Anniversary Edition' variant with its chock-a-block 24-page booklet and that masterful Steve Wilson Remaster in tow. So once more my balcony babies to the Mother England Reverie...

UK released Friday, 5 May 2015 - "Minstrel In The Gallery" by JETHRO TULL on Chrysalis 0825646157181 (Barcode 0825646157181) is a 40th Anniversary Edition Single-CD Reissue with a New Stereo Remix/Remaster from Steven Wilson that plays out as follows (45:11 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Minstrel In The Gallery

2. Cold Wind To Valhalla

3. Black Satin Dancer

4. Requiem

Side 2

5. One White Duck/o10 = Nothing At All

6. Tracks 6 to 10 are five-parts of the "Baker St. Muse" Suite

(6) Baker St. Muse

(7) Pig-Me And The Whore

(8) Nice Little Time

(9) Crash-Barrier Waltzer

(10) Mother England Reverie

11. Grace

Tracks 1 to 11 is their eight studio-album "Minstrel In The Gallery" – released September 1975 in the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR 1082 (same catalogue number for both countries). Produced by IAN ANDERSON – it peaked at No. 7 in the USA and No. 20 in the UK LP charts.

For a single CD reissue pitched at roughly seven quid new, the booklet is huge. The massively detailed DAVID WEBB essay is wittily called 'The Full Monte' after Tull had (for tax reasons) decamped to Monte Carlo in the Principality of Monaco on the French Riviera to record the album at a newly rigged out studio there with the latest tech. Four of the original five band members - Ian Anderson (Lead Vocals, Flute, Principal Songwriter), Martine Barre (Electric Guitars), Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (Bass), Barrimore Barlow (Drums and Percussion) relay the story to Webb with the text peppered by period photos. The fifth member of the band was Keyboardist John Evan and there were string arrangements by David Palmer.

But the big news is a new Stereo Remix and Remaster by STEVE WILSON whose name is now synonymous with these Jethro Tull reissues. In the second last page of the booklet he goes into full-on nerd mode by telling us that Martin Barre's guitar solo on "Cold Wind In Valhalla" has tape echo employed to enhance the notes as they ping from left to right channels. We non-techno-wizard types might not know our oscillator from our fretboard sustain – but there's no doubting the feeling you get of attention-having-been-paid as you play this CD. The clarity is fabulous and powerful. Those who have held a candle for "Minstrel In The Gallery" will be moved and not just pleased.

A couple of weeks prior to the LP's 8 September 1975 UK release, Chrysalis took the self-titled album opener "Minstrel In The Gallery" in all its 8:18minute pomp and pumpkin-eater glory and edited down to a usable 45-single of 4:10 minutes. Issued 22 August 1975, Chrysalis CHS 2075 also sported a non-LP B-side in the shape of "Summerday Sands" which is available on the "La Grande Edition" set. Although hardcore Blighty fans probably bought copies at the time, it's American issue on Chrysalis CHS 2016 (August 1975 too) actually charted - albeit at a lowly No. 89. The combo of flute, strings and acoustic comes out of your speakers with gorgeous musicality when "Cold Wind To Valhalla" hits your man-palace and then you hear those cool electric guitar licks Wilson was talking about in the liner notes - brilliant.

Guitars ping in combination with serious string arrangements on "Black Satin Dancer" and when it dips in that bells and cymbals moment - the clarity is fantastic. Side 1 ends with the LP's prettiest moment - Anderson's voice shimmering on "Requiem" and once again, hero of the hour is David Palmer conducting Violinists Elizabeth Edwards, Rita Eddowes and Bridget Proctor alongside Cellist Katherine Thulborn. Anyone who has had fondness for the album will wipe away a Proggy tear at this one.

Side 2 opens with soft acoustic guitars catching a ride on violins, picture postcards of music for the two-parter "One White Duck/o10 = Nothing At All". I'd forgotten how good this is - deep and yet accessible - a perfect line-up for the LP's big one - the five-parts of "Baker St. Muse". Newspaper warriors chase headlines that thrill - Barre's guitar parts so Zappa-like- accomplished instrumental passages in "Nice Little Tune". But the section I like the most is the one-band-man of "Mother England Reverie" – a little boy sitting on a burning log dreaming of being a Minstrel In The gallery one day. And it all ends on the pretty ditty of "Grace" – a lone violin fading out what feels like a far better album than 1973's two-sider "Thick As A Brick" which is somehow revered more.

In some respects you can't help thinking that 1975's "Minstrel In The Gallery" is the forgotten gem in Jethro Tull's arsenal – a public (as I recall at the time) having had their confidence in the band tested by "A Passion Play" just a tad too much.

They would go on to even greater success of course – especially in the USA - who took Tull's Blighty Prog musings to heart – even in the years when they were as unfashionable as a band could get. But what clobbers you here is the Audio that has somehow elevated this LP way up high - high enough for us to notice the five-piece up in the gallery area waving with a glint in their collective beady eye...

Saturday 1 May 2021

"Hokey Pokey" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON – March 1975 UK Second Album on Island Records featuring Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention, Pat Donaldson of Poet And The One Man Band and Fotheringay, Ian Whiteman of Mighty Baby, John Kirkpatrick of Steeleye Span and The Albion Band, Timi Donald of Trash and Blue with Aly Bain of The Boys Of The Lough (April 2004 UK Universal/Island Remasters Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 204 More Like It Are Available In My

Amazon e-Book

CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues & Remasters

All Reviews From The Discs Themselves

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

"...Ice Cream Songs..."

Following on from their April 1974 debut album as a duo - Richard and Linda Thompson matched "I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" in my eyes with their first platter of 1975 - "Hokey Pokey" ("Pour Down Like Silver" would make it a trio of album releases in November 1975). Chock full of melodies - fast ones and slow ones that all hooked you in such subtle ways - I also liked that slightly drunk-sodden feel to the tunes. No doubt about it, there was something cool and musical about the pair of them when they hooked up with their natural home - Chris Blackwell's Island Records.

This 2004 'Island Remasters' Expanded Edition also offers five tasty extras - four of which are Previously Unreleased. There's three from BBC sessions plus two live cuts including one recorded November 1975 at Oxford that first appeared on the Island Records retrospective double-album "Guitar, Vocal" in 1976. They're not exactly Audiophile it has to be said (Linda's vocals especially) – but they do show that the Thompson band dynamic was in raring form on the live front too - RT ripping into his guitar on the title track "Hokey Pokey". The Remaster of the album is lovely. Let's get to the Smiffy's Glass Eye and the Ice Cream Songs...

UK released April 2004 - "Hokey Pokey" by RICHARD and LINDA THOMPSON on Universal/Island Remasters IMCD 305 / 981 790-6 (Barcode 602498179062) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (67:43 minutes):

1. Hokey Pokey (The Ice Cream Song) [Side 1]

2. I'll Regret It All In The Morning

3. Smiffy's Glass Eye

4. The Egypt Room

5. Never Again

6. Georgia On A Spree [Side 2]

7. Old Man Inside A Young Man

8. The Sun Never Shines On The Poor

9. A Heart Needs A Home

10. Mole In A Hole

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second album "Hokey Pokey" (as Richard and Linda Thompson) - released March 1975 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9305 (same release date and catalogue number for the USA). Produced by JOHN WOOD and SIMON NICOL with all songs written by RT except "Mole In A Hole" by Mike Waterson - it didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Wishing (Live)

12. I'm Turning off A Memory (Live)

13. A Heart Needs A Home (Live)

Tracks 11 to 13 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded for the John Peel Show 11 February 1975, first transmitted 24 February 1975

14. Hokey Pokey (Live)

Track 14 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED, recorded live at The Roundhouse

15. It'll Be Me (Live)

Track 15 recorded November 1975 in Oxford, first issued on the May 1976 UK 2LP compilation "Guitar, Vocal" on Island Records ICD 8 (it was called "Live More Or Less" in the USA with the same catalogue no)

MUSICIANS were:

LINDA THOMPSON – Lead and Duet Vocals

RICHARD THOMPSON – Lead and Duet Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Electric and Hammered Dulcimer and Piano

SIMON NICOL (of Fairport Convention) – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Piano and Backing Vocals

IAN WHITEMAN (of Mighty Baby) – Organ and Piano

ALY BAIN (of The Boys Of The Lough) – Violin and Fiddle

JOHN KIRKPATRICK (of Steeleye Span and The Albion Band) – Accordion

PAT DONALDSON (ex Poet and The One Man Band and Fotheringay) – Bass

TIMI DONALD (ex Trash, later with Blue) – Drums and Percussion

The outer card slipcase afforded original April 2004 issues of the three Richard and Linda Thompson CDs lends each release a feel of classiness. The 12-page booklet thankfully reproduces the lyrics that appeared on the UK LP's inner sleeve (inside the Gatefold sleeve of the US issue) while DAVID SUFF of Folk Music Reissue Specialists Fledg'ling Records does the short but hugely informative liner notes. Doesn't say who did the Remaster but it 'feels' like the masterful hand of Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering - either way - whomever transferred these original master tapes did the business by them.

Aly Bain of Folk Group The Boys Of The Lough provides the fiddle on the wickedly good opener "Hokey Pokey" - but it's Linda's 'shiver down your spine' vocals and RT's fantastic guitar soloing that thrills - the whole shebang just working so sweetly. Things slow down and beautifully so with the whiskey-head hurt that lingers in the slyly acidic "I'll Regret It All In The Morning" - someone succumbing to the wiles of the flesh just once too often. Disfigurement and the cruelty it evokes in smaller crueller minds is the subject of the strangely sad-happy "Smiffy's Glass Eye" - girls laughing - girls not interested - until the heartache became too much. Diamonds flash, ruby rings glitter and bloodshot eyes blink in the lowlife shimmy-dance of "The Egypt Room" - Hobnail Kelly and the Beefcake Kid in town to catch the princess as she beguiles. Side 1 closes on a softer note, "Never Again" sounding so clean and clear as Linda asks who will remember the salt tears of lovers, the whispers of a lover and friend gone too soon - a song that apparently harks all the way back to 1969 when RT lost his then girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn in that infamous Fairport Convention motorway crash.

Side 2 goes Country Rock with "Georgie On A Spree" - Linda relaying a sad tale of Isabel and her flash beau Georgie - King and Queen - with all the girls mad jealous as he drives his Chevrolet by - Isabel lording it in the passenger seat. Better for me is the fabulous "Old Man Inside A Young Man" - a so-Richard Thompson world-weary tale of old Billy rueing his loveless lot - tired of the madams who know how to extract cash from his loneliness. I know many adore "The Sun Never Shines On The Poor" - but I find its urchins writhing around in the bourgeoisie mud just a little too downtrodden masses for comfort. Having said that those acoustic guitars sound gorgeous on the Remaster. I feel fairly certain that many fans like myself would have raced towards the wistful ballad "A Heart Needs A Home" on this CD Remaster - eyes crying rivers - the world is no place to be in when you're on your own.

The extras open with two Country rocked-up cover versions - Buddy Holly's "Wishing" and Merle Haggard's "I'm Turning Off A Memory" - both of which are good. Not surprisingly they also do one of the LP's strongest songs "A Heart Needs A Home" and the piano playing is lovely. Two live stints hit you and despite not having the greatest audio in the world, the accordion and guitar work in "Hokey Pokey" both sing (a sure fan pleasing moment). They then do another cover that of Jack Clement's "It'll Be Me" - a bopper in the Crawdaddy tradition - me looking for you - where the lights are blue...

There are some who say that "Hokey Pokey" is actually one of his best albums. I don't know about that in truth, but the musical gems on Island Remasters IMCD 305, the top class audio, the cool enhanced presentation and all of it washed down with a clutch of genuinely interesting extras - make this a proper CD reissue winner in my book. Give this one a lick when the ice cream bell rings out in your street...

Sounds Good, Looks Good...

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Tuesday 8 June 2021

"Facts Of Life/I Don't Know What The World Is Coming To" by BOBBY WOMACK – July 1973 and May 1975 US LPs on United Artists - September 1973 and May 1975 UK (September 2004 UK-Only Stateside Compilation – 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD - Steve Rooke Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

Wednesday 2 June 2021

Monday 3 May 2021

Saturday 1 May 2021

INDEX - Entries and Artist Posts in Alphabetical Order

Quality CD Player/Classy Bit Of Kit - Best Paired With PM 6007 UK Amp

Quality AMP from Marantz - Best Paired With Marantz CD 6007

B&W Speakers - I Have Black Variants of These and they are stunning!

RM Series Replacement Remote - Handy!

Cute As A Button and Practical Too...

More Fantastic 60ts 70ts Soul Than You Can Shake A Stick At - SEE MY REVIEW

Probably The Best Value Remasters Box Set Around - SEE MY REVIEW

BEATLES - Abbey Road (50th Anniversary Remaster from 2019) - Beautiful! SEE MY REVIEW

Superb Socially-Conscious Soul/Funk from 1971 to 1974 - See Review

BEATLES - "White Album" - Amazing 2018 Remaster and Unplugged Demos - SEE REVIEW

Breakdown/Protection for SOUNDBARS for 2 Years

ALLMANS Forgotten But Brilliant Double from 1972 - SEE MY REVIEW...

BILL WITHERS Truly Great Multi-Disc Soul Box - SEE MY REVIEW

Great Deal on a great book