"The Legacy [1961-2017]" by GLEN CAMPBELL – Featuring Bobbie Gentry, Anne Murray, Jimmy Webb, Leon Russell and many more (June 2019 UK and EU UME/Capitol Nashville 4CD 78-Song Book-Wallet Reissue – Remasters Originally Done For The 2003 Box Set)- A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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GIMME SHELTER!

CLASSIC 1960s ROCK ON CD 

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"...Gentle On My Mind..."

 

What you have here is a Re-Release loosely called the 2019 Reissue Edition.

 

When first US-only issued back in October 2003 on Capitol Nashville 72435-90493-2-8, this 80-Track 4CD Box Set was called "The Legacy [1961-2002]" and had Disc 4 containing 15 live cuts (which made sense at the time).

 

But with Campbell's passing in early August 2017 aged 82, Capitol slimmed down the earlier big box to a more space-friendly card-wallet fold-out set up, rejiggered Disc 4 to contain 13 tracks from studio albums issued between 2003 and 2017 (including stuff from his hugely popular swan-song album "Adios"), used the same quality Bob Norberg Remasters for Discs 1 to 3 (those tracks remain unchanged), updated the liner notes to include the later stuff and his loss - and finally re-titled the whole 78-song shebang as "The Legacy [1961-2017]" - a more accurate description. This '2019 Reissue Edition' was also re-released in both the USA and Europe (a first time for UK/EU fans).

 

There's a heap to get Gentle On Our Minds, so let's get walkin' to that gurglin' cracklin' cauldron by some train yard...

 

UK released 21 June 2019 - "The Legacy [1961-2017]" by GLEN CAMPBELL on Ume/Capitol Nashville 00602577150609 (Barcode 602577150609) is a 78-Track 4CD Reissue in Slimmed Down Card Book Packaging (same Booklet and Remasters as the 2003 Original). The 2019 Reissue Edition plays out as follows...

 

CD1 (54:30 minutes, 21 tracks):

1. Turn Around, Look At Me (October 1961 US 45-single on Crest 45-1087, A-side)

2. Kentucky Means Paradise (from his 1962 US debut LP "Big Bluegrass Special" on Capitol ST 1810 in Stereo, credited to 'The Green River Boys & Glen Campbell' - see also Track 12)

3. Too Late To Worry - Too Blue To Cry (from his 1963 second studio album "Too Late To Worry – Too Blue To Cry" on Capitol ST-1881, first LP credited to just Glen Campbell)

4. The Universal Soldier (September 1965 US 45-single on Capitol 5504, A-side, Buffy St. Marie cover)

5. Guess I'm Dumb (June 1965 US 45-single on Capitol 5441, A-side - a Beach Boys cover)

6. Burning Bridges (from the 1967 US LP "Burning Bridges" on Capitol ST-2679 in Stereo)

7. Just To Satisfy You (from the 1967 US LP "Burning Bridges" on Capitol ST-2679 in Stereo)

8. Less Of Me (from the 1967 US LP "Burning Bridges" on Capitol ST-2679 in Stereo)

9. Gentle On My Mind (from the 1967 US LP "Gentle On My Mind" on Capitol ST-2809 in Stereo - a John Hartford cover)

10. Cryin' (from the 1967 US LP "Gentle On My Mind" on Capitol ST-2809 in Stereo - a Roy Orbison cover)

11. By The Time I Get To Phoenix (from the 1967 US LP "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" on Capitol ST-2851 in Stereo - a Jimmy Webb song)

12. Tomorrow Never Comes (from his 1963 second studio album "Too Late To Worry – Too Blue To Cry" on Capitol ST-1881, first LP credited to just Glen Campbell - an Earnest Tubb cover)

13. Hey, Little One (from his 1968 US LP "Hey, Little One" on Capitol ST-2878 in Stereo - a Dorsey Burnette cover)

14. I Wanna Live (from his 1968 US LP "Hey, Little One" on Capitol ST-2878 in Stereo - a John Loudermilk cover)

15. Turn Around And Look At Me (New Version) (from his 1968 US LP "Hey, Little One" on Capitol ST-2878 in Stereo)

16. The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde (from the 1968 US LP "A New Place In The Sun" on Capitol ST-2907 in Stereo – a Merle Haggard/Buck Owens cover)

17. Let It Be Me (from the 1968 US duet LP "Bobbie Gentry And Glen Campbell" on Capitol ST-2928 in Stereo - an Everly Brothers cover)

18. Scarborough Fair/Canticle (from the 1968 US duet LP "Bobbie Gentry And Glen Campbell" on Capitol ST-2928 in Stereo - a Simon & Garfunkel cover)

19. Wichita Lineman (from the 1968 US LP "Wichita Lineman" on Capitol ST-103 in Stereo - a Jimmy Webb song)

20. Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife (from the 1968 US LP "Wichita Lineman" on Capitol ST-103 in Stereo - a Chris Gantry cover)

21. Reason To Believe (from the 1968 US LP "Wichita Lineman" on Capitol ST-103 in Stereo - a Tim Hardin song)

 

CD2 (61:00 minutes, 21 tracks, Stereo):

1. Galveston (from the 1969 US LP "Galveston" on Capitol ST-210 - a Jimmy Webb song)

2. Where's The Playground Susie (from the 1969 US LP "Galveston" on Capitol ST-210 - a Jimmy Webb song)

3. If This Is Love (from the 1969 US LP "Galveston" on Capitol ST-210)

4. True Grit (from the 1969 Soundtrack LP "True Grit" on Capitol ST-263 - Elmer Bernstein/Don Black song)

5. Try A Little Kindness (from the 1970 US LP "Try A Little Kindness" on Capitol E-SW-389)

6. Honey, Come Back (from the 1970 US LP "Try A Little Kindness" on Capitol E-SW-389)

7. One Pair Of Hands (from the 1970 US LP "Oh Happy Day" on Capitol SW-443)

8. All I Have To Do Is Dream (February 1970 US 45-single duet with Bobbie Gentry on Capitol 2745, A-side - an Everly Brothers cover, Boudleaux Bryant song)

9. Everything A Man Could Ever Need (from the 1970 US Motion Picture Soundtrack LP to "Norwood" on Capitol SW-475)

10. It's Only Make Believe (from the 1970 US LP "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album" on Capitol SW-493)

11. Pave Your Way Into Tomorrow (from the 1970 US LP "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album" on Capitol SW-493)

12. MacArthur Park (from the 1970 US LP "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album" on Capitol SW-493)

13. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) (from the October 1971 US LP "The Last Time I Saw Her" on Capitol SW-733 - a Roy Orbison cover, Cindy Walker song)

14. The Last Time I Saw Her (from the October 1971 US LP "The Last Time I Saw Her" on Capitol SW-733 - a Gordon Lightfoot cover)

15. I Say A Little Prayer/By The Time I Get To Phoenix Medley (from the November 1971 US duet LP "Anne Murray/Glen Campbell" on Capitol SW-869)

16. The Last Thing On My Mind (from the 1972 US LP "Glen Travis Campbell" on Capitol SW-11117 - a Tom Paxton cover)

17. I Knew Jesus (Before He Was A Star) (from the 1973 US LP "I Knew Jesus (Before He Was A Star)" on Capitol SW-11185)

18. I'm So Lonely I Could Cry (from the 1973 US LP "I Remember Hank Williams" on Capitol SW-11253)

19. Houston (I'm Comin' To See You) (from the April 1974 US LP "Houston (I'm Comin' To See You!)" on Capitol SW-11293 - a David Paich song)

20. Bonaparte's Retreat (from the April 1974 US LP "Houston (I'm Comin' To See You!)" on Capitol SW-11293)

21. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress (from the October 1974 US LP "Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb" on Capitol SW-11336)

 

CD3 (73:51 minutes, 23 songs, Stereo):

1. Rhinestone Cowboy (from the June 1975 US LP "Rhinestone Cowboy" on Capitol SW-11430 - a Jimmy Webb song)

2. Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.) (from the June 1975 US LP "Rhinestone Cowboy" on Capitol SW-11430 - a Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter song)

3. Arkansas (from the January 1975 US LP Compilation "Arkansas" on Capitol SM-11407)

4. Don't Pull Your Love/Tell Me Goodbye (from the April 1976 US LP "Bloodline" on Capitol SW-11516 a Medley of Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter and John Loudermilk covers)

5. Southern Nights (from the 1977 US LP "Southern Nights" on Capitol SO-511601 - an Allen Toussaint cover)

6. Sunflower (from the 1977 US LP "Southern Nights" on Capitol SO-511601 - a Neil Diamond cover)

7. God Only Knows (from the 1977 US LP "Southern Nights" on Capitol SO-511601 - a Beach Boys cover)

8. I'm Gonna Love You (from the 1978 US LP "Basic" on Capitol SW-11722)

9. Can You Fool (from the 1978 US LP "Basic" on Capitol SW-11722)

10. Highwayman (from the 1979 US LP "Highwayman" on Capitol EST-12008)

11. Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like (from the 1980 US LP "Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like") on Capitol SOO 12075)

12. Any Which Way You Can (from the 1981 US LP "It's A World Gone Crazy" on Capitol SOO-12124)

13. I Was Too Busy Loving You (from the 1982 US LP "Old Home Town" on Capitol 90016-1 - a Jimmy Webb song)

14. Faithless Love (from the 1984 US LP "Letter To Home" on Atlantic America 7 90164-1 - a John David Souther cover)

15. A Lady Like You (from the 1984 US LP "Letter To Home" on Atlantic America 7 90164-1 - a Jim Weatherly/Keith Stegall song)

16. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (from the 1988 US CD "Still Within The Sound Of My Voice" on MCA MCAD-42009 - a duet with Steve Warner)

17. I Have You  (from the 1988 US CD "Still Within The Sound Of My Voice" on MCA MCAD-42009)

18. If These Walls Could Talk (from the 1988 US CD "Light Years" on MCA 42210 - a Jimmy Webb song)

19. Unconditional Love (from the 1991 US CD "Unconditional Love" on Capitol CDP 7 90992 2)

20. She's Gone, Gone, Gone (from the 1990 US CD "Walkin' In The Sun" on Capitol CDP 7 93884-2 - a Harlan Howard cover)

21. Show Me Your Way (from the 1992 US CD album "Show Me Your Way" on New Haven NHCD 20012 - a duet with Anne Murray)

22. Only One Life (from the 1992 US CD "Wings Of Victory" on New Haven NHCD 20021-2 - a Jimmy Webb song)

23. Somebody Like That (from the 1993 US CD "Somebody Like That" on Liberty CDP-0777-7-97962-2-9)

 

CD4 (43:02 minutes, 13 tracks):

1. You'll Never Walk Alone (Hammerstein & Rodgers cover)

2. People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield cover)

3. Amazing Grace (Gospel Traditional cover)

4. Lean On Me (Bill Withers cover)

Tracks 1 to 4 from the 2003 CD album "Love Is The Answer")

5. Times Like These (Foo Fighters cover)

6. These Days (Jackson Browne cover)

7. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) (Billie Joe Armstrong cover)

Tracks 5 to 7 from the 2008 CD album "Meet Glen Campbell"

8. Ghost On The Canvas (Paul Westerberg of The Replacements cover) - from the 2011 CD album "Ghost On The Canvas"

9. Waiting On The Comin' Of My Lord - from the 2013 CD album "See You There"

10. I'm Not Gonna Miss You - from the 2014 CD album "I'll Be Me"

11. Everybody's Talkin' (Fred Neil song, Nilsson cover)

12. It Won't Bring Her Back (a Jimmy Webb song)

13. Adios (a Jimmy Webb song) 

Tracks 11 to 13 from the 2017 CD album "Adios"

With his signature/name embossed in gold on the front sleeve and seven colour / black & white photos of Glen giving it some Country Rock (with his so square haircut) across the seven inner fold-out flaps - "The Legacy [1961-2017]" feels and looks classy for damn sure. Its reduced Christmas Card Size actually suits and has a slide-in flap for all 4-CDs, whilst the fifth houses the 58-page colour booklet.

The detached booklet is beautifully laid out with period photos right up to the 00s, a tasty thing to see and read (Mark Copeland compiled it in conjunction with GC). Every song has discography details – the sessionman-list citing the likes of Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon, Al Casey, Bob Felts, Leon Russell (before a solo career) and vocal duets/songwriting partnerships with Bobbie Gentry, Anne Murray, Jimmy Webb many more. The back leaves of the booklet have collage pages of every one of his albums pictured in colour. Very well done as I say. Downsides - it might have been better had the actual entries stated catalogue numbers – full release dates etc – and surely with the 2019 updated reissue – a fifth disc could have been a visual – DVD or BLU RAY – but alas.

The Superb and Clean Audio is the 2002 Remasters done at Capitol by BOB NORBERG for the original 2003-issued Box Set (used again) and while you could argue that the overall number of tracks is down from 80 to 78, Disc 4 now makes a whole lot of sense and sounds utterly amazing – like a really well-produced slick Country Rock album of the 90s or 00s. To the tunes...

 

All the huge hits are here - "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Galveston", "Gentle On My Mind" and loads more - his genius being a crossover from pure Country to the beginnings of Country-Pop or Country-Rock as we like to call it now. John Hartford's mini masterpiece "Gentle On My Mind" is a perfect example. His original US 45-single on RCA Victor 47-9175 was issued in April 1967 and is the 'most' hick Country tune imaginable - all pedal steels and a few bars short of yee-haws into the mix. In its original form (which many adore or even prefer over Campbell's) - it is pure Country through and through.

 

Glen Campbell's genius was to hear the potential in the tune and his recording gives it that gorgeous "Everybody's Talkin'" rolling guitar thing that suddenly made it Country-Pop and therefore more accessible to a much bigger audience. Campbell's version was recorded and in the shops by June 1967 on Capitol 5939. It caused a stir and bubbled under to an eventual healthy placing of No. 62 on the Pop charts. But with the album of the same name and a 45-reissue in July 1968, it suddenly took off and headed up to No. 39. The song "Gentle On My Mind" has had extraordinary legs - then and now. Dozens recorded it along the lines of Campbell's interpretation (which has now become something of a default position) and that goes up to 'The Band Perry' whose version issued in 2009 now has over 15-millions views on YouTube.

 

While CD1 and CD2 are full of these kinds of melodies, that other huge collaboration in his life would come with ace-songwriter Jimmy Webb, whose name (when you peruse the lists above) is on a lot of the songs across 'all' the CDs. I wish there was more representation from the mid-70s "Reunion" album with Webb (a bit of a lost classic that), but you can feel his goods all the way to the end. In fact his two for the "Adios" album (recorded five years before issue and amongst his very last recordings) - including that touching title track that would bring a tear to even the most hardened of hearts - are just as good as the 60ts and 70ts stuff. Special mention should also go to Disc 4 where Campbell's solitary composition "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" (recorded in January 2013 with his old playing crew from the 60ts) is an absolute highlight and quite rightly referred to in the updated liner notes by JOEL SLEVIN as a 'masterpiece'.

 

For sure I can remember a time when Glen Campbell and his ah-schucks white picket fence cleanliness was thrown by Rock types like me into the Easy Listening punishment bins and made to slurp less-than-cool-aid with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Burt Bacharach. But time and reappraisal has made us all see those guys and the hugely likeable Glen Campbell as pioneers of their own and their recorded legacy worthy of classy tomes like "The Legacy..."

 

Nicely done and Adios on your journey to that great songsmith in the sky...

"My Griffin Is Gone" by HOYT AXTON – January 1969 US LP on Columbia Records in Stereo (CBS in the UK in Mono and Stereo) featuring David Cohen of Country Joe & The Fish & Elephant’s Memory on Guitar, James Burton of Elvis Presley fame on Dobro, Larry Knechtel of Bread on Keyboards (with sessionman Mike Melvoin also on keys), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ben Benay of Delaney & Bonnie on Harmonicas with Chuck Berghofer and Gary Coleman of The Wrecking Crew on Bass and Percussion (July 2006 UK Acadia CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

This Review Along With 339 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

 

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £5.95 (Jan 2022 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

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"...Spent It All On Comfort For His Mind..."

 

For a good few years now I've had an e-Book series on Amazon under the general umbrella of 'Sounds Good Music Books'. And one of those 30-or-so releases is entitled "I SAW THE LIGHT - Forgotten Albums 1955 to 1979" with a whopping 458 entries and nearly 1,900 e-Pages.

 

Well, Hoyt Axton's overlooked and largely forgotten Country-Folk pastoral socially conscious gem "My Griffin Is Gone" will be going in there with an unceremonious bullet come next update (which will be early 2022).

 

"My Griffin Is Gone" is not the five-star masterpiece many claim, but there are at least six or seven of the twelve tracks that I play a 'lot' - and they are good man - Nick Drake and Paul Buckmaster flute and acoustic guitar pastoral plaintive good - with a smidge of Tony Joe White and Fred Neil deep-voiced guttural cool thrown in for good measure. The lyrics too are brilliant – life, friends, religion, drugs, the counter culture, childhood lingering and more. Sometimes they can be twee for sure – all flowers and sunshine (it was 1969 after all). But mostly they're intelligent, street-insightful and in the hands of an artist able to communicate them with an unflinching eye.

 

And audio-wise, this sweet-sounding 2006 CD on England's Acadia (part of the Evangeline Records group) is licensed from Sony/BMG who own the tapes for Columbia Records, so the Remaster is genuinely clear and really good (some tiny traces of hiss but nothing that really detracts). Those strings on "Revelations" are gorgeous as are the Brass Arrangements on the brilliant "Way Before The Time Of Towns". Let's get to the babbling people brook...

 

UK released July 2006 (August 2006 in the USA) - "My Griffin Is Gone" by HOYT AXTON on Acadia ACA 8117 (Barcode 0805772811720) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his 1969 album (in Stereo) and plays out as follows (35:47 minutes):

 

1. On The Natural [Side 1]

2. Way Before The Time Of Towns

3. Beelzebub's Laughter

4. Sunshine Fields Of Love

5. It's All Right Now

6. Gypsy Will

7. Revelations [Side 2]

8. Snow Blind Friend

9. Childhood's End

10. Sunrise

11. Kingswood Manor

12. Chase Down The Sun

Tracks 1 to 12 are his fifth studio album "My Griffin Is Gone" – released January 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9766 (Stereo) and in the UK on CBS Records M 63588 (Mono) and CBS S 63588 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used for this CD. Produced by ALEX HASSILEV, players included David Cohen of Country Joe & The Fish & Elephant's Memory on Guitar, James Burton of Elvis Presley fame on Dobro, Larry Knechtel of Bread on Keyboards (with sessionman Mike Melvoin also on keys), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ben Benay of Delaney & Bonnie on Harmonicas with Chuck Berghofer and Gary Coleman of The Wrecking Crew on Bass and Percussion. All songs written by Axton except "Kingswood Manor" with Peter Steinberg of the US group The Shambles.

 

The six-leaf foldout inlay has in-depth liner notes from ALAN ROBINSON who does a damn good job of explaining Axton and his late 60ts pretty-sounding yet acidic LP – the only real loss being the lyric insert sheet that came with original US LPs – it's not reproduced which is a mistake on an album that relies so heavily on words both hummed and snarled. Still, the Remastered Audio is lovely throughout, so that makes up for the presentation basics. To the music...

 

Axton had been punching out albums since 1964 and his songwriting prowess had not gone unnoticed - Three Dog Night making a No.1 out of "Joy To The World" - while Steppenwolf made a stunner of "The Pusher" - the subject matter of drugs and their destruction being something of a serious bugbear for Axton. In fact, Steppenwolf and their lead vocalist John Kay covered "Snow Blind Friend" off of "My Griffin Is Gone" for their 1970 LP "Steppenwolf 7" - recognizing easily with lyrics like "...did you say you saw your good friend flying low, blinded by the snow, lying on the sidewalk with a misery on his brain...spent it all on comfort for his mind..."

 

Drugs and their devastation were not far from Hoyt's mind at any given moment (as was religion) – take the Simon & Garfunkel quiet prettiness of "Kingswood Manor" which very effectively paints a nightmare picture on an addict interned - "...this jacket is tight, but I feel fine, though they say I've lost my mind...the doctor came, and in his hand, the ticket to the promised land, a trip to paradise, little pills instead of tea, he said he'd come to rescue me from the maddening saddening gloom in the paisley rubber room..."

 

In the lovely "Childhood's End", he sounds so like Fred Neil it's uncanny, while the gorgeous "Way Before The Time Of Towns" was a highlight on the Ace Records compilation "Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" that they put out in July of 2021 to mucho praise (see my in-depth review).

 

Will this one eventually rise out of the ashes and be born anew (like its title)?

 

"My Griffin Is Gone" by Hoyt Axton is the kind of album that means a lot to a lot of people who were lucky enough to stumble on it in the racks of record shops in the spring of 1969. A genuine lost gem then and one you need to get mythical figures on...

A Quiet Place Part II - A Review of the Sequel Film by Mark Barry...

"...Stay Calm..."

A Review of "A Quiet Place Part II"

You don't expect much from sequels, maybe do just as good a job as the first outing and not completely embarrass itself or you in the offering.

But "A Quiet Place Part II" is a properly great follow-up film that manages to combine scare-the-crap-out-of-you thrills and a real sense of humanity in the face of all the teeth-nibbling and slash-arm carnage (largely down to the power of the acting ensemble). The creatures are a stunning creation too and genuinely menacing every time they skit onto screen like gangly scissors men. Throw in the use of sound vs. silence to amp up the tension to 11 on a monitor of 10 and you have one skilfully managed night of tears and screeches.

I openly worship at the altar of all things Emily Blunt (I'd drink her bathwater, and in several British real ale minibars, probably have). She is never less that sensational as the beleaguered mother Evelyn Abbott trying to keep her siblings alive and safe in a landscape of terror at every turn. But even her and Krasinski's tight direction are outdone big time by the two kids - Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe playing Regan and Marcus Abbott. They are truly fabulous throughout, having to mine emotional depths in every single scene that few actors twice their age would be capable of.

But the master stroke is the introduction of the blue-eyed heavily bearded Cillian Murphy as the new man in their lives - a traumatized neighbour you see in flashback as the story returns to Day 1 in small-town USA when the monsters arrived without warning. Murphy is another top-quality presence in a story that needs heart as well as grab-my-hand darling jumps. As anyone who loves him in Peaky Blinders will know, Cillian can infuse a real person into every heart-breaking decision for survival. Gladiator-star Djimon Hounsu also has a small but effective part later on.

Some will say the original was better (and it probably was and had the shock factor too and big cinema prior to Covid-19) - but Writer and Director John Krasinski has nailed it big time for "A Quiet Place Part II". My missus actually clapped come the final credits and you don't say that of too many sequels...

"The Autumn Stone" by SMALL FACES – November 1969 UK 2LP Set of Studio And Live Recordings on Immediate Records (April 1997 UK Castle Communications/Essential Records Expanded Edition Reissue – 2LP Set Plus 3 Bonus Tracks Remastered onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 339 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

 

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £5.95 (Jan 2022 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

 

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"...Yesterday Is Dead...But Not My Memory..."

 

Even 53 years after the event (1969 to 2022), the history of "The Autumn Stone" double-album remains somewhat murky. Recorded in 1968 after the "Ogdens' Nutgone Flake" sessions – Steve Marriott had teamed up with Peter Frampton of The Herd and were busy building Humble Pie while Ronnie Lane would join hips and lips with the vocals of Rod Stewart and the guitar of Ron Wood and continue as the Faces (their initial album in early 1970).

 

So by March 1969, the Small Faces band of old had effectively broken up leaving behind some finished original songs (the title track is beautiful) and tantalizing fragments of another masterpiece in the likes of the fabulous Brass-Funky instrumental "Collibosher" and the driving Northern Soul feel to "Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall" over on Side 4 (another instrumental).  With their big earner gone and needing to follow up the UK No. 1 "Ogdens'..." album from 1968, Immediate Records cobbled this mishmash of a double together for market release in November 1969, by which time Humble Pie already had 2 albums out on the same label.

 

Amidst the odds and sods were formerly stand-alone singles on both Decca and Immediate, some "Ogdens'" cuts, two Tim Hardin covers (their sheer Soulfulness and inventiveness shines through on the fantastic "Red Balloon"), while three of the others were crudely recorded live songs done in City Hall, Newcastle in full-on screaming Beatles mode that would test the patience of even diehard fans (the second of the Tim Hardin covers "If I Were A Carpenter" is jammed into the centre of that 11-minute live Soul-Rock medley that opens Side 3).

 

Complete with crappy artwork and zilch info inside apart from track titles, "The Autumn Stone" has always been a Raggle-Taggle Gypsy-O, Mess Of The Blues, Urge To Splurge 2LP misfit - but I love it to bits. Unreleased in the USA and uncharted in Blighty, technically 'TAS' is referred to as a compilation set and not an album - but that hasn't stopped fans from worshiping at its bedraggled feet. Which brings us to digital and despite its age, I keep coming back to this Essential Records CD Reissue and Remaster of 1997 because of its fantastic blasting audio. Here are the nice boys...

 

UK released April 1997 - "The Autumn Stone" by SMALL FACES on Castle Communications/Essential Records ESMCD 478 (Barcode 5017615847826) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD Plus Three Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (75:37 minutes):

 

1. Here Comes The Nice [Side 1]

2. The Autumn Stone

3. Collibosher

4. All Or Nothing (Live)

5. Red Balloon

6. Lazy Sunday

7. Call It Something Nice [Side 2]

8. I Can't Make It

9. Afterglow Of Your Love

10. Sha La La La Lee

11. The Universal

12. Rollin' Over (Live) [Side 3]

13. If I Were A Carpenter (Live)

14. Every Little Bit Hurts (Live) - Tracks 12, 13 and 14 are described as a Medley

15. My Mind's Eye

16. Tin Soldier

17. Just Passing

18. Itchycoo Park [Side 4]

19. Hey Girl

20. Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall

21. Watcha Gonna Do About It

22. Wham Bam Thank You Mam

Tracks 1 to 22 are the double-album "The Autumn Stone" - released November 1969 in the UK on Immediate Records IMAL 01 IMAL 02 in Stereo (Tracks 12, 13 and 14 recorded live at City Hall in Newcastle). Released in Holland and Germany (but not in the USA) - many copies on the UK market came from these European imports. It would be eventually be released as a 2LP set in Canada in 1973 on Daffodil Records SBAB 16203 using different artwork (this CD reissue follows the original UK artwork).

 

BONUS TRACKS:

23. Donkey Rides, Penny A Glass

24. All Or Nothing (Live)

25. Tin Soldier (Live)

 

The JOHN REED liner notes from February 1997 pump up the 8-page functional booklet as much as info allowed at that time. Here's a rough breakdown. The Marriott/Lane penned Side 1 opener "Here Come The Nice" had turned up on the American "There Are But Four Small Faces" LP so was new to UK fans on vinyl (that same US LP also bore "Itchycoo Park"). "All Or Nothing" (not credited as being a 'live' version on the Autumn Stone LP) with the 3-track live medley that opened Side 3 had all showed on the "In Memoriam" album issued May 1969 in Germany by Immediate in the wake of the band's breakup. "I Can't Make It" and "Just Passing" had been a stand-alone A&B-side British 45-single - while the Ogdens' track "Afterglow Of My Love" uses the single mix and not the album cut (its non-LP B-side "Wham Bam Thank You Man" ends Side 4.

 

With regard to the audio - the sticker on the jewel case announces these are Remastered Recordings and they do leap out you. But as long-time fans will know - there is incongruous dips in the overall sound as tracks leap from 1968 back to 1967 and 1966. But overall, I love the whack that comes off goodies like "Collibosher" and those other unreleased cuts like "Call It Something Nice". For sure you can literally hear the 'unfinished' nature of the new stuff, but like most SF fans I'll take their doodles over someone else’s finished art come what Piccanniny may.

 

We've been promised the Definitive Version of "The Autumn Stone" by the remaining Small Faces Group - something akin to the "Here Come The Nice" 4CD Box set - but I think that promise has been ongoing some five or six years as I type this in early 2022.

 

Still, I'll bosh their collie any day of the week. And I'd love to know just who was that girl on that wall that inspired "Wide Eyed..." Love it...