"Wonderful World, Beautiful People" (USA LP title) aka "Jimmy Cliff" (UK LP title) by JIMMY CLIFF (Part of Hip-O Select's 2005 4CD Remastered Book Set 'Better Days Are Coming: The A&M Years 1969-1971') - A Review by Mark Barry...

USA LP ARTWORK and TITLE

UK LP ARTWORK and TITLE

USA CD Remaster Version of The Album within this 4CD Book Set

Rear Sleeve of the Hip-O Select 4CD Book Set

"…I've Got Many Rivers To Cross...Until I Get Over…"

In the late 60ts and early 70ts - Reggae superstar JIMMY CLIFF was released on A&M Records in the USA and Island and Trojan Records in the UK – with an awful lot of crossover on the tracks between the two countries.

But if you want the best audio for his socially smart and Reggae-Soulful “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”/"Jimmy Cliff" LP (1970 in the USA, 1969 in the UK) – this gorgeous Hip-O Select 4CD Book Set out of the States is the place to locate it (and so much more). Here are the details and the many rivers to cross...

USA released October 2005 - "Better Days Are Coming: The A&M Years 1969-1971" by JIMMY CLIFF on Hip-O Select B0005362-02 (Barcode 602498322994) is a 4CD Book Set - and Disc 1 features the "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" LP (known as "Jimmy Cliff" in the UK) with one Bonus Track and plays out as follows (36:47 minutes):

Side 1:

1. Time Will Tell

2. Many Rivers To Cross

3. Viet Nam

4. I’m Gonna Use What I Got (To Get What I Need)

5. Hard Road To Travel

Side 2:

6. Wonderful World, Beautiful People

7. Sufferin’ In The Land

8. Hello Sunshine

9. My Ancestors

10. That’s The Way Life Goes

11. Come Into My Life

Tracks 1 to 11 are the album "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" released January 1970 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4251 and November 1969 in the UK as “Jimmy Cliff” on Trojan TRLS-16 with the same tracks.

BONUS TRACK:

12. Waterfall

US and UK 7" SINGLES around the album:

“Waterfall” was the non-album B-side of the 7" single "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" released in November 1969 on A&M Records 1146 in the USA. The song “Waterfall” had been released as the A-side of a UK 45 on Island WIP-6039 in late 1969 with “The Reward” as its B-side (no featured on this set).

A&M also issued "Viet Nam" from the album as a 45 in the USA on A&M Records AM 1167 in February 1970 with "Come Into My Life" as its B-side. Trojan Records in the UK issued "Come Into My Life" as the A-side in March 1970 on Trojan TR-7745 with the album cut "Sufferin' In The Land" as its B-side (some European territories like Germany and Italy even gave this release a picture sleeve – as they did the release that preceded it - "Viet Nam").

PACKAGING and AUDIO: 

The packaging is exceptional - a long hardback book with embossed sleeve in what feels like recycled card and paper, pictured and themed CDs, superb US and UK discographies, detailed liner notes - it's beautiful to hold and look at. But the real goods as ever lie in the sound...

GAVIN LURSSEN has remastered the original master tapes at the Mastering Lab and the sound/audio is gorgeous. One of the complaints about reggae CD reissues is that they always sound muffled and compressed compared to the whack of their original vinyl counterparts - and as a lover of old records - that's actually true. One of the reasons for this is that some small independent reggae labels had to reuse tapes for economy, so the originals don't exist - and their reissues use a copy of a copy. But this is A&M/Island Records - so the tapes are still in tact and as evidenced here - in tip-top shape. Lurssen has restored life into these songs and brought out the lovely musicianship on them, excessive hiss levels are kept to a minimum without loss of feel and track after track is a joy to listen to. The clarity of the bass, piano, drums, backing vocals and strings on "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" is just one of many examples - an absolute revelation.

An impressive nine of the eleven tracks are Jimmy Cliff originals – including some stone cold classics as “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”, “Come Into My Life” and the magisterial “Many Rivers To Cross” – bizarrely only ever a B-side on 45 to “The Harder They Come” on Island WIP 6139 in October 1972. The two covers have interesting histories – both being Soul songs from 1968. “I’m Gonna Use What I Got (To Get What I Need)” is a Jimmy Holiday A-side from his days at Minit Records (October 1968 USA 7” single on Minit 32053). Cliff takes a mid-tempo number and ratchets up the tempo with added strings and trombones and those reggae big drums. It cleverly feels like a Reggae message song. With a wickedly good organ groove and backbeat - the pride of roots come shining through in the other cover – “My Ancestors”. It’s a Bob Tubert and Demetriss Tapp song picked up by Lou Rawls in February 1968 on Capitol Records CL 15533 - a song about the singer’s son being as ‘mighty’ as his ‘ancestors’ through bloodline. He kind of rocks it up for "That's The Way It Goes" (not great really) and its easy to see why the chipper and upbeat "Come Into My Life" was picked as a 45 - the kind of crossover Reggae-Soul 7” single radio loved.

To sum up - sure it's expensive and it could have been sequenced to feature more of what we want - but "Better Days Are Coming" is still a peach - a thing of beauty to behold and more importantly to listen too. A lot of it isn’t even Reggae in the traditional sense of the word – more Reggae-Soul – with a positive vibe and message for all to hear.

If you want a cheaper CD variant of "Wonderful World, Beautiful People"/"Jimmy Cliff" - Caroline Records of the UK have issued a November 2015 ‘Expanded Edition’ of "Jimmy Cliff" (the UK title) on Caroline CAROLR026CD (Barcode 600753634790) which has the 11-track LP and a generous 13 extras – rarities – even some foreign language versions.

But for me there’s something about Lurssen’s mastering on the 2005 Hip-O Select 4CD reissue that sends me every time.

Either way - frankly - cross as many rivers as you can to get this set into your life… 

"Looking On" by THE MOVE (2016 Esoteric Recordings 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Show Us Your Lettuce..." 

As someone who's worked a lifetime in record shops - I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually seen a decent-condition Vinyl copy of The Move's third album "Looking On" from either side of the pond. Its like Procol Harum's "Home" (also from 1970) - sank without a trace on release despite its Hard Rock credentials.

Released as the first LP on Fly Records - famously the home of T. Rex, John Kongos and all those 'Twofer' double-albums for Regal Zonophone artists like Procol Harum, Tyrannosaurus Rex and even John Williams - "Looking On" disappeared after its December 1970 release date and has been all but lost to the mists of time ever since. It was belatedly released on Capitol Records in the USA in the spring of 1971 but did bugger all business their either.

Moving forward and away from the "Blackberry Way" Pop-Rock of the April 1968 debut "The Move" and more in keeping with the Rock progression of the "Shazam" album in February of 1970 - the "Looking On" LP was grittier – a far heavier affair - and essentially a new direction for the band. "Looking On" was a deliberate musical-segue into Hard Rock with some Prog leanings - and I'd argue the LP is a bit of a lost gem.

Which brings us to this superb new reissue. Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red of the UK) have whomped MOVE fans with 2016 reissues of "The Move" and "Shazam" in single and multiple-disc 'Deluxe Edition' issues (see separate reviews and list below). Now we get their 3rd platter "Looking On" in a superbly presented 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' boasting a cache of Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions from the band line up that featured Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Rick Price and Bev Bevan (later with ELO). Here are the details...

UK released Friday, 27 May 2016 (3 June 2016 in the USA) - "Looking On" by THE MOVE on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22547 (Barcode 5013929464742) is a 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' with a 2016 Remaster and plays outs as follows:

Disc 1 (47:48 minutes)

1. Looking on

2. Turkish Tram Conductor Blues

3. What?

4. When Alice Came Back To The Farm

5. Open Up Said The World At The Door [Side 2]

6. Brontosaurus

7. Feel Too Good

Tracks 1 to 7 are their 3rd studio album "Looking On" - released December 1970 in the UK on Fly Records FLY 1 and April 1971 in the USA on Capitol Records ST 658. Produced by ROY WOOD and JEFF LYNNE - it didn't chart in either country.

BONUS TRACK:

8. Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice - non-album B-side of "Brontosaurus" released March 1970 in the UK on Regal Zonophone RZ 3026 and in the USA on Deram 1197

Disc 2 (47:06 minutes):

"Looking On" - Outtakes And Rarities

1. The Duke Of Ellington's Lettuce

2. Looking on (Part One - Take 3/Part 2 - Take 12)

3. Brontosaurus (Mono US Radio Promo Edit -

4. Turkish Tram Conductor Blues (Take 5 - Rough Mix)

BBC Sessions - March to July 1970 (All PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

5. She's A Woman

6. Bev Bevan Interview

7. Brontosaurus

8. Falling Forever

9. Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice (Tracks 5 to 9 recorded 23 March 1970)

10. Looking On

11. When Alice Comes Back To The Farm

12. She's A Woman (Tracks 10 to 12 recorded 28 July 1970)

THE MOVE:

ROY WOOD - Oboe, Sitar, Slide Guitar, Cello, Guitar, Bass and All Saxophones

JEFF LYNNE - Guitar, Piano, Vocals Percussion and Drums on "Feel Too Good"

RICK PRICE - Bass

BEV BEVAN - Drums and Percussion

Guests:

DORIS TROY and P.P. ARNOLD - Backing Vocals on "Feel Too Good"

Each of Esoteric's reissues has come in single disc issues (plain jewel case) or - this - card digipak 'Deluxe Editions'. Here you get a chunky four-flap gatefold card sleeve with a 20-page colour booklet in the right pouch with a foldout two-sided poster in the left pouch and two picture CDs. The double-sided foldout POSTER is fab - a collage of black-and-white press clippings on one side with a full-page colour advert for the album on the opposite. Each flap has MOVE memorabilia (there's even photos beneath the see-through CD trays) and the 20-page booklet has in-depth liner notes from noted writer MARK PAYTRESS (author of many books from the period) with thanks to ROB CAIGER. There are trade adverts, reviews of the album and singles and photos of the hairy men themselves.

But the big news is a 2016 '24-Bit Digital Remaster' from original analogue tapes by the experienced Audio Engineer BEN WISEMAN done at Broadlake Studios in Hertfordshire (Tape Transfers done by ROB KEYLOCH at Church Walk Studios in London). The sound on here is HUGE and not without being overly bombastic for the sake of it. I think the word I'm looking for is 'muscle' - this CD sounds powerful - and as many tracks like "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" rock out - the benefit is very much 'in your face' and for all the right reasons.

The album's hard-rocking credentials are set in motion with Roy Wood's "Looking On" - a great combo of Move-melody bolstered up some serious riffage - Wood's vocals teasing along with the guitar. The audio on this sucker is huge and I'd say its improved over my 2008 Salvo edition. One of my fave raves on the "Looking On" album is the take-no-prisoners Hard Rock of "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues". Written by Bev Bevan - it’s THE MOVE gone all riffage-mad - the spirit of Leslie West's MOUNTAIN inhabiting both Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne as they hammer down on those heavy guitars. But that's trumped. You can literally feel The Electric Light Orchestra emerging from Jeff Lynne’s "What?" track - gorgeous string arrangements and that strange ELO melody thing that Lynne gets whenever he's at the helm of a song. I love “What?” - both the vocals and guitars treated so that they warble slightly for effect - it's brilliant stuff. Roy Wood ends Side 1 with the slide guitar and ELO cello of a rocker - "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm" - his playing on here is just brilliant and worthy of Juicy Lucy's Glenn Ross-Campbell ("Who Do You Love?"). Fly Records UK tried a 45 in September 1970 featuring Wood's "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm" with Lynne's fab "What?" on the B-side (Fly Records BUG 2) - but no one took interest in this superb double.

Side 2 begins with near eight-minute opus that is Jeff Lynne's "Open Up Said The World At The Door" - an inventive Prog Rock piece that sees Roy Wood use Sitar, Obie and just about any other instrument lying around the studio. The vocal layers are so forthcoming ELO and it even manages some impressive boogie-woogie piano stretches throughout its ambitious duration. Regal Zonophone UK had tried Roy Wood's heavy heavy "Brontosaurus" as a UK 45 as far back as March 1970 (Regal Zonophone RZ 3026) and despite its slightly odd nature was rewarded with a No. 7 chart position. It's non-album B-side "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" turns up as a Bonus Track on Disc 1 - and for me was always better than the A-side (sounds awesome too). The album proper ends with Roy Wood's "Feel Too Good" - almost ten minutes of THE MOVE getting Funky-Piano-Rock with a bank of different guitars and the Remaster punching out Rick Price's Bass lines and Bev Bevan's fantastic drumming. Both Apple's Doris Troy and Immediate's P.P. Arnold are credited as providing girly backing vocals but it's hard to hear them with all that's going on. In fact by the time it gets to the "Feel Too Good" vocals and the silly 'show us your lettuce' old geezer talk - the song has probably overstayed its welcome if I'm truthful - but man does the Remaster make it 'rawk'...

For fans Disc 2 represents something worth getting excited about - a bunch of Previously Unreleased BBC Sessions sat alongside three of the rarities that turned up on the December 2008 ‘Salvo’ CD reissue of "Looking On". I just love the Beach Boys Acapella Vocals of "The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce" - the silly Gardener portion of "Feel Too Good" - it only lasts for 1:29 minutes complete with studio dialogue lead in but it's just such great fun. Takes 3 and 12 of "Looking On" were issued as two separate outtakes on the 2008 Salvo CD reissue - here they've been segued into one nine-minute plus version. It sounds great too - much more guitar soloing while the piano tries to get a look in. I've never seen the 'Mono US Radio Promo Edit' of "Brontosaurus" on CD but it's worth having for collectors. Far better is the hard-rocking "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" - a very cool alternate. "...Here on Top Of The Pops we move back onto the Progressive Rock bit with THE MOVE..." the announcer gets very excited about the new addition to band - ex Idle Race singer Jeff Lynne - as he lays into a great cover of The Beatles "She's A Woman".

The audio is good rather than being great it has to be said - but the power of the band is there for all to hear. We get a short interview with Bev Bevan talking about Carl Wayne's departure and Jeff Lynne's introduction and the new 'heavy' direction of the band. "Falling Forever" comes off so well - very cool vocals and a sort of Byrds feel to the melody. The March 1970 session ends with the B-side "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" - a fantastically good re-working of the song but unfortunately with that 'buried back in the mix' sound to the whole recording. The July 1970 session has roughly the same sound and features a three-minute cut of the 'heavy' "Looking On" while the slide of "Alice" is great - Wood tearing it up and clearly listening to too much Juicy Lucy. If anything the BBC stuff only goes to show what an exciting proposition The Move was at that time - alive with new material and an exciting new direction...(the second interview talks of ELO's genesis)...

THE MOVE would manage one more album - 1971's excellent and witty "Message From The Country" which EMI/Harvest Remastered into an Expanded Edition in 2005 (see separate review). They would of course then morph into THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA or E.L.O. as they're now more commonly known and The Travelling Wilburys for Jeff Lynne with some of his lifelong musical heroes.

But I'd urge you to go back - way back - back to the days of "Brontosaurus" and his best buddy "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" - back to a time when 39 schillings and eleven old pence could procure you this tasty platter. THE MOVE had a B-side called "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice". With this superb reissue I think it has...

PS: UK released 29 April 2016 – THE MOVE CD Editions by Esoteric Recordings are:

1. The Move - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2537 (Barcode 5013929463745)

    The Move - 3CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32536 (Barcode 5013929463646)

2. Something Else From The Move (June 1968 EP Expanded) - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2546 (Barcode 5013929464643)

3. Shazam - 1CD 'Standard Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2539 (Barcode 5013929463943)

    Shazam - 3CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22538 (Barcode 5013929463844)

4. Looking in - 2CD 'Deluxe Edition' on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 22547 (Barcode 5013929464742)

"Loaded" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (2015 Atlantic/Rhino 'Single CD' Expanded Edition Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...It Was Alright..."

*** This Review Is For The 2015 Single-CD Remastered Version of 1970's "Loaded" ***

Lou Reed described the Velvets as essentially being a small New York 'Rock 'n' Roll' band - a natty little Pop Group awash with three-minute ditties – peelable bananas and tunes aplenty - swimming ever upwards in the black heroin-addled veins of their streetwise hearts.

I dare say those subjected to their 60ts sonic assaults (especially live) might have taken umbrage with the Louster's 'rounded off' description of The Velvet Underground as a 'Rock 'n' Roll' band - but I think I know what he was getting at. For their 3rd platter - "Loaded" - it's as if the band was trying to get back to 'songs' instead of frenzied workouts with lights and feedback – trying to form a cohesive work that would leave that old 'shock and awe' stuff firmly behind them. Only "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" goes to 7:29 minutes - and excepting "New Age" and the 'Full Length' versions of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" - the rest keep it hovering around three minutes. And it's a wickedly good record for such disciplines. For me 1970's "Loaded" has always been a more mature album - Lou Reed's songwriting moving on - getting better - his obvious Solo career beckoning.

The last time I bought "Loaded" on CD it was the February 1997 Rhino 2CD set called 'Fully Loaded' with Bill Inglot Remasters. That beauty came in a sliding card slipcase and an 'Alternate Version' of the entire album on Disc 2 along with a further 13 Outtakes across both discs.

This 2015 single-CD reissue of "Loaded" keeps the 10-track album, four of those 1997 Bonus Tracks and adds on a new 2015 Remaster from KEVIN REEVES – a vastly experienced Audio Engineer who has done huge numbers of reissues for the Universal umbrella of labels. This CD sounds better and warmer than my previous issue – fabulous clarity on key album tracks like "Cool It Down" and "Who Loves the Sun". Here are the finite details...

UK released Friday 30 October 2015 (November 2015 in the USA) - "Loaded" by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND on Atlantic/Rhino 081227952426 (Barcode 081227952426) offers the 10-track 1970 LP with four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (55:30 minutes):

1. Who Loves The Sun

2. Sweet Jane (Full-Length Version - 4:06 minutes)

3. Rock & Roll (Full-Length Version - 4:43 minutes)

4. Cool It Down

5. New Age

6. Head Held High [Side 2]

7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill

8. I Found A Reason

9. Train Round The Bend

10. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

Tracks 1 to 10 are their 3rd studio album "Loaded" - released November 1970 in the USA on Cotillion SD 9034 and April 1971 in the UK on Atlantic 2400 111. Produced by GEOFFREY HASLAM, SHEL KAGAN and THE VELET UNDERGROUND – the album didn’t chart in either country.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. I'm Sticking With You

12. Ocean

13. I Love You

14. Ride Into The Sun

NOTES: "I'm Sticking With You" mixed by Kevin Reeves in June 2015, "Ocean", "I Love You" and "Ride Into The Sun" mixed by BILL INGLOT in March/April 1994

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND was:

LOU REED - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Piano and Harmonica

STERLING MORRISON - Lead and Rhythm Guitar

DOUG YOUL - Vocals, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Piano, Bass and Drums

MAUREEN "Mo" TUCKER - Drums (Vocals on the Bonus Track "I'm Sticking with You")

GUESTS:

TOMMY CASTANARO - Drums on "Cool It Down" and Head Held High"

BILL YULE - Drums On "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" and "Ocean"

ADRIAN BARBER - Drums on "Who Loves The Sun"

ADRIAN BARBER and /or BILL YULE - Drums on "Train Round The Bend"

The 12-page booklet features pictures of Atlantic Tape Boxes and Production Sheets, a Rolling Stone magazine review from the 24 December 1970 issue, reissue and remaster credits - but no new liner notes. The booklet looks nice but the total absence of any informative liner notes sort of leaves the reissue and the listener stranded - some history of what happened would have added so much. But what you do get is the new KEVIN REEVES Remaster (with Production Assistance from BILL INGLOT who did the 1997 version) and it Rocks. There is wonderful clarity on offer here...

Given the lack of initial public reaction to the LP - it's hardly surprising that Cotillion belatedly tried a US 45 in March 1971 using the sexily hooky opening track "Who Loves The Sun" with the full seven-minute glory of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" on the flipside (Cotillion 45-44107). But it aroused little interest. Atlantic in the UK tried too in April 1971 with "Who Loves The Sun" plopping "Sweet Jane" onto the B-side (Atlantic 2091 008) - but again with no chart joy (this English 7" single is a very hard-to-find vinyl item in Blighty nowadays). For some reason I always think of the brilliant "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" as a pair - a double-whammy of Lou Reed and VU tunes brimming with street smarts, tales of Jeannie and her radio overseen by an admiring Lou - happy that he's in a 'Rock & Roll Band'. Reed would open his fantastic "Rock & Roll Animal" live set with "Sweet Jane" - Hunter and Ronson tearing it on the guitars. And I love that "hey protest kids" lyric. What a great set of tunes these are.

For me "Cool It Down" has always been one of the album's hidden nuggets - an ubercool double vocal where Lou sings that he's "...looking for Miss Linda Lee..." and her naughty wares. The languid "New Age" hankers back to the dead-inside drugs feel of their debut album. The remaster makes you feel those "...you're over the hill right now and you're looking for love..." lyrics and that strangely beautiful melody - his voice that shouldn't work but does. Side 2 opens with the grunge anger of "Head Up High" and is followed by "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" where The Velvet Underground kind of go Rockabilly in their own unique 'yo-de-lay-de-ho' way. There is noticeable hiss at the beginning of the almost Beach Boys "I Found A Reason" - but it settles down when the band go into those multi-layered vocal coos. It's the kind of "life's lonely highways" song that seems so simple at first but over time seeps into your heart. Treated guitar ushers in "Train Round The Bend" where Lou is sick of trees in the country and wants to get back to the city. The remaster lifts this poisonous little groove right up - sexy and full. The album bows out with "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" - a song that feels epic only twenty seconds into it. Lou sings of Jimmy Brown who "...ain't got nuthin' at all..." - empathising with broken men and women who walk with their heads down - weight of the world on their shoulders...

The nursery ditty sounding "I'm Sticking With You" sees Maureen "Mo" Tucker take lead vocals - duetting with Lou in the centre passages. Genius move on the part of this reissue is to keep the superlative “Ocean” as one of the Bonus Tracks – originally mixed by Rhino’s Audio Engineers Bill Inglot and John Strother. Reed breaks down into giggles on the quirky "I Love You" while "Ride Into The Sun" feels huge with that floating church organ and those treated vocals. Very cool stuff indeed - a little like the band really.

"...You could just go out and dance to the Rock 'n' Roll station..." - Lou Reed sang 46 years ago. I still feel that affection too and especially towards this forgotten peach of an album...

"Twelve Dreams Of. Dr. Sardonicus" by SPIRIT (1996 and 2009 Epic/Legacy 'Expanded Edition' CD - Vic Anesini Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Turns Me On Man..." 

Sometimes you wonder why a genuine masterpiece album isn't raved about from on high? Overlooked, passed by and forgotten - and it shouldn’t be...

In June 2016 - Los Angeles band SPIRIT are making the news for their alleged plagiarism court case with Led Zeppelin over the opening acoustic guitar refrain for "Stairway To Heaven" which Spirit survivors feel the Zepsters lifted from their song "Taurus" off their June 1968 self-titled album - "Spirit". Personally I'd rather have punters focus on the good Doctor Sardonicus - their sophisticated 3rd platter from late 1970. So here are the dreamlike details...

UK released November 1996 (reissued October 2009) - "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" by SPIRIT on Epic/Legacy 485173 2 (Barcode 5099748517326) features the 12-track 1970 album Remastered onto CD with Four Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (54:20 minutes):

1. Prelude - Nothin' To Hide
2. Nature's Way
3. Animal Zoo
4. Love Has Found A Way
5. Why Can't I Be Free
6. Mr. Skin
7. Space Child [Side 2]
8. When I Touch You
9. Street Worm
10. Life Has Just Begun
11. Morning Will Come
12. Soldier
Tracks 1 to 12 are their 3rd studio album "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus" - released November 1970 in the USA on Epic E 30267 and February 1971 in the UK on Epic S EPC 64191. Produced by DAVID BRIGGS - the album peaked at No. 63 on the USA Pop LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).

Tracks 1, 2, 5, 10, 11 and 12 written by RANDY CALIFORNIA (Lead Guitars & Vocals) - Tracks 3, 6, 8 and 9 written by JAY FERGUSON (Lead Vocals & Percussion) - Track 7 written by JOHN LOCKE (Keyboards) - Track 4 co-written between JAY FERGUSON and JOHN LOCKE. The other band members were MARK ANDES on Bass and Vocals with ED CASSIDY on Drums and Percussion.

BONUS TRACKS:
13. Rougher Road - Previously Unreleased, Recorded 1970, Randy California song
14. Animal Zoo (Mono Single Mix) - July 1970 USA 7" single on Epic 5-10648, A-side
15. Morning Will Come - Previously Unreleased, Recorded 1970, Randy California song
16. Red Light Roll On - July 1970 USA 7" single on Epic 5-10648, Non-Album B-side to "Animal Zoo"
NOTES: Tracks 1 to 12 are STEREO - Tracks 13 to 16 in MONO

The 12-page booklet features new liner notes by Randy California that gives a track-by-track description of the song and its creation - there are several black and white promo photos of the group - Biogs on each original member of the band (the five listed above) - discussion of the famous 'distorted faces' artwork/photograph and the usual reissue credits with the whole effort dedicated to the original LP producer DAVID BRIGGS who did so much to get the sounds they wanted on different tracks. Produced for CD by BOB IRWIN - VIC ANESINI carried out the Remaster at Sony Studios in New York. He's a name I've sung the praises of before. Anesini has handled very prestigious SONY catalogue – Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, Nilsson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Paul Simon, Mountain and The Jayhawks to name but a few. I seek out his work because it’s the best to my ears. His work here is fabulous. I had the 1990 Mobile Fidelity CD for years and audio-wise they're as good as each other with the Epic/Legacy issue being a helluva lot cheaper and easier to acquire. Let's get to the Californian music...

"Prelude - Nothin' To Hide" is a wickedly good opener showcasing the Bluesy slide guitar of Randy California arising out of an Acoustic beginning. Its 3:43 minutes is full of clever chords, vocal layering and that unexpected slide break (funky) - it's lyrics about being "married to the same bride" sounding racy without knowing why. The acoustic balladry of "Nature's Way" comes as a melodic calmer after all the preceding speaker-to-speaker riffage. "Nature's Way" is a short but gorgeous song and one I return to again and again. It's followed by the album's lead off single "Animal Zoo" - the 7" Mono Single Mix of which is a Bonus Track. You can hear why Epic picked it's upbeat rhythms as an album taster - that hooky beat, the Bass break and Keyboard interlude making it more musically interesting that most anything else on the scene at the time. And as they sing "...much too fat...and a little too long..." during the sound-effect fade out in their best Todd Rundgren mad hatter voices - it had a 'Spirit' sound.

"Love Has Found A Way" floats in with speeded up guitar sounds floating over clever melodic vocal lines - sort of Frank Zappa with a melody at its vibe core. The one-minute and acoustic "Why Can't I Be Free" feels like a beautiful plea for peace of mind as it swirls around in a haze of marijuana. But then we get Side 1's other masterpiece - the brill "Mr. Skin" - it's fantastic choppy beat benefitting from Brass Arrangements done by David Blumberg. Epic in Britain gave it a belated 7" single release in February 1973 with "Nature's Way" on the B-side (Epic S EPC 7082).

Side 2 opens with probably my fave instrumental by them – the trippy brilliance of “Space Child” – a piano floater with superb sound scapes and ideas. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but my Mobile Fidelity CD played the track to 3:44 minutes while it’s always been 3:25 minutes on this Epic CD? We then get wickedly good speaker-to-speaker guitar in the driving "When I Touch You" - a Jay Ferguson song that already has Jo Jo Gunne in it - the band he would form after Spirit with Mark Andes and his brother Matthew. "Street Worm" could easily be "Stand Up" or "Benefit" Jethro Tull - a very catchy Guitar/Piano duo back up Ferguson's wailing about 'not making any deal' with the man. Things go seriously melodic with the beautifully produced "Life Has Just Begun" - an acoustic builder where all their voices are featured to great effect (wonderful remaster). The album goes into its only Rock 'n' Roll boogie in the shape of "Morning Will Come" (lyrics from it title this review) cleverly offset by the faded-in Elton John-type piano of "Soldier" - a serious song giving huge power by the pipe organ Producer David Briggs recorded for the finisher. It rounds off an album that just grows and grows with each listen...

I had expected the Bonus Tracks to be throwaway - but if anything the Previously Unreleased Byrds-sounding "Rougher Road" is a bit of a gem. The single mix of "Animal Zoo" has a visceral punch in Mono - not so sure about the Alternate Mono Mix of "Morning Will Come" which I think loses its power compared to the finished Stereo LP cut. The 'tapes rolling - this is Take No. 1' dialogue at the beginning of the non-album B-side "Red Light Roll On" only adds to its excellence (shame there appears to be no Stereo variant of this wicked groover).

Mid 2016 and there's a variant of SPIRIT is still kicking around today - but many will cast their hearts back 46 years to this period album - "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus". 

Strange, melodic, rocking, trippy, socially contemporary and so much more - the sum of all its crazy and disparate parts working together as a one very cool and cohesive whole. 

As we used to say in the schoolyard when we were being terminally hip - I dig it 'man'...

"Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe" by THE DOORS (Remastered Inside The 1999 Rhino 7CD Cube-Sized Box Set "The Complete Studio Recordings") - A Review by Mark Barry...

or 

"...Spy In The House Of Love..." 

Back when Rhino were amongst the best reissue labels in the world (with access to unlimited primo material from the prestigious WEA umbrella of labels) – they regularly produced fabulous Box Sets like “The Complete Studio Recordings” by THE DOORS. Their six studio albums from 1966 to 1971 plus one filled-out disc of 'Essential Rarities' – all of them in meticulously reproduced Mini LP Sleeves.

But while the explosive and hugely influential self-titled debut album "The Doors" along with winners like October 1967's "Strange Days" and July 1969's "Soft Parade" have always gathered the plaudits – for me – my poison has always been their cool Seventies output - especially the first two of the decade – February 1970's "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Café" and April 1971's "L.A. Woman". 

Often shortened to just "Morrison Hotel" – The DOORS' first LP of the new Hard Rock decade was an accomplished blast – a band renewed and ready to take on all-comers. Opening with the fantastic Rock-Blues of "Roadhouse Blues" and working its way to the hooky "Peace Frog" and on the very-Doors sound of "Maggie McGill" – I've always felt it's been overlooked in favour of their more famous predecessors. Let's get to 'the spies in the house of love'…

You can buy the "Morrison/Hard Rock Cafe" album as a March 2007 Rhino single-disc 'Expanded Edition' with 10 Bonus Tracks fro less than six quid – but my preferred tipple is part of a pricier box set that keeps it simple. USA released November 1999 – "Morrison Hotel" the 11-track album is Disc 5 in "The Complete Studio Recordings" Box Set by THE DOORS on Rhino 62434-2 (Barcode 075596243421). This beautifully presented reissue is a 5½ x 5½-inch CUBE BOX with a flip-ribboned-lid (the artwork is a collage of Elektra records album sleeves). Inside are 8 slots – one for the sumptuous booklet and 7 albums in oversized 5½” card repro sleeves (one of which is a Rarities set). The STEREO mixes have been used for all six Studio albums and "Morrison Hotel" plays out as follows (37:24 minutes):

Side 1 'Hard Rock Café':

1. Roadhouse Blues

2. Waiting For The Sun

3. You Make Me Real

4. Peace Frog

5. Blue Sunday

6. Ship Of Fools

Side 2 'Morrison Hotel':

7. Land Ho!

8. The Spy

9. Queen Of The Highway

10. Indian Summer

11. Maggie M’Gill

Tracks 1 to 11 are their 5th studio album "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Café" - released 12 February 1970 in the USA on Elektra EKS 75007 (April 1970 in the UK with the same catalogue number). Produced by PAUL A. ROTHCHILD – it peaked at No. 4 in the USA and No. 12 in the UK.

This box set hits you on two fronts – and in my book – the two that matter – sound and presentation. Housed in individual slots  - the attention to detail on the Repro Card sleeves is just superb. The CDs for 1 to 3 have Brown Elektra Records labels, 4 and 5 have Red and 6 is the Butterfly variant as per the 1967 to 1971 vinyl albums. "Strange Days", "The Soft Parade" and "Morrison Hotel" have their Inner Bags repro’d with “The Doors” and “Waiting For The Sun” all with Elektra Records Label Bags (and gatefolds where applicable). And of course there’s the beautiful die-cut sleeve of “L.A. Woman” with its plastic and inner yellow bag (very tasty indeed). The Essential Rarities Disc also sports a gatefold card sleeve. The properly chunky and beautifully laid-out booklet is over 60-pages long with essays on each album (time-lined), lyrics to all at the rear and a plethora of period photos and memorabilia peppering the text throughout (liner notes by DAVE DiMARTINO). It’s a fabulous read. And with regard to "Morrison Hotel..." there’s gorgeous out-take photographs by Henry Diltz of the album cover – colour snaps both inside and outside of the 'Hard Rock Café' on East 5th Street, Los Angeles that was featured on the sleeve (the worldwide chain of restaurants filled with music memorabilia took their name from this album).

But all of this is nothing to the AUDIO… Remastered from the original analogue 2-track master tapes to 96K/24-bit digital by BRUCE BOTNIK and BERNIE GRUNDMAN at Bernie Grundman Studios in California in August 1999 – the sound quality is mindblowingly good (Bruce Botnik was the original engineer). Sure there’s been other remasters since and even fatter boxes – but for me – the audio detail presented here has never been surpassed. The only obvious shame is the absence of the rare MONO mixes on 1 to 3 – especially on the stunning debut where the differences are acute (many fans prefer the MONO). But in my book that doesn’t take away from the superlative warmth and presence these remasters have.

Side 1 of the album is called 'Hard Rock Café' and opens with a bona-fide rocking winner – the barroom swagger of "Roadhouse Blues" – a 12-bar tune so good that Status Quo covered it for their "Piledriver" album on Vertigo in late 1972. We return to 60ts weird for "Waiting For The Sun" – a cleverly paced mid-tempo ramble with a Rock riff pumping up the chorus (Robby Kreiger playing up a storm on the guitar). Back to fights in saloons with the barrelhouse piano boogie of "You Make Me Real" - Jim growling out the song title while the band lets rip. But then we get the real deal - a truly fantastic rocker in the shape of the short but brilliant "Peace Frog". You would think with lyrics like "...Blood on the streets runs a river of sadness..." and Jim getting all prophet during the spoken bridge - that the tune is all doom and gloom - but for something so down - it's impossibly poppy and 'so' Doors. The only annoying this is the dead-stop ending that's crudely done on CD but segues into the lovely "Blue Sunday" on the LP. The audio on both of these tracks is sensational. The Side 1 finisher "Ship Of Fools" is another Audio winner - the bass, guitar and organ - all crystal clear and full of presence.

Side 2 opens with a sea-shanty rocker in the shape of "Land Ho!" - I used to dismiss this track but now I love it - catchy as a Californian suntan. "Queen Of The Highway" tells us "...she was a princess...he was a monster...black dressed in leather..." - a chugger with a caustic lyric at its poisonous centre (will things work out for the most beautiful people in the world). Based on the 1954 novel by Anais Nin "Spy In The House Of Love" - Morrison shortens it to "The Spy" - a wicked groove allied with his literary fixations. The album’s most trippy track "Indian Summer" wafts into existence - yet just when you think you have the measure of its floating way - the melody just elevates into something special with Krieger picking away as Jim sings "I love you" - and you can't help but think he means it. It ends on the very-Doors "Maggie M'Gill" where they sound like an angrier Dylan circa "Blonde On Blonde" where Jim roars "...people down there really like to get it on!". If you do buy the box set - Track 3 of the 73-minute 'Essential Rarities' disc offers up a live version of “Roadhouse Blues” recorded at Madison Square Gardens in New York. Superb...

Despite being deleted pretty quickly – "The Complete Studio Recordings" was one of those Box Sets you saw cropping up all of the time. But whilst common once – in 2016 it’s not so much any more - with some dealers trying to procure over £200 for a sealed copy. You can still nail it for under £50 in certain places - and if you can't afford that (you're getting their whole catalogue remember) - then just go for the 2007 'Expanded Edition' single-disc variant that can be procured from many online sellers for less than a fiver (including P&P).

"...I'm a spy in the house of love..." - Jim Morrison sang on "The Spy" and "...I've been singing the Blues ever since the world began..." on "Maggie M'Gill" - like fate was already hanging over him - passing through - not staying - just observing before he moved on to something better.

Impossibly cool and still brilliant - "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe" by The Doors needs to be in your home in any incarnation...