"Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology" by TIM BUCKLEY (2001 Elektra/Rhino 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Song To The Siren..."

This Anthology contains tracks from the "Lorca" and "Starsailor" LPs released in 1970

Blessed with an angelic ring-them-bells voice that would literally make women swoon and Male Sopranos nervous - Tim Buckley's artistry has nonetheless always been a strange thing in collecting circles. Despite his stunning set of pipes and beautiful song arrangements - I've seen this superlative Rhino 2CD Anthology fall as low as 75p on some online sites – while at the same time his original British sixties vinyl albums easily command fifty, sixty, seventy pounds – especially masterpieces like "Happy Sad" on orange-Elektra and "Starsailor" on Straight Records. Cheap or no - I'd like to argue that this 2CD star-in-a-reasonably-priced-car is genuinely essential listening you need in your man cave. Here are the Hellos and Goodbyes...

UK and Europe released 31 March 2001 (April 2001 in the USA) – "Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology" by TIM BUCKLEY on Elektra/Rhino 8122-76722-2 (Barcode 081227672225) is a 33-Track 2CD Set in a Card Slipcase and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (77:21 minutes):

1. Wings

2. She Is

3. Song Slowly Song

4. It Happens Every Time

5. Aren’t You The Girl

Tracks 1 to 5 from his debut album "Tim Buckley" – released October 1966 in the USA (December 1966 in the UK) on Elektra Records EK-4040 (Mono) and Elektra EKS-74040 (Stereo) - same LP catalogue numbers for both countries. The STEREO MIX is used.

6. Pleasant Street

7. Hallucinations

8. No Man Can Find The War

9. Once I Was

10. Morning Glory

11. Goodbye And Hello

Tracks 6 to 11 from his 2nd studio album "Goodbye And Hello" – released September 1967 (December 1967 in the UK) in the USA on Elektra EKL-318 (Mono) and Elektra EKS-7318 (Stereo) - same LP catalogue numbers for both countries. Reissue copies (about October/November 1967) have the catalogue number Elektra EKS-74028. The STEREO MIX is used.

12. Buzzin' Fly

13. Strange Feelin'

14. Sing A Song For You

Tracks 12 to 14 are from his 3rd studio LP "Happy Sad" – released March 1969 in the USA and UK on Elektra Records EKS-74045 (Stereo only).

15. Phantasmagoria In Two (Live)

16. I've Been Out Walking (Live)

17. Troubadour (Live)

Tracks 15 to 17 recorded Live in London, England on 7 October 1968 – finally released June 1990 in the UK as "Dream Letter/Live In London 1968" on Demon DFIEND 200 (2LPs) and DFIENDCD 200 (2CDs) and in the USA on Bizarre/Straight/Rhino R2 70361 (Stereo).

Disc 2 (73:27 minutes):

1. Happy Time

2. Chase The Blues Away

3. I Must Have Been

4. The River

5. So Lonely

6. Blue Melody

Tracks 1 to 6 are from his 4th studio album "Blue Afternoon" – released November 1969 in the USA and UK on Straight STS-1060 (Stereo) - reissued January 1970 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS-1842.

7. I Had A Talk With My Woman (Live)

Track 7 from his 5th album "Lorca" – released October 1970 in the USA on Elektra EKS-74074 (Stereo) and in the UK on Elektra 2410 005 (Stereo)

8. Moulin Rouge

9. Song To The Siren

10. Monterey

Tracks 8 to 10 from his 6th album "Starsailor" – released November 1970 in the USA (January 1971 in the UK) on Straight STS 1060 (Stereo) – reissued July 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS-1881.

11. Sweet Surrender

12. Hong Kong Bar

13. Make It Right

Tracks 11 to 13 from his 7th album "Greetings From L.A." – released August 1972 in the USA on Straight/Warner Brothers BS-2631 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46176.

14. Sally Go 'Round The Roses

Track 14 from his 8th album "Sefronia" – released September 1973 in the USA on Discreet MS-2157 and May 1974 in the UK on Discreet K 49201.

15. Who Could Deny You

Track 15 from his 9th and final album "Look At The Fool" – released November 1974 in the USA on Discreet DS 2201 and in the UK on Discreet K 59204.

16. Song To The Siren (From 'The Monkees TV Show' - Introduced by Mickey Dolenz)

Recorded live on set in November 1967 - it features Tim Buckley on Vocals and 12-String Guitar and is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED.

"Morning Glory" is housed in a fetching card slipcase (dig that Velvet Underground & Nico advert on the wall behind him) that houses a three-way foldout card digipak within with a 32-page oversized booklet in one of its flaps. JAMES AUSTIN does the 'foreword' that's followed by comprehensive liner notes from BARRY ALFONSO and Lead Guitarist on Buckley's first few albums LEE UNDERWOOD. There's track-by-track annotation, the 10 LPs from "Tim Buckley" in October 1966 through to the posthumous "Dream Letter/Live In London 1968" 2LP set in June 1990 are pictured too. But the best news is the Audio that after years of crappy 80s CDs is fab across the board. Long-time engineer associates with Rhino DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT have handled the transfers and remasters and done a wonderful job. It's thrilling after all these years to hear gems like "Once I Was" and "Buzzin' Fly" sound this good. Sure there's hiss on some tracks but the music is alive and clear and tracks like "Happy Time" and the ethereally atmospheric "Song To The Siren" make the hairs on the back on my neck stand up.

As you can see from the detailed track list above – Disc 1 concentrates on 1966 to 1968 – his first three albums "Tim Buckley", "Goodbye And Hello" and "Happy Sad" encompassing the fantastic Demon Records 2LP reissue "Dream Letter" (Live 1968 recordings finally released in 1990). You can chart his journey from straight-up Folky on the lovely "Wings" through the Harpsichord 60ts Pop of "Pleasant Street" on to his exploration of vocals and jazz rhythms on "Buzzin' Fly" and "Strange Feelin'". Buckley's 12-String Guitar and Lee Underwood's Lead Electric underpin the mournful "Chase The Blues" (a little hiss on this one) while the duo appear again on the beautiful live cut "I Had A Talk With My Woman" recorded at the Troubadour in West Hollywood in September 1969 for the "Lorca" album. I can only imagine what it must have been like for that audience to hear this extraordinary vocal come out of that microphone – "I Had A Talk With My Woman" is showcase - amazing stuff.

It's a damn shame that only 3 tracks turn up from the ever-elusive "Starsailor" LP - but at least the cod-French "Moulin Rouge", the beautiful "Song To The Siren" and the slightly Zappa-esque "Monterey" all sound great – the remaster really lifting them. Having said that only 1 track from "Lorca" and "Look At The Fool" isn't enough. I would have liked his covers of Fred Neil's "Dolphins" and Tom Waits' "Martha" from 1973's "Sefronia" on here too as well as the Soulful title track "Look At The Fool" – all songs that still showed his magic at a time of drugs and problems. And the "Forever Changing..." 1999 Box Set covering the history of Elektra Records uncovered the magnificent 1967 outtake "Wayfaring Stranger" - the set is a little less by their absences. By way of compensation there's a previously unreleased solo acoustic take of  "Song To The Siren" introduced by Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees. It's pure Buckley magic and at 3:18 minutes – a warm and musically fitting way to end this exceptional retrospective.

As I replay the oh-so-pretty "Morning Glory" and he sings "...tell me stories...I call to the hobo..." – I'm awash with admiration – moved too.

Tim Buckley was a musical genius, a mercurial talent and a songsmith you need in your home. This is the one to buy...

"Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings" by TONY JOE WHITE (September 2006 Rhino Handmade 4CD Box Set Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

“…Funky Fingers…”

Features the album "Tony Joe" from 1970

Born in 1943 Louisiana as the seventh son (literally) in the White Family and reared on a weekly diet of Gospel and Church music – one fateful day Daddy White brought home a Lightnin’ Hopkins album and the young Tony Joe was solid gone. Cut to the Union Chapel in Islington, London in 2014 and that young boy now walks on stage with an electric guitar and a voice that rattles a church to its core as he simply says - “Evening y’all!” Minutes later as he launches into his one-man Soul Francisco vibe – his loud boogie feels like the beginning of JJ Cale morphing into a one-man ZZ Top. The effect as you can imagine is quite awesome… But then amongst certain circles (especially within the industry) – Tony Joe White has always been a little bit special in the Mojo stakes…

“Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings” was put out Stateside in September 2006 by Rhino Handmade on RHM2 7731 (Barcode 603497773121) and across 4 CDs and 83 tracks - offers three full albums, the A&B’s of 10 x US 7” singles (many non-album) and a whopping 41 Previously Unreleased. There are a lot of details to get through - so here are the dangerously well endowed Sheriff’s Daughters and Dusty Marshmallows…

Disc 1 (75:37 minutes):

1. Willie And Laura Mae Jones

2. Soul Francisco

3. Aspen Colorado

4. Whompt Out On You

5. Don’t Steal My Love

6. Pork Salad Annie

7. Who’s Making Love [Side 2]

8. Scratch My Back

9. Little Green Apples

10. Wichita Lineman

11. The Look Of Love

Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut album “Black And White” released 1969 in the USA on Monument Records SLP 18114 (Stereo) and Monument LMO 5027 (Mono) and SMO 5027 (Stereo) – Stereo Mix Used

12. Willie And Laura Mae Jones (Alternate Version)

13. I Protest

14. A Man Can Only Stand Just So Much Pain (13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of a 1969 US 7” single on Monument 1070)

15. Toil & Trouble (Early Version)

16. Georgia Pines (A-side of his 1968 debut USA 7” single on Monument 1003, Produced by Ray Stevens)

17. It’s Not What You Got

18. Prison Song

19. Hung up On You

20. Ten More Miles To Louisiana (B-side to “Georgia Pines”, see 16)

21. Let The Party Roll On

22. Watching The Trains Go By (Alternate Version)

23. Georgia Pines (Alternate Version)

24. Baby Please Don’t Go

Tracks 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24 are Previously Unreleased

Disc 2 (78:30 minutes):

1. Elements And Things

2. Roosevelt And Ira Lee (Night Of The Mossacin)

3. Woodpecker

4. Rainy Night In Georgia

5. For Le Ann

6. Old Man Willis [Side 2]

7. Woman With Soul

8. I Want You

9. I Thought I Knew You Well

10. The Migrant

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 2nd LP “…Continued” – released 1969 in the USA on Monument SLP-18133 (Stereo) and in the UK on Monument LMO 5035 (Mono) and SMO 5035 (Stereo) – Stereo Mix Used

11. Watching The Trains Go By (Single Version)

12. Old Man Willis (Single Version) (11 and 12 are the A&B-sides of a 1968 USA 7” single on Monument MN45-1053

13. Funky Fingers

14. Soul Britches

15. Dusty Marshmallow

16. Toil & Trouble

17. What Does It Take

18. This Guy’s In Love With You

19. Woodpecker (Alternate Version)

20. Laying Out All Night

21. I Want Your Sweet Love

22. Keep A Movin’ Train

Tracks 13 to 22 inclusive are Previously Unreleased

Disc 3 (73:30 minutes)

1. Stud Spider

2. High Sheriff Of Calhoun Parrish

3. Widow Wimberly

4. Conjure Woman

5. Save Your Sugar For Me

6. Hard To Handle [Side 2]

7. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)

8. My Friend

9. Stockholm Blues

10. Boom Boom

Tracks 1 to 10 are his 3rd album “Tony Joe” released 1970 in the USA on Monument SLP-18142 and in the UK on Monument SMO 5043

11. Groupy Girl (B-side of the 1970 USA 7” single “High Sheriff” on Monument MN-45-1193

12. Prisoner

13. Do You Want My Love

14. Gospel Singer

15. I Hate To See You Cry

16. Dusty Marshmallow

17. I Can’t Stand It

18. Mississippi River

Tracks 12 to 18 are all Previously Unreleased

Disc 4 (76:30 minutes):

1. Mississippi Delta

2. Chain Of Fools

3. Woodpecker

4. The Ballad Of Hollis Brown

5. Blue Monday

6. Tobacco Road/Dead End Street

7. Caress Me Babe?

8. Dusty Marshmallow

9. Just Look At You

10. Skinny Legs And All

Tracks 1 to 10 recorded at Barclay Studios March 1969 – all Previously Unreleased

11. Boom Boom (Live)

12. Roosevelt And Ira Lee (Night Of The Mossacin) (Live)

13. I Want You (Live)

14. Groupy Girl (Live)

15. Stud Spider (Live)

16. Pork Salad Annie (Live)

17. Save Your Sugar For Me (Live)

Tracks 11 to 17 recorded live at the Isle of Wight Festival 28 August 1970

This Box set will allow fans to sequence all of the following American singles:

US 7” SINGLES Discography:

1. Georgia Pines b/w Ten More Miles To Louisiana, 1967 on Monument MN 45 1003

2. Willie And Laura Mae Jones b/w Scratch My Back, 1968 on Monument MN45-1036

3. Watching The Trains Go By b/w Old Man Willis, 1968 on Monument MN45-1053

4. I Protest b/w A Man Can Only Stand Just So Much Pain, 1968 on Monument MN45-1070

5. Soul Francisco b/w Whompt Out On You, 1968 on Monument MN 45-1086

6. Pork Salad Annie b/w Aspen Colorado, 1968 on Monument MN45-1104

7. Roosevelt And Ira Lee (Night Of The Mossacin) b/w The Migrant, 1969 on Monument MN45-1169

8. High Sheriff b/w Groupy Girl, 1970 on Monument MN 45-1193

9. Save Your Sugar For Me b/w My Friend, 1970 on Monument MN45-1206

10. Old Man Willis b/w Scratch My Back, 1970 on Monument MN-45 1227

Compiled by BILL INGLOT and MASON WILLIAMS with Tape Research and Mastering done by BILL INGLOT and DAN HERSCH – the mini box set features a flip-back lid with 4 repro sleeves and a booklet contained within. The quality of the oversized card sleeves is superb with most of the rear liner notes and credits perfectly readable (even on the hard-to-read rear sleeve of the “Tony Joe album). The sepia-feel 36-page booklet is numbered on the rear page to 5000 and features detailed liner notes by BEN EDMONDS and interviews with Tony Joe White, Friend and Musical Advisor Bob Beckham and Producer Billy Swan. Interspersed between the dense texts are full-page shots of several Monument 7” singles (some demos) and comprehensive reissue details at the rear. The remasters are fantastic – bringing out that deeply funky groove and far better than what I had before.

His debut has huge fan craves like “Soul Francisco” (“some of those children got something to say…”) and the equally cool “Pork Salad Annie”. The realistic “Willie And Laura Mae Jones” proved just too gritty for US radio. The tail end of three covers is the album’s undoing though – saccharine versions of “Little Green Apples” where you can feel his Soul wincing. Far better is his “right there!” cover of Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back” and amongst the previously unreleased are great discoveries like “Prison Song” (“breaking up rocks in the hot, hot sun…”).

Produced by Billy Swan (who would later have huge hits of his own on Monument Records in the mid Seventies) – the “…Continued” album did what it said on the tin – more Swamp Music tales of strange families (“Roosevelt And Ira Lee (Night of The Mossacin)”, leery moonshiners (“Old Man Willis”) and perplexing ladies “(I Thought I Knew You Well”). Another nuggets include “I Want You” - a fantastic groove with chugging guitar and Mike Utley putting in some funky organ. But it’s strange now from the distance of 2014 to think that one of his most famous songs “Rainy Night in Georgia” never made it onto a US or UK 7” single. Both Brook Benton and Eddie Floyd did fabulously soulful versions of it in 1970 while Randy Crawford would make it a worldwide hit in 1981 (and probably paid a few TJW bills in the meantime). Fans of that ‘groove’ are gonna die for the double-whammy of “Funky Fingers” and “Soul Britches” amongst the previously unreleased tunes – cool groovers with fabulous brass and organ backing. And as they play you can just see nattily dressed go-go dancers giving it some serious hip swivelling in some hip 6T’s nightclub. Yeah baby…

Amongst its ten tracks the 3rd album “Tony Joe” harbours six originals and four superbly chosen covers – Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle”, Jr. Walker & The All Stars “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)”, John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” and a new one from Donnie Fritts and Dewey Oldham called “My Friend”. Like Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham and Eddie Hinton - Alabama-born white soul boy Donnie Fritts has been an underground hero for over 40 years – he would in fact record his own version of “My Friend” on the “Prone To Lean” album on Atlantic Records in 1974.

For fans Disc 4 is a total treat – the studio tracks are basically him playing funky solo renditions of songs he likes in his own inimitable way – Bobby Gentry’s “Mississippi Delta”, Don Covay’s “Chain Of Fools”, a jagged “Ballad Of Hollis Brown” by Dylan and Joe Tex’s “Skinny Legs And All”. But best for me are TJW originals called “Blue Monday” and “Caress Me babe?” where he gets closest to his slyly sexy Lightnin’ Hopkins roots. The “Isle Of Wight” stuff is live and rough but you can hear the crowd grooving to his passionate Swamp Funk on “I Want You” where he goes at with bravado. And with his Fogerty growls and Harmonica on “Stud Spider” - he sounds like a funked-up Dylan determined to shock his audience.

I’ve long been of the reasoning that J.J. Cale nicked it from Tony Joe, Clapton nicked it from Cale and Mark Knopfler nicked it from all three for his Dire Straits debut. Tina Turner would take his “Steamy Windows” and make another worldwide hit too. Whatever way you look at it – this is a fabulous (if not illusive) box set. If only Rhino Handmade would do the same for his fabulous Warners Brothers albums that quickly followed his termination with Monument Records.

In the meantime “Swamp Music” is the very best of starting points and a cool way to sample why so many followed/half-inched Tony Joe White's Crocodile shoes…

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is CLASSIC 1970s ROCK - an E-Book with over 250 entries and 2100 e-Pages - purchase on Amazon and search any artist or song (click the link below). Huge amounts of info taken directly from the discs (no cut and paste crap). 

"1970-1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything..." by FACES (August 2015 Warner Brothers/Rhino 5CD Mini Box Set Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Had Me A Real Good Time...And Other Domestic Short Comings..."

Features the 1970 album "First Step" by FACES
Featuring Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones

FACES fans are going to love 'and' hate this. "1970-1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything..." is both truly exhilarating and sappily infuriating at the same time. The upside is that it contains stunning remastered music with some shockingly good extras but it’s missing edits when there was room on the 'Singles' disc and it’s presented in a truly small beer way - when this best of British bands deserved the full brewery (and it's not cheap either). To the good news first...

On the 4CD Rhino Book Set "Five Guys Walk Into A Bar" from 2004 - you got 3 tracks out of 10 from the 1st LP, 5 out of 9 from the 2nd and all of the 3rd and 4th LPs bar three (as well as a hefty wad of 30+ Previously Unreleased - I reviewed it years back). Here the temptation is all 4 studio albums newly remastered in their entirety and each bolstered up with great Previously Unreleased material not available anywhere else. There’s also a 5th bonus disc with 9-tracks that mops up those 'Stray Singles' and a rare NME Flexidisc track. There’s a lot to get through - so lets get this box set's tartan trousers down and have a peek at its Bollinger-stained boxer shorts (if you get my drift)...

UK and US released Friday 28 August 2015 – "1970-1975: You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything..." by FACES is a 5CD Mini Box Set on Warner Brothers/Rhino R2 550009 (Barcode 081227954239) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 - "The First Step" – 70:11 minutes:
1. Wicked Messenger
2. Devotion
3. Shake, Shudder
4. Stone
5. Around The Plynth
6. Flying [Side 2]
7. Pineapple And The Monkey
8. Nobody Knows
9. Looking Out The Window
10. Three Button Hand Me Down
Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut studio album "The First Step" – released March 1970 in the UK on Warner Brothers WS 3000 (reissued December 1971 on Warner Brothers K 46053) and March 1970 in the USA (as "First Step") on Warner Brothers WS 1851. The British LP had the words FACES centred on the front cover of its gatefold but because this set is US based it uses American artwork where the band were wrongly called SMALL FACES (the band they used to be).

BONUS TRACKS (all Previously Unreleased):
11. Behind The Sun (Outtake) (Jones/Lane/McLagan/Stewart/Wood)
12. Mona – The Blues (Outtake) (Lane/Wood)
13. Shake, Shudder, Shiver (Lane/Wood) (BBC Session recorded 9 March 1970, broadcast 28 March 1970 on John Peel's "Top Gear" Radio 1 Program)
14. Flying (Take 3) (Stewart/Wood/Lane)
15. Nobody Knows (Take 2) (Wood/Lane)

Disc 2 - "Long Player" – 67:18 minutes:
1. Bad 'N' Ruin
2. Tell Everyone
3. Sweet Lady Mary
4. Richmond
5. Maybe I'm Amazed (Live)
6. Had Me A Real Good Time [Side 2]
7. On The Beach
8. I Feel So Good (Live)
9. Jerusalem
Tracks 1 to 9 are their 2nd studio album "Long Player" released March 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers WS 3011 and February 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1892. Tracks 5 and 8 were recorded live at The Fillmore East in New York (no date specified) – two more live versions from that date have been included as Bonus Tracks (13 and 14).

BONUS TRACKS (All Previously Unreleased):
10. Whole Lotta Woman (Outtake) (Marvin Rainwater cover)
11. Tell Everyone (Take 1) (Lane)
12. Sham-Mozzal (Instrumental – Outtake) (Jones/Lane/McLagan/Wood)
13. Too Much Woman (Live) (Ike & Tina Turner cover)
14. Love In Vain (Live) (Robert Johnson cover)
[Notes: 13 and 14 are live and were recorded at The Fillmore East in New York on the same date that 5 and 8 on the album were – no date specified]

Disc 3 - "A Nod's As Good As A Wink…To A Blind Horse…" – 45:07 minutes:
1. Miss Judy's Farm
2. You're So Rude
3. Love Lives Here
4. Last Orders Please
5. Stay With Me
6. Debris [Side 2]
7. Memphis
8. Too Bad
9. That's All You Need
Tracks 1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "A Nod's As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse..." released November 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56006 and in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2574. It was credited in the USA as "A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse" and that front cover artwork is used for this reissue.

BONUS TRACKS (both Previously Unreleased):
10. Miss Judy's Farm (Live)
11. Stay With Me (Live)
[Notes: both were recorded 28 September 1971 and Broadcast 6 October 1971 on John Peel's "Top Gear" Radio 1 Program]

Disc 4 - "Ooh La La" – 46:36 minutes:
1. Silicone Grown
2. Cindy Incidentally
3. Flags And Banners
4. My Fault
5. Borstal Boys
6. Fly In The Ointment [Side 2]
7. If I’m On The Late Side
8. Glad And Sorry
9. Just Another Honky
10. Ooh La La
Tracks 1 to 10 are their 4th and final studio album "Ooh La La" released April 1973 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56011 and March 1973 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2665.

BONUS TRACKS (All Previously Unreleased):
11. Cindy Incidentally (BBC Session)
12. Borstal Boys (Rehearsal)
13. Silicone Grown (Rehearsal)
14. Glad And Sorry (Rehearsal)
15. Jealous Guy (Live)
[Notes: "Cindy Incidentally" was recorded 12 February 1973 and Broadcast 1 March 1973 on "BBC Radio One Club". The cover version of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" was recorded at The Reading Festival in the UK on 25 August 1973.

Disc 5 – "Stray Singles & B-Sides" – 40:38 minutes:
1. Pool Hall Richard – a non-album single released in the UK 30 November 1973 on Warner Brothers K 16341 as the A-side
2. I Wish It Would Rain (With A Trumpet) – a Temptations cover version issued as the non-album B-side to "Pool Hall Richard". It was recorded live at The Reading Festival in 1973
3. Rear Wheel Skid – the non-album B-side to "Had Me A Real Good Time (Edit)" released 13 November 1970 in the UK on Warner Brothers WB 8018 and 21 October 1970 in the USA on Warner Brothers WB 7442
4. Maybe I'm Amazed – a non-album 3:40 minutes 'studio version' - released 6 April 1971 US 7” single on Warner Brothers WB 7483. It's a cover of a Paul McCartney song and the full 'live' version at 5:32 minutes is on the "Long Player" album.
5. Oh Lord I'm Browned Off – the non-album B-side to "Maybe I'm Amazed"
6. You Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything (Even Take The Dog For A walk, Mend A Fuse, Fold Away The ironing Board, Or Any Other Domestic Short Comings – a non-album UK 7" single released as the A-side 11 November 1974 on Warner Brothers K 16499 and (as an edit) 22 January 1975 in the USA on Warner Brothers WBS-8066. It was reissued in the USA (also as an edit) 28 May 1975 on Warner Brothers WBS-8102.
7. As Long As You Tell Him – the non-album B-side to "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything..."
8. Skewiff (Mend The Fuse) – an instrumental non-album B-side to "Cindy Incidentally" issued 9 February 1973 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 16247 and 5 February 1973 in the USA on Warner Brothers WB 7681.
9. Dishevelment Blues – a non-album exclusive track recorded 5 April 1973 for the UK 'NME Magazine, April 1973' issue – it was issued on a one-side flexi that came free with the Music Paper.

The Mini Box Set contains five singular card sleeves inside and a foldout inlay. Bluntly it feels cheapish. The attached 62-page colour booklet that came with the FACES Book Set "Five Guys Walk Into A Bar..." from 2004 was a fabulous fan-fest rammed to the gunnels with foreign picture sleeves, press clippings, live photos, badges, teeshirts, Warner Brothers memorabilia and all manner of boozy tour shenanigans. Here we get a three-way fold out slip of paper with track credits and absolutely nothing else! Each of the original vinyl albums (in the UK especially) had elaborate packaging – the first in a gatefold, the second in a 78" stitched sleeve with its own custom label, "Nod" came with a massive fold out poster and "Ooh La La" famously had the folding 'lips' sleeve with a lyric poster inside as well – none of it is reproduced here.

As if to add insult to injury (and with no offence to our good American friends) but this most British of Rock 'n' Roll bands then gets the 1st and 2nd LPs represented here in single sleeve 'American' artwork both of which have all the aesthetic impact of a wet rag. They couldn't even be bothered to produce a gatefold on the first. I suppose the tan label CDs on all four studio-albums (aping the original issues) is a nice touch - while the singles set gets a Warner Brothers Burbank Label – again a good idea. The artwork also prints the bonus tracks on the rear of each single card sleeve in the same print as the original - so I suppose that makes them a tiny bit interesting (the fifth CD has nice artwork too). But it all feels like small beer when surely this is a 70ts band that deserved the best WEA could offer. If Rhino were able to do the packaging business by the Faces in 2004 - then why not in 2015? Anyway - let’s get to the Audio - which is thankfully blindingly good...

It doesn't say when the DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT remasters (done at Digiprep from Flat Analogue Tapes) were carried out (no dates provided) but I suspect these are the 2004 versions. The good news is that they 'rock'. These CDs sound great even if they're hissy on the 1st and 2nd albums (how they were recorded). Hersch and Inglot have handled huge swathes of primo WEA material across the years for Rhino - Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding to name but a few legends. But I bet these Top Audio Engineers got their transfer jollies digitally preserving this catalogue. The power of the band is realised - muscular, clear and full of that 'live-in-the-studio' feel that original Producers Glyn Johns, Mike Bobak and Ron Nevison got for the Faces at the time. Each album has fantastic audio moments – "Stone" on "First Step", "Sweet Lady Mary" on "Long Player", the stunning Side 2 opener "Debris” (and "Stay With Me" B-side) on "Nod" and the lovely overlooked ballad "Glad And Sorry" on "Ooh La La". I'll presume that fans already know how good the studio albums are so I'll get stuck into the cool extras...

The bonus tracks on "First Step" are shockingly good. The first "Behind The Sun" is 5:30 minutes long as is just as good if not better than anything on the album (and it sounds utterly amazing here). Both it and the second helping here "Mona – The Blues" were recorded after the LP's release on 12 May 1970 in Hollywood. "Mona – The Blues" starts with shouts and comes on like a barroom brawl is about to break out at any minute – another five-minute slide boogie winner with piano and no vocals (it later turned up on the 1976 Soundtrack LP "Mahoney's Last Stand" by Ron Wood and Ronniw Lane). The audio on the BBC Session of "Shake, Shudder, Shiver" is good rather than great - but the Rock 'n' Roll power of the band is amazing. We're now treated to a duo of sublime versions of "Flying" and a more Piano-orientated cut of "Nobody Knows" – wow!

As if to reinforce what a bunch of hairy-assed reprobates they really were – "Whole Lotta Woman" (a Marvin Rainwater cover done in British Rock 'n' Roll style) opens with giggles and drunken screams to "...turn the tape machine on and let's get it going!" The session then launches into that effortless Stones swagger The Faces seemed to be able to conjure up at the drop of a hat. This is the kind of outtake that will make fans weak at their elderly knees. A very shambolic Take 1 of "Tell Everyone" gets an outing where both Lane and Stewart are clearly trying to get a feel for the melody - and begin getting there towards the end. But we now get a true kick in the nuts – an instrumental Ron Wood Guitar version of "Had Me A Real Good Time" called "Sham-Mozzal" and my God am I grinning from ear-to-ear. This is true fabulous stuff and it sounds stunning too (where has this sucker been all these years). Continuing in Rock mode we get an incendiary live version of an Ike and Tina Turner song "Too Much Woman" wrongly credited in the inlay as being by Ronnie Lane. With terrific audio it's 5:29 minutes of Wood riffing away while Stewart shows why he had the best damn larynx on the planet at the time (there's also a cool Kenney Jones drum portion).  Their cover of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain" doesn't have great audio really but as it sounds like "Let It Bleed" Stones – I can so understand why it's here...

I'm always disappointed that the mighty "Nod" from 1971 never seems to have even a single outtake or alternate version – so what were offered here are two workmanlike versions of "Miss Judy's Farm" and "Stay With Me" from an unreleased BBC Session. They’re good – they are – but they're hardly sparkling. At least the 'Stray Singles' disc gathers up those wicked B-sides - like the three rough and tumble instrumentals "Rear Wheel Skid",  "Oh Lord I'm Browned Off" and "Skewiff (Mend The Fuse)". And after years of playing that crinkled 1973 NME Flexidisc – I can now hear the slow "Dishevelment Blues" in all its Bluesy glory (the boys essentially goofing in the studio - with wild guitar from Ron Wood). And how good is "Pool Hall Richard" backed with its live cover of The Temptations classic "I Wish It Would Rain" complete with Soulful brass.

So there you have it – good and bad – mostly good it has to be said. The remastered albums are fabulous and those Previously Unreleased goodies genuinely exciting. It's just a shame about the ASDA packaging (docked a star for that) when with a little imagination this mini box set could have been a Fortnum & Masons hamper you covet...and that would truly have been something worth getting drunk and disorderly about...