"Climbing!" by MOUNTAIN (2003 Columbia/Legacy 'Expanded CD' – Bob Irwin/Vic Anesini Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Mississippi Queen..." 

"...His crime was a passion..." - Felix Pappalardi sings on "The Laird" and that kind of sums up this most American of Rock bands for me – loud, proud and ear-splitten-louden-boomer. They couldn't give a rat's ass who out there in radio-land thinks its aural hedonism turned up to 13 on a scale of 12. MOUNTAIN rocked and this cool little CD reissue of their second platter "Climbing!" from 1970 shows why these New York boys with Mississippi in their veins are remembered with such affection and loyalty. And in Leslie West they had an ace axeman - geometrically over-sized for sure but charismatic and great fun too. Here is 'The Great Fatsby' and Rocking Friends...

UK and USA released April 2003 – "Climbing!" by MOUNTAIN on Columbia/Legacy 510719 2 (Barcode 5099751071921) is an 'Expanded CD Remaster' and plays out as follows (36:56 minutes):

1. Mississippi Queen

2. Theme From An Imaginary Western

3. Never In My Life

4. Silver Paper

5. For Yasgur's Farm [Side 2]

6. To My Friend

7. The Laird

8. Sittin' On A Rainbow

9. Boys In The Band

Tracks 1 to 9 are their second album "Climbing!" – released March 1970 in the USA on Windfall 4501 and May 1970 in the UK on Bell Records SBLL 133 (both in Stereo only). Bassist and Studio Wizard Felix Pappalardi Produced – the album rose to No. 17 in the US LP charts (didn’t chart in the UK). All songs are band originals except "Theme From An Imaginary Western" which is a Jack Bruce cover version.

BONUS TRACK

10. For Yasgur's Farm [Live] – recorded prior to 1972

MOUNTAIN was:

LESLIE WEST – Guitars and Vocals

FELIX PAPPALARDI – Bass on all Tracks except 6 and 7, Keyboards on Track 1, 2 and 9 and Rhythm Guitar on Track 7

CORKY LAING – Drums and Percussion

STEVE KNIGHT – Keyboards (Mellotron on Tracks 2 and 9, Organ on Tracks 2 to 5)

The 12-page booklet has new liner notes from CORKY LAING and LESLIE WEST (dated November 2002) - and as well as band photos (supplied by the group) features reminiscences on the making of their 'loud' 2nd album with the line-up most feel had that classic hard-rocking Mountain sound, their former band Energy, songwriting/lyric collaborations between Laing and West and more. The CD reflects the original Windfall Records label logo and there's even a Leslie West photo beneath the see-through tray. But the big news is the new BOB IRWIN/VIC ANESINI Remaster from original tapes done at Sony Music Studios in New York. The last time "Climbing!" saw CD reissue was in 1993 as part of Sony's 'Rewind' Series – it was a good stab at the record but this variant is a whole lot better and features a live track as a bonus. As the line on the rear cover famously announced 'This Record Was Meant To Be Played Loud' - you quickly find out that none of the band's players are joking. This mother rocks – vibrato, fuzzy, grunge guitar noises emanate from Leslie West's speaker stacks and threaten to cause a public disturbance with your docile Laura Ashley stereo. The album was never an Audiophile event – so expect some hiss on cuts like the slowish "The Laird" and the gorgeous "To My Friend" – but also expect presence and 'in-the-moment' feel. After my battered copy on Windfall – this CD sounds revelatory to me...

It opens on a rasper – the brilliant snotty Boogie Rock of "Mississippi Queen" – co-written by West, Laing, Pappalardi and Ohio songwriter David Rea. Huge riffage accompanies soloing guitars as Leslie West roars on about a Cajun gal from Vicksburg in Louisiana who isn't exactly unfamiliar with the ways of the world. At 2:32 minutes it was an obvious single and popular too. Released March 1970 with the album - Windfall 45-532 climbed to a respectable No. 21 in the US singles charts with the album cut "The Laird" on the flipside. After two failed sevens from the first album "Mountain" in September 1969 – it became Mountain's first real 45-impression on the charts and remains a huge fan fave to this day. Blighty tried the same combo of tracks on Bell BLL 1113 in May 1970 - but it sold naught and was deleted quickly. "Theme From An Imaginary Western" is a cover of a track from Jack Bruce's debut solo LP after Cream - 1969's "Song For A Tailor" on Polydor (UK)/Atco Records (USA). Bruce co-wrote the tune with Avant Garde British artist Pete Brown (Harvest Records). Mountain take the song's Soulful-Rock feel and layer it with more guitars and organs so that it sounds very Cream in ways – or even Derek & The Dominoes.

Both Laing and West agree that "Never In My Life" is probably the best track on the album – a great riff played at almost "Fireball" speed (they slowed it down in concert because it adds more muscle to it). It's a fantastic piece of American 'Rawk' and odd that Windfall Records went instead to the less catchy "For Yasgur's Farm" for the next single (Windfall 45-533) – a tune that isn't nearly as immediate as "Never..." They paired it with the fabulous Leslie West solo instrumental "To My Friend" - an Acoustic tour de force that shows off West's considerable playing chops and is almost Indian Sitar in some passages. But despite both sides being strong in their own right – "Yasgur's..." didn't follow "Mississippi Queen" into the charts (no British release either). "Silver Paper" is basic rock and similar in vibe to "Theme From An Imaginary Western" in its assembly. Far more interesting is "The Laird" that is co-written with Gail Collins (did the artwork, wrote lyrics) that has touches of the more melodic acoustic side of Uriah Heep and Led Zeppelin (circa 3) – sweet little tune that I couldn't stop playing at the time. How cool is it to hear it with such clarity - even if it is hissy. Massive Corky Laing drums open the driving-down-the-highway riffage of "Sittin' On A Rainbow" – a very Mountain good time rocker that stills sounds beer-belly-rowdy after 45 years on camomile tea. It ends on the piano melody of "Boys In The Band" - pretty hissy it has to be said and probably my least favourite song on the album (the vocal is all over the mix)...

The live version of "For Yasgur's Farm" runs to 4:19 minutes and is plucked from the band's own archive (bit hazy on exact dates). In truth I'd say it's good rather than being great (much like the song itself) and you can't help thinking that at four seconds short of 37-minutes – this entire CD reissue could have done with a few more choice bonus cuts in the live vein to bolster up matters...

Still - what you do get with "Climbing!" is fabarooney – a ballsy American Rock Band in the same vein as Cactus and Grand Funk Railroad – groups that somehow never seemed to gain the recognition they deserved beyond fanatical fan circles. In some ways Mountain's loose 'rawk' feel and gutbucket style recordings remind me of that fabulous sloppiness FREE used to get - effortlessly cool too. And isn't that the best compliment. So lodge your grappling hook and throw out your musical rope...because it's time to abseil bare-bottomed down the barroom underpants of this particularly boozy digital rock face. And I mean in that in the nicest possible way...

"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). 

"The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" by CHICKEN SHACK (2006 Columbia/Blue Horizon 3CD Reissue - Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve…" 

Features the 1970 album "Accept"

Across its 56 tracks and 3CDs - this fantastic February 2006 UK and EUROPE release "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" by CHICKEN SHACK on Columbia/Blue Horizon 82876734942 (Barcode 828767349428) offers potential buyers a huge amount of British Blues Rock for not a lot of dosh. You get 4 full albums worth from 1968 to 1970 - a slew of non-LP 7" singles and their rare B-sides - and even 2 Previously Unreleased songs.

The first generation original master tapes were digitally transferred and remastered by DUNCAN COWELL at Sound Mastering in London and overseen by label Supremo MIKE VERNON. And as usual with all the Blue Horizon reissues - the sonic results are just stunning. Every track is clear, warm and fresh sounding. And with each of Chicken Shack's original British vinyl issues pushing £80 to £100 a throw (if you can actually find them in playable condition) - this is a welcome release. Here are the one hundred ton chickens and the roosters in the farmyard:

Disc 1 (74:16 minutes):

1. It's Okay With Me Baby (Christine Perfect song)

2. When My Left Eye Jumps (Willie Dixon song, Buddy Guy cover)

Tracks 1 & 2 are the A&B-side of the band's 1st UK 7" single on Blue Horizon 57-3157 released January 1968 - both songs were non-album with Christine Perfect Lead Vocals on the A and Stan Webb on the B-side (the flipside is a song closely associated with Buddy Guy).

3. The Letter (B.B. King cover)

4. Lonesome Whistle Blues (Freddie King cover)

5. When The Train Comes Back (Christine Perfect song)

6. San-Ho-Zay (Freddie King cover)

7. King Of The World (John Lee Hooker cover)

8. See See Baby (Freddie King cover) [Side 2]

9. First Time I Met The Blues (Eurreal "Little Brother" Montgomery cover)

10. Webbed Feet (Stan Webb song)

11. You Ain't No Good (Christine Perfect)

12. What You Did Last Night (Stan Webb song)

Tracks 3 to 12 are their debut UK album "Forty Blue Fingers Freshly Packed & Ready To Serve" released July 1968 on Blue Horizon S 7-63203 in Stereo

13. Hey Baby (see 20 below)

14. Baby's Got Me Crying (Stan Webb song)

15. The Right Way Is My Way (Stan Webb song)

16. Get Like You Used To Be (Stan Webb song)

17. Pony And Trap (Stan Webb song)

18. Tell Me (Howlin' Wolf cover)

19. A Woman Is The Blues (Stan Webb/Christine Perfect song)

Tracks 14 to 19 are Side 1 of their 2nd studio album "O.K. Ken?" released February 1969 on Blue Horizon S 7-63209 in Stereo (Side 2 is on Disc 2)

20. When The Train Comes Back

NOTE: "When The Train Comes Back" and "Hey Baby" (Track 13) are the A&B-sides of their 3rd UK 7" single released 1968 on Blue Horizon 57-3146 and both songs are non-album. There is a version of "When The Train Comes Back" on the "Forty Fresh Fingers..." LP but it's different to the single release - the 7" version pushes the brass section more into the mix.

Disc 2 (71:52 minutes):

1. Worried About My Woman

2. Six Nights In Seven

Tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of their 2nd UK 7" single released September 1968 on Blue Horizon 57-3143 - both non-album.

NOTE: Track 1 is the 7" single version that features what you would call a 'guitar' version of the track with Webb's guitar work to the fore. However, Track 19 is the 'album' version of "Worried About My Woman" - wittily tagged with the word "Still" in front of it because although it's the same song - the version is very different. It features Paul Raymond's Organ work far more to the fore of the mix - almost Georgie Fame and The Blues Flames in its feel - and a far louder Webb guitar - he rocks like a mother on this one - fantastic!

3. I Wanna See My Baby (Stan Webb song)

4. Remington Ride (Stan Webb song)

5. Fishing In Your River (Aaron Walker cover)

6. Mean Old World (Herb Remington, Hank Penny cover)

7. Sweet Sixteen (Big Joe Turner cover)

Tracks 3 to 7 are Side 2 of their 2nd UK album "O.K. Ken?" (as per Disc 1)

8. I'd Rather Go Blind

9. Night Life

Tracks 8 and 9 are the A&B-sides of their 4th UK 7" single released May 1969 on Blue Horizon 57-3153. Both tracks were non-album at the time - the A-side is an Etta James cover - the B a Willie Nelson cover

10. The Road Of Love (Clarence Carter cover)

11. La Ma, I'm Cryin' (Freddie King cover)

12. Evelyn (Stan Webb song - Instrumental)

13. Reconsider Baby (Lowell Fulson cover)

14. Weekend Love (Clarence Carter cover)

15. Midnight Hour (Clarence Brown cover) [Side 2]

16. Tears In The Wind (Stan Webb song)

17. Horse & Cart (Stan Webb song)

18. The Way It Is (Stan Webb song)

19. Still Worried About My Woman (Stan Webb song) [see Note on 1 & 2]

20. Anji (Davey Graham cover)

Tracks 10 to 20 are their 3rd UK studio album "100 Ton Chicken" released March 1969 on Blue Horizon S 7-63218 in Stereo

Note: "Tears In The Wind" was also their 5th UK 7” single released September 1969 on Blue Horizon 57-3160. Its non-album B-side is "The Things You Put Me Through" – Track 3 on Disc 3

Disc 3 (51:08 minutes):

1. Smartest Girl In Town (Stan Webb song)

2. Hideaway (Freddie King cover)

Tracks 1 and 2 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED - recorded May 1969 with the line-up of Stan Webb (Guitar), Paul Raymond (Organ), Andy Silvester (Bass) and David Bidwell (Drums) featured on both studio outtakes.

3. The Things You Put Me Through

Tracks 3 is the non-album B-side to the UK 7” single of "Tears In The Wind" (Track 16 on Disc 2)

4. Diary Of Your Life (Stan Webb song)

5. Pocket (Stan Webb song)

6. Never Ever (Stan Webb/Paul Raymond song)

7. Sad Clown (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

8. Maudie (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

9. Telling Your Fortune (Stan Webb song)

10. Tired Eyes (Stan Webb song) [Side 2]

11. Some Other Time (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

12. Going Round (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

13. Andalucian Blues (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

14. You Knew You Did You Did (Stan Webb song)

15. She Didn't Use Her Loaf (Stan Webb /Paul Raymond song)

Tracks 4 to 15 are "Accept" - their 4th and last album for Blue Horizon released June 1970 on S 7-63861 in Stereo

Track 16 "Maudie" is the non-album A-side to their 6th UK 7" single released January 1970 on Blue Horizon 57-3168

NOTES:

Track 13 "Andalucian Blues" is the B-side to "Maudie" their 6th UK 7" single

Track 7 "Sad Clown" and Track 10 "Tired Eyes" make up the A & B side of their 7th and last Blue Horizon 7" single (57-3176) from 1970

This 3CD set allows you to sequence all 14 tracks on their seven UK Blue Horizon singles

Featuring Stan Webb (Guitar & Lead Vocals), Christine Perfect (Keyboards and Lead Vocals), Paul Raymond (Piano), Andy Silvester (Bass) and Dave Bidwell (Drums) - England's CHICKEN SHACK was always about the blues and the bar-brawling boogie that came out of that tradition (they took their name from a 50's R&B tune by Amos Milburn). Mixing raucous cover versions with equally impressive originals, the first 3 albums featured shared vocals/song-writing credits between blues-nutter Stan Webb and a young Female Singer of the Year, Christine Perfect. (Christine married John McVie in 1969 and later joined Fleetwood Mac - retaining the McVie surname to this day).

As you can see from the track lists provided above - the first album is a fest of the Kings - B.B. and Freddie with some John Lee Hooker thrown in. These are allied with an impressive quad showing of Stan Webb and Christine Perfect originals (two each). "See See Baby" is just fantastic - the great mixture of rocking Blues done by Blues enthusiasts feeling it in every corpuscle. By album two Webb has firmly taken over the songwriting reins with strong Bluesy R'n'B like "Baby's Got Me Crying" sounding not unlike John Mayall does Buddy Guy via B.B. King.

The Shacks albums also featured guest Sax work from Johnny Almond and Paul Raymond and his Organ/Piano work came on board from "100 Ton Chicken" onwards. The music is infectious blues based rock with the occasional funky moment (the instrumental "Evelyn" is a good example). What is surprising is how little interest was shown in their rocking "Accept" album from mid 1970 - only released later that year in the States on the back of a tour with savoy Brown. Mainly featuring Webb originals co-written with Paul Raymond - I often think it's a bit of a lost 1970 classic like "Kiln House" or the Humble Pie debut on A&M. Check out the blistering rocking on "Perfect" that then slows down (wicked). Stan Webb kept Chicken Shack going after Blue Horizon to do two more rawk albums for the Deram label - "Imagination Lady" in 1972 and "Unlucky Boy" in 1973 - both of which I love.

If I was to say there was a downside - it's the lack of unreleased material. And it's a damn shame that these four Chicken Shack albums didn't receive the Fleetwood Mac Blue Horizon Box Set treatment - I would love to have seen all of them in Repro Card Sleeves (gatefolds in some cases) - each topped up with bonus tracks. But alas...

As it stands "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" by CHICKEN SHACK is another jewel in the Blue Horizon crown. Never less than brilliant on any of the discs - and at a few squid above a ten-spot - this superb release is a steal, a deal, sale of the century etc...

"All Things Must Pass" by GEORGE HARRISON (2014 Apple 2CD Reissue – Gavin Lurssen Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Really Want To See You..."

When I bought the 2DVD set of 2002's "Concert For George" – the nearest a mere mortal like me was going to get to that stunning celebration of George Harrison's life and music/film legacy – I bawled my eyes out like a big girl's blouse. I can remember the whole sensory experience of music, emotion and video 'getting to me' on a level I found both profound and ultimately uplifting. I'd simply forgotten how good his songwriting was and I (like others) needed some reminding. Re-visiting his mammoth 3LP debut solo work "All Things Must Pass" on this definitive 2CD Apple Remaster has been the same. Wonder and awe...all over again. Here are the Apple Scruffs...

UK and USA released 22 September 2014 – "All Things Must Pass" by GEORGE HARRISON on Apple/George Harrison Estate 0602537914005 (Barcode is the same) is a 3LP Set onto 2CDs with Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (59:37 minutes):

1. I'd Have You Anytime

2. My Sweet Lord

3. Wah-Wah

4. Isn't It A Pity (Version 1)

5. What Is Life [Side 2]

6. If Not For You

7. Behind That Locked Door

8. Let It Down

9. Run Of The Mill

Tracks 1 to 9 make up Side 1 & 2 of the 3LP Box Set "All Things Must Pass" – released 27 November 1970 in the USA (30 November 1970 in the UK) both on Apple STCH 639

ADDITIONAL/BONUS TRACKS:

10. I Live For You [1970 Outtake]

11. Beware Of The Darkness (27 May 1970 Demo Version, Outtake]

12. Let It Down [Early Version, Remixed in 2000]

13. What Is Life [Backing Track]

14. My Sweet Lord (2000)

Tracks 10 to 15 first appeared as Bonus Tracks on the January 2001 "All Things Must Pass" 2CD Reissue – sanctioned by George Harrison. His son Dhani Harrison and UK singer Sam Brown added vocals to the 2000 Version of "My Sweet Lord" along with percussion from Ray Cooper. Dhani’s keyboards and vocals also bolstered up the remixed outtake "I Live For You".

Disc 2 (65:38 minutes):

1. Beware Of Darkness [Side 3]

2. Apple Scruffs

3. Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

4. Awaiting On You All

5. All Things Must Pass

6. I Dig Love [Side 4]

7. Art Of Dying

8. Isn't It A Pity (Version 2)

9. Hear Me Lord

APPLE JAM:

10. It's Johnny’s Birthday

11. Plug Me In

12. I Remember Jeep

13. Thanks For The Pepperoni

14. Out Of The Blue

Tracks 1 to 14 are Sides 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the 3LP set "All Things Must Pass". NOTE: On original issues of the vinyl album the 11-minute "Out Of The Blue", the 50-second "It's Johnny's Birthday" and the 3:15 minutes of "Plug Me In" made up Side 5 - while "I Remember Jeep" (extended from 6:59 minutes to 8:05 on CD) and "Thanks For The Pepperoni" (5:26 minutes) made up Side 6. For both the January 2001 and September 2014 CD reissues – the tracks have been rejiggered as above. All songs on "All Things Must Pass" are Harrison originals except "I'd Have You Anytime" which is a co-write with Bob Dylan and "If Not For You" which is a Bob Dylan cover version.

PLAYERS:

Lead Vocals (All Tracks) – GEORGE HARRISON

Guitars - GEORGE HARRISON, DAVE MASON (of Traffic), ERIC CLAPTON (Derek & The Dominoes)

Pedal Steel Guitar - PETE DRAKE

Rhythm Guitars and Percussion – BADFINGER (featuring Pete Ham and Tom Evans)

Keyboards - BILLY PRESTON, BOBBY WHITLOCK (Derek & The Dominoes), GARY BROOKER (Procol Harum) and GARY WRIGHT (Spooky Tooth)

Saxophone and Trumpet – BOBBY KEYS and JIM PRICE

Bass – CARL RADLE (Derek & The Dominoes) and KLAUS VOORMAN

Drums – ALAN WHITE (Yes), JIM GORDON (Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & The Dominoes) and RINGO STARR (The Beatles)

Congas – PHIL COLLINS on "Art Of Dying" (uncredited)

Backing Vocals – GEORGE O'HARA-SMITH SINGERS

The first thing you notice about the latest 2014 version is that the 'colourised' artwork of the January 2001 Mini Box Set has gone (as has the box) – we're now back to the more sombre original black and white artwork. I can't say I think the 3-way foldout hard card cover is an improvement on the 'colour' box of 2001 (which I rather liked) – but at least we get the fold-out lyric poster reproduced (with the colour shot of a bearded Harrison on the other side) and the three different colour inner sleeves for each album now get spread over two CD inners and the inside artwork. Harrison's own liner notes for the 2001 version return (reappraising the album from a 30-year distance - highlighting the large number of musicians involved) – but you have to go the bottom of the poster to get the real 'new' info...the AUDIO.

PAUL HICKS, GAVIN LURSSEN and REUBEN COHEN are the team of three who have handled the new '2014 Remaster' – done at Lurssen Mastering in California. His in-house team have won 3 Grammies and I've raved about Lurssen's work before on more than one occasion – see reviews for "Barnstorm" by Joe Walsh on Hip-O Select, "Gold" by The Crusaders on Universal, Stephen Bishop's "Careless" and "Bish" both on Hip-O Select and Terry Callier's "Occasional Rain" on Universal 'Originals'. His modern-day mastering work includes top name artists like John Mellencamp, Tom Waits, Roseanna Cash and even actor Jeff Bridges. Just to take a like-to-like comparison – the gorgeous Pedal Steel guitar work of Pete Drake on the 2014 Remaster of "Behind That Locked Door" is so much clearer and that rhythm section positively brimming with bass warmth and gentle snare shuffles. And when Phil Spector's typically OTT Production threatens to swamp everything on "Let It Down" with a Wall of Noise – they've somehow managed to make the overall soundstage clearer yet still keep it properly muscular. And the truly wonderful Version 1 of "Isn't It A Pity" sounds just glorious, as do the huge acoustic guitars and piano on "Run Of The Mill". After the 'all things louder than everything else' remaster of 2001 – this new 2014 version is a welcome controlled tone down - absolutely gorgeous stuff.

If I'm truthful I've never really thought much of the Dylan collaboration song "I'd Have You Anytime" which always felt to me like a poor man's version of the genuinely lovely "If Not For You". But what you can't fault is the audio wallop of both it and "My Sweet Lord" – the only solo Beatles single to hit the Number 1 spot on the UK charts twice – the original Apple 7" on R 5884 in January 1971 and on reissue in January 2002 after his awful and tragic passing in late November 2001. The huge electric guitars and layered vocals of the manic "Wah-Wah" attack your speakers like its "Helter Skelter Part 2" – while the already mentioned "Isn't It A Pity" is surely his greatest solo song (check out the Eric Clapton and Billy Preston live version in HD on YouTube).

The Bonus Tracks (tagged on once again at the end of Disc 1) are shockingly good and I'd argue better than some of the indulgent fluff on the original release. Dhani Harrison's subtle but beautiful vocal and keyboard contributions to "I Live For You" make the outtake sound like a lost gem and will thrill fans. The "Beware Of Darkness" demo is an acoustic ditty and strips the finished track of its bombast. Having been used to the doomy studio swagger of the final version for so long – this wonderfully barebones "Beware Of Darkness" is unplugged - stark - his Liverpool nasal/vocal phrasing filling the speakers as the strings rattle. And that jab at Klein's Abkco – what a hoot. But best of all is "...this is called "Let It Down"..." – a truly beautiful early version of the second last song on Side 2. Frankly this is way better than the finished version for me – the feel and melody is fabulous – containing a prettiness that got strangled on the LP version. The 'Backing Track' of "What Is Life" is a busy Spector affair chugging along as the guitars and brass jab. The sitar-introduced '2000' version of "My Sweet Lord" is a strange beast – liable to be viewed as lovely by some and a 'should have left it alone' travesty by others. I like it and Dhani Harrison, Sam Brown and Ray Cooper all add something to the mix this time around.

Disc 2 opens with a huge "Beware Of Darkness" – the guitars and strings swirling into one collective sound. "...Beware of mire..." Harrison sings and you know he means every word of it. The washboard shuffle of "Apple Scruffs" has that harmonica warbling with renewed clarity and the "...perpetual mirth..." of the strange-odd "Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp..." has those acoustic guitars peeping up above the piano and pedal steel. Once again Spector smothered "Awaiting On You All" with so many instruments and voices that it's hard to work out where the song is at times. But then we're hit with his melancholic masterpiece title track "All Things Must Pass" – a song so lovely in melody that surely it would have had a shot a second No. 1 (the USA issued "What is Life" b/w "Apple Scruffs" on Apple 1828 in February 1971 and that achieved a No. 10 placing). It's still got that slightly excessive hiss present as it opens – but the warmth of the song takes over and the remaster is genuinely subtle with the instrumentation (so touching). That drum roll opening on "I Dig Love" has real clout now, as does the keyboard funk that anchors the song throughout. The guitars crash in on "Art Of Dying" (sounds like Clapton) as it races along with that Rubber Soul vocal Spector gives Harrison's lead. The double-LP proper ends on a real musical high – "Hear Me Lord". Sounding at times almost like the Faces circa "Long Player" - big guitars vie with big vocals and even bigger ideas – his personal struggle with faith filling the song with sincerity as that huge organ note lingers in the background while someone fills the whole six minutes with sweetly soulful piano fills. The remaster is a lot less bombastic than the really loud 2001 version too...and very much the better for it.

The placing of the "Johnny's Birthday" ramshackle 50-second snippet first (Phil Coulter's "Congratulations" sung under another guise) in the "Apple Jam" LP portion makes more than sense – it works. We then get four guitar battles – all instrumentals. First up is "Plug Me In" which has the feel of a Derek & The Dominoes "Layla" outtake – all soloing and no vocals – searching for a riff and not quite finding it. The 8:08 minutes of "I Remember Jeep" was fun at the time and that soulful piano interlude towards the end still makes it a cool listen. The Johnny B. Goode grunge boogie of "Thanks For The Pepperoni" is yet another guitar strut that feels like you're eavesdropping on a particularly rocky Blind Faith session. But my poison in the bunch has always been the 11:14 minutes of "Out Of The Blue" (Bobby Keys on Sax) that feels like the Faces with too many beers and one too many amps in the studio. I’m always reminded of The Rolling Stones guitar juggernaut "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" from 1971's "Sticky Fingers". I suspect like so many fans – I haven't played this stoner jam for decades...and I'd actually forgotten just how good it is...

George Harrison would return with the more tempered "Living In A Material World" single LP in 1973 and score another No. 1 with "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" – but many remember him for ATMP. Post Beatles - he splurged - the public loved it then and have held it in affection ever since. And on re-hearing this wonderful remaster of "All Things Must Pass" – is it any wonder.

The quiet and contemplative Beatle passed too damn quickly (aged only 58 in 2001) – I can still feel the shock and hurt of it. Re-listening to this sprawling solo 'White Album' of 1970 has only made me want to re-visit the rest of his recorded legacy – and that's got to be the best Remaster compliment of them all...

This review is part of my SOUNDS GOOD Music Book Series. One of those titles is CLASSIC 1970s ROCK - an E-Book with over 245 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).