"Flamingo/Teenage Head" by FLAMIN' GROOVIES (2009 and 2015 Rev-Ola CD Reissue - 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD Plus Two Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Gonna Rock Tonite..."

The New York Dolls, MC5 and especially The Stooges are constantly name-checked as keeping the wild snotty pure spirit of Rock 'n' Roll alive in the early Seventies - a time when Hard Rock and Prog monsters dominated the chart landscape and bedsits of the world threatening to swamp all three-minutes blasts of proto-punk with hairy chests, tales of wizards and semi classical pomp. But spare a dime brother for San Francisco's all partying, all rocking, all greasy FLAMIN GROOVIES.

This fabulous Rev-Ola CD concentrates on their third and fourth albums on Kama Sutra Records from 1970 ("Flamenco") and 1971 ("Teenage Head") and even throws in a bonus track at the end of each album. Here are the Power Pop details...

UK released January 2009 (reissued October 2015) - "Flamingo/Teenage Head" by FLAMIN GROOVIES on Rev-Ola CR REV 273 (Barcode 5013929457324) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD with Two Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (76:52 minutes):

1. Comin' After Me
2. Headin' For The Texas Border
3. Sweet Roll Me On Down
4. Keep A Knockin'
5. Second Cousin'
6. Childhood's End [Side 2]
7. Jailbait
8. Gonna Rock Tonite
9. She's Falling Apart
10. Road House
Tracks 1 to 10 are their third studio album "Flamingo" - released June 1970 in the USA on Kama Sutra Records KSBS 2021 (no UK release).

BONUS TRACK:
11. Rumble (Studio Outtake first issued in 1976 - a Link Wray cover)

12. High Flyin' Baby
13. City Lights
14. Have You Seen My Baby?
15. Yesterday's Numbers
16. Teenage Head
17. 32-20
18. Evil Hearted Ada
19. Doctor Boogie
20. Whiskey Woman
Tracks 12 to 20 are their fourth studio album "Teenage Head" - released April 1971 in the USA on Kama Sutra Records KSBS 2031 (no UK release).

BONUS TRACK:
21. Shakin' All Over (Studio Outtake - a cover of the hit most associated with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates)

KRIS NEEDS provides the superb liner notes that explain how the band’s "Sneakers" debut LP in 1968 and its big-label follow up "Supersnazz" in 1969 on Epic Records had received plaudits but precious little chart action. The 12-page booklet has colour and black and white photos of the band (lead guitarist and vocalist Cyril Jordan in his trademark dark glasses and Link Wray look) as well as the usual reissue credits. JOE FOSTER and ANDY MORTEN produced the project for CD whilst NORMAN BLAKE did the Remaster and Sound recreation at Studio 3 in Glasgow. This CD sounds amazing – huge presence and all the muscle you would want without being over done. A fine job done...to the music...

"...Ten head hunters...with a buzz saw...and they was comin' after me..." - the boys tell us in the raw and raunchy guitar-pop of "Comin' After Me" - ten state troopers chasin' close behind with meat hooks. But the Proto-Punk edginess really starts to come screaming in on "Headin' For The Texas Border" where the band is headed to New Orleans to get their mojo back. I love the rapid guitars and the transfer gives it serious wallop. It's 1970 for gawd sake but it could be 1976 - so damn sharp. They then cleverly switch to Acoustic Rock 'n' Roll with "Sweet Roll Me On Down" as they Buddy Holly 'ah-ha' through the chorus. I'm reminded of the British band Fumble who also did Little Richard's brilliant "Keep A Knockin'" in the same all out rocking way - letting the inner joy of this Fifties anthem rip. Roy Loney stumps up another rocker in the excellent "Second Cousin" - the lyrics straying dangerously into Jerry Lee Lewis lawsuit territory.

Things finally settle into a Hank Williams saunter with "Childhood's End" - a very witty childhood song from Ron Loney where he sounds amazingly like Mick Jagger circa "Exile On Main St." doing his best Hillbilly impression. "Jailbait" is a cool and snarly blues chugger where he pleads 'baby what you tryin to do!' to a mean guitar barrage. The fantastic "Gonna Rock Tonight" is the kind of out-and-out Rock 'n' Roll homage that Dave Edmunds would have loved when his regal Zonophone 'Rockpile' album was in play over in Blighty - ooh-wee baby indeed (and dig that huge grungy Bass solo too). The weird but utterly wonderful "She's falling Apart" follows - a song that feels wildly out of synch with the rest of the album but actually a song I return to most. It then blasts into a frantic Punk-rocking finish with the trashy "Road House" - rapid guitars a go-go. You’re then clobbered with a fantastic loose cover of Link Wray’s guitar magnum opus – the album outtake of "Rumble". Jordan and the boys are clearly having riffage fun with the famous menace the song exudes – a very cool bonus indeed that even includes giggles at the end from a band that would have worshipped at Wray’s feet in the blink of an eye.

For album number two we go Dr. Feelgood with the fabulous slide guitar intro to "High Flyin' Baby" – a superb little Ron Loney and Cyril Jordan rocker. We then return to "Exile On Main St." with the boozy swagger of the acoustic barroom "City Lights" and it’s hard to understand why this wickedly cool Acoustic Blues was slagged off at the time (still sounds so damn good to me). The hard-rocking and deliberately grungy "Have You Seen My Baby?" was probably too much Rock 'n' Roll for delicate minds back in the day - but I love it and "Yesterday's Numbers" that follows it which could have been Brinsley Schwarz or Help Yourself or even Free - stunning acoustic Rock that stays with you. And on it goes to a fabulous echoed-vocal six-minute outtake of Johnny Kidd's rip-roaring "Shakin' All Over" - hissy - but so full of balls and life - a fitting end to the CD.

The Flamin Groovies grow in stature as the years pass and people go back. And who have thought that the most bubblegum of labels - Kama Sutra - would have produced such enduring Rock 'n' Roll and Proto Punk. Besides anyone who writes songs with titles like "Evil Hearted Ada", "Doctor Boogie" and "Whiskey Woman" gets my vote...

"Focus Plays Focus" (1970) and "In And Out Of Focus" (1971 Reissue) by FOCUS (Japan-Only SHM-CD Reissue On Victor with Mini LP Repro Artwork with 2001 Red Bus Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...House Of The King..."

Mid 1970 and Dutch Prog-Rockers FOCUS saw their debut album "Focus Plays Focus" released in their native Netherlands on Imperial Records 5C 054-24192 with a seven-track line-up as follows...

Side 1:

1. Focus

2. Why Dream

3. Happy Nightmare

4. Anonymous

Side 2:

1. Black Beauty

2. Sugar Island

3. Focus

They had also released "House Of The King" as a stand-alone 7" single in many European countries in 1970 (Belgium, Spain etc) on Imperial Records too (a non-album A-side at that time). But when it came to re-launching the album in both the UK and the USA in early 1971 - Polydor decided to call it "In And Out Of Focus" - gave it a different gatefold sleeve (the dotted blue one) and added on "House Of The King" as Track 8 in a rejiggered playing order. That eight-track version ran as follows:

Side 1:

1. Focus (Vocal)

2. Black Beauty

3. Sugar Island

4. Anonymous

5. House Of The King

Side 2:

1. Happy Nightmare (Mescaline) [Side 2]

2. Why Dream

3. Focus - Instrumental

This now rare and deleted Japanese SHM-CD reissue from 2009 (using the Red Bus 2001 Remaster) concentrates on that 2nd version - January 1971 in the UK on Polydor 2344 003 and Sire SAS 7404 in the USA. As if to compound the confusion - Britain also had a 'picture of the band' single sleeve sometime in 1971 with the Polydor 2344 003 catalogue number and the USA also had a Sire SAS 7404 with more different artwork.

This Japanese-only 25 February 2009 reissue of "In And Out Of Focus" by FOCUS on Victor VICP-70049 (Barcode 4988002565375) is a SHM-CD (Super High Materials) with a silver Obi housed on the spine of its Mini LP Repro Artwork - the US hard card gatefold. It even repro's the black inner 'Focus' bag that came with original vinyl LPs (total playing time 36:01 minutes). SHM-CDs don’t require a special CD player – they’ll play on all machines. They were developed as a better form of CD and are almost entirely exclusive to Japanese releases – especially reissues – where the new format’s retrieval rates are higher and therefore offer the best sound. Red Bus did the Remaster in 2001 and that's been used for this reissue – and man does it sound good. Nice balance - power when it's needed - a tasty job done...

FOCUS consisted of:

THISJ VAN LEER – Vocals, Keyboards and Flute

JAN AKKERMAN – Guitars

MARTIJN (Martin) DRESDEN - Bass

HANS CLEUVER – Drums

Proceedings kick into gear with "Focus (Vocal)" which runs to 2:44 minutes – opening the album in a mellow Prog mood. It’s a gentle song where the foreign language vocals and keyboard/guitar licks feel almost like a mini hymn. "Black Beauty" introduces their Barclay James Harvest kind of Pop-Rock and I can't say that it's my fave-rave on here. The three-minute hangover from the 60ts bop of "Sugar Island" feels the same - like the band is looking for a hit when they should have been going with their Inner Prog instinct to wig out (nice guitar though from Akkerman and that Tull-like Thijs Van Leer flute solo reminds you of moments from "Stand Up" and "Benefit").

But then things improve immeasurably when the band goes all madrigal at the beginning of the superb "Anonymous" – a near seven-minute instrumental that suddenly feels like 'Focus'. "Anonymous" is a lengthy Prog concoction that's complicated yet still melodic and genuinely impressive after all these decades. The 1970 instrumental "House Of The King" is a winner - a genius 45 that was bound to get the group noticed - even if it does feel just a tad like a Jethro Tull copy in style and composition. But like "Anonymous" - "House Of The King" has that distinctive 'Focus' feel and sound (love that guitar and piano break too).

Side 2 offers us the druggy 'Mescaline' song as our Thijs sings of a sweet life and big pearls in the jaunty "Happy Nightmare". It's an awkwardly upbeat tune for a miserable subject matter with a cleverly placed Mellotron counter-melody to the guitars. Speaking of which - again you notice the sheer virtuosity of Jan Akkerman's axe playing in "Happy Nightmare" – so soulful even in those jazzy passages. It finishes with the nine-minute 'Instrumental' version of "Focus" - another firm fan fave - and with good reason as it feels like the accomplished brilliance of "Moving Waves" and "Focus III" to come.

Their rejiggered debut isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of anyone's imagination - but there's more than enough on here to make it a worthwhile first stop - even for a novice. And with that legendary Japanese presentation quality and added oomph to the Audio - "In And Out Of Focus" is recommended...

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"Rock Workshop" by ROCK WORKSHOP [feat Alex Harvey, Alan Greed and Bob Downes] (2002 Angel Air 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Theme For Freedom..."

Lead Guitarist and principal songwriter RAY RUSSELL with the long forgotten band ROCK WORKSHOP had been gigging with Georgie Fame when he met ALEX HARVEY (later of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band) with his brother Lesley Harvey (lead guitarist with Stone The Crows) who were both playing in the musical "Hair".

Out of this came the collaborative free-basing band 'Rock Workshop' - a very Chicago/Blood Sweat & Tears first-album brass-driven 11-man fusion outfit (which a touch of Alexis Korner's C.C.S. thrown in) who managed two albums on CBS Records in 1970 and 1971. Both of these platters sank without a trace and have been very hard to find every since. Harvey would of course sign to Vertigo Records and start a run of highly successful albums and chart action (later LPs on Mooncrest).

The band's second lead vocalist was ALAN GREED. Greed had been with Harsh Reality who had a lone Prog Rock album called "Heaven And Hell" released in 1969 on Philips SBL 7891. After Rock workshop failed - Greed went on to be with the band The Running Man who managed one self-titled LP on RCA's Progressive Rock Neon label (NE 11). The other notable in Rock Workshop was flutist BOB DOWNES - a Fusion heavyweight whose cult status amongst collectors and aficionados has long since been the very stuff of collectability.   

However - this 'Angel Air Records' CD Reissue and Remaster is not without its problems as other reviewers have noted - but I'd argue that it’s still worth checking out. Here are the wigged-out details...

UK released October 2002 - "Rock Workshop" by ROCK WORKSHOP on Angel Air SJPCD132 (Barcode 5055011701328) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Six Bonus Tracks that pans out as follows (71:16 minutes):

1. Ice Cold

2. Wade In The Water

3. Hole In Her Stocking

4. He Looks At Me/Mooncross Groove

5. Spine Cop

6. Born In The City

7. Theme For Freedom

8. You To Lose

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Spine Cop (Alternate Version)

10. Hole In Her Stocking (Alternate Version)

11. Born In The City (Alternate Version)

12. You To Lose (Alternate Version)

13. Primrose Hill

14. Return To The Goddess

For some reason that's never explained - the original British LP's track list has been messed around with for this CD Reissue. Released June 1970 on CBS Records S 64075 (No US issue) - it should have been configured as follows:

Side 1:

1. You To Lose (Ray Russell/R Cameron song)

2. Wade In The Water (Ramsey Lewis cover - arranged Ray Russell)

3. Primrose Hill (Them For Jake) (Ray Russell/R Shepherd song)

4. Theme For Freedom (Ray Russell song)

Side 2:

1. Spine (Ray Russell song)

2. Ice Cold (Ray Russell/R Shepherd song)

3. Hole In Her Stocking (Ray Russell/Alex Harvey song)

4. He Looks At Me (Ray Russell song)

5. Mooncross Grove (Ray Russell song)

ROCK WORKSHOP was:

ALEX HARVEY and ALAN GREED - Lead Vocals

RAY RUSSELL - Lead Guitar

BUD PARKES - Trumpet

HARRY BECKETT - Trumpet/Flugelhorn

TONY ROBERTS - Tenor, Concert Flute and Alto Flute

BOB DOWNES - Tenor, Concert Flute and Alto Flute

DEREK WADSWORTH - Trombone

BRIAN MILLER - Keyboards

DARYL RUNSWICK - Bass

ALAN RUSHTON - Drums

ROBIN JONES - Drums or Congas/LA

All arrangements by Ray Russell - Electronic Music by Laurie Baker

But as you can see the CD's track list is rejiggered. The other problem is that the material is licensed from former band member Ray Russell (Remastered by Rik Walton) but it doesn't say what was used or how it was remastered. Harvey's vocals are distant in the mix while Russell's wild guitar playing is often amplified and to the fore. The Rich Wilson liner notes (June 2002) feature a good interview with founder member Ray Russell who laments the band's lack of gigs and promotion by the label (Harvey left after the first LP). There are blurry pictures of the eleven-strong group and the pages are done in the same 'shed' artwork of the album sleeve - but they're also sorely lacking. They don't mention the second LP "The Very Last Time" on CBS Records S 64394 nor show its gatefold sleeve - no catalogue numbers - no explanations of the Previously Unreleased Alternate Takes or even that "Primrose Hill" appeared on the 1971 double-album sampler "Rock Buster". It could have been a lot better. But I still dig the music...

The Side 1 opener "You To Lose" is a near seven-minute 3-parter (Overture, Breakout and Main Theme – Finale) that comes at you with a manic guitar solo first but then settles down into a great funky-rock groove that finally fizzles out with mad synth sounds (tasty). Their one-hundred miles an hour fuzzed-up guitar treatment of the Jazz Traditional "Wade In The Water" (famously associated with Ramsey Lewis) is the kind of freak-out Zappaphiles adore – Alex Harvey snarling like a loon as the brass tries to keep up with Russell letting rip on the axe. Alan Greed's vocals are a highlight on the brilliant "Primrose Hill" - a great song that deserved a better production. Other cool tracks include the seven-minute "Theme For Freedom" - a very Blood, Sweat & Tears affair with wilder guitar and horn playing (hell it even has a drum solo). The previously unreleased instrumental “Return To Goddess” will please fans of freak out guitar and brass...rave on boys...

Sure the Rock Workshop audio feels compromised and the presentation could have been better - but there's enough on here for punters to consider revisiting this forgotten wigout...give it a whirl... 

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"Mona Bone Jakon" by CAT STEVENS [feat Peter Gabriel] (2000 Universal Island Remasters CD – Ted Jensen Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Won't Be Lonely For Long..."

After two pop albums with Deram ("Matthew And Son" and "New Masters" in March and December of 1967) and a two-year spell battling a bout of TB that nearly killed him - it was time for Steven Demetri Georgiou to become a proper singer-songwriter. CAT STEVENS signed to Chris Blackwell's mighty Island Records and the label's built-in policy of artistic-freedom saw the London lad with cat's eyes explode with creativity. And that flourishing sneaked in with April 1970's underrated and quietly forgotten "Mona Bone Jakon" LP.

Next port of call would be "Tea For A Tillerman" in November 1970 that would yield huge hits like "Wild World", "Hard Headed Woman", "Longer Boats" and the generation gap song "Father And Son" - the LP landing Cat Stevens in every bedsit up and down the country and around the globe. But it all with began with the rather solemn "Mona Bone Jakon" earlier in that mercurial year - 1970. Time to revisit the tearful dustbin on this gorgeous Remaster...

UK released August 2000 (May 2000 in the USA) - "Mona Bone Jakon" by CAT STEVENS on Universal/Island IMCD 267 / 546 883-2 (Barcode 731454688321) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 11-track 1970 LP and plays out as follows (35:13 minutes):

1. Lady D'Arbanville

2. Maybe You're Right

3. Pop Star

4. I Think I See The Light

5. Trouble

6. Mona Bone Jakon {Side 2]

7. I Wish, I Wish

8. Katmandu

9. Time

10. Fill My Eyes

11. Lilywhite

Tracks 1 to 11 are his 3rd studio album "Mona Bone Jakon" - released April 1970 in the UK on Island ILPS 9118 and August 1970 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4260. Produced by PAUL SAMWELL-SMITH (all songs by CS also) - it peaked at No.63 on UK LP charts in June 1970 (didn't chart USA).

Musicians

CAT STEVENS – Guitars and Keyboards and Lead Vocals

ALUN DAVIES – Additional Guitar

JOHN RYAN – Bass

HARVEY BURNS - Percussion

PETER GABRIEL - Flute on "Katmandu"

DEL NEWMAN - Arranged "Maybe You're Right", "Pop Star" and "Lilywhite" - all others arranged by Cat Stevens

The 12-page booklet reproduces the handwritten lyrics that were on a rare insert that came with original UK 'Pink Island' label vinyl LPs back in April 1970. Starting a long tradition that would continue throughout the whole of the Seventies - the front cover artwork is his own painting - the rear sleeve colour photo is on the last page. It's a damn shame that no-one thought to expand the booklet into even the most basic liner notes (a history) – or repro the rare UK picture sleeve to the 3-track Maxi-Single for "Lady D'Arbanville" on Island WIP 6086. That Maxi Single and its June 1970 release went Top Ten to No. 8 helping the LP to actually chart in the UK at the lowly placing of No. 63 ("Time" and "Fill My Eyes" were the B-sides). BILL LEVENSON supervised the reissue while TED JENSEN did the Remaster from original two-track analogue master tapes at Sterling Sound in New York in December 1999. This CD sounds gorgeous - all the instruments clear, strong and present in your speakers. As it's largely acoustic too - it rattles with beautiful clarity...

It opens with an obvious single - the lovely mid-paced "Lady D'Arbanville". Actually it's darker than its pleasant strum would initially suggest - the warmth of that acoustic soundstage countered with cheery lines like "...in your grave you lie...I'll always be with you...this rose will never die..." A hurting smoocher follows - this time Cat leading with piano on "Maybe You're Right". It’s a rather stunning little song that sounds like it could easily have been on "Tea For A Tillerman". With it's strings and deep melody - I can't help thinking it would have made a great follow up 45 - but Island let "Lady D'Arbanville" be the only 7" single lifted from the album. The rather acidic "Pop Star" whines just a little too much and just seems strangely out of place (a B-side) - but at least as he sings "...going to the cold bank..." the acoustics are crystal (a great transfer this). Side 1 ends with "I Think I See The Light" - a slight return to the Pop sound of the Deram days - and the beautiful "Trouble" - a song that exudes a tangible hurt (superb remastered sound).

Side 2 opens with the short and echoed title track "Mona Bone Jakon" where he sings 'jack-on' and tells us 'it won't be lonely for long' - whatever that means. A pencilled face with a closed-up mouth stares down at the lyrics for "I Wish, I Wish" in the booklet (his own sketch) - a strange hybrid sound that's somewhere between Deram and Island - and dig that fabulous Acoustic Guitar solo (Alun Davies I'd swear). The catgut strings of a Spanish acoustic guitar squeak throughout "Katmandu" where we hear the occasional Flute flourishes of Genesis' Peter Gabriel making a few bob before stardom on Charisma Records. It's a tad hissy this track but the audio is magnificent - Jensen has wisely let it breath. At 1:26 minutes "Time" is short but wow what a gorgeous little melody - him on acoustic with the occasional piano note nipping in and out like a jet (treated production). It segues into the equally pretty "Fill My Eyes" - a song with a sweet chorus. It finishes on another LP highlight - the ballad "Lilywhite" - Newman's arrangement of those big strings and cello notes elevating the song into something special - especially in that gorgeous fade-out passage.

"Mona Bone Jakon" isn't as special as the "Tea For The Tillerman" and "Teaser And The Firecat" LPs that would follow and make his name - instead it's a four-star effort 'getting' to those two stabs of genuine five-star greatness. But it has those moments and exudes the sort of acoustic melodies and song-sound that made Cat Stevens such a global musical phenomenon. Reacquaint yourself with this tunesmith's beginnings...especially with its fab new audio...

"Old Socks, New Shoes...New Socks, Old Shoes" by THE JAZZ CRUSADERS (2008 Universal 'Originals' Digipak CD Reissue - Kevin Reeves Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…Way Back Home…"

Nearly ten years after their formation in 1961 - Jazz Funk maestros THE CRUSADERS were still holding on to the word 'JAZZ' in their band title when they went seriously funky for their new decade debut LP on Chisa Records - the quirkily titled "Old Socks, New Shoes...New Socks, Old Shoes" (Chisa CS 804, July 1970).

Both "Old Socks, New Shoes…" and their rare 2nd album follow-up "Pass The Plate" (Chisa Records CS 807, May 1971) are available as part of Universal's 'Originals' Series of CD Reissues. And that's where this cheap but oh-so-cheerful Reissue/Remaster comes partying in.

As already noted "Old Socks, New Shoes..." is part of Universal’s 'Originals' Reissue Series of CDs - Soul, Funk, Fusion, Latin and Jazz albums culled from Universal's huge array of labels stretching back to the Fifties. Each comes in a foldout card digipak that apes the original LP artwork and all are pitched at mid price. Many titles are first-time-on-CD and all are remastered from original source tapes by Top Universal engineers - names that audio collectors will know like Kevin Reeves, Gary Moore, Suha Gur, Gavin Lurssen, Ellen Fitton and Erick Labson. Here are the varying shoes sizes…

UK released July 2008 (April 2008 in the USA) - "Old Socks, New Shoes...New Socks, Old Shoes" by THE JAZZ CRUSADERS on Universal/Verve/Chisa 0602517654365 (Barcode 602517654365) is a straightforward 10-track transfer of the album (42:16 minutes).

1. Thank You

2. Funny Shuffle

3. Why Do You Laugh At Me?

4. Jackson!

5. Rainy Night in Georgia

6. Golden Slumbers [Side 2]

7. Jazz!

8. Time Has No Ending

9. Hard Times

10. Way Back Home

Tracks 1 to 4 and 8 written by Wayne Henderson, Track 5 is a Tony Joe White cover version, Track 6 is a Beatles cover version, Track 7 written by Joe Sample, Track 9 is a Paul Mitchell cover version and Track 10 written by Wilton Felder.

Produced by STEWART LEVINE - "Old Socks, New Shoes...New Socks, Old Shoes" was released July 1970 in the USA on Chisa Records CS 804 and October 1971 in the UK on Rare Earth Records SRE 3001(it was the first LP released on the Rare Earth Records label in the UK).

THE JAZZ CRUSADERS was:

JOE SAMPLE - Keyboards

WILTON FELDER - Saxophones

WAYNE HENDERSON - Trombones

NESBERT "STIX" HOOPER - Drums & Percussion

Guests:

ARTHUR ADAMS – Guitar

FREDDIE ROBINSON – Guitar

Originally produced by STEWART LEVINE to great effect - this 2008 CD reissue is a straightforward copy of that album (gatefold sleeve and all). Experienced and long-standing Engineer KEVIN REEVES has carried out the Remaster at Universal Mastering Studios and the sound quality is fabulous - funky, clear and muscular - just what's needed. The tri-gatefold card digipak (with an 'Originals' logo on the left) reproduces the original foldout artwork of the vinyl LP (the boys laughing at a table) - but there's nothing by way of liner notes or history, which is a damn shame (the same for most of these 'Originals' reissues I'm afraid – no booklets at this price).

Side 1 opens strongly with four in a row from Trombone genius Wayne Henderson - "Thank You" as Funky as anything the JB's could drum up - a stunning groove Chisa should have used as a lead-off 45. Instead they went for the combo of "Way Back Home" b/w "Jackson!" on Chisa C 8010 in September 1970 but it sank without a trace despite the strength of both sides. No other sevens came off the LP – but despite that – the public was digging the band’s new cooler direction and rewarded the LP with a No. 12 position on the US R&B charts with an overall stay of an impressive 31 weeks.

The opening drums and bass combo of "Funny Shuffle" is incredibly clear and punchy - a fab little Jazz Funk bopper that would liven up any hipster's Saturday Night party. The Tony Joe White and Beatles melodies of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and Abbey Road's "Golden Slumbers" are pretty and you can understand why any serious musician would be drawn to them like a moth to a warm flame - but oddly The Crusaders versions are borderline cheesy for me and a mistake I think. Joe sample's "Jazz!" is the wildest track on here - even sporting a mini drum solo - but again - it's kind of indulgent. Wayne Henderson's gorgeous ballad "Time Has No Ending" is a highlight here while the Paul Mitchell "Hard Times" cover jaunts along nicely too. Far better though is the superb closer - Wilton Felder's "Way Back Home" - a brothers-are-struttin' down the street cool groove that slinks along like Mister Cool in his wide-brimmed hat thinking he owns the joint (and he probably does).

"Old Socks, New Shoes..." is typical of so many of The Crusaders Seventies LPs - funky Jazz-Soul with a wee bit of fusion thrown in and to this day the music is still cool, wonderfully slick and just so damn listenable. It's not all genius - but those ill-advised covers aside - this is a cracking but long-forgotten Jazz-Funk album I urge you to check out.

The Crusaders man - I never tire of them...

PS: I've also reviewed the following Crusaders CD reissues...

1. Pass The Plate (1971 LP)

2. Free As The Wind (1977 LP)

3. Images (1978 LP)

4. Street Life (1979 LP, Japanese SHM-CD)

5. Gold (2CD Anthology with superb Gavin Lurssen Remasters)

6. Rainbow Seeker by JOE SAMPLE (Solo LP on Japanese SHM-CD)

"Let It Be... Naked" by THE BEATLES (2003 EMI/Apple 2CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Everybody Had A Hard Year...Everybody Had A Good Time..." 

Hindsight is a handy thing - we're all experts 'after the fact' I suppose. In other words I can understand the reason why 'Naked' exists – but (and I can't help this) – I hate almost everything about this sterile reissue despite its clearly cleaned-up audio squeaking like new shoe leather.

"Let It Be...Naked" is apparently Paul McCartney's stripped down version of the "Let It Be" album (or "Get Back" as it was originally going to be called) The Beatles would have liked to put out back in 1969. But this new version just doesn't work for me. In fact I find most of it an awful listen as opposed to the much maligned released LP that I’ve always loved. In short - the fun and 'live' freshness is gone.

There have been oceans of words eulogised about how Phil Spector ruined the album with additional strings and choirs - a Production-obsessed nutter handed the poison chalice of haphazard recordings made by men already disinterested and in personal disarray. But as Ringo repeatedly said - once the count-in came - The Beatles were a band once more - and even half-baked - the magic was still there. I loved "Let It Be" as an album - that gorgeous four-photograph artwork where they looked like the coolest dudes on the planet (now ruined for some negative atrocity in silver) - the beautiful ballads that literally stopped me in my tracks and made the hairs stand up on my arms - the fresh in-your-face feel to the rockers - and the witty asides that hovered around the main songs. I know "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" were kind of superfluous - but with them missing on this version - the laughs are gone and in 'unplugged' form - it all seems dreadfully po-faced which is something this band never was. This reissue may be 'purer' but I'd argue it's somehow soulless and dead.

It’s well documented that John Lennon hated what Spector did to "Across The Universe" in particular and started a feud with Macca that ultimately brought our best loved foursome to a horrible end - but we Joe Public who've been listening to Spectre's mix of "Across The Universe" for 46 years straight have genuinely loved it - were impossibly moved then and remain so to this day. In fact it’s hot-wired into my brain and I want it that way. The song "Let It Be" is the same – reduced to just piano here - but instead of feeling prettier it feels far too naked. The strings that elevated "The Long & Winding Road" to a hymn are gone and even though it's a barely noticeable slight/edit - the witty 'Pot Smoking FBI members' jibe from Lennon is missing at the end of "For You Blue". The larking-about 'sweet Loretta fart' Lennon intro to "Get Back" is gone too as is the song's punch when they kick in. Oh dear oh Doris. Anyway - let's get to the long and winding details...

Released November 2003 – "Let It Be...Naked" by THE BEATLES on EMI/Apple 07243 595713 2 4 (Barcode 724359571324) is a 2CD Reissue/Remix/Remaster and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (35:02 minutes):

1. Get Back

2. Dig A Pony

3. For You Blue

4. The Long And Winding Road

5. Two Of Us

6. I’ve Got A Feeling

7. One After 909

8. Don't Let Me Down

9. I Me Mine

10. Across The Universe

11. Let It Be

Disc 2 'Fly On The Wall' (21:56 minutes):

CONVERSATION

Sun King

Don't Let Me Down

CONVERSATION

One After 909

CONVERSATION

Because I Know You Love Me So

CONVERSATION

Don't Pass Me By

Taking A Trip To Caroline

John's Piano Piece

CONVERSATION

Child Of Nature

Back In The USSR

CONVERSATION

Every Little Thing

Don't Let Me Down

CONVERSATION

All Things Must Pass

CONVERSATION

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

CONVERSATION

Paul's Piano Piece

Get Back

CONVERSATION

Two Of Us

Maggie Mae

Fancy My Chances With You

CONVERSATION

Can You Dig It?

CONVERSATION

Get Back

CONVERSATION

The 32-page booklet is visually cool but deceptively full of hot air. Much of it is taken up with The Beatles talking absolute gobbledygook during the making of the film "Let It Be" - yet it’s reprinted here like its manna from the Gods of Rock Heaven. Kevin Howlett's lead-in liner notes are at least decent giving an expert and detailed history of what happened. McCartney is quoted as loving the new stripped back versions and the rejiggered track list but I personally feel only two of three of them are better.

The PAUL HICKS, GUY MASSEY and ALLAN ROUSE remixes and remasters are very clean – hiss-less - but also strangely sterile. In their favour "I Me Mine" now has a 'rock' core and renewed punch while it's a smart move to have John on "Across The Universe" and Paul's "Let It Be" end the album with "Get Back" chucked into the beginning. But I miss "Two Of Us" opening the LP and I miss the silly but effective "Dig It" passage before that piano intro into "Let It Be". And that great guitar and Billy Preston's fabulous organ contributions to the song are muted instead of to the fore.

I wouldn’t mind if the ‘Fly On The Wall’ CD2 actually offered us anything we could actually use. At first glance that track list offers tantalising names like Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", tracks from Abbey Road and those other outtakes - but then you look at the booklet and the timings - 35 seconds for "Don't Let Me Down" - the outtake "Child Of Nature" is only 24 seconds while "Back In The USSR" is 9 seconds and "Don't Pass Me By" only 3 seconds! It plays for one continuous song of 21:56 minutes – all the edited bits of chat between ideas stuck together. It’s fun for about four minutes but then just gets on your nerves. This ludicrous crap only serves to frustrate and you can't help but feel that the widely bootlegged decent outtakes (full songs) are being kept back by EMI for future "Let It Be" anniversary issues.

In fairness - I'm still turned on by "I've Got A Feeling" and "Don't Let Me Down" which is a hugely moving song - and "One After 909" has some rocking back in it too. But again without the intros and quirks of the original LP - the fun and life of the original seems to have been sucked out of this reissue in its pressing need to be a cohesive album (since when were The Beatles ever about being conformist or ordinary).

In the UK I've seen this Beatles reissue for sale for as little as £1.50 (the same elsewhere) - and there has to be a reason for that - people just don't like it - don't get it?

Great audio or no - I'm going to be listening to my original "Let It Be" and leaving this up on the shelf in the 'curio' pile...