"Mad Dogs & Englishmen: 35th Anniversary DELUXE EDITION" by JOE COCKER (2005 Universal/A&M 2CD Reissue - Suha Gur Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Feelin' Alright..."

Absolutely everyone loved "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" - Joe Cocker's blistering live double-album released September 1970 on both sides of the pond (and everywhere else for that matter). It capturing lightning in a bottle - a humungous band at their lead-swinging freshest recorded across two venues and nights in March and April of that decade’s first year. A&M Records loved it (went to No. 2 in the USA and sold a million copies) - the public and press alike frenzy-fought for tickets to see the 43-piece extravaganza as it made its way across America until the final show on the 16th of May. Everybody loved it – everyone except Joe Cocker.

By the end of the tour the freshness and excitement was gone – and so was he. A massive ego-clash between him and Leon Russell had ripped the happy heart out of the merry band – and all that palatable joy in those first shows so evident on the 2LP set – had evaporated in a haze of drugs, recrimination and bitterness. Legend has it that the feud was so grim it wouldn't be discussed for decades on end. Worse - despite nationwide fame, adoration and a single in the American charts for the first time - Cocker had just under $900 in his pocket with his hard-won LP royalties' unavailable - years and years away. He wound up broke and bruised in California with an itch he needed to scratch. Joe later said it took him years to fully recover from the aftermath of that fateful tour...

None of this post-mortem however detracts from the reissue brilliance of this very cool '35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' – Joe Cocker’s ground-breaking live double-album "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" finally given the stunning Remastered Audio its always deserved - quality presentation and some shockingly brill Previously Unreleased tracks alongside other B-side rarities. They even sort-of mimic that wonderful foldout many-leaved sleeve that came with original vinyl issues. Nice. Here are the muscular details...

UK released 24 October 2005 (18 October 2005 in the USA) - "Mad Dogs & Englishmen: 35th Anniversary DELUXE EDITION" by JOE COCKER on Universal/A&M 0602498860069 (Barcode 602498860069) is a 2CD Reissue and Remaster with Eight Previously Unreleased Tracks and other Rarities and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (57:23 minutes):
1. Honkey Tonk Women
2. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
3. The Weight
4. Sticks And Stones
5. Bird On A Wire
6. Cry Me A River
7. Superstar - Performed by RITA COOLIDGE
8. Feelin' Alright
9. Something
10. Darling Be Home Soon
11. Let It Be - Performed by CLAUDIA LENNEAR
12. Further On Up The Road - Performed by DON PRESTON
Tracks 3, 9, 10 and 12 on Disc 1 are Previously Unreleased - all recorded Saturday, 28 March 1970 at the Fillmore East
Track 11 is the non-album 7" single B-side to "The Ballad Of Mad Dogs & Englishmen" released April 1971 in the USA on A&M 1253 (1st time on CD)

Disc 2 (79:30 minutes):
1. Let's Go Get Stoned
2. Space Captain
3. Hummingbird - Performed by LEON RUSSELL
4. Dixie Lullaby - Performed by LEON RUSSELL
5. The Letter
6. Delta Lady
7. Give Peace A Chance
8. Blue Medley: I'll Drown In My Own Tears/When Something Is Wrong With My Baby/I've Been Loving You Too Long
9. With A Little Help From My Friends
ENCORE:
10. Girl From The North Country
STUDIO SESSIONS for SINGLES:
11. Warm-Up Jam including Under My Thumb - Performed by LEON RUSSELL and THE SHELTER PEOPLE
12. The Letter (Studio Single Version) - Performed by JOE COCKER with LEON RUSSELL and THE SHELTER PEOPLE
13. Space Captain (Studio Single Version) - Performed by JOE COCKER with LEON RUSSELL and THE SHELTER PEOPLE
14. The Ballad Of Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Performed by LEON RUSSELL
Tracks 3, 4, 9 and 11 are Previously Unreleased
Live Tracks 3 and 4 recorded Friday, 27 March 1970 at the Fillmore East - Track 9 recorded Saturday, 28 March 1970
Studio Track 11 recorded 17 March 1970 and 3 April 1970 at A&M and Gold Star Studios respectively
Tracks 12 and 13 are First Time STEREO Mix – released April 1970 in the USA on 7” single as A&M 1174 and June 1970 in the UK on Regal Zonophone RZ 3027. It was subsequently re-issued using the same catalogue number but replaced the studio versions with the 2LP live cuts.
All songs sung by JOE COCKER except where stated

Lovers of the original will immediately notice that Universal in their corporate wisdom have decided to place the songs across this 2CD reissue as they were recorded - arguing that it gives the gigs used better context (March 27 and 28th at The Fillmore East and April 17th at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium). Some have already commented on how much they love it - personally I'm not that keen. But if you do want to configure the US and UK 2LP set as originally released – use the following as your playlist:

Side 1:
1. Introduction
2. Honky Tonk Women (Track 1, Disc 1)
3. Introduction
4. Sticks And Stones (Track 4, Disc 1)
5. Cry Me A River (Track 6, Disc 1)
6. Bird On A Wire (Track 5, Disc 1)

Side 2:
1. Feelin' Alright (Track 8, Disc 1)
2. Superstar - Performed by RITA COODLIDGE  (Track 7, Disc 1)
3. Introduction
4. Let's Go Get Stoned (Track 1, Disc 2)

Side 3:
1. Blue Medley:
I'll Drown In My Own Tears
When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
I've Been Loving You Too Long (Track 8, Disc 2)
2. Introduction
3. Girl From The North Country (Track 10, Disc 2)
4. Give Peace A Chance (Track 7, Disc 2)

Side 4:
1. Introduction
2. She Came In Thru The Bathroom Window (Track 2, Disc 1)
3. Space Captain (Track 2, Disc 2)
4. The Letter (Track 5, Disc 2)
5. Delta Lady (Track 6, Disc 2)
The double-album "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" was released September 1970 in the USA on A&M Records SP-6002 and September 1970 in the UK on A&M Records AMLS 6002. Produced by DENNY CORDELL and LEON RUSSELL - it peaked at No. 2 on the US album charts and No. 16 in the UK.

THE BAND was:
JOE COCKER - Lead Vocals
LEON RUSSELL - Guitar and Piano
CHRIS STAINTON - Piano and Organ
DON PRESTON - Rhythm Guitar (Lead Vocals on "Further On Up The Road")
BOBBY KEYS - Tenor Saxophone
JIM PRICE - Trumpet
CARL RADLE - Bass
BOBBY TORRES - Conga
JIM KELTNER - Drums
JIM GORDON - Drums
CHUCK BLACKWELL - Drums and Percussion
THE CHOIR - Don Preston, Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Daniel Moore, Donna Weiss, Pamela Polland, Matthew Moore, Donna Washburn, Nicole Barclay and Bobby Jones

The four-way foldout card digipak has an info page attached to the rear and the 24-page booklet has new liner notes from JP BEAN of Sheffield along with random cartoons in-between the text. There’s a two-page colour photo for a massive Sunset Blvd. billboard advert using the ‘All Elements Of The Truth’ lines from the album sleeve. Niggles - "Cry Me A River" b/w "Give Peace A Chance" was issued as a 45 in the USA (A&M 1200, September 1970) and in the UK (Fly Records BUG 3, October 1970) and both came with different picture sleeves - but neither is featured here - so a trick missed there.

But all of that goes by the wall when you hear the amazing new Audio care of a team of two - HEATH CONDIOTTE who did the transfers while long-time Universal Engineer SUHA GUR did the mastering. It's like the record has been given renewed power - and at least four of those Previously Unreleased live tracks with Don Preston and Leon Russell are absolutely storming. Fans will also know that the fabulous pairing of the non-album tracks "The Letter" b/w "Space Captain" turned up on The Long Voyage Home Box and subsequent CDs as ‘Mono’ Singles Mixes. Here they’re given first-time STEREO versions and all I can say is WOW! Fans are going to chew these up...even if the "Space Captain" track has some weird echoes and spaces all of a sudden.

While I understand the thinking behind the line-up of the tracks on the DE – I quickly assembled the original double on my iTunes set up and I’d still maintain it’s a better edit and a far better listen. Opening with "Honky Tonk Women" and "Sticks And Stones" (The Rolling Stones and Ray Charles) – you’re immediately struck by the sheer power the Remaster has given the band who now seem to be occupying your living room with intent on doing some serious party damage to your carefully arranged Feng Shui. Julie London gets Funkified to a point where her signature tune "Cry Me A River" is unrecognisable – but it’s the Leonard Cohen bawler "Bird On A Wire" that moves – given a hugely Soulful take that ends Side 1 on a real high.

Dave Mason’s Traffic song "Feelin’ Alright" opens Side 2 with a elongated belter - while the Bonnie Bramlett/Leon Russell song "Superstar" is the first to feature a guest – this time Rita Coolidge. Rita's vocal range is similar to Karen Carpenter who would cover the song on their self-titled A&M album the following year (1971) – almost making it feel like The Carpenters owned the tune all along. Bobby Keys - the default Saxophonist for The Rolling Stones - requests, gets and is featured on the Ray Charles cry for a mental blitz "Let's Go Get Stoned". By now the band is simply cooking – the choir adding soulful backing vocals at choice points throughout the eight-minute work out.

But the 2LP literally goes up in live flames with the three-song Soul Medley that opens Side 3 – Brother Ray's Atlantic hit "I'll Drown In My Own Tears" - Sam & Dave's "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" (written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter) and finally the Otis Redding Stax classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long" - all rolled into one powerhouse performance. Russell intros Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" which he shares with Joe as that plays fast yet soulful. We get all 'church-on-Sunday' righteous with "Give Peace A Chance" - a Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell song that feels like The Staples Singers having a rave up with the Lord while James Brown conducts the funky choir. Side 4 introduces what many wanted to hear - Joe do The Beatles - the Abbey Road nugget "She Came In Thru The Bathroom Window". But even that crowd-pleaser is trumped by a lethal three-song finale that genuinely thrills as it builds - Matthew Moore's "Space Captain", The Box Tops' "The Letter" and the Leon Russell hit that practically broke Joe Cocker - "Delta Lady" – all sounding unbelievably good on this Remaster. What a winner...

I wasn't expecting the unreleased stuff to be as good as it is - but genuine standouts include Don Preston doing a truly fantastic rocking version of the old Blues classic "Further On Up The Road" while Russell delivers the goods on both "Hummingbird" and "Dixie Lullaby" and the near mine-minute "With A Little Help From My Friends" is a virtual tour-de-force.

Universal has done some dubious DE versions over the years and some nuggets too (check out Howlin Wolf, Whiskeytown, John Martyn to name but a few) - expanded editions that genuinely bring more to the feast. "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" is one of them.

"...Learning to live together..." Joe croaks on the brilliant "Space Captain". We're just learning to live without you mate. God bless wherever you may be...and thanks to all the players for such great memories...

"Original Album Classics" by AL KOOPER (September 2015 Sony/Columbia/Legacy 5CD Mini Box Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Features the 1970 2LP-Set "Easy Does It" 

"...It's A Brand New Day..."

Having 'played the organ' on Bob Dylan's 1965 and 1966 masterpieces "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blonde" on your resume is probably not a bad start for most musicians. You then meddle about with Steve Katz and The Blues Project for more LPs. After that you form "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and punch out their equally stunning debut album "Child Is Father To The Man" in early 1968. You follow those accolades by having a "Super Session" with guitar wonder-kids Mike Bloomfield of The Electric Flag/Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield. Then you do a live double-album of that. And it's still only 1968. So far so legendarily good. But then you get all bolshy and decide to do the dread deed and go 'solo'...

If I'm absolutely truthful and having bought them all down through the years - I've always found Al Kooper's solo career somewhat patchy with moments of genius lopped on top – never a cohesive whole - expect maybe the criminally underrated and forgotten "Easy Does It" double-album from 1970 and 1972's "New York City (You're A Woman)". 

And despite having charted oodles of LPs - his back-catalogue has always seemed to have had availability issues on CD (some made Columbia Remasters while others have been reissued on expensive Japanese CD imports). But at last in 2015 – Sony's Columbia/Legacy branch sorts a chunk of it out by giving us five of his most popular records between 1969 and 1972 clumped together in one handy "Original Classic Albums" buy-pack. And while there are no bonus tracks or annotation – we get a reasonable price tag, remastered audio and dinky repro singular card artwork. And with one of the CDs being a double-album onto one disc - you’re effectively getting six LPs worth of music for your 5-disc outlay.

There is a lot to process so let's get friendly once more with our favourite naked New Yorker - Al Kuperschmidt...

UK released 4 September 2015 (11 September 2015 in the USA) - "Original Album Classics" by AL KOOPER on Sony/Columbia/Legacy 88875099072 (Barcode 888750990723) is a 5CD Set of Remasters In A Card Slipcase and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (41:32 minutes):
1. Overture
2. I Stand Alone
3. Camille
4. One
5. Coloured Rain
6. Soft Landing On The Moon
7. I Can Love A Woman [Side 2]
8. Blue Moon Of Kentucky
9. Toe Hold
10. Right Now for You
11. Hey, Western Union Man
12. Song And Dance For The Unborn, Frightened Child
Tracks 1 to 12 are his debut LP "I Stand Alone" – released February 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9718 and March 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63596. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 54 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (44:10 minutes):
1. Magic In My Socks
2. Lucille
3. Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby
4. First Time Around
5. Loretta (Union Turnpike Eulogy)
6. Blues, Part IV
7. You Never Know Who Your Friends Are [Side 2]
8. The Great American Marriage/Nothing
9. I Don't Know Why I Love You
10. Mourning Glory Story
11. Anna Lee (What Can I Do For You)
12. I'm Never Gonna Let You Down
Tracks 1 to 12 are his 2nd studio album "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" – released October 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9855 and November 1969 in the UK on CBS Records S 63651. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 125 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 3 (62:30 minutes):
1. Brand New Day [Side 1]
2. Piano Solo Introduction
3. I Got A Woman
4. Country Road
5. I Bought You The Shoes
6. Introduction [Side 2]
7. Easy Does It
8. Buckskin Boy
9. Love Theme From "The Landlord"
10. Sad, Sad Sunshine [Side 3]
11. Let The Duchess No
12. She Gets Me Where I Live
13. A Rose And A Baby Ruth
14. Baby, Please Don't Go [Side 4]
15. God Sheds His Grace On Thee
Tracks 1 to 15 are his 4th studio set – the double-album "Easy Does It" – released September 1970 in the USA on Columbia G 30031 and November 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 66252. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 105 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK). Note: his 3rd US studio set "Kooper Session – Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" from January 1970 is not included in this package.

Disc 4 (43:00 minutes):
1. New York City (You're A Woman)
2. John The Baptist (Holy John)
3. Can You Hear It Now (500 Miles)
4. The Ballad Of The Hard Rock Kid
5. Going Quietly Mad
6. Medley: Oo Wee Baby, I Love You/Love Is A Man's Best Friend [Side 2]
7. Back On My Feet
8. Come Down In Time
9. Dearest Darling
10. Nightmare #5
11. The Warning (Someone’s On The Cross Again)
Tracks 1 to 11 are his 5th studio album "New York City (You're A Woman)" – released June 1971 in the USA on Columbia C 30506 and July 1971 in the UK on CBS Records S 64340. Produced by Al Kooper – it peaked at No. 198 on the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).

Disc 5 (37:15 minutes):
1. (Be Yourself) Be Real
2. As The Years Go Passing By
3. Jolie
4. Blind Baby
5. Been And Gone
6. Sam Stone [Side 2]
7. Peacock Lady
8. Touch The Hem Of His Garment
9. Where Were You When I Needed You
10. Unrequited
Tracks 1 to 10 are his 7th studio album "Naked Songs" - released November 1972 in the USA on Columbia KC 31723 and in the UK on CBS Records S 65193. Produced by Al Kooper - it didn't chart in either country. His sixth studio album was "A Possible Projection Of The Future/Childhood's End" from April 1972 (not included in this set).

It doesn't say where or 'who' remastered these albums (Vic Anesini maybe) - but given the versions I had before - these new Stereo transfers have been done very well indeed. Each of these albums has renewed punch and I'm thrilled to find that "Easy Does It" sounds amazing - as do the heavy-on-the-arrangements songs on his "I Stand Alone" debut. That keyboard funk on "New York City..." and "Naked Songs" – it's all good frankly...

As you can imagine across five albums there's a wad of choice and eclectic session-players - his cover of Traffic's "Coloured rain" on the debut album "I Stand Alone" features the Don Ellis Orchestra - falsetto backing vocalist Robert John is on "Lucille" and "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" and Trumpeter Marvin Stamm guests on "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down". The "Easy Does It" double-album alone has a wad of guests - Fred Lipsius of Blood, Sweat & Tears fame gives a Saxophone solo on the Ray Charles cover "I Got A Woman" - Southern guitar rocker Charlie Daniels and Bassist Charlie McCoy of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry are both on "Let The Duchess No" - future New Waver Peter Ivers blows Harmonica on the cover of James Taylor's "Country Road" - not to mention percussionist Milt Holland and uber-drummers Rick Marotta and Earl Palmer and Guitarists Dave Bromberg and Tommy Tedesco. Roger Pope and Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot play on the "New York City (You're A Woman)" album - as does Sneaky Pete Kleinow of The Flying Burrito Brothers while Barry Bailey of Atlanta Rhythm Section features on the "Naked Songs" LP.

The debut is a part Rock, part Psychedelic, part 60ts Pop smorgasbord where the pointless instrumental/noises "Overture" irritates - but that's soon replaced by his signature Brass and Melody sound on "I Stand Alone". He co-wrote "Camille" with Tony Powers - a wildly overproduced piece of echoed melodrama. Better is his cover of Nilsson's "One" - Jimmy Wisner arranged those lovely strings for the loneliest number. We go Psych for Traffic's "Coloured Rain" with every manner of instrument invading a flanged mix that feels very "Magical Mystery Tour". Columbia stuck the weird and cultish keyboard-instrumental "Soft Landing On The Moon" on the B-side of "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" from the next album when they released it as a 45 in July 1969 (Columbia 4011).

A cop-car siren opens "I Can Love A Woman" - an ominous beginning to what turns out to be a happy tune complete with strings and backing ladies (lovely arrangements in the brass) and a train departing ending. It segues into a Rockabilly cover of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" made more famous by Elvis - in fact the tract feels like Al is channelling his inner Presley in a big way. Penned by Stax writing geniuses Isaac Hayes and David Porter - Johnnie Taylor's "Toe Hold" gets a funked-up work-over that sounds like a cool one which could easily have been on BS&T's "Child Is Father To The Man" debut in early 1968. Gunfire opens his own "Right Now For You" where he goes all Joe Meek on the keyboard with Nilsson acoustic guitars racing alongside the lyrics (neighbours hiding behind fences, howling at the moon). Proving his love of good Soul - he covers Jerry Butler's "Hey, Western Union Man" - another lovely groove (great bass on the transfer) that Columbia tried as a 45 in July 1969 (Columbia 4160) with "I Stand Alone" on the flipside. It ends on another Magical Mystery Tour sounding carnival - the very 60ts "Song And Dance For The Unborn, Forgotten Child" - where a woman's screams and a child-crying invade the strings. Personally it does my head in and I find it hard going...

We’re still very much in 60ts mode with the "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" album that opens with the brassy "Magic In My Socks" - a tune that features some very Zappa guitar passages. Charlie Calello, Lou Christie, Mike Gately and Robert John provide the four-strong wall of Beach Boys backing vocals on "Lucille" - a beautifully inventive song with amazing vocal arrangements (conducted and arranged by Charlie Calello). This quartet - this wall of Spector-esque voices inform almost every song on the album. I can't quite make my mind up about his cover of The Temptations and Marvin Gaye classic "Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby" - I prefer Marvin's beauty. The side ends on the 'would you tighten your foot' organ smooch of "Blues, Part IV" - my kind of improvised studio jam that produces an instrumental you return to again and again. Side 2 opens with the piano joviality of the album's title track where our Al sounds like he's The Monkees singing happy with the wildly upbeat music but actually waxing miserable. We go Scott Walker for the melodrama of "The Great American Marriage/Nothing" (all strings and strained words) which is followed by a Stevie Wonder cover of "I Don't Know Why I Love You" - an 'always treats me like a fool' song where our hero is resigned to his heart's fateful choices. Just like "One" on the debut album - the chorus of voices on "Mourning Glory Story" (yet another Nilsson cover) suit the song so well - even if its kind of ruined by too-clever-clever breaks in-between the wonderful Beach Boys voices.  The album closes on the impressive combo of "Anna Lee" and "I'm Never Gonna Let You Down" which sounds like our Al has been listening to The Band and Bacharach and David - in that order.

Before his next solo move - Kooper pushed out the Blues and R&B album belter "Kooper Session – Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" in January 1970 where he was involved in the songwriting of four cuts (Shuggie's own debut proper "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" hit the US shops in February 1970 – both stormingly good LPs on Epic Records that mixed Funk with Blues and Rock-Soul). They seemed to change Kooper. His sound suddenly matured. Or maybe it's because he gets to stretch out on September 1970's "Easy Does It" - or his sound feels instantly 70ts and not 60ts even though its only the decade's first year - or that its got so much going on - a dip in and find something new event - whatever it is – I've always loved this forgotten and underrated double-album.

"Easy Does It" opens with a theme to "The Landlord" film which itself had been released on United Artists in 1971 (the UAS 5209 album also featured Soul artists The Staple Singers and Lorraine Ellison). There's an edited 45 of "Brand New Day" - but here you get the fabulous 5:19 minute full album version that feels like a rejuvenated Al Kooper telling us it's alright (yes it is children). A melodic solo grand-piano intro tinkles for a few minutes before introducing a truly wonderful stringed-up Soulful take on Brother Ray's Atlantic Records smash "I Got A Woman". Drummer Rick Marotta, Bassist Stu Cook with Peter Ivers on Harmonica liven up another clever cover – James Taylor's “Country Road” – a song Merry Clayton also did justice too over on Ode 70 Records that same year (see my review for her wonderful "Gimme Shelter" LP remastered for CD by Repertoire). David Bromberg plays Pedal Steel on the strictly Country "I Bought You Shoes" – an Al Kooper song that sees our hero discover what Bob Dylan felt about Leopard Skin Pill-Boxed Hats (only this it's her footwear).

Side 2 opens with a minute of studio chatter that leads into a big brassy guitar rendition of the title track – a ballsy guitars 'n' trumpets song that feels like a bit of 50ts 'shapely legs' naughtiness updated to 1970 with Kooper really letting rip on Guitar (could even be an outtake from the "Kooper Session" LP). A very cool chug comes at you for "Buckskin Boy" - a great little album rocker about 'robbed native Americans' that could have been a great 45 with a relevant message. It segues into a 2001: A Space Odyssey of voices giving you the decidedly film-epic "Love Theme From Landlord" - a superb little song that Columbia used as a B-side to the "Brand New Day" 7" edit in March 1971 on Columbia 5146). On Side 3 I love "Let The Duchess No" which was written by John Gregory of The Mystery Trend and the plucked-strings of "She Gets Me Where I Live". Took time but I also dig The Velvet Underground feel to "A Rose And A Baby Ruth" - a teenage quarrel waltz that sounds like acidic Lou Reed beneath all that prettiness. But best of all is his magnificent cover of the Big Joe William's old R&B classic "Baby, Please Don't Go". Covered by everyone from Muddy Waters to Them - here its 1970 twelve-minutes takes up most of Side 4 and is a very Traffic version - all keyboards - Kooper working that piano and organ like a man lost in his groove. It's Soulful, Blue Note Jazzy and Trippy with flanged Keyboards, Bass solos and Scat vocals – only to return to the famous lyrics as it crescendos. It's an indulgence for sure but one that works - what a blast.

The British LP for "New York City (You're A Woman)" adds on 'Excerpt From "New York City: 6 AM To Midnight" - A Symphony In Progress' as its full title (the US LP hasn't got this). But any idea that his opening salvo is going to be a homage to the ladylike delights of his home city goes out the window when he calls his hometown something that rhymes with twitch (and cold-hearted at that). Still he's drawn to NYC like a moth to a flame. Rita Coolidge and Clydie King are amongst the vocalists on the very Band-influenced "John The Baptist (Holy John)". The album was famously recorded in the USA and the UK (thanks to the band Spring for the lend of the Mellotron) and it shows. The wild slide-guitar playing of "The Ballad Of The Hard Rock Kid" sounds like Juicy Lucy returning to "Who Do You Love" (Vertigo 1970) while the gorgeous "Going Quietly Mad" sounds like a melodious Joe Walsh in The James Gang circa 1970's "Rides Again" or even 1972's "Barnstorm". His two covers are more obscure and better for it - Elton John's "Come Down In Time" - a slow/fast rival for the "Tumbleweed Connection" original - while Bo Diddley's "Dearest Darling" is given a spoken intro and a righteous Soulful treatment - like Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett giving it some white people on Stax (I gotta play for you now baby - it's alright). It then ends on a clever one-two of big melodies - the 'two days in my flat' pretty misery of "Nightmare No. 5" while we go full bombast on "The Warning (Someone's On The Cross Again)" which may or not be about a second coming that's a fraud.

The final album here "Naked Songs" picked up where "New York City..." left off but didn't even scrape Top 200 in the USA - apparently a contractual obligation album to Columbia. Maybe this explains the styles - he simply doesn't care what he's recording. But actually - it works. The Peppermint Harris cover "As The Years Go Passing By" is gorgeous Guitar Blues that feels like Gary Moore has been transported from 1989 into 1973 - a very cool song. Jazz Giant Annette Peacock gets a suitably synth outing on "Been And Gone" - a far more Soulful take than you would expect with weird vocal samples as it fades out. His version of Sam Cooke's "Touch The Hem Of His Garment" is a good old 'in church on Sunday morning' rendition - all piano and organ before the sisters take it to the rafters. Kooper then goes contemporary country with John Prine's amazingly realistic "Sam Stone" - a soldier coming home song - a wounded man with shrapnel in his knee and morphine in his veins. Typically brilliant in the lyrical department - "...there's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes...Jesus died with nothing I suppose..." - Kooper gives it his best Richard Manuel impression on vocals and pulls it off - sounding not unlike a sincere 00's Springsteen but in 1972. Columbia even tried it as the album's lone 45 in September 1972 with the opener "Be Real" as the B-side (Columbia 45691) - but no one was listening. Had either the poopy "Where Were You When I Needed You" or the ballad "Unrequited" finishers turned up on Todd Rundgren’s "Something/Anything?" double- album in 1972 - we would be pulling adjectives out of our ass in a frenzy of genuine musical affection. But not for NYC Al which don’t seem right.

For sure you can't say that everything on "Original Album Classics" is out-and-out magic - but when Al Kooper is good like on "Easy Does It" and "New York City (You're A Woman)" and even those glints on "Naked Songs" - you can't help but think that his solo career is ripe for rediscovery and renewed praise.

It's a brand new day people...and having spent some time with this wicked New Yorker...I'm up for it. Recommended...

"The Rill Thing/King of Rock And Roll/The Second Coming" by LITTLE RICHARD (2016 Beat Goes On Reissue - 3LPs onto 2CDs - High Def Remasters by Andrew Thompson) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 1970... - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...The Beauty On Duty..."

Soul and Funk Albums from LITTLE RICHARD

A typically generous and beautifully presented set from England's 'Beat Goes On Label' covering the Georgia Peach's stay at Reprise Records between 1970 and 1972 (3LPs Remastered In High Def from Original Sources onto 2CDs).

Not surprisingly across three albums it's a tale of two cities - the great and the dismissible - with thankfully more keepers than ditchers. In fact there's very little Rock and Roll as we know it on offer here – these forgotten LPs are more about Little Richard's version of early 70ts Funk with a little old-time R&B style thrown in. Song after song comes at you like its Ike & Tina Turner having a jam-tight-butt-shake - and not as you would expect from one of the Original Rock & Rollers from the Fifties - Chuck Berry twelve-bar.

In fact Soul Boys the world over have been discovering these hip-shaking dancers for years now – Little Richard finding his inner 'sock it to me' Isley Brothers groove - his Allen Toussaint voice and winning (most of the time). There are times when it's shockingly different. Take the instrumental title-track "The Rill Thing" from 1970 – it's the kind of chugging Funkathon that would have customers rushing to the counter of any West End record shop demanding to know which 'Meters' song this is and on what album - only to find that you're listening to the Muscle Shoals House Band having a 10-minute Alabama jam without any lead vocal from LR.

And of course then there's that other aspect to any Little Richard record - the sheer fun of the man on those spoken passages where he sings the praises of – well – himself. Richard Penniman has always thought he's God and I'm quite sure a smiling God would be only too willing to agree (LR's modest declaration of 'The Second Coming' not withstanding). There's a lot to wade through indeed - so once mere mortals unto the beauty on a rooty...

UK released 22 July 2016 (29 July 2006 in the USA) - "The Rill Thing/King Of Rock And Roll/The Second Coming" by LITTLE RICHARD on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1235 (Barcode 5017261212351) offers 3LPs Remastered from first generation tapes onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1  (61:30 minutes):

1. Freedom Blues

2. Greenwood, Mississippi

3. Two-Time Loser

4. Dew Drop In

5. Somebody Saw You

6. Spreadin' Natta, What's The Matter?

7. The Rill Thing

8. Lovesick Blues

9. I Saw Her Standing There

Tracks 1 to 9 are his album "The Rill Thing" (credited as The "Rill" Thing on the label) - released August 1970 in the USA on Reprise RS 6406 and October 1970 in the UK on Reprise RSLP 6406.

10. King of Rock And Roll

11. Joy To The World

12. Brown Sugar

13. In The Name

14. Dancing In The Street

Tracks 10 to 14 are Side 1 of the album "King Of Rock And Roll" - released September 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6462 and November 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44156.

Disc 2 (62:04 minutes):

1. Midnight Special

2. The Way You Do The Things You Do

3. Green Power

4. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

5. Settin' The Woods On Fire

6. Born On The Bayou

Tracks 10 to 14 are Side 2 of the album "King Of Rock And Roll" - released September 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6462 and November 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44156.

7. Mockingbird Sally

8. Second Line

9. It Ain't What You Do, It's The Way You Do It

10. The Saints

11. Nuki Suki

12. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie

13. Prophet Of Peace

14. Thomasine

15. Sanctified, Satisfied Toe-Tapper

Tracks 7 to 15 are the album "The Second Coming" - released September 1972 in the USA on Reprise RS 2107 and in the UK on Reprise K 44204 (although allocated a 'K' catalogue in the UK by WEA - I've never seen a British pressed LP - so it's more likely that US copies were imported into Britain and 'K 44204' stickers put on the back of them). 

This 2CD set will allow fans to sequence six x 7" singles issued around the three LPs:

1. Freedom Blues b/w Dew Drop Inn - June 1970 USA 7" single on Reprise 0907 (reversed sides in the UK on Reprise RS 20907)

2. Greenwood, Mississippi b/w I Saw Her Standing There - August 1970 USA 7" single on Reprise 0942

3. Green Power b/w Dancing In The Street - November 1971 UK 7" single on Reprise K 14124

4. Shake A Hand (if You Can) b/w Somebody Saw You - December 1971 USA 7" single on Reprise 1005 

5. Mockingbird Sally b/w 1. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie 2. King Of Rock and Roll - August 1972 UK 3-Track 7" single on Reprise 14195

6. 1. Rockin' Rockin' Boogie 2. King Of Rock and Roll b/w 1. The Saints 2. Mockingbird Sally - 1974 UK 'Warner Giants' 4-Track EP on Reprise K 14343

The outer card slipcase adds a real classy feel to this release (as it does to all BGO reissues) and the 12-page booklet with new STUART COLMAN liner notes repros the original LP artwork. The praise-heavy blurbs on the rear of "The Rill Thing" by Pete Johnson and "The Second Coming" by RA "Bumps" Blackwell have been printed too in all their plugger-positive glory. Coleman gives a good insight into Little Richard's state of play when he went with Reprise after years in the chart wilderness - it's just such a shame that after "The Rill Thing" - the albums began a very obvious nose dive with the 2nd studio platter being merely good while the third leaves a lot to be desired (despite its ludicrous title).

What's not ridiculous is the fabulous Audio – High Def CD transfers from Original Sources by BGO’s Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I've had the Rhino set for years and the Remasters here pip it by a squeak - but it's an improvement in bottom end and muscularity that you can feel. These CDs sounds stunning - and fans will need to own them.

Album number one opens on a winner – the single that put Little Richard back into the US R&B charts after a 13-year absence - "Freedom Blues" - a co-write with his doppelganger and inspiration of old - Esquerita. A funky 'everybody's got to be free' groove starts up with guitars and keyboards - as LR proceeds to wax lyrical about dumping the past and embracing the new. A great guttural scream like only LR can omit ushers in the Sax Solo and resistance is futile. Written by Arthur Lowe and Travis Wammack - "Greenwood, Mississippi" is the most out-and-out Ike & Tina Turner guitar groove on the album - a tremendous funky-rock dancer to make you shimmy your booty thang to a backdrop of fuzz guitars. You can understand why Reprise in the UK switched sides for their opening single - putting the Rock 'n' Roll based "Dew Drop In" on the A-side instead of "Freedom Blues" in a country undergoing a huge Rock 'n' Roll Revival. Yet you can't help but feel the American side got the choice right. Little Richard's own "Somebody Saw You" is a Wilson Pickett strut with shimmering guitar notes and a seriously tight rhythm section. But the album is dominated by the aforementioned ten-minute work out that is Side 2's "The Rill Thing" - a truly fantastic instrumental that in reality has very little to do with LR - and yet is on his album. In fact when you go to the next song - a Country-Funk Tony Joe White take on the Hank Williams classic "Lovesick Blues" complete with a brass fade out - it feels weird to hear LR singing at all. The album ends on a reasonably cool take on that "Please Please Me" opener "I Saw Her Standing There" - Little Richard sanctifying The Beatles and just about getting away with it.

You can't help feeling that the 'King' on his throne artwork and title of album No. 2 dumbly emphasises a genre (Rock & Roll) that actually doesn't show up much on the record (it's another Funk LP ala The Meters). His cover of the traditional "Midnight Special" comes armed with CCR's warbling guitar underpinned by righteous sisters singing 'chugga-chugga'. He then goes after Motown by going all 'gotta' James Brown on The Temptations and their "The Way You Do The Things You Do". Better is the 'sock it to me' single "Green Power" where the funky rhythm and lady singers sound like they mean business at last. Another Hank Williams song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" gets wildly rejiggered but it feels like a cover too far. Better is his Bass and Brass cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born On The Bayou" - where he talks his 'beauty' and his 'title' and the 'kind of excitement that shakes the world' before it breaks into that familiar CCR swing. It's a good way to end an otherwise patchy album.

Despite its farcical title – no one was interested in his self-proclaimed nonsense in 1972. The album came out in September but the first Billboard review didn't appear until December - no doubt someone trying to flag failing sales. It opens with his own "Mockingbird Sally" where it feels like he's actually channelled some of that Specialty wildness once again - a piano-pumping Rock 'n' Roller. The Funk returns with "Second Line" - a co-write between him and Bumps Blackwell. "If Ain't What You Do, It's The Way You Do It" is terrible - clearly an outtake left in the can with his voice sounding like a guide - and a poor one at that. He re-arranges "The Saints" into a bopping 'marching in' travesty best forgotten. Better is the wah-wah-guitar funky "Nuki Suki". As an example of rare grooves from the vaults - Atlantic used it on the 2001 CD compilation "Right On! Volume 3" (it also appeared on the Rhino 4CD Box Set "What It Is!" in 2006). But my own poison is the great rhythm behind "Prophet Of Peace" and the track Soul Boys dig - the seven-minute instrumental "Sanctified, Satisfied Toe-Tapper" - an obvious attempt to recreate some of that ten-minute "Rill Thing" magic from album number one (they just about pull it off).

When all is said and done - you're left with the impression that if Little Richard’s record company (and him) had embraced Soul and Funk full on and not tried to rebrand his genius as the 'latest' version of an old Rock 'n' Roller - with some pruning and sassier material - we'd be talking about these albums in a more genuinely reverential light and not as a curio – an afterthought 47 years on from the event. 

Rhino's "King Of Rock and Roll: The Complete Reprise Recordings" 3CD set in 2005 was the last time these recordings were covered - but that was a limited edition and has been deleted and acquiring high prices for years. So a welcome reissue then and far funkier than you'd imagine. The beauty on duty people...even half-cocked he was capable of magic...

"Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2016 Ace CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Don't Let Me Down..."

I'm a huge fan of England's Ace Records and their stunning CD compilations (who isn't). And you look at the premise here - Soul Artists doing their take on the Fabs - and surely the results will be electrifying and funky as a gnat's chuffer.

But then you play "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS and song after song just feels wrong. Nothing ever ignites. It's a strange truth but The Beatles (as soulful as their music was) - doesn't translate to Soul. The Isley Brothers doing Carole King or Stephen Stills - Love Sculpture doing Ray Charles - even Grand Funk doing "Some Kind Of Wonderful" by The Soul Brothers Six - these crossovers all work. And of course you could fill box sets full of other covers that add to the original and even bring out more. But no such luck here - here you get one ill-chosen track after another.

The 16-page booklet is (as always) a thing of beauty - classy photos of Screamin' Jaw Hawkins doing "A Hard Day's Night", Mary Well's tackling "Do You Want To Know A Secret" and Dionne Warwick having a go at "We Can Work It Out". 

Released 30 September 2016 in the UK (October 2016 in the USA) - there are rare picture sleeves - 7" single label repros (RCA for Nina Simone, Capitol for Junior Parker, EMI America for Gary U.S. Bonds) with top-quality mastering from Duncan Cowell and a generous 22-track playing time for Ace CDCHD 1483 (Barcode 029667077026) of 77:54 minutes.

1. Eleanor Rigby - Aretha Franklin

2. Dear Prudence - The 5 Stairsteps

3. Got To Get You Into My Life - Earth, Wind And Fire

4. Do You Want To Know A Secret - Mary Wells

5. The Fool On The Hill - Four Tops

6. Lovely Rita - Fats Domino

7. Here Comes The Sun - Nina Simone

8. Ob La Di Ob La Da - Arthur Conley

9. A World Without Love - The Supremes

10. Tomorrow Never Knows - Junior Parker

11. Don't Let Me Down - Randy Crawford

12. With A Little Help From My Friends - The Undisputed Truth

13. A Hard Day's Night - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

14. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - Ike & Tina Turner

15. For No One - Maceo & All The King's Men

16. It's Only Love - Gary U.S. Bonds

17. We Can Work It Out - Dionne Warwick

18. Hey Jude - The Temptations

19. In My Life - Boyz II Men

20. Savoy Truffle - Ella Fitzgerald

21. Something - Isaac Hayes

22. Let It Be - Bill Withers

But little of this takes away from the interpretations offered here that 9 times out of 10 feel like half-hearted cash-ins a very popular band of the time. Better is the "Hard To Handle" set in this series where Black Artists have a go at Otis Redding – a combo that actually does work.

In the meantime – if you’re tempted by "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" - I'd try to get a listen to the CD first before committing...

"Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present ENGLISH WEATHER" by VARIOUS (2017 Ace Records CD Compilation - Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 100s Of Others Is Available in my

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THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 1970... - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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Featuring T2, John Cale, Aardvark and many more from 1970 releases

"...Edge Of The Sea..." 

In a sort of bleary-eyed screw-you Age of Aquarius mission statement - it says on the back inlay of the brilliantly exploratory CD compilation "English Weather" from those brave blokes over at Ace Records - "...with The Beatles gone and the pound sinking, a new and distinctive sound emerges, led by flutes and Mellotrons..."

I think what decent British chappies BOB STANLEY and PETE WIGGS (of Saint Etienne) are having us believe is that at the beginning of the Seventies over here in Blighty - something seriously Folk-Acid this way comes. Much of this compilation is incredibly mellow with only sporadic hints at Jazz Rock and complicated Prog stretching from early 1969 to mid 1976. But I hear you say (as you choke on your real ale that tastes like a Lindisfarne wetty on the wall) - I need another Prog-type CD compilation in my home like I need the phone number of Donald Trump's hairdresser. But actually there's much to love here and the dynamic duo have come up with an extraordinary set of tracks (generous too at nearly 79 minutes).

Many tracks and artists are obscure for reasons – pretty or know – but finds like the Prelude track "Edge Of The Sea", the pre-Pilot B-side "Pamela" and a pairing of obscure library track instrumentals will thrill lovers of melodic Rock like Mellow Candle, Keith Cross and Peter Ross, Trader Horne, Tudor Lodge and Spring. The Nick Robbins mastering is absolutely superb too - bringing out those acoustic flourishes and lovely melodies. And even as a fan of Prog and a long-time reviewer and collector - I can safely say that I've not heard at least 75% of this stuff before. Nice and I don't mean pre ELP. Here are the floatation tank details...

UK released 27 January 2017 (10 February 2017 in the USA) – "Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs present ENGLISH WEATHER" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace CDCHD 1484 (Barcode 029667077125) is a CD compilation of 18 Tracks and plays out as follows (78:35 minutes):

1. Love Song With Flute - CARAVAN (on their debut LP "Caravan" released February 1969 in the UK on Verve SVLP 6011 in Stereo)

2. Moon Bird - THE ROGER WEBB SOUND (instrumental on the Music Library LP "Vocal Patterns" released 1971 on Music De Wolfe DW/LP 3182)

3. Early Morning Eyes - THE PARLOUR BAND (on the studio album "Is A Friend?" released June 1972 on Deram SDL 10)

4. Pamela - SCOTCH MIST (non-album track, the 7" single B-side to "Ra-Ta-Ta" released July 1974 in the UK on EMI Records EMI 2208)

(Scotch Mist is Billy Lyall and Stuart Tosh before they formed Pilot)

5. Last Cloud Home - THE ORANGE BICYCLE (A-side to a June 1969 UK 7" single on Parlophone R 5789)

6. JLT - T2 (on the LP "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" released July 1970 in the UK on Decca SKL 5050)

7. 'Til The Christ Come Back - BILL FAY (on the LP "Time Of The Last Persecution" released January 1971 in the UK on Deram SML 1079)

8. Refugees - VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (A-side to a UK 7" single released April 1970 on Charisma CB 122)

9. Very Nice Of You To Call - AARDVARK (on their debut LP "Aardvark" released March 1970 in the UK on Deram Nova SDN 17)

10. Big White Cloud - JOHN CALE (on his debut solo LP "Vintage Violence" released June 1970 in the USA on Columbia CS 1037)

11. Bottles - BELLE GONZALEZ (A-side of a UK 7" single released February 1972 on Columbia Records DB 8852)

12. Watching White Stars - THE WAY WE LIVE (1971 Tractor Recording - first appeared on the 1998 CD compilation "Before, During And After The Dandelion Years, Through To Deeply Vale" on Ozit/Morpheus OZITCD 0024)

13. Windfall - OFFSPRING (Non-Album A-side to a UK 7" single released April 1972 on RCA Records RCA 2198)

14. Never Let Go - CAMEL (A-side to a UK 7" single released January 1973 on MCA Records MUS 1177)

15. Wise Man In Your Heart - DAEVID ALLEN and EUTERPE (on the LP "Good Morning" released May 1976 in the UK on Virgin V 2054)

16. O Caroline - MATCHING MOLE (on their debut LP "Matching Mole" released April 1972 in the UK on CBS Records S 64850 - Robert Wyatt vocalist)

17. Edge Of The Sea - PRELUDE (A-side to a UK 7" single released March 1972 on Decca F 13292)

18. Evening Shade - ALAN PARKER and ALAN HAWKSHAW (instrumental on the Music Library LP "Alternatives" released 1971 on Music De Wolfe DW/LP 3219)

The 14-page booklet has the usual plethora of rare 7”-single label-repro's (45s on Decca, MCA and CBS) alongside trade adverts for such obscuros as Billy Fay, The Parlour Band and T2. There's even a review of Caravan's Verve Records debut, A Roundhouse Benefit gig poster for Matching Mole with Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt and best of all - hugely informative and witty liner notes from compiler BOB STANLEY. I thought I knew my stuff (I've reviewed Aardvark and the Decca/Deram 3CD Box sets containing T2 and Camel and the like) - but Bob clearly goes deeper than most - offering up his knowledge with real affection for the subject matter (not just a blizzard of dry facts). But the best news is yet another stunning mastering job by NICK ROBBINS on a wide range of sound sources - his mastering of T2's superbly musical "JLT" is spot on. And as much of these songs are Acoustic based - the Audio rises to that challenge with aplomb. A top job done...

Despite the range of dates (February 1969 to May 1976) - the overall listen holds together very well. But as one other reviewer put it (and well) - there's good stuff on here but only a few genuinely stand out. The seven-minute "Watching White Stars" by Tractor saps your patience while I defy people who call the weedy Matching Mole ballad "O Caroline" gorgeous (Robert Wyatt or no) and I think there are better tracks on Bill Fay's album like the piano-beautiful  "I Hear You Calling". But I hadn't expected to be so impressed by the Van Der Graaf Generator single - which is a world away from their fearsome Moog anthems - five and half minutes of Peter Hammill pining for the sunshine of pretty London suburbs to the backdrop of violas, choral voices and unnervingly pretty melodies on strings.

Smart choices include running the Aardvark track immediately before the Velvet's John Cale song "Big White Cloud" – its huge Spector-esque production full of strings and longing and images of skies and trees – Cale's ragged druggy voice moaning his fate like Tim Rose on steroids. The Belle Gonzalez and Camel UK singles are rare as hen's teeth and again smart inclusions. Both display musical beauty and are bolstered up here by superb Nick Robbins mastering – especially on the Acoustic/Mellotron/Flute 'man must survive' eco-message song that is Andy Latimer's "Never Let Go". A clever slot-in is the African rhythms meets Kraut Rock feel of "Wise Man In Your Heart" by Gong's Daevid Allen and his band of the time Euterpe – a lengthy exercise in vibe with sonic rhythms predating those found on "Peter Gabriel 4" in September 1982.

But best of all for me is six and half minutes of Prelude's "Edge Of The Sea" - the only band on the compilation to brush the charts when they placed their beautiful Acapella cover version of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" in January 1974 on Dawn Records at the lofty heights of No. 21. Who thought this hippy-tastic acoustic folk tune with singing and spoken passages about mermaids and shaking the foam was a commercial 45 in 1972 was quietly off their rocker - but that doesn't stop "Edge Of The Sea" from being a fabulous slice of Mellow Candle Folk Rock with Acid tinges. And again - Robbins has mastered it so well. And there's no denying the musical brilliance also of Caravan's "Love Song With Flute" nor the truly lovely find in "Pamela" - an obscure B-side by Scotch Mist (Billy Lyall and Stuart Tosh) who would later become Pilot and have a UK No. 1 with "January" in January 1975 (again on EMI).

The Peter Mitchell photos on the front and rear of the booklet show a Britain in pain and even decay – crippling strikes - war overseas impacting here - the hippy dream of everyone loving each other fading fast in a cloud of three-day weeks and unemployment. Yet despite this backdrop of cold-chips and tepid teabags - English musicians produced extraordinary music in the early years of that decade - the Seventies – much of it hopeful. And some of it is here (man).

Not quite genius but brilliant in places (and changeable like its title) - "Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present ENGLISH WEATHER" is a rather cool little CD to start off 2017 with. Deserving of your moody post-Brexit spondulicks - well done to all involved...