"New Morning" by BOB DYLAN (2009 Columbia CD Reissue - Greg Calbi Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Sign On The Window..."

Following on from June 1970's self-indulgent and often derided "Self Portrait" double album (funnily enough hindsight has many loving it to pieces) - critics and the public alike went nuts for the supposed 'return to form' of October's "New Morning". The British pummelled it into the No. 1 slot when it was issued slightly later in November of 1970 - and no self-respecting Bob Dylan "Greatest Hits" or "Anthology" is complete without "If Not For You".

Some have even said that "New Morning" is as good as 1975's meisterwork "Blood On The Tracks" - which in my mind is stretching credulity and the obvious audio truth way past its limit. "New Morning" is a solid Dylan album only with some moments of greatness. And re-listening to it in 2017 on this fabulous Remaster hasn't changed my opinion on that. Here are the Winterludes...

UK released May 2009 - "New Morning" by BOB DYLAN on Columbia 88697347002 (Barcode 886973470022) is a straightforward CD Remaster of the 12-track 1970 album and plays out as follows (35:50 minutes):

1. If Not For You

2. Day Of The Locusts

3. Time Passes Slowly

4. Went To See The Gypsy

5. Winterlude

6. If The Dogs Run Free

7. New Morning [Side 2]

8. Sign On The Window

9. One More Weekend

10. The Man In Me

11. Three Angels

12. Father Of Night

Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "New Morning" - released 21 October 1970 in the USA on Columbia KC 30290 and November 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 69001. Produced by BOB JOHNSTON - it peaked at No. 7 in the USA and No. 1 in the UK.

Given that the original single-sleeve LP was so staggeringly boring to look at - the new 8-page inlay comes as a blessed relief. It's made up mostly of in-studio photos - Bob at the microphones - reading lyric sheets - the boys in the band discussing what to do next with Producer Bob Johnston. There's no new liner notes per say.

Al Kooper plays Keyboards, Guitar and French Horn - David Bromberg plays Electric Guitar and Dobro - Buzzy Feiten plays Electric Guitar - Russ Kunkel is on Drums with Maeretha Stewart guesting on "If Dogs Run Free" on Background Vocals. 

But at least we get that stunning GREG CALBI Remaster - a man whose had his mitts on McCartney's "Band On The Run", Paul Simon's "Graceland", Supertramp's "Crime Of The Century" and "Breakfast In America" and even John Mayer's Remastered catalogue. Calbi has turned in another winner - these Dylan remasters are all jobs well done it has to be said.

The photograph on the rear cover is a youthful Bob in early 1962 with one of his Blues heroes – the barnstorming big-lunged Victoria Spivey – famous for misery raunchy tunes like "Furniture Man Blues" and troublesome fools like "Dope Head Blues" (see my review for the 20CD Box Set "Roots & Blues"). Though in hindsight – it's an odd photo to feature here with precious little on the album resembling Blues Music except maybe some of "One More Weekend". Word has it that the "New Morning" project was going to be another double set – a sort of Part 2 to "Self Portrait" combining covers that moved him in his youth with new material (some of those outtakes have turned up on the "Bootleg Series" of CD reissues) - but perhaps because of the backlash to "Self Portrait" that idea was paired down to the single LP we now have made up entirely of BD originals.

The album opens with "If Not For You" – a hooky-as-Hell love song Beatle George Harrison had debuted to the world only weeks earlier on his 3LP Box Set "All Things Must Pass" on Apple Records (the opening song). People love this song to Dylan's wife of the time - perhaps because that weird organ sound Al Kooper gets harks back to his 60ts sound on "Highway 61 Revisited" and that thinny Harmonica back even further to "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". And despite it’s rather slight feel BD sings - "...without your love I'd be nowhere at all..." and you can't help but think he actually means it this time (Olivia Newton John would lodge her first chart hit in February 1971 with "If Not For You" on Uni Records – No. 25 USA). "Day Of The Locust" feels like a great Bob Dylan song - while "Time Passes Slowly" was reputedly amongst the first three tunes recorded for an abandoned musical version of "The Devil And Daniel Webster" called "Scratch" (the other two were "New Morning" and "Father Of Night"). I have a very sweet cover of "Winterlude" by England's Steve Gibbons which he did for his 1998 CD "Bob Dylan Project" – Gibbons doesn't change its strangely casual nature and "...this dude thinks you're grand..." lyrics. We go early-morning smoky barroom Jazz for the spoken "If Dogs Run Free" that features scat vocals from Maeretha Stewart. As he'd veered away from 'Bob Dylan' – fans naturally went nuts and slagged off the song as derisory and all things unholy – but I've always thought it kind of brill. One man's heaven is...

Side 2 opens with the very Van Morrison sound of "New Morning" – acoustic guitars and lingering organ – marital bliss clearly keeping him happy (skies of blue – so happy just to see you smile). The album’s other biggie for me is "Sign On The Window" – a ballad with lyrics that I still can’t figure out – three’s a crowd – down on Mean Street – a cabin in Utah – catch rainbow trout. Whatever you read into the forlorn sad words – I love his piano playing while the band plays catch up and that impassioned vocal is the strongest on the whole record. "One More Weekend" is a slippin' and slidin' Bluesy trollop of a song – the band finally sounding like a cohesive unit as they boogie in that Bob Dylan way (great Remaster). Some people enjoy "The Man In Me" but those girly vocals feel forced to me - I much prefer the simpler almost Gospel spoken song "Three Angels" with its 'concrete world full of souls'. The album finishes on the piano and voices rumble of "Father Of Night" - a sound Cat Stevens would tap on his "Foreigner" album in 1973. The one-and-half-minute song is also an indication of his emerging beliefs - gorgeous audio as he sings of "...father of air and father of trees...that grows in our hearts and our memories..." 

Good - great - ordinary - different - the same – I love it – I don’t love it - it's Bob Dylan. Even now his enigma eludes me...and would we have it any other way...

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"Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd" by LYNYRD SKYNYRD (2001 MCA ‘Expanded’ CD – Doug Schwarz Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

“...20 Years Of Rot Gut Whiskey...”

"...Look out glitter kids, a real Rock 'n' Roll band just showed up..." - raved the on-the-money reviewer in America's hip music magazine "Record World" in the late summer of 1973. Southern Rock was up and running (again) – Atlanta style.

Funnily enough - and despite its supposed kick-ass reputation (mostly through the epic Side 2 finisher "Free Bird") – I've always thought of Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album as a more mellow, sexy swagger of a record than an out-and-out rocker – a slightly inebriated good old boy with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a Delta 78" in the other - deeply enamoured with both. And like the utterly brilliant "Second Helping" LP that followed in April 1974 – both have stood the test of old father time rather well my son. Here are the Mississippi Kids...

US released November 2001 (December 2001 in the UK) – "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd" by LYNYRD SKYNYRD on MCA 088 112 727-2 (Barcode 008811272722) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster and plays out as follows (76:03 minutes):

1. I Ain't The One
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Simple Man
5. Things Goin' On [Side 2]
6. Mississippi Kid
7. Poison Whiskey
8. Free Bird
Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd" – released 13 August 1973 in the USA on MCA/Sounds Of The South MCA-363 and January 1974 in the UK on MCA Records MCG 3502. AL KOOPER produced the album and it peaked at 27 on the US LP charts (didn't chart in the UK).

BONUS TRACKS:
9. Mr. Banker (Demo) – non-album B-side of the US 7" single "Gimme Three Steps" released 5 November 1973 on MCA Records MCA-40158
10. Down South Junkin' (Demo) - non-album B-side of the US 7" single "Free Bird" released 4 November 1974 on MCA Records MCA-40328
11. Tuesday's Gone (Demo)
12. Gimme Three Steps (Demo)
13. Free Bird (Demo)
Tracks 9 and 10 first appeared on the 1991 MCA 3CD Box Set "The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection"
Tracks 11, 12 and 13 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

LYNYRD SKYNYRD were:
RONNIE VAN ZANT – Lead Vocals
GARY ROSSINGTON – Lead Guitar (Tracks 2, 3, 5 and 7) and Rhythm Guitars on all others
ALLEN COLLINS – Lead Guitar (Tracks 1 and 8) and Rhythm Guitar on all others
ED KING – Lead Guitar on "Mississippi Kid" and Bass on all tracks except "Mississippi Kid" and "Tuesday's Gone". 
Note: LEON WILKINSON composed many of the Bass Parts for the album but left the group before recording (Ed King plays all the Bass parts as noted above). But then Wilkinson re-joined the group as Bass Player and King changed to Third Guitar player for their next LP "Second Helping" album
BILLY POWELL – Keyboards
LEON WILKINSON – Bass (see Note above)
BOB BURNS – Drums

ROOSEVELT GOOK – Bass, Mellotron and Backup Harmony on "Tuesday's Gone", Organ on "Simple Man", Mandolin and Bass Drum on "Mississippi Kid", Organ on "Poison Whiskey" and "Free Bird"
STEVE KATZ – Harmonica on "Mississippi Kid"
ROBERT NIX – Drums on "Tuesday's Gone"
BOBBY HALL – Percussion on "Gimme Three Steps" and "Things Goin' On"

The 12-page booklet has new liner notes by RON O'BRIEN that includes a potted history of the band, quotes from an Al Kooper interview (the album's Producer) and the sequence of how their 'Sounds Of The South' debut LP came about (recording began 27 March 1973) as well as black and white photos of the boys peppering the text. But the big news is the fantastic Audio. DOUG SCHWARZ has used the original Stereo Master Tapes and this album sounds just great – full of presence and the right kind of swagger. The Remaster isn't overly trebled for the sake of it – just punchy and clear - the rhythm section sweet and warm too...

Skynyrd's debut is counted in (1, 2, 3) to the huge guitars of the jabbing "I Ain't The One" – Ronnie clearly having some woman trouble (her rich Daddy doesn't believe his protestations of relationship innocence). The genuinely touching "Tuesday's Gone" is a Southern Rock Ballad and I can remember being hooked by this one track alone (kind of got me into the band). The acoustic guitars and those drums are huge – whacking your speakers with a clarity that is shocking. The catchy guitar boogie of "Gimme Three Steps" was an obvious single – MCA launched it in November 1973 after the album had been brewing using the non-album "Mr. Banker" on the flipside. "Gimme..." sounds fab as Ronnie preens "Excuse Me!" before a guitar lets fly. The brooding 'mama done told me' tale of "Simple Man" would start a trend in the writing of Van Zant and Rossington – songs about family, loyalty and how a body should "...take your time...don't live too fast..." - advice they sang about but ignored all too often. It ends Side 1 with a wallop.

Side 2 opens with another fave of mine – the guitar pinging Boogie of "Things Goin' On" where the boys lament that there's "...too much money being spent on the moon..." when ordinary folks are struggling down in the ghetto. Roosevelt Gook puts in a blinder on his mandolin anchoring "Mississippi Kid" with a Bluesy Down Home feel while Ed King does his Slide thing. Another familiar theme (pills and booze) rears its ugly little head in the superb rocker "Poison Whiskey" where doctor looks at the poor man and shakes his head because he's seen this body and soul rot too many times before (lyrics from it title this review). And it ends on the penultimate Skynyrd number that MCA actually wanted the band to edit down to three minutes twenty-nine before they even recorded it (luckily the group stuck to its creative guns). "Free Bird" is of course almost a cliché now for longhaired hippy Rock – but it still amazes – and the remaster has brought out those army of guitars like never before. Fly high indeed. Die-hard fans will know that "Free Bird" was edited down to 4:41 minutes for 7" single release in the USA and the rare Promo version has a Mono Mix on one side (Stereo on the other). Unfortunately both are AWOL from this release and to my knowledge remain so on the digital front. That said – what puts this 'Expanded Edition' into the solid 5-star category is the superb five bonus tracks that reek of the true Skynyrd – sloppy, moody and simplistically brilliant.

The run of five studio-quality 'demos' feel like a cool alternative debut album - just as good as the 8-track original. Fave-raves include the broke and busted musician's plea in "Mr. Banker" where a penniless Ronnie is willing to trade his Gibson Firebird for foreclosure (yeah right). Both "Tuesday's Gone" and "Gimme Three Steps" are similar to the finished polish of the album versions – just a little rougher around the edges and I think funkier for it. The rowdy Demo of "Free Bird" stretches the album's 9:03 to 11:09 minutes and when that pace-change guitar break kicks in – it starts to rock – but then they seem to lose a guitar that clearly made the finished LP version so work. Despite its fame - it's probably the least successful 'demo' on here...

A packet of Skull 'n' Crossbones Cigarettes adorns the back cover of their debut album – 'Lynyrd Skynyrd Smokes' it says on the side of the snot-nosed box. Well they sure got that right...

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). 

"Sticky Fingers: Deluxe Edition" by THE ROLLING STONES (June 2015 Polydor 2CD Reissue - Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...English Blood Runs Hot..." 

There can’t be too many Rolling Stones fans out there in the big wide world that won’t look at the sleeve of "Sticky Fingers" and grin like a schoolboy watching the English Ladies Hockey Team practice their down strokes. And I suppose if us aging reprobates are to suffer yet another reissue of that absolute Classic Rock Album – then this June 2015 two-disc rehash is a great way to massage our hip-replacements - because frankly it’s a bit of belter. In fact fans of the 'Mick Taylor Era' of The Rolling Stones are going to flip for Disc 2. Once more unto the bleach...

First things first – Disc 1 is not a new version in any way – it’s the remaster done by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering in 2009 and runs to exactly the same playing time – 46:25 minutes. Disc 2 presents us with 10 Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks mixed by BOB IRWIN and mastered by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN – five album outtakes and five live cuts from the last date on their UK Tour – Sunday, 14 March 1971 at The Roundhouse in London.

The 8-page basic inlay that accompanied the 4 May 2009 reissue has been upgraded to 24-pages for this 2CD Deluxe Edition (there is a single disc version that keeps the 8-page inlay). The Andy Warhol torso and underpants photo that was hidden under the original ‘zipper’ sleeve is reproduced on Page 3 - with Pages 4 to 7 giving us new black and white portrait photos of each member of the band (all were once considered for the inner artwork). The photo that did grace the inner insert for the original April 1971 LP is reproduced on the left hand flap as you open the gatefold card digipak – but rather tastefully - an outtake I’ve never seen before from the same photo session is on the right flap. Instead of Mick yawning and Keith grinning in side profile – it has Keith and Mick staring forward pensively with the other three doing the same in the rear (Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor and Charlie Watts). You can see why they chose the one that finally came out – its just more funny and a better snap (but what a lovely touch). Beneath each see-through CD tray (yellow lips logo on Disc 1 and green on Disc 2) are pictures of tape boxes. The booklet also has shots of their initial recording sessions at the famed Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama (there’s even a bill for $1009 for the recording of "Wild Horses"), black and whites of the Stargroves Estate in Hampshire where further recording took place, the artwork for the "Brown Sugar" UK 7" single picture sleeve, a repro of the UK Tour 1971 poster, colour shots from the Roundhouse gig in London and even photos of the album launch in France with Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records. Finally there are detailed credits for both discs.

UK released 8 June 2015 (9 June 2015 in the USA) – this reissue of "Sticky Fingers" by THE ROLLING STONES comes in a dizzying TEN FORMATS - including Single and Double Vinyl variants, differing Downloads versions and even a Spanish Cover Version with its famously unique 'Fingers in A Tin Of Treacle' artwork. This review is for the 2CD Deluxe Edition on Polydor/Rolling Stones 376 483-6 (Barcode 602537648368). Here are the details...

Disc 1 (46:25 minutes)

1. Brown Sugar

2. Sway

3. Wild Horses

4. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

5. You Gotta Move

6. Bitch [Side 2]

7. I Got The Blues

8. Sister Morphine

9. Dead Flowers

10. Moonlight Mile

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Sticky Fingers" - released 23 April 1971 in the UK and USA on Rolling Stones Records COC 59100

Disc 2 (54:02 minutes):

1. Brown Sugar (with Eric Clapton) – 4:05 minutes

2. Wild Horses (Acoustic) – 5:47 minutes

3. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (Alternate Version) – 3:24 minutes

4. Bitch (Extended Version) – 5:53 minutes

5. Dead Flowers (Alternate Version) – 4:18 minutes

6. Live With Me – 4:22 minutes

7. Stray Cat Blues – 3:48 minutes

8. Love In Vain – 6:42 minutes

9. Midnight Rambler – 11:27 minutes

10. Honky Tonk Women – 4:14 minutes

Tracks 1 to 5 are Outtakes from the original sessions produced by Jimmy Miller. "Brown Sugar" is credited as (with Eric Clapton) when in fact it also has Al Kooper on Guitar (Ian Stewart on Piano and Bobby Keys on Saxophone too). Tracks 6 to 10 are highlights from a show at The Roundhouse in London on Sunday, 14 March 1971 (there is a CD3 only on the Super Deluxe Edition 12" x 12" Box Set which is called "Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out" and was recorded 1971 at Leeds University). The live band for the London show included Bobby Keys on Saxophone, Jim Price on Trumpet and Nicky Hopkins on Piano. All songs are Jagger/Richards originals except "Stray Cat Blues" which is a Robert Johnson cover version.

THE ALBUM:

Right from the opening riffs of "Brown Sugar" (slightly distorted it has to be said) - you know you're in the presence of a different beast. This (2009) thing rocks - the guitars and rhythm section filling your speakers with incredible energy. I can hear the 'loudness wars' naysayers already - sure these things are loud and sure they're hissy in places too - but at least I feel like I'm in the presence of the real master tape. The power and clarity of instruments on say "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Dead Flowers" is astounding. Ry Cooder's Slide Guitar and Jack Nitzsche's Piano on "Sister Morphine" is so good too, Paul Buckmaster's gorgeous Strings on "Moonlight Mile" and Keith's beautiful acoustic playing on "Wild Horses" - all fabulous. But if I was to isolate one track that shows massive improvement on this SHM - it's the Side 2 nugget "I Got The Blues". Everything about it rocks - Keith Richards and Mick Taylor on guitars, Bobby Keys and Jim Price on Horns, Jimmy Miller's Percussion and especially the Billy Preston Organ solo - it sounds truly fabulous. There's just that little more pep in the step of every track on this format - and somehow that amazing Cooder Slide on "Sister Morphine" seems more in your face (but in a good way), the sexy Saxophones on "Bitch" - the guitars on their fantastic bluesy cover of the Mississippi Fred McDowell/Gary Davis dead-and-dying tune "You Gotta Move". There are many who hated the 2009 remaster saying it was too loud or something like that. I think this is crap of the highest order. I bought the Japanese Platinum SHM-CD version with a flat transfer (which is what many of these detractors wanted) and it 'was' awful. It's a matter of Audio taste I know - but I frankly get weary of Audiophile types telling me what I'm hearing is lousy when my ears tell me different.

I had expected Disc 2 to be a disappointment – five lesser versions with a bunch of live stuff that should have stayed in the can – neither let the side down thank God. To hear “Brown Sugar” in ‘any’ variant is a blast - yet you can so hear why Jagger toned down the “get down on your knees...” lyrics and how the twin slide guitar work of Clapton and Kooper is good but still feels too ramshackle. Bobby Keys comes blasting in with that Saxophone solo pretty much intact but the finished album cut is sharper and their decision to go with a cleaner more concise version was the right one. It’s odd ‘not’ to hear the opening acoustic strums of “Wild Horses” be accompanied by that second guitar – this time we get a sort of unplugged original – and what a gorgeous song it is too. Lyrically there’s not much that’s different except that you can you hear the words more clearly on this Alternate. We then get a weird reversal – the finished album masterpiece “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” gets cut down from 7:16 minutes to 3:24 minutes and is really the band ‘feeling’ for something. In fact on the amazing near 12-minute live version of “Midnight Rambler” where Keith and Mick solo like crazy – you can hear the finished licks and solos creep in because it was March 1971 – after they’d recorded this early attempt. 

But then comes an absolute jewel – the extended “Bitch” where Bobby Keys (Saxophone) and Jim Price (Trumpet) add so much to the song. It’s absolutely fantastic and I actually shouted “More” at the Marantz as it finished – not wanting this bad sucker to end. After such excitement the Alternate of “Wild Flowers” isn’t nearly as Country as the finished album version and suffers for it. Fans will be disappointed that the five live cuts don’t actually feature a single “Sticky Fingers” track but that’s not to say that they’re inferior fare – far from it. This is the 1971 band cooking (with Mick Taylor) on 1969 “Let It Bleed” material like “Live With Me” and “Love In Vain”. There is already a huge step forward in the overall sound and impact – a band finding their Rock feet. The Robert Johnson cover of ”Stray Cat Blues” is just fantastic while the huge “Midnight Rambler” sees Mick give it some fabulous harmonica fills inbetween those Bluesy guitar moments (“Spotlight on Keith’s arse...” he say before they launch into the jam). After introductions of the band – Mick tells the crowd to “open your lungs on this one” as The Stones go into a stunning version of “Honky Tonk Women”. Very tasty stuff...

I don’t know if I’d plum up the dosh for the Super Deluxe Version – but I have to say that this 2CD Deluxe Edition is a triumph.

In the Jake Gyllenhaal/Dustin Hoffman/Susan Sarandon movie “Moonlight Mile” from 2002 – Jake’s character is in a bar, goes over to a jukebox and puts on the movie’s title track. It starts to play and then as the stunning Paul Buckmaster strings kick in – Jagger sings - “I’m riding down your Moonlight Mile...” And I remember watching it - and not for the first time did a chill go up my arms – reminding me of how much I loved this band and in particular this album that I played to death as a teen in Dublin.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are more Zimmer-Frame Twins these days than Glimmer Twins – but that doesn’t stop this 2CD reissue from being magical to me. Lick your lips folks...because here we go again...

"Child Is Father To The Man" by BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS (2000 Sony/Legacy 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster of their 1968 Debut LP) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…You Can Say I Told You So…" 

Arising out of the ashes of THE BLUES PROJECT - both AL KOOPER (Guitars, Organ and Lead Vocals) and STEVE KATZ (Guitars, Lute and Lead Vocals) joined forces with Bassist JIM FIELDER and Saxophonist FRED LIPSIUS and formed Mark 1 of BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS. And what a debut album they produced - "Child Is Father To The Man". Here are the sweaty details...  

UK released September 2000 - "Child Is Father To The Man" by BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS on Sony/Legacy 499823 2 (Columbia/Legacy CK 63987 Barcode 074646398722 in the USA)) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (64:00 minutes):

1. Overture

2. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know

3. Morning Glory

4. My Days Are Numbered

5. Without Her

6. Just One Smile

7. I Can’t Quit Her

8. Meegan’s Gypsy Eyes

9. Somethin’ Goin’ On

10. House In The Country

11. The Modern Adventures Of Plato, Diogenes And Freud

BONUS TRACKS:

12. Refugee From Yuhupitz

13. I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know (Mono Demo)

14. The Modern Adventures Of Plato, Diogenes And Freud (Mono Demo)

Recorded and Produced by JOHN SIMON in late 1967 - the LP “Child Is Father To The Man” (tracks 1 to 11) first appeared in the USA in February 1968 on Columbia CS 9619 (on their famous 360 Sound label) while it showed up later in the UK - June 1968 on CBS Records S 63296. 

I’m thrilled to say that their debut masterpiece has been given a stunning VIC ANESINI remaster – gorgeous sound quality that hammers you – track after superb track. You can hear RANDY BRECKER’s Trumpet, ALAN SCHULMAN’s Cello and the sweetness of Jim Fielder’s Bass –a top job done.

Once you get past the superfluous "Overture" with it's manic giggling - you're hit immediately with Bluesy Rock genius - "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" (lyrics above). It's the kind of great drama love song that lends itself to cover versions. Tina Britt did her take on the 1968 Minit Records LP "Blue All The Way" while one of my fave versions is Donny Hathaway's Soulful variant on his stunning 1973 Atlantic album "Extension Of A Man". Even legendary guitarist Les Paul revisited it in 2005 on his "& Friends" CD project with Mick Hucknell on Vocals and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on Guitar.

You're then hit with a brass/keyboard cover of Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory" sung sweetly by Steve Katz. "My Days Are Numbered" is another superb Kooper original - this time in a funky vein. Things go almost Lounge Lizard with their cover of Nilsson's "Without Her" - another album highlight (Producer John Simon plays Piano on “Without Her” and Organ on “Just One Smile”). The tempo's changed again to something more solemn - Randy Newman's "Just One Smile" which leads it into another gem "I Can't Quit Her". After all that brass and rock - the beautiful acoustic opening of "Meagan's Gypsy Eyes" comes as a welcome surprise (a Steve Katz original) - the remaster really shining here. And on it goes to the cover of Goffin/King's "So Much Love". The three bonuses are interesting - especially the simple piano basis to "The Modern Adventures..." - it gives you an idea of how advanced the arrangements on the finished track are.

Kooper left almost immediately after the LP was released - replaced with the superb vocalist DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS who brought the band proper chart success with their self-titled 2nd album in 1969 - spawning hits like "You've Made Me So Very Happy" and "Spinning Wheel". I'd argue in fact that “Blood, Sweat & Tears” is just as good as the debut – albeit in a slightly different musical way.

But that starter album - "Child Is Father To The Man" - just had something special about it – cool, funky and wonderfully new - and this dinky CD remaster of it recaptures that vibe in spades...

"Original Album Classics" by SHUGGIE OTIS (2012 Sony/Epic 3CD Mini Box Set Of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Pretty Music I Hear…"

Like most people I came across this superlative American guitarist in a roundabout way - via The Brothers Johnson and their huge Funk/Soul hit of 1977 "Strawberry Letter No. 23" (which Shuggie Otis wrote). That Otis original came off his lesser-seen "Freedom Flight" album from 1971.

This new 2012 mini box set from Sony is the first time that three of his fabulous (and rare) Seventies LPs have been brought together in one place - and at a more than reasonable price too.

It breaks down as follows - released Monday 9 January 2012 in the UK and Europe (17 January 2012 in the USA) - "Original Album Classics" by SHUGGIE OTIS is a 3CD mini box set on Sony/Epic 88691901782 (Barcode 886919017823) and contains the following three albums in single 5" card repro sleeves:

"Here Comes Shuggie Otis" - released February 1970 on Epic Records BN 26511 in the USA and April 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 63996 (36:21 minutes)

1. Oxford Gray

2. Jennie Lee

3. Bootie Cooler

4. Knowing (That You Want Him)

5. Funky Thithee

6. Shuggie's Boogie

7. Hurricane

8. Gospel Groove

9. Baby, I Needed You

"Freedom Flight" - released September 1971 in the USA on Epic Records E 30752 [produced by Johnny Otis - it had no UK release] (38:30 minutes)

1. Ice Cold Daydream

2. Strawberry Letter 23

3. Sweet Thang

4. Me And My Woman

5. Someone Always Singing

6. Purple

7. Freedom Flight

"Inspiration Information" - released March 1975 in the USA on Epic Records KE 33059 [it had no UK release] (32:27 minutes)

1. Inspiration / Information

2. Island Letter

3. Sparkle City

4. Aht Uh Mi Hed

5. Happy House

6. Rainy Day

7. XL-30

8. Pling!

9. Not Available

It doesn't say who remastered these albums or where, but the sound quality is wonderful (probably the 2001 versions). The debut is a little hissy in places as are the beat boxes used as percussion on the 3rd LP "Inspiration Information" (sounds like the back beat used on the Timmy Thomas classic "Why Can't We Live Together"), but other than that it all sounds so much better than other releases I have of the same material. The bass in particular is so sweet and by the time you get to the improved production qualities of the second and third LPs - the audio quality is great. And as with all of these "Original Classic Albums" 3/5 CD mini box sets, the lyrics and recording details are downloadable from Sony's website [...]

The music - releasing his US debut album in late 1969 at only 17 years of age - "Kooper Session - Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" made everyone sit up and take notice (see separate review). His follow up debut 'solo' album "Here Comes Shuggie Otis" (which is the first disc to be featured here) is the stuff of legend - the very definition of 'lost classic' and 'cool album you must hear before you die'. It opens with two different types of instrumental - "Oxford Gray" is very Sixties Fleetwood Mac with a clavinet thrown in while the fantastic soulful organ shuffle of "Bootie Cooler" regularly brings customers to our counter asking after the 'cool' tune that's playing. Then it changes again into Mamas & Papas sixties pop with "Knowing (That You Want Him)". Then another fantastically cool and funky instrumental - the not-so-subtly titled "Funky Thithee" which shows his great guitar chops against the backdrop of a chugging beat. He name-checks his blues heroes at the beginning of "Shuggie's Blues" as he just plays around - it then goes into an organ-shuffle and boogie - great stuff. The slow blues of "Gospel Groove" is another that brings the punters up to ask - who the Hell is this! It ends with Albert King type tracks "Baby, I Needed You" and "The Hawks". Listed at £35 for an original copy of the British vinyl (if you can find one) - you can hear why this gem is so sought after. The LP actually troubled the US album charts for 2 weeks in March 1970 at a lowly placing of 199.

His 2nd solo LP "Freedom Flight" is the one that will interest Soul Boys who like their Blues and Rock with a slightly trippy even spacey feel. It has only 7 tracks because its title song is a 13-minute instrumental that sounds like Jazz meets Blues meets Mellow meets Santana - it's 'so' good. "Purple" is a very B.B. King number, while it gets a little Stax funky with the superb "Sweet Thang" which opens the album. "Me And My Woman" is a Gene Barge song once covered by Albert King - and of course there's the brilliant "Strawberry Letter 23" (lyrics above) that still sounds effortlessly cool to this day. In fact "Freedom Flight" was a huge leap forward from the first album and featured high-profile guests included Jazz fusionist George Duke, the drummer Aynsley Dunbar, his dad Johnny Otis and Wilton Felder of The Crusaders.

His 3rd solo LP "Inspiration Information" saw him take a leap into a Jazz/Soul unknown - and is beloved by rare groove aficionados everywhere (it's name-checked by Prince as a fave). It opens with the jaunty title track that sounds so catchy. "Sparkle City" uses a simple guitar flick as its basis for about half of its duration - it's a little Boz Scaggs meets the Average White Band - while "Happy House" is Todd Rundgren circa "Something/Anything?" with its spacey feel and layered vocals. The beautiful instrumental "Rainy Day" features a slow drum shuffle and strings - it sounds like some cool film outtake. It ends on "Not Available" - another superb guitar instrumental. Bluntly it's easy to hear why this album was reissued in 2001 on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label and why it still turns up on reissue vinyl all the time in the West End of London - its just so bloody good and chockers with usable funky acid-jazz tunes.

Niggles - as I mentioned above - his first LP was "Kooper Session..." on Epic and combining that with the rare "Cuttin' Up" album by The Johnny Otis Show (which featured Shuggie) - this could have been a gobsmacking 5CD mini box set, but that would probably have been cost prohibitive. Other than that - like the dinky 3CD Fleetwood Mac box in this series - this is a peach of a release and finally makes music available to the masses that should be heard by the same.

To sum up - part Blues, part Soul, Rock, Acid House and Soulful - Shuggie Otis' music has always been hard to pigeonhole and all the better for it. It's even rumoured he has a long-awaited new album due this year (2012).  So - if you haven't heard his catalogue before, I urge you to take on a chance on this. It's a genuine voyage of discovery - especially if you like your Blues, R'n'B and Soul poison with a slightly spacey tint.

Fabarooney people. And even though it's only early January 2012 - this is already a 'reissue of the year' for me.

PS: see also separate reviews for two other CDs worth checking out - "Kooper Session: Al Kooper Introduces Shuggie Otis" and "Shuggie's Boogie: Shuggie Otis Plays The Blues"...