"Tiptoe Past The Dragon" by MARLIN GREENE (February 2009 Collectors' Choice CD Reissue - Bob Fisher Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Masquerade Ball..."

Marlin Green's lone album "Tiptoe Past The Dragon" was issued Stateside in the early summer of 1972 and as per their rather over-reaching jewel case sticker - this February 2009 US 'Collectors' Choice' CD would have us believe it's - 'One of 1972's Great Lost Albums!'

"Tiptoe Past The Dragon" is not a lost masterpiece despite what they claim (it has been notorious bargain-bin fodder for decades in second-hand shops – a strict no-no as a buy in) – but it has musical goodies on both sides worth rediscovering – especially if you like your Americana with a touch of Country Rock.

Musically we’re talking a sort of lesser America – or in Britain - a sort of sub Matthews Southern Comfort or Plainsong. There are even traces of Neil Young circa "Gold Rush" and "Harvest" with his backing band Crazy Horse when Greene goes all Country Rock on certain songs. And recorded down South in The Muscle Shoals Studios – the LP features a slew of notable session types like Eddie Hinton, Barry Beckett and Wayne Perkins (of Smith, Perkins, Smith).

For fans of this forgotten album - this rather ordinary CD Reissue does at least offers up two things worth noting - a fairly tasty audio remaster and it's physically cheap too (less than four quid on some sites). Here are the details...

US released 17 February 2009 - "Tiptoe Past The Dragon" by MARLIN GREENE on Collectors' Choice CCM-997 (Barcode 617742099720) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 11-Track 1972 LP and plays out as follows (34:49 minutes):

1. Grand Illusion [Side 1]
2. Masquerade Ball
3. Jonathan's Dream
4. My Country Breakdown
5. Forest Ranger
6. Gemini Gypsy
7. Ponce de Leon [Side 2]
8. Who's The Captain Of Your Ship Of Dreams
9. Fields Of Clover
10. Good Christian Cowboy
11. Tiptoe Past The Dragon
Tracks 1 to 11 are his debut album "Tiptoe Past The Dragon" - released June 1972 in the USA on Elektra Records EKS 75028 (no UK issue).

MARLIN GREENE - Lead Vocals
EDDIE HINTON, LARRY 'GIMMER' NICHOLSON and WAYNE PERKINS - Guitars
LEON La BLANC - Pedal Steel Guitar
BARRY BECKETT and CHUCK LEAVELL - Keyboards
DAVID HOOD - Bass
FRED PROUTY, LOU MULLINEX and ROGER HAWKINS - Drums

Typical of almost all Collectors' Choice CD Reissues - you get a functional gatefold inlay that at least has a summary of the man's career and the album by noted writer COLIN ESCOTT (done in December 2008). BOB FISHER - their resident Audio Engineer - did the Remaster and it sounds professional, full and at times rather beautiful - the swirling acoustic guitars and 'la la' singing on "Masquerade Ball" - the pedal steel twang of "Good Christian Cowboy" - all good.

Produced by Greene himself – the album hit the shops in 1972 hoping no doubt to catch the singer-songwriter craze sweeping everything in the early Seventies. Vocally he's close to say Ian Matthews and wrote all the songs except "Fields Of Clover" and "Good Christian Cowboy" which were penned by Wayne Perkins (later with Smith, Perkins, Smith over on Island Records in 1972 – an album that I hope to one day see on CD). But despite the strength of material like "Masquerade Ball" alas few noticed - and is now confirmed by Green in the liner notes that little promotion of the LP took place at Elektra. The label more closely associated with the Doors, Bread and Carly Simon did try a Radio Promo 45 for the jaunty Eagles-sounding Country-Rock of Side1's "Forest Ranger" on Elektra EK-45790 - but it didn't raise any interest and apparently stock copies were never pressed or pursued. 

The album opens with a gentle acoustic ballad "Grand Illusion" where dreamers find their own reality (could have been a single too). It then trumps up the rather excellent "Masquerade Ball" - a highly produced 12-string acoustic tune that is instantly likeable. Clearly reading 'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull' (like everyone else at the time - that book was huge) - "Jonathan's Dream" is a rather aimless instrumental that starts with gulls and ocean waves lapping and doodles around on the guitar for about a minute and a half only to jump right into Flying Burrito Brothers territory with "My Country Breakdown" - not a particularly strong track either. I much prefer the Side 1 finisher "Gemini Gypsy" - so very Plainsong - and in a good way.

Over on Side 2 Greene rocks it up with the Dobro and Piano of "Ponce De Leon" and gets melodic Ian Matthews on "Who's The Captain Of Your Ship Of Dreams" - another potential single. Wayne Perkins of Smith, Perkins, Smith (and later two albums with Crimson Tide on Capitol Records) provides the two Country-Rock tunes - the very Neil Young ballad-feel to "Fields Of Clover" and the holy-roller of "Good Christian Cowboy" - both rather good. It ends on the short but Judy Henske/Jerry Yester strange title track - "Tiptoe Past The Dragon".

Not a masterpiece for sure but there is moments that impress hugely and on repeated listens - the music grows on you like crazy.

"...Why don't you look around..." - Greene sings in the hypnotic  "Fields Of Clover". 
I'd agree – worth a punt...

"Pieces Of A Man" by GIL SCOTT-HERON (November 2001 RCA Victor Gold Series CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…I Can't Breathe!"

"...The revolution will not be televised…" Uttered originally as a poem in 1970 and finally put to music for his 2nd Flying Dutchman Records album in 1971  – these are quite possibly the most famous anti-establishment words sung in a Soul song – ever.

And yet in 2014 with the NET and 24-hour NEWS TV – the hurt and rage that led to that satirical and acidic piece has never been more pertinent. Much of that crap is still with us and we’re still purging it out of our lands and lives. Post Eric Garner's loss (killed in July 2014 by a NYPD chokehold while being arrested for the piffling crime of selling loose cigarettes) - I listen to this fabulous album today and I’m still moved - a genius slice of Seventies Soul Conscience. Here are the socially spot-on details from the mighty Gil Scott-Heron…

Euro released November 2001 – "Pieces Of A Man" by GIL SCOTT-HERON on RCA Victor Gold Series 74321851632 (Barcode 743218516320) is a straightforward CD remaster of the 1971 LP and plays out as follows (48:00 minutes).

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised [Side 1]

2. Save The Children

3. Lady Day And John Coltrane

4. Home Is Where The Hatred Is

5. When You Are Who You Are

6. I Think I’ll Call It Morning

7. Pieces Of A Man [Side 2]

8. A Sign Of The Ages

9. Or Down You Fall

10. The Needle’s Eye

11. The Prisoner

Tracks 1 to 11 are his second album “Pieces Of A Man” released December 1971 in the USA on Flying Dutchman FD 10143 (Correct release date Billboard).

“Pieces Of A Man” was belatedly released in the UK on Philips 6369 415 in April 1973 with a different running order as follows (use tracks 1 to 11 above):

Side 1:

1. Lady Day And John Coltrane

2. Where You Are Who You Are

3. I Think I’ll Call It Morning

4. Home Is Where The Hatred Is

5. Save The Children

6. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Side 2:

1. Pieces Of A Man

2. A Sign Of The Ages

3. Or Down You Fall

4. The Needle’s Eye

5. The Prisoner

Coming out of BMG France - the simple gatefold card digipak offers basic recording info on the inner flap (no booklet). Recorded over two days in April 1971 (19th and 20th) and Produced by BOB THIELE – the album has been remastered from original master tapes in 24-bit by JEAN-PIERRE CHALBOS – and he’s done a lovely job. The delicate and moving “Pieces Of A Man” features Heron on Piano with Ron Carter on Electric Bass – it’s a tiny bit hissy (as was the original recording – all feel and emotion) – but the remaster lets it breath and is so much the better for it.

Other highlights are the gorgeous ballad “Or Down You Fall” and the Curtis Mayfield funky “When You Are Who You Are” with its “you can be so very beautiful when you are who you are…” lyrics about his lady. “Save The Children” features the distinctive flute of HUBERT LAWS while “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” best shows his stunning band – BRIAN JACKSON on Keyboards, BURT JONES on Guitar, RON CARTER on Bass with superb drumming from BERNARD “PRETTY” PURDIE. It ends on a duo of socially conscious tunes – the upbeat “The Needle’s Eye” and the 9 ½ minute masterpiece “The Prisoner”. Both are lyrically stunning but it’s the closer “Prisoner” that stays with you – beginning with creepy scraping strings and drum whacks that then segue into piano rolls and words of pain – masterful stuff.

A beautiful album – proud, unique and yet eternally current – "Pieces Of A Man" is up there with the best Soul from the early Seventies has to offer

"...Pigs shooting down brothers…" (Revolution) and "...Leave the hate and fear behind" (The Needle’s Eye). Scott-Heron sang these lyrics in 1971. 

How depressing that in December 2014 with the "...I can't breathe…" protests in the USA – the first set of words are so sickeningly relevant still and the second set - a lesson we're still learning…

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised...Plus" by GIL SCOTT-HERON (2017 Ace Records/Beat Goes Public (BGP) 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Nine Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Ghetto Blaster..."

For most British music fans - GIL SCOTT-HERON and his fabulous Jazz-Funk-Poetry and Social-Consciousness-Soul became a physical vinyl reality with this December 1974 US compilation LP. An amalgam of eight tracks from his second and third US studio releases on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records ("Pieces Of A Man" from December 1971 and "Free Will" from August 1972) - it also came with three newly mixed Scat Intros thrown in. Hell the 11-song record was even belatedly released June 1975 in Blighty on RCA Records - named of course after his most famous and controversial song - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".

For their June 2017 UK CD Reissue and Remaster – Ace Records' Beat Goes Public label (BGP) has decided to bolster up the original 11-track compilation with Nine Bonus Tracks from the first three platters - making CDBGPD 305 a very tasty purchase indeed. Here are the Lady Days, John Coltranes and Whiteys On The Moon...

UK released Friday, 30 June 2017 (7 July 2017 in the USA) - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised...Plus" by GIL-SCOTT HERON on Ace Records/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 305 (Barcode 029667077927) offers the 11-Track US LP with Nine Bonus Tracks added on and plays out as follows (63:44 minutes):

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised [Side 1]

2. Sex Education: Ghetto Style

3. The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues

4. No Knock [without intro]

5. Lady Day And John Coltrane

6. Pieces Of A Man

7. Home Is Where The Hatred Is [Side 2]

8. Brother [without intro]

9. Save The Children

10. Whitey On The Moon [without intro]

11. Did You Hear What They Said?

Tracks 1 to 11 are the US-based compilation "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - released December 1974 in the USA on Flying Dutchman Records BDL1-0613 and June 1975 in the UK on RCA Records SF 8428 (US copies came in a gatefold sleeve - UK copies were single covers).

Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7 and 9 are from his 2nd US album "Pieces Of A Man" - released December 1971 on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10143

Tracks 2, 3 and 11 are from his 3rd US album "Free Will" - released August 1972 on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10153

Tracks 4, 8 and 10 are newly-mixed and edited 1974 creations

BONUS TRACKS: 

12. When You Are Who You Are

13. I Think I'll Call It Morning

14. Or Down You

15. Free Will

16. The Middle Of Your Day

17. Speed Kills

18. Paint It Black

19. Who'll Pay Reparation On My Soul?

20. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Tracks 12, 13 and 14 are from his second US LP "Pieces Of A Man" - released December 1971 on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10143

Tracks 15, 16 and 17 are from his 3rd US LP "Free Will" - released August 1972 on Flying Dutchman Records FD 10153

Tracks 18, 19 and 20 are from his US debut LP "Small Talk At 125th And Lenox" - released January/February 1971 on Flying Dutchman Records FDS-131 (recorded live in 1970)

The 16-page booklet pictures rare American 45s – the Side 1 and Side 2 labels of the US original Flying Dutchman LP as well as providing full colour plates of the three albums this CD reissue takes from. DEAN RUDLAND provides the info – entertaining and insightful as ever – while long-standing Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS provides the beautiful Remasters. The sound on this reissue is wonderful.

It's easy to hear why Brits fell head over heels for Scott-Heron when you listen to the whole compilation - eight of his best tracks mixed in with three rapped intros that feel like they could always have been there. The way the songs run - it feels like a major album release in the same vein as say Marvin's "What's Going On" or Mayfield's "Curtis" or Donny Hathaway's "Extension Of A Man" or even Stevie's "Innervisions" - the overall listen is just fantastic. And you have to say that the Remaster is just gorgeous – kicking with power and detail. You hear Purdie’s drums – everything. Just check out the superlatively concise guitar solo by Burt Jones on the get-it song "When You Are Who You Are" complimented throughout by Hubert Laws on Saxophone. That’s followed by crystal clear Brian Jackson piano on "I Think I'll Call It Morning" held up by sweet Bass plucks from Ron Carter – gorgeous stuff and joyful music too. This LP worked too because not everything is a rant against the white oppressors - songs like "Sex Education: Ghetto Style" is funny - "Brother" is cutting when it comes to his own colour's shortcomings and both "The Get Out Of The Ghetto" and "Save The Children" songs feel sexy and soulful in that Marvin way.

Back when the second album "Pieces Of A Man" was issued in August 1972 in the USA and credited as Gil Scott-Heron with Pretty Purdie and The Playboys (Drummer Bernard Purdie) – Flying Dutchman tried "Lady Day And John Coltrane" as a lead off US 7” single with "Save The Children" on the flipside (FD 26015) – both tracks on this compilation of course. Because the "Pieces Of A Man" album was delayed until 1973 – the British 45 on Philips 6073 705 didn’t arrive until April 1973 and had the first bonus track on this CD as its B-side - "When You Are Who You Are". It’s modest Record Collector Price Guide price of under a tenner doesn’t reflect the difficulty you would have of locating a copy (I’ve never actually seen one). The other US 45 represented on here is his 1971 debut - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" b/w "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" on Flying Dutchman FD 26011 (again credited to Gil Scott-Heron with Pretty Purdie and The Playboys). That B-side is one of the albums other gems – drugs at home instead of family and love – Gil’s lyrics hard-hitting, real and humane – like the whole album.

The CD then cleverly lines up nine more from the three LPs - the Bonus cuts themselves feeling like another overlooked album nugget. By the time you get to the spoken poem "Paint It Black" and you're in love with the man. The first LP only had a few music tracks on it (see my separate review for "Small Talk At 125th And Lenox") and "Who'll Pay Reparation On My Soul?" was one of them - the White House reading out platitudes to beleaguered ghetto families from cue cards. And it ends with his 'first version' of "The Revolution Will Not To Be Televised" where he raps his poem to a Tabla beat - the crowd stunned as he speaks of stolen TVs and pigs shooting innocent bystanders and black people in the street looking for a brighter tomorrow...  

"...A rat done bit my sister Nell...and whitey's on the moon..." - Gil sings on his most famous song - raging against ghetto poverty while NASA spends billions back in a time when the word billions was truly a gargantuan amount.

A truly superlative reissue of a huge Soul-Funk-Jazz album from that golden Seventies period – "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". And not for the first time has Ace Records of the UK pulled off an absolute winner. 

Put this high on your shopping list and hope Gil returns in spirit form to guide us for when man goes to Mars for a few quid more than billions...

"In Search Of Amelia Earhart" by PLAINSONG featuring IAN MATTHEWS and ANDY ROBERTS (2005 Water Records 2CD 'Expanded Edition' Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...First Lady Of The Air..."

Between 1969 and 1972 - both singer-songwriters IAN MATTHEWS (of Fairport Convention and Matthews Southern Comfort) and ANDY ROBERTS (of The Scaffold, Liverpool Scene and Everyone) were busy boys. Between them I calculate they'd recorded nearly 20 albums before they finally amalgamated with Keyboard and Bassist Dave Richards (of The Scaffold, P.C. Kent and Everyone) and the American Guitarist Bob Ronga to form the short-lived but hugely revered PLAINSONG (signed to Elektra Records).

Plainsong's tenure lasted a year - 1972 to be exact before differences parted them and Matthews went to the USA again to re-engage his solo career. The four-piece British band formed out of a mutual appreciation for Folk-Rock, Country-Rock and Americana – quickly rehearsing and recording their debut album "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" - finally released in October of 1972 with all those musical genres very much in evidence. Very much in the vein of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young vs. America - two superb lead vocalists in Ian Matthews and Andy Roberts bolstered the band’s largely Wall-Of-Acoustic sound. They also put a second unreleased 13-track album in the can - along with BBC sessions, live shows and one-off singles - a tad over 40 recordings in one year (most are on here, not all). 

And that's where this fabulous 2005 American 2CD reissue on the respected Water Records label comes harmonising in. Here are the airborne details...

US released 2 May 2005 - "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" by PLAINSONG (featuring Ian Matthews and Andy Roberts) on Water Records WATER 149 (Barcode 646315714920) is a 2CD ‘Expanded Edition’ Reissue of their lone 11-Track 1972 album on Elektra Records. It also includes the unreleased 13-track 2nd album entitled "Now We Are 3" along with outtakes, live recordings and stand-alone singles sides. It breaks down as follows...

Disc 1 (65:13 minutes):

1. For The Second Time [Side 1]

2. Yo Yo Man

3. Louise

4. Call The Tune

5. Diesel On My Tail

6. Amelia Earhart's Last Flight [Side 2]

7. I'll Fly Away

8. True Story Of Amelia Earhart

9. Even The Guiding Light

10. Side Roads

11. Raider

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" - released October 1972 in the UK on Elektra K 42120 and October 1972 in the USA on Elektra EKS 75044. Produced by SANDY ROBERTSON (Engineer Jerry Boys) - it didn't chart in either country.

RADIO SESSIONS:

12. Seeds And Stems

13. Tigers Will Survive

14. Spanish Guitar

15. Time Between

16. Truck Driving Man

17. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

18. Wreck Of The Old 97

19. I'll Fly Away (Pre-First album Demo - Acapella Version)

PLAINSONG was:

IAN MATTHEWS - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and Percussion

ANDY ROBERTS - Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Dulcimer and Kriwaczek String Organ

BOB RONGA - 6 and12-String Acoustic Guitars

DAVID RICHARDS - Bass and Piano

with

Timi Donald - Drums (except on "Call The Tune" - Dave Mattacks)

Martin Jenkins - Mandocello on "Diesel On My Tail" and "Raider"

Disc 2 (78:45 minutes):

"Now We Are 3" - Previously Unreleased Second Album

1. Old Man At The Mill [Side 1]

2. Urban Cowboy

3. The Fault

4. Swinging Doors

5. Keep On Sailing

6. Miss The Mississippi

7. Home [Side 2]

8. First Girl I Loved

9. Save Your Sorrows

10. Nobody Eats At Linebaugh's Any More

11. The Goodnight Lovin' Trail

12. All Around My Grandmother's Floor

13. That's All It Could Amount To

Tracks 3, 5, 7, 9 and 13 written by Ian Matthews - Tracks 2 and 12 written by Andy Roberts - all others are cover versions. "Old Man At The Mill" is a Traditional arranged by Plainsong, "Swinging Doors" is a Merle Haggard cover, "Miss The Mississippi" is a Jimmy Rogers cover, "First Girl I Loved" and "Nobody Eats At Linebaugh's Any More" are both John Hartford covers and "The Goodnight Lovin' Trail" is a Bruce Utah Phillips cover.

PLAINSONG was:

IAN MATTHEWS - Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar

ANDY ROBERTS - Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars and Dulcimer

DAVID RICHARDS - Bass and Piano 

TIMI DONALD - Drums and Percussion

with

Steve Ashley - Harmonica on "The Goodnight Lovin' Trail"

Ray Warleigh - Tenor Saxophone on "The Fault" and "Keep On Sailing"

B.J. Cole - Pedal Steel Guitar on "Urban Cowboy" and "Keep On Sailing" - Dobro on "Miss The Mississippi" and "Nobody Eats At Linebaugh's Any More"

Harry Robinson - String Arrangements on "First Girl I Loved" 

LIVE RECORDINGS 

14. Amelia Earhart's Last Flight 

15. Any Day Woman

16. Poor Ditching Boy

17. Even The Guiding Light

18. True Story Of Amelia Earhart

19. Raider

20. Miss The Mississippi

PLAINSONG Live was:

Same line-up as "Now We Are 3" LP

Added Bob Ronga on 12-String Acoustic Guitar and Roger Swallow replaced Timi Donald on Drums

SINGLES:

21. Along Comes Mary

22. Even The Guiding Light (Single Version)

Dave Mattacks – Drums on Track 21 – Timi Donald on Track 22

Track 21 is a Tandyn Almer song - a cover of The Association's hit in 1966 on Valiant Records

Track 22 is a radical re-recording of the "Earhart" album track with only Andy Roberts on Lead Vocals and is edited to 3:15 minutes in length.

The louder and more Produced album version has both Ian Matthews and Andy Roberts on combined Harmony Vocals and runs to 4:12 minutes

Although the sepia-tinted 20-page booklet is a pretty thing to look at - when you go deeper - it's actually frustratingly vague on key issues and moments. The interview between Pat Thomas and Ian Matthews that makes up the bulk of the text is enlightening in some places - but you feel it concentrates on what happened to Matthews and Plainsong 'after' the album too much - acrimonious splits only to be re-united in the 90s to a point where there appears to be a Plainsong still technically operating to this day. I say this because the album's release date is not here, catalogue number, no discussion on where it was recorded, how, who did what - no pictures of the sevens Elektra tried in the UK and USA - no discussion of the BBC stuff - the stand-alone singles – no dates as to when they were recorded or by whom. There is zero discussion as to why the superb second album remained unreleased (the title probably reflects Bon Ronga leaving the original four-piece – hence "Now We Are 3"). Without sounding glib here - you'll probably learn more from my review than you will from the booklet. What you do get is the artwork of the gorgeous gatefold sleeve of the original 1972 album with the 'In Search Of Amelia Earhart' Fred Goerner story reproduced - live photos of the boys with Acoustic Guitars - a foreign tour poster for a gig on the 31 March 1972 (I think its Holland) and the usual re-issue credits at the rear (basic info though, no recording dates).

GARY HOBISH carried out the remasters and these CDs sound fab – really lovely - especially the two sweetly produced studio albums. Even though the Live Sessions (BBC shows in 1972) are a little below audio par - don't take that as a turn-off. They're full of atmosphere and actually show what an awesome thing Plainsong was in the live environment and make you wish they'd gotten that second album out because it's clear something special was going on here (and the audience knows it). This 2CD set isn't everything Plainsong recorded and doesn't claim to be (there are exclusives on the Band Of Joy "On Air" CD reissue from 1992 and the Taxim Records CD compilation "And That's That – The Demos" from the same year. But across 41 tracks – this wonderful release hardly puts an audio foot wrong. To the music...

In his interview with Pat Thomas – Matthews is almost like a cranky child as he describes his annoyance that the album and its specific artwork got somehow taken for a ‘concept’. The intriguing 'was she a hero/was she a government spy' story of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappearing in July 1937 was only sung of in two songs – the rest independent of that theme. Yet people mistook Plainsong which I suspect may have done for it sales wise. With regard to the charismatic Earhart – America’s first lady of the air – the jury is still out. Somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Isle and the 2556 miles in-between - lies the truth.

The album "In Search Of Amelia Earhart" opens its Country-Rock, Folk-Rock and Americana credentials with a Matthews original - the melodic "For The Second Time".  A friend had seen our Ian through the night - twinned guitars humming his pain like America meets The Eagles (the Remaster is gorgeous). "Yo Yo Man" is a Rick Cunha/Martin Cooper song that first appeared on the 1971 Mason Williams album "Sharepickers" credited as "I'm A Yo Yo Man". You notice the Lead Vocals have changed from Ian to Andy Roberts with Ian harmonising when it's needed. Elektra obviously thought the funky wah-wah Tony Joe White guitar might give the song some legs because they issued it in November 1972 on Elektra EK-45821 with Side 2's "Side Roads" on the flipside - but it didn't ignite. Inexplicably - and especially given the sheer array of musicality on display here - it was the only US 45 from the album. In Blighty however Elektra UK tried a Promo 7" Threesome Maxi-Single issuing "Even In The Guiding Light" as the A-side to October 1972's Elektra SAM 8. The other two artists were Mickey Newbury and Harry Chapin and the release was plugging their appearance as a package bill at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 20th of that month. What eagle-eyed collectors noticed from the Butterfly label was that the 7" single variant was 3:15 minutes while the album cuts runs to a full 4:12 minutes. What it didn't say was that the recording was a re-make with Andy Roberts only on Lead Vocals as opposed to the two voices harmonising on the LP cut. Although the album version is better produced - I can more than understand why the re-recording was done - the single voice suddenly giving the song the focus and oomph it needed. It was obviously being lined-up for 45 number 2 - but not officially released. Shame because it's got great guitar work and a hooky nature.

Plainsong then takes on another obvious musical influence - Elektra's Paul Siebel and his "Louise" - a song covered by a diverse number of artists including Leo Kottke and Willy DeVille. Listening to the truly pretty "Side Roads" - I'm reminded so much of Smith Perkins Smith and their only self-titled album on Island Records from 1972 - those same cool-as-a-breeze CSYN vocals floating over beautifully recorded acoustic instruments. The "Earhart" album ends on another cult tune (Matthews has a knack for picking them) - "Raider" from the 1969 "Farewell Alderbaran" album by Blues Belter Judy Henske and Modern Jazz Quartet's/Lovin' Spoonful's Jerry Yester – an acquired taste over on Zappa's Straight Records. I've heard so many versions of their "Raider" song (the kind of tune that's always being covered) - but Plainsong's nearest comparison would be Fairport Convention circa "Liege & Leaf" with Andy Roberts on Vocals instead of Richard Thompson. Other nuggets include Matthews beautiful and lilting "Call The Tune" (would have chosen this as the lead-off 45) and their cover of the Carter Family associated traditional "I'll Fly Away" (most will probably know the melody from the Coen's movie "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" where it was heavily featured).

The Radio Sessions portion of Disc 1 opens with a George Frayne and Billy Farlow song from the Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen debut album "Lost In The Ozone" on Paramount Records in 1971 - "Seeds And Stems". The wall of acoustic guitars comes with top in-the-studio production values as do the covers of Gene Clark's "Spanish Guitar", Chris Hillman's "Time Between", Terry Fell's "Truck Driving Man" and that old Hank Williams perennial "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". On these 'Radio Sessions" - Plainsong sound like a mellow James Taylor or Matthews Southern Comfort having a chill out and a laugh. And the Acapella version of "I'll Fly Away" is fantastic - showing the band's amazing vocal chops - pure melody and a wonderful end to Disc 1. 

I’m kind of taken aback by the strength of the unreleased album "Now We Are 3" that in my humble opinion was lining up to be better than the revered debut. They’d worked out that the Ian Matthews first song – followed by Andy Roberts on the next one – worked. Even their Country cover of Merle Haggard’s "Swing Doors" rocks – a witty take on the end of a relationship (you can find him with a neon sign, a bar stool and a late closing time). The two John Hartford songs are superb too - "First Girl I Loved" and the nostalgic "Nobody Eats At Linebaugh’s Any More" while B.J. Coles adds hugely to four songs – two with his distinctive Pedal Steel Guitar and the others with cool Dobro picking. Love that Dulcimer sound too on "Old Man At The Mill" – so Lindisfarne in its own way.

I could go on – but enough is enough. This is a superlative 2CD set making available again music that shouldn’t have gotten lost in boxes of tapes and public misconception.

"...All these chiefs...running out of braves..." – the boys sing on "Even The Guided Light". Don’t let this winner get away from you this time... 

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