"Deadlines" by STRAWBS – February 1978 UK Twelfth Studio Album on Arista Records featuring Dave Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, and Tony Fernandez with Guests John Mealing and Robert Kirby on Keyboards – Audio and Visual Extras include Andy Richards on Keyboards (March 2019 UK Esoteric Recordings 'Deluxe Expanded Edition' in a Mini Clamshell Box Set with 2CDs, 1DVD, Poster and Booklet and Including Previously Unreleased Audio and Visual BBC Content – Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadlines-Remastered-Expanded-Strawbs/dp/B07NKVMLZG?crid=OHET09LISH4B&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.s6ypAKZ0v_AOJHtPL58Y3A.2gBo9OADv0AUkiNyrfwFYPVwxXhv4jnTKFlUSS0Whcw&dib_tag=se&keywords=5013929477643&qid=1708430413&sprefix=5013929477643%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=50fb9ce432b59146a0bfd2ed6fdc0ed2&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

RATING: *** to ****

"…The Last Resort…"

The chart success of Pink Floyd ("Animals" in January), Emerson, Lake & Palmer ("Works, Volume 1" in March) and Yes ("Going For The One" in July) across those varying months in 1977 (and extended into early 1978 via Tours and popularity sales) belied the fact that in the late Seventies Prog Rock was having a hard time. With Punk and New Wave snarling at their tired and played-out feet – the giant bands prevailed anyway – but those down the rung of the ladder had it different. 

Although I never viewed the Melodic Folk Rock with Rock-Flourishes of England's Strawbs as Prog Rock per say – they seemed to get lumped into that bracket anyway (their sound and songs had moved more and more to that as the Seventies wound on). Bands like say Camel or Caravan or even Gentle Giant (who were British Prog) got hammered by the sophisticated US Rock of Rush, Journey, Kansas, and hell even Boston and Blue Oyster Cult. It was also generally felt (amongst my mates anyway) that Prog bands (especially in 1977 and early 1978) were so old-fart as to be embarrassing and you didn't carry their albums around under your arms with pride as you had once done lest some New Wave safety-pin neer-do-well clock your level 12 mortal sin, inform you that your time was up and hit you over the head with a brick (as a form of mercy to hippies).

And so, we come to the last album for our British Heroes Strawbs in the Seventies (ten years burning down the road since 1968) – fraught with 1977 recording difficulties in both Dublin and London. Their initial sessions in Dublin were good musically but the studio wasn't up to snuff (tape machines running slow) and on returning to the UK - a microphone had accidentally been left on the new mastertape boxes overnight at AIR Studios which had stripped away portions of the drums. Much had to be salvaged and re-recorded, but Cousins felt the magic had slipped that was inherent in the Irish sessions. Producer Jeffrey Lesser also insisted that all lead vocals be carried out by Dave Lambert – and despite Cousins agreeing that Lambert sang probably his best work on "Deadlines" - excluding Dave Cousins from the mike left a released LP that confused DJs and Fans who were used to both singers. 

After signing a deal with Clive Davis (a letter from him is featured in the booklet) "Deadlines" was eventually issued with a typically drear Hipgnosis sleeve in February 1978 on Arista. Arista Records was more associated at the time with Country Rock like The Outlaws and whiny singer-songwriters like Barry Manilow. And that artwork – geez - a man drowning in a phonebox by the side of a dark country road on the front sleeve - with horror-types from the set of 1984 scowling on the rear, phone receiver in one hand and a dagger in the other. Not exactly bright-n-breezy easy-peasy. But for fans like me who had loved "Grave New World" in 1972 and "Bursting At The Seams" in 1973 – and after the neither-here-nor-there letdowns of "Nomadness" and "Burning For You" in 1975 and 1976 – their twelfth studio album "Deadlines" felt like a slight-return to form – not brilliant – but good enough.

And you must cede that once again Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of Cherry Red) have pulled out the stops on an album that many have forgotten and has laid unloved for decades on end. ER have found and Remastered Audio and Visual content for a BBC Radio One In Concert set and given us the Cousins-endorsed reissued album (done in 2012) on CD1 with outtakes he felt represented the spirit of the album better than the released product. It is a very tasty package indeed and probably about as comprehensive as we are ever going to get for this forlorn album. To the details…

UK released 23 March 2019 - "Deadlines" by STRAWBS on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 32676 (Barcode 5013929477643) is a 'Deluxe Expanded Edition' Mini Clamshell Box Set with 2CDs, 1DVD, Poster and Booklet (including Previously Unreleased Audio and Visual BBC Content from 1978) and New Remasters that plays out as follows:

CD1 (77:43 minutes):
1. No Return [Side 1]
2. Joey And Me
3. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
4. I Don't Want To Talk About It
5. The Last Resort
6. Time And Life [Side 2]
7. New Beginnings
8. Deadly Nightshade
9. Words Of Wisdom 
Tracks 10 to 9 are their twelfth studio album "Deadlines" – released February 1978 in the UK on Arista Records SPART 1036 and in the USA on Arista AB 4172. Produced by JEFFREY LESSER – it didn't chart in either country. 

BONUS TRACKS (originally issued 2012): 
10. Midnight (Out-Take)
11. No Return (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
12. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
13. Time And Life (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
14. Deadly Nightshade (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
15. Words Of Wisdom (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
16. The Chosen One (Dave Cousins Acoustic Demo)
17. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss (Band Demo)
18. No Return (Dublin Production Mix)
19. Joey And Me (Dublin Production Mix)
20. Deadly Nightshade (Dublin Production Mix)

STRAWBS for "Deadlines" was:
DAVE COUSINS – Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
DAVE LAMBERT – Electric Guitar and Vocals
CHAS CRONK – Bass, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
TONY FERNANDEZ – Drums and Timpani
Guests were:
JOHN MEALING – Polymoog and Organ
ROBERT KIRBY – Mellotrons, Mini Moog and Autoharp

CD2 (61:10 minutes):
BBC Radio One 'Sight & Sound In Concert'
Golders Green Hippodrome in London, 18 February 1978
1. Lay Down
2. The Last Resort
3. Ghosts
4. No Return
5. Heartbreaker
6. Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss
7. Simple Visions
8. Cut Like A Diamond
9. Out In The Cold
10. Round And Round
11. Hero And Heroine

DVD – BBC TV "Sight & Sound In Concert" Golders Green Hippodrome, London, 18 February 1978 – 11 Tracks as per CD2 - NTSC All Regions – Previously Unreleased

STRAWBS for BBC Concert (CD2 and DVD) was:
DAVE COUSINS – Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar (6 and 12-String)
DAVE LAMBERT – Electric Guitar and Lead Vocals
CHAS CRONK – Bass, Acoustic Guitar and Backing Vocals
ANDY RICHARDS – Keyboards
TONY FERNANDEZ – Drums and Percussion

Fans will know that 1996 saw "Deadlines" CD-reissued on One World OW 34499, but with what many felt was comprised audio. A far more concerted effort was made to whip "Deadlines" into shape in 2012. The source material (July to September 1977 recordings made at Dublin Sound Studios and Air Studios in London) was restored from original tapes at Cyclone Music Production in Rochester in July 2012 with principal band member Dave Cousins and a team in the control booths. Released November 2012, Witchwood WMCD 2055 introduced the Bonuses of Tracks 10 to 20 (CD1 above) which Cousins has said gives a better idea of how Strawbs wanted the music to sound instead of the forced re-recordings they had to make due to a Microphone glitch.

Here in March 2019 (third reissue go-round), CD1 is the same as 2012 while CD2 and DVD offer the Audio and Visual on a Previously Unreleased BBC In Concert Gig from February 1978. But Esoteric Recordings have given the whole shebang a PASCHAL BYRNE Remaster and I can honestly say that the album has a wee bit more oomph (CD1) while the acoustic bonuses still sound like the demos they are (rough-ish but acceptable). But I am sure that I am not the first Strawbs fan who having heard these Demos has not thought what the LP would have been like if it had had a Completely Acoustic Based Sound – all melody and less bombast. The outtake "The Chosen Ones" had potential to be a great LP track and even though it is audibly less than the LP variant, the sad "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" Band Demo is filled with melody and fresh hurt that maybe got lost in translation. The three Dublin mixes are better than I had expected – certainly audio-wise. 

The glossy Clamshell Box Set offers three mini-LP card sleeves on the inside which use variants of the front and rear Hipgnosis artwork, a 16-page booklet with new Dave Cousins liner notes that go a long way to explaining the convoluted history and a fold-out poster repro of their March 1978 British Tour (phone-box photo, special guest Roy Hill, see photos provided) – advertising their first album on Arista Records. The lyrics are here too, musician credits beneath them etc. PASCHAL BYRNE – a very experienced engineer and long-standing go-to-Audio-guy for Esoteric has handled the Remaster and as I say, the album does sound better. To the music…

Prior to album release in early February 1978, Arista put out a taster in the form of Side 1's "Joey And Me" (composed by Cousins, Cronk and Lambert) as a January 1978 UK 45-single (Arista ARIST 159) with Side 2's "Deadly Nightshade" (a Dave Cousins song) on the flipside. The A-side sounded like 1974 Peter Gabriel-led Genesis circa "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" doing a Rock riff song on breaking free from drudgery. But without even a picture sleeve and given the Elvis Costello, XTC, The Clash, The Damned, Blondie and Ian Dury New Wave scene (to name but a few) – there were few takers. With the LP in the shops, Arista tried again on 31 March 1978 with the upbeat big-chorus message song "New Beginnings" (Arista ARIST 179) sporting Side 2's final cut "Words Of Wisdom" on the flipside (a Cousins song). "New Beginnings" (a co-write between Cousins and Lambert) was a strong melody and the huge doomy synths of the very marching-drums Pink Floyd and Animals Prog of "Words Of Wisdom" should have won them some love, but again a non-runner. 

Arista-USA tried a different tack by putting the slightly hammy but perceived as more commercial "I Don't Want To Talk About It" on the A-side instead of "New Beginnings". They kept the 5:38-minute full album version of "Words Of Wisdom" on the flip, but with Lambert's strangulated vocals and its wildly overwrought production - Arista AS 0327 died. I can't help thinking that if someone had had the balls to take a chance at Arista – the crushingly sad "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" on the A-side with the commercial Blue Oyster Cult guitar rock of "The Last Resort" on the B-side – Radio Stations and lapsed fans might have noticed. Dave Cousins was obviously in serious pain when he penned lines like "…You gave me your best…I gave you all my worst years…" in the short but shimmering "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" - but while perhaps the searing personal honesty in the title seemed to much of a downer – I think the public might have taken to its dangerously close-to-the-knuckle "Love And Affection" vibe.

Side 2 opened with another strong track "Time And Life" brimming with great guitar work, orchestration and walls of headlines and deadlines choruses. Our singer looks to children and songs for his salvation in the slightly pappy "New Beginnings" but that is kicked into sinister speaker-to-speaker touch by the phased vocals of "Deadly Nightshade" where Lambert sounds like Marillion before there was a Fish.

The extras are compromised audio-wise by their very nature, but it is cool to hear an Electric Banjo pop out of the Dublin Mix of "Joey And Me". I would admit to initial disappointment at CD2 – the first two tracks are awful in my mind – somehow the recording getting away from the engineer. As they go into track three "Ghosts" (to some applause from the crowd who clearly did not yet know the first two newbies in the set) – you get keyboard parts from Andy Richards that feel almost external to the overall sound – like they are not gelling as a unit - and that is probably why the set has remained unreleased. 

It isn't so apparent on the visual DVD (picture is TV Box Aspect and in colour) when compere Alan Black introduces the show and band. The picture quality is acceptable at best – typical of so much BBC stuff that doesn't seem to have been either filmed well or kept well. The five-piece band is led by Dave Cousins on his ubiquitous Twelve String Guitar while Dave Lambert plays Electric Guitar Lead. The first three are voiced by Cousins until Lambert takes over the more Prog "No Return" (very nice echoed-guitar opening) and the Rock Out "Heartbreaker". Unfortunately, and just when the audio needed to be at its best – the sad and beautiful "Sealed With A Traitor's Kiss" starts out so well – Andy Richards playing gorgeous complimentary piano - but then someone clearly unplugs a lead or something and what sounds like a huge fart emanates from the PA. Cousins carries on regardless (sweating and without breaking a smile) but the tender moment is ruined. Towards the last three tracks, Andy Richards gets to let rip on the keyboard stack – Hernandez gets to bash his huge hanging symbol (how very Greenslade) as the songs become more Prog Rock with a bit of 12-string melody thrown over it. The band seemed pleased with themselves and their prowess – I'm just not sure that either the Audio or Visual captured it to a best advantage. 

To sum up – CD1 of "Deadlines" is better but the 1978 material on CD2 and the DVD are compromised affairs in every department – Audio and Visual. But I doubt Strawbs fans will be too repulsed because anything new from this forgotten period is collectors' gold-dust. 

So, once again, Esoteric Recordings of the UK do the business by a forgotten milestone and artists worth celebrating. Just taper those expectations as you dive in...

"Sinnin' For You: The Albums 1969-1973" by KEEF HARTLEY BAND – Features Seven Albums (Six Studio and One Live) Plus 15 Bonus Tracks – Musicians include Miller Anderson of Dog Soldier, Dave Caswell of Galliard, Gary Thain of Uriah Heep, Pete Dines of T.Rex, Jon Hiseman of Colosseum, Johnny Almond of Alan Price Set and Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, Mick Weaver of Wynder K. Frog and Hemlock, Elkie Brooks, Robert Palmer and Pete Gage of Vinegar Joe, Jess Roden of Bronco, Pete Wingfield of Jellybread, Jean Rouselle of Juicy Lucy and Hanson, Lyn Dobson of Third Ear Band, Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones with Henry Lowther, Chris Mercer, Barbara Thompson and more (July 2022 UK Esoteric Recordings Clamshell Box Set – 7LPs onto 7CDs with 15 Bonus Tracks and 2008 Paschal Byrne Remasters from Original Deram Stereo Tapes) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Not Foolish, Not Wise..."

 

In March and April 2008 and January 2009 – Esoteric Recordings of the UK (part of the Cherry Red set of labels) put out all seven of Keef Hartley's stereo albums for England' Deram Records originally issued between March 1969 and May 1973 – six studio sets and one live (see list below). Those CD Remasters had only three bonus tracks across the lot – single-sides.

 

This 7CD Clamshell Mini Box Set returns to that back catalogue and features these rare albums in Mini LP Card Repro Sleeves (six are gatefolds, the three Bonus tracks are here too), those tremendous 2008 Paschal Byrne Remasters from original Deram tapes, and this time throws in a further twelve Previously Unreleased Live and Studio Recordings from the period (15 Bonus in all). The icing on the cake is a chunky 48-page booklet that reproduces all the liner notes KF did for the 2008 and 2009 CD reissues before his sad passing in 2011.

 

And when you consider the musical company Drummer and Leader of the Band Hartley was keeping – try Miller Anderson of Dog Soldier, Dave Caswell of Galliard, Gary Thain of Uriah Heep, Pete Dines of T.Rex, Jon Hiseman and Barbara Thompson of Colosseum, Johnny Almond of Alan Price Set and Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, Mick Weaver of Wynder K. Frog and Hemlock, Elkie Brooks, Robert Palmer and Pete Gage of Vinegar Joe, Jess Roden of Bronco, Pete Wingfield of Jellybread, Jean Rouselle of Juicy Lucy and Hanson, Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones, Lyn Dobson of The People Band and Third Ear Band with Henry Lowther, Chris Mercer and many more – and you are in for a Blues Rock meets Prog moments aural extravaganza. Let's get brave...

 

UK released 29 July 2020 - "Sinnin' For You: The Albums 1969-1973" by KEEF HARTLEY BAND on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC72809 (Barcode 5013929480995) is a 7CD Clamshell Box Set with Six Studio and One Live Album using 2008 Remasters, Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves (six are gatefolds), Picture Disc CDs, 15 Bonus Tracks (12 Previously Unissued) and a 48-Page booklet with KH Liner Notes for each album. All originally on Deram Records in the UK and credited to Keef Hartley Band except "Lancashire Hustler" to Keef Hartley. It plays out as follows:

 

CD1 "Halfbreed" (50:49 minutes):

1. Sacked (Introducing Hearts And Flowers/Confusion Theme/The Halfbreed)

2. Born To Die

3. Sinnin' For You

4. Leavin' Trunk [Side 2]

5. Just To Cry

6. Too Much Thinking

7. Think It Over/Too Much To Talk

Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut album "Halfbreed" – released March 1969 in the UK on Deram DML 1037 (Mono) and Deram SML 1037 (Stereo) – the STEREO MIX is used for this CD.

Band: Miller Anderson on Lead Vocals and Guitar, Peter Dines on Keyboards, Spit James on Guitar with Gary Thain on Bass and Keef Hartley on Drums

Guests: Henry Lowther on Trumpet and Violin, Harry Beckett on Trumpet, Lyn Dobson on Tenor Sax and Flute with Chris Mercer on Tenor Sax

 

BONUS TRACK:

8. Leave It 'Til The Morning – April 1969 UK Debut 45-single on Deram DM 250, A-side, Non LP (the LP track "Just To Cry" was the B-side)

 

CD2 "The Battle Of North West Six" (65:02 minutes):

1. The Dansette Kid – Hartley Jam [Side 1]

2. Don't Give Up

3. Me And My Woman

4. Hickory

5. Don't Be Afraid

6. Not Foolish, Not Wise [Side 2]

7. Waiting Around

8. Tadpole

9. Poor Mabel (You're Just Like Me)

10. Believe In You

Tracks 1 to 10 are his second studio album "The Battle Of North West Six" – released January 1970 in the UK on Deram DML 1054 (Mono) and Deram SML 1054 (Stereo) – the STEREO MIX is used for this CD.

Band: Keef Hartley, Miller Anderson, Henry Lowther, Jim Jewell on Tenor Sax, Gary Thain with Spit James – Guests Mick Weaver on Organ, Mike Davis, Harry Beckett, Lyn Dobson, Chris Mercer on Tenor Sax, Barbara Thompson on Baritone Sax and Flute, Ray Warleigh on Flute with Mick Taylor on Guitar

 

BONUS TRACKS (Recorded Live in 1969):

11. Spanish Fly (Live)

12. Me And My Woman (Live)

13. Too Much Thinking (Live)

14. Not Foolish, Not Wise (Live)

 

CD3 "The Time Is Near..." (35:13 minutes):

1. Morning Rain [Side 1]

2. From The Window

3. The Time Is Near

4. You Can't Take It With You [Side 2]

5. Premonition

6. Another Time, Another Place

7. Change

Tracks 1 to 7 are his third studio album "The Time Is Near..." – released August 1970 in the UK on Deram SML 1071 in Stereo only.

Band: Keef Hartley, Miller Anderson, Henry Lowther, Jim Jewell, Gary Thain, Dave Caswell on Various Horns, Lyle Jenkins on Various Horns, Stuart Wicks on Organ with Dell Roll on Percussion

 

CD4 "Overdog" (71:39 minutes):

1. You Can Choose [Side 1]

2. Plain Talkin'

3. Theme Song (a)/ En Route (b)/ Theme Song Reprise (c)

4. Overdog [Side 2]

5. Roundabout

6. Imitations From Home

7. We Are All The Same

Tracks 1 to 7 are his fourth studio album "Overdog" – released April 1971 in the UK on Deram SDL 2 in Stereo

Band: Keef Hartley, Miller Anderson, Gary Thain, Mick Weaver plus Dave Caswell, Lyle Jenkins, Johnny Almond on Flute, Jon Hiseman on Drums and Percussion, Peter Dines on Keyboards with Ingrid Thomas, John Knighton and Valerie Charrington on Backing Vocals

 

BONUS TRACKS (Recorded Live in 1971):

8. Colours (You Can Choose) (Live)

9. Roundabout (Live)

10. You Can't Take It With You (Live)

11. Just To Cry (Live)

 

12. Roundabout (Part 1)

13. Roundabout (Part 2)

Tracks 12 and 13 were the A&B-sides of a 20 November 1970 UK 45-single on Deram DM 316

 

CD5 "Little Big Band" (Live) (42:41 minutes):

1. You Can't Take It With You (Live) – 7:15 minutes [Side1]

2. Me And My Woman (Live) – 4:56 minutes

3. Not Foolish, Not Wise (Live) – 5:06 minutes

4. Leg Overture (Medley) (Live) – 23:16 minutes [Side 2]

(a) Leavin' Trunk

(b) Halfbreed

© Just To Cry

(d) Sinnin' For You

Tracks 1 to 4 are his fifth album (first live) "Little Big Band" – released October 1971 in the UK on Deram SDL 4 in Stereo – recorded live at The Marquee Club in London, 13 and 14 June 1971

Band: Keef Hartley, Miller Anderson, Gary Thain, Derek Austin on Organ & Piano, Pete York on Percussion, Derek Wadsworth on Trombone (Solo), Danny Almark on Trombone, Chris Mercer on Horns and Flute (Solos), Lyn Dobson with Barbara Thompson, Mike Rosen, Mike Davis, Terry Noonan, Martin Drover and Harry Beckett on Various Horns

 

CD6 "Seventy Second Brave" (55:26 minutes):

1. Heartbreakin' Woman [Side 1]

2. Marin County

3. Hard Pill To Swallow

4. Don't You Be Long

5. Nicturns [Side 2]

6. Don't Sign It

7. Always Thinking Of You

8. You Say You're Together Now

9. What It Is

Tracks 1 to 9 are his sixth album (fifth studio set) "Seventy Second Brave" – released May 1972 in the UK on Deram SDL 9 in Stereo

 

BONUS TRACKS (Live Studio):

10. Don't You Be Long

11. Marin County

12. Don't Sign It

13. Always Thinking Of You

 

CD7 "Lancashire Hustler" (38:44 minutes):

1. Circles [Side 1]

2. You And Me

3. Shovel A Minor

4. Australian Lady

5. Action [Side 2]

6. Something About You

7. Jennie's Father

8. Dance To The Music

Tracks 1 to 8 are his seventh album (sixth studio) "Lancashire Hustler" (credited as just Keef Hartley) – released May 1973 in the UK on Deram SDL 13 in Stereo. Album also features Vocalists Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer then with Vinegar Joe on most tracks as well as Jess Roden then with Bronco on Guitars.

 

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The rollicking Blues Rock with Brass stabs that is "Sinnin' For You" from the "Halfbreed" debut album could easily have been Blodwyn Pig over on Island Records on their 1969 starter "Ahead Rings Out" - while the straight-up slow boil of "Born To Die" is akin to Alvin Lee of Ten Years After doing the Blues for seven and a half minutes (Miller Anderson even sounded a little like Mick Abrahams and Alvin Lee combined. The heavy-heavy chug riffage of "Leavin' Trunk" - a Sleep John Estes R&B song Taj Mahal had covered so well on his self-titled debut album on Columbia and Direction Records in 1968 – could be Uriah Heep or Hard Meat or Skin Alley rocking out with the guitars panning the speakers like white boys have just discovered the Blues and how to Rock it. The tease between organ and guitar across speakers in Lowther/Finnegan written "Just To Cry" is a too cool for school blast – so moody and of the period – the kind of hipster chune that will surely turn up in a movie sequence soon (and again kind of Ten Years After).

 

After the impressive debut, there is (it has to be said) a certain plodding nature to the lumbering Rock of "The Battle Of North West Six" – their second platter recorded in 1969 but released January 1970. "Waiting Around" feels a lot like Delaney & Bonnie as does the Steppenwolf Organ and Guitar slow Blues of "Tadpole" – Mick Weaver featuring. Flautists Lyn Dobson and Barbara Thompson (of Colosseum) feature throughout but stuff like, "Poor Mabel..." feels like its stretching and not getting there. CD2 is the first of the sets of four live cuts (as Bonuses) and a tiny bit above Bootleg standard is what you would call the audio even if the band were tight. Their Bluesy take on "Me And My Woman" sounds like a band giving a soundcheck at Woodstock – Anderson sounding so Shuggie Otis (he covered the song on his debut solo album – see separate review). They are OK, but something I would ever listen to again.

 

Album number three is dominated by Singer and Guitarist Miller Anderson who wrote six of its seven songs, the exception being "Premonition" which was written by Flugelhorn player Dave Caswell. Production is once again by Neil Slaven and Keef but recorded at Trident, the audio is noticeably clearer and more professionally muscular. The Brass punches through every song (heavy on the lyrics) like a Blood, Sweat & Tears LP of the day. Highlights include "You Can’t Take It With You" – Jim Jewell letting rip towards its end. I know Funk-fiends who like their Rock with a hip Funk feel love the slinky instrumental "Premonition" – Dave Caswell getting into Trumpets and Electric Piano while Anderson throws in a very cool guitar solo worthy of a 1972/1973 Steely Dan album. Acoustic guitar sounding not unlike Duncan Browne doing "Journey" softens "Another Time, Another Place" – Miller Anderson singing of colours that do not easily blend but will in the end. The mellow continues as "Change" ends the album, again his voice a little too echoed like on the other tracks.

 

Wah-Wah Funk guitar opens the "Overdog" album – "You Can Choose" tearing out of your speakers with a positivity that is overwhelming – a little like Delaney & Bonnie on speed. The soft Rock-Funk continues with "Plain Talkin’" where Anderson pleads for truth and not loads of language that makes no sense in any tongue. Side 1 ends with a three-parter "Theme Song" – eight-minutes plus that opens with an acoustic starter complimented by soft Flute interjections and shimmering Hartley high hats in the background. It quickly kicks the drum in and off we go with a rapid Flute-Rock Funk that feels like Tull let loose (Johnny Almond doing the blowing). Miller Anderson gives the guitar solo in the LP title track "Overdog" with Mick Weaver doing the same on Organ – a very Prog-meets-Rock Ten Years After groove that somehow comes over as Robin Trower Funky too in its groove (future Queen alumni Roy Thomas Baker the Engineer on this session). "Roundabout" by Miller Anderson is not to be confused with another Anderson in Yes in 1971 also doing "Roundabout" on "Fragile". The Keef Hartley Band "Roundabout" is a Funky-Rock chugger that is far more lumpy that the brilliant Yes song – feeling more like Blood, Sweat & Tears meets Colosseum with both of them trying too hard. Deram split it into two halves of a 45-single that comes as Bonus Tracks on CD4. Recorded in November 1970, the Funky keyboard sway of "Imitations From Home" is an instrumental that layers Herb Alpert trumpets to Bongos and a Soul-shuffling backbeat – pretty damn cool actually. Anderson gets all hippy-meaningful with the "Overdog" LP closer - "We Are All The Same" – the let’s all live together chorus pumped up by a trio of backing vocalists. Like the four live tracks on CD2, CD4 has period recordings that are loud but overwhelming and at least better recorded than the first lot. The band come on like a freight train of Funk-meets-70s-Rock on "Roundabout" – the same on the CCS-busy "You Can’t Take It With You" while they get Blues-Rock with "Just To Cry" but some serious hiss and a muddy recording kind of do for the impact.

 

"Seventy Second Brave" is the first studio album to see the departure of Miller Anderson who was so much a part of the KFB sound (he formed Dog Soldier). Replaced by Junior Kerr on Guitar and Vocals – the "Seventy Second Brave" album was recorded with real aplomb at Trident Studios with the legendary Roy Thomas Baker and John Burns as Engineers. Kerr was augmented by ex Jellybread keyboard player and vocalist Pete Wingfield (dreaming of a No. 1 with "Eighteen With A Bullet" and a place in the Guinness Book of Records). I mention these two Funky Types because there is an immediate sophistication with the opener "Heartbreakin’ Woman" that was missing on the earlier albums – the funk continuing the Chris Mercer song "Marin County" – production crisp and neat. Pete Wingfield contributed "Hard Pill To Swallow" – a piano ballad that is more Soulful than KFB usually are. Pete sings of the good thing he once had that the foolish musician let slowly die – the brass and tasteful guitars beautifully recorded as the melody swirls and sways. Side 1 ends with "Don’t You Be Long" that initially feels like a Faces song ala 1973’s "Ooh La La" – Kerr calling to his baby – only for the tune to extend into an all-out Funkathon ending with pianos, organs and guitar flicks all doing battle.

 

Side 2 gives us floating flute (Nick Newell of Zoot Money & The Big Roll Band) and treated organ notes (Mick Weaver) tinkling for the short instrumental "Nicturns" where we could be in Stomu Yamashta territory or Jade Warrior (written by the mysterious Curly Crowe). Musician angst towards Managers and the Industry comes shuffling through "Don’t Sign It" where KFB sound almost like Lowell George in Little Feat having a go at perceived enforced one-room-flat living. Chris Mercer does the Sax honours on the speed-Funk of "You Say You’re Together Now" written and sung by Bassist Gary Thain. It ends of another Curly Crowe instrumental - "What It Is" – funking its AWB ass out of the studio with as much haste as possible.

 

What follows are four of the most interesting and accessible of all the bonuses – four live-in-the-studio track run-throughs for songs from the "Seventy Second Brave" album. The audio wavers between OK and only good – the sophistication of the produced LP cuts not there. Best of them is "Always Thinking Of You".

 

His Keef Hartley solo album proper "Lancashire Hustler" (sounding spiffy) opens with the slow "Circles" sounding not unlike a Soulful Robin Trower with James Dewar on Vocals (Jess Roden). The separation of the instruments and vocals is a bit harsh but amazingly clear - especially Jean Rouselle's lovely piano playing (Palmer and Brooks of Vinegar Joe adding Soulful backing vocals). Things get even more funky for "You And Me" where there's almost as Ashford & Simpson feel to the moog and brass jabs - while I've always loved the chipper instrumental "Shovel A Minor" sounding not unlike Warner Brothers Greenslade going into boogie mode - if you can imagine such a thing. It has brass pumps - guitar flicks that go all B.B. King - it's almost fusion too in places - hard to pin down but a blast nonetheless.

 

Things slow down again considerably for "Australian Lady" where again the brass accompanies a moody vocal and a floating keyboard note complimenting lovely guitar flicks floating over it all. It's unbelievably mellow and given the Deram Label rep for Progressive Rock almost wildly out of place (it even has a witty Take 3 piano interlude at the end). Side 2 opener "Action" is probably one of the best rawk tracks on the album - featuring fantastic guitar work and a raspy Robert Palmer adding real muscle from behind to Jess Roden's lead vocals. It's near six-minutes sounds at times like Free or Humble Pie with its drum and bass breaks.

 

Back to Trower funky with the choppy fazed guitars of "Something About You" and its mellow keyboard breaks. It ends on the massively upbeat Motown feel of "Dance To The Music" (a cover of the Sly & The Family Stone classic) that finally lets Elkie Brooks loose on the vocals and features great Steve Winwood Spencer David Group keyboards. It last over six minutes and despite its frantic need to sound like everyone's having fun - I'm not sure it works though I think Sly would approve of the odd-sounding Moog solo.

 

You wouldn't call "Lancashire Hustler" a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination and those looking for Hard Rock or Prog should look elsewhere. But if you like your guitars Soulful and Funky like Robin Trower or Free or Humble can be on a good day - then hustle this little forgotten nugget into your life real soon.

 

To sum up – I often feel Hartley and his catalogue are overrated – but there is enough here to make seekers of Rock with a Funk and Prog edge very happy indeed. And the presentation of these hard-to-find LPs is first class. Hustle it into your collection...

 

Keef Hartley Band – Esoteric Recordings CD Remasters

 

1. Halfbreed - March 1969 UK Debut LP

29 April 2008 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2050 (Barcode 5013929715028) in Stereo, Plus One Bonus Track, A-side of 45-single

 

2. The Battle Of North West Six - January 1970 UK Second Studio LP

29 April 2008 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2052 (Barcode 5013929715226) in Stereo – No Bonus Tracks

 

3. The Time Is Near... – August 1970 UK Third Studio LP

31 March 2008 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2047 (Barcode 5013929714724) – No Bonus Tracks

 

4. Overdog – April 1971 UK Fourth Studio LP

31 March 2008 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2048 (Barcode 501392971483) Plus Two Bonus Tracks, A&B-sides of a 45-single

 

5. Little Big Band (Live) – October 1971 UK Fifth LP (First Live)

29 April 2008 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2051 (Barcode 5013929715127) – No Bonus Tracks

 

6. Seventy Second Brave - May 1972 UK Sixth LP (Fifth Studio)

26 January 2009 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2100 (Barcode 5013929720022) – No Bonus Tracks

 

7. Lancashire Hustler (by Keef Hartley) – May 1973 UK Seventh LP

26 January 2009 UK CD on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2101 (Barcode 5013929720121) – No Bonus Tracks

 

8. Sinnin' For You: The Albums 1969-1973 – July 2020 UK 7CD Clamshell Box Set on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 72809 (Barcode 5013929480995) – Seven Albums (Six Studio, One Live) Plus 15 Bonus Tracks

"Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" by STEPPENWOLF – Includes 8 Albums issued January 1968 to November 1971 in the USA (May 1968 to November 1971 in the UK on RCA Victor, Stateside and Probe Records) – featuring John Kay, Michael Monarch, Goldy McJohn, Rushton Moreve, Jerry Edmonton, Mars Bonfire, Nick St. Nicholas, Larry Byrom, Kent Henry and George Biondo (November 2021 UK Esoteric Recordings 8CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Repro Artwork Card Sleeves and Paschal Byrne Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Heading Off Down The Highway..."

 

British reissue label Esoteric Recordings (a part of Cherry Red) has fast been carving out a place in the hearts of collectors these last few years and a total winner like "Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" amply shows why – it screams class. And in October 2022 – it's priced at just over forty-quid and not the initial sixty – so is properly great value for money (for years you could only get expensive Japanese SHM-CD Remasters that at one point were clocking in at £400 for what you get here at a tenth of the cost).

 

In a nutshell, you get 8 Steppenwolf albums in Stereo - six studio sets, the full compliment of one live US-double which was only released as a single LP in the UK and a single live set of early 1967 wolf recordings when they were called The Sparrow. On top of that there's a tasty 26 Bonus 45-single Sides (most in their original and rare Mono form), a beautifully presented 52-page chunky-monkey booklet, a fold-out memorabilia-strewn poster, 8 Mini LP card repro sleeves (five of which are gatefolds) and Brand New 2021 Paschal Byrne Remasters from original Dunhill/ABC master tapes. Frankly Frank and don't step on the grass Sam, but that's a whole lot of primo Howlin' Wolf, if you know what I'm barking on about.

 

Always somehow in the second tier of great Rock Bands, Steppenwolf rocked and ever since I heard their angry, but utterly brilliant take on drug-addiction "The Pusher" complete with John Kay's larger-than-life persona dealing with everything from the intrusiveness of The Man and the Vietnam War to snowblind friends - I have loved the mad buggers dearly. Time to come out of the cave man; get wild, tighten up your wig and hop on long motorbikes and suspect carpets. Here is the Sookie-Sookie detail...

 

 

UK released Friday, 26 Nov 2021 - "Magic Carpet Ride: The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971" by STEPPENWOLF on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC82777 (Barcode 5013929477780) is an 8CD Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Card Sleeve Repro Artwork, a 52-Page Booklet, Fold-Out Poster, 26 Bonus Tracks and New 2021 Remasters that play out as follows:

 

CD1 "Steppenwolf" – 1968 Debut LP (74:29 minutes): 

The LP's STEREO MIX ONLY is used on this CD; the 8 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Sookie Sookie [Side 1]

2. Everybody's Next One 

3. Berry Rides Again

4. Hootchie Kootchie Man 

5. Born To Be Wild

6. Your Wall's Too High 

7. Desperation [Side 2]

8. The Pusher 

9. A Girl I Knew

10. Take What You Need 

11. The Ostrich

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "Steppenwolf" - released January 1968 on Dunhill D-50029 (Mono) and Dunhill DS-50029 (Stereo) and May 1968 in the UK on RCA Victor RD-7974 (Mono) and RCA Victor SF-7974 (Stereo). Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 6 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK).

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

12. Sookie Sookie (Mono Single Version) - February 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4123, A

13. Born To Be Wild (Mono Single Version) - May 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4138, A

14. Everybody's Next One (Mono Single Version) - May 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4138, B

15. Take What You Need (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4123, B

16. A Girl I Knew (Mono Single Version) - Oct 1967 US debut 45-single, Dunhill D-4109, A 

17. The Ostrich (Mono Single Version) - Oct 1967 US debut 45-single, Dunhill D-4109, B

18. The Pusher (Mono Single Version) - August 1970 UK 45-single, Stateside SS 8056, A

19. Berry Rides Again (Mono Single Version) - December 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4221, B-side of "Monster"

 

CD2 "The Second" – 1968 Second LP (46:33 minutes): 

The LP's STEREO MIX ONLY is used on this CD; the 2 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Faster Than The Speed Of Life [Side 1]

2. Tighten Up Your Wig 

3. None Of Your Doing 

4. Spiritual Fantasy 

5. Don't Step On The Grass Sam 

6. 28 [Side 2]

7. Magic Carpet Ride

8. Disappointment Number (Unknown)

9. Lost And Found By Trial And Error 

10. Hodge, Podge, Strained Through A Leslie

11. Resurrection

12. Reflections

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second studio album "The Second" - released October 1968 in the US on Dunhill DS-50037 (Stereo-only) and December 1968 UK on Stateside SL 5003 (Mono) and Stateside SSL 5003 (Stereo). Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 3 in the USA on the Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK)

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

13. Magic Carpet Ride (Mono Single Version) - Sept 1968 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4161, A

14. Spiritual Fantasy (Mono Single Version) - Aug 1970 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4248, B-side of "Screaming Night Hog"

 

CD3 "At Your Birthday Party" – 1969 Third LP (53:30 minutes):

The 13-Track album is in STEREO; the 4 Bonus Single Sides are in MONO.

1. Don't Cry [Side 1]

2. Chicken Wolf

3. Lovely Meter 

4. Round And Round 

5. It's Never Too Late 

6. Sleeping Dream 

7. Jupiter Child [Side 2]

8. She'll Be Better

9. Cat Killer 

10. Rock Me

11. God Fearing Man 

12. Mango Juice

13. Happy Birthday

Tracks 1 to 13 are their third studio album "At Your Birthday Party" - released March 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC DSX-50053 (Stereo) and May 1969 in the UK on Stateside SSL 5011 (Stereo. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 7 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK)

BONUS TRACKS: 

14. Rock Me (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4182, A

15. Jupiter Child (Mono Single Version) - Feb 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4182, B

 

CD4 "Early Steppenwolf" - 1969 Fourth LP (43:44 minutes):

Recorded Live at The Matrix in San Francisco, May 14, 1967 (as The Sparrow)

1. Power Play [Side 1]

2. Howlin' For My Baby 

3. Goin' Upstairs 

4. Corina, Corina

5. Tighten Up Your Wig 

6. The Pusher (21:36 minutes) [Side 2]

Tracks 1 to 6 are their fourth album "Early Steppenwolf", a collection of six live recordings as THE SPARROW made in May 1967 with MARS BONFIRE on Lead Guitar - released July 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC Records DS-50060 in Stereo and November 1969 in the UK on Stateside SSL 5015 in Stereo (it peaked at No. 27 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts, didn't chart UK).

 

CD5 "Monster" – 1969 Fifth LP (44:53 minutes):

The 7-Track album is in STEREO; the 3 Bonus Single Sides are in STEREO and MONO.

10 Tracks

1. Monster/Suicide/America [Side 1]

2. Draft Resister 

3. Power Play 

4. Move Over [Side 2]

5. Fag

6. What Would You Do (If I Did That To You) [Side 2]

7. From Here To There Eventually 

Tracks 1 to 7 are their fifth album (fourth studio) "Monster" - released November 1969 in the US on Dunhill/ABC Records DS-50066 in Stereo and February 1970 UK on Stateside SSL 5021 in Stereo. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 17 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts and became their first LP to chart in the UK peaking at No. 43.

 

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Monster (Single Version, Edit, Stereo) - December 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4221, A

9. Move Over (Mono Single Version) - August 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4205, A

10. Power Play (Mono Single Version) - August 1969 US 45-single, Dunhill D-4205, B

 

CD6 "Steppenwolf 'Live'" – 1970 Sixth Album (78:25 minutes):

The 13-Track Live-Double is in STEREO on this CD; the 3 Bonuses are MONO

1. Sookie Sookie [Side 1]

2. Don't Step On The Grass Sam

3. Tighten Up Your Wig

4. Monster [Side 2]

5. Draft Resister

6. Power Play 

7. Corina, Corina [Side 3]

8. Twisted

9. From Here To There Eventually 

10. Hey Lawdy Mama [Side 4]

11. Magic Carpet Ride 

12. The Pusher 

13. Born To Be Wild

Tracks 1 to 13 are their sixth album (second live set) issued June 1970 as a 2LP vinyl double-album in the USA on Dunhill DSD 50075 in Stereo only. On the original US issue the opening tracks "Hey Lawdy Mama" and "Magic Carpet Ride" of Side 4 are configured on the label as one-song hence giving the double a 12-track count. Here they have been separated as two songs, hence the 13-track count on CD. Produced by GABRIEL MEKLER - it peaked at No. 7 in the US Billboard Rock LP charts and No. 16 (as a single LP) in the UK

 

In the UK, "Steppenwolf 'Live'" was issued July 1970 on Stateside SSL 5029 as an 11-Track Single LP in Stereo. You can sequence that version using the following tracks:

Side 1: Sookie Sookie, Don't Step On The Grass Sam, Tighten Up Your Wig, Hey Lawdy Mama, Magic Carpet Ride, The Pusher

Side 2: Corina-Corina, Twisted, From Here To There Eventually, Draft Resister, Born To Be Wild

 

BONUS TRACKS: 

14. Hey Lawdy Mama [Live] (Mono Single Version) - April 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4234, A

15. Twisted [Live] (Mono Single Version) - April 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4234, B

16.Corina, Corina [Live] (Mono Single Version) - August 1970 US 45 on Dunhill D-4248, B-side of "Screaming Night Hog"

 

CD7 "Steppenwolf 7" – 1970 Seventh Album (50:28 minutes):

The 12 Tracks are all in STEREO 

1. Ball Crusher [Side 1]

2. Forty Days And Forty Nights 

3. Fat Jack 

4. Renegade

5. Foggy Mental Breakdown [Side 2]

6. Snow Blind Friend 

7. Who Needs Ya

8. Earschplittenloudenboomer

9. Hippo Stomp

Tracks 1 to 9 are their seventh album (fifth studio) "Steppenwolf 7" - released November 1970 in the US on ABC/Dunhill DSX-50090 and January 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6254. Produced by RICHARD PODOLOR - it peaked at No. 19 on the US Billboard Rock Lp charts (didn't chart UK). 

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Screaming Night Hog - August 1970 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4258, A

11. Snow Blind Friend - February 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4269, A

12. Hippo Stomp - February 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill/ABC D-4269, B

 

CD8 "For Ladies Only" – 1971 Eight Album (61:13 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 in STEREO, Track 13 is MONO

1. For Ladies Only [Side 1]

2. I'm Asking 

3. Shackles And Chains 

4. Tenderness

5. The Night Time's For You [Side 2]

6. Jaded Strumpet 

7. Sparkle Eyes 

8. Black Pit 

9. Ride With Me 

10. In Hopes Of A Garden 

Tracks 1 to 10 are their eight album (sixth studio set) "For Ladies Only" - released November 1971 in the US Dunhill/ABC DSX-50110 in Stereo and November 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPBA 6260 in Stereo. Produced by RICHARD PODOLOR - it peaked at No. 54 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK) 

 

BONUS TRACKS:

11. For Madmen Only - June 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4283, B-side of "Ride With Me"

12. For Ladies Only (Single Version, Stereo Version) - October 1971 US Promo-Only US 45-single on Dunhill D-4292, B-side of "For Ladies Only (Mono Version)"

13. Ride With Me (Mono Single Version) - June 1971 US 45-single on Dunhill D-4283, A

 

"Magic Carpet Ride..." is a looker of a CD Box Set - the glossy Clamshell giving it a feel of event. The Matt-booklet of 54-pages has reams of MALCOLM DOME liner notes interspersed with LP credits and loads of period photos, while the fold-out memorabilia poster showing stuff like their involvement in the "Candy" soundtrack is a great touch. PASCHAL BYRNE did the new Remasters from original tapes and it absolutely rocks - the lyrically awful "Jaded Strumpet" on "For Ladies Only" might make you wince, but the in-yer-face Audio won't. 

 

My only thing would be that many of the Mono single mixes feel too often like an Audio compromise rather than a Bonus. The fact that the last four card sleeves are gatefolds thereby keeping to their original designs is well tasty too - but the silver foil feel of the debut is missing as is the die-cut of "At Your Birthday Party" - for that level of Mini LP Sleeve detail you have to go to the Japanese SHM-CD reissues of April 2013 and they'll cost ya. But what we do have is superbly done and cleanly presented.  

 

The much-loved self-titled 1968 debut album is balls-to-the-wall brilliant - not surprising then that a whopping eight of its eleven tracks made it onto the 2CD "Gold" compilation put out to universal praise in September 2005 (Erick Labson Remasters - see separate review). So many tracks like their fantastic cover of Don Covay and Steve Cropper's "Sookie Sookie", Hoyt Axton's viscerally brutal "The Pusher" and their own reach for personal freedom "Born To Be Wild" that would lead the "Easy Rider" movie charge the following year. I would have to admit that the filler started to creep in by the time we reach platter number three - "At Your Birthday Party" feeling like its reaching all the time, but killer Kay tunes like "Rock Me" and "Jupiter Child" saving the day.

 

Rock-genius and So-Steppenwolf-Sounding-Riffage courses through the veins of "Don't Step On The Grass Sam" - both John Kay and Joey Edmonton sharing the vocals and those incendiary 'you'll pay if you disagree with me' lyrics. It's of the times for sure, but at a distance of nearing on 60-years - its crafty melody/production turns still amazes and manages to feel contemporary. There are times too when the band's musical reach surprises - even thrills - the gorgeous and cleverly orchestrated string arrangements in "Spiritual Fantasy" - just a song that dreams and hopes - John Kay searching for the supreme. The sexy guitar and piano Blues lurch of "Disappointment Number (Unknown)" is not just a fabulous deep album cut, but the Audio on the Remaster is fantastically clear - Mekler's original Production values shining through. And despite its hippy almost Jazz Fusion feel (or perhaps because of it) - I've been a tad partial to the three-minute instrumental "Mango Juice" on the patchy "At Your Birthday Party" album. 

Other deep dive dips include the slide-guitar shuffle of "Shackles And Chains" on Side 1 of the mixed-bag "For Ladies Only" album - their last for Dunhill/ABC in 1971 before they joined Mums Records for 1974's comback platter "Slow Flux". "Shackles And Chains" is another hooky John Kay message song (funky too) and this time we finally get to hear the great production values from Richard Podolor (guitarist Kent Henry playing a blinder). And I used to put "Tenderness" from the same album on 70's-Fest CD-Rs I made for Shop Plays - its Mars Bonfire-written acoustic/keyboard/guitar shuffle disarmingly touching (gorgeous Audio too). The guitar/keyboard groove of the instrumental "Black Pit" is one for Soul-Rock 'Funky Funky' compilations as well. 

 

While you might think its cool to have the Mono Single Mixes, the version of the lovely "Spiritual Fantasy" in Mono fares fairly well, but "Magic Carpet Ride" in Mono is too muffled for my tastes (guess I'm too used to that great Stereo clarity). Collectors will love the oddities - the decidedly eerie B-side "For Madmen Only" where the band seems to channeling Stephen King on a bad day. But then you play "Ride With Me" as either a 1971 Mono Single or its Stereo LP counterpart - with John Kay at his rumbunktious blazing best - and the rawk racket that Steppenwolf made was/is just fantastic. And on it goes...

 

There is so much on "The Dunhill/ABC Years 1967-1971", we could have it for days, but this Esoteric Recordings 8CD Mini Box Set for STEPPENWOLF hits home on all the right fronts - Presentation, Audio and Musical Surprises for a band so pigeonholed by their 60ts sound. 

 

A Magic Carpet Ride indeed...

 

PS: see also my review for "Gold" and "Slow Flux etc" both by Steppenwolf and the John Kay solo albums from 1972 and 1973 on Beat Goes On Records - "Forgotten Songs..." and "My Sportin' Life"