Mike Bloomfield, I'm Cutting Out (Sundazed). In late 1964 and early 1965, around or just prior to the time he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Mike Bloomfield cut some unreleased solo sides for Columbia. Mostly produced by John Hammond, these featured backing by an electric band that included Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica. Five of those songs came out on the 1994 Bloomfield CD compilation Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man. This LP has all five of those tracks, plus five additional ones that didn't make it onto the 1994 CD. For that reason alone, this is essential for Bloomfield fans, even if you already have that previous disc. At this point Bloomfield was rawer and less imaginative than the guitarist he would develop into with Butterfield and as a Bob Dylan accompanist, and he was never much of a singer. Nonetheless, there's a good brash early blues-rock energy to these sides, which mix straightforward covers of Chicago blues giants like Little Walter and Muddy Waters with a few Bloomfield originals. The good news is that the previously unissued cuts (including alternate versions of "I Got My Mojo Working" and "I Feel So Good") are not disreputable leftovers, but up to the same level of the ones that showed up on Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man. Certainly one of the new finds, "I'm Cutting Out," is the best of the three Bloomfield originals on the collection, as a nice bouncy no-nonsense blues with a superb stinging guitar solo and a raunchier vocal than was Bloomfield's wont. The alternate version of "I Got My Mojo Working" is less frenetic than the one on Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man, and for that reason a bit better. Liner notes with an appreciation by Al Kooper and a 1966 Bloomfield interview add to the desirability of this vinyl-only release.
Brave Belt, Brave Belt I/Brave Belt II (Bullseye). Both of Brave Belt's albums are combined onto one double-CD on this reissue, with the addition of a couple of bonus tracks. This was an odd transitional period for group leader Randy Bachman, as neither of the albums were that similar to either Guess Who or Bachman-Turner Overdrive, but certainly (at least in hindsight) served to bridge the two acts. Brave Belt's debut, which comprises disc one, was country-folk-rock that strayed into the realm of Bachman's old chum Neil Young, whether penned by Bachman or Chad Allan, though Bachman's songwriting retained some of the hard rock-pop flavor of Guess Who. There are lingering traces of wistful country-rock on Brave Belt II, especially on the two songs that Chad Allan co-wrote and played on before he left the band. But for the most part it finds the band drifting toward a much harder- rocking sound, particularly as most of the cuts feature Fred Turner's John Fogerty-with-a-squall vocals. Both of the bonus tracks are found on the second disc, and date from around early 1972. One is a cover of "Shakin' All Over," which of course Allan and Randy Bachman had made into a hit in the mid-1960s with the Guess Who. The other, "Hands and Faces," co-written by Allan and recorded prior to his exit from Brave Belt, reflects the quieter mellow rock sound of their first album. The reissue is embellished by thorough notes from John Einarson, co-author of Randy Bachman's autobiography.
Mike D'Abo, The Mike d'Abo Collection Vol. 1: Handbags & Gladrags (RPM). Subtitled "album singles rarities 1964-1970," this is a good 22-track collection of solo material from the singer most known for his late-1960s stint in Manfred Mann, filled out by some singles he did in the mid-1960s with A Band of Angels prior to joining Manfred Mann. Actually the six A Band of Angels tracks, taken from their four 1964-66 singles, are among the most interesting songs, including a ferocious R&B-pop-rock number, "Me," that mixes the Pretty Things, Small Faces, and Merseybeat. The other A Band of Angels items are less distinguished, but include some fair Mersey-styled cuts, as well as the enjoyably melodramatic pop of "Too Late My Love." Half of the CD is comprised of his 1970 solo LP d'Abo, a fair cross between blue-eyed soul and laidback early 1970s singer-songwriting, with a lot of Randy Newman and Ray Charles influences peeking through, along with occasional resemblance to Paul McCartney. That material is more competent than memorable, although it does include d'Abo's own version of his "Handbags and Gladrags," more famous as sung by Rod Stewart. The disc is filled out with the 1969 Immediate single "See the Little People," the 1970 Bell single ""Miss Me in the Morning"/'Cinderella Arabella," and the previously unreleased 1970 track "Because You Are." None of those are too great either, the singles sounding much like (unsurprisingly) late-1960s Manfred Mann, "Because You Are" rather like, again, Randy Newman.
Nick Drake, Second Grace (bootleg). Second Grace is a label-less vinyl bootleg of indeterminate origin. There is a catalog number (NICK 1), yet no record company name in sight, and no information about the music aside from the song titles, even though there are a couple of nice photos of Drake on the sleeve. So you'll probably have to look in on posts from Drake on-line discussion groups to get the lowdown on these fifteen tracks, none of which came out on his official releases, though about half of them are available on other bootlegs. Even if you have those other bootlegs and feel the need to pick this up to complete your collection of what's available, this is pretty marginal, both in terms of musical quality and the horrendously variable fidelity (some of it's obviously from home recordings). As for what train-spotters will find most interesting, the best tracks include a different (apparently home-recorded) version of "Mayfair"; an acoustic "Day Is Done" (certainly one of the set's highlights); an alternate of "Parasite"; "Leaving Me Behind," a typically meditative song not on any of his regular releases, though the version here is murkily recorded; a somewhat distantly miked home demo of "Saturday Sun," with only piano accompaniment; two nice, brief guitar instrumentals that sound like studio outtakes, so much better is their fidelity than most of their surroundings; a one-minute "Place to Be," in relatively decent sound; and a very nice and reasonably clear acoustic "Hazey Jane," the best song here. This was the best you could do for hearing this material when this LP appeared in 2001. The hope among Drake fans was that some or all of it would come out on official release with far superior sound quality, but that eventuality has remained uncertain.
Richard & Mimi Fariña, The Complete Vanguard Recordings (Vanguard). This is a straightforward three-CD set of the Fariñas' Vanguard recordings, each disc containing one of their three albums: Celebrations for a Grey Day, Reflections in a Crystal Wind, and the posthumous outtakes collection Memories. For Richard & Mimi Fariña fans that already have all of those albums, the chief interest lies in the seven previously unreleased bonus tracks that have been added to the Memories disc, all of them taken from their appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Those songs, in which the duo played in an acoustic setup with some help from onstage guests (including Bruce Langhorne and Fritz Richmond), are enjoyable but not essential, particularly as the sound quality isn't that great. The new additions, however, make live versions of some their best songs available, among them The Bold Marauder" (the best of the live cuts), "Sell-Out Agitation Waltz," "Pack Up Your Sorrows" (with Peter Yarrow), and "Celebration for a Grey Day"; Jean Ritchie accompanies them on "Shady Grove" (which is sometimes nearly drowned out by airplane swoops). Overall this is seminal, underrated mid-1960s folk-rock, quite consistent in quality for the most part. It's not an over-investment for the cost-conscious, as if you like any one of their albums, you'll probably like all of them. Note, however, that it's not quite the complete Vanguard recordings, since it doesn't have the unreleased version of "Tuileries" that appeared on the compilation Pack Up Your Sorrows: Best of the Vanguard Years. It's also a bit disappointing that no further studio outtakes were found, such as the demos referred to in David Hajdu's book Positively 4th Street.
The Flowerpot Men, A Walk in the Sky (RPM). Entirely recorded between 1967 and 1969, this anthology's a little curious in that it's neither a best-of, nor an absolutely comprehensive roundup of everything the Flowerpot Men did. Compiled by John Carter (who wrote and produced their material, often in conjunction with Ken Lewis), it highlights the trippiest, most psychedelic facets of their repertoire. The big hit "Let's Go to San Francisco" is here -- in fact, parts one and two are both here, in mono and stereo versions -- though some songs that appeared on their singles are missing. Three tracks are presented in alternate versions, while the eleven-minute "E=MC2/Musha Hada" was previously unreleased. Getting past all that, you'll find this to be surprisingly credible pop-psychedelia, though "Let's Go to San Francisco" has given them the tag of a one-shot novelty band. "Mythological Sunday" has commendably dreamy production, with that uniquely British synthesis of mellotron, quasi-classical piano, hazy harmonies, and exotic production trickery that doesn't quite overwhelm the song. "Blow Away" is one of the most dead-on emulations of the Byrds you're going to come across, down to the McGuinn-esque vocals and twelve-string guitar ring. "Say Goodbye to Yesterday" is acceptable late-1960s Beatles-like studio pop, and "Walk in the Sky" is kind of like the Four Seasons or the Tokens on acid. This is too sweet and frothy to qualify as major work, but it's got enough of that British fairy dust to make it worthwhile for psychedelic fans. It certainly demonstrates there was more to this band (largely a studio creation) than novelty, despite the inclusion of "Let's Go Back to San Francisco Parts 1 & 2," a somewhat contrived follow-up to their big hit. An enhanced CD bonus track has a TV clip of the Flowerpot Men lip-syncing to "Let's Go to San Francisco" in 1967.
Ellie Greenwich, Brill Building Sounds: Be My Baby: Recordings 1958-1985 (Brill Tone). Like the other compilations of rarities in Brill Tone's series (for Carole King, Barry Mann, and Jeff Barry), this is probably unauthorized, of considerable value to serious fans, and infuriatingly inconsistent in both content and presentation. The 56-track, two-CD set includes almost anything you're likely to find that was recorded by Greenwich as a solo artist, although it omits most of her Raindrops recordings (which have been reissued separately, and legitimately). The relatively simple question "what's on here" cannot be answered simply. There are all her rare Red Bird solo singles and outtakes; weird, insubstantial solo singles she recorded in the late 1950s and early 1960s, sometimes under different names like Ellie Gee & the Jets, Ellie Gaye, and Kellie Douglas; everything from her 1968 United Artists LP and her 1973 Verve LP, as well as both sides of a 1969 non-LP single; and about 20 previously unreleased songs. It's "about" 20 because, although the cover says there are 21 unissued tracks, only 19 are marked as such in the liner notes. Disappointingly, these unreleased items don't include, say, her own 1960s versions of "Be My Baby" or "Da Doo Ron Ron," but are actually usually by composers other than herself and partner Jeff Barry, on which she was probably just serving as a demo singer. On top of this, just to fill out disc one, they throw in a bad unreleased Carole King acetate ("Don't Count Your Chickens") and a pretty cool Barry Mann 1965 demo of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." Of the unreleased material, it's usually, unfortunately, weak-to-average unmemorable period early-to-mid-1960s Brill Building pop, though "Disillusioned" almost makes it as a good song, and "House of Gold" was later done well by Dee Dee Warwick. There are a couple real good obscurities here -- her dramatic 1965 single "You Don't Know," which should have been a hit, and her lovely poignant 1965 track "Can't Hide the Hurtin'" (which, say the liner notes, was previously erroneously credited to the Raindrops). But both of those have been reissued, above-board, on other CD compilations. Disc two is almost totally devoted to the 1968 and 1973 albums, which have some good moments but are overall disappointing, and too heavy on remakes and covers. Besides, both of them have been reissued, with non-LP cuts, on Raven's Ellie Greenwich compilation. A couple of 1985 tracks from Elektra's Leader of the Pack album are okay but inessential. After all this, by the way, a rarity (1962's "Big Honky Baby") that was ascribed to Greenwich on Ellie Greenwich is not included on this set.
The Guess Who, This Time Long Ago (Ranbach Music). In the CD era, the catalog of the pre-Wheatfield Soul Guess Who has been very hard to come by. Together with Sundazed's Shakin' All Over! (which focuses on their hardest-rocking mid-1960s cuts), this two-CD Canadian collection of rare and unreleased 1967-68 recordings fills in the gap well. A few of these songs did appear on non-LP Canadian and/or UK singles, like the devastating garage punkers "It's My Pride" and "If You Don't Want Me" (which are also on the Sundazed comp); the sappy 1967 ballad "His Girl," heard here in two versions, which was actually a minor British hit; "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong," one of the first (if not the first) cover of a Neil Young song; and unbelievably awful versions of Steve Lawrence's "Pretty Blue Eyes," recorded by the band in an attempt to get their label to release them from their contract. ("Croyez-Moi," an awkward French version of their 1966 single "Believe Me," appears for the first time here.) Most of this set, however, is devoted to unreleased material, recorded in 1967 and 1968, in the studios for CBC TV shows. Some of those performances are marginalia, like the almost note-faithful cover versions of "Light My Fire," "White Room," and "Love Is All Around," and the psychedelic instrumental "Sitar Saga." Much of disc two, however, is devoted to late-'60s originals that find the band starting to arrive at their own hard-pop-rock identity, including early versions of four songs apiece from {^Wheatfield Soul} and Canned Wheat. The standouts are early versions of "These Eyes" and the Doors-ish psychedelic suite "Friends of Mine," which includes contributions from members of the Winnipeg Symphony and some free jazz sax near the end. A CBC version of the single "When Friends Fall Out" (later to appear on American Woman, which alternates between grinding riffs in the verse and contemplative balladry on the bridge, saw Burton Cummings start to fully form his tense belting vocal style. There's a sense of a band fishing for a style throughout much of this anthology, not always successfully, but it documents an important transitional phase in the group's evolution.
The Johnstons, Give a Damn/Bitter Green (Castle). This combines the two more pop-oriented of the Johnstons' late-1960s albums, Give a Damn and Bitter Green, onto one CD. Note, though, that it does omit a couple of Bitter Green's most trad-minded cuts ("The Kilfenora Jig" and "Reels: The Fair-Haired Boy/Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel/The Dawn") and adds their cover of Ralph McTell's "The Streets of London" (from a 1970 single). Although the Johnstons are most known for their recordings of traditional folk material, {^Give a Damn} saw them going into a folk-rock-pop direction with fair artistic success. Fans of Fairport Convention's early work could do much worse than to check this (and the Johnstons' 1969 album Bitter Green) out, though it's not as good as Fairport Convention, and more tilted toward folk-pop than Fairport were. Nevertheless, there are solid treatments of largely then-contemporary folk-rock material by writers like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Dave Cousins (of the Strawbs). Though the arrangements use only mild rock instrumentation (and a good amount of mild pop orchestration), they work well with the group's gentle, pleasing harmonies. In addition to interpreting songs by the well-known folk-rock composers mentioned above, they also take on a couple of Jacques Brel numbers, Ewan MacColl's "Sweet Thames Flow Softly," and works by lesser-known authors that have a melodic late-1960s folk-pop bent. On Bitter Green the group seemed to be attempting to balance traditional tunes with covers of songs by Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen. The contemporary material, it must be said, outshines the traditional efforts, particularly their superb interpretation of Cohen's "The Story of Isaac," which is an overlooked highlight of late-1960s British Isles folk-rock in general. Even on some of the trad folk pieces, though, they add some rock-influenced flexibility to the arrangements, putting some sitar and percussion on Ewan MacColl's "Jesus Was a Carpenter." The reading of Joni Mitchell's "Marcie" is another highlight, tastefully embellished by subtle horns and flutes.
Josie & the Pussycats, Stop, Look and Listen: The Capitol Recordings (Rhino Handmade). Josie & the Pussycats' rare recordings have been esteemed as some of the best music of the bubblegum genre by aficionados. That might sound to many like damnation with faint praise. Even those that have no love for bubblegum, though, would have to admit that their records were better than they had any right to be, and were respectably fetching and accomplished soul-tinged pop in their own right. This compilation has everything known to exist by the band. There's everything from their sole and rare 1970 LP; twelve cuts from non-LP singles (some of them only available on cereal boxes, and three of them different versions of songs that also appeared on the album); and six, yes six, previously unreleased tracks (three of those alternate mixes). "Stop, Look and Listen" still rates as one of the best early Jackson 5 imitations ever, and "You've Come a Long Way Baby" isn't far behind in that regard. Those are the best songs, but other than a few covers of contemporary pop hits, the rest is also surprisingly enjoyable, good-natured period 1970 pop, often given a sheen of soul by Patrice Holloway's vocals. It's not major rock music by any means, but it has its merits, and some of the poppier numbers, like "I Wanna Make You Happy" and "The Time to Love" have a breezy mellifluous quality that's nearly sublime. The reissue's enhanced by lengthy and thoughtful liner notes, including detailed recollections by producer-songwriter Danny Janssen and songwriter/vocal arranger Sue Sheridan.
Malo, Celebracion (Rhino Handmade). While one has to wonder whether the demand for Malo product is wide enough to merit a four-CD box set, rather than individual reissues of some or all of their albums, Celebracion certainly does a great job of presenting the band's legacy in toto. Each of their four 1972-1974 Warner Brothers albums is included in gatefold sleeves, with a twenty-page booklet that goes over the band's history with some depth, bolstered by interview quotes from several band members. Two to five bonus tracks are added to each disc/album, though unfortunately these are just shorter single edits of album tracks. There's one previously unreleased cut, "Pana," but that's just an unreleased single edit of the same track of that name that appears on their debut album. Although the albums are erratic, and slightly but steadily decline in quality after the debut Malo, they amply illustrate the band's importance as one of the most exciting outfits to fuse rock with Latin and jazz. Certainly there are similarities with Santana, as might be expected from a band featuring Carlos Santana's brother in guitar. But Malo were more Latin-oriented, and sometimes expert at constructing multi-part extended tracks with blistering interplay between hard rock guitar, Latin percussion, and jazz brass. In addition, they could sometimes summon heartfelt sentimental soul ballads, the hit "Suavecito" being the famous one, though each album has one or two songs (albeit less impressive ones) in the same vein. They couldn't avoid a certain formulaic quality after a while, and the group drifted toward less satisfying pop inclinations as time went on and personnel changed, but at its best, this set contains some of the finest Latino rock ever laid down.
Billy Preston, Billys Bag: His Most Hammond Groovin 'Soul Movin' Sides 1963-1966 (RPM). It's too bad the otherwise thorough liner notes don't admit to exactly what releases these thirteen tracks first appeared upon, or give any songwriting credits. The title is accurate as far as it goes, though, in that these are early Preston sides from the mid-1960s featuring his organ. All of them are instrumental, so they're not too much in line with the vocal soul material he did after reaching fame as a solo artist. If you're looking for instrumental organ '60s soul with dashes of rock, jazz, and gospel, Preston was one of the best at his game, concocting joyful swirls and unpredictable trills that do much to make the basic R&B material swing. What keeps this from being in the same league as, say, Booker T. & the MG's is the pedestrian nature of that material, which usually sticks to standard R&B progressions, and doesn't do much to redefine the familiar cover tunes, like "Slippin' & Slidin'" and "Shotgun." At its very best, as on "Soul Derby," "The Octopus," and "Let Me Know," he transcends the unmemorable songs by virtue of sheer passionate virtuosity, taking the organ into some pretty adventurous territory with his dense textures and rapid-fire bursts without abandoning a compelling dance groove.
Lou Reed, American Poet (Pilot). Finally, this is an official release of the December 26, 1972 performance of Reed on a New York radio show, which had been floating around on numerous bootlegs for many years. The sound is at least as good as it's been on any of those bootlegs. As for the music, it's inarguably among the finest of Reed's solo work, released or unreleased. The set's split evenly between Velvet Underground classics and highlights from Reed's early solo albums, with backing by the Tots, the group of unknown musicians who played with him in concert during the period. The fidelity is very good, Reed's singing is great, and the band plays in a raw and urgent manner that Lou should have employed on his solo albums, but didn't. The Velvet Underground songs are well done and considerably different from the originals, and the versions of solo classics like "Vicious," "Walk on the Wild Side," "I'm So Free," "Berlin," and "Satellite of Love" slay the studio takes to shreds. If you're looking for one interesting bonus that doesn't seem to have made it onto many of the prior bootleg releases of this material, there's a brief interview with Reed in which the naive-sounding DJ asks Lou where Doug Yul is. "Dead, I hope," Reed deadpans, to sincere gasps of shock from the audience. For those who take their Reed seriously, that one moment might actually make this CD worthy of purchase even if you already have the music on bootleg. This is essential for Reed fanatics, though it's unfortunate that the liner notes are poorly written and poorly proofread, with no details about the show itself, instead offering a general history of his activities in the early 1970s.
The Strawbs, Strawberry Music Sampler No. 1 (Witchwood). In 1969, the Strawbs assembled a privately pressed sampler of unreleased material to circulate among publishers to solicit possible cover versions. Actually some of the songs would appear, in the exact same or different versions, on subsequent Strawbs releases. However, some of the tracks were never issued, and as only 99 copies were pressed (with only two known to survive), it probably qualifies as the ultimate 1960s British folk-rock rarity. This 2001 CD reissue makes it easily available for the first time. While it isn't as good as either the Strawbs' first official album or their album of late-1960s sessions with Sandy Denny as lead singer, for anyone who liked those records a lot, this is a recommended purchase. Among the seventeen songs are different versions of songs that have appeared on the Sandy & the Strawbs, Preserves Uncanned, Dragonfly, and Grave New World albums, as well as one tune, the lush pop-folk ballad "Whichever Way the Wind Blows," that was never released anywhere else. As it turns out half a dozen of these do appear in exactly the same version on the Sandy & the Strawbs releases, but what the heck, that still leaves almost a dozen cuts that are otherwise unavailable. Although the differences between those and the other takes in circulation are sometimes slight, there are some notable and sometimes intriguing differences, as in the ambient pub voices and piano of "How Everyone But Sam Was a Hypocrite?"; the strings on the Cousins-sung versions of "And You Need Me" and "Stay Awhile"; the jaunty orchestral arrangement of "Sweetling"; and a downright strange instrumental waltz rendition of "And You Need Me" that segues into "Josephine." It's unfortunate there are virtually liner notes detailing the origin of these tracks (for that you'll have to dig out the May 1994 issue of Record Collector), but on the whole it's good late-1960s British pop-folk-rock.
Thor's Hammer, From Keflavik, With Love (Big Beat). Twenty of Thor's Hammer's 1965-67 recordings are on this compilation, which emphasizes their mid-1960s English-sung sessions in London. The other half is filled out by Icelandic songs and their 1967 Columbia single, as well as an outtake from the Columbia sessions, "By the Sea." Thor's Hammer were undoubtedly the best-known 1960s Icelandic band, which is not too useful a guide for curious consumers, as they're likely the only Icelandic '60s band whose product has been reissued for the international market. All joking aside, this would be respectable British Invasion-styled rock no matter where it came from, though it's not great. Certainly the best cuts are the toughest ones from their 1966 London session, where Petur Ostlund pounded the drums with a Who-like fury, and the group wrote engaging tough mod rockers with "I Don't Care," "My Life," "Better Days," and "The Big Beat Country Dance." If You Knew," which is like the hardest Merseybeat or early Hollies, is another highlight. The lighter Merseybeat-ish items are less impressive, but still reasonably fetching (though they totally lose the beat during the instrumental break of the ballad "Love Enough"). The Icelandic-sung cuts are of a lower order, because of both their more perfunctory production and more generic songwriting. The Columbia cuts are an odd, not wholly successful attempt to Americanize their sound, especially with the peppy horns. Three songs from a 1967 LP find them going into a more reflective British pop style, with the addition of an English session man on organ. Extremely lengthy and informed notes by Alec Palao provide a history of this hitherto mysterious (to non-Icelandic residents) band.
Zakary Thaks, Form the Habit (Sundazed/BeatRocket). Both sides of all six of Zakary Thaks' singles are on this last-word compilation, along with three instrumental versions of tracks from the 45s. All of this material has been reissued before on Eva's J-Beck Story 2, with the exception of instrumental versions of "Face to Face" and "Green Crystal Ties." Still, this marks the first time everything's been available in this fidelity in the U.S., bolstered by the inclusion of a lengthy interview with lead singer Chris Gerniottis in the liner notes. It takes its place as one of the very best single-artist 1960s garage reissues, the songwriting and musicianship at a far higher level than most '60s garage bands could boast, with just as much insouciant youthful energy. From the punk of "Bad Girl" and the mind-blowing fuzz guitar of "Face to Face" to the Beatlesque pop of "Please," the folk-rock-pop of "Mirror of Yesterday," and the San Francisco-like psychedelia of their final releases (at times even sounding like early Moby Grape), it's all good-to-great stuff. Note, however, that different mixes are used than were heard on some of the original singles, which is particularly noticeable on "Mirror of Yesterday" (where the high mariachi horn parts in the break have been erased) and "Please" (which adds some poppy backup vocals to the bridge).
Various Artists, Assault the Vaults: Rare Australian Cover Versions of the Brothers Gibb (Spin). It's not well known that the Bee Gees wrote many songs between 1963 and 1967 that were covered by Australian artists, but never recorded by the group. Most of those were solo Barry Gibb compositions, but there were a few songs that Maurice Gibb co-wrote with Spin Records chief Nat Kipner as well. Thirty-one of these rare efforts that the Gibbs gifted to others are assembled on this Australian compilation. All are original versions, and none were recorded by the Bee Gees themselves (indeed many were never covered again). That makes this quite a catch for devoted Bee Gees collectors, especially considering that the Bee Gees themselves played support roles on some of these sessions. On its own terms, though, the music's rather hit-and-miss. On the Bee Gees' own Australia-era recordings, they were stylistic gadflies, able emulators of contemporary trends without fully establishing their own identity. That formative confusion is reflected in many of this disc's songs, which run the gamut from bad country-pop and teen idol rock to excellent early Beatles imitations. In the latter category, Bryan Davies's "I Don't Like to Be Alone" will certainly please anyone who likes the sound of early-1964 British Invasion rock, with Trevor Gordon's "And I'll Be Happy" sounding much like a Billy J. Kramer outtake. Gordon's "Little Miss Rhythm & Blues" is another highlight, and is about as rowdy as Barry Gibb ever got in his writing. The numerous girl-sung tunes on this anthology tend not to nearly measure up to those standouts, though Sandy Summers doesn't sound bad in a (very) sub-Lulu fashion, and April Byron's "A Long Time Ago" is a decent dramatic ballad. The three collaborations between all three Gibb brothers -- Ronnie Burns's "All the Kings Horses" and Jon Blanchfield's "Town of Tuxley Toymaker Part 1" and "Upstairs Downstairs" -- find them getting far closer to the tuneful, slightly fanciful and neurotic variation of the Beatles' pop side that they finally perfected after moving to England in 1967.
Various Artists, Flips and Rarities. Certainly this is an unauthorized CD compilation of rare 1960s tracks that Phil Spector had something to do with, as either producer, songwriter, or even artist. There's no label (though there is a catalog number), but it certainly does exist, and was as of 2001 available for sale at specialized record stores with extremely deep stock. Just because Spector was involved in a record didn't necessarily mean it was good, and the merits of this 30-song anthology are extremely erratic, though there are some undoubted high points. Most of these are run-of-the-mill early-1960s tracks that weren't hits for a reason: the songs were trivial and not that hot. And most of them don't have an identifiably Spectoresque sound, in part because on several of them he was only involved as a songwriter, in part because some of them predate his true Wall of Sound techniques. Some of these cuts are good, or at least okay, like Gene Pitney's "Dream for Sale" (which actually isn't too rare), Bonnie & the Treasures' "Home of the Brave," April Stevens's breathy "Why Can't a Boy and Girl Just Stay in Love" (which Spector co-wrote with Nino Tempo), Johnny Nash's "World of Tears," and Veronica's "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love" (which is actually Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes). Sonny Charles & the Checkmates's "Black Pearl" is very good, and was a pretty big hit in 1969, but why it's included here isn't too clear, as it's been officially released as part of Spector's Back to Mono box. There are also items that fall into the novelty realm, like the guitar instrumental "Bumbershoot" that Phil Spector cut under the alias Phil Harvey, and the ridiculous Crystals B-side "The Screw (Let's Dance)," a throwaway track interrupted by poker-faced admonitions to "do the screw" (spoken by Spector's lawyer). Overall this is interesting to acquire for dedicated Spector enthusiasts, but the utter lack of liner notes (though at least there are songwriting credits) is a major strike against its value. There are no clues as to why some tracks, like Santo & Johnny's "Spanish Harlem," are considered to have any Spector associations whatsoever. The sound quality is pretty good, but the tracks have almost certainly (sometimes quite audibly so) been taken from vinyl records rather than master tapes.
Various Artists, Our Turn to Cry (Kent). Like its companion volume Sanctified Soul, this scours the Atlantic vaults for obscure soul ballads of the 1960s and early 1970s. Although this is no way should be construed as a sampler of the best Atlantic had to offer in that category, for those who have digested all the famous classic soul by Atlantic stars and are ready for more, this is highly recommended. No big stars are found on this 26-track anthology, with the exception of the Isley Brothers, whose exquisite 1964 heartbreaker "The Last Girl" is hardly something (unfortunately) that you're likely to hear on oldies stations. A few other singers here had mid-level success and fairly strong cult status, such as Baby Washington (who does "Breakfast in Bed," more famous as rendered by Dusty Springfield), Dee Dee Warwick, Dee Dee Sharp, Doris Troy, Bettye Swann, Mighty Sam, Johnny Adams, Lou Johnson, Benny Latimore, and Alvin Robinson. You don't see many of the other names anywhere unless you own singles price guides, but there are some real goodies. It's a long list. The Soul Brothers Six's "What Can You Do When You Ain't Got Nobody?" is churchy, pleading soul at its best. Bobby Marchan sounds a heck of a lot like a woman on "What Can I Do (Part 1)" (and he is a he, not a she). Mike Williams's "Lonely Soldier" is a moving, if subtle, commentary on the anguish of serving in Vietnam. Benny Latimore's "I'm Just an Ordinary Man," from 1969, is far more satisfying than his more well-known subsequent output. Alvin Robinson does a good approximation of Ray Charles on "Let Me Down Easy. "Dee Dee Sharp breaks out of her novelty dance mold with the Dan Penn-Spooner Oldham song "Help Me Find My Groove." Bobby Harris does a cool tribute to the late Sam Cooke with "We Can't Believe You're Gone." Billy Mashburn does a perhaps inadvertently humorously overdone tribute to doo wop on "Don't It Sound Good (Part 1)." N.A. Allen does an obscure, soulful Goffin-King composition, "No Easy Way Down." Some of the early-'70s cuts are slicker and less interesting than those of the prior decade, but overall this sits very high on the ladder of obscure soul collections.
Various Artists, Yet
Mo' Mod Jazz (Kent). Like
its
companion volumes in the Ace catalog (Mod Jazz and Mo' Mod
Jazz),
Yet Mo' Mod Jazz is a delightful anthology of hip but danceable
jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, with a great deal of soul music often
entering
the equation. This 26-track CD may be more limited than the other Ace
sets
in its scope of source material, drawing exclusively from the Atlantic
vaults between 1957 and 1969, but it's no less eclectic in its musical
variety. There are fairly little-heard cuts by Ray Charles ("Get on the
Right Track Baby," covered by Georgie Fame in the 1960s), King Curtis,
Mose Allison, Esther Phillips, and LaVern Baker alongside quite cool
excursions
into pop-funk-soul-jazz by Les McCann, Eddie Harris, Johnny Griffin,
Hubert
Laws, Herbie Mann, Charles Lloyd, and the Modern Jazz Quartet. It's
also
flexible enough to insert some mighty enjoyable cuts by artists that
purists
would snub as not jazzy or soulful enough to keep this company. Up that
alley there's Mel Torme, whose "Right Now" was the B-side of his famous
"Comin' Home Baby"; Mark In Trio's pre-Santana Latin-funk on "Tres
Lobos";
the all-out honkin' sax R&B of Tommy Ridgley's "Jam Up Twist"; and
Byron Lee & the Ska Kings, who do ska-jazz fusion with "Watermelon
Man Ska." Of course Les McCann & Eddie Harris's "Compared to What"
is a famous recording that's not been hard to get on other CDs, though
its appearance here does not make it any less enjoyable. This is one of
those rare anthologies, in any genre, where the quality is consistently
high enough to make it difficult to single out favorites, and is also
one
of the jazz anthologies most likely to be enjoyed by rock and soul fans
who don't consider jazz a main interest.
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