"Five Albums On Three Discs" by MIKE COOPER (22 March 2019 Beat Goes On Reissue - 5LPs onto 3CDs Plus Bonuses) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Looking Back..."

Including the 1971 album "Places I Know" on Dawn Records (UK)

How here's a treat, and a lot of it too. Hailing out of Reading in Berkshire, our Guitar-playing Harmonica-ingesting British hero MIKE COOPER sees his first five platters between 1969 and 1973 be given the BGO treatment - New Remasters, Digipak presentation and even three bonus tracks – rare stand alone single sides from 1970 and 1972 on Dawn Records.

His musical styles and influences progressed from Roots Blues, Folk and Americana in 1969 (on Pye) through to 1971’s Folk and Country Rock aided and abetted by guest players taken a hiatus from their day jobs as Jazzers in groups like Mike Westbrook’s Quintet, Nucleus and The John Dummer Band. The very Neil Young "Places I Know" set from 1971 is a collaboration album with Michael Gibbs and his next ensemble group 'The Machine Gun Co.' Playing superb 12-string guitar on one of Cooper's 'you never see them' British singles "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" is none other than Chris Spedding (it's the first of three bonus tracks tail-ending on Disc 3). There's a wad of open tunings to wade through, so let’s get at it...

UK released Friday, 22 March 2019 (29 March 2019 in the USA) - "Oh Really?!/Do I Know You?/Trout Steel/Places I Know/The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper/Bonus Tracks" by MIKE COOPER on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1371 (Barcode 5017261213716) offers 'Five Albums On Three Discs' plus Three Bonus Single Sides and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (73:30 minutes):

1. Death Letter [Side 1]

2. Bad Luck Blues

3. Maggie Campbell

4. Leadhearted Blues

5. Four Ways

6. Poor Little Annie

7. Tadpole Blues [Side 2]

8. Divinity Blues

9. You're Gonna Be Sorry

10. Electric Chair

11. Crow Jane

12. Pepper Rag

13. Saturday Blues

Tracks 1 to 13 are his debut album "Oh Really?!" - released February 1969 in the UK on Pye Records NSPL 18281 in Stereo and in the USA on Janus JLS-3004. Mike Cooper on Vocals and Guitar with Derek Hall on Second Guitar.

14. The Link [Side 1]

15. Journey To The East

16. First Song

17. Theme In C

18. Thinking Back

19. Thinks She Knows Me Now [Side 2]

20. Too Late Now

21. Wish She Was With Me

22. Do I Know You?

23. Start Of A Journey

24. Looking Back

Tracks 14 to 24 are his second studio album "Do I Know You?" - released March 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3005 and 1970 in the USA on Janus JLS-3021. Mike Cooper on Guitar, Vocals and Slide with Harry Miller of The Mike Westbrook Quartet on Double Bass

Disc 2 (70:40 minutes):

1. That's How [Side 1]

2. Sitting Here Watching

3. Goodtimes

4. I've Got Mine

5. A Half Sunday Homage To A Whole Leonardo Da Vinci (Without Words By Richard Brautigan)

6. Don't Talk Too Fast [Side 2]

7. Trout Steel

8. In The Mourning

9. Hope You See

10. Pharaoh's March

11. Weeping Rose

Tracks 1 to 11 are his third album "Trout Steel" - released November 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3011 (no USA issue)

12. Country Water [Side 1]

13. Three-Forty Eight

14. Night Journey

15. Time To Time

Tracks 12 to 15 are Side 1 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue)

Disc 3 (75:35 minutes):

1. Paper And Smoke [Side 2]

2. Broken Bridges

3. Now I Know

4. Goodbye Blues, Goodbye

5. Places I Know

Tracks 1 to 5 are Side 2 of his fourth album "Places I Know" credited to Mike Cooper with The Machine Gun Co. and Michael Gibbs - released November 1971 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3026 (no USA issue). "Night Journey" and "Paper And Smoke" feature The Machine Gun Company [Co.] - Alan Cook on Piano, Bill Boazman, Geoff Hawkins on Saxophone and Pipes, Jeff Clyne of Nucleus, John Van Derrick, Laurie Alan, Les Calvert on Bass and Tim Richardson on Percussion with Chorus Vocals by Gerald Moore of Reggae Guitars, Jean Oddie and Jazz Vocalist Norma Winstone

6. Song For Abigail [Side 1]

7. The Singing Tree

8. Midnight Words

9. So Glad (That I Found You) [Side 2]

10. Lady Anne

Tracks 6 to 10 are his fifth studio album "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" - released November 1972 in the UK on Dawn DNLS 3031 (no USA issue).

BONUS TRACKS:

11. Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2) - UK 1970 7" Maxi EP single on Dawn Records DNX 2501, A-side, Non-Album

12. Time In Hand - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, A-side, Non-Album

13. Schaabisch Hall - UK 1972 7" single on Dawn Records DNS 1022, B-side, Non-Album Instrumental

Tracks 11, 12 and 13 featuring Chris Spedding on 12-String Guitar

As far as I know this is only the second time BGO has used fold-out digipaks (Sonny & Cher was the other in 2018) and I must say I miss the classiness of the outer card slipcase because the four-panel digipak is a bit weedy and although every see-through tray has original artwork beneath it – this is one of those cases where you wish they’d done a Grapefruit Records reissue and stuck three card sleeves in a clamshell box with a bigger booklet. At 24-pages you get all the original artwork and new liner notes from noted writer JOHN O’REAGAN – but I think it ‘feels’ like one of those crappy Universal Deluxe Editions without the plastic titled slipcase.

And in 2006 when Japan reissued his most popular album "Trout Steel" on a SHM-CD with original repro artwork – they included both seven-minute sides of his 1970 Dawn Records single as two Bonus Tracks - "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with its B-side "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)". I mention this because "Watching you Fall (Part 1 & 2)" is not here – a damn shame because as you can from the total playing time for Disc 2, there was room for one more important inclusion. But these are minor complaints because the real spoils lie in new 2019 ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters that lift up the primarily acoustic-based music beautifully. This threesome sounds gorgeous and the music deserves it too.

The first album is pure Folk Blues – Acoustic one-man renditions by way of Scunthorpe – all songs originals except for the two openers – a cover of the Son House doomy classic "Death Letter" and a Blind Boy Fuller song called (not surprisingly) "Hard Luck Blues". The debut is a beginning and you can hear it – the whole album quietly good, but more functional than inspiring. But when Cooper hit the second platter "Do I Know You?" – it’s like he suddenly found his voice – the songs more distinctively him than copyist styling of some Americana dream. The most immediate comparison is Michael Chapman over on Harvest Records (the playing and voice) – the opening instrumental "The Link" getting a huge acoustic sound (like a 12-string). That promising entrée is followed by an impressive Roy Harper-ish duo of tunes "Journey To The East" and "First Song". Birdies and Froggies chirp and croak for the intro of "Them In C", a Bluesy Slide Acoustic with treated vocals that sound like Ray Dorset discovering the Delta as it segues into "Thinking Back". Other winners include the pretty but painful "Too Late Now", the panned Gallagher & Lyle acoustic guitars of "Wish She Was With Me" and the tidal wash of "Start Of A Journey".

Everything has changed Cooper sings on "That’s How" – another familiar acoustic strummer that opens album number three "Trout Steel". Stefan Grossman and Bill Boazman guest on guitars as do Mike Osbourne, Alan Skidmore and Geoff Hawkins on varying Horns. Very cool acoustic soloing on "Sitting Here Watching" while the run-together title "Goodtimes" feels like jolly Gallagher & Lyle or Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance rehearsing some slide acoustic melodies. The eleven-minutes-plus of "I’ve Got Mine" feels like experimental John Martyn, a bedroom of acoustic picking jabbed by Jazz musicians who know how to feel out something special – probably the album’s best moment – and something even Prog Folk lovers will crave.

After the acoustic-based Blues and Folk variations of the first three albums, the overtly Country-Rock of "Places I Know" feels like you’ve stumbled on Plainsong making their debut album - only a year earlier. At times "Three-Forty Three" even feels like Neil Young circa 1970 or Lindisfarne contemplating the Fog On The Tyne. While the Bluesy groove of "Night Journey" is uncomfortably close to Dylan and his Blonde On Blonde gem "Pledging My Time" – even the way the sliding guitar strings build. But Roy Harper type greatness comes in the epic 8:30 minutes of the Side 1 finisher "Time To Time" – all strummed acoustics and Alan Cook giving us aching piano echoing in the background only to be joined by gorgeous Norma Winstone and Chorus ooh and aahs as the strum builds – you don’t know, the way she can be from...

The strangely deflated mellow of "Song For Abigail" opens "The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper" album – the whole LP apparently supposed to have been the second half of the double-album "Places I Know". The fourteen-minute John Martyn Guitar and Rock Fusion noodle that is "So Glad (That I Found You)" is either going to test you or thrill you. But as much as I try to like the tunes, few move me and I can’t help thinking this half of the double was canned for a reason. Way prettier and a reminder of his fresh-faced genius is the ultra-rare 1970 single Mike Cooper "Your Lovely Ways (Part 1 & 2)" with Chris Spedding elevating its seven minutes to gorgeousness by way of his 12-string guitar playing – Michael Gibbs directing the cello. Given a picture sleeve (repro’d on Page 16) – it was a Maxi single that played at LP speed and along with "Time In Hand" and its piano-ballad B-side "Schaabisch Hall" end Disc 3 on a high.

For sure not everything here is undiluted Mike Cooper genius (Michael Chapman or Roy Harper would thrash him song-wise any day of the week). But there is also a great deal to love and it’s been decades since I heard it all sound so well. Maybe next time though BGO – go for that clamshell box and some tasty card sleeves...

"How Come The Sun (1971) + Tom Paxton EP (1967)" by TOM PAXTON (November 2018 Beat Goes On 'Expanded' CD Reissue - Andrew Thompson Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"How Come The Sun" LP from July 1971

"...Little Lost Child..."

Having punched out no less than seven albums (a debut in 1962 Gaslight Records and six on Elektra) - "How Come The Sun" was the US Folkie's first set of studio recordings for his new signing Reprise Records - capitalising on the popular double-album "The Compleat Tom Paxton: Recorded Live" issued in March of 1971 that preceded it.

Strangely for such a high profile singer-songwriter - July 1971's "How Come The Sun" is only now seeing the CD light of day (47 years after the event) and this time by England's Beat Goes On (BGO) who have chucked the 4-track EP "Tom Paxton" [aka "The Marvellous Toy EP"] from 1967 on Elektra Records onto the end as a Bonus Item (a UK-only release at the time). This forgotten LP has been a firm fan want for decades and while I don't think it's the lost masterpiece some say it is - there's much to love here and BGO have once again done its subject matter the reissue the business. Let's get to radiant details...

UK released 23 November 2018 (30 November 2018 in the USA) - "How Come The Sun + Tom Paxton EP" by TOM PAXTON on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1364 (Barcode 5017261213648) offers the 9-Track 1971 LP and a Bonus 4-Track 1967 EP (issued only in the UK) that plays out as follows (44:07 minutes):

1. I Had To Shoot That Rabbit [Side 1]

2. Icarus

3. Little Lost Child

4. General Custer

5. She's Far Away

6. Prayin' For Snow [Side 2]

7. Louise

8. A Sailor's Life

9. How Come The Sun

Tracks 1 to 9 are his 8th studio album "How Come The Sun" - released July 1971 in the USA on Reprise RS 6443 and July 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44129. Produced by TOM PAXTON and DAVID HOROWITZ - Tracks 2, 8 and 9 are co-writes between Paxton and Horowitz (all others are TP originals) and the album peaked on the US LP chart in August 1971 at No. 120 (didn't chart UK).

10. The Marvellous Toy [Side 1]

11. Beau John

12. Deep Fork River [Side 2]

13. My Dog's Better Than Your Dog

Tracks 10 to 13 are the UK-only 4-Track 7" single EP "Tom Paxton" [aka "The Marvellous Toy" EP] released 1967 on Elektra Records EPK-802

The outer card slipcase always lends these BGO reissues a classy look and the new 16-page JOHN O'REGAN liner notes illuminate much of Paxton's hugely productive career to his 80th birthday in 2017 (a total of 63 albums) - but its the ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters that will be the big draw here. The LP had a cast of six or seven musicians so it feels like a Folk-Rock record more than just a straight-up Acoustic picker - this Remaster picking out the lovely playing and better melodies like the gorgeous "She's Far Away" that ends Side 1 or the aching-melodica lament that is "A Sailor's Life" over on Side 2. The EP is stark (I'd swear its Mono) - straight up Acoustic renditions and although I can understand that its on here as a UK-only release - its sound and (childish) themes seem a world away from the 1971 album. Still it all sounds great. Other LP highlights are "Little Lost Child" and the Fred Neil timbre of "Deep Folk River" on Side 2 of the EP.

After a mid July 1971 release, by the very end of that month the "How Come The Sun" LP was bubbling under at No. 213 on the US Billboard Album charts. Come 14 August 1971 his LP had pushed up to No. 120, stayed there another week and then sank out of the listings rather quickly. Paxton would go on to "Peace Will Come" in 1972 and "New Songs For Old Friends" in 1973 - completing his Reprise run of studio albums - two more rarities that remain firmly off the digital radar some four and a half decades after release. 

For sure Tom Paxton's voice was never the strongest and admittedly some of the 1971 material may be dated in 2019 - but having waited so many decades, fans will adore this reissue (especially the quality presentation) and the curious will learn why he's held in such esteem...

"Get Down/Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" by CATFISH (December 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 2LPs onto 2CDs (No Extras) - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 1971... - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...All Your Sweet Loving..."

Featuring the album "Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" from 1971 

Imagine singer Bob "The Bear" Hite of Canned Heat meets guitarist Leslie "The Mountain" West of Mountain at the 'Get High, Get Naked and Get Down Balls To The Wall Boogie Festival' of 1970 - and they have a love child. In their Festival Tent of Shared Greasy Oneness they stare down affectionately at the little critter writhing about with a cigarette in his mouth, a quiff on his head, lifetime membership cards for the Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin’ Wolf fan clubs and a Fender Stratocaster surgically attached to his hands and think - I know - let's call him 'Catfish'...

Detroit's Catfish were a down and dirty Blues Boogie band out of the Motor City of extraordinary power (especially live as evidenced by the second platter on offer here). They managed only two albums on Epic Records (CBS Records in the UK and Europe) - one studio set "Get Down" from March 1970 and one live album made up of almost entirely new material not surprisingly called "Live Catfish..." in April 1971.

Somewhere in-between the musical markers of Canned Heat, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels and Mountain - their bluster and blunder approach wasn't all Shakespeare or even sophisticate Blues for sure - but it was real and at times joyous. And when their spiritual leader and principal songwriter BOB HODGE sang - he came over like the son of Otis Redding on a good day (maybe not as good as Eddie Hinton but close) - while his Catfish band regularly crushed it on the guitar and amped-up organ. These guys made a formidable 70ts Rock-Blues clamour.

There's a lot to like here and a 300-Pound Fat Mama to negotiate - so let's get to the Mississippi River and bathe...

UK released 15 December 2017 - "Get Down/Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" by CATFISH on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1308 (Barcode 5017261213082) offers 2LPs newly Remastered onto 2CDs (no extras) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (44:48 minutes):

1. Catfish [Side 1]

2. The Hawk

3. No Place To Hide

4. 300 Pound Fat Mama

5. Love Lights [Side 2]

6. Coffee Song

7. Tradition

8. Sundown Man

9. Reprise: Catfish/Get High, Get Naked, Get Down

Tracks 1 to 9 are their debut album "Get Down" - released March 1970 in the USA on Epic Records BN 26505 and April 1970 in the UK on CBS Records S 64006. Produced by KEN COOPER - It didn't chart in either country.

CATFISH was:

BOB HODGE - Lead Vocals and Guitar

MARK MANKO - Lead Guitar

HARRY PHILLIPS - Keyboards

RON COOKE - Bass

JIMMY OPTNER - Drums

Disc 2 (45:02 minutes):

1. Nowhere To Run [Side 1]

2. Money (That's What I Want)

3. 300 Pound Fat Mama

4. Mississippi River [Side 2]

5. Letter To Nixon

6. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

Tracks 1 to 6 are their second and last album "Live Catfish featuring Bob Hodge" - released April 1971 in the USA on Epic Records E 30361 and in the UK on CBS Records S 64408. Recorded at Eastowne Theatre in Detroit and Produced buy JOHN HILL - it failed to chart in either country.

CATFISH was:

BOB HODGE - Lead Vocals and Guitar

DALLAS HODGE - Lead Guitar

HARRY PHILLIPS - Keyboards

DENNIS CRANNER - Bass

JIM DEMERS - Drums

The 12-page inlay has the usual original album credits, some black and white photos of Bob and the Band and superb new liner notes from BGO regular JOHN O'REGAN. But the big news is a new ANDREW THOMPSON Remaster. The last time I heard "Get Down" it was on some muddy Special Products CD by Sony out of the States in the early Nineties as I recall - and for such a crudely recorded in-your-face record - left a little bit to be desired. Not exactly audiophile heaven, here the beef is back because each CD rooks. Tracks like the lengthy Blues chug of "300 Pound Fat Mama" has real power now.

The 9-track "Get Down" debut featured all original material - Bob Hodge penning "The Hawk", "300 Pound Fat Mama", "Love Lights", "Coffee Song" and "Sundown Man" whilst co-writing "No Place To Hide" and "Tradition" with Lead Guitarist Mark Manko. The other two are band compositions with someone called T. Carson. You might be fooled on hearing the opening "Catfish" that you somehow stumbled on some bad Country Rock album - a sort of poor man's Creedence - but things pick up with "The Hawk" and "No Place To Hide" - guitar boogies pieces ala Canned Heat. Call me the hawk - take care of business - Hodge roars - "No Place To Hide" featuring the piano and organ soulfulness of Harry Phillips. But Side 1 belongs to the 8-minute "300 Pound Fat Mama" where Hodge sounds like Albert King meets Little Milton as he 'yeahs all the way through this fabulous slow Blues work out. She goes down to Detroit on a Sunday afternoon - he tells us as dirty-sounding Steppenwolf-type guitars sneak past his 'love ya, love ya' chants. But hero of the hour is again Phillips who lays down some fabulous Barroom rolls on the old upright only to follow that with some cool Graham Bond organ licks - a bar-band in your living room (lyrics from the song title this review). There are even moments when he sings 'out on that corner, messing around' when he sounds like a demented Captain Beefheart digging deep into the Blues.

It's easy to hear why Epic tried a 3-minute edit of "Love Lights" as a precursor 7" single for the album in December 1969 (Epic 5-10568 with an edit of the album's "Tradition" on the flipside) - it feels like Joplin's Big Brother & The Holding Company only fronted by a man - Hodge giving it some 'yeah yeah yeah' as he just can't stand the pain and he gets down on his knees and he prays to a God that ain't listening. The short and funny sounding "Coffee Song" is the kind of witty-ditty that must have seemed like fun at the time but seems like a waste of space now. Better is the straight-up Ten Years After rolling and tumbling boogie-riffage of "Tradition" where Bob is going to Louisiana - gotta get there right away - there's a sweet little mama on the other side of the bay he tells us with some urgency (we understand William - we do). The album's raucous medley let's rip with guitars - Catfish going ape as they "Get High, Get Naked and Get Down".

Hearing the debut leaves you with a clear signal - these guys must have been a festival sensation 'live' - and they were. Supporting bands like Black Sabbath, Canned Heat and even Ted Nugent - "Live Catfish" finally realises the potential of the debut. Only "300 Pound Fat Mama" is highlighted from the first album (here turned into an absolutely barnstorming 14-minute Blues-Rock epic) - the other five are new and include two wildly revamped Blues Rock versions of Motown classics - Martha & The Vandella's "Nowhere To Run" and Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Over on Side 2 the Hodge-penned "Mississippi River" and a lengthy rant "Letter To Nixon" show both his love for the Blues and his generation’s rage at the murderous politics of the time ("I wrote Nixon - he didn't write back..."). It ends with a fast 'n' bulbous snort through Jerry Lee's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" – party animal time.

CATFISH were rough and tumble and their down-home unsophisticated sound will not be for everyone - but for those who dig the sheer 'out there' and 'in your face' Blues Boogie of Canned Heat or Ten Years After - there is much to slaver over here. Well done to BGO of the UK for getting them out there at last and in decent sounding form too...

"Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS from 1970 and 1971 (April 2017 Beat Goes On Reissue - 3LPs Remastered onto 2CDs) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 240 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT 1971... - Exceptional CD Remasters  

Over 1530 E-Pages 

Just Click Below To Purchase for £3.95

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

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Come On People Let Your Light Shine..."

Featuring the albums "Ride The Wind" and "Good And Dusty" from 1971 

Despite releasing seven quality albums between 1967 and 1972 on two huge record labels - RCA Victor and Warner Brothers - New York's 'The Youngbloods' and their principal songwriter Jesse Colin Young never really meant diddlysquat in the UK (where I live). The live albums "Rock Festival" and "Ride The Wind" were both given limited British releases in 1970 and 1971 on those tasty-looking WB Tan labels with the Raccoon Records logo up in the corner – but they elicited no real interest amongst the Blighty buying public - thereby leaving the third studio album disc offered to us here ("Good And Dusty" from late 1971) as a US-only release on original vinyl...

But this rather fabulous and timely reissue by England's Beat Goes On Records seems determined to correct the error of our frankly callous and musically myopic ways. What you get here are the first three of four albums they did with Warner Brothers/Raccoon Records – that trio issued in 1970 and two from 1971. The first and second platters are live sets as already mentioned (the third is studio) with the 2nd LP "Ride The Wind" actually recorded late November 1969 in New York but not released until July 1971.

The opening duo showcase the band in very different styles of play – bopping and ready to boogie like the audience shown on the rear sleeve of "Rock Festival" - while the second is stripped back and more Richie Havens Rock-Soulful Folk-Soul than standard Rock. And stylistically different or not (anyone looking for the 1969 pop hit "Get Together" should look elsewhere) - given the crude technology of the time - both records were expertly recorded even though they are largely live. Their final and fourth album "High On A Ridge Top" on Warner Brothers BS 2653/Raccoon No. 15 from December 1972 is unfortunately outside the remit of this release.

Beautifully remastered onto 2CDs and amped up with a classy card slipcase and expanded booklet - here are the rocky raccoons...

UK and USA released 14 April 2017 - "Rock Festival/Ride The Wind/Good And Dusty" by THE YOUNGBLOODS on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1284 (Barcode 5017261212849) offers 3LPs from 1970 and 1971 Remastered onto 2CDs and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (57:57 minutes): 

1. It's A Lovely Day [Side 1]

2. Faster All The Time

3. Prelude

4. On Beautiful Lake Spenard

5. Josiane

6. Sea Cow Boogie [Side 2]

7. Fiddler A Dram

8. Misty Roses

9. Interlude

10. Peepin' 'N' Hidin' (Baby What You Want Me To Do)

11. Ice Bag

Tracks 1 to 11 are their fourth album "Rock Festival" – recorded live between March and July 1970 - it was released October 1970 in the USA and December 1970 in the UK - both on Warner Brothers WS 1878/Raccoon No. 1. Produced by BOB MATTHEWS (Engineered by Betty Cantor of Grateful Dead fame) - it peaked at No. 80 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

12. Ride The Wind [Side 1]

13. Sugar Babe

14. Sunlight

Tracks 12 to 14 are Side 1 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Raccoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

Disc 2 (63:24 minutes):

1. The Dolphin [Side 2]

2. Get Together

3. Beautiful

Tracks 1 to 3 are Side 2 of their fifth album "Ride The Wind" - released July 1971 (recorded live November 1969) in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2563/Racoon No. 4 and December 1971 in the UK on Warner Brothers K 46100. Produced by CHARLIE DANIELS - it peaked at No. 157 in the USA (didn't chart UK).

4. Stagger Lee [Side 1]

5. That's How Strong My Love Is

6. Willie And The Hand Jive

7. Circus Face

8. Hippie From Olema No. 5

9. Good And Dusty

10. Let The Good Times Roll

11. Drifting And Drifting [Side 2]

12. Pontiac Blues

13. Moonshine In The Sunshine

14. Will The Circle Be Unbroken

15. I'm A Hog For You Baby

16. Light Shine

Tracks 4 to 16 are their sixth (fifth studio) album "Good And Dusty" - released December 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers BS 2566/Raccoon No. 9. No producer listed - it peaked at No. 160 in the USA (no UK release).

THE YOUNGBLOODS on all three albums were:

JESSIE COLIN YOUNG - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Bass and Kazoo

LOWELL 'Banana' LEVINGER - Guitars and Piano

JOE BAUER - Drums

EARTHQUAKE ANDERSON - Harmonica (only on "Good And Dusty")

MICHAEL KANE - Bass, French Horn, Vocals, Cornet (only on "Good And Dusty")

The card-slipcase adds a classy feel to the release (standard these last few years with BGO reissues) and the 12-page booklet features original album credits and a new appraisal of their legacy by noted Music Historian JOHN O'REGAN. He discusses their '67 to '72 recordings - post 80's and 90's reunions and Jessie Colin Young's subsequent solo career in Country Music - there's even the lyrics to the brilliant "Ride The Wind" live set and some black and white photos of the three and four-piece line-ups looking young, cheerful and waving enthusiastically at their adoring audience.

But the really big news here is superlative new Audio Transfers from licensed WEA tapes by BGO's resident Engineer ANDREW THOMPSON. I'm always wary of live sets especially from the Sixties and early Seventies where sound was problematical to say the least. Yet both of these sets and especially the Charlie Daniels Produced "Ride The Wind" LP have a clarity that defies their age big time. The studio album "Good And Dusty" is superb too and on tracks like the beautiful "Light Shine" (a return to the glory of the "Get Together" melody) – it’s spectacular. Let's get to the music...

Although "Rock Festival" is supposedly a 'live' LP of new material recorded at various venues like 'The Family Dog' in San Francisco and 'Barn' in Santa Clara - it's clear to me that the lead-off song "It's A Lovely Day" is a studio cut provided by Jessie Colin Young. Warner Brothers tried its pretty melody as a 45 in May 1971 with the LP finisher "Ice Bag" on the flipside - but Warner Brothers 7499/Raccoon S 4 didn't trouble too many charts (its UK equivalent on Warner Brothers K 16098 fared the same). While "Faster All The Time" is a good Levinger bopper - the one-minute "Prelude" and the near six-minutes of the keyboard instrumental "On Beautiful Lake Spenade" both feel like ambling wastes of time. Things improve with Colin Young's "Josiane" – another warm melody that I can’t help but feel should have been a studio cut. "Sea Cow Boogie" turns out to be 20-seconds of Bass-playing nonsense leading into a leery version of the Traditional boozing shanty "Fiddler A Dram". Saving the day comes a warmly recorded cover of Tim Hardin's "Misty Roses" - sung by Colin Young - it's a tiny bit hissy but incredibly intimate and touching in a way that none of the prior tracks do (first decent crown response too). Banjos ahoy for Banana’s "Interlude" – a two-minute instrumental that actually works. As if arriving from another album or a boisterous Chicken Shack gig over in London – they then offer us a Harmonica-warbling cover of Jimmy Reed’s "Peepin..." – great fun but wildly out of place with the rest of the record. We then go discordant Trout Mask Replica Captain Beefheart with two minutes of strained nonsense called "Ice Bag".

After the ragbag that is "Rock Festival" – the six long workouts of "Ride the Wind" come as a welcome relief. As I’ve already said – the second live record is more Rock-Soulful than standard Rock. Young singing, Banana hitting the keys, Bass solos that Funk with the drums – it feels like Richie Havens scatting in front of an appreciative crowd with a hip band of likeminded musicians backing him up. They deconstruct their own songs and offer them up in Funky new incarnations - the Fred Neil masterpiece "Dolphins" gets a moody work over too as does their sunshine slice of Sixties gloriana "Get Together". In my mind the album is the very definition of lost classic - and that Charlie Daniels Production is incredible - each keyboard note and cymbal tap leaping out of your speakers with clarity that defies its age. And Young's singing enters another place - Soulful as well as melodious. Hell - there are times when the finisher "Beautiful" feels like Phil Upchurch live on funky guitar with Al Kooper singing out front - Young urging the people to feel beautiful and reach out (yeah baby). 

Excepting four originals - "Hippie From Olema No. 5" by Lowell 'Banana' Levinger (it's actually a close re-write of Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee"), "Good And Dusty" by all four members of the band and two Jessie Collin Young entries in "Drifting And Drifting" and the lovely single "Light Shine" - the other nine tracks on the "Good And Dusty" studio album are all cover versions. Most are old Blues & R&B Classics - Lloyd Price's rabble-rouser "Stagger Lee" - the gorgeous pleading Soul of Roosevelt Jamison's "That's How Strong My Love Is" made famous by O.V. Wright and Otis Redding (a genuine highlight on here) - the Coasters Leiber & Stoller winner "I'm A Hog For You Baby" - Sonny Boy Williamson's Chess brawler "Pontiac Blues" - Leonard Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" made famous by Louis Jordan - the spiritual "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" in shimmering Staple Singers style - all rounded off with a sneaky take on the saucy "Willie And The Hand Jive" made infamous by Johnny Otis.

On top of all that is "Moonshine Is The Sunshine" - a Jeffery Cain song that initially turned up on his debut LP "For You" in 1970 on Warner Brothers WS 1880. All three of The Youngbloods had played on that album - only the second LP on the Raccoon Label imprint - and they repaid him by covering his song here. The other goodun on here is Carol Miller's lovely ballad "Circus Face" - Banana playing that Mandola so sweetly (I'm amazed this hasn't been covered more). The album's best moment comes last with Colin Young's lovely "Light Shine". Warner Brothers tried it as a 45 in March 1972 with the equally Soulful "Will The Circle Ever Be Broken" on the flipside - but despite the French horns, sweet guitar picking melody and the overall strength of both sides - Warner Brothers WB 7563 did no business.

As "Light Shine" plays out this gorgeous-sounding twofer - you're left with an abiding impression that even though some of the material isn't blazing and brilliant like the sun (that first album isn’t great) - there's an awful lot of genuine musical sunshine on these three albums that we clearly missed out on. More importantly The Youngbloods and their Warner Brothers output warrants a return to in 2017.

Well done to BGO for getting this wee lysergic Rock-Soulful nugget out there. "Good And Dusty" indeed...

"Family Album" by STONEGROUND featuring Sal Valentino (2016 Beat Goes On 2CD Reissue - Andrew Thompson Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...How About A Welcome For My Children..."

By the time California's STONEGROUND released the 2LP-set "Family Album" before Christmas of 1971 - their 2nd platter for Warner Brothers in a year – the San Francisco ensemble were a sprawling ten-piece Rock act fronted by ex Beau Brummel’s singer and guitarist Sal Valentino and featured no less than four other singers - all ladies (see list below).

Their self-titled debut "Stoneground" had arrived in April 1971 on Warner Brothers WS 1895 to acclaim but poor sales and their ambitious but again ignored three-sides-live-one-side-studio "Family Album" 2LP set came in December 1971 (Warner Brothers 2ZS 1956). These albums were in turn followed by "Stoneground 3" on Warner Brothers BS 2645 in December 1972 - yet none bothered the US charts in any real way despite the favourable reviews, great live rep and big-label name (members of the band would morph into the yacht rock act Pablo Cruise and enjoy six charted albums - one of which "Worlds Apart" went Top 6 in 1978).

But on hearing this sprawling and at times brilliant double album from that halcyon year - you're left wondering - why? Maybe we missed something back there? I think we did and reissue label 'Beat Goes On' of England seems to think so too. There’s a lot to love on this gorgeous-sounding 2CD reissue of this long-forgotten band and their gatefold shot at fame – there really is. Here are the rocky details...

UK released November 2016 - "Family Album" by STONEGROUND on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1263 (Barcode 5017261212634) is a 2CD Reissue of the 2LP set from 1971 (no bonus tracks) and plays out as follows:

Disc 1 (43:19 minutes):

1. Get Rhythm [Side 1]

2. Passion Flower

3. Corrina

4. Big River

5. Won't Be Long [Side 2]

6. Super Clown

7. Richland Woman

8. Queen Sweet Dreams

9. Precious Lord

Sal Valentino sings Lead Vocals on "Get Rhythm", "Big River" (both Johnny Cash cover versions) and "Queen Sweet Dreams" (his own song) and duets with Lynne Hughes on the Traditional "Corrina". Lynne Hughes sings Lead Vocals on "Passion Flower" (her own song) and "Richland Woman" (a Mississippi John Hurt cover) - Annie Simpson sings Lead Vocals on the spiritual "Precious Lord".

Disc 2 (43:30 minutes):

1. It Takes A Lot To Laugh (It Takes A Train To Cry) [Side 3]

2. I Can't Help It

3. Ro Doreen

4. It's Not Easy

5. If You Gotta Go

6. Total Destruction Of Your Mind

7. You Must Be One Of Us [Side 4]

8. All My Life

9. Where Will I Find Love

10. Gonna Have A Good Time

11. Jam It

Disc 1 and 2 make up the double album "Family Album" - released December 1971 in the USA on Warner Brothers 2ZS 1956 (no UK issue). Sides 1, 2 and 3 recorded live by KSAN Radio in San Francisco, Sunday 8 August 1971 using the Pacific High Recording Studios in front of an audience of 200 invited guests. Side 4 is the studio side (Tracks 7 to 11 on Disc 2) and was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles.

STONEGROUND was:

SAL VALENTINO - Lead Vocals, Guitar and Percussion

TIM BARNES - Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals

CORY LERIOS - Keyboards

JOHN BLAKELEY - Bass

BRIAN GODULA - Bass

STEPHEN PRICE - Drums

LYNNE HUGHES - Vocals

DEIRDRE LA PORTE - Vocals

ANNIE SIMPSON - Vocals

LYDIA MORENO - Vocals

BGO's now generic card slipcase adds the 2016 2CD reissue a classy look and the superb 12-page liner notes from noted wrier JOHN O'REGAN give a potted and affectionate history of the band's many line-up changes - explaining their history and unfortunate lack of commercial success (the public seemed indifferent to them no matter what they did). The original double vinyl LP was a gatefold sleeve laid out (not surprisingly) in a 'family album' way with pictures of all 10 players on the inner gatefold - that spread is reproduced on the inner two page spread. I still can't definitively say who sings lead on which track (the original never said) and O'Regan doesn't illuminate either. But I can say that audio-wise this is a gorgeous-sounding recording - a beautiful 'high definition' audiophile transfer from original masters by ANDREW THOMPSON that really gives the recordings an ethereal, loose and casually cool feel.

Stoneground's sound isn't easy to nail - probably a good reason as to why they were difficult to market. For this mainly-live (3 sides) double album with Valentino mostly out front singing - best approximation is early Little Feat 'live' with Leon Russell at the microphone - a combo most Seventies Rock fans would gladly embrace. They also had a knack of making very obvious 'cover versions' their own - and this is evident in their very Stoneground reworked takes on Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm" and their boogie organ-driven version of Dylan's "If You Gotta Go" - turned into a Soul raver with one of the ladies getting all Tina Turner on its funky ass.

Reviewers complained at the time that the clearly sparse 'invited 200' audience members seemed just a little too vocal in their appreciation of the group giving some of the live cuts an awkward and false feel – but I'd say that this happens so little it's an utterly mute point. More likely that 1971 was such a huge year for rock (Hepworth's book "Never A Dull Moment" nails this argument convincingly) - reviewers were literally spoilt for choice and got a bit nasty on bands that weren't immediately sensational. But I suspect that the real problem was a lack of killer hits. The songs are good and at times - the rhythms funky and inspired – but there's no Top 10 winner on here. Even when they're tackling the Jerry Williams song "Total Destruction Of Your Mind" which they funk up into a sort of Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band rave up complete with drum solo – or have a go at Dusty Springfield's "Won't Be Long" turning it into an Aretha Franklin Atlantic Records bopper – they sound like a great covers band and that's all – it's good but not distinctive enough to make their own mark.

The lonesome slide guitar and lone voice of "Precious Lord" is chillingly brilliant though – sparse - like Ry Cooder sat on a chair with Doris Troy letting rip on a microphone nearby – her eyes closed – feeling every righteous word. Of the studio stuff Ron Nagle's "You Must Be One Of Us" has Sal Valentino sounding like the recently passed Leon Russell finding his inner Delta Lady. Keyboardist Cary Lerios supplied the mushy love song "All My Life" while Lynne Hughes gives us the better "Where Will I Find Love" – a very Delaney and Bonnie Soul-Rock funky dancer. There's amazing audio on the I-feel-good rocker "Gonna Have A Good Time” and near six-minute instrumental "Jam It" chugs along like The Allman Brothers having a Rock-Funk workout in the studio in-between "Brothers And Sisters" outtakes.

Piano player Pete Sears who played on their debut would later feature in Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship and along with Ian McLagan became a member of the house band that played on Rod Stewart's mighty trio of classic albums - "Gasoline Alley", "Every Picture Tells A Story" and "Never A Dull Moment". Cory Lerios, Steve Price and David Jenkins would form Pablo Cruise and sign to A&amp;M Records for major chart success in the Seventies. Stoneground went on make more albums that no one remembers - even returning to Warner Brothers in 1978 for the "Hearts Of Stone" LP in 1978. There's a website to the band that tells you bugger all info about them...

To sum up - there's much to dig here and as I listen to the announcer tell the audience to 'give it up' for his children in Stoneground (his words title this review) - I'm thinking he was onto to something with the ignored double "Family Album".

Fans of 1971 need to check this superb-sounding 2CD reissue out. And well done to BGO for doing such a top quality job...