Favourite compilations

Among many albums sometimes a compilation has a hold summarizing an acts high points  so sets like the Beatles 1962-1966 and 1967-70 and the first two Elton John Greatest Hits are amongst the most treasured by me and that includes this one.
This compilation that was first issued in 1970, was my first introduction to this seminal San Francisco band on album having bough it on 8 track as it neatly covers their earlier folk rock recordings like It's No Secret  though the generation defining Somebody To Love to 1969's Volunteers .
They also had the good sense to feature the live rendition of Plastic Fantastic Lover and Embryonic Journey whose other worldiness somehow just made sense at the time.
I have a lovely sounding mid 1980's UK EMI cassette version of this album issued during a short lived era where RCA allowed them to license a number of thair albums for midprice re-issue including this.

Hermans Hermits are back

I'm not feeling to great at the moment due to a particularly severe Migraine  which has left  it hard for me to pull things together but recently I ordered a couple of double cds one of which has already arrived and another is due very soon here
Hermans Hermits  tend to be seen as also runs after the Beatles, Stones and the Who, not really troubling the world with their perfect boy next door delivered Pop such as A Must To Avoid but for a period were up with the Beatles in the States when it came to sales and personal following.
In 2014 BGO issued four UK albums freshly remastered by Andrew Thompson who did the Hollies twofers a few years back I liked.
While the first was a more a setlist cut in a few days, the others cover such songs My Reservation's Been Confirmed, Rattler and It's Nice To be Out In The Morning and for a period I had the third album There's A  Kind Of Hush loving the songs on the original UK Columbia lp.

The forth was soundtrack repeating two previous hits but has some excellent songs some of which are in stereo.

Earlier this year the Bear Family in Germany in association with Warners who have the right to parts of the EMI catalogue put out a two disc compilation that has a lot of previously un issued in stereo versions of songs carefully remixed by Ron Furmanack as much of their recordings were only mixed to mono back in the 60's.
Each disc is over 80 minutes and while I can't see it supplanting both volumes of the now deleted Best of EMI years cds from 1991/2 which remain the last word as compilations go for material and sound quality, it is a welcome set.

London American years continued (1964&1965)

Hi pop pickers. It's been a while since I posted a series of entries around the Ace Records (and they are Ace!) series "The London American year By Year" series which explores a range of recordings as issued by this most iconic UK label.
By way of a background capsule, London American was a label owned by UK Decca for recording licensed from many at the time small US record labels for marketing and distribution in the UK making use of UK Decca's strong operation.
In time many of the labels whose recordings had been licensed set up their own UK operations such as Atlantic and Liberty while others got absorbed into increasingly big US concerns or with changing tastes the labels ceased to exist as outlets for new recordings such as Sun.
Ace began this series way way back in 2009 with the 1960 volume covering a number of recordings I heard on many 'oldies' shows while I was younger that played material from period immediately before the popularity of Merseybeat and the British Invasion of North America's airwaves had began.
There had been something of a hiatus since 2012's last release the 1956 volume captured much of the initial rock and roll boom witnessed on radio, television and your local movie theatre.

The most recent release like it came out this very week, is this, the 1965 edition which showed how a combination of changing tastes, increased competition by UK EMI and Pye Records for licenses and that British Invasion had reduced the output considerable and the number of genuine hits.
This said the set does include a number of gems such as Dobie Gray's the In Crowd a number of hits by the Righteous Brothers, Shirley Ellis's infectious The Clapping Song which was covered in the early 80's in the UK, a great version of Trains,Boats and Planes by Burt Bacharach and a UK act signed in the States and issued by London American - the Pageboys - and their song When I Meet a Girl Like You

1964 for many of us was when Beatlemania  struck, we got Stoned with Richmond's finest and an English accent was a guarantee of acceptance!
In throws of all that,  even the mighty Beach Boys would struggle chased off the top spots by some many darn fine UK artists however America still had a few tricks up it's sleeve not least Phil Spector's unforgettable productions that were licensed by London American so we're treated to such numbers as Crystals and Ronettes plus hits from Atlantic, Kapp and Monument stables  such as Ben E Kings Around The Corner, the Drifters with One Way Love and Otis Redding's  Come To Me.
It was also event licenses that had been profitable such as those to Sun Records and Cadence  from the 50's were becoming irrelevant.
Although it had taken some time to put together this compilation - licensing often is complex - the result is highly enjoyable adding a  fine collection of songs to ones collection of favourite oldies.

Aretha Franklin

After last weeks stormy weather, at last we have some sunshine this week so before I take a break, here's this weeks entry.
The 50's thru the 70's were for many the heyday of Soul - no not that  R&B as in Rap and [insert word] stuff they try to pass off as "Black Music" today but rootsy soul delivered with conviction (rather than having one!) from folks straight out of Gospel singing.
One of the finest examples you can ever hope to hear of that is the recordings of Aretha Franklin during her long period  at Atlantic.

A few weeks ago Mobile Fidelity Inc of Illinois re-issued this stereo compilation of hers from 1969 with a good number of her early hits from when she left Columbia who didn't really know how to use her abilities.
Because of that, it does miss a few gems of hers from the early 70's however in the opinion of many this Super Audio cd that is also playable on regular cd players, has the best ever sounding stereo versions of these early recordings such as Respect, Chain Of Fools and I say A Little Prayer that simply as a soul fan I have to say you really need to hear.
Strongly recommended. Also note the Rhino "Queen Of Soul" 4 cd box set can be had cheaply featuring many mono versions and much of her output to 1976.

Beatles bootleg recordings

Christmas may of come early for Beatles fans yesterday when for a limited period  a series of 59 previously unissued tracks  were released but not without drama on several internet sites as these tracks had appeared on the iTunes Stores starting in New Zealand briefly  but appear only to had been up for a matter of minutes in the UK before they were taken down, leaving fans feeling cheated. The ensuing controversy was reported on CNN and in the Times of England newspaper. 
They did reappear but with a sizable price hike although sources close to Apple/Universal suggest this was more the price point they had in mind and the original one an error although it seems odd such a mistake could of happened on a high profile project such as anything connected to the Beatles.
The driver for this project seems to have been the recent extension from 50 to 70 years of copyright laws  from 1963 across the European Union including in the UK that had a rider added that unissued tracks would revert after 50 years to "Public Domain", usable by anyone. Thus by issuing however briefly they become copyright with Apple/Universal being the rights owners controlling their usage.
As for the material itself, there are a few Abbey Road studio tracks including a number of takes of Misery which are interesting to listen to for the fluffed moments and banter between the four Liverpool lads and a number of recordings recorded at the BBC studios for various shows that for a variety of reasons hadn't been considered for the Live at the BBC and recent second Live at the BBC  albums.
Being Mastered For iTunes (MFiT), the sound quality for the studio material is of a very high standard being close to that of a regular cd.
This isn't for regular Beatles fans who are better served with the studio albums and various hits and BBC recording packages but more those who want to hear everything they did comparing multiple versions.

They may well be a break before the next blog update due to Christmas activities so do enjoy the upcoming season.

CSN Box set redux

It wasn't long after the introduction of cds that box sets started to emerge following on from those of the lp era covering typically a genre or whole artists career and a number of truly worthwhile releases came out from the late 1980's up to the mid 90's.
The common factor between these, the good and the sort you though "and just who is this for?" ones was the large boxes typically 14 x14 inches and equally large booklets as well as mouthwatering price tags.
Over the years some had become out of print as new titles and others repackaged in simpler typically cd sized packages with reduced prices reflecting both the period of time that had elapsed from issuing and that often they were not re-mastered which isn't necessary a bad thing given many how many contemporary poorly remastered cds have been put out.
Over the years Warners have been re-issuing a number and example of which I wrote about in the Rod Stewart entry a few years back and this is  one of two recently re-issued.
What this box set originally issued in 1991 comprises of  selections from all the studio albums Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young) issued including a number of alternative mixes and versions  plus a selection from their respective solo albums, so giving you a wide appreciation of their talent that if you chose to investigate it from scratch would set you back rather a lot. You see how the talents blended and equally what each themselves all having a group past prior to C, S, N, (and Y) brought to the table. Although mastered back in 1991 by Joe Gastwirt prior to the individual albums being remastered in 1994, the sound remains very clear with good dynamics. I should point out Audio Fidelity have done specialty remasters of the First CSN album and CSN (1977).
The booklet is substantially the same but rejigged to fit the cd case with a short history of the artists and track by track narration. It would either make a good bookend to a collection of CSN individual albums or serve well as a inspired selection of their output where their music and vision was apart of our lives. For approx £18 for four cds I'd highly recommend it.
Also reissued is the almost matching Buffalo Springfield box set from the same era.

Segregated education

I'm not feeling that brilliant today to be honest but I felt like talking just a little around education policy today.
Education in the UK is something of a hodge podge between ownership (private, independent and local authority), structures (age ranges, selective or comprehensive admissions), specialisms (arts, IT, sport etc) and so on thanks to considerable parental choice and alternating national and local government ideologies support by pet theories.
One point of considerable and sometimes very bitter controversy is about how children with disabilities should be taught and with many things often their are agendas.
For a long period, certainly going back to the Victorian era in so much that education in general was considered back then if a child didn't fit in well with the school system then it either wasn't educated and maybe placed in some institution or send to a  'special school' such as schools for the blind to learn Braille and a skill.
Since 1945 a system of special schools was established in many authorities to cater for the needs of different groups of disabled people such as those with physical disabilities (70's no longer approved term Physically handicapped), what was then classed as Educational Subnormal (aka a 70's term 'mentally handicapped') and a loose category for what is termed emotional and behavioural needs that from the outset didn't exactly co-relate to prevailing definitions used by medical authorities and other arms of government.
In the 1970's increasingly the model of separate provision was questioned as for the most part the need for special schools for physical disabilities often had more to do   inaccessible buildings,  deliberate exclusion from any kind of pe never mind not in many instances being prepared and entered for regular national examinations in everyday school subjects.
Because you maybe lost a limbs function doesn't mean you lost your brain!
Equally it could be argued that differences in intelligence span are part of the human condition and that comprehensive intakes were supposed to take account of.
Not unsurprisingly the combination of opponents to special provision and those who often saw the budgets including the transportation budgets as money that could be better spent meant many schools were either shut down or had their categories for admission altered.
One area of considerable discussion is around the handling of children who exhibit behavioural and emotional difficulties as increasingly reports came out suggesting that the trend toward integration with such children in mainstream schools was causing difficulties when it came to holding efficient classes with incidents breaking out and high levels of support by classroom assistants for such children.
Recently the National Autistic Society has got involved in projects to establish 'free schools' specifically for those with Autism and Aspberger's syndrome one of which will be a few miles away from me in currently redundant 1970's Elementary school building where unlike schools in the 60's thru late 1980's children will follow a standard school curriculum but with a lot of work around understanding and relating to everyday social skills and structures.
It may be step away from total integration but if it helps to realize the gifts those with Autism/Aspberger's have and better enable them to use them in the so-called 'normal' world to everyone's advantage then maybe taking a step back from a theory can be step forward.

Back to the 60's

There's a kinda connection between the last post and this in there somewhere but I was rather taken with this sleeveless dress.

Apart from being the kind of dress that's never really out of style it fits closely at the top but has a nice flared out feel in the skirt. It's easy to wear with a jacket and a few simple accessories.

Gettin' Ready (Temptations Pt 2)

Just taking a bit of time out from the guests here today (shh) to type a few words to say thanks for the unexpected birthday wishes.
A few things I had ordered as being very poorly last week I hadn't gotten stuff  organized as well as I'd normally would, have yet to arrive.
One being a kind of follow on from last weeks entry in that around 2001 I'd built up my collection of studio Temptations albums liking Motown rather a lot in a series of two albums on one cd that were issued in the UK from "Meet The Temptations" to 1975's "A Song for You".
That series, most desirable in it's own way missed a few albums from the early 1970's out (Sky's The Limit, Solid Rock and 1990) that I ended up getting in high quality downloads from iTunes.
That left a classic album from 1966still missing from the collection.

This one was the home of "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" and "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" which was covered by the Rolling Stones on their It's Only Rock and Roll album of 1974.
Well this should be coming tomorrow in re-issued cd form although like most things now, I'll rip it to iTunes for listening to on the go.

Charred past

11 followers at Daytime Office Girl Crisis and only a tiny handful of you even know the history of this unique blog! It was underground for quite a period when I was avoiding places I felt rather uncomfortable at but now it's back out in the open.
If you clever people were wondering what this weeks title is referring to, unless you were on Mars, I'm talking about a major public scandal in the UK (that strange place that gave us English) that centres around the deceased disc jockey and tv presenter Sir Jimmy Saville who worked for a long time at a veritable UK institution, The BBC.
If you'd been in the UK for over 15 years, you'd of know of him presenting such shows as the pop music show Top of the Pops, radio shows like Saville's Time Travels, the Old record club, his past as a club MC in Leeds, Yorkshire and his charitable works and he did raise an awful lot for places like the  spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandiville.
No one would dispute his achievements as an entertainer, indeed many of us us watched and listened to his shows.
There is no nice way to say this - and I wish I didn't have to - but he had another side a very hidden one from the public and it was he enjoyed having sex relations with children  15 or under something general morality aside, is against the law.
Some of these at least were clearly 'forced', they involved boys as well as girls, either on BBC property or in accommodation provided for his charitable work.
A good number were invited backstage from shows such as Jim'll fix it or Top of the Pops to his dressing room arguable with some knowledge from associates where they were abused; in others they were taken from Hospitals or Corrective Schools. It also has been said he attempted to interfere with some during the filmed dancing at Top of the Pops when he was on the show.
If this wasn't enough earlier this week I read a harrowing account of how even a niece at 13 and 15 of his was molested and abused.  I cried reading it.
I can't presume to speak for everyone that may be reading this blog, but there are a couple of things that come to mind of which the first is I feel a part of my past has been sullen not least for seeing people on a show and then finding out what happened later to them.
The other is why it was he was allowed unaccompanied access to minors to the point even of being given a key to one hospital that he kept with him. Thinking back as a 13 or 14 year old, at the time I'd loved to met my idols and gotten their autograph but you'd of expected someone to be over that person you were seeing not least for their own protection.
It also appears a number of people were aware of his 'interest' in minors but didn't act. Was this because he was viewed as too important to the BBC and various charities to tackle?

Love Me Do

Well in October 1962 before I was born, a group with a local and German port following issued a bluesy 45 following their first ever UK recording sesson at Abbey Road, London.
Nobody knew if this group would really take of or just remain one of several provincial groups just selling a few copies to fans.
This Group was of course, the Beatles and that single reached number 17 on the UK charts although it was to go top five in the States in 1964 in an era off unprecedented adoration.

Although it's been released several times before being only deleted briefly during the late 60's and very early 70's with a famous 20th anniversary issue in 1982 where it climbed to number 5 in the UK charts that I bought in high school, this week it comes out in a retro label design complete with company inner bag.
I've ordered a copy for my collection as I believe they *may* use the original singles version for this that was switched in early 1963 to the now familiar version featured on the Please Please Me album.

NEWSFLASH:
Somebody goofed big time.
http://wogew.blogspot.ca/2012/10/lov...ry-mix-up.html

Quote:

Word is that EMI have recalled all the stock of the 50th anniversary edition of the Love Me Do 7" vinyl single , because the version on the single is incorrect. Under strict instructions from Apple the stock is to be destroyed.
The single version as you probably know featured Ringo, and the album version featured Andy White with Ringo on the tambourine. The mistake is that they have supposedly put the album version on the new 7 inch.
At the moment EMI have no plans to replace it with the correct version.
This information came from one of the retailers who had already shipped their pre-orders, so there will be a number of lucky owners of this rarity when the post arrives tomorrow....
Coming soon is the much waited for stereo  vinyl issues of September 2009's album remasters. One hopes the three year and two months wait is worth it.

Rod The Mod

If you were around in the 70's you could not of escaped Rod Stewart, the UK singer-songwriter responsible for many of decades top selling records but where do you start if you're not a rabid fan of his given many compilations have been issued in the passing decades most of which had cd re-issues?
I did have the 2004 Changing Faces set but it was mastered rather loud and my copy wasn't playing to well for some reason so a while back I did some investigations on what to replace it with.
At the risk of sounding like a boring old fart, I feel his best solo material was recorded for Mercury between 1969 and 1974 taking in such gems as You Wear it Well, Gasoline Alley, Reason To Believe and unforgettably, Maggie Mae.
While some of these albums have been re-issued by specialty labels such as Audio Fidelity and Mobile Fidelity, these discs will be dear to track down regardless of sonic merit  so I'd suggest most would be better of getting new a 3 cd set called "Reason To Believe -The complete Mercury studio recordings " having all the albums and some bonus tracks in a single inexpensive set.

For an overview of his career from the mid 60's to 1990 I feel there's one which is a complete no-brainer  and that's "Storyteller" as it does just that telling the story of Rod's music career over 4 cds that originally came out in 1990 costing a small fortune.
It was recently repackaged but keeping the notes and can be got from Amazon UK for £7.99 shipped. Although a few tracks from the mid 60's were sourced from records, most of this set sounds really good.
I would put this now above "The Story So Far - the best of" a 2 cd set issued by Warners in the UK in 2003 as Storyteller has more 'classic' Rod while all The Story So Far adds is some remakes and less essential tracks he did with Helicopter Girl even though I bought "Story So Far" on release.

Finally, Rod was an essential part of the Faces who emerged from the Small Faces and you simply have to have a selection of their rootsy bar music that included tracks like Stay With Me and Cindy Incidentally. Although there's a new double cd set due out in October which I hope to get, One that can be got cheaply and is very good is The Best of the Faces (Good boys ...while they're asleep).

Currently available on Rhino and priced at £2.99 on Amazon UK you really cannot go wrong with this single cd retrospective..

Turn, turn, turn

Anyone who knows anything at all about me knows I've always loved the Byrds one of the most important American rock groups of the 60's and beyond not just for the individual talents within  the group in its differing lineups but the fact they got to what was new and hip before anyone else did, pioneering whole new musical genres such as Country-Rock that lead us to The Eagles and Poco.

 
I grew up on the UK import History of the Byrds double compilation lp which for its time give a well rounded assessment of their abilities and not a few hard to find vital 45's such as Lady Friend although in time I bought a number of studio albums plus the good if slightly flawed Original singles masters lps issued in the UK in 1980 and 1982 respectively supply all the singles with matching b sides.

People remarked on the music I played at high school during that period as it was so different than anything they were familiar with.

Anyway in 1990 I was based in Surrey, just outside of London, when the news broke that a new box set of their work freshly remastered and even remixed in parts was coming out October 19th on CBS over here (the US edition was on Columbia)  which appealed not least because some of the  early Byrds cds although having the original mixes didn't sound so hot in this new format.

The set also content 6 new recordings made that year showcasing their talent even now.

I remember saving up for it, intending to buy it in a store in Kingston Upon Thames only to find some so and so had stolen all my money so as I was short on funds for meeting my other obligations, I never got around to getting it.

 
I bought all the remastered individual cds from 1996 and 1997 that were issued  featuring many bonus tracks but still hankered for this attractively packaged set

Each disc is titled with its own cover art and there remains a good number of alternate mixes and material not carried over to the "There Is a Season" box set of a few years ago.

 
Fortunately I was able to track down an as new US copy used for a cheap price from a Amazon vendor which should be here in a minute.
I'm really looking forward to finally getting it.
Tracklist:

We Have Ignition 1. Mr Tambourine Man 2. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better 3. Chimes Of Freedom 4. She Has A Way 5. All I Really Want To Do 6. Spanish Harlem Incident 7. The Bells Of Rhymney 8. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 9. She Don't Care About Time 10. Turn Turn Turn 11. It Won't Be Wrong 12. Lay Down Your Weary Tune 13. He Was A Friend Of Mine 14. The World Turns All Around Her 15. The Day Walk (Never Before) 16. The Times They Are A-Changin' 17. 5D (Fifth Dimension) 18. I Know My Rider 19. Eight Miles High 20. Why 21. Psychodrama city 22. I See You 23. Hey Joe Cruising Altitude 24. Mr Spaceman 25. John Riley 26. Roll Over Beethoven 27. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star 28. Have You Seen Her Face 29. My Back Pages 30 Tim Between 31. It Happens Each Day 32. Renaissance Fair 33. Everybody's Been Burned 34. The Girl With No Name 35. Triad 36. Lady Friend 37. Old John Robertson 38. Goin' Back 39. Draft Morning 40. Wasn't Born To Follow 41. Dolphin's Smile 42. Reputation 43. You Ain't Going Nowhere 44. The Christian Life 45. I Am A Pilgrim 46. Pretty Boy Floyd 47. You Don't Miss Your Water Full Throttle: 48. Hickory Wind 49. Nothing Was Delivered 50. One Hundred Years From Now 51. Pretty Polly 52. Lazy Days 53. This Wheels On Fire 54. Nashville West 55. Old Blue 56. Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man 57. Bad Night At The Whiskey 58. Lay Lady Lay 59. Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood 60. Ballad Of Easy Rider 61. Oil In My Lamp 62. Jesus Is Just Alright 63. Way Beyond The Sun 64. Tulsa County 65. Deportee 66. Lover Of The Bayou 67. Willin' 68. Black Mountain Rag 69. Positively 4th Street Final Approach: 70. Chestnut Mare 71. Just A Season 72. Kathleen's Song 73. Truck Stop Girl 74. Just Like A Woman 75. Stanley's Song 76. Glory Glory 77. I Trust 78. I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician 79. Green Apple Quick Step 80. Tiffany Queen 81. Bugler 82. Lazy Waters 83. Farther Along 84. White's Lightning From The 1990 Roy Orbison Tribute: 85. Turn Turn Turn 86. Mr Tambourine Man The Nashville Session: New 1990 Recordings: 87. He Was A Friend Of Mine 88. Paths Of Victory 89. From A Distance 90. Love That Never Dies A link is on the Favourites tab for Tom's Gene Clark blog (The Clarkophile) that I feel is one of the best music blogs out there.

The leader of the pack

The last few weeks have seen me revisiting a few childhood favourites when it comes to popular music .

For instance for a brief period in the mid sixties the Red Bird and Blue cat lables had some of hippest music around from a wide range of artists with a lot of close harmony girl groups such as the Dixie Cups. Unfortunately connected with the reasons the lable shut down, many of the final mixed down 'master tapes' ended going to various odd bods as payment for debts resulting many later release in both the lp and cd eras suffering.















Recently Real Gone Music out out a cd with 20 tracks called "The Red Bird Girls for the Very first time in STEREO" newly remixed from the session floor tapes in stereo offering a new and much cleaner two channel sound on tracks such as Bessie Banks, Go Now, The AdLibs The Boy from New York City and many more.

One of the most famous groups on the label was the unforgettable Shangr Ls's whose dark soap opera in two and a half minutes drama's such as Leader Of The Pack, I Can Never Go Home No More and Past, Present and Future really pushed the enveloped for what could be achieved by soundscapes.
Most of the cds of their hits suffer from poor sound quality but in 2002 Englands RPM records redid the good Myrmidoms of Melodrama compilation improving on the sound and finding stereo versions of several tracks including Remember (walking in the sand) and I recently picked up a copy.


















As well as regular readers know I've always loved Bobby Vees music and finally picked up the Bobby Vee singles Collection, a the cd set issued by EMI UK in 2006 covering ever a and b side cut for Libery records by him from the late 50's thru 1978 most of which appear in top quality stereo.
It's the best compilation of his material out there I'd have to say being well worth the modest cost Amazon UK are currently charging for it.

33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee

They're no more sadly with yesterdays sad news of Davy Jones death aged 66 in his sleep.

Davy was a British child actor who was picked as were most of the America 60's group The Monkees for their ability to act and look the part of a struggling pop group for the NBC TV series of the same name than their musical ability.

No one would say that lyrically and artistically they could be put at the same level as say the Beatles, Stones, Kinks or Beach Boys however if anything personified the fun, can-do feel of the era it was them.

Thank you Davy Jones (1954-2012) for being part of my and countless others lives. R.I.P

Davy Jones (above)

The Monkees

Stay with the Hollies!

In what will probably be the last blog entry around the topic of the Hollies on cd I'll be commenting on three cds, two studio albums and a new compilation.

Kicking off I'll start with the first album ever issued by the Hollies 'Stay with the Hollies' that was a mixture of R&B covers such as 'Stay', Chuck Berry's Memphis and 'Talkin' 'Bout You' and a powerhouse rocker Nash& Clarke original called 'Little Lover' which was featured on an English EP record.

I picked up the old 1991 BGO cd cheaply which is in mono unlike the lp re-issue they did earlier and I'd have to say I feel the sound while being a breathing more than the late 90's EMI remasters , it lacks definition compared to the BGO cds that have Here I Go Again and Bus Stop albums on them. Actually Imperial records in the states did issue all these tracks but Mr Moonlight in somewhat pedestrian arrangement and You Better Move On were on the Beat Group album not available on cd.

I don't feel this disc is really necessary for anyone but the most completist Hollies fan as the majority of these tracks are available in better sound elsewhere.

Later in 1964 Parlophone issued a second album called 'In The Hollies Style' which was a more accomplished set though having no singles on it which was the British norm back then with a rousing version of 'Nitty Gritty', 'Baby That's All', 'Candy Man' and the Everly Bros song I Thought 'Of You Last Night'

I bought the 1991 BGO mono cd issue of this too but while there is room for improvement it is better than the current EMI version but this album was never issued by Imperial in the States although Three songs did come out scattered across the Beat Group and Bus Stop albums.

Interestingly the BGO lp was like the first album also stereo. What was that all about?

Compilations:

Buying Hollies compilations is a messy exercise as you're seldom told exactly what versions mono or stereo you're gonna get and some dedicated mono mixes seem missing in action such as that of Bus Stop although someone at Capitol in LA found a copy tape of it in 2002 for the Capitol cd "Classic Masters" one compilation I do like outside the earlier 20 Golden Greats and the now out of print All The Hits and More 2cd set that are mainly in superb sounding stereo.

Recently a compilation came out on Music Club that does have some interesting mono material scattered across two discs in pretty decent sound for once.

Entitled "The Very Best Of" it commits the cardinal sin of not putting the tracks in any logical order across two cds, sketchy notes that don't refer to Terry Sylvester era which brought about a number of big hits like "The Air That I Breathe" but for the modest price (Under GBP £5.00) is worth picking up.

Most Hollies compilations have tended to feature after the event stereo remixes rather than the dedicated mono originals issued on the 45's until 1970 where available that sometimes sound very different and some of album tracks here are also the less often heard mono ones which were the priority mixes of the day.

I'll list every known mono track on this disc:

(Ain't That) Just Like Me

Searchin'

Here I Go Again

Yes I Will

Look Thru Any Window

If I Needed Someone

The Very Last Day (From Hear Here (US)/ "Hollies" (UK 1965) )

Pay You Back With Interest

After The Fox (with Peter Sellars)

Stop Stop Stop

On A Carousel

Carry Anne

Dear Eloise

Clown (From Butterfly album)

Honey and Wine

Butterfly (From album of same name)

Listen To Me

Sorry Suzanne

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Unlike most compilations it has three songs form the Hollies sing Dylan album of 1969 an album I feel was so out of date for the band as they had song writing talents with in it and access to top British songwriters more than prepared to write them fresh material.

Crosby, Stills And Nash (AF)

This entry goes back a bit actually when I used to have a more complicated blog structure with a blog for old stuff but seeing there's a new bit it'll be retyped as one piece here.
The late 1960's and early 70's is a period where I do remember rather more than many of my contemparies do and I guess for me it involves numerous automotive journeys with the clunking of Pops in-car 8 track player and the sometimes downright screwed up track orders of the albums we played and given that is even know how they 'play' in my head, perhaps our generation ought to be compensated by Lear Jet for it!

Crosby Stills and Nash fit that era to a tee and recently Audio Fidelity a small Californian reissue outfit re-issued their first album freshly re-mastered by Steve Hoffman.
Songs like Wooden Ships, Marrekesh Express and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes were always on tape player plus the FM radio and what they've tried to do on this cd is to bring out a more natural bass quality and improve the clarity of the individual instruments on what has to be said is a so-so original recording. It works well even if ultimately this album is one you enjoy for the performances and songs some of which like the Graham Nash ones were originally intended for his 'old' group the Hollies during that period when he wanted to write songs with more meaning while the groups record company (EMI) just wanted simplistic pop songs to sell hit 45's instead. In Crosby's case he famously fell out with the Byrds as they didn't wish to issue his songs and so Graham Steven Stills and himself formed this 'supergroup'.
Shortly afterwards Neil Young a now celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter joined them for the Deja Vu album which was a good a distillation of the ethos of those 'Woodstock' days as any I can think of from the cover of the Joni Mitchell song of the same name to Almost Cut My Hair, Nash's Our House and my favourite Neil's Country Girl a seemless suite of three songs.
I owned this originally on 8 track and later the casette version during the 'Walkman era'.
Sometime in the mid 1990's ('94 I think) Joe Gastwirt remastered this and pretty much all the C,S,N &Y output for compact disc and these can be got cheaply with decent sound from the likes of Amazon. They are only just a little louder than a specialist remaster and I like his version of this a lot.

In the fall of 2013 Steve Hoffman tackled this, the 1977 album (aka "The Boat") for Audio Fidelity catalogue number AFZ 144, the home of Cathedral and several other fine compositions. Having heard a number on the 2013 reissued box set CSN, my interest was picqued so I bought it. The sound is really good on this issue maintaining its analogue warmth and can be recommended 

The Kinks are Well Respected Men!

Well it's almost an annual ritual here that every year as we approach the Christmas season, a expensive box set arrives for me to buy, starve the cat for a few weeks or something a bit like that and this year is no exception.

The Kinks are quite simply one of the most important British groups of the 60's who took R&B, created the heavy metal riff with You Really Got Me and pioneered social comment in popular music with albums like Face To Face as well as The Village Green Preservation Society exploring the British way of life and inspiring countless acts ever since.

Entitled the Kinks In Mono, this set comprises of the seven UK albums of the period plus two discs of mono collectible versions plus a disc with four of their EP recordings on it, housed in a mini lp style sleeve, gatefolded with credits and fresh photographs on the inner folds.

The first three albums -Kinks, Kinda Kinks and The Kinks Kontroversy - are R&B albums with a high number of originals such as Stop Your Sobbing,Tired Of Waiting and Till The End Of The Day leading to the band being adopted by the 'Mods'.

From 1966's Face To Face onward Ray Davis's introspective song writing comes to the for with such classics as Dandy (a massive hit for Herman's Hermits in the States), Sunny Afternoon, David Watts as covered by The Jam, Death of a Clown, the impossibly perfect Waterloo Sunset, Starstruck (from Village Green Preservation Society) and Victoria from 'Arthur'.

The EP disc takes in four UK EP's (Kinksize session, Kinksize Hits, Kwyet Kinks and Dedicated Kinks) with Louie Louie, All Day and All Of The Night, A Well Respected Man, Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Set Me Free while the Mono Kollectables has singles mixes, b sides and the mono Lola and Apeman singles.

The mastering for is very good, a little louder than the early Kinks discs from mid 1980's but with plenty of contrast between the loudest and softest volumes and much improved on the 1998 re-issues with Village Green having a brand new mastering exclusive to this set.

For the money I think it's worth it, lacking a set of Kinks albums on cd.

At the bottom there are some picture one of the discs in the box and another of the book which is like the Pop Annuals Radio Luxembourg and Thank Your Lucky stars had out back then telling the Kinks story.

It's no weighty tomb of knowledge never mind a set of lyrics so you'll go whistle if that's what you want but as a slightly goofy period like introduction to the band it serves well being a fun read.

SMiLE

Well after all the gloom of the last few weeks which is still rumbling around us, I felt like talking about something that would make some of us SMILE, Namely the fact this Beach Boys album or perhaps more accurately "The SMiLE Sessions" have after 44 years finally come out in an authorized form.

There's that much and sometimes one-sided stuff written about smile that I don't feel like going into it but in essence it was a projected follow up to the Pet Sounds album of 1966 involving collaboration between Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks dashing off fragments of music and lyric and stitching them together as a kind of audio collage a process that would involve many fragments per song.

The year 1966 it has to be remembered was one of the most important in popular music with many lyrical, musical and technological innovations all coming together revolutionizing what was thought of as low class transitory music for kids and making it into high art with such albums as Blonde on Blonde, Revolver, Paisley Sage Rosemary & Thyme and singles like Good Vibrations.

Good Vibrations really was the stating point for this album - listen closely and you'll here all the edits and overdubs - with Brian Wilson in the studio conducting session musicians making all the backing fragments ready for the beach Boys to return from touring to add their voices.

At the same time there was much interest in what was going on with even a news team filming Brian at work at Leonard Bernstein's bequest and yet these sessions never officially saw the light of day until now.

The first thing to say about the sessions and what has been issued is it's as far away from fun in the sun car and beach songs as you could ever get very few number lend themselves to the concerts you had back then with instrumentals like Holidays and even Wind Chimes as beautiful as they are to hear anew in their original form being too challenging for the concert audience of the day.

This lead to some friction between the touring band and Brian and was a bigger issue for Capitol Records who required a record to sell with potential big hits on it and Brian launched a royalties dispute with Capitol to upping the stakes.

Brian also had his demons - it's testimony to how he is today he's happy to even talk about this period - and the competition between him and the Beatles, the disagreements in the band over the session material, the fractiousness relationship with Capitol took a heavy toll on his nerviness and increasingly erratic state of mind and so the the project got put on the high shelf 90% completed with dozens of snippets left.

Parts were re-used, songs featured in other albums Surfs Up from the 1971 album of the same name, Cabin-Essense on 20/20 and re-recordings on that half hearted replacement Smily Smile like Vege-Tables and Wind Chimes and Heroes and Villains (a favourite).

I bought the two lp version with bonus tracks on side 4 because for me at least I don't have a use nay a need to be able to re-assemble any number of fragments to make my own version as Brian's version based on approximation of 2004 he did as a solo project is good enough for me.

It's also true I appreciate greatly the physical product so something as tactile as an lp sleeve with a beautiful colour art book and easy to read lyrics is appreciated and what's more this 180 gram lp pressed here in Europe sounds superb with no one click or pop.

I also find the small gap when you change discs over helps giving you time to take in the compositional delights.

Hollies '67

Having completed my collection of the 2011 BGO discs my attention moved toward the last full year of the Nash era Hollies, a period of rapid change across the entire pop music scene and within the group itself.In essence Graham Nash wished for the group to expand musically and lyrically in the way such luminaries as the Byrds, Beatles and Beach Boys had upping the 'Oh Wow' feel rather than producing perfect two and half minute pop songs, feeling that with December 1966's For Certain Because album they'd shaken of the mantle of recording other peoples work.
What he could not of foreseen is the way the singles and albums buying public would divided into two camps and the attempt to main pop success by the old standard of hit singles would eventually lead to a situation that he'd leave the band as he felt increasingly he was writing songs that couldn't supply them with the hits they required.

Telling the first album Evolution, as issued in the UK had no lead single and announced to the World the Hollies had embraced psychedelia where as the issue by Epic Records who'd acquired North American rights from Imperial rejigged it to 10 tracks from 12 and made Carrie Anne a hit single the opening cut. This album and it's followup Butterfly were remastered in 1999 by Peter Mew for EMI and suffered as did the whole series from the misuse of noise reduction leaving it sounding dead and tonally grey.In the UK in 1989 BGO did issue on cd both albums in their UK form and in 1999 Sundazed did but based around their US configurations.
In the case of Evolution the tracks orphaned from the UK release are placed at end of the cd re-issue adding Open Up Your Eyes, Jennifer Eccles and Signs That Will Never Change at the end.
The Sundazed cd in STEREO SC 6122 does sound very good being mastered by Bob Irwin at Sony Music from the UK tapes.

In November 1967 the follow up album Butterfly was issued which in my opinion is a more cohesive set of tracks seeing the band sing about Astral Plains and seeing all the colours of the rainbow in Try It, invoking child like wonder on Pegasus and chord changes on Dear Eloise.
For all of that it's still a beat album by the Hollies although with the benefit of hindsight Elevation Observations amongst others sounds like a Crosby Stills and Nash song before they all hooked up.

The North American version was re-titled as Dear Eloise/King Midas In Reverse featuring these two US Singles cut to 11 tracks adding Leave Me from the UK Evolution album.
Thankfully when Sundazed re-issued it on cd as SC 6123 they reinstated the UK sequence adding the US only tracks immediately afterward and well as Do The Best You Can in stereo.
BGO issued it briefly on cd as CD BGO 79 and it's a close call between the two for sound (I just about prefer the Sundazed).
King Midas is the US mired in reverb squashed stereo where is the orchestration? version: The best sounding stereo one is on the 1991 Epic Anthology.