Rewind...

We're back although I haven't got around to posting the first entry of the week elsewhere simply because my fingers and wrists were off for a couple of days and I needed to rest them.

While resting them thoughts went back to past years and the messy year that was 1984 that including great things such as the Los Angeles Olympics, the '84 Superbowl but a while set of issues with poor communications with people I needed to help me not talking to each other.

It was very much the year of the Walkman as it lived in my coatpockets with stash of tapes and my Pioneer Radio cassette recorder that I listened to radio to on and made recordings as I tended only to play records as special events so hardly surprising many of my lps and singles from them are in great shape.

Billy Idols Rebel Yell and the Footloose soundtrack were played a lot but one favourite was the cassette version of Rewind, a compilation tracks from the 1970's and early 80's by the Rolling Stones taking in many but all their UK singles in a generous 50 odd minute form split over two sides.

For good measure it was a XDR tm issue which meant better tape duplication, higher quality tape used to make it and dolby hx pro for better high notes.

Come the compact disc, that album was not issued until 1987 and then in a different form in the UK and Europe but actually in February 1985 it was issued in Japan briefly and recently a copy arrived here in mint condition.

Most Emi-Toshibi cds in Japan had this right pointing Black Triangle label design.

The rear had titles and track number in Japanese but the folded up booklet has the detail in Japanese and English which does help and some black and white pictures.

The album was related to a video - the first - commercially to show the promotional videos made for the singles you could buy and play on your Betamax or VHS recorder.

Playing this "vintage" cd with the running order of the tape I had certainly brought back a lot of memories.

The Stones at the El Mocambo

 This week we are going back in time with a two cd set that came out on April 29 this year.

Live At The El Mocambo marks the first official appearance of the group's two famous secret concerts at the 300-capacity Toronto club in March 1977. 

This double cd set features their full set from the March 5 show, plus three bonus tracks from the March 4 gig, all of which have been newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain. 

Although all of performances were available at the time, only four found their way onto the Love You Live album that followed in September 1977, that I bought at the time which was dominated by tracks captured on the band's 1975 and '76 tours in Paris, with the full set having never been heard before. 

As the Stones took residency that year punk and disco were both rearing into full view, supposedly ready to see off a band who had already been at the top of their game for 15 years. Over two nights, in an intimate space in one of their favourite cities, they showed they still had it.

For reasons best known to themselves over recent years their artwork on new projects has been somewhat uninspired and this is a good example with just the Tongue logo and title where a band photo on stage would of been more eye catching.

The card sleeve has pockets for the discs which are not in protective sleeves to avoid damage scratches so I had to line them myself.

The set includes songs from Black And Blue, their then current album such as Crazy Mama and Fool To Cry coupled with songs from It's Only Rock And Roll, the previous album of 1974 followed by a mixture of classic 60's and  early 70's sings plus blues covers such as Mannish Boy.

For me the smaller setting helped take the Stones' back to their roots leading to their inspired Some Girls album which mixed the energy of punk and interest in disco sounds while still being true to themselves showing they were still relevant.

It's good to have this set of live recordings out.

The Spirit of the Radio

 

For reasons I have from time to time spoke on on here and on the other blog, my life has tended to be punctuated with periods of hospital visits and much time spent in bed being a sickly child and these days adult but pretty much child.

I have a lot of memories I'd sooner of never experienced being either in the school sick bay frequently, off from school being at home or outside of term time being at home in bed being sick, often literally with a bucket beside me with just the odd visit from Mom for company.

So for me, the radio and the presenters were company with it put on quiet often during the day as I'd lie there praying it would all stop.

Often it would tuned to station had 'oldies' hours, dedicated 'gold' stations were a bit late in taking off so I'd hear songs from the last decade and a half typically from about 1956 to 1969 with snippets about the events of say one year and it's hits.

That concept sometimes get taken with commercial compilations like the EMI The Greatest Hits of 19xx series with the years hits and background notes of facts and figures about the year.

Thus while I grew up with first hand memories of music from the tail end of 1969 and into 1970, I heard and developed a liking for that which had gone before especially the pre-Beatles era with the likes of Bobby Vee, Del Shannon, Peter, Paul and Mary and Cliff Richard.

It was announced this Sunday Don Everly of the Everly Brothers had died aged 84 following on from Phil Everly in 2014.

The Everly's music was a mixture of Country, Appalachian Folk music and a hint of rock and roll spirit which was massive in the late 1950's until the Mid 1960's where the British Invasion lead rock sounds made everything before seem out of date even though they did record with England's The Hollies the "Two Yanks in England" album .

Songs like Cathy's Clown, All I Have To Do Is Dream and Ebony Eyes have an otherworldly feel to them that you seldom got from other artists while Wake Up Little Suzie and The Price of Love were more up beat even if some radio stations banned the former.

These songs were amongst those I learned and loved during that time having a small collection of recordings that cover the hits.

One thing that no one expected to be announced Tuesday was the death of Charlie Watts, the drummer of the Rolling Stones as many us had felt it was going to be Keith Richard who would go first given his issues with addictions in the past.

Charlie, pictured on the far right of this picture at the drum stool was the straight forward family man who had studied Art at Harrow College and got a job as a Graphic Designer before playing drums in Jazz band and encountering Brian Jones who was the founder of the Rolling Stones and Bill Wyman and walked out with a job of group drummer.

Unlike them, the rock and roll lifestyle wasn't for him preferring to spend time with his family, breeding Arabian horses, collecting classic cars and the like outside of recording and touring.

His drumming wasn't flash but it provided the beating heart of their music, more than capable of keeping up with their style as the group mixed in country and funk elements in the seventies and with clear indications of his jazz influenced technique.

Their early hits were played by my older brother and again on the radio so by the time I'd moved on from my likes of the early seventies to explore more 'mature' music their albums and the odd single were things I bought for myself.

The common denominator in all of this was The Spirit of the Radio to borrow a phrase from Rush because they all were a part of the soundtrack of my life and of no doubt of many others too which is why I already miss them so much. 

She said "Yeah"

One of the things I want to do this year is finally complete a few of my music collections and in particular chunks of my record collection that got cut down with no real plan during the late 1980's and 90's when I was replacing stuff by cd.

 

Specifically my Rolling Stones lp collection remains all over the place with the odd legacy disc remaining and odd titles picked up off and on in the mean time even though I started the collection in the late 1970's.

 
One reason for attempt a restocking is the UK albums aren't all available on cd form today because Abkco, who have the rights for the 1960's recordings, prefers to keep the first two UK albums off the market and equally the two UK compilations High Tide  and Green Grass and Thru The Past Darkly that contain many tracks not issued on studio album but scattered without any real reason across several US discs was not issued (They issued the inferior US versions instead!).

 
It may come as shock to some but unlike the Beatles where I infamously love my Canadian/American discs, the Stones are the one act I really prefer to hear via their UK albums because as sequences of songs they make more sense rather than adding odd singles and heaven forbid faded in and out live tracks mid flow just because London Records wanted new product that season! 

 
Currently many of their albums can bought new on lp sourced from the transfers done in 2002 for the SACD/CD issued released back then (I use the word 'transfers' because what happens after the track is transferred at a a very high digital resolution is the mastering and their is evidence that some alterations (noise "hiss" reduction and narrowing the stereo image) were made from the when the promotional cd was issued and the SACD's were issued and these difference won't necessarily be on the vinyl as that was mastered separately.)

 
In December 2010 Universal/Decca issued a lp box set of the UK albums complete with digitally sourced versions of these two compilations, two studio EP's and the 1975 outtakes album Metamorphosis.

 
Postscript: In 2013 Clear vinyl editions were issued of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and the US compilation Hit Rocks.

My collection so far: 

 
The Rolling Stones. UK Decca 1981 issue in mono which begins with Route 66 unlike the American near identical issue England's Newest Hit Makers that has Not Fade Away as the lead off track.(Not available new separately on lp and out of print on cd)

The Rolling Stones No.2 UK Decca mid 70's mono reissue which has the long version (5 minutes) of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love and the guitar intro Time Is On My side which isn't on the US album. (Not available new separately on lp and only issued on cd in Japan that issue of which is out of print).

Out Of Out Heads. 2003 Abkco reissue of UK version in mono. Much much better than the US album of the same name this version starting off with She Said Yeah.

 
I bought this re-issue because from the 1970's onwards the original Decca lp of this title I had was in a ghastly form of fake stereo and with some you can hear the tape riding unevenly between the channels that prevents you from putting it back into mono! 

 

This lp does sound extremely good and probably is the best way to get this title as the original mono Decca lps from the 60's are very expensive used and no doubt would of been played on cheap equipment back then which can wear out the grooves.

Aftermath Decca 1982 silver label edition  XZAL7209 8x/XZAL 7210 11x stampers

 
A landmark Stones album from April 1966 featuring Mother's Little Helper, Lady Jane, Under my Thumb and Out of Time, everybody needs to hear it.I was missing a copy of the UK version on vinyl.

 

This copy was pressed by PolyGram and used a more recent set of stampers whose groove did go further to the label area than previous copies that allowed for a marginally higher cutting level and a bit more bass on what is a very long playing album running for some fifty two minutes.

It has wider stereo separation and notably more opened sound than later "digitally re-mastered" editions so why they had the advantage of DMM cutting which helps fit more music in with better sound actually this is the best vinyl edition.

High Tide and Green Grass Decca UK 1981 copy. My lp is in EX= condition but the lp jacket has worn corners and a missing 1/2 inch black bit from the front cover so I bought a new copy I can re-home the original lp in.

 
Issued in late 1966 this is a must on vinyl because singles were not issued on lps in the UK and the Stones albums over here are no different not that tracks like Satisfaction didn't change the world either.

 
On later pressings Paint It, Black, It's All Over Now, Heart Of Stone (From Out Of Our Heads) and Time Is On My Side (Guitar intro) appear for the first time in stereo.

Between The Buttons. 1981 Decca re-issue.  6W
Musically a continuation in many ways of Aftermath with a touching cartoon on the rear cover by Charlie Watts.

 

My copy is the 1981 UK lp which is better than the 2003 Abkco lp re-issue. This is very quiet and unlike the sacd/cd version has a wide stereo image and no noise reduction artifacts that plagued that issue. 

Their Satanic Majesties Request 2003 Abkco re-issue.
Cruelly described by many as a second rate answer to the Beatles Sgt Pepper album, while you have to ignore all albums before or since being very much of it's time, it does have some great moments such as the Bill Wyman composition In Another Land and the dance number Sing This All Together (see what happens) utilizing West African rhythms and 2000 Man covered to great effect by Kiss on their Dynasty album

 
The main single was She's A Rainbow c/w 2000 Miles From Home which remain my favourites from this album.When originally issued on December 6th 1967 it came out in a 3D cover and green label in the UK and that was the one I had until the mid 80's when I let it go naively believing at the time they were all like that. 

 

So sad you could cry into your wineglass when you see just how much they go for now!

 
The reissue is very good - dead quiet with a very full sound and She's A Rainbow just leap out from beyond the loudspeakers at you - and although I miss the cover this version sonically more than makes up for it.

Beggars Banquet. 2003 Abkco re-issue
I originally bought this on lp in August of 1978 but have only just (1/10/11) got a replacement.It's the home to Stray Cat Blues, Street Fighting Man and Sympathy For The Devil seeing the Stones going back to their roots and even venturing into folk and country not unlike Bob Dylan in the same era.

 
I bought the digitally sourced 2003 version because oddly enough it was found all previous lp and cd's issued of this album run slow due to a tape speed error back then which this new version corrects and generally improves on the thin sounding original.

Thru' The Past, Darkly. Late 70's UK Decca.Rounds up all the UK singles up to and including Honky Tonk Woman and adds dedication to Brian Jones who had died near the time of release.It also has You Better Move On from the Rolling Stones EP

Let It Bleed 2003 Abkco re-issue
I first bought my copy in December 1979 from Edinburgh, Scotland but was without a copy on lp since the late 80's. This re-issue of the original 1969 album is very good with you feeling Charlie's drums coming in on Love In Vain, the bass is that low and is very quiet. 

 

This album sees the Stones exploring country, folk and produce their take on writing a blues murder ballad, Midnight Rambler which I feel runs for a little to long but, hey that's just me.

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out 2003 Abkco.
The December 1969 Madison Square Gardens concerts and the last album that had to be issued contractually between the Stones and Decca in 1970, it remains a classic live album even if there are a number of tracks where stuff was re-recorded and mixed to the original concert reel.This edition was loads of phat bass!

Stone Age UK Decca 1971.
"Cash in" shouted the Stones publicly but much of this album had not been issued on lp form previously comprising of ep tracks, tracks only issued on US albums and the odd 45 only track which makes it worth owning in the context of a lp based collection although it's all out there on cd currently.

Gimme Shelter 1971 UK Decca.
I bought this new in December 1979.A compilation of sorts the first side plunders Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed for songs featured in the Gimme Shelter movie documentary but the second side is a gem continuing six of the 12 'live' tracks issued in 1966 on the US London lp Got Live If You Want It!. 

 

In reality many of these tracks are studio cuts with overdubbed screams and the venue for those recorded live but extensively re-dubbed was City Hall, Newcastle, England not the Royal Albert Hall, London as claimed. Fun to listen to!!!

Rock n' Rolling Stones 1972 UK Decca

The album front with Jagger surrounded by motorbikes brings up ghosts of Altamont on this cheap and cheerful cover and it would be an easy title to dismiss as yet another cash in other than this release does contain three titles of one remains an exclusive.

 
First off this has the track Bye Bye Johnny from the EP present although in fake stereo form but secondly it does contain the true stereo mixes of Down The Road A Piece and critically Everybody Needs Somebody To Love which some how evaded Teri Landi and the others at Abkco when researching the who Decca era tape vaults in the UK and US and so isn't available in the cd age. 

 

With this I have three of the four stereo mixes issued on the tape version of No.2 as Time Is On My Side was issued on later (post 1969) copies of the UK High Tide and available on Rolled Gold + .

No Stone Unturned 1973 UK Decca
I bought this in 1980 having borrowed it several times from the municipal library.An inspired collection of b sides in addition to odd US album tracks never previously issued in the UK with a classic David Bailey photo cover

Metamorphosis 2003 Abkco 
A collection of demo versions from the early to mid '60s for the most part not used by the group with Mick Jagger singing with session musicians on one side of the album and actual Stones tracks not issued at the time, it's an interesting release first issued in June 1975.

 
I did buy the Decca UK issue back in the day but my original had a warp problem causing skipping and the jacket was a bit mangy so I bought the 2003 re-issue lp recently which I feel does sound better although the tapes still have the messing about with the stereo image (a few tracks are almost mono) and other processing applied by Andrew Oldham in '75 so isn't as much as an improvement as other releases in the series.

Rolled Gold + 2007 Decca/Abkco
I wrote a review in November 2007 of the cd but this was issued in vinyl, not just any vinyl but 180 grams in a four lp format that provides plenty of space to cut the bass and minimizes any tracing distortion at the end of the lp side by making sure there's a good amount of space between the last track and the run out grooves.

 
I was able to get a brand new copy on Sunday cheap and it arrived on 1/12/2011 well wrapped from Laura

.
This I'd have to say is the best sounding vinyl compilation I've ever heard and is pressed on really quiet vinyl.

 
Well worth the money.

Made In The Shade (1975)
A very good 40 minute resumé of the cream of the early 70's Stones tracks from singles like Angie, Brown Sugar and It';s Only Rock and Roll, issued to coincide with the 1975 Tour of the Americas. UK COC 59104 A2/B3 original pressed by Atlantic/WEA near mint copy.

 
Love You Live (1977)
The live album featuring three side from the 1976 Paris concerts where performances apart Mick Jagger's diction is poor and third side from a small 350 seater performance in Toronto where the Stones get back to their roots and is in my opinion the best thing about this double live album. 

 

My copy is the UK one pressed by Atlantic/WEA with the original Andy Warhol inner sleeves to match his album jacket design

 
Some Girls (1978)I had this originally on vinyl with it's banned inner sleeve but lost it in the years then went through two cd versions.

I managed to get an original UK pressed version using the Sterling mastering that sounds great.

 
Emotional Rescue (1980)
This album was one I bought on a UK dolby cassette while on vacation would of been in August that very year having heard a interview with the band broadcast on Liverpool's Radio City fm stereo station where they played tracks from the album.

 
It had two hit UK 45's Emotional Rescue from July and She's So Cold from October that I also bought in picture sleeve UK 45 editions at the time.

 
My brother was a big Stones fan and bought the lp version and always loved how it sounded.
I managed to get the UK first pressing A1/B1 with the Sterling mastering and poster

 
Tattoo You (1981) 
An album made mainly from older sessions tapes with dubbed new playing and vocals it was the album the now famous '81 US tour stood behind featuring the hits Start Me Up, Waiting On A Friend and Neighbours. My copy is a mint UK one with the picture inner although I've put the disc itself in a better inner sleeve.

Rolled Gold and Styx Equinox & Crystal Ball

What comes around goes around, eh?
That was my first thought when I heard of the release of yet another Rolling Stones CD recently.
The original CD's were issued in Europe around 1984/7 and because of licensing issues were replaced by the US mastered (and somewhat inferior sounding) issues in 1995.
Then in 2002 it was announced that the were to re-mastered using new DSD techniques for the Super Audio CD (SACD).
In total 22 discs which included the US versions of the Big Hits and Thru' The Past, Darlkly compilations, Hot Rocks and Hot Rocks 2 Double compilations and the London Years ( All the singles and B sides on three discs).
And that's how everybody thought their Decca era output on CD was going to stay, so why issue this?
This album on LP and Tape was issued in 1975 and proved to be exceptionally popular because in one package it had the main singles and important album tracks, providing a good way into the bands 60's recordings.
In the CD age however this compilation is a surprisingly good choice.
First off, one problem with the US inspired Hot Rocks and Hot Rocks 2 sets is the material is scatted in no particular order across four CD's and in the case of Hot Rocks 2 not even in chronological order. Some of the tracks on Hot Rocks 2 are only really there because the original US LP's such as After-Math missed off tracks from the UK issues that never found their way onto other US 'albums'. That's why 'What To Do' ends up on disc two.
Equally if one was to consider the individual Big Hits and Thru' The Past Darkly discs these use US versions that miss off UK hit singles.
The re-introduction of Rolled Gold solves this problem at a stroke as it features all the UK singles issued from 1963 thru 1969 plus the US singles. It has notable tracks like 'Carol', 'Lady Jane', 'Yesterday's Papers' and 'Gimme Shelter'.
The tracks run in near chronological order so you can sense the musical development of the group from those early R&B sessions to what is the template for much of todays Indie rock.
It is little appreciated outside of Stones fanatics circles but there was a major problem in the last otherwise good re-mastered series.
On 'Ruby Tuesday' somehow they pulled the 'wrong' tapes and got a copy which misses off the multi-tracked vocals and some instrumentation and that is on all the compilations re-issued plus the Flowers album.
This issue puts it right not without some controversy as seemingly they 'cloned' the right version from the older CD! Never mind the sound is quite acceptable although had they used an actual tape it could have made to sound better.
'Time Is On My Side' is the UK version in stereo whilst 'Mothers Little Helper' uses the mono version issued on single in the US.
In a strange move they've added two recordings from 1971, 'Brown Sugar' and 'Wild Horses' to the compilation.
So at long last we have a decent Decca era CD compilation and a low price too. There also is a inexpensive 4 Lp version available from HMV and eil.com in the UK.
Strongly recommended

This came out a year back and I recently picked up a copy used.
It's the 1975 and 1976 Styx albums - the first two for A&M Records - after changing from Wooden Nickel. Featuring Lorelie, Suite Madam Blue and Crystal Ball this twofer remastered by Andrew Thompson at Sound Performance sounds great and can be recommended.
Catalogue number: BGOCD 724