New vinyl releases – Rolling Stones, Kinks, Captain Beefheart

Three new LPs available now from http://www.1960s.london

Side One

1. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Jagger, Richard)       
2. As Tears Go By (Jagger, Richard)       
3. 19th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger, Richard)                 
4. I Am Waiting (Jagger, Richard)           
5. Under My Thumb (Jagger, Richard)                 
6. Paint It, Black (Jagger, Richard)            
7. 19th Nervous Breakdown (Jagger, Richard)                
8. Mercy, Mercy (Covay, Miller)                                       

Side Two

1. Paint It, Black (Jagger, Richard)                                                      
2. Lady Jane (Jagger, Richard)                 
3. Have You Seen You Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?  (Jagger, Richard)               
4. The Last Time (Jagger, Richard)         
5. She Said Yeah (Jackson, Christy) 
6. Play With Fire (Jagger, Richard)          
7. Time Is On My Side (Meade)         
8. I’m Alright  (McDaniel)        
9. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (Jagger, Richard)                

Recording Details

Side One, Tracks 1-3 recorded for The Ed Sullivan Show, New York City, February 13^th

Side One  Tracks 4-6 recorded for UK TV Ready Steady Go, Studio One, Wembley, May 27^th 

Side One, Track 7 recorded for the UK TV ABC The Eamonn Andrews Show, February 6^th

Side One Track 8 and Side Two Tracks 4 – 8 recorded at L’Olympia, Paris for RTL Radio on March 29^th (First Show) and broadcast live on French radio Musicorama (Europe 1)

Side Two Tracks 1-3 recorded for The Ed Sullivan Show, New York City, September 11th

Side Two Track 9 recorded for BBC TV Top Of The Pops 5^th on December 17^th and broadcast on December 22^nd

Sound Quality

The songs recorded for The Ed Sullivan Show and Ready Steady Go! are all Very Good. The tracks recorded for Musicorama, The Eamon Andrews Show and Top Of The Pops are listenable but not of the same high quality as the other material.

Personnel

Mick Jagger – lead vocals

Brian Jones – guitar, sitar, dulcimer, marimba

Keith Richard – guitar, piano, vocals

Bill Wyman – bass

Charlie Watts – drums, percussion

Sleevenotes

“1966: Unholy Rollers On The Road” Roy Carr

By 1966 the songwriting partnership of Jagger / Richard – honed through writing pop songs for other acts – was now producing razor-sharp singles on a regular basis. Bringing these into the live act meant diching most of the cover versions that the band had previously relied upon. The tracks selected for this LP combine the best of the Stones new material with a few older classics.

For television programmes in 1966 the band performed with a pre-recorded backing track. In the UK Top Of The Pops initially required bands to mime to their records. In the summer of 1966, after discussion with the Musicians Union, miming was banned. After some weeks of bands attempting to play their records live with variable results  a compromise was introduced where a specially recorded backing track was produced over which live vocals could be sung. It was not unknown for the original studio backing track to replace the specially-recorded version. In the US the reason for playback – bands performing with a live vocal over to a pre-recorded backing track – was more about delivering a better quality sound and ensuring shows ran to time. But even the use of a pre-recorded backing track could not prevent The Who’s September 1967 appearance on the Smothers Brothers TV show from descending into total anarchy. The honourable exception to playback was Ready Steady Go where by the time of the Stones appearance in May 1966 it was common practice for bands to perform completely live. Radio broadcasts such as the one here from L’Olympia were also performed live, which means the atmosphere provided by a rabid audience adds a lot.

Ed Sullivan introduces the opening performance of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction as for “all the youngsters in the country and Canada” and certainly the youngsters in the audience are entranced, even if Charlie Watts is not. Just Mick and Keith appear for a rare acoustic version of As Tears Go By which can just about be heard over the screams. The full band are back in imperious form for 19^th Nervous Breakdown, Bill Wymans’ dive-bombing bass runs to the fore. Appearing on Ready Steady Go in May the choice of LP-track I Am Waiting was unexpected: it received a sensitive interpretation with Keith on acoustic guitar and Brian on dulcimer, and even a brief glimpse of Sixth Stone Ian Stewart. Under My Thumb returned us to more familiar up-tempo territory with Brian emphasising his versatility by playing the marimba, moving to sitar for Paint It, Black. Talking to Andy Neill director Michael Lindsay-Hoog cites the latter as his favourite Stones RSG appearance. “I’d had this idea that after every verse we’d take out a bank of lights in the studio and by the end, it would just be a light on Mick alone and the rest of the place in darkness. What also makes it great is that you can’t hear Mick singing at the fade, his mike lead had gotten kicked out, but you can hear the music going on and this kind of raga beat. The whole thing is really mysterious…” . A second version of 19^th Nervous Breakdown was preceded on The Eamon Andrews Show by an excruciating discussion with Jagger as to lyrical meaning and social comment.

The Stones second 1966 appearance on Ed Sullivan produces even more screams. Paint It, Black again features Brian Jones playing a sitar cross-legged, and despite a truly appalling haircut Jagger is in fine form vocally. Lady Jane provides an acoustic interlude, Brian on dulcimer and chalk-stripe suit. Charlie stands up to play vibes, or possibly tries to hide an ill-advised moustache. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Hiding In The Shadow? restores the Stones raunch. Keith pretends to play piano and provides his characteristic backup vocals. Paris was always a Stones stronghold as shown by the four tracks from a March appearance at L’Olympia. Mercy, Mercy is a mid-paced stroll through the Don Covay classic that allows Jagger to deploy his falsetto. The Last Time is greeted by extensive screams, whilst She Said Yeah is brief but effective with call and response vocals. The more reflective Play With Fire is a brave choice under the circumstances, Jagger’s testifying on Time Is On My Side fares better with a by-now totally bonkers crowd really letting loose on Crawdaddy-era rabble rouser I’m Alright. Finally a further rendition of Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Hiding In The Shadow? taken from BBC TV brings the year to a close.

1966 was a highly productive year for the Stones who released four brilliant singles and the chart-topping LP Aftermath, with every song credited to Jagger/Richards. Live concerts were rapturously received over several continents. And Mick bought Keith a large motor lawn mower from Selfridges. Only England’s soccer team could claim to have had a better 1966…but the Stones had better songs than World Cup Willie!

Sleevenotes: Chyna Lyte

Side One

1.Top Of The Pops
2.You’re Looking Fine
3. Muswell Hillbilly
4. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues
5. Holiday (Take 2)
6. Alcohol (Take 1)
7. Brainwashed

Side Two

1.Lola (with false start)
2. Mr Wonderful
3. Skin And Bone (Take 4)
4.You Really Got Me /   

5. All Day And All Of The Night

6. Alcohol (Take 2)
7. Skin And Bone (Take 1)
8. Holiday (Take 1)

All sings written by Raymond Douglas Davies except Side Two, Track Two written by Jerry Bock, George David Weiss and Larry Holofcener

Recording details

Recorded live on April 12^th 1972 for German TV ARD-1 Beat Club, Bremenandbroadcast on May 27^th

Personnel

Ray Davies – lead vocals, guitar

Dave Davies – lead guitar, vocals

Mick Avory – drums

John Dalton – bass, vocals

John Gosling – keyboards

Mike Cotton – trumpet

John Beecham – trombone

Alan Holmes – saxophone, clarinet

Sleevenotes

After their amazing run of mid-sixties hit singles the Kinks became becalmed commercially, if not artistically. The June 1970 release of the single Lola put the Kinks firmly back in the international spotlight, reaching number 2 in the UK and number 9 in the US. The Lola album contained our opening number, the tribute/satire Top Of The Pops. Visually the band may have changed – satin jackets, beards, long hair, garish flares) – but Ray Davies had retained his acerbic wit.  Here was a band that had been shafted repeatedly by the music industry and was prepared to make a concept album about it. The fine rocker You’re Looking Fine first appeared on the Face To Face LP in 1966 where it was sung by “Dave (Death Of A Clown) Davies”, as he is introduced here by his brother. The source of the next four songs is Muswell Hillbillies (August 1971), the first LP recorded for RCA. Muswell Hillbilly itself demonstrates Ray’s affinity for country music in general and Johnny Cash in particular. Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues features the Mike Cotton Sound, three brass-playing musicians who became an increasingly significant part of the Kinks live sound, more Acker Bilk than Memphis Horns. A delicate piano introduction from John “The Baptist” Goslingintroduces Holiday. Onstage Alcohol would develop into a protracted sermon on the dangers of booze, delivered by a frequently-inebriated Ray Davies: this version is relatively compact and accompanied by the band necking bottles of German lager. Brainwashed is an engaging diatribe from the Arthur LP (1969). Here the brass section really works, reinforcing Dave’s guitar riff and driving the song along.

The first hit single to explicitly mention a transgender encounter, Lola starts gently with Ray singing softly, omitting the crashing opening chords of the recorded version. The band enters for the first verse, lead by the piano of John Gosling with Ray and Dave harmonising throughout. The fragment of Mr.Wonderful that follows is a taste of what was to come, particularly in the US, where  Ray and his live audience would engage in lengthy mutual adoration. Skin And Bone is the last track from Muswell Hillbilly, here in a cool rockabilly arrangement driven by Gosling’s piano and Dave’s guitar. A rousing medley of You Really Got Me and All Day Of The Night highlights the band’s way with a guitar riff, ably supported by Gosling’s organ and strong backing vocals from Dave Davies and John Dalton. Recording without an audience gives this session a loose nature allowing us to present multiple takes of Holiday, Alcohol and Skin And Bone so that you can pick your favourite. Ray opines that the first take of Alcohol was the best – do you agree?

What happened next was that Ray turned his attention towards America. A ban by the American Federation of Musicians for “unprofessional conduct” meant that Kinks were unable to tour the US after 1965.  When the ban was lifted in 1970 the band were keen to make up for lost time. Their next LP Everybody’s In Show-Biz…would besteeped in American references. Eventually Ray would move to the US and achieve the commercial success he had always craved. But in 1972 the Kinks still retained much of the approach that made them the most distinctive and uncompromising British pop group to emerge from the slipstream of the Beatles. It would not last much longer, so treasure what we have here.

“The Kinks stood aside, watching with sardonic amusement, the pop world chasing its own tail – and they turned out some of the most quirky, intelligent, grown-up and totally personal records in the history of British pop. Their trouble (or perhaps their strength would be more accurate) was their non-conformism, their refusal to join the club. They were, and are, hugely underrated in consequence. “ George Melly, Revolt Into Style (1970)

Sleevenotes: Mr. Pleasant

Side One

1. Yellow Brick Road (Bermann, Van Vliet)
2. Abba Zabba (Van Vliet)
3. Sure ‘Nuff ‘N Yes I Do (Bermann, Van Vliet)
4. Electricity (Bermann, Van Vliet)
5. Beatle Bones ‘n’ Smokin’ Stones (Van Vliet)
6. Safe As Milk (Van Vliet)
7. Kandy Korn (Van Vliet)

Side Two

1. Trust Us (Van Vliet)
2. Steal Softly Thru Snow (Van Vliet)
3.  Click Clack  (Van Vliet)
4. Golden Birdies (Van Vliet)
5. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby (Van Vliet)

Recording Details

Side One, Tracks 1-4 recorded for BBC Top Gear on 24^th January 1968 , broadcast February 4^th

Side One, Tracks 5-7 and Side Two Track 1 recorded for BBC Top Gear on 6^th May 1968 , broadcast May 12^th

Side Two, Tracks 2-5 recorded for Beat Club, Radio Bremen on May 12^th 1972, broadcast on German television channel ARD

Sound Quality

On Side Two Tracks 2-5 are of very good sound quality. The remaining tracks are recorded off air but are still thoroughly listenable.

Personnel

Captain Beefheart  – vocals, harmonica, saxophone

Side One Tracks 1 – 7, Side Two Track 1

John French  – drums

Alex St.Clair  – lead guitar

Jerry Handley – bass

Jeff Cotton – guitar

Side Two, Tracks 2 – 5

Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo) – guitar

Mark Boston (Rockette Morton) – guitar

Eliiot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling) – guitar

Roy Estrada (Orejon) – bass

Arthur Tripp III (Ed Marimba) – drums and percussion

Sleevenotes

Born Don Glen Vliet, Captain Beefheart was one of the key performers to emerge from the late 1960s underground scene. He was cited as a key influence by artists as varied as Paul McCartney, John Lennon, John Lydon, Howard Devoto, Joe Strummer, Devo and Pere Ubu. Particular praise has been heaped on the 1969 double LP Trout Mask Replica, described by his friend the writer Lester Bangs as “four sides of discordant yet juicy swampbrine jambalaya roogalator.” Writing for The Village Voice in 1980, Bangs offered this description of Beefheart’s importance. “There are some of us who think he is one of the giants of 20th-century music, certainly of the postwar era. He sings in seven and a half octaves, and his style has been compared to Howlin’ Wolf and several species of primordial beasts. His music, which he composes for ensemble and then literally teaches his bands how to play, is often atonal but always swings in a way that little rock ever has. I hear Delta blues, free jazz, field hollers, rock’n’roll and lately something new that I can’t put my finger on but relates somehow to what they call ‘serious’ music.”

One of Captain Beefheart’s earliest supporters was John Peel. Peel had first heard the band whilst working as a DJ for Radio KMEN in California in 1966. Beefheart’s record company subsequently invited him to see The Magic Band supporting Them at The Whisky A Go Go on Sunset Strip. Back in the UK Peel was keen to feature them on his BBC radio show, which he did – twice – in 1968. In his book In Session Tonight, Ken Garner relates that “Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band were in the UK on tour and Peel was keen to get them in. Unfortunately, as Americans, they fell foul of the then Ministry of Labour rules on work permits. In support of the Musicians Union, the Ministry stipulated that only musicians offered reciprocal bookings for British acts could play at the BBC. As American radio didn’t do live sessions, no American bands could be recorded in the UK. Solo artists could be booked, if backed by British musicians. But Beefheart had an all-American band. Peel producer Bernie Andrews persuaded the Ministry that, as the name suggests, this was a touring band of magicians. They got permission, as a ‘Variety’ act.”

Four selections from Safe As Milk still sound extraordinary today. Yellow Brick Road is relatively melodic, built around the refrain “keep on walking and don’t look back” with the Captain on harmonica. A slow and deliberate Bo Diddley beat underpins Abba Zabba which also includes a bass solo. DuringSure ‘Nuff ‘n’ Yes I DoDave Tate, the engineer, remembers having to suspend a mike over Beefheart, who insisted on singing lying on his back. Bernie Andrews remembers Beefheart being entranced by the sound made by the control cubicle light switch. ‘Oh isn’t that great’, he said, switching the fluorescents on and off for three or four minutes.” Fittingly the final track from the session isElectricity.

The second Peel session was to promote the Strictly Personal LP. Beatle Bones ‘n’ Smoking Stones features an idiosyncratic Beefheart vocal, apparently critical of the Beatles “Strawberry Feels Forever”. Safe As Milk was not included on the LP of the same name but has a more orthodox melody and rhythm. Beefheart’s hymn to Kandy Korn concludes with some intricate guitar interplay. Finally Trust Us is built around a hypnotic riff which the band and Beefheart keep returning to over its considerable length.

It was a very different Magic Band that recorded four tracks for the Beat Club TV programme four years later. An all new line-up was rendered anonymous by the extravagant stage names that Beefheart had bestowed. Steal Softly Thru Snow is an instrumental that emphasises the dexterity of the rhythm section and some frantic Beefheart blowing. The Captain switches to harmonica on Click Clack, sounding like something Ry Cooder might have contributed to Performance.A brief Golden Birdies features a Beefheart spoken word vocal. Finally I’m Gonna Booglarize You allows the three guitarists to stretch out, providing a suitably angular backdrop for some Beefheart vocal improvisation. NME journalist Nick Kent witnessed this line up play Brighton Dome in March 1972 and was suitably gobsmacked. “As soon as the first  notes were struck, time stood still. Music like this had never been heard before – or since. There was a genuinely superhuman power coming out of the PA system. None of us could believe we were hearing music this visceral and dementedly alive. You could practically see the electricity coursing through their instruments and taste the phlegm bubbling in Beefheart’s larynx. He wasn’t kidding when he called them the Magic Band.”

Sleevenotes: Debra Kadabra