Available now from http://www.1960s.london
(Ronnie’s Last Stand)
The Faces Live at Edmonton Sundown June 4th 1973
Tracklisting
Side One
- Cindy Incidentally (Stewart, Wood, McLagan)
- Angel (Hendrix)
- True Blue (Stewart, Wood)
- I’d Rather Go Blind (Foster, Jordan)
- Borstal Boys (McLagan, Wood, Stewart)
Side Two
- Jealous Guy (Lennon)
- You Wear It Well (Stewart, Quittenton) /
- Maggie May (Stewart, Quittenton)
- Twistin’ The Night Away (Cooke)
- Memphis, Tennessee (Berry)
- We’ll Meet Again (Parker, Charles)
Personnel
Rod Stewart – vocals
Ronnie Wood – guitar, vocals
Ronnie Lane – bass, vocals
Ian McLagan – keyboards
Kenney Jones – drums
Recording Details
All tracks recorded live at the Edmonton Sundown on June 4th 1973 and broadcast as the Mike Mansfield Television special Ooh La La
Recording Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleevenotes
With the March 1973 release of studio album number four Ooh La La The Faces were at the height of their popularity and the LP went straight to number one in the UK charts. However the even greater solo success of singer Rod Stewart had caused tensions within the band. Speaking to Melody Maker Stewart ill-advisedly criticised the new LP as “a bloody mess…a disgrace”. Keyboards player Ian McLagan responded that “he could have contributed more to it but he didn’t so he had even less of a reason to criticise.” Bass player Ronne Lane was feeling disillusioned with the music industry in general and with Rod Stewart in particular. and decided that he would leave the band he had co-founded. The May 19th edition of Sounds magazine announced that The Faces were to headline three gigs at the 3,500 capacity Edmonton Sundown in North London on June 1st, 3rd and 4th. When, the following week, the same magazine announced that “Plonk Quits Faces” and that these gigs would be his last, demand went through the roof with fans queuing for over seven hours for tickets.
The Faces manager Billy Gaff was keen to commemorate Lane’s final appearance and commissioned director/producer Mike Mansfield to film the last night. A lavish set featured lush potted palms and a silver candlestick on Mac’s Steinway piano. Kenny Jones’ drums were white, black and pink striped, like liquorice allsorts. The band were preceded by a troupe of twelve can-can girls, prancing and cartwheeling in a very non-PC way. Crowd shots show the Faces faithful fans at their most fervent – as many girls as boys, tartan scarves everywhere and a few home-made “Farewell Ronnie We Love You” signs.
A perusal of the setlist shows a further source of unease: six songs are from Rod Stewart’s solo albums whilst a mere three were recorded as The Faces. Mansfield omits the first numbers – possibly Miss Judy’s Farm and Silicone Grown – and we join the band for Cindy Incidentally. The song is based on a McLagan piano riff (“Memphis played backwards”) and reached number two when released as a Faces single. Stewart is looking restrained in a sparkly vest and white satin strides, Lane is wearing a green three-piece tonic suit whilst guitarist Ronnie Wood favours an extraordinary, toreador-inspired two piece. Even the roadies are formally dressed and appropriately look like old-school bar tenders. Scarves are held aloft for Angel, the Hendrix ballad that Stewart had made his own but here sung extensively by the audience. Whilst True Blue had appeared on Stewart’s solo album Never A Dull Moment (1972) it was a Wood/Stewart composition and the studio backing had been provided by The Faces. The song fits into the Faces live set beautifully and its presence would have improved Ooh La La, fuelling the suspicion that Stewart was keeping the best material for his solo career. Lane, Wood and Stewart all harmonise around a single microphone and Wood blasts off on his trademark black and silver Tony Zemaitis guitar as the tempo of the song picks up. I’d Rather Go Blind had been associated with Etta James and Chicken Shack: here it is a tour de force for Stewart’s vocal prowess and a tasteful Ronnie Wood coda, underpinned by McLagan’s organ. The opening riff to Borstal Boys gets a great crowd response with Kenney Jones driving the song and Stewart opting for a lie-down halfway through. Mac honky-tonks, Ronnie Wood plays a short slide guitar solo that distils what he used to do every night on Plynth and Rod does his impersonation of a drum majorette using his special lightweight mic stand.
Side Two opens with a version of John Lennon’s Jealous Guy, based on Donny Hathaway’s live arrangement: inexplicably it was never included on a Faces studio LP. During a medley of You Wear It Well and Maggie May Rod gives up singing the opening lines and lets the crowd do it for him. All night Ronnie Lane had been pacing the stage playing his melodic bass lines and singing the occasional backing vocal but very much keeping himself to himself. Now Stewart addresses him as “Old Pal” and asks “Shall we do Twistin’ The Night Away before they close?”. To which Ronnie looks at his watch and says ruefully “Too late. They closed”. Twistin’ The Night Away makes for a thunderous set-closer, with Kenny’s rat-a-tat drums and the crowd going nuts whilst the band are deluged in confetti. For an encore Rod asks the audience to chose between Memphis and Losing You. He adjudges that Memphis has the greater vocal support. Introduced by McLagan’s barrelhouse piano, the song builds in momentum as it speeds up. Finally the band gather at the front of the stage with their arms around each other for a slightly ironic rendition of We’ll Meet Again
“That last night at Edmonton was absolutely fucking fantastic. I was up in the balcony and it was moving. I was shitting meself because I thought it was all going to collapse. Ronnie left there that night and he came with me in the motor and we went to Tramp. He sees Marc Bolan, goes up to him and says, ‘You haven’t got a job for an out of work bass player, have ya?’”. Stan Lane, from Had Me A Real Good Time (Andy Neil)
Sleevenotes: Mathias Rosey
Broadcasts 1996 – 67
The Small Faces
Tracklisting
Side One
- Hey Girl (Marriott, Lane)
- All Or Nothing (Marriott, Lane)
- What’cha Gonna Do About It (Potter, Samwell)
- Sha-La-La-La-Lee (Lynch, Shulman)
- You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson)
- All Or Nothing (Marriott, Lane)
- Sha-La-La-La-Lee (Lynch, Shulman)
- I Can’t Make It (Marriott, Lane)
- All Or Nothing (Marriott, Lane)
Side Two
- Sha-La-La-La-Lee (Lynch, Shulman)
- What’cha Gonna Do About It (Potter, Samwell)
- Comin’ Home Baby (Dorough, Tucker)
- You Need Loving (Marriott, Lane)
- Shake (Cooke)
- You Really Got A Hold On Me (Robinson)
- Plum Nellie (Booker T & The M.G.’s) /
- You Need Loving (Marriott, Lane) /
- Baby Please Don’t Go (Williams)
Recording Details
Side One
Tracks 1 – 4 recorded at the Offenbach Stadhalle for HT TV Beat Beat Beat on September 28th 1966
Track 5 recorded for the BBC The Joe Loss Radio Show on March 11th 1966
and transmitted live
Track 6 recorded for BBC Top Of The Pops ’66 Part 2 on December 14th 1966, transmitted on December 27th
Track 7 recorded for BBC TV Top Of The Pops ’66 Part 1 on December 13th 1966, transmitted on December 26th
Tracks 8 & 9 recorded for Associated TV The Morecambe & Wise Show at Elstree Studio Centre, Hertfordshire on April 18th 1967 and broadcast on October 22nd.
Side Two
Tracks 1- 4 recorded for the BBC The Joe Loss Radio Show on January 14th 1966 and transmitted live
Track 5 recorded for the BBC The Joe Loss Radio Show on March 11th 1966
and transmitted live
Track 6 recorded for BBC Saturday Club on March 14th and transmitted on March 19th
Tracks 7 – 9 recorded at The Marquee, London by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBCTV) on March 22nd 1966
Personnel
Steve Marriott – Guitar, vocals
Ronnie Lane – Bass, vocals
Ian McLagan – Keyboards, vocals
Kenney Jones – Drums
Recording Quality
Very good throughout
Sleevenotes
“In many ways the Small Faces have been the group that sums up all groups: they have that classic group gift for self-delusion. They’ve thought themselves artists when they’ve only been loons, they’ve talked endlessly about getting themselves together and making masterpieces, but somehow they wound up in the discotheques instead. Finally none of the crap mattered: they’ve meant fun and they’ve lasted. Little and fierce and pantomime, they’ve come to be one of my most favourite acts.”
Nik Cohn (1970) WopBopaLooBopLopBamBoom
Was there ever a better pop group than the Small Faces? Brilliant songwriting, great musicianship, innovative recordings, fashionable gear, on-stage dynamism – they had it all, as this compilation shows.
The opening four tracks on Side One come from an early German TV appearance, filmed in front of a youthful, clean-cut crowd of dancers. Hey Girl was the first successful single to be written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. Marriott is in perpetual motion whilst the gruff backing vocals are shared between a dapper Lane and Ian McLagan. All Or Nothing was the band’s only number one single, displacing the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. The alternating quiet and loud passages showed a new sophistication and showcased the controlled power in Marriott’s lead vocal. Debut single What’cha Gonna Do About is delivered with a punky intensity: no surprise that the song featured at early Sex Pistols gigs. Sha-La-La-La-Lee benefits from a live performance with Marriott yelling “One more!” to rally the troops. The impact that the Small Faces had in 1966 was illustrated by the BBC asking them to play both Sha-La-La-La-Lee and All Or Nothing on their summary of the year’s top hits. Top Of The Pops ’66 aired on BBC TV over successive nights at the end of December, one song per night.
The Morecambe & Wise Show was primetime UK Saturday night television in 1967, so a guest spot was great exposure. After a tortuous introduction from Eric Morecambe the band play I Can’t Make It. The hair is longer, there are cravats and extended shirt collars. The version of All Or Nothing highlights Kenney’s explosive drumming, he now has Small Faces writ large on his bass drum. There is even a little bow from Steve and Ronnie at the end.
The Joe Loss Radio Show is a rich source of live recordings from 1966. A typical session would start with a rehearsal at 10:00, with the session itself transmitted live between 13:00 and 14:00. The session from January featured perennials Sha-La-La-La-Lee and What’cha Gonna Do About It. More unusual was the band’s version of Comin’ Home Baby. Originally a hit for Mel Torme, the song was originally a jazz instrumental written by bassist Ben Tucker of The Dave Bailey Quintet. Ben subsequently persuaded his friend Bob Dorough to write a lyric but the Small Faces’ version is performed as a lively instrumental. The final song is Willie Dixon’s You Need Love, later to be retitled You Need Loving on the Small Faces debut LP and given a cheeky Marriott/Lane writing credit. The final “woman…you need…love” vocal may sound familiar to Led Zeppelin, who were equally cavalier with songwriting credits.
The band were back in the Joe Loss radio studio in March to record a further two tracks, both covers of American r’n’b artists: the band grew up listening to Stax and Motown and it shows. This recording of Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got A Hold On Me was inexplicably omitted from the official BBC Sessions release. Taking the song at a slower pace than the Miracles original allows Marriott to testify. For Sam Cooke’s Shake McLagan’s organ is to the fore, interspersed with Kenney Jones’ drum breaks. At the same session a further version of You Really Got A Hold On Me was recorded and transmitted live.
Also in March the Small Faces made their debut at the legendary London club The Marquee, at its original location in the basement of the Academy Cinema on Oxford Street. Part of their performance was filmed for a Canadian TV documentary. After a brief snippet of Booker T & The M.G.’s instrumental Plum Nellie the bandpower through You Need Loving. Big Joe Williams’ Baby Please Don’t Go was best known from the version recorded by Them. Here Marriott cuts loose on lead guitar, ably supported by McLagan’s organ and the peerless Lane/Jones rhythm section.
“The best mod-rockers? Maybe. The Small Faces somehow made all their originality safe underneath perfect pop singles.” Brian Hogg, Bam Balam magazine (1977)
Sleevenotes: Rolan Over
Live at Fillmore East
The Beach Boys
Tracklisting
Side One
- Heroes And Villains (B Wilson, Parks)
- Do It Again (B Wilson, Love)
- Cotton Fields (Ledbetter)
- Help Me, Rhonda (B Wilson, Love)
- Wouldn’t It Be Nice? (B Wilson, Love, Asher)
- Your Song (John, Taupin)
Side Two
- Student Demonstration Time (Leiber, Stoller, Love)
- Good Vibrations (B Wilson, Love)
- California Girls (B Wilson, Love)
- I Get Around (B Wilson, Love)
- It’s About Time (D Wilson, Jardine, Burchman)
- Wouldn’t It Be Nice? (B Wilson, Love, Asher)
- Cool, Cool Water (B Wilson, Love)
Recording Details
Side One and Side Two tracks 1-5 recorded during the closing week of the Fillmore East, New York on June 27th 1971 and broadcast live on FM radio stations WNEW and WPLJ.
Side Two tracks 6 & 7 recorded live in New York and broadcast on The David Frost Show on May 7th 1971
Personnel
Carl Wilson – guitar, vocals
Alan Jardine – guitar, vocals
Bruce Johnston – bass, keyboards, vocals
Dennis Wilson – vocals, drums
Mike Love – vocals, percussion
Daryl Dragon – keyboards, synthesizer
Dennis Dragon – percussion
Mike Kowalski – drums
Sleevenotes
“You know, they’re pretty fucking good.” That was Bob Dylan’s verdict on watching the Beach Boys perform as special guests of the Grateful Dead during their April 1971 residency at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East. Having signed to Reprise in 1970 the band’s first LP for their new label was Sunflower, a strong selection of songs written by the whole group. New manager Jack Rieley ended the wearing of matching attire onstage and promoted Carl Wilson to band leader. He also encouraged the band to write more ecological and socially aware lyrics, a process that would culminate with the release of Surf’s Up in August 1971.
The final night at the Fillmore was an invitation-only event. The scheduled acts – the Allman Brothers, Albert King and the J.Geils Band – were joined by special guests Edgar Winter’s White Trash, Mountain, Country Joe and the Beach Boys. This concert came towards the end of the Surf’s Up recording sessions: the only track included is Student Demonstration Time, the band’s rewrite of the Robins’ Riot In Cell Block #9. Brian Wilson was on hiatus from touring and Dennis Wilson was unable to drum, having accidentally punched his hand through a plate glass window. Bolstered by replacement musicians the band are on fine form both vocally and instrumentally, as demonstrated by set-opener Heroes And Villains. Do It Again benefits from an extended introduction and the use of a horn section. The groups peerless vocal harmonies are showcased on Cotton Fields, supported by some groovy organ and the horns again. Carl Wilson’s lead vocal drives a mid-paced version of Help Me Rhonda. An exuberant Wouldn’t It Be Nice? is warmly received. The next song is a real rarity – Bruce Johnston singing Elton John’s Your Song, a US hit the previous year. Student Demonstration Time turns out to be a rollicking live number, with sirens and honky-tonk piano and some effective saxophone honking. Set closer is a remarkable Good Vibrations that captures much of the complexity of the recorded version, right down to the flute, whilst still rocking out.
The enthusiastic audience response brings the band back for a three number encore. A double whammy of California Girls and I Get Around provides a heady dose of nostalgia: the performances are vibrant and enthusiastic. The final song is the only selection from Sunflower. It’s About Time brings the Beach Boys up to date, some incisive rhythm guitar providing a gritty base for their trademark harmonies.
As a bonus we include two live tracks from The David Frost Show. Theversion of Wouldn’t It Be Nice sticks to the studio arrangement, although there are some changes to the lyrics. More unusual is the performance of Cool, Cool Water. Although released on Sunflower the track evolved from the song Love To Say Dada recorded for Smile. The track had been released as a single in March 1971. Bruce Johnstone moves from bass to keyboards as he helps with the intricate harmonies.
Introducing the band at the Fillmore Bill Graham described the Beach Boys as “one of the great, great, great sounds”. The release of Surf’s Up would result in a critical re-appraisal of the band, but this fine quality recording demonstrates that all the necessary components were already in place for their artistic renaissance.
Sleevenotes
Carol Lynne-Noh
St. John At Hackney Church
October 31st 2024
View: Standing, Stage Right
Drummer Jody Stephens is the only original member of Big Star still alive, so to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their sophomore LP Radio City he was joined by Big Star fans Mike Mills (REM), Chris Stamey (dB’s), Jon Auer (Posies) and Pat Sansone (Wilco). A sold-out audience in this imposing venue enjoyed thirty-one songs over two hours. Guitars, bass, keyboards and lead vocals were swapped throughout, with Jody singing The India Song and Blue Moon to an enthusiastic response. Most of Alex Chilton’s songs from Radio City were played before the interval whilst the second half of the show focused on his songwriting partner Chris Bell, culminating in a powerful I Am The Cosmos and a delicate You And Your Sister. Mike Mills’ cowbell was an integral part of set-closer In The Street, whilst the encore of Thank You Friends said it all.
Review written for Record Collector magazine
And that Record Collector review as it appeared in print (January 2025)
Live at the Moth Club, Hackney October 19th
This tiny club was sold out for the launch of Peter Perrett’s third solo LP, The Cleansing. The set was orientated towards his solo material, with only four songs from The Only Ones – The Big Sleep, Flaming Torch, The Beast and (of course) Another Girl, Another Planet. The judicious use of violin nudged the sound towards the Velvet Underground first LP. After a slightly subdued start, the band were in full flight for War Plan Red which featured Jamie Perrett’s lead guitar and new US drummer John Cowsill. Fellow American Vicki Peterson from The Bangles gave vocal support on encore Someone Who Cares. An enticing taster for the forthcoming European tour.
Review written for Record Collector magazine
Photo by Chris Mackin, reproduced with thanks
Out now from http://www.1960s.london
Side A
- I Can See For Miles (Townshend)
- Summertime Blues (Cochran/Capehart)
Side B
- I Can’t Reach You (Townshend)
- Our Love Was (Townshend)
Personnel
Roger Daltrey – vocals
Pete Townshend – guitar, vocals
John Entwistle – bass, vocals
Keith Moon – drums
Recording Details
All tracks recorded at De Lane Lea Studio, Wembley on October 10th 1967 and broadcast on BBC Radio Top Gear on October 15th
Sound Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleevenotes
This session, The Who’s seventh for the BBC, was the first time any band had been permitted to record outside the corporation’s own studios. The songs here were destined for the bands third LP The Who Sell Out and were specially remixed by Kit Lambert for radio transmission. As a result the tracks sound different to both stereo and mono LP versions. I Can See For Miles features clearer vocals plus a considerably enhanced Entwistle bass track which fills out the track. I Can’t Reach You and Our Love Was both show the simple perfection of Pete Townshend’s songwriting around this time. The former is a completely new mix, the latter has stripped down percussion and a novel country-style guitar part. Summertime Blues was not included on the album but it is a fine version, with reverb on the hand claps and a fuller drum sound than the version that would eventually emerge in 2009. This EP perfectly complements The Who Sell Out, their finest studio LP.
All available now from http://www.1960s.london
Blodwyn Pig At The BBC 1969 -70
Tracklisting
Side One
- Ain’t Ya Coming Home, Babe? (Abrahams, Lancaster, Pyle)
- The Change Song (Abrahams)
- It’s Only Love (Abrahams)
- The Modern Alchemist (Lancaster)
- Mr. Green’s Blues (Lancaster, Abrahams, Berg)
- It’s Only Love (Abrahams)
Side Two
- Worry (Pyle)
- Somebody Like Me (Abrahams, Fensome)
- See My Way (Abrahams)
- Meanie Mornay (Abrahams)
- Rock Me Baby (Josea, King)
- Same Ol’ Story (Abrahams)
Recording Details
Side One was recorded for BBC radio as follows:
Tracks 1 & 5 recorded on March 24th 1969 for Top Gear, transmitted on 13th April
Track 2 recorded on 24th February 1969 for Symonds on Sunday, transmitted on 2nd March
Track 3, 4 and 6 recorded for Top Gear, transmitted on 18th May 1969
Side Two
Track 1 recorded for BBC radio Top Gear on 29th May 1970 and transmitted on 10th July
Track 2 recorded for BBC World Service Rhythm & Blues, recorded and transmitted 1970
Track 3 & 4 recorded on 30th March 1970 for BBC radio Sounds Of The Seventies, transmitted on April 14th
Track 5 recorded for BBC radio Top Gear on 29th May 1970 and transmitted on 10th July
Track 6 recorded for BBC TV Top Of The Pops and transmitted on January 29th 1970
Personnel
Mick Abrahams – guitar, vocals
Andy Pyle – bass
Jack Lancaster – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass flute, violin
Ron Berg – drums
Sleevenotes
Many music fans only know Blodwyn Pig as the band that guitarist Mick Abrahams formed after he left Jethro Tull, but they were successful in their own right with two top ten LPs and a reputation as an exciting live band. Abrahams joined his first band The Crusaders in 1964. Next came a stint with Alexis Korner in Blues Incorporated where he met drummer Clive Bunker. This was followed by The Toggery Five and then McGregory’s Engine. McGregory’s Engine then merged with the group John Evan’s Smash, whose members included Ian Anderson and Glen Cornick, to form Jethro Tull. Abrahams blues guitar was a strong feature of debut album This Was (1968) and second single A Song For Jeffrey but his stay in Jethro Tull was short-lived. “ I got very pissed off with Ian, who saw Tull as his band, and wasn’t prepared to let anyone else voice their opinion on what was going on,” Mick explained in 2024 to Malcolm Dome of Prog magazine. “So I left. But I told them that I’d stay on until they found a replacement for me, because there was no way I wanted to leave them in the shit. A short while later, I was called to a meeting at the office of Terry Ellis, the band’s manager, who said ‘Ian and the boys don’t want you in the band any more so you’ve been fired.’ I just replied to Terry, ‘How can you fire me when I quit three weeks ago?’”
Mick had strong views of what he wanted his next band to be. They were named Blodwyn Pig by Mick’s friend Graham Waller, ‘Blodwyn’ being Welsh for ‘love’. “I’ve always thought of myself as a blues player, but with a little country, jazz and other styles thrown in for good measure. I never wanted us to be seen as performing one type of music or another. Some called us blues while there were those who insisted we were progressive. And when we did Top Of The Pops, the band were introduced as being ‘avant-garde’. It would have been closer to the point to call us ‘aven’t a fucking clue’!”. Rhythm section Andy Pyle and Ron Berg plus multi-instrumentalist Jack Lancaster were all strong musicians. However their ability to operate across a wide range of styles made it more difficult for the band to forge a coherent musical identity, as we can hear in the recordings made for the BBC through the support of John Peel and the other late-night DJs.
Taken from debut LP Ahead Rings Out (1969) Ain’t Ya Coming Home, Babe? illustrates this well. After a spoken-word introduction, Lancaster wails on sax and an extended guitar-solo from Abrahams follows, all over the top of a distinctly non 4/4 beat. The Change Song is more thoughtful, based around acoustic guitar and violin and with Abrahams’ country influences coming through. Two versions of It’s Only Love showcase an uptempo rocker where the brass helps drive the song. Lancaster wrote The Modern Alchemist and his jazz influence is to the fore with Abrahams guitar responding in the same idiom. Mr Green’s Blues never made it on to either studio LP: the lyric “he got the blues cos he got the greens!” refers to Peel’s vegetarian eating habits. Here Abrahams’ guitar combines well with Lancaster’s flute in a more recognisable twelve-bar blues.
Abrahams wrote Worry but gifted the songwriting to Andy Pyle who was complaining about his lack of credits on the second studio album LP, Getting To This (1970). See My Way also came from the second LP and sounds more ‘progressive’ with Abrahams demonstrating his speed and fluidity. Somebody Like Me is unavailable elsewhere and features Lancaster on violin. Meanie Mornay was another song not included on either studio LP and highlights Abrahams’ slide guitar. A cover of B.B. King’s Rock Me Baby enables Mick Abrahams to demonstrate his considerable ability to play a straight blues. At a time when groups such as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath were starting to have hit singles, Blodwyn Pig were invited to play Same Ol’ Story on Top Of The Pops. A stand-alone single and a catchy number, Same Ol’ Story was not a hit, despite the band looking suitably ‘heavy’ with lots of hair and fringed jerkins. Lancaster demonstrated his ability to play two saxes at once, a homage to key influence Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Sadly in 1970 inter-band tensions resulted in Abrahams effectively being sacked from the group he had formed. Since then Aerosmith has cited Blodwyn Pig as an influence, Joey Ramone has covered See My Way and Cameron Crowe selected album track Dear Jill for the soundtrack of Almost Famous (2000). Regrets? Mick Abrahams has a few. “I do feel that had we stayed together this band would have been huge. There was a lot of potential we never got to explore, and we had a unique magic which you can hear on our albums.” And on the twelve tracks included here.
Sleevenotes: Jethro Toe
Spooky Tooth Broadcasts 1966 – 1969
Tracklisting
Side One
- Tobacco Road (Loudermilk)
- Yesterday (Lennon, McCartney)
- Sunshine Help Me (Wright)
- I Can’t Quit Her (Kooper, Levine)
- Evil Woman (Weiss)
- Love Really Changed Me (Wright, Miller, Grosvenor)
- Better By You, Better Than Me (Wright)
Side Two
- Tobacco Road (Loudermilk)
- Oh, Pretty Woman (Williams)
- Feelin’ Bad (Wright, Kellie)
- Better By You, Better Than Me (Wright)
- That Was Only Yesterday (Wright)
- My Babe (Medley, Hatfield)
- I Wanna Be Free (Tex)
- Stagger Lee (Lopez)
Recording Details
Side One
Tracks 1-3 recorded at Gala du MIDEM, Cannes 24.01.68 and broadcast on French TV
Tracks 4 – 6 recorded for BBC Radio Top Gear on 17.06.68
broadcast on 23.06.68
Track 7 recorded for Forum Musiques and broadcast on 24.05.69
Side Two
Track 1 recorded for BBC Radio Top Gear on 21.02.68, broadcast 17.03.68
Tracks 2 & 3 recorded 23.04.69 for BBC Radio Johnnie Walker and broadcast 26.04.69
Tracks 4 & 5 recorded for BBC Radio Top Gear on 03.02.69, broadcast 23.02.69
Track 6 recorded at the First International Festival Of Pop Music, Palais Des Sports, Paris on 14.04.67 and broadcast on French TV
Tracks 7 & 8 recorded for Reveillon Sur Les Deux Chaines 31.12.66 and broadcast on French TV
Sound Quality
The tracks recorded for the BBC are Excellent sound quality, the remaining tracks are Very Good
Personnel
Mike Harrison – keyboards, electric harpsichord, vocals
Luther Grosvenor – guitar
Mike Kellie – drums
Greg Ridley – bass
Gary Wright – keyboards, vocals (except Side Two, tracks 6-8)
Sleevenotes
“Spooky Tooth made a wonderful noise, creating a rushing hybrid of hard white soul and bluesy prog, with a rich inflection of gospel and psychedelia. The twin vocals of Harrison and Wright rang through the air like a hipper, more muscular version of the Righteous Brothers. At other times with Wright singing falsetto against Harrison’s bullish lead and the band blazing behind them they sounded as unbound as anything that West Coast acid rock could offer” Rob Hughes.
Before Spooky Tooth there was The V.I.P.’s, a tough R & B band from Carlisle formed in 1963 by lead singer Mike Harrison and bassist Greg Ridley. The band were eventually signed to Island by A&R extraordinaire Guy Stevens. They became popular in France and Germany but had no success in the UK. Keith Emerson was briefly a member en route to The Nice. After he left the remaining foursome – by now including guitarist Luther Grosvenor and drummer Mike Kellie – morphed into Art at the suggestion of Guy Stevens, who produced their sole LP Supernatural Fairy Tales (1967). Art were also the backing group for fashionable design collective Hapshash And The Coloured Coat on their LP Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids (1967). Neither LP was commercially successful.
The breakthrough came when Island producer Jimmy Miller recommended his New Jersey friend Gary Wright to the band. Wright played keyboards and was a strong vocalist with good songwriting skills. Anglo-American, twin keyboards, twin vocalists: Spooky Tooth was born. The band auditioned for the BBC. They were passed by the panel but comments ranged from “I like the group, loads of attack and screaming feeling” to “loud and pretentious psychedelic rubbish”.
The BBC tracks presented here demonstrate Spooky Tooth’s ability to remodel outside material to fit their distinctive sound. The soulful I Can’t Quit Her was written by Al Kooper and Irwin Levine for the first Blood, Sweat & Tears album. Larry Weiss’s Evil Woman was first released by Guy Darrell in 1967 and subsequently covered by Canned Heat and The Troggs. Here it builds from a delicate keyboard introduction to full-on raver. The catchy Love Really Changed Me was a band original from their first LP It’s All About (1968) but did not chart when released as a single. Tobacco Road had been a pop hit for The Nashville Teens in 1964 but this version is much slower and heavier. Oh, Pretty Woman was an A.C. Williams composition that came to prominence when covered by Albert King in 1966, Grosvenor taking the solo here. Feelin’ Bad was a rare co-write between Gary Wright and Mike Kellie. Wright’s Better By You, Better Than Me appeared on second album Spooky Two(1969). The track is built around an insidious guitar riff and remains Spooky Tooth’s best-known number thanks to a cover version by Judas Priest. That Was Only Yesterday shows a more sensitive side of the band with a subtle keyboard motif complementing the dual vocals of Wright and Harrison.
Spooky Tooth appeared regularly on French television throughout their career. A performance of Tobacco Road from Cannes in 1968 was performed to a seated and bow-tied audience but this did not inhibit the band with Wright’s falsetto particularly impressive. The same session saw the band perform a slow-paced orchestral Yesterday followed by their debut single Sunshine Help Me. A catchy pop song written by Gary Wright, its chart failure took everyone by surprise. The promotional film for Better By You, Better Than Me appears to be recorded live in a barn, preceded by the obligatory shot of the band running round a lake
The V.I.Ps were also filmed performing live for French TV. The band’s 1967 appearance at the First International Festival Of Pop Music in Paris (predating Monterey) saw them covering the Righteous Brothers’ My Babe. Even at this early stage the band’s distinctive sound was in place with Grosvenor’s guitar particularly prominent. The versions of Joe Tex’s I Wanna Be Free and the traditional Stagger Lee demonstrate why they went down so well with continental audiences and makes their lack of success in the UK inexplicable.
In 1969 Ridley left Spooky Tooth to form Humble Pie with Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton. Wright then quit the band after Island MD Chris Blackwell had arranged for Spooky Tooth to record some sessions backing French avant-garde musician Pierre Henry. To the horror of the band the resulting tracks were released under the Spooky Tooth name as Ceremony (1969). According to Harrison, Blackwell later told him “that was the biggest mistake I ever made.”
Spooky Tooth’s career never recovered from this setback and although various incarnations would tour and record until 2009, they lacked the cohesion and focus of the band in their prime. Band members would reappear in a variety of more successful groups including Foreigner, Humble Pie, Mott The Hoople and The Only Ones. Why did Spooky Tooth never achieve the success that was predicted for them? Wright reckons “the recordings peaked when we did our second album Spooky Two, but then we got sidetracked.” Mike Kellie is more direct: “I can’t tell you why we didn’t have hits. But I think we were our own worst enemies. Sometimes we needed a good slap.”
Sleevenotes: Pinque LaBelle
Humble Pie – Live At The BBC 1969
Tracklisting
Side One
- Natural Born Bugie (Marriott)
- The Sad Bag Of Shakey Jake (Marriott)
- Heartbeat (Montgomery, Petty)
- Desperation (Kay)
- Natural Born Bugie – Alternate (Marriott)
Side Two
- Shakin’ All Over (Heath)
- The Sad Bag Of Shakey Jake (Marriott)
- I Walk On Gilded Splinters (Creaux)
Recording Details
Side One recorded for BBC Radio Symonds on Sundays on August 17th and transmitted on August 24th
Side Two recorded for BBC Radio Top Gear on September 9th and transmitted on September 27th
Sound Quality
Sound us Excellent throughout
Personnel
Steve Marriott – Vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica
Peter Frampton – Vocals, guitar
Greg Ridley – Bass, vocals
Jerry Shirley – Drums
Sleevenotes
The roots of Humble Pie go back to the final days of the Small Faces in late 1968. Ian McLagan remembers that “Steve (Marriott) wasn’t happy and he wasn’t getting any happier. He suggested that we get Peter Frampton in on lead guitar so he could concentrate on singing and playing rhythm, but when Pete sat in with us one night it didn’t feel like the Small Faces anymore, as nice a chap as he is and a lovely player to boot.” Marriott was disappointed “I don’t know why they didn’t want Frampton in the band. Maybe they thought he was wimpy or something.” In contrast to Marriott’s highly credible musical background Frampton came from pure pop group The Herd and had been voted the “Face of ‘68” by teen magazine Rave. The Frampton-augmented Small Faces played gigs in Brentwood and Manchester and recorded three tracks in Paris for French star Johnny Halliday, produced by Glyn Johns and eventually released by Phillips as the LP Johnny Hallyday. These songs provided an intriguing glimpse of what an expanded Small Faces could have sounded like but by the time of the record’s release in April 1969 Marriott had left the Small Faces, following a bad-tempered gig on News Year’s Eve at the Alexandra Palace.
Originally Marriott had recruited the rhythm section of Greg Ridley (ex-Spooky Tooth) and Jerry Shirley (ex-Apostolic Intervention) to back Frampton. Adding himself to the trio resulted in Humble Pie, a name deliberately chosen to lower expectations of this so-called ‘supergroup’. The band were obliged to remain with the Small Faces’ label Immediate because of Marriott’s contract with label boss and manager Andrew Loog-Oldham. The band’s first single Natural Born Bugie wasreleased in August 1969, reaching number 4 in the UK singles chart. To say it owed much to Chuck Berry’s Little Queenie would be an understatement: Marriott admitted its heritage in a radio interview with Brian Mathews. Both versions recorded for David Symonds have an impressive swagger and confidence superior to anything the remaining ex-Small Faces were then recording in a Bermondsey basement. Frampton’s influence can be heard in the The Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake, lyrics about the Texas Rangers making this an unlikely single release in Germany and the Netherlands. Buddy Holly’s Heartbeat gets a vibrant performance with some highly effective unison vocals and twin guitars reinforcing the central riff. Desperation was a track from the first Steppenwolf LP, it is sung here with passion and restraint by Marriott.
By the time of the band’s second BBC radio session the songs were getting longer, (although not as long as they would get). Shakin’ All Over was originally a 1960 UK hit single for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates: by 1969 the song was also a regular part of The Who’s stage act. Humble Pie give more emphasis to some delicate harmony vocals without undermining the central guitar riff. A second version of The Sad Bag Of Shaky Jake sticks to the semi-acoustic format of its predecessor. The final track extends Dr.John’s I Walk On Gilded Splinters to over ten minutes: by 1971 the song would expand to half an hour in live performance. Subdued electric guitars precede the chorus, which should really have been ‘I Walk on Gilded Splendors’ but Dr.John modified the traditional New Orleans lyric “because I just thought splinters sounded better”. This extended and languid stroll through the song is very different to the more upbeat and compact version Marsha Hunt released as a single on Track around this time.
Humble Pie would release two studio LPs in 1969, As Safe As Yesterday Is and Town And Country. On both records Marriott’s upbeat and strident persona co-existed uneasily with Frampton’s more laidback and sensitive nature. As John Pidgeon wrote in 1976 “only when the acoustic lightweights gave way to heavier riffs did the music give any real indication of the band’s future development”. Luckily this future musical development was well documented by the BBC, as we shall see…
Sleevenotes: Arthur ‘Fool’ Dogère
Van Morrison Live At The Lion’s Share 1973 L:ate Show
Tracklisting
Side One
- Everybody’s Talkin’ (Neil)
- Help Me (Williamson, Dixon, Bass)
- I’ve Been Working (Morrison)
- Wild Children (Morrison)
Side Two
- Saint Dominic’s Preview (Morrison)
- Listen To The Lion (Morrison)
- Misty (Burke, Garner)
- Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad) (Walker)
Personnel
Van Morrison – vocals, saxophone, guitar
‘Brother’ Jack Schroer – saxophone
Jef Labes – piano
Doug Messenger – guitar
Marty David – bass
Rick Shlosser – drums
Vince Guaraldi – piano
Recording Details
All tracks recorded live at The Lion’s Share, San Anselmo, California on February 15th 1973 and broadcast on FM Radio KTIM. All songs are from the Late Show.
Recording Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleevenotes
“With consummate dynamics that allow Morrison to snap from indescribably throwaway phrasing to sheer passion in the very next breath he brings the music surging up through crescendo after crescendo, stopping and starting the song again…and of course it’s sensational.”
Lester Bangs, Psychotic Reactions and Carburettor Dung (1987)
To complement our release of Van Morrison Live At The Lion’s Share 1973 Volume One (R&B??) we are now delighted to issue a second volume, this time taken from the second set recorded that night. The Lion’s Share was located at 60 Red Hill Avenue in San Anselmo near San Francisco, Van appeared there 13 times between February 1971 and June 1974. By 1973 Van Morrison was living in nearby Fairfax and asked Michael Hunt – one of the club’s owners – if he could perform there. Hunt agreed so long as there was no advance publicity for the gig. Both sets were recorded by Radio KTIM Programme Director Clint Weyrauch on a 12-channel mixer direct to a Revox two track reel-to-reel tape recorder.
For his second set, Van’s regular group was supplemented by pianist and jazz legend Vince Guaraldi. Today Vince is best known for composing the music that accompanied The Peanuts television series. Being in a small club encouraged Morrison to experiment, as shown by his choosing Everybody’s Talkin’ as the set opener. Originally written by legendary US folk singer Fred Neil in 1966, it would not be until Harry Nilsson recorded a version that appeared in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy that the track became a top-ten hit. Possibly encouraged by the presence of Guaraldi, Morrison lends a distinctive jazzy feel to the song, scat singing at times. Help Me is much grittier. Originally sung by Sonny Boy Williamson II the song shares much of its DNA with Green Onions (Booker T. & the M.G.’s). The rhythm section of David and Shlosser is the star here and needs little support beyond some guitar stabs and piano fills. I’ve Been Working continues in the same vein, to screams of delight from the audience. Messenger’s rhythm guitar drives the song and Schroer takes a sax solo. Wild Children would appear later in the year on Van’s next studio LP, Hard Nose The Highway (August 1973). An acoustic arrangement allows the lyrics to be heard clearly, mentioning James Dean, Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger and Tennessee Williams and ruminating on what it was like for the “wild children” around the world to grow up infused with American post-war culture.
The title track to Morrison’s then-current LP Saint Dominic’s Preview allows a restrained Schroer to underpin Morrison’s lengthy vocal travelogue throughout. Does Listen To The Lion refer to The Lion’s Share? The song builds from a quiet introduction through a progressively more frantic instrumental section before Van implores us to “listen to the lion in me” and then moves beyond words before returning to a tranquil piano and saxophone coda. An upbeat version of Erroll Garner’s jazz standard Misty benefits from Guaraldi’s electric piano and a jaunty Morrison vocal. Finally the briefest of snippets of Stormy Monday brings The Late Show to a close. Whilst the handful of Van Morrison fans present at The Lion’s Share that night enjoyed an unforgettable evening, we are pleased to share the music more widely. Because it’s too late to stop now!
Sleevenotes: Dom Ineaux
All available now from http://www.1960s.london
Village Green – Live! EP
The Kinks
Tracklisting
Side One
- The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains
- Picture Book
Side Two
- Big Sky
- Autumn Almanac
All songs written by Raymond Douglas Davies
Main photo by Peter Rand for Vogue, June 26th 1968
Recording Details
Side One recorded for BBC TV Once More With Felix on January 7th 1969 and broadcast on February 1st
Side Two recorded live at Colden Center Auditorium, Queens College, New York on March 27th 1971 and broadcast on WLIR-FM
Sound Quality
All tracks are Very Good
Personnel
Ray Davies – Vocals, guitar
Dave Davies – Guitar, vocals
Mick Avory – Drums
Pete Quaife – Bass (Side One)
John Dalton – Bass (Side Two)
John Gosling – Keyboards (Side Two, Track 1)
Ben Rosenblatt – Keyboards (Side Two, Track 2)
Sleevenotes
The Kinks Village Green LP is now rightly regarded as a great LP and one of the best records from the 1960s. However when first released in November 1968 it sold poorly, a situation exacerbated by Ray Davies refusing to let Pye release a single in the UK or the US. Virtually the only promotional activity undertaken by the band was an appearance on folk singer Julie Felix’s Saturday night BBC TV show. These are some of Pete Quaife’s last appearances with the Kinks – he would leave to form his own band Maple Oak in April 1969. The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains makes no secret of its debt to Smokestack Lightnin’. Picture Book was the B side to Starstruck, a European-only single released in January 1969. Big Sky is a memento of the US tours that the Kinks were able to undertake when a lengthy union ban finally ended, this version demonstrating that the band was capable of effectively re-creating the complex Village Green songs in a live setting. From the same gig comes the rarely played Autumn Almanac, one of the 15 songs considered for inclusion on the Village Green LP. Ben Rosenblatt, a student in the audience, knew the song and offered to play the piano part. The Kinks were always keen on audience participation…
Sleevenotes: Johnny Thunder
Live At The Lion’s Share 1973 Early Show
Van Morrison
Tracklisting
Side One
- Saint Dominic’s Preview (Morrison)
- Hey, Good Lookin’ (Williams)
- Since I Fell For You (Johnson)
- Caravan (Morrison)
Side Two
- I’ve Been Working (Morrison)
- Beyond Words (Morrison)
- I Just Want To Make Love To You (Dixon)
- Hard Nose The Highway (Morrison)
Personnel
Van Morrison – vocals, saxophone, guitar
‘Brother’ Jack Schroer – saxophone
Jef Labes – piano
Doug Messenger – guitar
Marty David – bass
Rick Shlosser – drums
Recording Details
All tracks recorded live at the Early Show, The Lion’s Share, San Anselmo, California on February 15th 1973 and broadcast on FM Radio KTIM.
Recording Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleevenotes
Throughout his lengthy career Van Morrison has always enjoyed performing in small clubs. Our release It’s Too Great To Stop Now (R&B 88) showcased an exuberant set from Pacific High Recorders in October 1971. This new release is a worthy successor, featuring Van Morrison and his band kicking back in the tiny Lion’s Share club. Located at 60 Red Hill Avenue in San Anselmo near San Francisco, Van appeared here 13 times between February 1971 and June 1974. The club was a drab 1940s single storey building with a legal capacity of around 150 which became known as a musician’s hangout. In 1969 it was the venue for Randy Newman’s first ever concert. Janis Joplin’s funeral party was held at The Lion’s Share on October 26th 1971 and featured a performance by The Grateful Dead. By 1973 Van Morrison was living in nearby Fairfax and asked Michael Hunt – one of the club’s owners – if he could perform there. Hunt agreed so long as there was no advance publicity for the gig. Van played two sets that night, both recorded by Radio KTIM Programme Director Clint Weyrauch on a 12-channel mixer direct to a Revox two track reel-to-reel tape recorder.
Later in 1973 Van would record the famous live LP It’s Too Late To Stop Now with a ten-piece band he named the Caledonian Soul Orchestra. Comparing the version of Caravan performed at the Lion’s Share with that performed at London’s Rainbow Theatre on July 24th reveals that the Lion’s Share crew were more flexible and capable of greater instrumental subtlety than their successors. Both Jack Shroer and Jef Labes would progress from The Lion’s Share to become members of the Caledonian Soul Orchestra.
At The Lion’s Share the intimate atmosphere encouraged Morrison to experiment with his choice of material. Opener Saint Dominic’s Preview was well-known as the title track of Van’s most recent LP but to follow it with a cover of Hank Williams’ Hey, Good Lookin’ demonstratesboth the breadth of Morrison’s musical influences and his ability to surprise his audience. The former is based around Labes’ piano and Messenger’s guitar whilst the latter receives an upbeat jazzy arrangement featuring Schroer’s saxophone. Since I Fell For You had not been released by Morrison at this point – it was originally written as a blues ballad by Buddy Stephens in 1952 and was a hit single for Lenny Welch in October 1963. The sparse arrangement gives Morrison the space to sing this lament with a light touch but no lack of conviction.
I’ve Been Working was originally recorded for both Astral Weeks and Moondance, before finally being released on His Band and the Street Choir (1970). Highly danceable, the groove references Van’s r’n’b roots with Them at The Maritime Hotel. The scat-sung Beyond Words shares some musical structure with Into The Mystic, but Morrison confirmed it was a separate song when he released a studio version on Beyond Words: Instrumental (2023). The measured pace of Muddy Waters’ I Just Want To Make Love To You adds a sly menace to Morrison’s vocal. Finally Hard Nose The Highway, the then-unreleased title track of Morrisons next LP and his paean to life “further on up the road”.
And The Late Show? Watch this space…
“Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no performer in rock’n’roll, a singer who cannot be pinned down, dismissed, nor fitted into anyone’s expectations. Morrison is a man on a quest: it will be a long one, but there are listeners who will be with him for the duration” Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone 1981
Sleevenotes: Jock E Wilson
Rory Gallagher – In Concert At The BBC 1972
Side One (22:45)
- Tore Down (Sonny Thomson)
- Used To Be (Rory Gallagher)
- Pistol Slapper Blues (Blind Boy Fuller)
- Going To My Hometown (Rory Gallagher)
Side Two (20:15)
- The Cuckoo (Trad arr. Gallagher)
- In Your Town (Rory Gallagher)
- Bullfrog Blues (William Harris)
Personnel
Rory Gallagher – Guitar, vocals, mandolin
Gerry McAvoy – Bass
Wilgar Campbell – Drums
Recording Details
All tracks recorded live at the Paris Theatre, Lower Regent Street on 13th July 1972 and broadcast on BBC radio In Concert on 29th July.
Recording Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleevenotes
“Rory Gallagher knows more about playing the electric blues than all the Allman Brothers – living or dead – put together. A punky little Irishman, and the only rocker with enough nerve to pay Belfast while the shit was still flying hard and heavy. It would be difficult to match a song with its album because the character of Rory’s writing and recording has changed only slightly over the years. That’s no problem…it’s consistently GREAT!” Ira Robbins, Trouser Press
Our previous Rory Gallagher release (R&B 99) showcased his early career as the creative force in power trio Taste. Going solo saw Gallagher stay with the trio format, recruiting a rhythm section of bass player Gerry McAvoy and drummer Wilgar Campbell. Both came from Belfast band Deep Joy, who had supported Taste on tour. This line-up recorded three LPs, Rory Gallagher (1971), Deuce (1971)and Live In Europe (1972). Rory’s unpretentious appearance – flannel shirt, sneakers, battered jeans and an equally battered Stratocaster – illustrated his complete lack of pretension. This In Concert performance was the third that Gallagher had recorded for BBC Radio, reflecting his enormous popularity amongst blues fans who might previously been digging Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton or Peter Green. Rory was a scholar of the blues and frequently unearthed forgotten tunes to cover live or in the studio, always being careful to credit the original songwriters. When it comes to Rory’s song writing John Perry has pointed out that his originals were often “blues based songs with melodies instead of constant 12 bars.”
The dramatic opening chords of Used To Be make for an exciting set opener, Gallagher’s solo demonstrates the memorable searing tone he extracted from his faithful Strat and a second-hand AC30. The hard-boiled lyric “get used to bein’ my use to be” reflects Gallagher’s love of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Pistol Slapper Blues made its debut on Live In Europe. Originally written by Blind Boy Fuller here it is a showcase for Gallagher’s dexterity on acoustic guitar. Going To My Hometown gets an enthusiastic welcome and has fans spontaneously clapping along to a semi-acoustic, mandolin-driven stomp. The call and response vocals between Gallagher and the audience seem spontaneous and unforced.
The Cuckoo is a traditional number, Gallagher bases his acoustic arrangement on the versions recorded by Tom Rush, Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley. Gallagher’s own version would not appear until the Wheels Within Wheels out-takes LP in 2003. The Stratocaster is back for In Your Town, where a driving riff is interspersed by some ferocious slide-guitar solos. The rhythm section never miss a beat whilst the lyric is a tale of wrongful arrest involving the local D.A. and Chief Of Police. A roar of recognition greets perennial stage favourite Bullfrog Blues, first heard on Live In Europe. William Harris’ original is injected with a liberal dose of Chuck Berry resulting in the sort of rave-up that the Yardbirds used to unleash at the Crawdaddy. McAvoy and Wilgar both take commendably brief solos and Gallagher weaves in some lines from John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillun.
“Apart from the fact that he was a great player, the most noticeable thing about Rory was that he never compromised himself musically in any way. He would never do something that was, for him, below a certain level of integrity. He wouldn’t do singles. He didn’t want to do videos. He was such a purist. He wouldn’t sell himself out. If there weren’t people like Rory Gallagher around to set that kind of example then it would probably spell the end of quality music.” Gary Moore
Sleevenotes: Juke Box Annie
The Spencer Davis Group At The BBC 1966
Tracklist
Side One
1. Keep On Running (Edwards)
2. Ramblin’ Rose (Burch, Wilkin)
3. Please Do Something (Covay)
4. Somebody Help Me (Edwards)
5. Let Me Down Easy (Ford, McDougal)
6. Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing (Sain)
7. Dust My Blues (James)
8. Mean Woman Blues (Demetrius)
9. I’m Getting Better (Bruce)
Side Two
1. Together ‘Til The End Of Time (Wilson)
2. When I Come Home (Edwards, Winwood)
3. Mean Woman Blues (Demetrius)
4. Take This Hurt Off Me (Covay)
5. Dust My Blues (James)
6. Gimme Some Lovin’ (Winwood)
7. BBC Interviews with Spencer Davis
Recording Details
All tracks recorded for BBC Radio in 1966
Side One
Tracks 1-3 broadcast in January
Tracks 4-6 broadcast in April
Tracks 7-9 broadcast in July
Side Two
Tracks 1-3 broadcast in October
Tracks 4 – 6 broadcast in December
Personnel
Steve Winwood – Keyboards, guitar, vocals
Spencer Davis – Guitar, vocals
Muff Winwood – Bass, vocals
Pete York – Drums
Sound Quality
Excellent throughout
Sleeve Notes
Bursting out of the Birmingham beat scene in 1964 The Spencer Davis Group featured the Winwood brothers, Muff on bass and a teenage Stevie on guitar, organ, piano and the vocals of someone much older. Spencer played guitar and sang and Pete York was the drummer. Their first album, unsurprisingly named Their First LP, was released in July 1965. “The first album group? Certainly their first LP sold much more than their early singles success should suggest. Already the unique Davis approach is there, where several strands of black music are pulled together. It isn’t pure R&B; not quite, but a contemporary soul approach to all the songs.” Brian Hogg, Bam Balam magazine (1980).
Recording for the BBC provided The Spencer Davis Group with an opportunity to feature songs from their live set that were not otherwise recorded in the studio. Other bands that did this included The Beatles, The Stones, The Yardbirds, The Small Faces and The Move. The LP we released documenting The Spencer Davis Group at the BBC in 1965 (R&B108) was a great success and we are delighted to be issuing this sequel which brings together tracks recorded for the BBC the following year.
We start 1966 where we finished 1965, with the breakthrough hit Keep On Running, here in a slightly extended version with Muff Winwood’s bass driving the song. Ramblin’ Rose, sung by Steve Winwood, has quite a history. Originally written by Fred Burch and Marijohn Wilkin, it was first recorded by Jerry Leee Lewis and his Pumping Piano in 1961: it would be later sped up and rocked out as a showcase for Brother Wayne Kramer of the MC5. Please Do Something was written by Don Covay who was also responsible for Take This Hurt Off Me. Both are tightly arranged and totally danceable and feature more of Steve Winwood’s soulful vocals. Please Do Something was the opening track on the band’s second LP, imaginatively called The Second Album (February 1966).
Somebody Help Me was the follow-up single to Keep On Running: it too was written by Jackie Edwards. Like its predecessor it reached number one in the UK singles chart and was another upbeat song. The distinctive guitar introduction lead straight into the chorus for maximum hummability. Betty LaVette’s Let Me Down Easy is a complete contrast, a slower number with a mournful vocal from Stevie and an economical guitar solo. Spencer and Stevie recreate the duet between Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure on Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing.The group show their versatility on a version of Elmore James’ Dust My Blues where a Spencer vocal is ably supported by Winwood’s guitar, a precursor to the whole “Fleetwood Mac Chicken Shack John Mayall Can’t Fail Blues” (thank you, Adrian Henri). From the blues to Elvis: Mean Woman Blues gets a country treatment with Jordanaire backing vocals. Less well known is Jimmy Hughes, whose I’m Getting Better brings Side One to a close. Unsuccessful when Hughes released the song as single here it benefits from a minimal backing which allows the quiet passion in Steve Winwood’s vocal to really come through.
Together ‘Til The End Of Time was the lead track on the third Spencer Davis LP Autumn 66 (September 1966). The song was written by Frank Wilson for Brenda Holloway, who also sang Every Little Bit Hurts from Their First LP. The Spencer Davis Group keep the slow tempo of Holloway’s version which gives Stevie plenty of space to emote, his vocals underpinned by rolling organ. When I Come Home is a rare co-write between Jackie Edwards and Steve Winwood – it reached number 12 in the charts and featured in the film The Ghost Goes Gear, an otherwise unremarkable piece of mid-‘60s fluff featuring Nicholas Parsons. The footage of the band lipsynching on a pleasure cruiser going past Windsor Castle is avilable online and well worth watching. Repeat performances of Mean Woman Blues and Dust My Blues are similar to those recorded earlier in the year. Our final selection is the first Spencer Davis Group A-side to be entirely self-written. Stevie Winwood wrote Gimme Some Lovin’ and would go on to perform it throughout his lengthy career in Traffic and beyond. The Spencer Davis Group single version reached number 2 in the UK and (crucially) number 7 in the US when released there by United Artists. It was a heady mix of another bass-driven intro plus Stevie Winwood’s distinctive organ and some “heh”s on the chorus. The version here shows the band could replicate the fabulous sound of the single but in truth this was more Stevie Winwood than Spencer Davis Group and Winwood would leave to go solo the following year. To finish the LP we include a series of interviews conducted with Spencer at the BBC throughout 1966.
Sleevenotes: Perry Barr
Curzon Mayfair 17th May
Review written for Record Collector magazine
Special screening with Q&A featuring directors Alexis Bloom and Sverlana Zillwas plus Anita’s son Marlon Richards and her daughter Angela (formerly Dandelion), chaired by an extremely well-informed Miranda Sawyer.
Celebs present: Noel Gallagher, Bob Geldorf, Pam Hogg, Matt Lee
Instead of the traditional rock-doc format of talking heads pontificating about “the Anita they knew” we got lots of previously-unseen home movies and a running commentary using Anita’s own words, taken from an unpublished autobiography and read by Scarlett Johansson. There is fascinating footage from the ill-fated 1967 road trip to Morocco taken by Anita, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and (an uncredited) Tom Keylock. The 1969 boat trip to Brazil by Pallenberg, Richards, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful also features. Most startling is the footage of Richards in 1976, playing live in Paris immediately after hearing that Tara, his third child with Anita, had died of a cot death. Richard insisted that the concert not be cancelled although Nick Kent described the couple after the show as “no longer the Scott and Zelda of the rock’n’roll era they looked like some tragic shell-shocked couple leading each other out of a concentration camp.”
Many Stones fans regard the 1971 sessions in Nellcote, a villa in the South of France rented by newly tax-exiled Richards, as the setting for some of the finest music the band would ever make, subsequently released as Exile On Main Street. Catching Fire uses film, photography and eye-witness interviews to reframe Nellcote through Pallenberg’s eyes. There may have been a makeshift recording studio in the basement, but Nellcote was also a home where Richards, Pallenberg and three-year old Marlon were living. The practicalities of trying to run what was essentially a hotel with an ever-changing population of twenty plus rock’n’roll degenerates and the associated sex, drugs and rock’n’roll fell mainly to Anita, the only woman consistently present who was also the only French speaker.
This traditional approach towards male and female roles was echoed by Richards’ shutting down of Anita’s acting career. Here the film errs on the generous – Anita is brilliant in Performance and good in Barbarella, both times when she was effectively playing herself, but her starring role in A Degree Of Murder is wooden and unconvincing. It is claimed Richards paid her to stop acting and stay at home whilst he went on tour, fuelling her drug habit. It got worse when they moved to upstate New York where Pallenburg is portrayed as a virtual prisoner with no money of her own and her passport held by the Stones management.
It was alcohol rather than drugs that caused Anita to hit rock bottom. After several attempts she got herself clean and sober and the second act of her life began. She moved to Chelsea, got a degree in fashion and textiles from St.Martin’s, became a doting grandmother and began to be recognised as a style icon, particularly by Kate Moss who appears here and admits to deliberately recreating some of Anita’s iconic outfits. Of the folks who were around in the ‘60s her drug buddy Prince Stash appears on screen, whilst Keith Richards recorded a long interview which is used sparingly throughout. He calls her “a piece of work” and still sounds enmeshed with her.
What comes through most clearly is the intense love shared by Anita and Keith, and how drugs poisoned that love. Although towards the end of the film Pallenburg claims that “I regret nothing”, Marlon now admits this was bravado. During the Q&A both he and Angela were clear that Anita and Keith have said that they were sorry for what they put their young family through.
Anita Pallenberg would be a key figure in 20th century culture if all she had done was cause Keith Richards to write Gimme Shelter. That she was much more than an artist’s muse is made clear by this fascinating film.
Available now from http://www.1960s.london
Review from Record Collector magazine (August 2024)
Roxy Music Live At The BBC and Beyond 1972-73
Tracklisting
Side One
- Grey Lagoons
- Pyjamarama
- Do The Strand
- Editions Of You
- In Every Dream Home A Heartache
- Grey Lagoons
Side Two
- Virginia Plain
- Do The Strand
- Editions Of You
- In Every Dream Home A Heartache
- Remake / Remodel
All songs written by Bryan Ferry
Personnel
Bryan Ferry – Vocals, piano, guitar, harmonica
Andy Mackay – Oboe, saxophone, keyboards, vocals
Brian Eno – Synthesiser, tapes, vocals
Phil Manzanera – Guitar
The Great Paul Thompson – Drums
Rik Kenton – Bass (Side One, Tracks 1 & 6)
Sal Maida – Bass (Side One, Tracks 2-5)
John Porter – Bass (Side Two)
Recording Details
Side One
All tracks recorded live for the BBC
Track 1 Radio In Concert transmitted 03.08.72
Tracks 2 – 5 Radio John Peel’s Sounds Of The Seventies transmitted 08.03.73
Track 6 TV Full House transmitted 25.11.72
Side Two
All tracks recorded in Bremen for the Musikladen TV show and transmitted 30.05.73
Sound Quality
Excellent throughout except Side One, Track 5 which is Very Good
Sleevenotes
“There’s a new sensation…” sang Bryan Ferry and by the time these tracks were recorded he was right on the button. The new sensation was Roxy Music, simply the most exciting and glamorous band to burst through the double-denim years of the early 1970s. Their self-titled first album released in 1972 was a heady blend of prog (Phil Manzanera), avant garde (Andy Mackay and Brian Eno) and thumping rock’n’roll (Thompson), providing the perfect setting for the arty but catchy tunes of crooning hearthrob Bryan Ferry. Ferry was determined to avoid the grind of endless college support gigs and instead persuaded EG Management to fund the band until a record contract with Island Records could be negotiated. Thus Roxy Music emerged fully-formed as if from nowhere. Critical and chart success was immediate.
The BBC were early supporters of the band. The first version of Grey Lagoons was recorded as part of a 1972 In Concert radioslot, ostensibly to promote the first LP. However the song would not be released on record until For Your Pleasure (1973) where it was sandwiched between two instrumentally-driven pieces The Bogus Man and the LP’s title track. By comparison Grey Lagoons is positively conventional, containing the classic Ferry line “morning sickness on Friday nights” and an unexpected harmonica solo. The first song to be written by Ferry on guitar, Pyjamarama was the band’s second single, but according to Manzanera the production, cutting and pressing process were all hurried. The version here recorded for John Peel has more prominent guitars, a more distinctive bass line and a slinkier vocal. From the same session comes the great-single-that-never-was, the dance craze anthem Do The Strand where Andy Mackay blows up a storm. The remaining tracks from this session are two further selections from For Your Pleasure, Editions Of You and In Every Dream Home A Heartache. The former is Roxy’s most straightforward rocker, albeit with classical allusions to the Lorelei, whilst the latter allows Manzanera to stretch out. Finally a second version of Grey Lagoons from BBC2 art programme Full House where Manzanera is again the star, his white Strat not the only Hendrix reference.
In May 1973 the band played a short set for German TV’s Musikladen as part of their spring European tour promoting For Your Pleasure. Debut single Virginia Plain is a strong statement of intent – “teenage rebel of the week” indeed. The instrumental break sees Mackay and Manzanera synchronise their dance steps whilst Eno glitters like a glam-rock ostrich and Ferry’s quiff gleams impossibly black. Paul Thompson does a great job of stopping it all getting too precious. For Do The Strand Ferry changes into a white-double breasted number whilst Eno favours an extravagance of black feathers. Editions Of You has Ferry moving centre-stage away from his piano, whilst Eno responds with some vigorous tambourine bashing and a wild synth solo. The spooky first half of In Every Dream Home A Heartache is dominated by Mackay on organ, until Manzanera shatters the tension on his Les Paul with Ferry playing a rare rhythm guitar part. On Remake/Remodel Eno, Manzanera and Mackay all sing the chorus of “CPL 593A”,emphasising what a visual band this first incarnation had become. The futuristically-garbed Mackay (great codpiece) gives us a snippet of “Deutschland über alles” and after a final explosion of drums the set ends to enthusiastic applause.
Sadly by June 1973 it was all over. During an appearance at York Festival shouts of “Eno” interfered with the bands performance. Eno withdrew in an attempt to quieten his fans, but Ferry informed EG that he would never share a stage with Eno again. Roxy would recover from Eno’s departure, becoming more focused around Ferry but no less successful. As we will see…
Sleevenotes
Lolita & Guernica
Thin Lizzy Live From Germany 1973
Side One
- Vagabond Of The Western World (Lynott)
- Dr Who Theme (Grainer) /
- ‘69 Rock (Lynott, Downey, Bell)
- Suicide (Lynott)
- Slow Blues (Lynott, Downey)
Side Two
- Whiskey In The Jar (traditional arranged Lynott, Downey, Bell)
- Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm (Lynott)
- Whiskey In The Jar (traditional arranged Lynott, Downey, Bell)
- The Rocker (Lynott, Downey, Bell)
Recording Details
Side One and Side Two, Track 1 recorded live at the Waldbuhne on June 9th and broadcast on German TV
Side Two, Tracks 2 – 4 recorded live at the Berlin Art Indoor Festival on September 18th and broadcast on German TV
Personnel
Phil Lynott – bass, vocals
Eric Bell – guitar
Brian Downey – drums
Sleevenotes
The roots of Thin Lizzy go back to the early 1960’s when Phil Lynott and Brian Downey both attended the same Dublin school. The half Irish / half Brazilian Lynott joined The Black Eagles as vocalist but after “a few weeks singing soul on the Dublin bingo hall circuit” as Pete Frame put it, he left for local hotshots Skid Row, who featured future Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore. Skid Row bass player Brush Shiels taught Lynott the rudiments of playing bass. Lynott then joined his school friend Downey in Orphanage. Meeting ex-Them guitarist Eric Bell in December 1969 the threesome decided to form a band they called Thin Lizzy, allegedly named after Tin Lizzie from The Beano with the h added as nod to Irish pronunciation.
The band signed to Decca and at the suggestion of managers Ted Carroll and Brian Tuite moved to London in March 1971. Two albums followed with little commercial success – Thin Lizzy (April 1971) and Shades Of A Blue Orphanage (March 1972).The band had a surprise UK top 10 hit in November 1972 with their arrangement of the traditional Irish folk song Whiskey In The Jar. The accompanying album Vagabonds Of The Western World (September 1973) was not as successful.
Despite their lack of record sales in the UK, by 1973 Thin Lizzy were a popular live draw throughout Europe. The tracks on this record are drawn from two German appearances, in June and September 1973. The June event was a two day festival with a very ‘eavy line-up including Family, The Groundhogs, Uriah Heap and Beck, Bogart and Appice. The setting was the Waldbhune (Woodland Stage) in Berlin, a 22,000 capacity theatre in the Olympiapark where the Stones had staged a memorable riot in 1965. Opening number Vagabond Of The Western World attractively combines Irish folk music themes with a driving Lynott/Downey rhythm track. A version of the Dr.Who Theme precedes the bands own ’69 Rock, a live favourite that was never recorded for a studio LP. Suicide is introduced asa real-life story and features Eric Bell on slide, it would not be released on a studio LP until it appeared on the Fighting LP (September 1975). Side one closes with a Slow Blues. Another track from Vagabonds… the song belies Lynott’s introduction of “and that’s all it is”. After an initial section where Bell’s guitar echoes Lynott’s vocal, a sprightly rhythm makes for a song that is more interesting than its title. Finally, The Hit. Whiskey In The Jar is a traditional Irish song that tells a story of robbery and romantic betrayal. The band were reportedly unhappy with Decca’s decision to release the song as a single but it was a success throughout Europe and reached number 6 in the UK Top Ten. The version here effectively reproduces the arrangement of the single whilst allowing Bell more room for his fluid soloing.
In September Thin Lizzy were again on German TV, seemingly playing in front of an audience of bewildered children and bemused adults. Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm is a track off the New Day EP, released in August 1971. Phil’s silver shoulder-pads give a hint of his future image and he is starting to throw some shapes onstage. A second version of Whiskey In The Jar features Lynott switching from his Rickenbacker bass to a Gibson SG guitar. The closing The Rocker is a sign of Thin Lizzy to come. Upbeat, riff-driven and a lyric that features much Lynott self-mythologising it even manages to include a plug for Ted Carroll’s legendary Rock On rare vinyl stall on Golborne Road. Eric Bell takes a lengthy solo but in this context it seems out of place. Bell would leave the band after a gig at Queen’s University in Belfast on New Years Eve 1973 when he walked off the stage mid-set. Gary Moore was recruited to take his place. The band found a more sympathetic record label in Phonogram and built momentum throughout 1974 and 1975 before finally breaking big in March 1976 with the release of the album Jailbreak and the single The Boys Are Back In Town, a top ten single in both the UK and (crucially) in the US.
Listening to this record you can hear the building blocks of Thin Lizzy’s subsequent success being manoeuvred into position with Lynott’s lyricism and street-wise persona and Downey’s drumming skills to the fore. Eric Bell’s desire for more open song structures and extended soloing would not persist but they served the band well at the time. From Vagabonds to Rockers…
Sleeve notes
Rosa Leigh
New Order fans will know Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham as the band’s bass player and guitarist but this sold-out gig was a showcase for their other band. Drummer Elliot Barlow kept up a ferocious motorik dance beat throughout the thirteen song set with Tom and Beth Cassidy both generating insistent keyboard-based melodies. Beth took over on lead vocals from Iwan Gronow on Thrills and Le Coup but the best reaction of the night came when Iwan put down his rhythm guitar and upped the intensity for recent single De Facto. With a second LP ready to go, Sea Fever are highly contagious.
This review was written for Record Collector magazine, it appeared in the June 2024 edition (below)
Royal Albert Hall, March 18th and 20th
Stage view: right down the front
After 24 years Roger Daltrey has retired as the curator of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust fundraiser and his parting gift was this brace of sold-out rock’n’roll shows. A suited and booted Squeeze delivered a solid hour of hits, from the opening Take Me I’m Yours to a closing Cool For Cats. Everything revolved around the songs and singing of front men Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, from the countryish Labelled With Love, through a delicate rendition of Tempted to the faux-Motown of Another Nail In My Heart.
Monday night only saw The Who opening with a crisp I Can’t Explain. Both nights enjoyed a lengthy selection from Tommy where the orchestral backing really came into its own, early highlights being the synchronised guitar strumming of Pete Townshend and his brother Simon on Pinball Wizard and a moving Roger Daltrey vocal on See Me, Feel Me. A handful of singles without the orchestra included Substitute and The Kids Are Alright, performed as tightly as the original recordings. The orchestra returned for a selection from Quadrophenia, their performance of The Rock instrumental track being especially powerful. On the Wednesday night Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam helped deliver The Punk And The Godfather. Daltrey and Townshend wore the same clothes both nights, suggesting the gigs were being filmed.
Throughout Zak Starkey embodied Keith Moon’s manic glee on drums, Jon Button made no attempt to emulate John Entwistle on bass, Billy Nichols provided vocal support and keyboard player Loren Gold provided the synthetic pulse of Won’t Get Fooled Again and the romantic piano intro to Love, Reign O’er Me. These last two numbers were a remarkable demonstration of Daltrey’s enduring vocal power and range. The closing Baba O’Riley ended with the band being lead a merry dance by first violinist Katie Jacoby culminating in a standing ovation from all present.
Review written for Record Collector magazine
Photography: Dave Alexander / Simon Wright
Only Rock 'n' Roll 