THE BEATSTALKERS
Scotland's No.1 Beat Group (Ika Records; CD)
     Beatstalkers bassist Alan Mair was indeed fortunate that he has a). a diligent and proud mother who kept pristine copies of all seven of her son's groups 45s for Decca and CBS and b). that he came to know Scots beat barnpot and Thanes main man Lenny Helsing. Whilst the former had the raw material for this CD, the latter had the enthusiasm and commitment to chivvy Mair into agreeing to put this collection out, convincing him that there was indeed an ardent grass roots level fan base of The Beatstalkers out there in '60s land. The end product is a limited edition CD which puts all 14 sides of The Beatstalkers 45s in one place, along with two very early sides from a demo acetate to round it off. The Beatstalkers indeed, as Helsing reminds us in his detailed liner notes, (and as the vintage newspaper photos and articles that adorn the chunky CD booklet attest), were 'thee' beat group of choice north of Berwick-On-Tweed. The notorious St Georges Square riot where the group's mid-day performance was swamped by hordes of screaming girls (shame!) and brought temporary chaos to the centre of Glasgow is but one adventure regaled in the booklet. Though hugely popular in their own country they never managed to break through beyond it. That is a shame as these sides demonstrate, they were a strong sounding band, even when recording songs they disliked at their management's behest and without much writing of their own going on. They also had a dedicated fan in one David Bowie as some of the songs confirm. The two acetate sides date from '62 (and are much better than a lot of British stuff of that year), but the official releases date from between '65-'68. They disbanded in '69 after their van with all their equipment was stolen. So, what does their recorded legacy sound like??
     Vocalist Dave Lennox is an archetypical blue-eyed soul singer but who can adapt just as easily to a harder edged format. So we have a cover of 'Ain't No Soul left In These Old Shoes' (the original, a northern soul club staple of the '70s) with added lead guitar that, if not transforms the song, does at least site it in the beat camp. The Bowie connection comes in a rendition of his 'Silver Tree Top School For Boys', 'When I'm Five' and 'Everything Is You'. The Alan Mair penned 'Sugar Chocolate Machine' is a pretty decent attempt at a bendy piece of paisley pop (especially the chorus) but it being a rare self-penned number has also perhaps a touch of self-consciousness about it. Similar but softer (more Flower Pot Men actually) is 'Rain Coloured Roses'. As Lenny Helsing notes and I cannot help but agree, the most intriguing number is Reg King's 'Little Boy' which has an art-pop into pop-sike vibe about it, mid-paced and more grungy guitar parts than the cleaner mod-soul sides of their earlier career. In general, these sides chart the changing times from club soul to whimsical psychedelia. If that floats your boat, this is an enjoyable, well-presented and historically important package. If you're a Scot, you have no excuse not to own it!
www.fieldofone.com
Paul Martin

CURT BOETTCHER
Chicken Little Was Right (Sound City; CD) (Revola; CD)
     A short set of ten unfinished songs dating from the early '70s, sees Boettcher in collaboration with Web Burrell. They're not bad either, just frustratingly unfinished. Anyone with a Boettcher fixation will find themselves not so much listening to what's there but to what's absent! That's a shame really as the songs aren't bad at all. Pretty standard early '70s singer-songwriter fair, but being Boettcher, of good quality. 'We're Dying (Angel City)', 'Out Of The Dark Of The Night' and 'Louise' are perhaps the best of the bunch, but there's nothing bad on here, just unpolished. Boettcher fans will want it anyway of course, those of you who only know his '60s work will need also a liking for early 70s singer-songwriters to get the most enjoyment from this set. It's a sort of career reference disc and on balance is much better to have in the public domain than out of it.
www.soundcityent.com
Paul Martin

THE DAISY CHAIN
Straight Or Lame (Sundazed CD)
     All-girl rock and pop groups (who played instruments) were probably less of a rarity than has been believed in sixties folklore. The number of them that got recorded however is relatively minimal. That's why whenever a new discovery is made it gets a lot of attention. The Daisy Chain later became Birtha whose two albums have a not unsurprisingly more matured soul-rock sound. Here however, they are struggling for direction and identity. They have strong, soulful voices as evidenced by opener 'I'll Come Runnin''. Too often however the mix (at least) gets lost as the backing vocals overwhelm the lead vocal or melody and sometimes seem to be singing in a slightly different key!. This is a straightforward reissue of the Daisly Chain's 1967 LP for United International which sold squat at the time and so has accrued a 'cult' status accordingly amongst collectors. The problem with the album is that having played it, it doesn't leave you with any kind of impression other than to wonder about how it was engineered or mixed or even originally recorded. There's a lot of mixed up stuff going on that never evens out. Now listening to it for the fifth time or so, I am finally finding some of the lesser over-wrought blue-eyed soul based tracks entrancing. 'All Because Of Him' has a creepy vibe that gives it a compulsion; the oddly named 'Zzotto' is an endearing west coast floater and 'Run Spot Run' is also a pretty cool southern California sounding moment. This trio is followed though by 'Unhappy For Me' another overly self-conscious sounding soul like number where the vocals outstrip the backing and plunge the listener back into looking for the skip button such is the disjointure from the almost trippy numbers preceding it.
     So, in all, a mixed bag, but certainly a product of its time. On balance it works on the levels of being an all-girl band and so historically is important and also because there are, once you get past the initial aural disorientation, several numbers of value and perhaps even importance to those with a west coast soft pop inclination. It certainly doesn't hold up as a complete album, but as an obscure period artefact it has a definite value. It's a pity Sundazed couldn't find a proper band photo to include other than the cut-up photo montage which presumably was the original album sleeve design. A curate's egg of an album but with a high curiosity factor.
www.sundazed.com
Paul Martin

DONOVAN
Sunshine Superman
Mellow Yellow
The Hurdy Gurdy Man
Barabajagal (all EMI; CDs)
     Donovan's reputation as a true pioneer of psychedelia and 'world music' in the mid '60s has suffered to the point of becoming almost irreparable. This is possibly the result of his own erratic musical endeavors since and the appalling mis-handling of his estimable back catalogue. But that all changes here and now with these nigh-on definitive editions of his late '60s albums, complete with a ton of bonus tracks, in-depth liner notes and plenty of period photos.
     He cut 'Sunshine Superman' with it's clear lyrical allusions to "tripping" in December 1965, the same month The Byrds were recording 'Eight Miles High', Bob Dylan was wrapping 'Visions Of Johanna' and barely a month after Don's own Fairytale album was released. That album veers away from the troubadour formula and one particular tune, 'Sunny Goodge Street', contains an adventurous musical arrangement and allusions to "love" as something other than the boy/girl handholding variety. At this point, neither The Beatles nor The Stones had committed anything remotely psychedelic to tape, excusing those early fumblings on the sitar (now let's wait for those letters to pour in – Ed).
     When Donovan began working with producer Mickie Most and arranger John Cameron in early 1966 they decided to follow 'Sunny Goodge Street's precedent and set about honing the singer's extraordinary new songs into something truly unique. But as this new material was being recorded, the first of a series of major setbacks took place when a contractual issue prevented 'Sunshine Superman' being released in the UK. In the US, it finally appeared in July and hit the top of the charts in September, kick-starting his subsequent Stateside success and, conversely, an ambivalence towards the UK which resulted in bastardised versions of just half his albums even seeing the light of day here. Indeed, his British fans had to wait until December 1966 for the release of 'Sunshine Superman', a full year after it was recorded. He still scored a top five hit but the full effect of the single's prescience was lost and Don was once again cruelly accused of bandwagon jumping. The accompanying Sunshine Superman album wasn't even granted a UK release. It appears here in its original American form for the first time on CD and can now rightly take its place alongside other seminal British psych artifacts. While the swirling sitar that adorns 'Three Kingfishers', 'Ferris Wheel' and 'The Fat Angel' is hardly groundbreaking, the poetic depth of Don's lyrics and the free-flowing stream of conscious nature of the songs almost certainly are. 'Legend Of A Girl Child Linda' is a bold seven-minute ode to partner Linda Lawrence, expertly realised by John Cameron's woodwind arrangement. At the other end of the spectrum, the three-chord 'Season Of The Witch' became an instant standard, being covered by everyone from Vanilla Fudge to Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity and a thousand American garage bands in between. Bonus tracks include early stabs at 'Superlungs' and 'Museum' and a brace of demos including 'Breezes Of Patchouli' which, under the guise of 'The Darkness Of My Night', was one of the highlights of the recent Sixty Four collection of early demos.
     The Mellow Yellow album appeared in the US in early 1967 and found Don dropping most of his psychedelic trappings in favour of exquisite acoustic ballads and swinging jazz. Some of his most affecting songs are here: 'Writer In The Sun', 'Sand And Foam' and 'Hampstead Incident' show subtlety and maturity while the harrowing 'Young Girl Blues' must qualify as one of the best deterrents against moving to London ever. On the other hand, 'Sunny South Kensington' with it's hip name-dropping ("Jean Paul Belmondo and Mary Quant got stoned to say the least") just makes you want to jump on the next bus to that west London locale. The surreal vaudeville title track became another huge transatlantic hit single and was trailed in the US only by 'Epistle To Dippy' which appears here in two versions as bonus tracks along with more album demos and a second, R & B-style attempt at 'Superlungs'. The Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow albums were condensed into one watertight 12-track Sunshine Superman for the UK market. Released in the summer of '67 it was already bordering on being an anachronism instead of the trailblazing collection it actually was.
     1967's double album set A Gift From A Flower To A Garden has been omitted from EMI's overhaul by virtue of there being no additional tracks with which to bolster it. Shame. It's an important transition from the hallucinogenic sounds of its predecessors to the lighter, less focused works that followed and contains the sublime 'Wear Your Love Like Heaven', another US hit.
     After the acoustic children's songs of A Gift and the ensuing 'Jennifer Juniper' single, the hard-edged menace of 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' must have come as something of a surprise. It still holds its own as a powerful rock record from the year when everybody and his wife was doing rock and rather neatly doubles as one of the last great British psych singles. However, the album to which it lends its name is something of a pot-pourri and again saw no UK release at the time. 'Peregrine' and 'Tangier' are unquestionably fascinating but their Celtic/Moroccan stylings sound contrived next to the natural ethnic blends of Don's earlier work. The jaunty lighter-than-air approach of A Gift's electric half is continued through 'The Entertaining Of A Shy Girl', 'The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow' and 'West Indian Lady', essentially a rewrite of '67 hit 'There Is A Mountain'. The unadorned 'The River Song' stands out but generally the set lacks a heart. The Hurdy Gurdy Man does boast the most impressive selection of bonus tracks here however. Non-LP single sides 'Poor Cow', 'Teen Angel' and the fragrantly delicate 'Lalena' are stronger than most of the album. The versions of 'Catch The Wind' and 'Colours' re-recorded for the US Greatest Hits album in '69 transcend their folk-rock origins to become monumental epics that threaten to dwarf the rest of his output that year. Lastly, Don duets with fellow Scot and Mickie Most artiste Lulu on 'What A Beautiful Creature You Are' and the pair sound like they're having a ball.
     By the time of 1969's Barabajagal, Don was still cutting fine pieces like the funky, Jeff Beck Group-assisted title track and the 'Hey Jude'-esque sing-song 'Atlantis'. Oh, and he finally gets 'Superlungs' right too. Unfortunately he was also blotting his copy book with the likes of the inane 'I Love My Shirt' and the twee (if rather loveable) 'Happiness Runs'. Quite why the hard rocking 'Stromberg Twins' was omitted from the album despite wiping the floor with most of it remains a mystery. Barabajagal was largely constructed from recent singles, unused sessions and stray tracks to satisfy the American market's desire for new Don product. What is slightly surprising then is that at the end of 1969 Don cut a series of demos, including his last session with Mickie Most until 1973's Cosmic Wheels, which yielded a virtual album's worth of strong material, more focused than his last two studio albums and almost entirely unheard until now. 'A Poor Man's Sunshine (Nativity)' and 'New Years Resolution (Donovan's Celtic Jam)' were mooted as a 1969 Christmas single and would have become Don's last release on Pye while the excellent 'The Swan (Lord Of The Reedy River)' was also cut by Mary Hopkin (who included four Don compositions on her Postcard album) and resurrected by the author for his own HMS Donovan set in 1971. While he continued to play to rapturous receptions and packed auditoriums around the world, Donovan's heyday as a cutting edge singer-songwriter and cultural icon was over.
     The subsequent thirty five years of performing and recording have yet to produce anything approaching the resonance, beauty and intensity of his 1966/67 work. The uninitiated should start with Sunshine Superman and work their way in chronologically from there.
     And yes, we did just name our son after him.
http://www.donovan.ie/
Andy Morten

THE END
Introspection (Decca; CD)
     One of the British psychedelic underground's most precious touch stones, Introspection has at last been reissued legitimately and from the masters. It took bloody long enough but the sound is sublime. Everything from 'Dreamworld' through to 'Introspection Part Two' is in pristine aural clarity. And, at last, you can easily press the skip button to bypass the annoying reminiscences of the cockney grandad ('Bromely Common', Linen Draper' and 'Jacob's Bladder') (Editor {cuts in with a grin on face:} you grumpy sod Martin, I love those vintage clips of London's past vernacular). My only gripe is the missed opportunity to make available some of the older End material. The only bonus tracks here are the mono single mixes of 'Shades of Orange' and 'Loving, Sacred Loving'. The wealth of less or non-psychedelic but nonetheless enjoyable and apposite material that found its way onto the vinyl only Tenth Planet label's In The Beginning- The End is noticeable by its absence. That apart, tracks like 'Cardboard Watch' and 'Introspection Part 1' have never sounded so sharp.
     Even if you already have a booted vinyl (or CDR from vinyl) reissue, you will still notice the improved sound quality on this new version, and at mid-price, well worth investing in. Anyone not yet in ownership of this album should buy this edition now!
Paul Martin  

FUCHSIA
Fuchsia, Mahogany & Other Gems (Nightwings; CD)
     This disc collects together a group of material with the central link of Fuchsia main man Tony Durant. All titles are written by him except for two tracks by Robert Chudley. The first three numbers are Fuchsia proper numbers, written after the release of their lone LP in '71(reissued by Nightwings and reviewed here a few months back). If you enjoyed the original Fuchsia album, you will have no problem with this collection 'The Band' is an uptempo and intense number that pushes your adrenaline upwards; 'Ragtime Brahms' is for me the best of three Fuchsia tracks however. It is a perfect example of the integration and parity that Durant was striving for of the string section within a rock format. A great staccato rhythm driven by the strings with an urgent vocal riding on top, you'll want to hit the replay button on this one as soon as it ends. 'Ring Of Roses' is a swirling guitar led number with a subliminal eastern vibe. The next section features five songs by Durant's Mahogany group from '75. These were written for a project based on two Brecht plays. 'Prologue' sounds like a Fuchsia tune through and through whilst 'Pirate Jenny' and 'Mr Munch's Interminable Lunch' are sung by Jan Pulsford (whose sister Angela was in the string section). These have a folky-cum-torch song vibe with plaintive strings weaving through them that works well. Bob Chudley's two contributions (he co-wrote 'Another Nail' on the Fuchsia album) are song writers demos. The keys led 'Absent Friends' and the bitter-sweet 'Mary used To Play The Piano' sit well alongside everything else and deserve to have been taken up by someone. Finally, Durant's 'I'll Remember Her Face, I'll Remember Her Name' (written for a film production called 'The Golden Medallion') is tastefully sung by The Albion Band's John Tams and has, to my ears, an aesthetic affinity to the 'Wicker Man' soundtrack. All in all, a tastefully and well sequenced selection of Durant's post Fuchsia 70s work which makes the perfect companion piece the Fuschia album, buy with confidence.
www.nightwings.org
Paul Martin

LOS GATOS SALVAJES
LOS YAKI
LOS HOLYS (Munster/Electro Harmonix; 10" Vinyl)
     Munster Records from Madrid continue their Latin American beat and psych series on the exclusive 10" vinyl offshoot label Electro Harmonix. If middle-class upstarts from Argentina, Mexico and Peru doing their best imitation of the Brit Invasion appeal then Los Yaki (and their wild takes on Kinks, Stones, Troggs classics) and LOS GATOS SALVAJES (whose sole album featured 10 original compositions predominantly in the merseybeat style) add some Spanish language flair to beat band fare. A little less predictable is Peruvian instrumental group LOS HOLYS' Sueño Sicodélico (PsychedelicDream). Considered to be the countries' first psychedelic album it combines syncopated Meters' rhythms with Ventures' instro traditionalism and enough sci-fi effects to be considered trippy. It's an oddity rather than necessity, but fun all the same.
www.munster-records.com/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

EDDIE HARDIN
Home Is Where You Find It (RPM; CD)
     Very first solo album release from '71 for the former Spencer Davis Group Mk II lead vocalist - keyboardist and its first time CD reissue. It's a surprisingly good album. And I wondered why it wasn't a hit album in the first place. The rollicking album opener, 'Driving', as well as the mid-tempo 'Strange People' with its cool Leslie Speaker tinged guitar by Ray Fenwick and phased orchestra strings are brilliant, and the feel of the album is very much in the league of what Paul McCartney, Emitt Rhodes, Carole King and other singer-songwriters of that early '70s were doing but, with a distinctly British edge. The lovely 'Gone is the Sunshine' and the upbeat Leslie guitar tinged title track lends itself to this apt description. 'Brother, We Can Surely Work It Out' kicks its heels up for some good ol' barrelhouse, ragtime, boogie woogie music. Eddie's piano & keyboards are fabulous throughout. 'California Sun' is the kind of slow song you want to play at dusk to mellow out to. Guest appearances in addition to Fenwick include: SDG drummer Pete York, Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, Elton John bassist Dee Murray, and session drummer, Tony Newman. RPM have done their usual top quality job in providing great sound and terrific packaging for this reissue. Additionally, former SDG MK. III guitarist/vocalist, Ray Fenwick helps out to great effect on a couple of the tracks and on the three bonus cuts from Eddie & Ray's '72 duo single recorded as Jake. Amongst those three tracks, 'And In The Morning' is the keeper. This album is a must own for all Spencer Davis Group Mk. II and Hardin fans.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Steve Elliott  

JOOK
Different Class (RPM; CD)
     These guys certainly had a cool style with their futuristic-mod-bovver boys get up… "The Jook on the wall" graffiti from the cover shot of this CD, which was recycled by photographer Gerard Mankowitz successfully for his shots of The Jam (and I'd day Weller pinched Chris Townson's feathered French crewcut styled barnet too), do indicate that the band were pioneers and originators in pop culture… but unfortunately for all of the RCA attention and marketing it just didn't happen for 'em. This 22 career spanning CD tries to set the record straight. And whilst the lads really did look stunning and released a few unparalleled tracks, it's quite clear after sitting through the entire collection that a vital ingredient was missing, and in competing with Slade, The Faces, Mott and The Who they were destined for obscurity. Perhaps it was the glam-by-number stompers, which achieve little, or their over eager attempt of appealing to the yobs of the football terraces, which was foolish and uninformed… it's all a little too Sham 69 for comfort, and for this to be embraced by such nice middle class boys, a little fake. But when Kisset concentrated on classic pop structure he could mine gold. Their last 45 'Aggravation Place' is on par with The Records' 'Starry Eyes' as a British power pop deity, and then there's the slew of mellow Faces-like pop topped by 'Do What You Can' that display the band's deft pop nous. Another plus is Kimmet's vocals which recall the smoky tones of The Creations' Kenny Pickett. You're never far from being reminded of the mod heritage either with Townson's Moon inspired ability of working his way around the kit, and the crashing Who power chords and crescendos. When Jook were good they were brilliant. When they were uninspired they were plain average. Most of all they were unlucky!
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

KLAATU
Sunset (Bullseye; 2-CD)
     Klaatu, were a trio of gifted Canadian musicians and songwriters who sought to produce melodic songs in the style of the late era Beatles. Such was their dedication to this that they shunned any form of self-publicity whatsoever insisting that their music do the talking. It did this to such an extent that the music press was rife with rumours that they were really the reformed Beatles. When they finally went public and disproved the hype, they lost momentum as an embarrassed music press blamed them for the rumours as some sort of self-promotional gimmick, the very thing Klaatu had sought to avoid! This contributed to their demise, but their legacy lives on and indeed they have recently reformed. Sunset is a double CD of alternative and demo takes of released material along with the unreleased orchestral version of their prog propject Hope.
     The first ten tracks on disc one are a sublime late era Beatleish nirvana which rather like Key's (still criminally unreissued) Fit Me In album from '78 sounds years older than its recording date. If Klaatu set out to make timeless music, they succeeded here very well. Mainly these are tracks (and 45 versions) from their debut 3.47 EST album, the alternative versions on this set however, are superior to the official album versions; they just have so much more presence. If you have only ever heard The Carpenters version of 'Calling Occupants (of Interplanetary Craft)' which is arguably their high point, you need to hear the divine original which you can here. The 45 versions of 'Hanus Of Uranus', 'Sub Rosa Subway', 'Cherie' and 'Doctor Marvello' have a strong and compelling feel to them. I'm not so sure about the Orchestral Hope album which comprises tracks 11-19 of the first disc. This is a prog-like concept album which on first hearing at least suggests a Rice / Webber rock opera channelled via a Freddie Mercury-less Queen. It veers (within each song sometimes!) between overwrought pomposity and melodic beauty which makes it very hard to know what side to come down on as it keeps switching taste preferences for me! The final (and title) track is excellent and brings us back to the Beatle influence, or at least an early solo George Harrison one, but you will need to play this a few times to get a real grasp of what's going on. This orchestral version has not been released before (it features an 80 piece orchestra!), the official version replaced the strings with synths. The musicianship and song writing are almost scholarly; these guys really knew what they were doing. Maybe that's the problem, they were too good to stick to what they did best in melodic composition and just had to have a go at a crypto-classical artefact. I am maybe being too harsh about this, as it does make you listen and that's always worth something.
     Disc two is wonderful throughout. It does include some of their later numbers that have a harder, rockist edge, but even these are well formed and melodic. The only real low points on this disc are the rather irrelevant 'Sir Rupert Said…' (a novelty in-joke kind of spoken word thing via a telephone conversation) and the under-powered power ballad 'December Dream', but that is more than redeemed by the following whimsical toytown pop of 'Mrs Toad's Cookies'. I was waiting for clunkers to appear, but in all honesty, I can't say I heard any here, just 20 (of 22) great tunes in one way or another. 'Routine Day', 'Juicy Luicy', 'Everybody Take A Holiday', 'Older' and 'Dear Christine' that start the disc off are just wonderful and I never felt let down throughout, just well-crafted and inspired music. This set comes in a beautiful slip case with two chunky booklets that give the full Klaatu story and analysis etc. of the albums. If you want to investigate Klaatu, do it via this double CD set, you'll find it hard to keep off the CD player. (More Klaatu: www.shindig-magazine.com/reviews-mar2005-1.html)
http://www.klaatu.org
Paul Martin

MOUSE
Lady Killer (Angel Air; CD)
     Hairies clearly at ease rollin' mellow on tunes 'You Don't Know' (think 'Break The Spell' by Please), 'All The Fallen Teen-Angels' (reggae shades with accordian?!?) and bonus cut 'Lost In The City' (a fetching if unremarkable light 'un). Errr, pass.
     But hold yer horses, ye ole sulphate lovin' lover o' 'ard lysergia circa '73, cuz 'Asher Besher' (Acid Basher! More like it) and the blisterin' 45 side 'It's Happening To Me And You' ("Waitin' for the candy man/ wonderin' who I really am/ movin' like a movie queen/ drifting through a purple
dream") are savers. Ya dig?
     Starring the esteemed Ray Russell (vcls, gtr) and Al Rushton (skins), who'd both stumbled in Running Man earlier on.
www.angelair.co.uk
Rex Thompson

RUNNING MAN
The Running Man (Angel Air; CD)
     Bummers mostly. Y'know, proggy jazz tedium with flailing sax ('Hope Place' and 'Spirit'), fragile downers for grown-ups ('Nicholas', 'Find Yourself', 'Children' et al.), the like. Frickin' yuk!! On the bright side both the supremely freaky title-track and 'Look And Turn' burrrnnn. Particularly the former. Yeah, a distorto bass-loaded 'eavy rock mutha in slowmotion, with eerie background cries alive in the stew. Trouble is, yooz gotta suffer a whole 25 minutes in 'fore the fun kicks in. Anyway, 'twas
originally released on RCA in '72 - boo hoo.
www.angelair.co.uk
Rex Thompson

THE SEVENS
The Sevens (Feathered Apple; LP)
     So you head off to record a couple of tracks for a local compilation album which you hope to have finished by lunch time, and you come out of the studio at 3.00am the following morning having recorded a whole album – and mostly first takes at that! Such is the case with Swiss beat band The Sevens. In '65 the Layola label wanted to compile an LP of Basel bands, The Sevens amongst them. The studio was the back room of the Landgastof Riehen restaurant in Lucern. Pitt Linder, a Swiss engineer and sound equipment constructor recorded the sessions including the resultant Sevens LP. The band themselves were reportedly not too happy with it. They felt the original recordings sounded better than they did on the album and that the feedback and distortion they achieved in the studio had been erased and even some bass parts are thought to be missing that were recorded! Minus this and plus forty years in passing to reassess it by, and this edition of The Sevens album is probably the best sounding and certainly the most lovingly packaged ever. The LP comes in a great wrap-around repro colour sleeve and a huge foldout insert which features a b/w poster of the band on one side and great b/w pics and a full history of the band on the other. Given the spit and chewing gum approach that the original album was recorded with, the Feathered Apple reissue has done a good job in sound restoration. Sevens tracks are ubiquitous to garage comp collectors; 'The Love of A Bird', What Can I Do', 'In God I Trust' and the freakbeat instro (which probably was even more so before it got tamed for vinyl) that is 'Pan Am' (improvised in the studio for the album) are all here and make this LP more than a the sum of its parts. It would be quite easy, superficially, to just hear it as another bunch of beat wannabes, but with the care and attention to detail that this has received as a complete package, you get the history and the context lacking in other reissue editions of the album. This makes you hear it with fresh ears and lets you catch some of that youthful enthusiasm that fuelled the beat scene in so many towns and cities around the world at the time. Great beat permeates the album's twelve tracks, nine of them group compositions. If you've been contemplating buying a vinyl edition of The Sevens album, here's the one to get.
http://homepage.hispeed.ch/featheredapple/
featheredapplerecords@balcab.ch
Paul Martin

STAINED GLASS
Aurora (Radioactive; CD)
     The folk-rock/pop style of the earlier Stained Glass material had all but gone on their final album Aurora (released on Capitol in '69) with the sweet sounding trio having morphed into a guitar soloing, wailing rock band with a few nods to the rustic nature of The Band and Van Morrison. 'The Kibitzer' sees them encroaching upon trippy, garage-punk with a Bo Diddley beat and a cool vocal, 'Sweetest Thing' has a heavy blues Free-ish quality and it's only really on 'Gettin' On's Getting' Rough' that the folk and pop element remain. Too much gusto lets this album down, but when a balance between musically showing of and songwriting is achieved it works well.
http://www.radioactiverecords.com/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

JOEY STEC
Desire (Sonic Past; CD)
     Originally released on Rev-Ola as Joey Stec this update adds two newer Jimmy Miller productions from '94 (year Miller died) and an August '77 cut engineered by long time chum Keith Olsen. The two newer cuts, recorded in London by Kenny Jones, maintain the booze soaked swagger of the earlier sessions, but it's the remaining 11 recordings from '76-'77 that you'll want. With Miller's masterful production and rock solid playing from Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Bobby Keys and other LA stalwarts the sessions resulted in a powder-on-mirror-half-empty-bottle'o'-Jack ride resplendent of the addled country-soul debauchery of Sticky Fingers / Goat's Head Soup. The sunshine may have dimmed to a fading twilight, but this is far from bottom of the glass morosity. In '76/'77 Stec's under-the-influence rock records (a style he first tackled with The Dependables) sat perfectly with The Eagles, Stones or Rod Stewart. Sure, there's no trace of what he did with Boettcher but it's the product of a wholly different era… and 'Even Angels' is the perfect mid-'70s approximation of the Paul Revere & The Raiders sound. Wonderful!
www.sonicpastmusic.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Rock 'n' Roll Scene; The R&B Scene; The Beat Scene; The Mod Scene; The Freakbeat Scene; The Psychedelic Scene; The Girl's Scene; The Northern Soul Scene (all Decca; CDs)
     This series was originally released some years back and here they are again. I remember buying the whole set the first time round and not being disappointed by any of them. The Decca vaults are still full of secrets and some were revealed on this series. The Rock 'n' Roll Scene is a rare document of the British R'n'R movement, often thought of as a contradiction in terms. However, here we get to hear the testing grounds of some longer term players. Bill Fury was Britain's first and foremost (perhaps only) real '50s rocker. Here he performs 'Collette' whilst one of the few electric guitar toting Brits to fully understand R'n'R, Joe Brown, contributes 'Comes The Day' (Brown was session player on Fury's The Sound Of Fury album in 1960 that is still the touchstone for the birth of British rock). Other British pre-luminaries like Terry Dene and Tommy Steele sit in the obscure company of the likes of Joey Castell ('Tryin' To Get To You') and Billy Boyle ('My Baby's Crazy About Elvis'). Slavishly generic as these inevitably are, in the mouths of insecure cockneys, the faux American accents morph into something entirely anglophile. Perhaps only the long deleted EMI series British Beat Before The Beatles has attempted to tread the same path.
     Whichever genre or slice of the '60s you gravitate towards, you'll find plenty of interest here. Of course, some of the content might seem overly familiar today, but at the time a lot of it was finding its first outing on CD (and from the masters). The R&B Scene boasts great obscurities like The Exotics' 'Cross My Heart', The Emeralds' 'King Lonely The Blue', The Plebs' 'Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You' and The Redcaps' 'Talkin' 'Bout You', pounders all. Then there are the more familiar numbers which add intensity; The Graham Bond Organisation's 'Long, Tall Shorty' or The Birds' 'You Don't Love Me'. The Beat Scene continues in a similar vein with highlights such as The Hi Numbers' (not The pre-Who) 'Heart of Stone', The Knack's 'Who'll Be The Next In Line', Rick & Sandy's 'Lost My Girl' and The Mighty Avengers '(Walking Thru) The Sleepy City'. A powerful collection varying from punchy beat to beaty pop. The Mod Scene is a stylish affair with tab collared types such as The Hipster Image ('Make Her Mine'), The Poets ('That's The Way It's Gotta Be'), The Attack (We Don't Know) and St Louis Union's take on Bob Seger's 'East Side Story'. The Freakbeat Scene features a lot of, by now, familiar fare, but as a collection still stands as a testament to how times were changin' and not getting recognised for it! None more so perhaps than The Score's art-pop reconstruction of 'Please, Please Me', a staging post for reflection on where we'd been and where the future may now lie if ever there was one. Paul Ritchie & The Cryin' Shames' 'Come On Back', The Poets' 'Wooden Spoon', The Flies' 'I'm Not Your Stepping Stone' and Fire's 'Father's Name Was Dad' are declarations that Marshall stacks were going to move in where the old Vox AC30s and Selmer amps had previously been and the reverb on your Fender Strat was not now the only guitar effect available.
     The Psychedelic Scene is also "thee" place to start for exploration of the British psych scene. Few better comps of their type existed outside of Bam Caruso's Rubble series. "Classics" of the genre like Tintern Abbey's 'Vacuum Cleaner' and The End's 'Shades of Orange' rub shoulders with rarer sides by Fairytale ('Guess I'm Dreaming') and The Curiosity Shoppe's ('Baby I Need You'). You have also to remember all these gems came out of one label!
     The Girl's Scene runs the gauntlet from the pubescent warblings of Coventry's The Orchids' 'Ooh Chang A Lang' and the white girl Tamla impersonations of Louise Cordet's 'Two Lovers' to the urbane sophistication of one of Lulu's best sides of the '60s 'Try To Understand'. This collection sees a run through of styles and changes therein over the decade and probably the best collection of Brit girls until RPM's Dream Babes series came along.
     The Northern Soul Scene comparatively is a rather mixed bag. Good pop in the main but a rather eclectic selection. Collecting as it does Clyde McPhatter (wasn't he American?), The Flirtations (and them?) with outings that other ears might hear differently by Tom Jones, David Essex and (then) Modsters Eyes of Blue. This volume whilst interesting and worthwhile musically has rather lost the plot in terms of genre, there are better places to start for northern soul (anything on the Kent label for a start). Otherwise, if you want to turn on a friend to the British stuff, or if you want to explore it further for yourself within any of these flavours, then this series is probably the best place to start. It's like a series of aural guidebooks that you keep referring back to. The liners are not always that informative but they are always readable. I'd call this series essential as novice starter packs, and then some.
Paul Martin  

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Sassy And Stone Free: Dream Babes Vol.6 (RPM; CD)
     This time round RPM have plumped for the later '60s and the funkier end of the pop spectrum. Marilyn Powell's 'Something To Hold On To' kicks this set off in fine style with the plaintive chorus and Memphis soulified rhythm via session musos. Barbara Ruskin's 'Pawnbroker, Pawnbroker' perhaps inevitably makes an appearance as does She Trinity's 'Climb That Tree' (did they ever record anything else like this? It seems to be the only song of theirs that ever gets comped) and slow burners like Samantha Jones's orch pop take on 'Do I Still Figure In Your Life' provide some shade, to the light of the livelier numbers. Val McKenna's '(Your Mama Said) Roll On' lends the set a freakbeat moment with the insistent guitar line that runs throughout and threatens to break loose and terrorise the otherwise rather prim tune (soulfully sung it must be said). Clodah Rodgers 'Come Back And Shake Me' has one of those 'oh that's what that was' choruses that shakes up the old grey matter and takes you back three decades. Sue Lynne's 'Reach For The Moon' is a Chris Andrews song, rather insipid in fact except for the rather intriguing interspersion of what sounds like a heavily treated guitar or even an early moog line of some kind! Sandra Bryant's 'Girl With Money' is a rousing pop pleaser that takes us back to the kind of girl sound we might more readily grab hold of unconditionally. However, a good set of largely soulful divas on this collection and proof that the series, six volumes in, is in no danger of running out of steam, can't wait for Vol.7!
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Southern Soul Showcase (Kent; CD)
     Shelby Singleton's SSS label released a shed load of impressive southern soul records across the late '60s, and most of 'em are included on the aptly sub-titled Cryin' In The Streets. The Singleton stable primarily encompassed brooding, deep soul that was indebted to country music, gospel and the blues. Featured among the 25 tracks are Betty LaVette's superb 'He Made A Woman Out Of Me', Johnny Adam's dynamic take on country standard 'Reconsider Me', George Perkins & The Silver Stars' rudimentary, yet poignant, response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, 'Cryin' In The Streets', Mickey Murray's funky 'Mama's Got The Wagon' and northern fave, Sam Dees' 'Lonely For You Baby'.
     I adore the highbred style of the south, where soul and country/whites and blacks worked in perfect harmony. Southern Soul Showcase succeeds on all counts!
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Stasera Shake!: 18 Italian R'n'Beat Jewels From The Sixties & Early Seventies Vol. 2 (Boss A Tone; CD)
     Volume 2 of this fun new Italian series that's part lounge, beat music, and MOR. Raffaella Carra kicks things off with her lively, 'Presentazione Orchestra' which, bears heavy influence from Archie Bell & The Drells' 'Tighten Up.' Then, there are several Italian renditions of big '60s Pop hits. La Ragazza '77 aka Ambra Borelli gives Sonny & Cher's 'The Beat goes on' an Italian twist vocally that's pretty hip with a faithful rendition. I Rogers' 'Ho tanta paura' has a Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs vibe to it which is cool. Richard Cocciante rocks pretty hard on 'Rhythm' in English with his Tommy James like tune from '71. It's funny hearing 'Venus' sung in Italian but hey, it works pretty well with Augusto Righetti giving his all on the Shocking Blue classic. Donovan's 'Sunshine Superman' as 'Il Superuomo' is also given the Italian transformation by Gianni Perrenati & The Juniors. Eileen from France takes a faithful stab at 'These Boots Are Aade For Walking' in Italian of course. I thought Paolo Bracci's rendition of 'Love Potion No. 9' was a bit cheesy. Who woulda thought we'd hear an Italian cover of The Mindbenders' 'Off And Running' as done here by Vanna Scotti ?! It's actually pretty cool and shows what Lulu could've done with this song. Gianna's 'Cocaina' is a hallucinogenic tease. So, you get a little bit of this and that on this fab & fun collection of 20 loungy/beat-pop/middle of the road tunes. This album is well suited for your next outdoor patio cookout or pool party, when you're in the mood for something different with a beat !
http://crea.html.it/sito/NOWSOUND/
Boss-A-Tone@iol.it
Steve Elliott