TWICE AS MUCH/OWN UP IMSP 007 (-66) UK

English singer/songwriter duo consisting of Dave Skinner and Andrew Rose. They made two albums for Immediate and released four singles, but only one made any impact - "Sitting On A Fence" - released a year before The Rolling Stones own version and managing top 40 on the UK list. This debute LP was one of Andrew Loog Oldham's first big projects for the new label and it's obvious he went for the best. The backing crew includes Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin (spelled McClochlin back cover) on guitars, Andy White on drums, Nicky Hopkins and Art Greenslade handeling keyboards, engineering by Glyn Johns and arrangements by Mort Shuman. (There were a lot more involved with each chore, I'm just picking the most prominent names.) Loog Oldham is credited as producuer, but with all that talent present maybe he had more of a supervising role. So is this a case of "too many cooks spoil the broth"? Not at all. The only thing average is the vocals - appropriate, not special - but the rest is an adventure. Imagine "Sha La La La Lee" as a slow, heavily orchestrated ballad with an accordion pitched in or "Play With Fire" having a more consistent harp/glockenspiel riff and heavy kettledrums. Seven of the fourteen songs are cover versions and those are the ones that makes this album. I fancy a few of the self-penned songs, especially "The Spinning Wheel", but regarded as a cover album partly more intriguing than some of the more famed ones. One of few such where I get almost as much enjoyment from the re-makes as the actual originals. Issued in both mono and stereo. First press can be tricky to find and I've never heard a mono so I can't compare, but the stereo is a true mix and the audio very good. To my knowledge this UK was the only original release. German vinyl re-issue on Outline Records 1982 (OLLP 5247) and Italian 2001 on Get Back (GET 592), German 1996 CD "Own Up/That's All" (Green Trek Records GTR 040) had both albums plus one bonus track). Premiere UK came with structured label as shown here and matt flip/back cover. This copy also has a stereo sticker on back cover. (YDÄ*)